262 research outputs found
Studying the spectral properties of Active Galactic Nuclei in the JWST era
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), due to launch in 2014, shall provide
an unprecedented wealth of information in the near and mid-infrared
wavelengths, thanks to its high-sensitivity instruments and its 6.5 m primary
mirror, the largest ever launched into space. NIRSpec and MIRI, the two
spectrographs onboard JWST, will play a key role in the study of the spectral
features of Active Galactic Nuclei in the 0.6-28 micron wavelength range. This
talk aims at presenting an overview of the possibilities provided by these two
instruments, in order to prepare the astronomical community for the JWST era.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in New Astronomy Reviews
(proceedings of 7th Serbian Conference on Spectral Line Shapes in
Astrophysics
Sparse {Fourier Transform} by Traversing {Cooley-Tukey FFT} Computation Graphs
Computing the dominant Fourier coefficients of a vector is a common task in many fields, such as signal processing, learning theory, and computational complexity. In the Sparse Fast Fourier Transform (Sparse FFT) problem, one is given oracle access to a -dimensional vector of size , and is asked to compute the best -term approximation of its Discrete Fourier Transform, quickly and using few samples of the input vector . While the sample complexity of this problem is quite well understood, all previous approaches either suffer from an exponential dependence of runtime on the dimension or can only tolerate a trivial amount of noise. This is in sharp contrast with the classical FFT algorithm of Cooley and Tukey, which is stable and completely insensitive to the dimension of the input vector: its runtime is in any dimension . In this work, we introduce a new high-dimensional Sparse FFT toolkit and use it to obtain new algorithms, both on the exact, as well as in the case of bounded noise. This toolkit includes i) a new strategy for exploring a pruned FFT computation tree that reduces the cost of filtering, ii) new structural properties of adaptive aliasing filters recently introduced by Kapralov, Velingker and Zandieh'SODA'19, and iii) a novel lazy estimation argument, suited to reducing the cost of estimation in FFT tree-traversal approaches. Our robust algorithm can be viewed as a highly optimized sparse, stable extension of the Cooley-Tukey FFT algorithm. Finally, we explain the barriers we have faced by proving a conditional quadratic lower bound on the running time of the well-studied non-equispaced Fourier transform problem. This resolves a natural and frequently asked question in computational Fourier transforms. Lastly, we provide a preliminary experimental evaluation comparing the runtime of our algorithm to FFTW and SFFT 2.0
Time delay between images of the lensed quasar UM673
We study brightness variations in the double lensed quasar UM673 (Q0142-100)
with the aim of measuring the time delay between its two images. In the paper
we combine our previously published observational data of UM673 obtained during
the 2003 - 2005 seasons at the Maidanak Observatory with archival and recently
observed Maidanak and CTIO UM673 data. We analyze the V, R and I-band light
curves of the A and B images of UM673, which cover ten observational seasons
from August 2001 to November 2010. We also analyze the time evolution of the
difference in magnitudes between images A and B of UM673 over more than ten
years. We find that the quasar exhibits both short-term (with amplitude of \sim
0.1 mag in the R band) and high-amplitude (\sim 0.3 mag) long-term variability
on timescales of about several months and several years, respectively. These
brightness variations are used to constrain the time delay between the images
of UM673. From cross-correlation analysis of the A and B quasar light curves
and error analysis we measure the mean time delay and its error of 89 \pm11
days. Given the input time delay of 88 days, the most probable value of the
delay that can be recovered from light curves with the same statistical
properties as the observed R-band light curves of UM673 is 95{+5/-16}{+14/-29}
days (68 and 95 % confidence intervals). Analysis of the V - I color variations
and V, R and I-band magnitude differences of the quasar images does not show
clear evidence of the microlensing variations between 1998 and 2010.Comment: Submitted to A&A, 11 pages, 9 figure
I. Flux and color variations of the quadruply imaged quasar HE 0435-1223
aims: We present VRi photometric observations of the quadruply imaged quasar
HE 0435-1223, carried out with the Danish 1.54m telescope at the La Silla
Observatory. Our aim was to monitor and study the magnitudes and colors of each
lensed component as a function of time. methods: We monitored the object during
two seasons (2008 and 2009) in the VRi spectral bands, and reduced the data
with two independent techniques: difference imaging and PSF (Point Spread
Function) fitting.results: Between these two seasons, our results show an
evident decrease in flux by ~0.2-0.4 magnitudes of the four lensed components
in the three filters. We also found a significant increase (~0.05-0.015) in
their V-R and R-i color indices. conclusions: These flux and color variations
are very likely caused by intrinsic variations of the quasar between the
observed epochs. Microlensing effects probably also affect the brightest "A"
lensed component.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
A multi-wavelength survey of AGN in the XMM-LSS field: I. Quasar selection via the KX technique
AIMS: We present a sample of candidate quasars selected using the
KX-technique. The data cover 0.68 deg^2 of the X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM)
Large-Scale Structure (LSS) survey area where overlapping multi-wavelength
imaging data permits an investigation of the physical nature of selected
sources. METHODS: The KX method identifies quasars on the basis of their
optical (R and z') to near-infrared (Ks) photometry and point-like morphology.
We combine these data with optical (u*,g'r',i',z') and mid-infrared (3.6-24
micron) wavebands to reconstruct the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of
candidate quasars. RESULTS: Of 93 sources selected as candidate quasars by the
KX method, 25 are classified as quasars by the subsequent SED analysis.
Spectroscopic observations are available for 12/25 of these sources and confirm
the quasar hypothesis in each case. Even more, 90% of the SED-classified
quasars show X-ray emission, a property not shared by any of the false
candidates in the KX-selected sample. Applying a photometric redshift analysis
to the sources without spectroscopy indicates that the 25 sources classified as
quasars occupy the interval 0.7 < z < 2.5. The remaining 68/93 sources are
classified as stars and unresolved galaxies.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, A&A 494, p. 579-589. Replaced with published
version. Fig. 9 in first astro-ph submission has been update
A quadruply imaged quasar with an optical Einstein ring candidate: 1RXS J113155.4-123155
We report the discovery of a new quadruply imaged quasar surrounded by an
optical Einstein ring candidate. Spectra of the different components of 1RXS
J113155.4-123155 reveal a source at z=0.658. Up to now, this object is the
closest known gravitationally lensed quasar. The lensing galaxy is clearly
detected. Its redshift is measured to be z=0.295. Additionally, the total V
magnitude of the system has varied by 0.3 mag between two epochs separated by
33 weeks. The measured relative astrometry of the lensed images is best fitted
with an SIS model plus shear. This modeling suggests very high magnification of
the source (up to 50 for the total magnification) and predicts flux ratios
between the lensed images significantly different from what is actually
observed. This suggests that the lensed images may be affected by a combination
of micro or milli-lensing and dust extinction effects.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, published in A&
Endoscopic resection of giant lipoma mimicking colonic neoplasm initially presenting with massive haemorrhage: a case report
Lipomas of the colon are benign tumors that rarely occur. Their size ranges from 2 mm to several cm. They are usually asymptomatic but occasionally they present with clinical manifestations depending on tumor size, localization and complications, which often lead to diagnostic difficulty. A 40-year-old man presented with massive rectal haemorrhage. During colonoscopy a giant polyp of over 50 mm in its bigger diameter, with a thick stalk of 2 cm, located in the transverse colon, was revealed. Endoscopic resection was performed with success. Histologic examination demonstrated a giant lipoma. In this report discussion over endoscopic resection of colonic lipomas mimicking neoplasms is also performed
Strange Quark Contributions to Parity-Violating Asymmetries in the Forward G0 Electron-Proton Scattering Experiment
We have measured parity-violating asymmetries in elastic electron-proton
scattering over the range of momentum transfers 0.12 < Q^2 < 1.0 GeV^2. These
asymmetries, arising from interference of the electromagnetic and neutral weak
interactions, are sensitive to strange quark contributions to the currents of
the proton. The measurements were made at JLab using a toroidal spectrometer to
detect the recoiling protons from a liquid hydrogen target. The results
indicate non-zero, Q^2 dependent, strange quark contributions and provide new
information beyond that obtained in previous experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
High-Resolution Spectroscopy of Some Very Active Southern Stars
We have obtained high-resolution echelle spectra of 18 solar-type stars that
an earlier survey showed to have very high levels of Ca II H and K emission.
Most of these stars belong to close binary systems, but 5 remain as probable
single stars or well-separated binaries that are younger than the Pleiades on
the basis of their lithium abundances and H-alpha emission. Three of these
probable single stars also lie more than 1 magnitude above the main sequence in
a color-magnitude diagram, and appear to have ages of 10 to 15 Myr. Two of
them, HD 202917 and HD 222259, also appear to have a kinematical association
with the pre-main sequence multiple system HD 98800.Comment: 25 figures, 3 table
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