6,718 research outputs found
Habitable Zone Lifetime of Exoplanets around Main Sequence Stars
Funding: Dean's Scholarship at the University of East Anglia.The potential habitability of newly discovered exoplanets is initially assessed by determining whether their orbits fall within the circumstellar habitable zone of their star. However, the habitable zone (HZ) is not static in time or space, and its boundaries migrate outward at a rate proportional to the increase in luminosity of a star undergoing stellar evolution, possibly including or excluding planets over the course of the star’s main sequence lifetime. We describe the time that a planet spends within the HZ as its ‘‘habitable zone lifetime.’’ The HZ lifetime of a planet has strong astrobiological implications and is especially important when considering the evolution of complex life, which is likely to require a longer residence time within the HZ. Here, we present results from a simple model built to investigate the evolution of the ‘‘classic’’ HZ over time, while also providing estimates for the evolution of stellar luminosity over time in order to develop a ‘‘hybrid’’ HZ model. These models return estimates for the HZ lifetimes of Earth and 7 confirmed HZ exoplanets and 27 unconfirmed Kepler candidates. The HZ lifetime for Earth ranges between 6.29 and 7.79 · 109 years (Gyr). The 7 exoplanets fall in a range between ∼1 and 54.72 Gyr, while the 27 Kepler candidate planets’ HZ lifetimes range between 0.43 and 18.8 Gyr. Our results show that exoplanet HD 85512b is no longer within the HZ, assuming it has an Earth analog atmosphere. The HZ lifetime should be considered in future models of planetary habitability as setting an upper limit on the lifetime of any potential exoplanetary biosphere, and also for identifying planets of high astrobiological potential for continued observational or modeling campaigns.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Extending Greenstone for Institutional Repositories
We examine the problem of designing a generalized system for building institutional repositories. Widely used schemes such as DSpace are tailored to a particular set of requirements: fixed metadata set; standard view when searching and browsing; pre-determined sequence for depositing items; built-in workflow for vetting new items. In contrast, Fedora builds in flexibility: institutional repositories are just one possible instantiation—however generality incurs a high overhead and uptake has been sluggish. This paper shows how existing components of the Greenstone software can be repurposed to provide a generalized institutional repository that falls between these extremes
Renormalization Group and Infinite Algebraic Structure in D-Dimensional Conformal Field Theory
We consider scalar field theory in the D-dimensional space with nontrivial
metric and local action functional of most general form. It is possible to
construct for this model a generalization of renormalization procedure and
RG-equations. In the fixed point the diffeomorphism and Weyl transformations
generate an infinite algebraic structure of D-Dimensional conformal field
theory models. The Wilson expansion and crossing symmetry enable to obtain sum
rules for dimensions of composite operators and Wilson coefficients.Comment: 16 page
Conformal anomaly of Wilson surface observables - a field theoretical computation
We make an exact field theoretical computation of the conformal anomaly for
two-dimensional submanifold observables. By including a scalar field in the
definition for the Wilson surface, as appropriate for a spontaneously broken
A_1 theory, we get a conformal anomaly which is such that N times it is equal
to the anomaly that was computed in hep-th/9901021 in the large N limit and
which relied on the AdS-CFT correspondence. We also show how the spherical
surface observable can be expressed as a conformal anomaly.Comment: 18 pages, V3: an `i' dropped in the Wilson surface, overall
normalization and misprints corrected, V4: overall normalization factor
corrected, references adde
Dirac eigenvalues and eigenvectors at finite temperature
We investigate the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the staggered Dirac
operator in the vicinity of the chiral phase transition of quenched SU(3)
lattice gauge theory. We consider both the global features of the spectrum and
the local correlations. In the chirally symmetric phase, the local correlations
in the bulk of the spectrum are still described by random matrix theory, and we
investigate the dependence of the bulk Thouless energy on the simulation
parameters. At and above the critical point, the properties of the low-lying
Dirac eigenvalues depend on the -phase of the Polyakov loop. In the real
phase, they are no longer described by chiral random matrix theory. We also
investigate the localization properties of the Dirac eigenvectors in the
different -phases.Comment: Lattice 2000 (Finite Temperature), 5 page
Microscopic eigenvalue correlations in QCD with imaginary isospin chemical potential
We consider the chiral limit of QCD subjected to an imaginary isospin
chemical potential. In the epsilon-regime of the theory we can perform precise
analytical calculations based on the zero-momentum Goldstone modes in the
low-energy effective theory. We present results for the spectral correlation
functions of the associated Dirac operators.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, RevTe
The 13 November 1984 occultation of BD +08 deg 0471 by (1) Ceres
The 13 November 1984 occultation of BD +08 deg 0471 was discovered during a photographic search carried out with the 0.5 meter Carnegie Double Astrograph at Lick Observatory and the Lowell Observatory PDS microdensitometer. Such a search was stimulated by the curious fact that few favorably located occultations of AGK3 or SAO catalog starts by Ceres will occur during the 1980s. The occultation on 13 November, however, is a particularly good event. The star is 1000 cubic M in V, yielding a predicted drop at occultation of about 10%. Such a drop can be detected by small telescopes equipped with photoelectric photometers, but is too small to be seen visually. The track was predicted to cross the Caribbean, Florida, southern Texas, and Mexico. Based on this prediction, preparations were made to observe the event in Mexico using four portable occultation data systems
Stochastic field theory for a Dirac particle propagating in gauge field disorder
Recent theoretical and numerical developments show analogies between quantum
chromodynamics (QCD) and disordered systems in condensed matter physics. We
study the spectral fluctuations of a Dirac particle propagating in a finite
four dimensional box in the presence of gauge fields. We construct a model
which combines Efetov's approach to disordered systems with the principles of
chiral symmetry and QCD. To this end, the gauge fields are replaced with a
stochastic white noise potential, the gauge field disorder. Effective
supersymmetric non-linear sigma-models are obtained. Spontaneous breaking of
supersymmetry is found. We rigorously derive the equivalent of the Thouless
energy in QCD. Connections to other low-energy effective theories, in
particular the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model and chiral perturbation theory, are
found.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Spectrum of the U(1) staggered Dirac operator in four dimensions
We compare the low-lying spectrum of the staggered Dirac operator in the
confining phase of compact U(1) gauge theory on the lattice to predictions of
chiral random matrix theory. The small eigenvalues contribute to the chiral
condensate similar as for the SU(2) and SU(3) gauge groups. Agreement with the
chiral unitary ensemble is observed below the Thouless energy, which is
extracted from the data and found to scale with the lattice size according to
theoretical predictions.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
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