1,627 research outputs found
Discovery of close companions to the nearby young stars HD 199143 and HD 358623
Young stellar systems in the solar neighborhood provide valuable laboratories
for detailed studies of star and planet formation. The bright F8V star HD
199143 and the Li-rich late-type emission line star HD 358623 are among the
nearest young stars identified to date, and may be members of a young
association in Capricornus. We present high-resolution near-infrared images of
these two sources, obtained using the adaptive optics system on the 3.6-meter
telescope at the European Southern Observatory in La Silla, Chile. Our
observations reveal that both are in fact close binary systems. The newly
discovered companion at a separation of 1'' may account for the unusual
characteristics of HD 199143 --rapid rotation, emission lines, ultraviolet
variability, and excess infrared emission-- recently discussed by van den
Ancker and co-workers. HD 199143 may be a rare example of a close binary with
only a circum{\it secondary} disk. With the detection of a 2'' companion,
HD 358623 is now possibly one of the closest known T Tauri binaries. Both
binary systems are prime targets for follow-up spectroscopic and astrometric
observations.Comment: 9 pages, 1 PostScript figure, to appear in The Astrophysical Journal
Letter
Adjoint bi-continuous semigroups and semigroups on the space of measures
For a given bi-continuous semigroup T on a Banach space X we define its
adjoint on an appropriate closed subspace X^o of the norm dual X'. Under some
abstract conditions this adjoint semigroup is again bi-continuous with respect
to the weak topology (X^o,X). An application is the following: For K a Polish
space we consider operator semigroups on the space C(K) of bounded, continuous
functions (endowed with the compact-open topology) and on the space M(K) of
bounded Baire measures (endowed with the weak*-topology). We show that
bi-continuous semigroups on M(K) are precisely those that are adjoints of a
bi-continuous semigroups on C(K). We also prove that the class of bi-continuous
semigroups on C(K) with respect to the compact-open topology coincides with the
class of equicontinuous semigroups with respect to the strict topology. In
general, if K is not Polish space this is not the case
Statistical properties of stochastic 2D Navier-Stokes equations from linear models
A new approach to the old-standing problem of the anomaly of the scaling
exponents of nonlinear models of turbulence has been proposed and tested
through numerical simulations. This is achieved by constructing, for any given
nonlinear model, a linear model of passive advection of an auxiliary field
whose anomalous scaling exponents are the same as the scaling exponents of the
nonlinear problem. In this paper, we investigate this conjecture for the 2D
Navier-Stokes equations driven by an additive noise. In order to check this
conjecture, we analyze the coupled system Navier-Stokes/linear advection system
in the unknowns . We introduce a parameter which gives a
system ; this system is studied for any
proving its well posedness and the uniqueness of its invariant measure
.
The key point is that for any the fields and
have the same scaling exponents, by assuming universality of the
scaling exponents to the force. In order to prove the same for the original
fields and , we investigate the limit as , proving that
weakly converges to , where is the only invariant
measure for the joint system for when .Comment: 23 pages; improved versio
Estimates for the ergodic measure and polynomial stability of plane stochastic curve shortening flow
We establish moment estimates for the invariant measure of a stochastic
partial differential equation describing motion by mean curvature flow in (1+1)
dimension, leading to polynomial stability of the associated Markov semigroup.
We also prove maximal dissipativity for the related Kolmogorov operator
Infrastructure and spatial effects on the frequency of cyclist-motorist collisions in the Copenhagen region
Promoting cycling aims at reducing congestion and pollution and encouraging healthy and sustainable lifestyles, but generally clashes with the perception of crash risk while riding a bicycle that is still the most significant disincentive to cycling. The current study analyzed the factors contributing to increase crash risk while riding a bicycle by focusing on the variation of 5349 cyclist-motorist collisions within 269 traffic zones in the Copenhagen Region. The model controlled for traffic exposure for both bicycles and motorized transport modes, evaluated the effects of infrastructure and socio-economic characteristics of the zones, and accounted for heterogeneity and spatial correlation across the zones. A Poisson-lognormal model with second-order CAR priors confirmed the existence of the safety in numbers phenomenon, contradicted previous literature about bicycle facilities not being helpful in reducing crash risk, highlighted the need for Copenhagen-style bicycle paths especially in suburban areas, and emphasized how heterogeneity and spatial correlation play a significant role in explaining the probability of cyclist-motorist crash occurrence
Infrastructure and spatial effects on the frequency of cyclist-motorist collisions in the Copenhagen region
Promoting cycling aims at reducing congestion and pollution and encouraging healthy and sustainable lifestyles, but generally clashes with the perception of crash risk while riding a bicycle that is still the most significant disincentive to cycling. The current study analyzed the factors contributing to increase crash risk while riding a bicycle by focusing on the variation of 5349 cyclist-motorist collisions within 269 traffic zones in the Copenhagen Region. The model controlled for traffic exposure for both bicycles and motorized transport modes, evaluated the effects of infrastructure and socio-economic characteristics of the zones, and accounted for heterogeneity and spatial correlation across the zones. A Poisson-lognormal model with second-order CAR priors confirmed the existence of the safety in numbers phenomenon, contradicted previous literature about bicycle facilities not being helpful in reducing crash risk, highlighted the need for Copenhagen-style bicycle paths especially in suburban areas, and emphasized how heterogeneity and spatial correlation play a significant role in explaining the probability of cyclist-motorist crash occurrence
Identifying Young Brown Dwarfs Using Gravity-Sensitive Spectral Features
We report the initial results of the Brown Dwarf Spectroscopic Survey Gravity
Project, to study gravity sensitive features as indicators of youth in brown
dwarfs. Low-resolution (R~2000) J-band and optical (R~1000) observations using
NIRSPEC and LRIS at the W.M. Keck Observatory reveal transitions of TiO, VO, K
I, Na I, Cs I, Rb I, CaH, and FeH. By comparing these features in late-type
giants and in old field dwarfs we show that they are sensitive to the gravity
(g = GM/R^2) of the object. Using low-gravity spectral signatures as age
indicators, we observed and analyzed J-band and optical spectra of two young
brown dwarfs, G 196-3B (20-300 Myr) and KPNO Tau-4 (1-2 Myr), and two possible
low mass brown dwarfs in the sigma Orionis cluster (3-7 Myr). We report the
identification of the phi bands of TiO near 1.24 microns and the A-X band of VO
near 1.18 microns together with extremely weak J-band lines of K I in
KPNO-Tau4. This is the first detection of TiO and VO in the J-band in a
sub-stellar mass object. The optical spectrum of KPNO-Tau4 exhibits weak K I
and Na I lines, weak absorption by CaH, and strong VO bands, also signatures of
a lower gravity atmosphere. G 196-3B shows absorption features in both
wavelength regions like those of KPNO-Tau4 suggesting that its age and mass are
at the lower end of published estimates. Whereas sigma Ori 51 appears to be
consistent with a young sub-stellar object, sigma Ori 47 shows signatures of
high gravity most closely resembling an old L1.5/L0, and can not be a member of
the sigma Orionis cluster.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. To appear in the January 10, 2004 issue of the
Astrophysical Journa
Deep 10 and 18 micron Imaging of the HR 4796A Circumstellar Disk: Transient Dust Particles & Tentative Evidence for a Brightness Asymmetry
We present new 10.8 and 18.2 micron images of HR 4796A, a young A0V star that
was recently discovered to have a spectacular, nearly edge-on, circumstellar
disk prominent at ~20 microns (Jayawardhana et al. 1998; Koerner et al. 1998).
These new images, obtained with OSCIR at Keck II, show that the disk's size at
10 microns is comparable to its size at 18 microns. Therefore, the 18
micron-emitting dust may also emit some, or all, of the 10 micron radiation.
Using these multi-wavelength images, we determine a "characteristic" diameter
of 2-3 microns for the mid-infrared-emitting dust particles if they are
spherical and composed of astronomical silicates. Particles this small are
expected to be blown out of the system by radiation pressure in a few hundred
years, and therefore these particles are unlikely to be primordial. Dynamical
modeling of the disk (Wyatt et al. 2000) indicates that the disk surface
density is relatively sharply peaked near 70 AU, which agrees with the mean
annular radius deduced by Schneider et al. (1999) from their NICMOS images. We
present evidence (~1.8 sigma significance) for a brightness asymmetry that may
result from the presence of the hole and the gravitational perturbation of the
disk particle orbits by the low-mass stellar companion or a planet. This
"pericenter glow," which must still be confirmed, results from a very small (a
few AU) shift of the disk's center of symmetry relative to the central star HR
4796A; one side of the inner boundary of the annulus is shifted towards HR
4796A, thereby becoming warmer and more infrared-emitting. The possible
detection of pericenter glow implies that the detection of even complex
dynamical effects of planets on disks is within reach.Comment: 18 pages. 9 GIF images. Total size ~800 kB. High resolution images
available upon request. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal
(scheduled for January 10, 2000
Star Spot Induced Radial Velocity Variability in LkCa 19
We describe a new radial velocity survey of T Tauri stars and present the
first results. Our search is motivated by an interest in detecting massive
young planets, as well as investigating the origin of the brown dwarf desert.
As part of this survey, we discovered large-amplitude, periodic, radial
velocity variations in the spectrum of the weak line T Tauri star LkCa 19.
Using line bisector analysis and a new simulation of the effect of star spots
on the photometric and radial velocity variability of T Tauri stars, we show
that our measured radial velocities for LkCa19 are fully consistent with
variations caused by the presence of large star spots on this rapidly rotating
young star. These results illustrate the level of activity-induced radial
velocity noise associated with at least some very young stars. This
activity-induced noise will set lower limits on the mass of a companion
detectable around LkCa 19, and similarly active young stars.Comment: ApJ accepted, 27 pages, 12 figures, aaste
Data-adaptive harmonic spectra and multilayer Stuart-Landau models
Harmonic decompositions of multivariate time series are considered for which
we adopt an integral operator approach with periodic semigroup kernels.
Spectral decomposition theorems are derived that cover the important cases of
two-time statistics drawn from a mixing invariant measure.
The corresponding eigenvalues can be grouped per Fourier frequency, and are
actually given, at each frequency, as the singular values of a cross-spectral
matrix depending on the data. These eigenvalues obey furthermore a variational
principle that allows us to define naturally a multidimensional power spectrum.
The eigenmodes, as far as they are concerned, exhibit a data-adaptive character
manifested in their phase which allows us in turn to define a multidimensional
phase spectrum.
The resulting data-adaptive harmonic (DAH) modes allow for reducing the
data-driven modeling effort to elemental models stacked per frequency, only
coupled at different frequencies by the same noise realization. In particular,
the DAH decomposition extracts time-dependent coefficients stacked by Fourier
frequency which can be efficiently modeled---provided the decay of temporal
correlations is sufficiently well-resolved---within a class of multilayer
stochastic models (MSMs) tailored here on stochastic Stuart-Landau oscillators.
Applications to the Lorenz 96 model and to a stochastic heat equation driven
by a space-time white noise, are considered. In both cases, the DAH
decomposition allows for an extraction of spatio-temporal modes revealing key
features of the dynamics in the embedded phase space. The multilayer
Stuart-Landau models (MSLMs) are shown to successfully model the typical
patterns of the corresponding time-evolving fields, as well as their statistics
of occurrence.Comment: 26 pages, double columns; 15 figure
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