4,736 research outputs found
Topology of Neutral Hydrogen Within the Small Magellanic Cloud
In this paper, genus statistics have been applied to an HI column density map
of the Small Magellanic Cloud in order to study its topology. To learn how
topology changes with the scale of the system, we provide the study of topology
for column density maps at varying resolution. To evaluate the statistical
error of the genus we randomly reassign the phases of the Fourier modes while
keeping the amplitudes. We find, that at the smallest scales studied () the genus shift is in all regions negative,
implying a clump topology. At the larger scales () the topology shift is detected to be negative in 4 cases and positive
(``swiss cheese'' topology) in 2 cases. In 4 regions there is no statistically
significant topology shift at large scales
Testing for Non-Gaussianity in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Data: Minkowski Functionals and the Length of the Skeleton
The three Minkowski functionals and the recently defined length of the
skeleton are estimated for the co-added first-year Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data and compared with 5000 Monte Carlo simulations,
based on Gaussian fluctuations with the a-priori best-fit running-index power
spectrum and WMAP-like beam and noise properties. Several power
spectrum-dependent quantities, such as the number of stationary points, the
total length of the skeleton, and a spectral parameter, gamma, are also
estimated. While the area and length Minkowski functionals and the length of
the skeleton show no evidence for departures from the Gaussian hypothesis, the
northern hemisphere genus has a chi^2 that is large at the 95% level for all
scales. For the particular smoothing scale of 3.40 degrees FWHM it is larger
than that found in 99.5% of the simulations. In addition, the WMAP genus for
negative thresholds in the northern hemisphere has an amplitude that is larger
than in the simulations with a significance of more than 3 sigma. On the
smallest angular scales considered, the number of extrema in the WMAP data is
high at the 3 sigma level. However, this can probably be attributed to the
effect of point sources. Finally, the spectral parameter gamma is high at the
99% level in the northern Galactic hemisphere, while perfectly acceptable in
the southern hemisphere. The results provide strong evidence for the presence
of both non-Gaussian behavior and an unexpected power asymmetry between the
northern and southern hemispheres in the WMAP data.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Liquid droplet radiator program at the NASA Lewis Research Center
The NASA Lewis Research Center and the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (AFRPL) are jointly engaged in a program for technical assessment of the Liquid Droplet Radiator (LDR) concept as an advanced high performance heat ejection component for future space missions. NASA Lewis has responsibility for the technology needed for the droplet generator, for working fluid qualification, and for investigating the physics of droplets in space; NASA Lewis is also conducting systems/mission analyses for potential LDR applications with candidate space power systems. For the droplet generator technology task, both micro-orifice fabrication techniques and droplet stream formation processes have been experimentally investigated. High quality micro-orifices (to 50 micron diameter) are routinely fabricated with automated equipment. Droplet formation studies have established operating boundaries for the generation of controlled and uniform droplet streams. A test rig is currently being installed for the experimental verification, under simulated space conditions, of droplet radiation heat transfer performance analyses and the determination of the effect radiative emissivity of multiple droplet streams. Initial testing has begun in the NASA Lewis Zero-Gravity Facility for investigating droplet stream behavior in microgravity conditions. This includes the effect of orifice wetting on jet dynamics and droplet formation. Results for both Brayton and Stirling power cycles have identified favorable mass and size comparisons of the LDR with conventional radiator concepts
An experimental route to spatiotemporal chaos in an extended 1D oscillators array
We report experimental evidence of the route to spatiotemporal chaos in a
large 1D-array of hotspots in a thermoconvective system. Increasing the driving
force, a stationary cellular pattern becomes unstable towards a mixed pattern
of irregular clusters which consist of time-dependent localized patterns of
variable spatiotemporal coherence. These irregular clusters coexist with the
basic cellular pattern. The Fourier spectra corresponding to this
synchronization transition reveals the weak coupling of a resonant triad. This
pattern saturates with the formation of a unique domain of great spatiotemporal
coherence. As we further increase the driving force, a supercritical
bifurcation to a spatiotemporal beating regime takes place. The new pattern is
characterized by the presence of two stationary clusters with a characteristic
zig-zag geometry. The Fourier analysis reveals a stronger coupling and enables
to find out that this beating phenomena is produced by the splitting of the
fundamental spatiotemporal frequencies in a narrow band. Both secondary
instabilities are phase-like synchronization transitions with global and
absolute character. Far beyond this threshold, a new instability takes place
when the system is not able to sustain the spatial frequency splitting,
although the temporal beating remains inside these domains. These experimental
results may support the understanding of other systems in nature undergoing
similar clustering processes.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figure
Formation of primordial black holes from non-Gaussian perturbations produced in a waterfall transition
We consider the process of primordial black hole (PBH) formation originated
from primordial curvature perturbations produced during waterfall transition
(with tachyonic instability), at the end of hybrid inflation. It is known that
in such inflation models, rather large values of curvature perturbation
amplitudes can be reached, which can potentially cause a significant PBH
production in the early Universe. The probability distributions of density
perturbation amplitudes in this case can be strongly non-Gaussian, which
requires a special treatment. We calculated PBH abundances and PBH mass spectra
for the model, and analyzed their dependence on model parameters. We obtained
the constraints on the parameters of the inflationary potential, using the
available limits on .Comment: v2: 11 pages, 4 figures. Several comments and references added.
Version accepted by Phys. Rev.
General Statistical properties of the CMB Polarization field
The distribution of the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
in the sky is determined by the hypothesis of random Gaussian distribution of
the primordial density perturbations. This hypotheses is well motivated by the
inflationary cosmology. Therefore, the test of consistency of the statistical
properties of the CMB polarization field with the Gaussianity of primordial
density fluctuations is a realistic way to study the nature of primordial
inhomogeneities in the Universe. This paper contains the theoretical
predictions of the general statistical properties of the CMB polarization
field. All results obtained under assumption of the Gaussian nature of the
signal. We pay the special attention to the following two problems. First, the
classification and statistics of the singular points of the polarization field
where polarization is equal to zero. Second, the topology of contours of the
value of the degree of polarization. We have investigated the percolation
properties for the zones of ``strong'' and ``weak'' polarization. We also have
calculated Minkowski functionals for the CMB polarization field. All results
are analytical.Comment: Latex, 22 pages, including 5 figure
The ergodicity bias in the observed galaxy distribution
The spatial distribution of galaxies we observed is subject to the given
condition that we, human beings are sitting right in a galaxy -- the Milky Way.
Thus the ergodicity assumption is questionable in interpretation of the
observed galaxy distribution. The resultant difference between observed
statistics (volume average) and the true cosmic value (ensemble average) is
termed as the ergodicity bias. We perform explicit numerical investigation of
the effect for a set of galaxy survey depths and near-end distance cuts. It is
found that the ergodicity bias in observed two- and three-point correlation
functions in most cases is insignificant for modern analysis of samples from
galaxy surveys and thus close a loophole in precision cosmology. However, it
may become non-negligible in certain circumstances, such as those applications
involving three-point correlation function at large scales of local galaxy
samples. Thus one is reminded to take extra care in galaxy sample construction
and interpretation of the statistics of the sample, especially when the
characteristic redshift is low.Comment: Revised version published as JCAP08(2010)01
Evolution of the Pairwise Peculiar Velocity Distribution Function in Lagrangian Perturbation Theory
The statistical distribution of the radial pairwise peculiar velocity of
galaxies is known to have an exponential form as implied by observations and
explicitly shown in N-body simulations. Here we calculate its statistical
distribution function using the Zel'dovich approximation assuming that the
primordial density fluctuations are Gaussian distributed. We show that the
exponential distribution is realized as a transient phenomena on megaparsec
scales in the standard cold-dark-matter model.Comment: 19 pages, 8 Postscript figures, AAS LaTe
Energy conditions in f(R) gravity and Brans-Dicke theories
The equivalence between f(R) gravity and scalar-tensor theories is invoked to
study the null, strong, weak and dominant energy conditions in Brans-Dicke
theory. We consider the validity of the energy conditions in Brans-Dicke theory
by invoking the energy conditions derived from a generic f(R) theory. The
parameters involved are shown to be consistent with an accelerated expanding
universe.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, to appear in IJMP
Primordial magnetic field and spectral distortion of cosmic background radiation
The role played by a primordial magnetic field during the pre-recombination
epoch is analysed through the cyclotron radiation (due to the free electrons)
it might produce in the primordial plasma. We discuss the constraint implied by
the measurement or lack thereof COBE on this primordial field.Comment: to appear in International Journal of Mod. Phy
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