394 research outputs found
Lessons from Love-Locks: The archaeology of a contemporary assemblage
This document is the Accepted Manuscript version. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Journal of Material Culture, November 2017, published by SAGE Publishing, All rights reserved.Loss of context is a challenge, if not the bane, of the ritual archaeologist’s craft. Those who research ritual frequently encounter difficulties in the interpretation of its often tantalisingly incomplete material record. Careful analysis of material remains may afford us glimpses into past ritual activity, but our often vast chronological separation from the ritual practitioners themselves prevent us from seeing the whole picture. The archaeologist engaging with structured deposits, for instance, is often forced to study ritual assemblages post-accumulation. Many nuances of its formation, therefore, may be lost in interpretation. This paper considers what insights an archaeologist could gain into the place, people, pace, and purpose of deposition by recording an accumulation of structured deposits during its formation, rather than after. To answer this, the paper will focus on a contemporary depositional practice: the love-lock. This custom involves the inscribing of names/initials onto a padlock, its attachment to a bridge or other public structure, and the deposition of the corresponding key into the water below; a ritual often enacted by a couple as a statement of their romantic commitment. Drawing on empirical data from a three-year diachronic site-specific investigation into a love-lock bridge in Manchester, UK, the author demonstrates the value of contemporary archaeology in engaging with the often enigmatic material culture of ritual accumulations.Peer reviewe
A precessing accretion disc in the intermediate polar XY Ari?
XY Ari is the only intermediate polar to show deep X-ray eclipses of its
white dwarf. Previously published observations with Ginga and Chandra have also
revealed a broad X-ray orbital modulation, roughly antiphased with the eclipse,
and presumed to be due to absorption in an extended structure near the edge of
an accretion disc. The X-ray pulse profile is generally seen to be
double-peaked, although a single-peaked pulse was seen by RXTE during an
outburst in 1996.We intended to investigate the cause of the broad orbital
modulation in XY Ari to better understand the accretion flow in this system and
other intermediate polars. We observed XY Ari with RXTE and analysed previously
unpublished archival observations of the system made with ASCA and XMM-Newton.
These observations comprise six separate visits and span about ten years. The
various X-ray observations show that the broad orbital modulation varies in
phase and significance, then ultimately disappears entirely in the last few
years. In addition, the X-ray pulse profile shows variations in depth and
shape, and in the recent RXTE observations displays no evidence for changes in
hardness ratio. The observed changes indicates that both the pulse profile and
the orbital modulation are solely due to geometrical effects at the time of the
RXTE observations, rather than phase-dependent variations in photoelectric
absorption as seen previously. We suggest that this is evidence for a
precessing, tilted accretion disc in this system. The precession of the disc
moves structures out of our line of sight both at its outer edge (changing the
orbital modulation) and at its inner edge where the accretion curtains are
anchored (changing the pulse profile).Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
The Penny’s Dropped: Renegotiating the contemporary coin deposit
This is the Accepted Manuscript of the following article: Ceri Houlbrook, “The penny’s dropped: Renegotiating the contemporary coin deposit”, Journal of Material Culture, Vol. 20(2): 173-189, March 2015. The final published version is available at: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1359183515577120#articleCitationDownloadContainer © 2015, © SAGE Publications.This article examines the status of coins as contemporary deposits in the British Isles. With a focus on both historical and contemporary sites, from the Neolithic long barrow of Wayland’s Smithy, Oxfordshire, to the plethora of wishing-wells and coin-trees distributed across the British Isles, it demonstrates the popularity of coins as ritual deposits. The author considers how they are perceived and treated by site custodians, and concludes with a case study of an archaeological excavation, the 2013 Ardmaddy Wishing-Tree Project, which recovered a large amount of contemporary coin deposits. This article does not aim to locate itself within the debates of site custodianship and accessibility, nor does it propose to address the broader dilemmas of a site’s ritual continuity or resurgence. Instead, its aim is to encourage archaeologists to consider the contemporary deposit as an integral part of the ritual narrative of a site, rather than as disposable ‘ritual litter’.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
Gravitational waves from a test particle scattered by a neutron star: Axial mode case
Using a metric perturbation method, we study gravitational waves from a test
particle scattered by a spherically symmetric relativistic star. We calculate
the energy spectrum and the waveform of gravitational waves for axial modes.
Since metric perturbations in axial modes do not couple to the matter fluid of
the star, emitted waves for a normal neutron star show only one peak in the
spectrum, which corresponds to the orbital frequency at the turning point,
where the gravitational field is strongest. However, for an ultracompact star
(the radius ), another type of resonant periodic peak appears in
the spectrum. This is just because of an excitation by a scattered particle of
axial quasinormal modes, which were found by Chandrasekhar and Ferrari. This
excitation comes from the existence of the potential minimum inside of a star.
We also find for an ultracompact star many small periodic peaks at the
frequency region beyond the maximum of the potential, which would be due to a
resonance of two waves reflected by two potential barriers (Regge-Wheeler type
and one at the center of the star). Such resonant peaks appear neither for a
normal neutron star nor for a Schwarzschild black hole. Consequently, even if
we analyze the energy spectrum of gravitational waves only for axial modes, it
would be possible to distinguish between an ultracompact star and a normal
neutron star (or a Schwarzschild black hole).Comment: 21 pages, revtex, 11 figures are attached with eps files Accepted to
Phys. Rev.
FS Aur - a new class of Cataclysmic Variables or the missing link between Intermediate Polars and SW Sex objects?
FS Aur is a known dwarf nova with an orbital period of about 85.7 minutes. It
has been assumed to be a member of the SU UMa subclass of cataclysmic variables
(CVs), but previous searches for superhumps and superoutburst have been
unsuccessful. We conducted a series of photometric and spectroscopic
observations of FS Aur during quiescence. We confirmed its short orbital period
from radial velocity measurements. However, the long-term photometry revealed
an unexpected result: the system also shows a distinct 0.24 mag modulation in
the BVR photometric bands with a period of 205.5 min, which is 2.4 times longer
than the orbital period. We discuss various possible causes for such a peculiar
behavior.Comment: 12 pages, 1 table, 12 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
Inhibition of Cdc42 activity extends lifespan and decreases circulating inflammatory cytokines in aged female C57BL/6 mice
Cdc42 is a small RhoGTPase regulating multiple functions in eukaryotic cells. The activity of Cdc42 is significantly elevated in several tissues of aged mice, while the Cdc42 gain-of-activity mouse model presents with a premature aging-like phenotype and with decreased lifespan. These data suggest a causal connection between elevated activity of Cdc42, aging, and reduced lifespan. Here, we demonstrate that systemic treatment of aged (75-week-old) female C57BL/6 mice with a Cdc42 activity-specific inhibitor (CASIN) for 4 consecutive days significantly extends average and maximum lifespan. Moreover, aged CASIN-treated animals displayed a youthful level of the aging-associated cytokines IL-1β, IL-1α, and INFγ in serum and a significantly younger epigenetic clock as based on DNA methylation levels in blood cells. Overall, our data show that systemic administration of CASIN to reduce Cdc42 activity in aged mice extends murine lifespan
Restricting quark matter models by gravitational wave observation
We consider the possibilities for obtaining information about the equation of
state for quark matter by using future direct observational data on
gravitational waves. We study the nonradial oscillations of both fluid and
spacetime modes of pure quark stars. If we observe the and the lowest
modes from quark stars, by using the simultaneously obtained
radiation radius we can constrain the bag constant with reasonable
accuracy, independently of the quark mass.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.
Search for Yukawa Production of a Light Neutral Higgs Boson at LEP
Within a Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM) a search for a light Higgs boson in
the mass range of 4-12 GeV has been performed in the Yukawa process e+e- -> b
bbar A/h -> b bbar tau+tau-, using the data collected by the OPAL detector at
LEP between 1992 and 1995 in e+e- collisions at about 91 GeV centre-of-mass
energy. A likelihood selection is applied to separate background and signal.
The number of observed events is in good agreement with the expected
background. Within a CP-conserving 2HDM type II model the cross-section for
Yukawa production depends on xiAd = |tan beta| and xihd = |sin alpha/cos beta|
for the production of the CP-odd A and the CP-even h, respectively, where tan
beta is the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the Higgs doublets and
alpha is the mixing angle between the neutral CP-even Higgs bosons. From our
data 95% C.L. upper limits are derived for xiAd within the range of 8.5 to 13.6
and for xihd between 8.2 to 13.7, depending on the mass of the Higgs boson,
assuming a branching fraction into tau+tau- of 100%. An interpretation of the
limits within a 2HDM type II model with Standard Model particle content is
given. These results impose constraints on several models that have been
proposed to explain the recent BNL measurement of the muon anomalous magnetic
moment.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, Submitted to Euro. Phys. J.
Tests of model of color reconnection and a search for glueballs using gluon jets with a rapidity gap
Gluon jets with a mean energy of 22 GeV and purity of 95% are selected from
hadronic Z0 decay events produced in e+e- annihilations. A subsample of these
jets is identified which exhibits a large gap in the rapidity distribution of
particles within the jet. After imposing the requirement of a rapidity gap, the
gluon jet purity is 86%. These jets are observed to demonstrate a high degree
of sensitivity to the presence of color reconnection, i.e. higher order QCD
processes affecting the underlying color structure. We use our data to test
three QCD models which include a simulation of color reconnection: one in the
Ariadne Monte Carlo, one in the Herwig Monte Carlo, and the other by Rathsman
in the Pythia Monte Carlo. We find the Rathsman and Ariadne color reconnection
models can describe our gluon jet measurements only if very large values are
used for the cutoff parameters which serve to terminate the parton showers, and
that the description of inclusive Z0 data is significantly degraded in this
case. We conclude that color reconnection as implemented by these two models is
disfavored. The signal from the Herwig color reconnection model is less clear
and we do not obtain a definite conclusion concerning this model. In a separate
study, we follow recent theoretical suggestions and search for glueball-like
objects in the leading part of the gluon jets. No clear evidence is observed
for these objects.Comment: 42 pages, 18 figure
Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson with the OPAL Detector at LEP
This paper summarises the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in e+e-
collisions at centre-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV performed by the OPAL
Collaboration at LEP. The consistency of the data with the background
hypothesis and various Higgs boson mass hypotheses is examined. No indication
of a signal is found in the data and a lower bound of 112.7GeV/C^2 is obtained
on the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson at the 95% CL.Comment: 51 pages, 21 figure
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