3,722 research outputs found
Simulated Extragalactic Observations with a Cryogenic Imaging Spectrophotometer
In this paper we explore the application of cryogenic imaging
spectrophotometers. Prototypes of this new class of detector, such as
superconducting tunnel junctions (STJs) and transition edge sensors (TESs),
currently deliver low resolution imaging spectrophotometry with high quantum
efficiency (70-100%) and no read noise over a wide bandpass in the visible to
near-infrared. In order to demonstrate their utility and the differences in
observing strategy needed to maximize their scientific return, we present
simulated observations of a deep extragalactic field. Using a simple analytic
technique, we can estimate both the galaxy redshift and spectral type more
accurately than is possible with current broadband techniques. From our
simulated observations and a subsequent discussion of the expected migration
path for this new technology, we illustrate the power and promise of these
devices.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journa
A Counts-in-Cells Analysis of Lyman-break Galaxies at z~3
We have measured the counts-in-cells fluctuations of 268 Lyman-break galaxies
with spectroscopic redshifts in six 9 arcmin by 9 arcmin fields at z~3. The
variance of galaxy counts in cubes of comoving side length 7.7, 11.9, 11.4
h^{-1} Mpc is \sigma_{gal}^2 ~ 1.3\pm0.4 for \Omega_M=1, 0.2 open, 0.3 flat,
implying a bias on these scales of \sigma_{gal} / \sigma_{mass} = 6.0\pm1.1,
1.9\pm0.4, 4.0\pm0.7. The bias and abundance of Lyman-break galaxies are
surprisingly consistent with a simple model of structure formation which
assumes only that galaxies form within dark matter halos, that Lyman-break
galaxies' rest-UV luminosities are tightly correlated with their dark masses,
and that matter fluctuations are Gaussian and have a linear power-spectrum
shape at z~3 similar to that determined locally (\Gamma~0.2). This conclusion
is largely independent of cosmology or spectral normalization \sigma_8. A
measurement of the masses of Lyman-break galaxies would in principle
distinguish between different cosmological scenarios.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 16 pages including 4 figure
Synthesis of Single Phase Hg-1223 High Tc Superconducting Films With Multistep Electrolytic Process
We report the multistep electrolytic process for the synthesis of high Tc
single phase HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8+ (Hg-1223) superconducting films. The
process includes : i) deposition of BaCaCu precursor alloy, ii) oxidation of
BaCaCu films, iii) electrolytic intercalation of Hg in precursor BaCaCuO films
and iv) electrochemical oxidation and annealing of Hg-intercalated BaCaCuO
films to convert into Hg1Ba2Ca2Cu3O8+ (Hg-1223). Films were
characterized by thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal
analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
The electrolytic intercalation of Hg in BaCaCuO precursor is proved to be a
novel alternative to high temperature-high pressure mercuration process. The
films are single phase Hg-1223 with Tc = 121.5 K and Jc = 4.3 x 104 A/cm2.Comment: 17 Pages, 10 Figures. Submitted to Superconductor Science and
Technolog
Profile and correlates of injecting-related injuries and diseases among people who inject drugs in Australia
Introduction: People who inject drugs (PWID) commonly experience harms related to their injecting, many of which are consequences of modifiable drug use practices. There is currently a gap in our understanding of how certain injecting-related injuries and diseases (IRID) cluster together, and socio-demographic and drug use characteristics associated with more complex clinical profiles. Method: Surveys were conducted with 902 Australian PWID in 2019. Participants provided information regarding their drug use, and past month experience of the following IRID: artery injection, nerve damage, skin and soft tissue infection, thrombophlebitis, deep vein thrombosis, endocarditis, septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, and septicaemia. We performed a latent class analysis, grouping participants based on reported IRID and ran a class-weighted regression analysis to determine variables associated with class-membership. Results: One-third (34 %) of the sample reported any IRID. A 3-class model identified: 1) no IRID (73 %), moderate IRID (21 %), and 3) high IRID (6%) clusters. Re-using one`s own needles was associated with belonging to the high IRID versus moderate IRID class (ARRR = 2.38; 95 % CI = 1.04â5.48). Other factors, including daily injecting and past 6-month mental health problems were associated with belonging to moderate and high IRID classes versus no IRID class. Conclusion: A meaningful proportion of PWID reported highly complex IRID presentations distinguished by the presence of thrombophlebitis and associated with greater re-use of needles. Increasing needle and syringe coverage remains critical in addressing the harms associated with injecting drug use and expanding the capacity of low-threshold services to address less severe presentations might aid in reducing IRID amongst PWID
The evolution of clustering and bias in the galaxy distribution
This paper reviews the measurements of galaxy correlations at high redshifts,
and discusses how these may be understood in models of hierarchical
gravitational collapse. The clustering of galaxies at redshift one is much
weaker than at present, and this is consistent with the rate of growth of
structure expected in an open universe. If , this observation would
imply that bias increases at high redshift, in conflict with observed
values for known high- clusters. At redshift 3, the population of
Lyman-limit galaxies displays clustering which is of similar amplitude to that
seen today. This is most naturally understood if the Lyman-limit population is
a set of rare recently-formed objects. Knowing both the clustering and the
abundance of these objects, it is possible to deduce empirically the
fluctuation spectrum required on scales which cannot be measured today owing to
gravitational nonlinearities. Of existing physical models for the fluctuation
spectrum, the results are most closely matched by a low-density spatially flat
universe. This conclusion is reinforced by an empirical analysis of CMB
anisotropies, in which the present-day fluctuation spectrum is forced to have
the observed form. Open models are strongly disfavoured, leaving CDM
as the most successful simple model for structure formation.Comment: Invited review at the Royal Society Meeting `Large-scale structure in
the universe', London, March 1998. 20 Pages LaTe
Outdoor learning spaces: the case of forest school
© 2017 The Author. Area published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.This paper contributes to the growing body of research concerning use of outdoor spaces by educators, and the increased use of informal and outdoor learning spaces when teaching primary school children. The research takes the example of forest school, a form of regular and repeated outdoor learning increasingly common in primary schools. This research focuses on how the learning space at forest school shapes the experience of children and forest school leaders as they engage in learning outside the classroom. The learning space is considered as a physical space, and also in a more metaphorical way as a space where different behaviours are permitted, and a space set apart from the national curriculum. Through semi-structured interviews with members of the community of practice of forest school leaders, the paper seeks to determine the significance of being outdoors on the forest school experience. How does this learning space differ from the classroom environment? What aspects of the forest school learning space support pupilsâ experiences? How does the outdoor learning space affect teaching, and the dynamics of learning while at forest school? The research shows that the outdoor space provides new opportunities for children and teachers to interact and learn, and revealed how forest school leaders and children co-create a learning environment in which the boundaries between classroom and outdoor learning, teacher and pupil, are renegotiated to stimulate teaching and learning. Forest school practitioners see forest school as a separate learning space that is removed from the physical constraints of the classroom and pedagogical constraints of the national curriculum to provide a more flexible and responsive learning environment.Peer reviewe
Clustering Analyses of 300,000 Photometrically Classified Quasars--I. Luminosity and Redshift Evolution in Quasar Bias
Using ~300,000 photometrically classified quasars, by far the largest quasar
sample ever used for such analyses, we study the redshift and luminosity
evolution of quasar clustering on scales of ~50 kpc/h to ~20 Mpc/h from
redshifts of z~0.75 to z~2.28. We parameterize our clustering amplitudes using
realistic dark matter models, and find that a LCDM power spectrum provides a
superb fit to our data with a redshift-averaged quasar bias of b_Q =
2.41+/-0.08 () for . This represents a better
fit than the best-fit power-law model (; ). We find b_Q increases with redshift.
This evolution is significant at >99.6% using our data set alone, increasing to
>99.9999% if stellar contamination is not explicitly parameterized. We measure
the quasar classification efficiency across our full sample as a = 95.6 +/-
^{4.4}_{1.9}%, a star-quasar separation comparable with the star-galaxy
separation in many photometric studies of galaxy clustering. We derive the mean
mass of the dark matter halos hosting quasars as MDMH=(5.2+/-0.6)x10^{12}
M_solar/h. At z~1.9 we find a deviation from luminosity-independent
quasar clustering; this suggests that increasing our sample size by a factor of
1.8 could begin to constrain any luminosity dependence in quasar bias at z~2.
Our results agree with recent studies of quasar environments at z < 0.4, which
detected little luminosity dependence to quasar clustering on proper scales >50
kpc/h. At z < 1.6, our analysis suggests that b_Q is constant with luminosity
to within ~0.6, and that, for g < 21, angular quasar autocorrelation
measurements are unlikely to have sufficient statistical power at z < 1.6 to
detect any luminosity dependence in quasars' clustering.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables; uses amulateapj; accepted to Ap
Cosmological Model Predictions for Weak Lensing: Linear and Nonlinear Regimes
Weak lensing by large scale structure induces correlated ellipticities in the
images of distant galaxies. The two-point correlation is determined by the
matter power spectrum along the line of sight. We use the fully nonlinear
evolution of the power spectrum to compute the predicted ellipticity
correlation. We present results for different measures of the second moment for
angular scales \theta \simeq 1'-3 degrees and for alternative normalizations of
the power spectrum, in order to explore the best strategy for constraining the
cosmological parameters. Normalizing to observed cluster abundance the rms
amplitude of ellipticity within a 15' radius is \simeq 0.01 z_s^{0.6}, almost
independent of the cosmological model, with z_s being the median redshift of
background galaxies.
Nonlinear effects in the evolution of the power spectrum significantly
enhance the ellipticity for \theta < 10' -- on 1' the rms ellipticity is \simeq
0.05, which is nearly twice the linear prediction. This enhancement means that
the signal to noise for the ellipticity is only weakly increasing with angle
for 2'< \theta < 2 degrees, unlike the expectation from linear theory that it
is strongly peaked on degree scales. The scaling with cosmological parameters
also changes due to nonlinear effects. By measuring the correlations on small
(nonlinear) and large (linear) angular scales, different cosmological
parameters can be independently constrained to obtain a model independent
estimate of both power spectrum amplitude and matter density \Omega_m.
Nonlinear effects also modify the probability distribution of the ellipticity.
Using second order perturbation theory we find that over most of the range of
interest there are significant deviations from a normal distribution.Comment: 38 pages, 11 figures included. Extended discussion of observational
prospects, matches accepted version to appear in Ap
GUT-Scale Primordial Black Holes: Consequences and Constraints
A population of very light primordial black holes which evaporate before
nucleosynthesis begins is unconstrained unless the decaying black holes leave
stable relics. We show that gravitons Hawking radiated from these black holes
would source a substantial stochastic background of high frequency
gravititational waves ( Hz or more) in the present universe. These
black holes may lead to a transient period of matter dominated expansion. In
this case the primordial universe could be temporarily dominated by large
clusters of "Hawking stars" and the resulting gravitational wave spectrum is
independent of the initial number density of primordial black holes.Comment: 4 pages; grey body factors included in graviton emission
calculations, and a couple of references added, but the conclusions are
unchanged. v3 Minor changes to references and wording; final versio
Redshift Evolution of the Nonlinear Two-Point Correlation Function
This paper presents a detailed theoretical study of the two-point correlation
function for both dark matter halos and the matter density field in five
cosmological models with varying matter density and neutrino
fraction . The objectives of this systematic study are to evaluate
the nonlinear gravitational effects on , to contrast the behavior of
for halos vs. matter, and to quantify the redshift evolution of and its
dependence on cosmological parameters. Overall, for halos exhibits
markedly slower evolution than for matter, and its redshift dependence is
much more intricate than the single power-law parameterization used in the
literature. Of particular interest is that the redshift evolution of the
halo-halo correlation length depends strongly on and
, being slower in models with lower or higher
. Measurements of to higher redshifts can therefore be a
potential discriminator of cosmological parameters. The evolution rate of
for halos within a given model increases with time, passing the phase of fixed
comoving clustering at to 3 toward the regime of stable clustering at
. The shape of the halo-halo , on the other hand, is well
approximated by a power law with slope -1.8 in all models and is not a
sensitive model discriminator.Comment: 22 pages, 8 postscript figures, AAS LaTeX v4.0. Accepted for
publication in The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 510 (January 1 1999
- âŠ