1,286 research outputs found
Chaplygin gas in light of recent Integrated Sachs--Wolfe effect data
We investigate the possibility of constraining Chaplygin dark energy models
with current Integrated Sachs Wolfe effect data. In the case of a flat universe
we found that generalized Chaplygin gas models must have an energy density such
that and an equation of state at 95% c.l.. We also
investigate the recently proposed Silent Chaplygin models, constraining
and at 95% c.l.. Better measurements of the CMB-LSS
correlation will be possible with the next generation of deep redshift surveys.
This will provide independent and complementary constraints on unified dark
energy models such as the Chaplygin gas.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Online trajectory planning and filtering for robotic applications via B-spline smoothing filters
In this paper, a novel technique for online generating trajectories in the 3-D space is presented. The trajectory planner is based on cubic B-splines. However, while the definition of B-splines requires the solution of a global problem that involves the entire set of via-points to be interpolated/ approximated, and therefore it is not suitable for online implementation, the proposed generator is able to approximate spline functions with the prescribed precision on the basis of local computations, which only need the knowledge of a very limited number of via-points. FIR filters are the foundation of this result. As a matter of fact the planner is composed by a first FIR filter for the computation of the control points from the sequence of desired via-points, followed by a chain of moving average filters. Therefore, the generator combines the characteristics of B-spline trajectories (smoothness and minimum curvature) and those of FIR filters (simple structure and computational efficiency). Moreover, besides standard cubic curves, the so-called smoothing B-splines have been considered for online trajectory generation. This allows to find a tradeoff between the possibility of exactly crossing the given via-points and the smoothness of the resulting trajectory. A simple teleoperation task with a Puma 560 industrial manipulator has been arranged for experimentally validating the proposed method. \ua9 2013 IEEE
Still flat after all these years
The Universe could be spatially flat, positively curved or negatively curved.
Each option has been popular at various times, partly affected by an
understanding that models tend to evolve away from flatness. The curvature of
the Universe is amenable to measurement, through tests such as the
determination of the angles of sufficiently large triangles. The angle
subtended by the characteristic scale on the Cosmic Microwave sky provides a
direct test, which has now been realised through a combination of exquisite
results from a number of CMB experiments.
After a long and detailed investigation, with many false clues, it seems that
the mystery of the curvature of the Universe is now solved. It's an open and
shut case: the Universe is flat.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to the Gravity Research Foundation
Essay Competition for 200
Planck-scale modifications to Electrodynamics characterized by a space-like symmetry-breaking vector
In the study of Planck-scale ("quantum-gravity induced") violations of
Lorentz symmetry, an important role was played by the deformed-electrodynamics
model introduced by Myers and Pospelov. Its reliance on conventional effective
quantum field theory, and its description of symmetry-violation effects simply
in terms of a four-vector with nonzero component only in the time-direction,
rendered it an ideal target for experimentalists and a natural concept-testing
ground for many theorists. At this point however the experimental limits on the
single Myers-Pospelov parameter, after improving steadily over these past few
years, are "super-Planckian", {\it i.e.} they take the model out of actual
interest from a conventional quantum-gravity perspective. In light of this we
here argue that it may be appropriate to move on to the next level of
complexity, still with vectorial symmetry violation but adopting a generic
four-vector. We also offer a preliminary characterization of the phenomenology
of this more general framework, sufficient to expose a rather significant
increase in complexity with respect to the original Myers-Pospelov setup. Most
of these novel features are linked to the presence of spatial anisotropy, which
is particularly pronounced when the symmetry-breaking vector is space-like, and
they are such that they reduce the bound-setting power of certain types of
observations in astrophysics
Cosmic Microwave Background Temperature at Galaxy Clusters
We have deduced the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature in the Coma
cluster (A1656, ), and in A2163 () from spectral
measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect over four passbands at radio
and microwave frequencies. The resulting temperatures at these redshifts are
K and K, respectively. These values confirm the expected
relation , where K is the value
measured by the COBE/FIRAS experiment. Alternative scaling relations that are
conjectured in non-standard cosmologies can be constrained by the data; for
example, if or , then
and (at 95% confidence). We
briefly discuss future prospects for more precise SZ measurements of at
higher redshifts.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, ApJL accepted for publicatio
Optimizing Observational Strategy for Future Fgas Constraints
The Planck cluster catalog is expected to contain of order a thousand galaxy
clusters, both newly discovered and previously known, detected through the
Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect over the redshift range 0 < z < 1. Follow-up X-ray
observations of a dynamically relaxed sub-sample of newly discovered Planck
clusters will improve constraints on the dark energy equation-of-state found
through measurement of the cluster gas mass fraction fgas. In view of follow-up
campaigns with XMM-Newton and Chandra, we determine the optimal redshift
distribution of a cluster sample to most tightly constrain the dark energy
equation of state. The distribution is non-trivial even for the standard w0-wa
parameterization. We then determine how much the combination of expected data
from the Planck satellite and fgas data will be able to constrain the dark
energy equation-of-state. Our analysis employs a Markov Chain Monte Carlo
method as well as a Fisher Matrix analysis. We find that these upcoming data
will be able to improve the figure-of-merit by at least a factor two.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Triple Experiment Spectrum of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect in the Coma Cluster: H_0
The Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect was previously measured in the Coma cluster
by the Owens Valley Radio Observatory and Millimeter and IR Testa Grigia
Observatory experiments and recently also with the Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe satellite. We assess the consistency of these results and
their implications on the feasibility of high-frequency SZ work with
ground-based telescopes. The unique data set from the combined measurements at
six frequency bands is jointly analyzed, resulting in a best-fit value for the
Thomson optical depth at the cluster center, tau_{0}=(5.35 \pm 0.67) 10^{-3}.
The combined X-ray and SZ determined properties of the gas are used to
determine the Hubble constant. For isothermal gas with a \beta density profile
we derive H_0 = 84 \pm 26 km/(s\cdot Mpc); the (1\sigma) error includes only
observational SZ and X-ray uncertainties.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur
Nontrivial Geometries: Bounds on the Curvature of the Universe
Probing the geometry of the universe is one of the most important endevours
in cosmology. Current observational data from the Cosmic Microwave Background
anisotropy (CMB), galaxy surveys and type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) strongly
constrain the curvature of the universe to be close to zero for a universe
dominated by a cosmological constant or dark energy with a constant equation of
state. Here we investigate the role of cosmic priors on deriving these tight
bounds on geometry, by considering a landscape motivated scenario with an
oscillating curvature term. We perform a likelihood analysis of current data
under such a model of non-trivial geometry and find that the uncertainties on
curvature, and correspondingly on parameters of the matter and dark energy
sectors, are larger. Future dark energy experiments together with CMB data from
experiments like Planck could dramatically improve our ability to constrain
cosmic curvature under such models enabling us to probe possible imprints of
quantum gravity.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures. Submitte
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