3,245 research outputs found
Atmospheric turbulence in phase-referenced and wide-field interferometric images: Application to the SKA
Phase referencing is a standard calibration procedure in radio
interferometry. It allows to detect weak sources by using quasi-simultaneous
observations of closeby sources acting as calibrators. Therefore, it is assumed
that, for each antenna, the optical paths of the signals from both sources are
similar. However, atmospheric turbulence may introduce strong differences in
the optical paths of the signals and affect, or even waste, phase referencing
for cases of relatively large calibrator-to-target separations and/or bad
weather. The situation is similar in wide-field observations, since the random
deformations of the images, mostly caused by atmospheric turbulence, have
essentially the same origin as the random astrometric variations of
phase-referenced sources with respect to the phase center of their calibrators.
In this paper, we present the results of a Monte Carlo study of the astrometric
precision and sensitivity of an interferometric array (a realization of the
Square Kilometre Array, SKA) in phase-referenced and wide-field observations.
These simulations can be extrapolated to other arrays by applying the
corresponding corrections. We consider several effects from the turbulent
atmosphere (i.e., ionosphere and wet component of the troposphere) and also
from the antenna receivers. We study the changes in dynamic range and
astrometric precision as a function of observing frequency, source separation,
and strength of the turbulence. We find that, for frequencies between 1 and 10
GHz, it is possible to obtain images with high fidelity, although the
atmosphere strongly limits the sensitivity of the instrument compared to the
case with no atmosphere. Outside this frequency window, the dynamic range of
the images and the accuracy of the source positions decrease. [...] (Incomplete
abstract. Please read manuscript.)Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A
Scalable Ellipsoidal Classification for Bipartite Quantum States
The Separability Problem is approached from the perspective of Ellipsoidal
Classification. A Density Operator of dimension N can be represented as a
vector in a real vector space of dimension , whose components are the
projections of the matrix onto some selected basis. We suggest a method to test
separability, based on successive optimization programs. First, we find the
Minimum Volume Covering Ellipsoid that encloses a particular set of properly
vectorized bipartite separable states, and then we compute the Euclidean
distance of an arbitrary vectorized bipartite Density Operator to this
ellipsoid. If the vectorized Density Operator falls inside the ellipsoid, it is
regarded as separable, otherwise it will be taken as entangled. Our method is
scalable and can be implemented straightforwardly in any desired dimension.
Moreover, we show that it allows for detection of Bound Entangled StatesComment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables. Revised version, to appear in Physical
Review
The spatial distribution of substellar objects in IC348 and the Orion Trapezium Cluster
Aims: Some theoretical scenarios suggest the formation of brown dwarfs as
ejected stellar embryos in star-forming clusters. Such a formation mechanism
can result in different spatial distributions of stars and substellar objects.
We aim to investigate the spatial structure of stellar and substellar objects
in two well sampled and nearby embedded clusters, namely IC348 and the Orion
Trapezium Cluster (OTC) to test this hypothesis. Methods:Deep near-infrared
K-band data complete enough to sample the substellar population in IC348 and
OTC are obtained from the literature. The spatial distribution of the K-band
point sources is analysed using the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) method. The Q
parameter and the spanning trees are evaluated for stellar and substellar
objects as a function of cluster core radius R. Results: The stellar
population in both IC348 and OTC display a clustered distribution whereas the
substellar population is distributed homogeneously in space within twice the
cluster core radius. Although the substellar objects do not appear to be bound
by the cluster potential well, they are still within the limits of the cluster
and not significantly displaced from their birth sites. Conclusions: The
spatially homogeneous distribution of substellar objects is best explained by
assuming higher initial velocities, distributed in a random manner and going
through multiple interactions. The overall spatial coincidence of these objects
with the cluster locations can be understood if these objects are nevertheless
travelling slowly enough so as to feel the gravitational effect of the cluster.
The observations support the formation of substellar objects as ``ejected
stellar embryos''. Higher ejection velocities are necessary but net spatial
displacements may not be necessary to explain the observational data.Comment: 4 pages. Accepted by A&A Letter
Charged particle production in the fragmentation of quark and gluon jets
Recent results on the total production and angular distribution of charged particles originated from the fragmentation of quark and gluon jets are presented. Experimental studies of the multiplicity as a function of the quark and gluon jet energy, the inter-jet particle flow and the individual fragmentation fucntions are reviewed and compared to expectations from QCD
Radio Emission from 3D Relativistic Hydrodynamic Jets: Observational Evidence of Jet Stratification
We present the first radio emission simulations from high resolution three
dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic jets, which allow for a study of the
observational implications of the interaction between the jet and external
medium. This interaction gives rise to a stratification of the jet where a fast
spine is surrounded by a slow high energy shear layer. The stratification, and
in particular the large specific internal energy and slow flow in the shear
layer largely determines the emission from the jet. If the magnetic field in
the shear layer becomes helical (e.g., resulting from an initial toroidal field
and an aligned field component generated by shear) the emission shows a cross
section asymmetry, in which either the top or the bottom of the jet dominates
the emission. This, as well as limb or spine brightening, is a function of the
viewing angle and flow velocity, and the top/bottom jet emission predominance
can be reversed if the jet changes direction with respect to the observer, or
presents a change in velocity. The asymmetry is more prominent in the polarized
flux, because of field cancellation (or amplification) along the line of sight.
Recent observations of jet cross section emission asymmetries in the blazar
1055+018 can be explained assuming the existence of a shear layer with a
helical magnetic field.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 1 latex style file, ApJL accepte
Experimental studies of QCD using flavour tagged jets with DELPHI
Identified and events from DELPHI are
used to measure the ratio of the mean charged particle multiplicity
distribution between gluon and quark jets. The dependence of this ratio with
the jet energy is established using about three million Z decays. Results
from all other detectors are discussed and compared. A nice agreement is found
among all them. The ratio between the normalized total three-jet cross sections
of and events is also
determined. The preliminary value obtained indicates that quarks are
experimentaly seen to radiate less than light quarks due to their higher mass.
The suggested experimental error is 300 MeV for the mass
determination at the M scale.Comment: Latex, 5 pages, 3 figures,to appear in the Proceedings of the High
Energy Physics International Euroconference on Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD
'96), Montpellier, France, 4-12th July 1996. Ed. S. Narison, Nucl Phys. B
(Proc. Suppl.
Optical spectroscopy of microquasar candidates at low galactic latitudes
We report optical spectroscopic observations of a sample of 6 low-galactic
latitude microquasar candidates selected by cross-identification of X-ray and
radio point source catalogs for |b|<5 degrees. Two objects resulted to be of
clear extragalactic origin, as an obvious cosmologic redshift has been measured
from their emission lines. For the rest, none exhibits a clear stellar-like
spectrum as would be expected for genuine Galactic microquasars. Their
featureless spectra are consistent with being extragalactic in origin although
two of them could be also highly reddened stars. The apparent non-confirmation
of our candidates suggests that the population of persistent microquasar
systems in the Galaxy is more rare than previously believed. If none of them is
galactic, the upper limit to the space density of new Cygnus X-3-like
microquasars within 15 kpc would be 1.1\times10^{-12} per cubic pc. A similar
upper limit for new LS 5039-like systems within 4 kpc is estimated to be
5.6\times10^{-11} per cubic pc.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Published in A&A, see
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2004A%26A...413..309
The influence of quantum dot size on the sub-bandgap intraband photocurrent in intermediate band solar cells
The effect of quantum dot (QD) size on the performance of quantum dot intermediate band solar cells is investigated. A numerical model is used to calculate the bound state energy levels and the absorption coefficient of transitions from the ground state to all other states in the conduction band. Comparing with the current state of the art, strong absorption enhancements are found for smaller quantum dots, as well as a better positioning of the energy levels, which is expected to reduce thermal carrier escape. It is concluded that reducing the quantum dot size can increase sub-bandgap photocurrent and improve voltage preservation
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