873 research outputs found
Influence of Muscle-Tendon Wrapping on Calculations of Joint Reaction Forces in the Equine Distal Forelimb
The equine distal forelimb is a common location of injuries related to mechanical overload. In this study, a two-dimensional model of the musculoskeletal system of the region was developed and applied to kinematic and kinetic data from walking and trotting horses. The forces in major tendons and joint reaction forces were calculated. The components of the joint reaction forces caused by wrapping of tendons around sesamoid bones were found to be of similar magnitude to the reaction forces between the long bones at each joint. This finding highlighted the importance of taking into account muscle-tendon wrapping when evaluating joint loading in the equine distal forelimb
"Kludge" gravitational waveforms for a test-body orbiting a Kerr black hole
One of the most exciting potential sources of gravitational waves for
low-frequency, space-based gravitational wave (GW) detectors such as the
proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is the inspiral of compact
objects into massive black holes in the centers of galaxies. The detection of
waves from such "extreme mass ratio inspiral" systems (EMRIs) and extraction of
information from those waves require template waveforms. The systems' extreme
mass ratio means that their waveforms can be determined accurately using black
hole perturbation theory. Such calculations are computationally very expensive.
There is a pressing need for families of approximate waveforms that may be
generated cheaply and quickly but which still capture the main features of true
waveforms. In this paper, we introduce a family of such "kludge" waveforms and
describe ways to generate them. We assess performance of the introduced
approximations by comparing "kludge" waveforms to accurate waveforms obtained
by solving the Teukolsky equation in the adiabatic limit (neglecting GW
backreaction). We find that the kludge waveforms do extremely well at
approximating the true gravitational waveform, having overlaps with the
Teukolsky waveforms of 95% or higher over most of the parameter space for which
comparisons can currently be made. Indeed, we find these kludges to be of such
high quality (despite their ease of calculation) that it is possible they may
play some role in the final search of LISA data for EMRIs.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures, requires subeqnarray; v2 contains minor changes
for consistency with published versio
Assessment of ground-based monitoring techniques applied to landslide investigations
A landslide complex in the Whitby Mudstone Formation at Hollin Hill, North Yorkshire, UK is periodically re-activated in response to rainfall-induced pore-water pressure fluctuations. This paper compares long-term measurements (i.e., 2009 – 2014) obtained from a combination of monitoring techniques that have been employed together for the first time on an active landslide. The results highlight the relative performance of the different techniques, and can provide guidance for researchers and practitioners for selecting and installing appropriate monitoring techniques to assess unstable slopes. Particular attention is given to the spatial and temporal resolution offered by
the different approaches that include: Real Time Kinematic-GPS (RTK-GPS) monitoring of a ground surface marker array, conventional inclinometers, Shape Acceleration Arrays (SAA), tilt meters, active waveguides with Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring, and piezometers. High spatial resolution
information has allowed locating areas of stability and instability across a large slope. This has enabled identification of areas where further monitoring efforts should be focused. High temporal resolution information allowed the capture of S’-shaped slope displacement-time behaviour (i.e.
phases of slope acceleration, deceleration and stability) in response to elevations in pore-water pressures. This study shows that a well-balanced suite of monitoring techniques that provides high temporal and spatial resolution on both measurement and slope scale is necessary to fully understand failure and movement mechanisms of slopes. In the case of the Hollin Hill landslide it
enabled detailed interpretation of the geomorphological processes governing landslide activity. It highlights the benefit of regularly surveying a network of GPS markers to determine areas for installation of movement monitoring techniques that offer higher resolution both temporally and spatially. The small sensitivity of tilt meter measurements to translational movements limited the
ability to record characteristic ‘S’-shaped landslide movements at Hollin Hill, which were identified using SAA and AE measurements. This high sensitivity to landslide movements indicates the applicability of SAA and AE monitoring to be used in early warning systems, through detecting and quantifying accelerations of slope movement
On the offset of barred galaxies from the black Hole MBH-σ relationship
We use collisionless N-body simulations to determine how the growth of a supermassive black hole (SMBH)
influences the nuclear kinematics in both barred and unbarred galaxies. In the presence of a bar, the increase in the
velocity dispersion σ (within the effective radius) due to the growth of an SMBH is on average �10%, whereas the
increase is only �4% in an unbarred galaxy. In a barred galaxy, the increase results from a combination of three
separate factors: (1) orientation and inclination effects; (2) angular momentum transport by the bar that results in an
increase in the central mass density; and (3) an increase in the vertical and radial velocity anisotropy of stars in the vicinity of the SMBH. In contrast, the growth of the SMBH in an unbarred galaxy causes the velocity distribution in the inner part of the nucleus to become less radially anisotropic. The increase in σ following the growth of the SMBH is insensitive to a variation of a factor of 10 in the final mass of the SMBH, showing that it is the growth process rather than the actual SMBH mass that alters bar evolution in a way that increases σ.We argue that using an axisymmetric stellar dynamical modeling code to measure SMBH masses in barred galaxies could result in a slight overestimate of the derived MBH, especially if a constant M/L ratio is assumed. We conclude that the growth of a black hole in the presence of a bar could result in an increase in σ that is roughly 4%–8% larger than the increase that occurs in an axisymmetric system. While the increase in σ due to SMBH growth in a barred galaxy might partially account for the claimed offset of barred galaxies and pseudo bulges from the MBH–σ relation obtained for elliptical galaxies and classical bulges in unbarred galaxies, it is inadequate to account for all of the offset
Are moving punctures equivalent to moving black holes?
When simulating the inspiral and coalescence of a binary black-hole system,
special care needs to be taken in handling the singularities. Two main
techniques are used in numerical-relativity simulations: A first and more
traditional one ``excises'' a spatial neighbourhood of the singularity from the
numerical grid on each spacelike hypersurface. A second and more recent one,
instead, begins with a ``puncture'' solution and then evolves the full
3-metric, including the singular point. In the continuum limit, excision is
justified by the light-cone structure of the Einstein equations and, in
practice, can give accurate numerical solutions when suitable discretizations
are used. However, because the field variables are non-differentiable at the
puncture, there is no proof that the moving-punctures technique is correct,
particularly in the discrete case. To investigate this question we use both
techniques to evolve a binary system of equal-mass non-spinning black holes. We
compare the evolution of two curvature 4-scalars with proper time along the
invariantly-defined worldline midway between the two black holes, using
Richardson extrapolation to reduce the influence of finite-difference
truncation errors. We find that the excision and moving-punctures evolutions
produce the same invariants along that worldline, and thus the same spacetimes
throughout that worldline's causal past. This provides convincing evidence that
moving-punctures are indeed equivalent to moving black holes.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps color figures; v2 = major revisions to introduction &
conclusions based on referee comments, but no change in analysis or result
Intermediate and extreme mass-ratio inspirals — astrophysics, science applications and detection using LISA
Black hole binaries with extreme (gtrsim104:1) or intermediate (~102–104:1) mass ratios are among the most interesting gravitational wave sources that are expected to be detected by the proposed laser interferometer space antenna (LISA). These sources have the potential to tell us much about astrophysics, but are also of unique importance for testing aspects of the general theory of relativity in the strong field regime. Here we discuss these sources from the perspectives of astrophysics, data analysis and applications to testing general relativity, providing both a description of the current state of knowledge and an outline of some of the outstanding questions that still need to be addressed. This review grew out of discussions at a workshop in September 2006 hosted by the Albert Einstein Institute in Golm, Germany
Prospects for observing extreme-mass-ratio inspirals with LISA
One of the key astrophysical sources for the Laser Interferometer Space
Antenna (LISA) are the inspirals of stellar-origin compact objects into massive
black holes in the centres of galaxies. These extreme-mass-ratio inspirals
(EMRIs) have great potential for astrophysics, cosmology and fundamental
physics. In this paper we describe the likely numbers and properties of EMRI
events that LISA will observe. We present the first results computed for the
2.5 Gm interferometer that was the new baseline mission submitted in January
2017 in response to the ESA L3 mission call. In addition, we attempt to
quantify the astrophysical uncertainties in EMRI event rate estimates by
considering a range of different models for the astrophysical population. We
present both likely event rates and estimates for the precision with which the
parameters of the observed sources could be measured. We finish by discussing
the implications of these results for science using EMRIs.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 5 tables. These proceedings are a summary of the
results presented in arXiv:1703.0972
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