2,417 research outputs found
First Cluster results of the magnetic field structure of the mid- and high-altitude cusps
International audienceMagnetic field measurements from the four Cluster spacecraft from the mid- and high-altitude cusp are presented. Cluster underwent two encounters with the mid-altitude cusp during its commissioning phase (24 August 2000). Evidence for field-aligned currents (FACs) was seen in the data from all three operating spacecraft from northern and southern cusps. The extent of the FACs was of the order of 1 RE in the X-direction, and at least 300 km in the Y-direction. However, fine-scale field structures with scales of the order of the spacecraft separation (300 km) were observed within the FACs. In the northern crossing, two of the spacecraft appeared to lie along the same magnetic field line, and observed very well matched signals. However, the third spacecraft showed evidence for structuring transverse to the field on scales of a few hundred km. A crossing of the high-altitude cusp from 13 February 2001 is presented. It is revealed to be a highly dynamic structure with the boundaries moving with velocities ranging from a few km/s to tens of km/s, and having structure on timescales ranging from less than one minute up to several minutes. The cusp proper is associated with the presence of a very disordered magnetic field, which is entirely different from the magnetosheath turbulence
Galaxy bimodality versus stellar mass and environment
We analyse a z<0.1 galaxy sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey focusing
on the variation of the galaxy colour bimodality with stellar mass and
projected neighbour density Sigma, and on measurements of the galaxy stellar
mass functions. The characteristic mass increases with environmental density
from about 10^10.6 Msun to 10^10.9 Msun (Kroupa IMF, H_0=70) for Sigma in the
range 0.1--10 per Mpc^2. The galaxy population naturally divides into a red and
blue sequence with the locus of the sequences in colour-mass and
colour-concentration index not varying strongly with environment. The fraction
of galaxies on the red sequence is determined in bins of 0.2 in log Sigma and
log mass (12 x 13 bins). The red fraction f_r generally increases continuously
in both Sigma and mass such that there is a unified relation: f_r =
F(Sigma,mass). Two simple functions are proposed which provide good fits to the
data. These data are compared with analogous quantities in semi-analytical
models based on the Millennium N-body simulation: the Bower et al. (2006) and
Croton et al. (2006) models that incorporate AGN feedback. Both models predict
a strong dependence of the red fraction on stellar mass and environment that is
qualitatively similar to the observations. However, a quantitative comparison
shows that the Bower et al. model is a significantly better match; this appears
to be due to the different treatment of feedback in central galaxies.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures; accepted by MNRAS, minor change
Self Assembly and Optical Properties of Dendrimer Nanocomposite Multilayers
Ultrathin multilayers are important for electrical and optical devices, as well as for immunoassays, artificial organs, and for controlling surface properties. The construction of ultrathin multilayer films by electrostatic layer-by-layer deposition proved to be a popular and successful method to create films with a range of electrical, optical, and biological properties. Dendrimer nanocomposites (DNCs) form highly uniform hybrid (inorganic–organic) nanoparticles with controlled composition and architecture. In this work, the fabrication, characterization, and optical properties of ultrathin dendrimer/poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) and silver–DNC/PSS nanocomposite multilayers using layer-by-layer (LbL) electrostatic assembly techniques are described. UV-vis spectra of the multilayers were found to be a combination of electronic transitions of the surface plasmon peaks, and the regular frequency modulations attributable to the multilayered film structure. The modulations appeared as the consequence of the highly regular and non-intermixed multilayer growth as a function of the resulting structure. A simple model to explain the experimental data is presented. Use of DNCs in multilayers results in abrupt, flat, and uniform interfaces.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56176/1/1032_ftp.pd
Testing for Markovian Character and Modeling of Intermittency in Solar Wind Turbulence
We present results of statistical analysis of solar wind turbulence using an
approach based on the theory of Markov processes. It is shown that the
Chapman-Kolmogorov equation is approximately satisfied for the turbulent
cascade. We evaluate the first two Kramers-Moyal coefficients from experimental
data and show that the solution of the resulting Fokker-Planck equation agrees
well with experimental probability distributions. Our results suggest the
presence of a local transfer mechanism for magnetic field fluctuations in solar
wind turbulence
Uncertainties In Direct Neutron Capture Calculations Due To Nuclear Structure Models
The prediction of cross sections for nuclei far off stability is crucial in
the field of nuclear astrophysics. For spherical nuclei close to the dripline
the statistical model (Hauser-Feshbach) approach is not applicable and direct
contributions may dominate the cross sections. For neutron-rich, even-even Sn
targets, we compare the resulting neutron capture cross sections when
consistently taking the input for the direct capture calculations from three
different microscopic models. The results underline the sensitivity of cross
sections calculated in the direct model to nuclear structure models which can
lead to high uncertainties when lacking experimental information.Comment: 4 pages, using espcrc1.sty, Proc. Intl. Conf. "Nuclei in the Cosmos
IV", Univ. Notre Dame 1996, Nucl. Phys. A, in press. A postscript version can
also be obtained from http://quasar.physik.unibas.ch/research.htm
A Robust AFPTAS for Online Bin Packing with Polynomial Migration
In this paper we develop general LP and ILP techniques to find an approximate
solution with improved objective value close to an existing solution. The task
of improving an approximate solution is closely related to a classical theorem
of Cook et al. in the sensitivity analysis for LPs and ILPs. This result is
often applied in designing robust algorithms for online problems. We apply our
new techniques to the online bin packing problem, where it is allowed to
reassign a certain number of items, measured by the migration factor. The
migration factor is defined by the total size of reassigned items divided by
the size of the arriving item. We obtain a robust asymptotic fully polynomial
time approximation scheme (AFPTAS) for the online bin packing problem with
migration factor bounded by a polynomial in . This answers
an open question stated by Epstein and Levin in the affirmative. As a byproduct
we prove an approximate variant of the sensitivity theorem by Cook at el. for
linear programs
Alfvén waves in the near-PSBL lobe: Cluster observations
Electromagnetic low-frequency waves in the magnetotail lobe close to the PSBL (Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer) are studied using the Cluster spacecraft. The lobe waves show Alfvénic properties and transport their wave energy (Poynting flux) on average toward the Earth along magnetic field lines. Most of the wave events are rich with oxygen (O+) ion plasma. The rich O+ plasma can serve to enhance the magnetic field fluctuations, resulting in a greater likelihood of observation, but it does not appear to be necessary for the generation of the waves. Taking into account the fact that all events are associated with auroral electrojet enhancements, the source of the lobe waves might be a substorm-associated instability, i.e. some instability near the reconnection site, or an ion beam-related instability in the PSBL
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