11,553 research outputs found
A Study of Giant Pulses from PSR J1824-2452A
We have searched for microsecond bursts of emission from millisecond pulsars
in the globular cluster M28 using the Parkes radio telescope. We detected a
total of 27 giant pulses from the known emitter PSR J1824-2452A. At wavelengths
around 20 cm the giant pulses are scatter-broadened to widths of around 2
microseconds and follow power-law statistics. The pulses occur in two narrow
phase-windows which correlate in phase with X-ray emission and trail the peaks
of the integrated radio pulse-components. Notably, the integrated radio
emission at these phase windows has a steeper spectral index than other
emission. The giant pulses exhibit a high degree of polarization, with many
being 100% elliptically polarized. Their position angles appear random.
Although the integrated emission of PSR J1824-2452A is relatively stable for
the frequencies and bandwidths observed, the intensities of individual giant
pulses vary considerably across our bands. Two pulses were detected at both
2700 and 3500 MHz. The narrower of the two pulses is 20 ns wide at 3500 MHz. At
2700 MHz this pulse has an inferred brightness temperature at maximum of 5 x
10^37 K. Our observations suggest the giant pulses of PSR J1824-2452A are
generated in the same part of the magnetosphere as X-ray emission through a
different emission process to that of ordinary pulses.Comment: Accepted by Ap
Correlation of Fermi photons with high-frequency radio giant pulses from the Crab pulsar
To constrain the giant pulse (GP) emission mechanism and test the model of
Lyutikov (2007) for GP emission, we have carried out a campaign of simultaneous
observations of the Crab pulsar at gamma-ray (Fermi) and radio (Green Bank
Telescope) wavelengths. Over 10 hours of simultaneous observations we obtained
a sample of 2.1x10^4 giant pulses, observed at a radio frequency of 9 GHz, and
77 Fermi photons, with energies between 100 MeV and 5 GeV. The majority of GPs
came from the interpulse (IP) phase window. We found no change in the GP
generation rate within 10-120 s windows at lags of up to +-40 min of observed
gamma-ray photons. The 95% upper limit for a gamma-ray flux enhancement in
pulsed emission phase window around all GPs is 4 times the average pulsed
gamma-ray flux from the Crab. For the subset of IP GPs, the enhancement upper
limit, within the IP emission window, is 12 times the average pulsed gamma-ray
flux. These results suggest that GPs, at least high-frequency IP GPs, are due
to changes in coherence of radio emission rather than an overall increase in
the magnetospheric particle density.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures; to appear in The Astrophysical Journal, February
201
Sex distribution of offspring-parents obesity: Angel's hypothesis revisited
This study, which is based on two cross sectional surveys' data, aims to establish any effect of parental obesity sex distribution of offspring and to replicate the results that led to the hypothesis that obesity may be associated with sex-linked recessive lethal gene. A representative sample of 4,064 couples living in Renfrew/Paisley, Scotland was surveyed 1972-1976. A total of 2,338 offspring from 1,477 of the couples screened in 1972-1976, living in Paisley, were surveyed in 1996. In this study, males represented 47.7% among the total offspring of the couples screened in 1972-1976. In the first survey there was a higher male proportion of offspring (53%, p < 0.05) from parents who were both obese, yet this was not significant after adjustment for age of parents. Also, there were no other significant differences in sex distribution of offspring according to body mass index, age, or social class of parents. The conditions of the original 1949 study of Angel (1949) (which proposed a sex-linked lethal recessive gene) were simulated by selecting couples with at least one obese daughter. In this subset, (n = 409), obesity in fathers and mothers was associated with 26% of offspring being male compared with 19% of offspring from a non-obese father and obese mother. Finally we conclude that families with an obese father have a higher proportion of male offspring. These results do not support the long-established hypotheses of a sex-linked recessive lethal gene in the etiology of obesity
A synthesis of plant invasion effects on biodiversity across spatial scales
PREMISE OF THE STUDY:
Invasive plant species are typically thought to pose a large threat to native biodiversity, and local-scale studies typically confirm this view. However, plant invaders rarely cause regional extirpations or global extinctions, causing some to suggest that invasive species\u27 influence on native biodiversity may not be so dire. We aim to synthesize the seemingly conflicting literature in plant invasion biology by evaluating the effects of invasive plant species across spatial scales. METHODS:
We first conducted a meta-analysis on the effects of invasive plants on the species richness of invaded communities across a range of spatial extents. We then discuss studies that consider the role of invasive plants on regional spatial scales for which such meta-analyses are not possible. Finally, we develop a conceptual framework to synthesize the influence of invasive species across spatial scales by explicitly recognizing how invasive species alter species-occupancy distributions. KEY RESULTS:
We found a negative relationship between the spatial extent of the study and the effect size of invasive plants on species richness. Our simulation models suggest that this result can occur if invaders, either proportionately or disproportionately, reduce the occupancy of common species to a greater degree than rare species. CONCLUSIONS:
Future studies should consider the influence of invaders on the abundance and occupancy-level changes in native species to inform how invasive plants will influence native species richness relationships across spatial scales. This approach will allow greater predictive ability for forecasting changes in biodiversity in the face of anthropogenic biological invasions and will inform invasive species management and restoration
Kinetic pinning and biological antifreezes
Biological antifreezes protect cold-water organisms from freezing. An example
are the antifreeze proteins (AFPs) that attach to the surface of ice crystals
and arrest growth. The mechanism for growth arrest has not been heretofore
understood in a quantitative way. We present a complete theory based on a
kinetic model. We use the `stones on a pillow' picture. Our theory of the
suppression of the freezing point as a function of the concentration of the AFP
is quantitatively accurate. It gives a correct description of the dependence of
the freezing point suppression on the geometry of the protein, and might lead
to advances in design of synthetic AFPs.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Entanglement in coined quantum walks on regular graphs
Published versio
Long time deviation from exponential decay: non-integral power laws
Quantal systems are predicted to show a change-over from exponential decay to
power law decay at very long times. Although most theoretical studies predict
integer power-law exponents, recent measurements by Rothe et al. of decay
luminescence of organic molecules in solution {Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 (2006)
163601} found non-integer exponents in most cases. We propose a physical
mechanism, within the realm of scattering from potentials with long tails,
which produces a continuous range of power law exponents. In the tractable case
of the repulsive inverse square potential, we demonstrate a simple relation
between the strength of the long range tail and the power law exponent. This
system is amenable to experimental scrutiny
Enhancement of the electric dipole moment of the electron in the YbF molecule
We calculate an effective electric field on the unpaired electron in the YbF
molecule. This field determines sensitivity of the molecular experiment to the
electric dipole moment of the electron. We use experimental value of the
spin-doubling constant to estimate the admixture of the configuration with the
hole in the 4f-shell of Ytterbium to the ground state of the molecule. This
admixture reduces the field by 7%. Our value for the effictive field is 5.1
a.u. = 2.5 10^{10} V/cm.Comment: 5 pages, LATEX, uses revtex.st
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