3,789 research outputs found
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Stochastic parameterization: uncertainties from convection
In 2005, the ECMWF held a workshop on stochastic parameterisation, at which the convection was seen as being
a key issue. That much is clear from the working group reports and particularly the statement from working group
1 that “it is clear that a stochastic convection scheme is desirable”. The present note aims to consider our current
status in comparison with some of the issues raised and hopes expressed in that working group report
Are the distributions of Fast Radio Burst properties consistent with a cosmological population?
High time resolution radio surveys over the last few years have discovered a
population of millisecond-duration transient bursts called Fast Radio Bursts
(FRBs), which remain of unknown origin. FRBs exhibit dispersion consistent with
propagation through a cold plasma and dispersion measures indicative of an
origin at cosmological distances. In this paper we perform Monte Carlo
simulations of a cosmological population of FRBs, based on assumptions
consistent with observations of their energy distribution, their spatial
density as a function of redshift and the properties of the interstellar and
intergalactic media. We examine whether the dispersion measures, fluences,
inferred redshifts, signal-to-noises and effective widths of known FRBs are
consistent with a cosmological population. Statistical analyses indicate that
at least 50 events at Parkes are required to distinguish between a constant
co-moving FRB density, and a FRB density that evolves with redshift like the
cosmological star formation rate density.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 3 table
Herschel evidence for disk flattening or gas depletion in transitional disks
Transitional disks are protoplanetary disks characterized by reduced near-
and mid-infrared emission with respect to full disks. This characteristic
spectral energy distribution indicates the presence of an optically thin inner
cavity within the dust disk believed to mark the disappearance of the
primordial massive disk. We present new Herschel Space Observatory PACS spectra
of [OI] 63 micron for 21 transitional disks. Our survey complements the larger
Herschel GASPS program "Gas in Protoplanetary Systems" (Dent et al. 2013) by
quadrupling the number of transitional disks observed with PACS at this
wavelength. [OI] 63 micron traces material in the outer regions of the disk,
beyond the inner cavity of most transitional disks. We find that transitional
disks have [OI] 63 micron line luminosities two times fainter than their full
disk counterparts. We self consistently determine various stellar properties
(e.g. bolometric luminosity, FUV excess, etc.) and disk properties (e.g. disk
dust mass, etc.) that could influence the [OI] 63 micron line luminosity and we
find no correlations that can explain the lower [OI] 63 micron line
luminosities in transitional disks. Using a grid of thermo-chemical
protoplanetary disk models, we conclude that either transitional disks are less
flared than full disks or they possess lower gas-to-dust ratios due to a
depletion of gas mass. This result suggests that transitional disks are more
evolved than their full disk counterparts, possibly even at large radii.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 52 pages, 16 figures, 8 table
Optical coherence tomography angiography: a non-invasive tool to image end-arterial system
Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a relatively novel technology for in vivo imaging of vascular network. It uses moving erythrocytes as contrasting mechanism and avoids the use of intravenous dyes. A depth-resolved 3-dimensional image set can be generated within seconds using the technique of OCTA. Therefore, it possesses a great potential for widespread application in ophthalmic angiography. Herein we discuss the most common technologies behind OCTA and the scope of future technical improvement. We provide a perspective on advantages and disadvantages of OCTA over conventional fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography. Lastly, current literature on the clinical application of OCTA in common ocular diseases including neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal artery and vein occlusion, and glaucoma are reviewed
Relativistic spin precession in the binary PSR J11416545
PSR J11416545 is a precessing binary pulsar that has the rare potential to
reveal the two-dimensional structure of a non-recycled pulsar emission cone. It
has undergone of relativistic spin precession in the
years since its discovery. In this paper, we present a detailed Bayesian
analysis of the precessional evolution of the width of the total intensity
profile, to understand the changes to the line-of-sight impact angle ()
of the pulsar using four different physically motivated prior distribution
models. Although we cannot statistically differentiate between the models with
confidence, the temporal evolution of the linear and circular polarisations
strongly argue that our line-of-sight crossed the magnetic pole around MJD
54000 and that only two models remain viable. For both these models, it appears
likely that the pulsar will precess out of our line-of-sight in the next
years, assuming a simple beam geometry. Marginalising over suggests
that the pulsar is a near-orthogonal rotator and provides the first
polarization-independent estimate of the scale factor () that
relates the pulsar beam opening angle () to its rotational period ()
as : we find it to be at 1.4
GHz with 99\% confidence. If all pulsars emit from opposite poles of a dipolar
magnetic field with comparable brightness, we might expect to see evidence of
an interpulse arising in PSR J11416545, unless the emission is patchy.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter
Recommended from our members
Evaluation of the Plant–Craig stochastic convection scheme (v2.0) in the ensemble forecasting system MOGREPS-R (24 km) based on the Unified Model (v7.3)
The Plant–Craig stochastic convection parameterization (version 2.0) is implemented in the Met Office Regional Ensemble Prediction System (MOGREPS-R) and is assessed in comparison with the standard convection scheme with a simple stochastic scheme only, from random parameter variation. A set of 34 ensemble forecasts, each with 24 members, is considered, over the month of July 2009. Deterministic and probabilistic measures of the precipitation forecasts are assessed. The Plant–Craig parameterization is found to improve probabilistic forecast measures, particularly the results for lower precipitation thresholds. The impact on deterministic forecasts at the grid scale is neutral, although the Plant–Craig scheme does deliver improvements when forecasts are made over larger areas. The improvements found are greater in conditions of relatively weak synoptic forcing, for which convective precipitation is likely to be less predictable
Kondo resonances and anomalous gate dependence of electronic conduction in single-molecule transistors
We report Kondo resonances in the conduction of single-molecule transistors
based on transition metal coordination complexes. We find Kondo temperatures in
excess of 50 K, comparable to those in purely metallic systems. The observed
gate dependence of the Kondo temperature is inconsistent with observations in
semiconductor quantum dots and a simple single-dot-level model. We discuss
possible explanations of this effect, in light of electronic structure
calculations.Comment: 5 pages, four figures. Supplementary material at
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~natelson/publications.htm
Killing tensors in pp-wave spacetimes
The formal solution of the second order Killing tensor equations for the
general pp-wave spacetime is given. The Killing tensor equations are integrated
fully for some specific pp-wave spacetimes. In particular, the complete
solution is given for the conformally flat plane wave spacetimes and we find
that irreducible Killing tensors arise for specific classes. The maximum number
of independent irreducible Killing tensors admitted by a conformally flat plane
wave spacetime is shown to be six. It is shown that every pp-wave spacetime
that admits an homothety will admit a Killing tensor of Koutras type and, with
the exception of the singular scale-invariant plane wave spacetimes, this
Killing tensor is irreducible.Comment: 18 page
Maximum Azimuthal Anisotropy of Neutrons from Nb-Nb Collisions at 400 AMeV and the Nuclear Equation of State
We measured the first azimuthal distributions of triple--differential cross
sections of neutrons emitted in heavy-ion collisions, and compared their
maximum azimuthal anisotropy ratios with Boltzmann--Uehling--Uhlenbeck (BUU)
calculations with a momentum-dependent interaction. The BUU calculations agree
with the triple- and double-differential cross sections for positive rapidity
neutrons emitted at polar angles from 7 to 27 degrees; however, the maximum
azimuthal anisotropy ratio for these free neutrons is insensitive to the size
of the nuclear incompressibility modulus K characterizing the nuclear matter
equation of state.Comment: Typeset using ReVTeX, with 3 ps figs., uuencoded and appende
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