39,410 research outputs found
Red-giant stars in eccentric binaries
The unparalleled photometric data obtained by NASAâs Kepler Space Telescope has led to improved understanding of red-giant stars and binary stars. We discuss the characterization of known eccentric system, containing a solar-like oscillating red-giant primary component. We also report several new binary systems that are candidates for hosting an oscillating companion. A powerful approach to study binary stars is to combine asteroseimic techniques with light curve fitting. Seismology allows us to deduce the properties of red giants. In addition, by modeling the ellipsoidal modulations we can constrain the parameters of the binary system. An valuable independent source are ground-bases, high-resolution spectrographs
An improved SPH scheme for cosmological simulations
We present an implementation of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) with
improved accuracy for simulations of galaxies and the large-scale structure. In
particular, we combine, implement, modify and test a vast majority of SPH
improvement techniques in the latest instalment of the GADGET code. We use the
Wendland kernel functions, a particle wake-up time-step limiting mechanism and
a time-dependent scheme for artificial viscosity, which includes a high-order
gradient computation and shear flow limiter. Additionally, we include a novel
prescription for time-dependent artificial conduction, which corrects for
gravitationally induced pressure gradients and largely improves the SPH
performance in capturing the development of gas-dynamical instabilities. We
extensively test our new implementation in a wide range of hydrodynamical
standard tests including weak and strong shocks as well as shear flows,
turbulent spectra, gas mixing, hydrostatic equilibria and self-gravitating gas
clouds. We jointly employ all modifications; however, when necessary we study
the performance of individual code modules. We approximate hydrodynamical
states more accurately and with significantly less noise than standard SPH.
Furthermore, the new implementation promotes the mixing of entropy between
different fluid phases, also within cosmological simulations. Finally, we study
the performance of the hydrodynamical solver in the context of radiative galaxy
formation and non-radiative galaxy cluster formation. We find galactic disks to
be colder, thinner and more extended and our results on galaxy clusters show
entropy cores instead of steadily declining entropy profiles. In summary, we
demonstrate that our improved SPH implementation overcomes most of the
undesirable limitations of standard SPH, thus becoming the core of an efficient
code for large cosmological simulations.Comment: 21 figures, 2 tables, accepted to MNRA
In good company: risk, security and choice in young people's drug decisions
This article draws on original empirical research with young people to question the degree to which 'individualisation of risk', as developed in the work of Beck and Giddens, adequately explains the risks young people bear and take. It draws on alternative understandings and critiques of 'risk' not to refute the notion of the reflexive individual upon which 'individualisation of risk' is based but to re-read that reflexivity in a more hermeneutic way. It explores specific risk-laden moments â young people's drug use decisions â in their natural social and cultural context of the friendship group. Studying these decisions in context, it suggests, reveals the meaning of 'risk' to be not given, but constructed through group discussion, disagreement and consensus and decisions taken to be rooted in emotional relations of trust, mutual accountability and common security. The article concludes that 'the individualisation of risk' fails to take adequate account of the significance of intersubjectivity in risk-decisions. It argues also that addressing the theoretical overemphasis on the individual bearer of risk requires not only further empirical testing of the theory but appropriate methodological reflection
Statistics of precursors to fingering processes
We present an analysis of the statistical properties of hydrodynamic field
fluctuations which reveal the existence of precursors to fingering processes.
These precursors are found to exhibit power law distributions, and these power
laws are shown to follow from spatial -Gaussian structures which are
solutions to the generalized non-linear diffusion equation.Comment: 7 pages incl. 5 figs; tp appear in Europhysics Letter
Ecological study of aquatic midges and some related insects with special reference to feeding habits
Die Schweiz ist ein reiches Land. Sie verfĂŒgt ĂŒber viele MillionĂ€re. Der groĂe Reichtum konzentriert sich auf wenige Familien und Personen. In der Schweiz leben aber auch eine halbe Million der Bevölkerung (7,5 Mio.) in Haushalten von ErwerbstĂ€tigen, die weniger als das Existenzminimum verdienen. Ăber 200â000 Personen sind auf Sozialhilfe angewiesen. Bei den Vermögen und den verfĂŒgbaren Einkommen hat sich in den letzten Jahren die Kluft zwischen den obersten und untersten zehn Prozent verschĂ€rft. Die Zunahme der sozialen Ungleichheit erhöht die soziale Brisanz, was mehr zu ergrĂŒnden ist. Die soziale Differenzierung dokumentiert Prozesse der Globalisierung. Sie reproduziert und spezifiziert alte soziale Ungleichheiten. Wichtig ist, dass die Soziale Arbeit das thematisiert und weiter theoretisiert
Cluster Model for Near-barrier Fusion Induced by Weakly Bound and Halo Nuclei
The influence on the fusion process of coupling transfer/breakup channels is
investigated for the medium weight Li+Co systems in the vicinity
of the Coulomb barrier. Coupling effects are discussed within a comparison of
predictions of the Continuum Discretized Coupled-Channels model. Applications
to He+Co induced by the borromean halo nucleus He are also
proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, FINUSTAR2 Conference, Aghios Nikolaus, Crete,
Greece. 10-14 September 200
Detection of microgauss coherent magnetic fields in a galaxy five billion years ago
Magnetic fields play a pivotal role in the physics of interstellar medium in
galaxies, but there are few observational constraints on how they evolve across
cosmic time. Spatially resolved synchrotron polarization maps at radio
wavelengths reveal well-ordered large-scale magnetic fields in nearby galaxies
that are believed to grow from a seed field via a dynamo effect. To directly
test and characterize this theory requires magnetic field strength and geometry
measurements in cosmologically distant galaxies, which are challenging to
obtain due to the limited sensitivity and angular resolution of current radio
telescopes. Here, we report the cleanest measurements yet of magnetic fields in
a galaxy beyond the local volume, free of the systematics traditional
techniques would encounter. By exploiting the scenario where the polarized
radio emission from a background source is gravitationally lensed by a
foreground galaxy at z = 0.439 using broadband radio polarization data, we
detected coherent G magnetic fields in the lensing disk galaxy as seen 4.6
Gyrs ago, with similar strength and geometry to local volume galaxies. This is
the highest redshift galaxy whose observed coherent magnetic field property is
compatible with a mean-field dynamo origin.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures (including Supplementary Information). Published
in Nature Astronomy on August 28, 201
Superstatistical fluctuations in time series: Applications to share-price dynamics and turbulence
We report a general technique to study a given experimental time series with
superstatistics. Crucial for the applicability of the superstatistics concept
is the existence of a parameter that fluctuates on a large time scale
as compared to the other time scales of the complex system under consideration.
The proposed method extracts the main superstatistical parameters out of a
given data set and examines the validity of the superstatistical model
assumptions. We test the method thoroughly with surrogate data sets. Then the
applicability of the superstatistical approach is illustrated using real
experimental data. We study two examples, velocity time series measured in
turbulent Taylor-Couette flows and time series of log returns of the closing
prices of some stock market indices
Spin-wave propagation in a microstructured magnonic crystal
Transmission of microwave spin waves through a microstructured magnonic
crystal in the form of a permalloy waveguide of a periodically varying width
was studied experimentally and theoretically. The spin wave characteristics
were measured by spatially-resolved Brillouin light scattering microscopy. A
rejection frequency band was clearly observed. The band gap frequency was
controlled by the applied magnetic field. The measured spin-wave intensity as a
function of frequency and propagation distance is in good agreement with a
model calculation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Dissipation of angular momentum in light heavy ion collision
The inclusive energy distributions of fragments (4Z7) emitted in
the reactions O (116 MeV) + Al, Si, Ne (145 MeV) +
Al, Co have been measured in the angular range =
10 - 65. Fusion-fission and deep inelastic components of the
fragment emission have been extracted from the experimental data. The angular
mometum dissipations in fully damped deep inelastic collisions have been
estimated assming exit channel configuration similar to those for
fusion-fission process. It has been found that, the angular momentum
dissipations are more than those predicted by the empirical sticking limit in
all cases. The deviation is found to increase with increasing charge transfer
(lighter fragments). Qualitatively, this may be due to stronger friction in the
exit channel. Moreover, for the heavier system Ne + Co, the
overall magnitude of deviation is less as compared to those for the lighter
systems, {\it i.e.}, O + Al, Si, Ne + Al.
This may be due to lesser overlap in time scales of fusion and deep inelastic
time scales for heavier systems.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
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