3,417 research outputs found
Scaling law in target-hunting processes
We study the hunting process for a target, in which the hunter tracks the
goal by smelling odors it emits. The odor intensity is supposed to decrease
with the distance it diffuses. The Monte Carlo experiment is carried out on a
2-dimensional square lattice. Having no idea of the location of the target, the
hunter determines its moves only by random attempts in each direction. By
sorting the searching time in each simulation and introducing a variable to
reflect the sequence of searching time, we obtain a curve with a wide plateau,
indicating a most probable time of successfully finding out the target. The
simulations reveal a scaling law for the searching time versus the distance to
the position of the target. The scaling exponent depends on the sensitivity of
the hunter. Our model may be a prototype in studying such the searching
processes as various foods-foraging behavior of the wild animals.Comment: 7 figure
The XMM-Newton slew survey in the 2-10 keV band
The XMM-Newton Slew Survey (XSS) covers a significant fraction of the sky in
a broad X-ray bandpass. Although shallow by contemporary standards, in the
`classical' 2-10 keV band of X-ray astronomy, the XSS provides significantly
better sensitivity than any currently available all-sky survey. We investigate
the source content of the XSS, focussing on detections in the 2-10 keV band
down to a very low threshold (> 4 counts net of background). At the faint end,
the survey reaches a flux sensitivity of roughly 3e-12 erg/cm2/s (2-10 keV).
Our starting point was a sample of 487 sources detected in the XMMSL1d2 XSS at
high galactic latitude in the hard band. Through cross-correlation with
published source catalogues from surveys spanning the electromagnetic spectrum
from radio to gamma-rays, we find that 45% of the sources have likely
identifications with normal/active galaxies, 18% are associated with other
classes of X-ray object (nearby coronally active stars, accreting binaries,
clusters of galaxies), leaving 37% of the XSS sources with no current
identification. We go on to define an XSS extragalactic hard band sample
comprised of 219 galaxies and active galaxies. We investigate the properties of
this extragalactic sample including its X-ray logN-logS distribution. We find
that in the low-count limit, the XSS is strongly affected by Eddington bias.
There is also a very strong bias in the XSS against the detection of extended
sources, most notably clusters of galaxies. A significant fraction of the
detections at and around the low-count limit may be spurious. Nevertheless, it
is possible to use the XSS to extract a reasonably robust sample of
extragalactic sources, excluding galaxy clusters. The differential logN-logS
relation of these extragalactic sources matches very well to the HEAO-1 A2
all-sky survey measurements at bright fluxes and to the 2XMM source counts at
the faint end.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, FITS table of XSS extragalactic sample
available from http://www.star.le.ac.uk/~amr30/Slew
The Influence of Motivation and Investment on the Length of Time Pilots Fly into Degraded Weather
Approximately 75% of weather-related accidents result in fatalities and are a primary safety concern in aviation. This study attempted to understand how financial motivation and time investment influence the length of time pilots fly into degraded weather. The sunk-cost effect claims that financially motivated pilots would continue longer when weather is encountered late in the flight. The results revealed that the financially motivated pilots continued longer than the non-financially motivated pilots when weather was encountered early in the flight. These results support the situation assessment hypothesis and cognitive anchoring. Specifically, how pilots assess the situation and utilize information obtained before making a decision can influence their decisions. Further research is needed to understand this relationship to possibly reduce the number of weather-related accidents and associated fatalities
The XMM-Newton Slew Survey
XMM-Newton, with the huge collecting area of its mirrors and the high quantum
efficiency of its EPIC detectors, is the most sensitive X-ray observatory ever
flown. This is strikingly evident during slew exposures, which, while yielding
only at most 14 seconds of on-source exposure time, actually constitute a 2-10
keV survey ten times deeper than all other "all-sky" surveys. The current
(April 2005) XMM archive contains 374 slew exposures which give a uniform
coverage over around 10,000 square degrees (approx. 25% of the sky). Here we
describe the results of pilot studies, the current status of the XMM-Newton
Slew Survey, up-to-date results and our progress towards constructing a
catalogue of slew detections in the full 0.2-12 keV energy band.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, XMM-Newton EPIC Consortium Meeting, Schloss
Ringberg, Germany, April 2005, to appear in MPE Repor
The XMM-Newton Slew Survey: Towards The Whole X-ray Sky and the Rarest X-ray Events
The data collected by XMM-Newton as it slews between pointings currently
cover almost half the entire sky, and many familiar features and new sources
are visible. The soft-band sensitivity limit of the Slew is close to that of
the RASS, and a large-area Slew-RASS comparison now provides the best
opportunity for discovering extremely rare high-variability objects.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of "X-ray Astronomy 2009: Present Status,
Multi-Wavelength Approach and Future Perspectives", Bologna, Italy, September
7-11, 2009, AIP, eds. A. Comastri, M. Cappi, and L. Angelin
Statistical evaluation of the flux cross-calibration of the XMM-Newton EPIC cameras
The second XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue, 2XMM, provides the
ideal data base for performing a statistical evaluation of the flux
cross-calibration of the XMM-Newton European Photon Imaging Cameras (EPIC). We
aim to evaluate the status of the relative flux calibration of the EPIC cameras
on board XMM-Newton (MOS1, MOS2, and pn) and investigate the dependence of the
calibration on energy, position in the field of view of the X-ray detectors,
and lifetime of the mission. We compiled the distribution of flux percentage
differences for large samples of 'good quality' objects detected with at least
two of the EPIC cameras. The mean offset of the fluxes and dispersion of the
distributions was then found by Gaussian fitting. Count rate to flux conversion
was performed with a fixed spectral model. The impact on the results of varying
this model was investigated. Excellent agreement was found between the two EPIC
MOS cameras to better than 4% from 0.2 keV to 12.0 keV. MOS cameras register
7-9% higher flux than pn below 4.5 keV and 10-13% flux excess above 4.5 keV. No
evolution of the flux ratios is seen with time, except at energies below 0.5
keV, where we found a strong decrease in the MOS to pn flux ratio with time.
This effect is known to be due to a gradually degrading MOS redistribution
function. The flux ratios show some dependence on distance from the optical
axis in the sense that the MOS to pn flux excess increases with off-axis angle.
Furthermore, in the 4.5-12.0 keV band there is a strong dependence of the MOS
to pn excess flux on the azimuthal-angle. These results strongly suggest that
the calibration of the Reflection Grating Array (RGA) blocking factors is
incorrect at high energies. Finally, we recommend ways to improve the
calculation of fluxes in future versions of XMM-Newton source catalogues.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables. Abridged Abstract. Accepted for
publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
Extended sources in the XMM-Newton slew survey
The low background, good spatial resolution and great sensitivity of the
EPIC-pn camera on XMM-Newton give useful limits for the detection of extended
sources even during the short exposures made during slewing maneouvers. In this
paper we attempt to illustrate the potential of the XMM-Newton slew survey as a
tool for analysing flux-limited samples of clusters of galaxies and other
sources of spatially extended X-ray emission.Comment: 2 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "The X-ray
Universe 2005", San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spain), 26-30 September 200
The XMM-Newton Slew Survey: towards the XMMSL1 catalogue
The XMM-Newton satellite is the most sensitive X-ray observatory flown to
date due to the great collecting area of its mirrors coupled with the high
quantum efficiency of the EPIC detectors. It performs slewing manoeuvers
between observation targets tracking almost circular orbits through the
ecliptic poles due to the Sun constraint. Slews are made with the EPIC cameras
open and the other instruments closed, operating with the observing mode set to
the one of the previous pointed observation and the medium filter in place.
Slew observations from the EPIC-pn camera in FF, eFF and LW modes provide
data, resulting in a maximum of 15 seconds of on-source time. These data can be
used to give a uniform survey of the X-ray sky, at great sensitivity in the
hard band compared with other X-ray all-sky surveys.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "The X-ray
Universe 2005", San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spain), 26-30 September 200
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