CMB polarization as a probe of the anomalous nature of the Cold Spot

One of the most interesting explanations for the non-Gaussian Cold Spot (CS) detected in the WMAP data by Vielva et al. 2004, is that it arises from the interaction of the CMB radiation with a cosmic texture (Cruz et al. 2007b). In this case, a lack of polarization is expected in the region of the spot, as compared to the typical values associated to large fluctuations of a GIRF. In addition, other physical processes related to a non-linear evolution of the gravitational field could lead to a similar scenario. However, some of these alternative scenarios (e.g., a large void in the large scale structure) have been shown to be very unlikely. In this work we characterise the polarization properties of the Cold Spot under both hypotheses: a large Gaussian spot and an anomalous feature generated, for instance, by a cosmic texture. We propose a methodology to distinguish between them, and we discuss its discrimination power as a function of the instrumental noise level. In particular, we address the cases of current experiments, like WMAP and Planck, and others in development as QUIJOTE. We find that for an ideal experiment the Gaussian hypothesis could be rejected at a significance level better than 0.8%. While WMAP is far from providing useful information in this respect, we find that Planck will be able to reach a significance of around 7%; in addition, we show that the ground-based experiment QUIJOTE could provide a significance of around 1%. If these results are combined with the significance level found for the CS in temperature, the capability of QUIJOTE and Planck to reject the alternative hypothesis becomes 0.025% and 0.124%, respectively.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted in MNRAS. Minor changes made to match the final versio

EL MODELO DEL PEZ: HERRAMIENTA DE APOYO EN FORMULACIÓN DE PROYECTOS

The inefficiency in the way of addressing the methodology of formulation and evaluation of projects produces suggestionsof inarticulate investment proposals; therefore, the objective was to design a model for representation, analysis andinterpretation, which allows understanding, learning, explaining and teaching in a practical, easy, fast and orderedmanner, the logical way of focusing the development of the formulation method, basing its design in five components ofthe fish: tail, center, mouth, fin 1 and fin 2. It was shown that applying this model, it is possible to achieve efficiency in thedevelopment of the process and coherent investment proposals can be elaborated, accompanied by programming andplanning of activities, which allow fulfilling the objectives at a significant level.La ineficiencia en la forma de abordar la metodología de formulación y evaluación de proyectos, produce planteamientosde propuestas de inversión desarticulados, por ello, el objetivo fue diseñar un modelo de representación, análisis einterpretación, que permitiera entender, aprender, explicar y enseñar de manera práctica, fácil, rápida y ordenada, laforma lógica de enfocar el desarrollo del método de formulación, basando su diseño en cinco componentes del pez:cola, centro, boca, aleta 1 y aleta 2. Se demostró que aplicando este modelo, es posible lograr eficiencia en el desarrollodel proceso y se pueden elaborar propuestas de inversión coherentes acompañadas de programación y planificación deactividades, que permiten cumplir los objetivos a nivel significativo

Analysis and forecasting of time series by averaged scalar products of flow vectors

The relationship between the quality of state space reconstruction and the accuracy in time series forecasting is analyzed. The averaged scalar product of the dynamical system flowvectors has been used to give a degree of determinism to the selected state space reconstruction. This value helps distinguish between those regions of the state space here predictions will be accurate and those where they are not . A time series measured in an industri al environment where noise is present is used as an example. It is shown that prediction methods used to estimate futu re values play a less important role than a good reconstruction of the state space itself.Grateful acknowledgment is due to the ESPRIT project HI T E6447 for support of this work. One of us (R. H.) wants to thank to the M.E.C. for financial suppor

Anomalous variance in the WMAP data and Galactic Foreground residuals

A previous work (Monteser\'in et al. 2008) estimated the CMB variance from the three-year WMAP data, finding a lower value than expected from Gaussian simulations using the WMAP best-fit cosmological model. We repeat the analysis on the five-year WMAP data using a new estimator with lower bias and variance. Our results confirm this anomaly at higher significance, namely with a p-value of 0.31%. We perform the analysis using different exclusion masks, showing that a particular region of the sky near the Galactic plane shows a higher variance than 95.58% of the simulations whereas the rest of the sky has a lower variance than 99.96% of the simulations. The relative difference in variance between both regions is bigger than in 99.64% of the simulations. This anisotropic distribution of power seems to be causing the anomaly since the model assumes isotropy. Furthermore, this region has a clear frequency dependence between 41GHz and 61GHz or 94GHz suggesting that Galactic foreground residuals could be responsible for the anomaly. Moreover, removing the quadrupole and the octopole from data and simulations the anomaly disappears. The variance anomaly and the previously reported quadrupole and octopole alignment seem therefore to be related and could have a common origin. We discuss different possible causes and Galactic foreground residuals seem to be the most likely one. These residuals would affect the estimation of the angular power spectrum from the WMAP data, which is used to generate Gaussian simulations, giving rise to an inconsistency between the estimated and expected CMB variance. If the presence of residuals is confirmed, the estimation of the cosmological parameters could be affected.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Analysis section rewritten. New exclusion masks are used finding a high variance region. Relation to the Quadrupole-Octopole alignment foun

Non-Invasive measurer for methane and carbone dioxide emissions in bovine cattle through TRIZ

Greenhouse gases (GHG), mainly methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), can be generated in agricultural activities, not only in waste but also in the process of breathing of livestock. The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) is an innovative Russian methodology that allows finding the solution to a problem raised. This paper presents the use of two TRIZ tools to design a non-invasive prototype that detects CH4 and CO2 emitted by cattle in real time. The tools were the matrix of technical contradictions and the nine-screen analysis with which the parameter to be improved (A) was found and the best possible solution to design a prototype that allows quantifying gases for animal welfare, Final Ideal Result (IFR) a wireless module with a sensor system for each of the gases placed on the bovine head, which convert the detected gas into an electrical signal to be sent wirelessly to a range of 1.5 km in free space at a receiver for its visualization representing the parts per million (ppm) of CH4 and CO2 that the bovine is generating during the measurement

New Physics effects in the flavor-changing neutral couplings of the Top quark

We survey the flavor-changing neutral couplings (FCNC) of the top quark predicted by some extensions of the Standard Model: THDM, SUSY, L-R symmetric, TC2, 331, and models with extra quarks. Since the expected sensitivity of the LHC and ILC for the tcV (V=\gamma,g,Z) and tcH couplings is of order of a few percent, we emphasize the importance of any new physics effect that gives a prediction for these FCNC couplings within this limit. We also review the constraints imposed on these couplings from low-energy precision measurements.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures. Accepted as a review paper in Int. J. of Mod. Phys.

El uso de químicos veterinarios y agrícolas en la zona ganadera de Xico, centro de Veracruz, México y el posible impacto ambiental

The municipality of Xico is an important cattle-ranching area located in central Veracruz. Here, an interview was conducted to 48 owners in order to investigate which are the main agricultural and livestock chemical products more often applied. An overall of 1,700 cattle heads was found in the farms sampled. Cattle are treated with commercial antihelmintics containing fenbendazole, ivermectin, albendazole or levamisole as chemical active compounds to prevent and control parasite infestations. Control of flies and ectoparasites is carried out by means of organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides. Weeds of grasslands are basically manually controlled by hand-cutting although some times organochloride herbicides containing principally picloram+2,4-D or glyphosate are also used. Excessive application of all of these chemicals affects the soil fauna of the grassland, especially the dung beetles that bury the cattle manure, and possibly other soil animals and human beings as well.En la zona ganadera de Xico, Veracruz, se hizo una encuesta a 48 ganaderos para conocer los productos veterinarios y agrícolas que más utilizan. En esta zona se encuentran 1,700 cabezas de ganado bovino que es desparasitado con antihelmínticos comerciales que tienen fenbendazol, ivermectina, albendazol o levamisol como principio activo. El control de moscas y otros ectoparásitos se realiza con insecticidas organofosforados y piretroides. Las malezas del pastizal son controladas en algunos ranchos con herbicidas conteniendo principalmente picloram+2,4-D o glifosato. Los químicos empleados, sobre todo los herbicidas e insecticidas, son tóxicos y seguramente afectan a los escarabajos que entierran el estiércol del ganado y a otras especies del suelo, así como la salud de los trabajadores de los ranchos

Negatively buoyant starting jets

The initial development of negatively buoyant jets has been investigated experimentally and numerically, focusing on the role played by gravity in the evolution of the leading vortex ring. Under the experimental conditions considered in this work, the densimetric Froude number, Fr= ρjU²j/[(ρ₀ − ρj) gD] , which represents the ratio between the jet momentum and the buoyancy forces, emerges as the most relevant parameter characterizing the dynamics of the flow. Two different flow regimes have been observed depending on the Froude number: for sufficiently small Fr, the vortex ring generated initially is pushed radially away by gravity forces before it has time to detach from the shear layer originating at the orifice. On the other hand, when the Froude number is larger than a critical value, Fr> Frc∼ 1, the vortex ring detaches from the injection orifice and propagates downstream into the stagnant ambient followed by a trailing jet until it eventually reaches a maximum penetration depth. In order to clarify the mechanisms leading to the transition between the two regimes, and to gain physical understanding of the formation dynamics of negatively buoyant starting jets, the total and the vortex circulation, as well as the trajectory of the vortex center, have been measured and compared to the case of neutrally buoyant jets. Finally, based on the experimental measurements and on the results of the numerical computations, a kinematic model that successfully describes the evolution of both total circulation and vortex trajectory is proposed.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education under Project Nos. DPI2008-06624-C03-02 and ENE2008-0615-C04. This work has been extracted from the Ph.D. thesis of Marugán-CruzPublicad

On the optimality of the spherical Mexican hat wavelet estimator for the primordial non-Gaussianity

We study the spherical Mexican hat wavelet (SMHW) as a detector of primordial non-Gaussianity of the local type on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. For this purpose we define third order statistics based on the wavelet coefficient maps and the original map. We find the dependence of these statistics in terms of the non-linear coupling parameter fnl and the bispectrum of this type of non-Gaussianity. We compare the analytical values for these statistics with the results obtained with non-Gaussian simulations for an ideal full-sky CMB experiment without noise. We study the power of this method to detect fnl, i. e. the variance of this parameter, and compare it with the variance obtained from the primary bispectrum for the same experiment. Finally we apply our wavelet based estimator on WMAP-like maps with incomplete sky and inhomogeneous noise and compare with the optimal bispectrum estimator. The results show that the wavelet cubic statistics are as efficient as the bispectrum as optimal detectors of this type of primordial non-Gaussianity.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 1 table. Minor revision, references added, accepted for publication in MNRA