14,149 research outputs found
Detecting the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect with stacked voids
The stacking of cosmic microwave background (CMB) patches has been recently
used to detect the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect (iSW). When focusing on the
locations of superstructures identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS),
Granett et al. (2008a, Gr08) found a signal with strong significance and an
amplitude reportedly higher than expected within the LambdaCDM paradigm. We
revisit the analysis using our own robust protocol, and extend the study to the
two most recent and largest catalogues of voids publicly available. We quantify
and subtract the level of foreground contamination in the stacked images and
determine the contribution on the largest angular scales from the first
multipoles of the CMB. We obtain the radial temperature and photometry profiles
from the stacked images. Using a Monte Carlo approach, we computed the
statistical significance of the profiles for each catalogue and identified the
angular scale at which the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) is maximum. We
essentially confirm the signal detection reported by Gr08, but for the other
two catalogues, a rescaling of the voids to the same size on the stacked image
is needed to find any significant signal (with a maximum at ~2.4 sigmas). This
procedure reveals that the photometry peaks at unexpectedly large angles in the
case of the Gr08 voids, in contrast to voids from other catalogues. Conversely,
the photometry profiles derived from the stacked voids of these other
catalogues contain small central hot spots of uncertain origin. We also stress
the importance of a posteriori selection effects that might arise when
intending to increase the S/N, and we discuss the possible impact of void
overlap and alignment effects. We argue that the interpretation in terms of an
iSW effect of any detected signal via the stacking method is far from obvious.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figures, 2 tables. Submitted, accepted and published in
A&A ; Minor changes to match the published version of the pape
A microscopic model for solidification
We present a novel picture of a non isothermal solidification process
starting from a molecular level, where the microscopic origin of the basic
mechanisms and of the instabilities characterizing the approach to equilibrium
is rendered more apparent than in existing approaches based on coarse grained
free energy functionals \`a la Landau.
The system is composed by a lattice of Potts spins, which change their state
according to the stochastic dynamics proposed some time ago by Creutz. Such a
method is extended to include the presence of latent heat and thermal
conduction.
Not only the model agrees with previous continuum treatments, but it allows
to introduce in a consistent fashion the microscopic stochastic fluctuations.
These play an important role in nucleating the growing solid phase in the melt.
The approach is also very satisfactory from the quantitative point of view
since the relevant growth regimes are fully characterized in terms of scaling
exponents.Comment: 7 pages Latex +3 figures.p
Steady-state, effective-temperature dynamics in a glassy material
We present an STZ-based analysis of numerical simulations by Haxton and Liu
(HL). The extensive HL data sharply test the basic assumptions of the STZ
theory, especially the central role played by the effective disorder
temperature as a dynamical state variable. We find that the theory survives
these tests, and that the HL data provide important and interesting constraints
on some of its specific ingredients. Our most surprising conclusion is that,
when driven at various constant shear rates in the low-temperature glassy
state, the HL system exhibits a classic glass transition, including
super-Arrhenius behavior, as a function of the effective temperature.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Thermodynamic dislocation theory of high-temperature deformation in aluminum and steel
The statistical-thermodynamic dislocation theory developed in previous papers
is used here in an analysis of high-temperature deformation of aluminum and
steel. Using physics-based parameters that we expect theoretically to be
independent of strain rate and temperature, we are able to fit experimental
stress-strain curves for three different strain rates and three different
temperatures for each of these two materials. Our theoretical curves include
yielding transitions at zero strain in agreement with experiment. We find that
thermal softening effects are important even at the lowest temperatures and
smallest strain rates.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Dynamics of Large-Scale Plastic Deformation and the Necking Instability in Amorphous Solids
We use the shear transformation zone (STZ) theory of dynamic plasticity to
study the necking instability in a two-dimensional strip of amorphous solid.
Our Eulerian description of large-scale deformation allows us to follow the
instability far into the nonlinear regime. We find a strong rate dependence;
the higher the applied strain rate, the further the strip extends before the
onset of instability. The material hardens outside the necking region, but the
description of plastic flow within the neck is distinctly different from that
of conventional time-independent theories of plasticity.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (eps), revtex4, added references, changed and
added content, resubmitted to PR
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