34,404 research outputs found
Spherical Orbifolds for Cosmic Topology
Harmonic analysis is a tool to infer cosmic topology from the measured
astrophysical cosmic microwave background CMB radiation. For overall positive
curvature, Platonic spherical manifolds are candidates for this analysis. We
combine the specific point symmetry of the Platonic manifolds with their deck
transformations. This analysis in topology leads from manifolds to orbifolds.
We discuss the deck transformations of the orbifolds and give eigenmodes for
the harmonic analysis as linear combinations of Wigner polynomials on the
3-sphere. These provide new tools for detecting cosmic topology from the CMB
radiation.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1011.427
Axial symmetry and conformal Killing vectors
Axisymmetric spacetimes with a conformal symmetry are studied and it is shown
that, if there is no further conformal symmetry, the axial Killing vector and
the conformal Killing vector must commute. As a direct consequence, in
conformally stationary and axisymmetric spacetimes, no restriction is made by
assuming that the axial symmetry and the conformal timelike symmetry commute.
Furthermore, we prove that in axisymmetric spacetimes with another symmetry
(such as stationary and axisymmetric or cylindrically symmetric spacetimes) and
a conformal symmetry, the commutator of the axial Killing vector with the two
others mush vanish or else the symmetry is larger than that originally
considered. The results are completely general and do not depend on Einstein's
equations or any particular matter content.Comment: 15 pages, Latex, no figure
The von Karman equations, the stress function, and elastic ridges in high dimensions
The elastic energy functional of a thin elastic rod or sheet is generalized
to the case of an M-dimensional manifold in N-dimensional space. We derive
potentials for the stress field and curvatures and find the generalized von
Karman equations for a manifold in elastic equilibrium. We perform a scaling
analysis of an M-1 dimensional ridge in an M = N-1 dimensional manifold. A
ridge of linear size X in a manifold with thickness h << X has a width w ~
h^{1/3}X^{2/3} and a total energy E ~ h^{M} (X/h)^{M-5/3}. We also prove that
the total bending energy of the ridge is exactly five times the total
stretching energy. These results match those of A. Lobkovsky [Phys. Rev. E 53,
3750 (1996)] for the case of a bent plate in three dimensions.Comment: corrected references, 27 pages, RevTeX + epsf, 2 figures, Submitted
to J. Math. Phy
A Bayesian method for pulsar template generation
Extracting Times of Arrival from pulsar radio signals depends on the
knowledge of the pulsars pulse profile and how this template is generated. We
examine pulsar template generation with Bayesian methods. We will contrast the
classical generation mechanism of averaging intensity profiles with a new
approach based on Bayesian inference. We introduce the Bayesian measurement
model imposed and derive the algorithm to reconstruct a "statistical template"
out of noisy data. The properties of these "statistical templates" are analysed
with simulated and real measurement data from PSR B1133+16. We explain how to
put this new form of template to use in analysing secondary parameters of
interest and give various examples: We implement a nonlinear filter for
determining ToAs of pulsars. Applying this method to data from PSR J1713+0747
we derive ToAs self consistently, meaning all epochs were timed and we used the
same epochs for template generation. While the average template contains
fluctuations and noise as unavoidable artifacts, we find that the "statistical
template" derived by Bayesian inference quantifies fluctuations and remaining
uncertainty. This is why the algorithm suggested turns out to reconstruct
templates of statistical significance from ten to fifty single pulses. A moving
data window of fifty pulses, taking out one single pulse at the beginning and
adding one at the end of the window unravels the characteristics of the methods
to be compared. It shows that the change induced in the classical
reconstruction is dominated by random fluctuations for the average template,
while statistically significant changes drive the dynamics of the proposed
method's reconstruction. The analysis of phase shifts with simulated data
reveals that the proposed nonlinear algorithm is able to reconstruct correct
phase information along with an acceptable estimation of the remaining
uncertainty.Comment: 21 pages, 16 figures, submitted to MNRA
Crustal deformation, the earthquake cycle, and models of viscoelastic flow in the asthenosphere
The crustal deformation patterns associated with the earthquake cycle can depend strongly on the rheological properties of subcrustal material. Substantial deviations from the simple patterns for a uniformly elastic earth are expected when viscoelastic flow of subcrustal material is considered. The detailed description of the deformation pattern and in particular the surface displacements, displacement rates, strains, and strain rates depend on the structure and geometry of the material near the seismogenic zone. The origin of some of these differences are resolved by analyzing several different linear viscoelastic models with a common finite element computational technique. The models involve strike-slip faulting and include a thin channel asthenosphere model, a model with a varying thickness lithosphere, and a model with a viscoelastic inclusion below the brittle slip plane. The calculations reveal that the surface deformation pattern is most sensitive to the rheology of the material that lies below the slip plane in a volume whose extent is a few times the fault depth. If this material is viscoelastic, the surface deformation pattern resembles that of an elastic layer lying over a viscoelastic half-space. When the thickness or breath of the viscoelastic material is less than a few times the fault depth, then the surface deformation pattern is altered and geodetic measurements are potentially useful for studying the details of subsurface geometry and structure. Distinguishing among the various models is best accomplished by making geodetic measurements not only near the fault but out to distances equal to several times the fault depth. This is where the model differences are greatest; these differences will be most readily detected shortly after an earthquake when viscoelastic effects are most pronounced
Spatially Dependent Parameter Estimation and Nonlinear Data Assimilation by Autosynchronization of a System of Partial Differential Equations
Given multiple images that describe chaotic reaction-diffusion dynamics,
parameters of a PDE model are estimated using autosynchronization, where
parameters are controlled by synchronization of the model to the observed data.
A two-component system of predator-prey reaction-diffusion PDEs is used with
spatially dependent parameters to benchmark the methods described. Applications
to modelling the ecological habitat of marine plankton blooms by nonlinear data
assimilation through remote sensing is discussed
Jamming under tension in polymer crazes
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study a unique expanded jammed
state. Tension transforms many glassy polymers from a dense glass to a network
of fibrils and voids called a craze. Entanglements between polymers and
interchain friction jam the system after a fixed increase in volume. As in
dense jammed systems, the distribution of forces is exponential, but they are
tensile rather than compressive. The broad distribution of forces has important
implications for fibril breakdown and the ultimate strength of crazes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Spark Model for Pulsar Radiation Modulation Patterns
A non-stationary polar gap model first proposed by Ruderman & Sutherland
(1975) is modified and applied to spark-associated pulsar emission at radio
wave-lengths. It is argued that under physical and geometrical conditions
prevailing above pulsar polar cap, highly non-stationary spark discharges do
not occur at random positions. Instead, sparks should tend to operate in well
determined preferred regions. At any instant the polar cap is populated as
densely as possible with a number of two-dimensional sparks with a
characteristic dimension as well as a typical distance between adjacent sparks
being about the polar gap height. Our model differs, however, markedly from its
original 'hollow cone' version. The key feature is the quasi-central spark
driven by pair production process and anchored to the local pole of a
sunspot-like surface magnetic field. This fixed spark prevents the motion of
other sparks towards the pole, restricting it to slow circumferential drift
across the planes of field lines converging at the local pole. We argue that
the polar spark constitutes the core pulsar emission, and that the annular
rings of drifting sparks contribute to conal components of the pulsar beam. We
found that the number of nested cones in the beam of typical pulsar should not
excced three; a number also found by Mitra & Deshpande (1999) using a
completely different analysis.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures, accepted by Ap
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