43,564 research outputs found
Multipole Gravitational Lensing and High-order Perturbations on the Quadrupole Lens
An arbitrary surface mass density of gravitational lens can be decomposed
into multipole components. We simulate the ray-tracing for the multipolar mass
distribution of generalized SIS (Singular Isothermal Sphere) model, based on
the deflection angles which are analytically calculated. The magnification
patterns in the source plane are then derived from inverse shooting technique.
As have been found, the caustics of odd mode lenses are composed of two
overlapping layers for some lens models. When a point source traverses such
kind of overlapping caustics, the image numbers change by \pm 4, rather than
\pm 2. There are two kinds of images for the caustics. One is the critical
curve and the other is the transition locus. It is found that the image number
of the fold is exactly the average value of image numbers on two sides of the
fold, while the image number of the cusp is equal to the smaller one. We also
focus on the magnification patterns of the quadrupole (m = 2) lenses under the
perturbations of m = 3, 4 and 5 mode components, and found that one, two, and
three butterfly or swallowtail singularities can be produced respectively. With
the increasing intensity of the high-order perturbations, the singularities
grow up to bring sixfold image regions. If these perturbations are large enough
to let two or three of the butterflies or swallowtails contact, eightfold or
tenfold image regions can be produced as well. The possible astronomical
applications are discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure
Massive and Red Objects predicted by a semianalytical model of galaxy formation
We study whether hierarchical galaxy formation in a concordance CDM
universe can produce enough massive and red galaxies compared to the
observations. We implement a semi-analytical model in which the central black
holes gain their mass during major mergers of galaxies and the energy feedback
from active galaxy nuclei (AGN) suppresses the gas cooling in their host halos.
The energy feedback from AGN acts effectively only in massive galaxies when
supermassive black holes have been formed in the central bulges. Compared with
previous models without black hole formation, our model predicts more massive
and luminous galaxies at high redshift, agreeing with the observations of K20
up to . Also the predicted stellar mass density from massive galaxies
agrees with the observations of GDDS. Because of the energy feedback from AGN,
the formation of new stars is stopped in massive galaxies with the termination
of gas cooling and these galaxies soon become red with color 5 (Vega
magnitude), comparable to the Extremely Red Objects (EROs) observed at redshift
1-2. Still the predicted number density of very EROs is lower than
observed at , and it may be related to inadequate descriptions of dust
extinction, star formation history and AGN feedback in those luminous galaxies.Comment: Accepted for Publication in ApJ, added reference
Is the Number of Giant Arcs in LCDM Consistent With Observations?
We use high-resolution N-body simulations to study the galaxy-cluster
cross-sections and the abundance of giant arcs in the CDM model.
Clusters are selected from the simulations using the friends-of-friends method,
and their cross-sections for forming giant arcs are analyzed. The background
sources are assumed to follow a uniform ellipticity distribution from 0 to 0.5
and to have an area identical to a circular source with diameter 1\arcsec. We
find that the optical depth scales as the source redshift approximately as
\tau_{1''} = 2.25 \times 10^{-6}/[1+(\zs/3.14)^{-3.42}] (0.6<\zs<7). The
amplitude is about 50% higher for an effective source diameter of 0.5\arcsec.
The optimal lens redshift for giant arcs with the length-to-width ratio ()
larger than 10 increases from 0.3 for \zs=1, to 0.5 for \zs=2, and to
0.7-0.8 for \zs>3. The optical depth is sensitive to the source redshift, in
qualitative agreement with Wambsganss et al. (2004). However, our overall
optical depth appears to be only 10% to 70% of those from previous
studies. The differences can be mostly explained by different power spectrum
normalizations () used and different ways of determining the
ratio. Finite source size and ellipticity have modest effects on the optical
depth. We also found that the number of highly magnified (with magnification
) and ``undistorted'' images (with ) is comparable to the
number of giant arcs with and . We conclude that our
predicted rate of giant arcs may be lower than the observed rate, although the
precise `discrepancy' is still unclear due to uncertainties both in theory and
observations.Comment: Revised version after the referee's reports (32 pages,13figures). The
paper has been significantly revised with many additions. The new version
includes more detailed comparisons with previous studies, including the
effects of source size and ellipticity. New discussions about the redshift
distribution of lensing clusters and the width of giant arcs have been adde
Origins of the Isospin Violation of Dark Matter Interactions
Light dark matter (DM) with a large DM-nucleon spin-independent cross section
and furthermore proper isospin violation (ISV) may provide
a way to understand the confusing DM direct detection results. Combing with the
stringent astrophysical and collider constraints, we systematically investigate
the origin of ISV first via general operator analyses and further via
specifying three kinds of (single) mediators: A light from chiral
, an approximate spectator Higgs doublet (It can explain the
anomaly simultaneously) and color triplets. In addition, although from an
exotic mixing with generating , we can combine it with
the conventional Higgs to achieve proper ISV. As a concrete example, we propose
the model where the charged light sneutrino is the inelastic
DM, which dominantly annihilates to light dark states such as with sub-GeV
mass. This model can address the recent GoGeNT annual modulation consistent
with other DM direct detection results and free of exclusions.Comment: References added and English greatly improve
Spin Fluctuation and Persistent Current in a Mesoscopic Ring Coupled to a Quantum Dot
We investigate the persistent current influenced by the spin fluctuations in
a mesoscopic ring weakly coupled to a quantum dot. It is shown that the Kondo
effect gives rise to some unusual features of the persistent current in the
limit where the charge transfer between two subsystems is suppressed. Various
aspects of the crossover from a delocalized to a localized dot limit are
discussed in relation with the effect of the coherent response of the Kondo
cloud to the Aharonov-Bohm flux.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Modelling spatially regulated B-catenin dynamics & invasion in intestinal crypts
Experimental data (e.g., genetic lineage and cell population studies) on intestinal crypts reveal that regulatory features of crypt behavior, such as control via morphogen gradients, are remarkably well conserved among numerous organisms (e.g., from mouse and rat to human) and throughout the different regions of the small and large intestines. In this article, we construct a partial differential equation model of a single colonic crypt that describes the spatial distribution of Wnt pathway proteins along the crypt axis. The novelty of our continuum model is that it is based upon assumptions that can be directly related to processes at the cellular and subcellular scales. We use the model to predict how the distributions of Wnt pathway proteins are affected by mutations. The model is then extended to investigate how mutant cell populations can invade neighboring crypts. The model simulations suggest that cell crowding caused by increased proliferation and decreased cell loss may be sufficient for a mutant cell population to colonize a neighboring healthy crypt
Kinetic pathways of the Nematic-Isotropic phase transition as studied by confocal microscopy on rod-like viruses
We investigate the kinetics of phase separation for a mixture of rodlike
viruses (fd) and polymer (dextran), which effectively constitutes a system of
attractive rods. This dispersion is quenched from a flow-induced fully nematic
state into the region where the nematic and the isotropic phase coexist. We
show experimental evidence that the kinetic pathway depends on the overall
concentration. When the quench is made at high concentrations, the system is
meta-stable and we observe typical nucleation-and-growth. For quenches at low
concentration the system is unstable and the system undergoes a spinodal
decomposition. At intermediate concentrations we see the transition between
both demixing processes, where we locate the spinodal point.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted in J. Phys.: Condens. Matter as
symposium paper for the 6th Liquid Matter Conference in Utrech
Reaction-diffusion with a time-dependent reaction rate: the single-species diffusion-annihilation process
We study the single-species diffusion-annihilation process with a
time-dependent reaction rate, lambda(t)=lambda_0 t^-omega. Scaling arguments
show that there is a critical value of the decay exponent omega_c(d) separating
a reaction-limited regime for omega > omega_c from a diffusion-limited regime
for omega < omega_c. The particle density displays a mean-field,
omega-dependent, decay when the process is reaction limited whereas it behaves
as for a constant reaction rate when the process is diffusion limited. These
results are confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations. They allow us to discuss the
scaling behaviour of coupled diffusion-annihilation processes in terms of
effective time-dependent reaction rates.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, minor correction
Neutrino Background Flux from Sources of Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic-Ray Nuclei
Motivated by Pierre Auger Observatory results favoring a heavy nuclear
composition for ultrahigh-energy (UHE) cosmic rays, we investigate implications
for the cumulative neutrino background. The requirement that nuclei not be
photodisintegrated constrains their interactions in sources, therefore limiting
neutrino production via photomeson interactions. Assuming a injection spectrum and
photodisintegration via the giant dipole resonance, the background flux of
neutrinos is lower than if UHE nuclei ubiquitously survive in
their sources. This is smaller than the analogous Waxman-Bahcall flux for UHE
protons by about one order of magnitude, and is below the projected IceCube
sensitivity. If IceCube detects a neutrino background, it could be due to other
sources, e.g., hadronuclear interactions of lower-energy cosmic rays; if it
does not, this supports our strong restrictions on the properties of sources of
UHE nuclei.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Verification and Control of Partially Observable Probabilistic Real-Time Systems
We propose automated techniques for the verification and control of
probabilistic real-time systems that are only partially observable. To formally
model such systems, we define an extension of probabilistic timed automata in
which local states are partially visible to an observer or controller. We give
a probabilistic temporal logic that can express a range of quantitative
properties of these models, relating to the probability of an event's
occurrence or the expected value of a reward measure. We then propose
techniques to either verify that such a property holds or to synthesise a
controller for the model which makes it true. Our approach is based on an
integer discretisation of the model's dense-time behaviour and a grid-based
abstraction of the uncountable belief space induced by partial observability.
The latter is necessarily approximate since the underlying problem is
undecidable, however we show how both lower and upper bounds on numerical
results can be generated. We illustrate the effectiveness of the approach by
implementing it in the PRISM model checker and applying it to several case
studies, from the domains of computer security and task scheduling
- …