2,283 research outputs found
Synchrotron Emission from Hot Accretion Flows and the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy
Current estimates of number counts of radio sources in the frequency range
where the most sensitive Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments are
carried out significantly under-represent sources with strongly inverted
spectra. Hot accretion flows around supermassive black holes in the nuclei of
nearby galaxies are expected to produce inverted radio spectra by thermal
synchrotron emission. We calculate the temperature fluctuations and power
spectra of these sources in the Planck Surveyor 30 GHz energy channel, where
their emission is expected to peak. We find that their potential contribution
is generally comparable to the instrumental noise, and approaches the CMB
anisotropy level at small angular scales. Forthcoming CMB missions, which will
provide a large statistical sample of inverted-spectra sources, will be crucial
for determining the distribution of hot accretion flows in nearby quiescent
galactic nuclei. Detection of these sources in different frequency channels
will help constrain their spectral characteristics, hence their physical
properties.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Light transport in cold atoms: the fate of coherent backscattering in the weak localization regime
The recent observation of coherent backscattering (CBS) of light by atoms has
emphasized the key role of the velocity spread and of the quantum internal
structure of the atoms. Firstly, using highly resonant scatterers imposes very
low temperatures of the disordered medium in order to keep the full contrast of
the CBS interference. This criterion is usually achieved with standard laser
cooling techniques. Secondly, a non trivial internal atomic structure leads to
a dramatic decrease of the CBS contrast. Experiments with Rubidium atoms (with
a non trivial internal structure) and with Strontium (with the simplest
possible internal structure) show this behaviour and confirm theoretical
calculations
Upper limits on bolometric luminosities of ten type Ia supernova progenitors from Chandra observations
We present an analysis of Chandra observations of the position of ten nearby
(< 25 Mpc) type Ia supernovae, taken before the explosions. No sources
corresponding to progenitors were found in any of the observations. We
calculated upper limits on the bolometric luminosities of the progenitors
assuming black-body X-ray spectra with temperatures of 30-150 eV. This is
inspired by the fact that luminous super-soft X-ray sources have been suggested
as the direct progenitors of type Ia supernovae. The upper limits of two
supernovae in our sample are comparable to the luminosities of the brightest
observed super-soft sources, ruling out such sources as the progenitors of
these supernovae. In contrast to Liu et al (2012) we find that for SN2011fe we
can rule out Eddington luminosity systems for black body temperatures as low as
40 eV. Our findings are consistent with statistical studies comparing the
observed type Ia supernova rate to the number of super-soft sources or the
integrated X-ray luminosity in external galaxies. This suggest that either the
progenitors of type Ia supernovae are not accreting, nuclear burning white
dwarfs, or that they do not look like the classical super-soft sources, e.g.
because they are obscured.Comment: Accepted, MNRAS. 10 pages, 11 figures, 3 table
L\'evy Distribution of Single Molecule Line Shape Cumulants in Low Temperature Glass
We investigate the distribution of single molecule line shape cumulants,
, in low temperature glasses based on the sudden jump,
standard tunneling model. We find that the cumulants are described by L\'evy
stable laws, thus generalized central limit theorem is applicable for this
problem.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
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Mothers behaving badly: chaotic hedonism and the crisis of neoliberal social reproduction
This article focuses on the significance of the plethora of representations of mothers ‘behaving badly’ in contemporary anglophone media texts, including the films Bad Moms, Fun Mom Dinner and Bad Mom’s Christmas, the book and online cartoons Hurrah for Gin and the recent TV comedy dramas Motherland, The Let Down and Catastrophe. All these media texts include representations of, first, mothers in the midst of highly chaotic everyday spaces where any smooth routine of domesticity is conspicuous by its absence; and second, mothers behaving hedonistically, usually through drinking and partying, behaviour that is more conventionally associated with men or women without children. After identifying the social type of the mother behaving badly (MBB), the article locates and analyses it in relation to several different social and cultural contexts. These contexts are: a neoliberal crisis in social reproduction marked by inequality and overwork; the continual if contested role of women as ‘foundation parents’; and the negotiation of longer-term discourses of female hedonism. The title gestures towards a popular British sitcom of the 1990s, Men Behaving Badly, which popularized the idea of the ‘new lad’; and this article suggests that the new lad’s counterpart, the ladette, is mutating into the mother behaving badly, or the ‘lad mom’. Asking what work this figure does now, in a later neoliberal context, it argues that the mother behaving badly is simultaneously indicative of a widening and liberating range of maternal subject positions and symptomatic of a profound contemporary crisis in social reproduction. By focusing on the classed and racialised dynamics of the MBB – by examining who exactly is permitted to be hedonistic, and how – and by considering the MBB’s limited and partial imagining of progressive social change, the article concludes by emphasizing the urgency of creating more connections between such discourses and ‘parents behaving politically’
On the Evolution of and High-Energy Emission from GHz-Peaked-Spectrum Sources
Here we discuss evolution and broad-band emission of compact (< kpc) lobes in
young radio sources. We propose a simple dynamical description for these
objects, consisting of a relativistic jet propagating into a uniform gaseous
medium in the central parts of an elliptical host. In the framework of the
proposed model, we follow the evolution of ultrarelativistic electrons injected
from a terminal hotspot of a jet to expanding lobes, taking into account their
adiabatic energy losses as well as radiative cooling. This allows us to discuss
the broad-band lobe emission of young radio sources. In particular, we argue
that the observed spectral turnover in the radio synchrotron spectra of these
objects cannot originate from the synchrotron self-absorption process but is
most likely due to free-free absorption effects connected with neutral clouds
of interstellar medium engulfed by the expanding lobes and photoionized by
active centers. We also find a relatively strong and complex high-energy
emission component produced by inverse-Compton up-scattering of various
surrounding photon fields by the lobes' electrons. We argue that such high
energy radiation is strong enough to account for several observed properties of
GHz-peaked-spectrum (GPS) radio galaxies at UV and X-ray frequencies. In
addition, this emission is expected to extend up to GeV (or possibly even TeV)
photon energies and can thus be probed by several modern gamma-ray instruments.
In particular, we suggest that GPS radio galaxies should constitute a
relatively numerous class of extragalactic sources detected by GLAST.Comment: 32 pages, 3 figures included. Revised version, accepted for
publication in Ap
Quantum catastrophe of slow light
Catastrophes are at the heart of many fascinating optical phenomena. The
rainbow, for example, is a ray catastrophe where light rays become infinitely
intense. The wave nature of light resolves the infinities of ray catastrophes
while drawing delicate interference patterns such as the supernumerary arcs of
the rainbow. Black holes cause wave singularities. Waves oscillate with
infinitely small wave lengths at the event horizon where time stands still. The
quantum nature of light avoids this higher level of catastrophic behaviour
while producing a quantum phenomenon known as Hawking radiation. As this letter
describes, light brought to a standstill in laboratory experiments can suffer a
similar wave singularity caused by a parabolic profile of the group velocity.
In turn, the quantum vacuum is forced to create photon pairs with a
characteristic spectrum. The idea may initiate a theory of quantum
catastrophes, in addition to classical catastrophe theory, and the proposed
experiment may lead to the first direct observation of a phenomenon related to
Hawking radiation.Comment: Published as "A laboratory analogue of the event horizon using slow
light in an atomic medium
Individual, unit and vocal clan level identity cues in sperm whale codas
Fieldwork was supported by Discovery and Equipment grants to H.W. from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. S.G. and L.R. were supported by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTs) pooling initiative and their support is gratefully acknowledged. MASTs is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions. S.G. was also supported by an NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship (PGS-M), an NSERC Canadian Graduate Scholarship (CGS-D), the Izaak Killam Memorial Scholarship, the Patrick F. Lett Fund, the Dalhousie’s Presidents Award, and an FNU fellowship for the Danish Council for Independent Research from the Ministry of Higher Education and Science supplemented by a Sapere Aude Research Talent Award.The ‘social complexity hypothesis’ suggests that complex social structure is a driver of diversity in animal communication systems. Sperm whales have a hierarchically structured society in which the largest affiliative structures, the vocal clans, are marked on ocean-basin scales by culturally transmitted dialects of acoustic signals known as ‘codas’. We examined variation in coda repertoires among both individual whales and social units—the basic element of sperm whale society—using data from nine Caribbean social units across six years. Codas were assigned to individuals using photo-identification and acoustic size measurement, and we calculated similarity between repertoires using both continuous and categorical methods. We identified 21 coda types. Two of those (‘1+1+3’ and ‘5R1’) made up 65% of the codas recorded, were shared across all units and have dominated repertoires in this population for at least 30 years. Individuals appear to differ in the way they produce ‘5R1’ but not ‘1+1+3’ coda. Units use distinct 4-click coda types which contribute to making unit repertoires distinctive. Our results support the social complexity hypothesis in a marine species as different patterns of variation between coda types suggest divergent functions, perhaps representing selection for identity signals at several levels of social structure.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
The Depression: Online Therapy Study (D:OTS)—A Pilot Study of an Internet-Based Psychodynamic Treatment for Adolescents with Low Mood in the UK, in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Introduction: Face-to-face therapy is unavailable to many young people with mental health difficulties in the UK. Internet-based treatments are a low-cost, flexible, and accessible option that may be acceptable to young people. This pilot study examined the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of an English-language adaptation of internet-based psychodynamic treatment (iPDT) for depressed adolescents, undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Methods: A single-group, uncontrolled design was used. A total of 23 adolescents, 16–18 years old and experiencing depression, were recruited to this study. Assessments were made at baseline and end of treatment, with additional weekly assessments of depression and anxiety symptoms. Results: Findings showed that it was feasible to recruit to this study during the pandemic, and to deliver the iPDT model with a good level of treatment acceptability. A statistically significant reduction in depressive symptoms and emotion dysregulation was found, with large effect size, by the end of treatment. Whilst anxiety symptoms decreased, this did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: The findings suggest that this English-language adaptation of iPDT, with some further revisions, is feasible to deliver and acceptable for adolescents with depression. Preliminary data indicate that iPDT appears to be effective in reducing depressive symptoms in adolescents
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