1,117 research outputs found
OH rotational lines as a diagnostic of the warm neutral gas in galaxies
We present Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) observations of several OH, CH
and H2O rotational lines toward the bright infrared galaxies NGC253 and
NGC1068. As found in the Galactic clouds in SgrB2 and Orion, the extragalactic
far-IR OH lines change from absorption to emission depending on the physical
conditions and distribution of gas and dust along the line of sight. As a
result, most of the OH rotational lines that appear in absorption toward NGC253
are observed in emission toward NGC1068. We show that the far-IR spectrum of OH
can be used as a powerful diagnostic to derive the physical conditions of
extragalactic neutral gas. In particular, we find that a warm (Tk~150 K, n(H2)<
5 10^4 cm^-3) component of molecular gas with an OH abundance of 10^{-7} from
the inner <15'' can qualitatively reproduce the OH lines toward NGC253. Similar
temperatures but higher densities (5 10^5 cm^-3) are required to explain the OH
emission in NGC1068.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted in ApJ Part I (2004, October 6
ISO spectroscopy of compact HII regions in the Galaxy. II Ionization and elemental abundances
Based on the ISO spectral catalogue of compact HII regions by Peeters et al.
(2001), we present a first analysis of the hydrogen recombination and atomic
fine-structure lines originated in the ionized gas. The sample consists of 34
HII regions located at galactocentric distances between Rgal = 0 and 15 kpc.
The SWS HI recombination lines between 2 and 8 mum are used to estimate the
extinction law at these wavelengths for 14 HII regions. An extinction in the K
band between 0 and 3 mag. has been derived. The fine-structure lines of
N, O, Ne, S and Ar are detected in most of the sources. Most of these elements
are observed in two different ionization stages probing a range in ionization
potential up to 41 eV. The ISO data, by itself or combined with radio data
taken from the literature, is used to derive the elemental abundances relative
to hydrogen. The present data thus allow us to describe for each source its
elemental abundance, its state of ionization and to constrain the properties of
the ionizing star(s).Comment: Accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 22 pages, 20 figures, 9
table
ISO observations of far-infrared rotational emission lines of water vapor toward the supergiant star VY Canis Majoris
We report the detection of numerous far-infrared emission lines of water
vapor toward the supergiant star VY Canis Majoris. A 29.5 - 45 micron grating
scan of VY CMa, obtained using the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) of the
Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) at a spectral resolving power of approximately
2000, reveals at least 41 spectral features due to water vapor that together
radiate a total luminosity ~ 25 solar luminosities. In addition to pure
rotational transitions within the ground vibrational state, these features
include rotational transitions within the (010) excited vibrational state. The
spectrum also shows the doublet Pi 1/2 (J=5/2) <-- doublet Pi 3/2 (J=3/2) OH
feature near 34.6 micron in absorption. Additional SWS observations of VY CMa
were carried out in the instrument's Fabry-Perot mode for three water
transitions: the 7(25)-6(16) line at 29.8367 micron, the 4(41)-3(12) line
31.7721 micron, and the 4(32)-3(03) line at 40.6909 micron. The higher spectral
resolving power of approximately 30,000 thereby obtained permits the line
profiles to be resolved spectrally for the first time and reveals the "P Cygni"
profiles that are characteristic of emission from an outflowing envelope.Comment: 11 pages (inc. 2 figures), LaTeX, uses aaspp4.sty, accepted for
publication in ApJ Letter
Long range transport of ultra cold atoms in a far-detuned 1D optical lattice
We present a novel method to transport ultra cold atoms in a focused optical
lattice over macroscopic distances of many Rayleigh ranges. With this method
ultra cold atoms were transported over 5 cm in 250 ms without significant atom
loss or heating. By translating the interference pattern together with the beam
geometry the trap parameters are maintained over the full transport range.
Thus, the presented method is well suited for tightly focused optical lattices
that have sufficient trap depth only close to the focus. Tight focusing is
usually required for far-detuned optical traps or traps that require high laser
intensity for other reasons. The transport time is short and thus compatible
with the operation of an optical lattice clock in which atoms are probed in a
well designed environment spatially separated from the preparation and
detection region.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Statistical coverage for supersymmetric parameter estimation: a case study with direct detection of dark matter
Models of weak-scale supersymmetry offer viable dark matter (DM) candidates.
Their parameter spaces are however rather large and complex, such that pinning
down the actual parameter values from experimental data can depend strongly on
the employed statistical framework and scanning algorithm. In frequentist
parameter estimation, a central requirement for properly constructed confidence
intervals is that they cover true parameter values, preferably at exactly the
stated confidence level when experiments are repeated infinitely many times.
Since most widely-used scanning techniques are optimised for Bayesian
statistics, one needs to assess their abilities in providing correct confidence
intervals in terms of the statistical coverage. Here we investigate this for
the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM) when only
constrained by data from direct searches for dark matter. We construct
confidence intervals from one-dimensional profile likelihoods and study the
coverage by generating several pseudo-experiments for a few benchmark sets of
pseudo-true parameters. We use nested sampling to scan the parameter space and
evaluate the coverage for the benchmarks when either flat or logarithmic priors
are imposed on gaugino and scalar mass parameters. The sampling algorithm has
been used in the configuration usually adopted for exploration of the Bayesian
posterior. We observe both under- and over-coverage, which in some cases vary
quite dramatically when benchmarks or priors are modified. We show how most of
the variation can be explained as the impact of explicit priors as well as
sampling effects, where the latter are indirectly imposed by physicality
conditions. For comparison, we also evaluate the coverage for Bayesian credible
intervals, and observe significant under-coverage in those cases.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures; v2 includes major updates in response to
referee's comments; extra scans and tables added, discussion expanded, typos
corrected; matches published versio
Dust and the spectral energy distribution of the OH/IR star OH 127.8+0.0: Evidence for circumstellar metallic iron
We present a fit to the spectral energy distribution of OH 127.8+0.0, a
typical asymptotic giant branch star with an optically thick circumstellar dust
shell. The fit to the dust spectrum is achieved using non-spherical grains
consisting of metallic iron, amorphous and crystalline silicates and water ice.
Previous similar attempts have not resulted in a satisfactory fit to the
observed spectral energy distributions, mainly because of an apparent lack of
opacity in the 3--8 micron region of the spectrum. Non-spherical metallic iron
grains provide an identification for the missing source of opacity in the
near-infrared. Using the derived dust composition, we have calculated spectra
for a range of mass-loss rates in order to perform a consistency check by
comparison with other evolved stars. The L-[12 micron] colours of these models
correctly predict the mass-loss rate of a sample of AGB stars, strengthening
our conclusion that the metallic iron grains dominate the near-infrared flux.
We discuss a formation mechanism for non-spherical metallic iron grains.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication by A&
Single-field inflation constraints from CMB and SDSS data
We present constraints on canonical single-field inflation derived from WMAP
five year, ACBAR, QUAD, BICEP data combined with the halo power spectrum from
SDSS LRG7. Models with a non-scale-invariant spectrum and a red tilt n_s < 1
are now preferred over the Harrison-Zel'dovich model (n_s = 1, tensor-to-scalar
ratio r = 0) at high significance. Assuming no running of the spectral indices,
we derive constraints on the parameters (n_s, r) and compare our results with
the predictions of simple inflationary models. The marginalised credible
intervals read n_s = 0.962^{+0.028}_{-0.026} and r < 0.17 (at 95% confidence
level). Interestingly, the 68% c.l. contours favour mainly models with a convex
potential in the observable region, but the quadratic potential model remains
inside the 95% c.l. contours. We demonstrate that these results are robust to
changes in the datasets considered and in the theoretical assumptions made. We
then consider a non-vanishing running of the spectral indices by employing
different methods, non-parametric but approximate, or parametric but exact.
With our combination of CMB and LSS data, running models are preferred over
power-law models only by a Delta chi^2 ~ 5.8, allowing inflationary stages
producing a sizable negative running -0.063^{+0.061}_{-0.049} and larger
tensor-scalar ratio r < 0.33 at the 95% c.l. This requires large values of the
third derivative of the inflaton potential within the observable range. We
derive bounds on this derivative under the assumption that the inflaton
potential can be approximated as a third order polynomial within the observable
range.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures. v2: additional references, some typos corrected,
passed to JCAP style. v3: minor changes, matches published versio
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Feasibility of Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting in Ovarian Tumors for T1 and T2 Mapping in a PET/MR Setting.
Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to characterize many cancer subtypes including ovarian cancer. Quantitative mapping of MRI relaxation values, such as T 1 and T 2 mapping, is promising for improving tumor assessment beyond conventional qualitative T 1- and T 2-weighted images. However, quantitative MRI relaxation mapping methods often involve long scan times due to sequentially measuring many parameters. Magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) is a new method that enables fast quantitative MRI by exploiting the transient signals caused by the variation of pseudorandom sequence parameters. These transient signals are then matched to a simulated dictionary of T 1 and T 2 values to create quantitative maps. The ability of MRF to simultaneously measure multiple parameters, could represent a new approach to characterizing cancer and assessing treatment response. This feasibility study investigates MRF for simultaneous T 1, T 2, and relative proton density (rPD) mapping using ovarian cancer as a model system
Probing dust grain evolution in IM Lupi's circumstellar disc. Multi-wavelength observations and modelling of the dust disc
We present a panchromatic study, involving a multiple technique approach, of
the circumstellar disc surrounding the T Tauri star IM Lupi (Sz 82). We have
undertaken a comprehensive observational study of IM Lupi using photometry,
spectroscopy, millimetre interferometry and multi-wavelength imaging. For the
first time, the disc is resolved from optical and near-infrared wavelengths in
scattered light, to the millimetre regime in thermal emission. Our data-set, in
conjunction with existing photometric data, provides an extensive coverage of
the spectral energy distribution, including a detailed spectrum of the silicate
emission bands. We have performed a simultaneous modelling of the various
observations, using the radiative transfer code MCFOST, and analysed a grid of
models over a large fraction of the parameter space via Bayesian inference. We
have constructed a model that can reproduce all of the observations of the
disc. Our analysis illustrates the importance of combining a wide range of
observations in order to fully constrain the disc model, with each observation
providing a strong constraint only on some aspects of the disc structure and
dust content. Quantitative evidence of dust evolution in the disc is obtained:
grain growth up to millimetre-sized particles, vertical stratification of dust
grains with micrometric grains close to the disc surface and larger grains
which have settled towards the disc midplane, and possibly the formation of
fluffy aggregates and/or ice mantles around grains.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
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