22,714 research outputs found
Really Cool Stars and the Star Formation History at the Galactic Center
We present R=550 to 1200 near infrared H and K spectra for a magnitude
limited sample of 79 asymptotic giant branch and cool supergiant stars in the
central ~ 5 pc (diameter) of the Galaxy. We use a set of similar spectra
obtained for solar neighborhood stars with known Teff and Mbol that is in the
same range as the Galactic center (GC) sample to derive Teff and Mbol for the
GC sample. We then construct the Hertzsprung--Russell (HRD) diagram for the GC
sample. Using an automated maximum likelihood routine, we derive a coarse star
formation history of the GC. We find (1) roughly 75% of the stars formed in the
central few pc are older than 5 Gyr; (2) the star formation rate (SFR) is
variable over time, with a roughly 4 times higher star formation rate in the
last 100 Myr compared to the average SFR; (3) our model can only match
dynamical limits on the total mass of stars formed by limiting the IMF to
masses above 0.7 M. This could be a signature of mass segregation or of
the bias toward massive star formation from the unique star formation
conditions in the GC; (4) blue supergiants account for 12 % of the total sample
observed, and the ratio of red to blue supergiants is roughly 1.5; (5) models
with isochrones with [Fe/H] = 0.0 over all ages fit the stars in our HRD better
than models with lower [Fe/H] in the oldest age bins, consistent with the
finding of Ramirez et al. (2000) that stars with ages between 10 Myr and 1 Gyr
have solar [Fe/H].Comment: ApJ, accepted. Latex, 65 pages including 19 figure
Autonomous Locomotion Mode Transition Simulation of a Track-legged Quadruped Robot Step Negotiation
Multi-modal locomotion (e.g. terrestrial, aerial, and aquatic) is gaining
increasing interest in robotics research as it improves the robots
environmental adaptability, locomotion versatility, and operational
flexibility. Within the terrestrial multiple locomotion robots, the advantage
of hybrid robots stems from their multiple (two or more) locomotion modes,
among which robots can select from depending on the encountering terrain
conditions. However, there are many challenges in improving the autonomy of the
locomotion mode transition between their multiple locomotion modes. This work
proposed a method to realize an autonomous locomotion mode transition of a
track-legged quadruped robot steps negotiation. The autonomy of the
decision-making process was realized by the proposed criterion to comparing
energy performances of the rolling and walking locomotion modes. Two climbing
gaits were proposed to achieve smooth steps negotiation behaviours for energy
evaluation purposes. Simulations showed autonomous locomotion mode transitions
were realized for negotiations of steps with different height. The proposed
method is generic enough to be utilized to other hybrid robots after some
pre-studies of their locomotion energy performances
ESTIMATION OF EFFICIENT REGRESSION MODELS FOR APPLIED AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS RESEARCH
This paper proposes and explores the use of a partially adaptive estimation technique to improve the reliability of the inferences made from multiple regression models when the dependent variable is not normally distributed. The relevance of this technique for agricultural economics research is evaluated through Monte Carlo simulation and two mainstream applications: A time-series analysis of agricultural commodity prices and an empirical model of the West Texas cotton basis. It is concluded that, given non-normality, this technique can substantially reduce the magnitude of the standard errors of the slope parameter estimators in relation to OLS, GLS and other least squares based estimation procedures, in practice, allowing for more precise inferences about the existence, sign and magnitude of the effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable of interest. In addition, the technique produces confidence intervals for the dependent variable forecasts that are more efficient and consistent with the observed data. Key Words: Efficient regression models, partially adaptive estimation, non-normality, skewness, heteroskedasticity, autocorrelation.Efficient regression models, partially adaptive estimation, non-normality, skewness, heteroskedasticity, autocorrelation., Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,
Von Neumann Regular Cellular Automata
For any group and any set , a cellular automaton (CA) is a
transformation of the configuration space defined via a finite memory set
and a local function. Let be the monoid of all CA over .
In this paper, we investigate a generalisation of the inverse of a CA from the
semigroup-theoretic perspective. An element is von
Neumann regular (or simply regular) if there exists
such that and , where is the composition of functions. Such an
element is called a generalised inverse of . The monoid
itself is regular if all its elements are regular. We
establish that is regular if and only if
or , and we characterise all regular elements in
when and are both finite. Furthermore, we study
regular linear CA when is a vector space over a field ; in
particular, we show that every regular linear CA is invertible when is
torsion-free elementary amenable (e.g. when ) and , and that every linear CA is regular when
is finite-dimensional and is locally finite with for all .Comment: 10 pages. Theorem 5 corrected from previous versions, in A.
Dennunzio, E. Formenti, L. Manzoni, A.E. Porreca (Eds.): Cellular Automata
and Discrete Complex Systems, AUTOMATA 2017, LNCS 10248, pp. 44-55, Springer,
201
ARE CROP YIELDS NORMALLY DISTRIBUTED?
This paper revisits the issue of crop yield distributions using improved model specifications, estimation and testing procedures that address the methodological concerns raised in recent literature that could have invalidated previous conclusions of yield non-normality. It shows beyond reasonable doubt that some crop yield distributions are non-normal, kurtotic and right or left skewed, depending on the circumstances. A procedure to jointly estimate non-normal farm- and aggregate-level yield distributions with similar means but different variances is illustrated, and the consequences of incorrectly assuming yield normality are explored.Yield non-normality, probability distribution function models, Corn Belt yields, West Texas dryland cotton yields, Crop Production/Industries,
The spectral properties of the Falicov-Kimball model in the weak-coupling limit
The and electron density of states of the one-dimensional
Falicov-Kimball model are studied in the weak-coupling limit by exact
diagonalization calculations. The resultant behaviors are used to examine the
-electron gap (), the -electron gap (), and the
-electron gap () as functions of the -level energy
and hybridization . It is shown that the spinless Falicov-Kimball model
behaves fully differently for zero and finite hybridization between and
states. At zero hybridization the energy gaps do not coincide (), and the activation gap vanishes
discontinuously at some critical value of the -level energy . On the
other hand, at finite hybridization all energy gaps coincide and vanish
continuously at the insulator-metal transition point . The
importance of these results for a description of real materials is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, LaTe
Critical behavior of self-assembled rigid rods on triangular and honeycomb lattices
Using Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling analysis, the critical
behavior of self-assembled rigid rods on triangular and honeycomb lattices at
intermediate density has been studied. The system is composed of monomers with
two attractive (sticky) poles that, by decreasing temperature or increasing
density, polymerize reversibly into chains with three allowed directions and,
at the same time, undergo a continuous isotropic-nematic (IN) transition. The
determination of the critical exponents, along with the behavior of Binder
cumulants, indicate that the IN transition belongs to the q=1 Potts
universality class.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
PAH Formation in O-rich Planetary Nebulae
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been observed in O-rich
planetary nebulae towards the Galactic Bulge. This combination of oxygen-rich
and carbon-rich material, known as dual-dust or mixed chemistry, is not
expected to be seen around such objects. We recently proposed that PAHs could
be formed from the photodissociation of CO in dense tori. In this work, using
VISIR/VLT, we spatially resolved the emission of the PAH bands and ionised
emission from the [SIV] line, confirming the presence of dense central tori in
all the observed O-rich objects. Furthermore, we show that for most of the
objects, PAHs are located at the outer edge of these dense/compact tori, while
the ionised material is mostly present in the inner parts of these tori,
consistent with our hypothesis for the formation of PAHs in these systems. The
presence of a dense torus has been strongly associated with the action of a
central binary star and, as such, the rich chemistry seen in these regions may
also be related to the formation of exoplanets in post-common-envelope binary
systems.Comment: 14, accepted for publication in the MNRAS Journa
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