38 research outputs found
The Angular Broadening of Radio Sources by Scattering in the Interstellar Medium
The variation with direction of interstellar scattering at 81·5 MHz has been determined by two independent methods based on interplanetary scintillation measurements at 151·5 MHz, presented here, and at 81·5 MHz, already published. The scattering angle, which increases at low galactic latitudes, has a value of 0″·15 ± 0″·05 at 81·5MHz for the lines of sight perpendicular to the galactic plane. The effect of the scattering on the apparent angular diameters of OH and H2O maser sources is discussed
The Radial Extent and Warp of the Ionized Galactic Disk. I. A VLBA Survey of Extragalactic Sources Toward the Anticenter
We report multifrequency Very Long Baseline Array observations of twelve
active galactic nuclei seen toward the Galactic anticenter. All of the sources
are at |b| < 10 degrees and seven have |b| < 0.5 degrees. Our VLBA observations
can detect an enhancement in the angular broadening of these sources due to an
extended H II disk, if the orientation of the H II disk in the outer Galaxy is
similar to that of the H I disk. Such an extended H II disk is suggested by the
C IV absorption in a quasar's spectrum, the appearance of H I disks of nearby
spiral galaxies, and models of Ly-alpha cloud absorbers and the Galactic
fountain. We detect eleven of the twelve sources at one or more frequencies;
nine of the sources are compact and suitable for an angular broadening
analysis. A preliminary analysis of the observed angular diameters suggests
that the H II disk does not display considerable warping or flaring and does
not extend to large Galactocentric distances (R >~ 100 kpc). A companion paper
(Lazio & Cordes 1997) combines these observations with those in the literature
and presents a more comprehensive analysis.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX2e with AASTeX macro aaspp4, accepted for publication
in ApJS, Vol. 115, 1998 April; Figures 1, 3, and 4 included, for figures of
individual sources see
http://astrosun.tn.cornell.edu/students/lazio/Anticenter/anticenterI.htm
Daily modulation due to channeling in direct dark matter crystalline detectors
The channeling of the ion recoiling after a collision with a WIMP in direct
dark matter crystalline detectors produces a larger scintillation or ionization
signal than otherwise expected. Channeling is a directional effect which
depends on the velocity distribution of WIMPs in the dark halo of our Galaxy
and could lead to a daily modulation of the signal. Here we compute upper
bounds to the expected amplitude of daily modulation due to channeling using
channeling fractions that we obtained with analytic models in prior work. After
developing the general formalism, we examine the possibility of finding a daily
modulation due to channeling in the data already collected by the DAMA/NaI and
DAMA/LIBRA experiments. We find that even the largest daily modulation
amplitudes (of the order of 10% in some instances) would not be observable for
WIMPs in the standard halo in the 13 years of data taken by the DAMA
collaboration. For these to be observable the DAMA total rate should be 1/40 of
what it is or the total DAMA exposure should be 40 times larger. The daily
modulation due to channeling will be difficult to measure in future
experiments. We find it could be observed for light WIMPs in solid Ne, assuming
no background.Comment: 29 pages, 15 figures. v3: version accepted by PRD. Minor corrections
made, corrected Eq. 12 and 13 and Figs. 2, 3.a, and 4.a, corrected Eqs. 27-38
by a factor of 2, added the observability condition for solid N
Constraints on dark matter models from a Fermi LAT search for high-energy cosmic-ray electrons from the Sun
During its first year of data taking, the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard
the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has collected a large sample of high-energy
cosmic-ray electrons and positrons (CREs). We present the results of a
directional analysis of the CRE events, in which we searched for a flux excess
correlated with the direction of the Sun. Two different and complementary
analysis approaches were implemented, and neither yielded evidence of a
significant CRE flux excess from the Sun. We derive upper limits on the CRE
flux from the Sun's direction, and use these bounds to constrain two classes of
dark matter models which predict a solar CRE flux: (1) models in which dark
matter annihilates to CREs via a light intermediate state, and (2) inelastic
dark matter models in which dark matter annihilates to CREs.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review D -
contact authors: Francesco Loparco ([email protected]), M. Nicola Mazziotta
([email protected]) and Jennifer Siegal-Gaskins ([email protected]
AMI limits on 15 GHz excess emission in northern HII regions
We present observations between 14.2 and 17.9 GHz of sixteen Galactic HII
regions made with the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI). In conjunction with
data from the literature at lower radio frequencies we investigate the
possibility of a spinning dust component in the spectra of these objects. We
conclude that there is no significant evidence for spinning dust towards these
sources and measure an average spectral index of 0.15+/-0.07 between 1.4 and
17.9 GHz for the sample.Comment: accepted MNRA
Research approvals iceberg: how a 'low-key' study in England needed 89 professionals to approve it and how we can do better.
BACKGROUND: The red tape and delays around research ethics and governance approvals frequently frustrate researchers yet, as the lesser of two evils, are largely accepted as unavoidable. Here we quantify aspects of the research ethics and governance approvals for one interview- and questionnaire-based study conducted in England which used the National Health Service (NHS) procedures and the electronic Integrated Research Application System (IRAS). We demonstrate the enormous impact of existing approvals processes on costs of studies, including opportunity costs to focus on the substantive research, and suggest directions for radical system change. MAIN TEXT: We have recorded 491 exchanges with 89 individuals involved in research ethics and governance approvals, generating 193 pages of email text excluding attachments. These are conservative estimates (e.g. only records of the research associate were used). The exchanges were conducted outside IRAS, expected to be the platform where all necessary documents are provided and questions addressed. Importantly, the figures exclude the actual work of preparing the ethics documentation (such as the ethics application, information sheets and consent forms). We propose six areas of work to enable system change: 1. Support the development of a broad range of customised research ethics and governance templates to complement generic, typically clinical trials orientated, ones; 2. Develop more sophisticated and flexible frameworks for study classification; 3. Link with associated processes for assessment, feedback, monitoring and reporting, such as ones involving funders and patient and public involvement groups; 4. Invest in a new generation IT infrastructure; 5. Enhance system capacity through increasing online reviewer participation and training; and 6. Encourage researchers to quantify the approvals processes for their studies. CONCLUSION: Ethics and governance approvals are burdensome for historical reasons and not because of the nature of the task. There are many opportunities to improve their efficiency and analytic depth in an age of innovation, increased connectivity and distributed working. If we continue to work under current systems, we are perpetuating, paradoxically, an unethical system of research approvals by virtue of its wastefulness and impoverished ethical debate
Search for Lorentz invariance and CPT violation with muon antineutrinos in the MINOS Near Detector
We have searched for sidereal variations in the rate of antineutrino
interactions in the MINOS Near Detector. Using antineutrinos produced by the
NuMI beam, we find no statistically significant sidereal modulation in the
rate. When this result is placed in the context of the Standard Model Extension
theory we are able to place upper limits on the coefficients defining the
theory. These limits are used in combination with the results from an earlier
analysis of MINOS neutrino data to further constrain the coefficients.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 4 table