2,171 research outputs found
Can the Copernican principle be tested by cosmic neutrino background?
The Copernican principle, stating that we do not occupy any special place in
our universe, is usually taken for granted in modern cosmology. However recent
observational data of supernova indicate that we may live in the under-dense
center of our universe, which makes the Copernican principle challenged. It
thus becomes urgent and important to test the Copernican principle via
cosmological observations. Taking into account that unlike the cosmic photons,
the cosmic neutrinos of different energies come from the different places to us
along the different worldlines, we here propose cosmic neutrino background as a
test of the Copernican principle. It is shown that from the theoretical
perspective cosmic neutrino background can allow one to determine whether the
Copernican principle is valid or not, but to implement such an observation the
larger neutrino detectors are called for.Comment: JHEP style, 10 pages, 4 figures, version to appear in JCA
Wormholes in spacetime with torsion
Analytical wormhole solutions in theory are presented. It is discussed
whether the extremely short range repulsive forces, related to the spin angular
momentum of matter, could be the ``carrier'' of the exoticity that threads the
wormhole throat.Comment: 10 pages revte
A Wide-Field CCD Survey for Centaurs and Kuiper Belt Objects
A modified Baker-Nunn camera was used to conduct a wide-field survey of 1428
square degrees of sky near the ecliptic in search of bright Kuiper Belt objects
and Centaurs. This area is an order of magnitude larger than any previously
published CCD survey for Centaurs and Kuiper Belt Objects. No new objects
brighter than red magnitude m=18.8 and moving at a rate 1"/hr to 20"/hr were
discovered, although one previously discovered Centaur 1997 CU26 Chariklo was
serendipitously detected. The parameters of the survey were characterized using
both visual and automated techniques. From this survey the empirical projected
surface density of Centaurs was found to be SigmaCentaur(m<18.8)=7.8(+16.0
-6.6)x10^-4 per square degree and we found a projected surface density 3sigma
upper confidence limit for Kuiper Belt objects of SigmaKBO(m< 18.8)<4.1x10^-3
per square degree. We discuss the current state of the cumulative luminosity
functions of both Centaurs and Kuiper Belt objects. Through a Monte Carlo
simulation we show that the size distribution of Centaurs is consistent with a
q=4 differential power law, similar to the size distribution of the parent
Kuiper Belt Objects. The Centaur population is of order 10^7 (radius > 1 km)
assuming a geometric albedo of 0.04. About 100 Centaurs are larger than 50 km
in radius, of which only 4 are presently known. The current total mass of the
Centaurs is 10^-4 Earth Masses. No dust clouds were detected resulting from
Kuiper Belt object collisions, placing a 3sigma upper limit <600 collisionally
produced clouds of m<18.8 per year.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for Publication in A
Cosmic Acceleration Driven by Mirage Inhomogeneities
A cosmological model based on an inhomogeneous D3-brane moving in an AdS_5 X
S_5 bulk is introduced. Although there is no special points in the bulk, the
brane Universe has a center and is isotropic around it. The model has an
accelerating expansion and its effective cosmological constant is inversely
proportional to the distance from the center, giving a possible geometrical
origin for the smallness of a present-day cosmological constant. Besides, if
our model is considered as an alternative of early time acceleration, it is
shown that the early stage accelerating phase ends in a dust dominated FRW
homogeneous Universe. Mirage-driven acceleration thus provides a dark matter
component for the brane Universe final state. We finally show that the model
fulfills the current constraints on inhomogeneities.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, IOP style. v2, changed style, minor corrections,
references added, version accepted in Class. Quant. Gra
A Deep Multicolor Survey. VI. Near-Infrared Observations, Selection Effects, and Number Counts
I present near-infrared J (1.25um), H (1.65um), and K (2.2um) imaging
observations of 185 square arcminutes in 21 high galactic latitude fields.
These observations reach limiting magnitudes of J ~ 21 mag, H ~ 20 mag and K ~
18.5 mag. The detection efficiency, photometric accuracy and selection biases
as a function of integrated object brightness, size, and profile shape are
quantified in detail. I evaluate several popular methods for measuring the
integrated light of faint galaxies and show that only aperture magnitudes
provide an unbiased measure of the integrated light that is independent of
apparent magnitude. These J, H, and K counts and near-infrared colors are in
best agreement with passive galaxy formation models with at most a small amount
of merging (for Omega_M = 0.3, Omega_Lambda = 0.7).Comment: AJ Accepted (Feb 2001). 28 pages, 7 embedded ps figures, AASTEX5.
Minor changes to submitted version. Also available at
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~martini/pubs
Linearisation Instabilities of the Massive Nonsymmetric Gravitational Theory
The massive nonsymmetric gravitational theory is shown to posses a
linearisation instability at purely GR field configurations, disallowing the
use of the linear approximation in these situations. It is also shown that
arbitrarily small antisymmetric sector Cauchy data leads to singular evolution
unless an ad hoc condition is imposed on the initial data hypersurface.Comment: 14 pages, IOP style for submission to CQG. Minor changes and
additional background material adde
A Unified treatment of small and large- scale dynamos in helical turbulence
Helical turbulence is thought to provide the key to the generation of
large-scale magnetic fields. Turbulence also generically leads to rapidly
growing small-scale magnetic fields correlated on the turbulence scales. These
two processes are usually studied separately. We give here a unified treatment
of both processes, in the case of random fields, incorporating also a simple
model non-linear drift. In the process we uncover an interesting plausible
saturated state of the small-scale dynamo and a novel analogy between quantum
mechanical (QM) tunneling and the generation of large scale fields. The steady
state problem of the combined small/large scale dynamo, is mapped to a
zero-energy, QM potential problem; but a potential which, for non-zero mean
helicity, allows tunneling of bound states. A field generated by the
small-scale dynamo, can 'tunnel' to produce large-scale correlations, which in
steady state, correspond to a force-free 'mean' field.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Physical Review Letters, in pres
Speckle noise and dynamic range in coronagraphic images
This paper is concerned with the theoretical properties of high contrast
coronagraphic images in the context of exoplanet searches. We derive and
analyze the statistical properties of the residual starlight in coronagraphic
images, and describe the effect of a coronagraph on the speckle and photon
noise. Current observations with coronagraphic instruments have shown that the
main limitations to high contrast imaging are due to residual quasi-static
speckles. We tackle this problem in this paper, and propose a generalization of
our statistical model to include the description of static, quasi-static and
fast residual atmospheric speckles. The results provide insight into the
effects on the dynamic range of wavefront control, coronagraphy, active speckle
reduction, and differential speckle calibration. The study is focused on
ground-based imaging with extreme adaptive optics, but the approach is general
enough to be applicable to space, with different parameters.Comment: 31 pages, 18 figure
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