3,076 research outputs found
Synchrotron Emission as the Source of GRB Spectra, Part II: Observations
We test the models of synchrotron emission presented in Part I of this series
(Lloyd & Petrosian, these proceedings) against the distributions and evolution
of GRB spectral parameters (particularly the low energy index, ). With
knowledge of the distribution and the correlation between and
presented in Part I, we show how to derive the expected distribution of
from fits to optically thin synchrotron spectra, and compare this with
the observed distribution. We show that there is no difficulty explaining
bursts below the ``line of death'', , and that these bursts
indicate that the spectrum of accelerated electrons must flatten or decline at
low energies. Bursts with low energy spectral indices that fall above this
limit are explained by the synchrotron self-absorption frequency entering the
lower end of the BATSE window. Finally, we discuss a variety of spectral
evolution behavior seen in GRBs and explain this behavior in the context of
synchrotron emission from internal shocks.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 5th Huntsville Symposium on Gamma
Ray Burst
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BioNanoAdhesion: atomic force microscopy study of the electrostatic properties of pyridine-and imidazole-based polycationic surfaces
Self-assembled monolayers of pyridine- and imidazole-based disulfides are currently being produced on low roughness gold surfaces. The electrostatic interaction between these surfaces and an atomic force microscope cantilever, modified with a silica microparticle, will subsequently be investigated as a function of environmental pH. The results can be used towards the development of improved nanoparticulate non-viral gene delivery vectors
Multilingual gendered identities: female undergraduate students in London talk about heritage languages
In this paper I explore how a group of female university students, mostly British Asian and in their late teens and early twenties, perform femininities in talk about heritage languages. I argue that analysis of this talk reveals ways in which the participants enact ‘culturally intelligible’ gendered subject positions. This frequently involves negotiating the norms of ‘heteronormativity’, constituting femininity in terms of marriage, motherhood and maintenance of heritage culture and language, and ‘girl power’, constituting femininity in terms of youth, sassiness, glamour and individualism. For these young women, I ask whether higher education can become a site in which they have the opportunities to explore these identifications and examine other ways of imagining the self and what their stories suggest about ‘doing being’ a young British Asian woman in London
Spectral Evolution of Two High-Energy Gamma-Ray Bursts
The prompt emission of the gamma-ray bursts is found to be very energetic,
releasing ~10^51 ergs in a flash. However, their emission mechanism remains
unclear and understanding their spectra is a key to determining the emission
mechanism. Many GRB spectra have been analyzed in the sub-MeV energy band, and
are usually well described with a smoothly broken power-law model. We present a
spectral analysis of two bright bursts (GRB910503 and GRB930506), using BATSE
and EGRET spectra that cover more than four decades of energy (30 keV - 200
MeV). Our results show time evolutions of spectral parameters (low-energy &
high-energy photon indices and break energy) that are difficult to reconcile
with a simple shock-acceleration model.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "Astrophysical
Particle Acceleration in Geospace and Beyond", Chattanooga, 2002, AGU
monograp
Microwave Radar-Based Breast Cancer Detection:Imaging in Inhomogeneous Breast Phantoms
This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available
Increasing trap stiffness with position clamping in holographic optical tweezers
We present a holographic optical tweezers system capable of position clamping multiple particles. Moving an optical trap in response to the trapped object's motion is a powerful technique for optical control and force measurement. We have now realised this experimentally using a Boulder Nonlinear Systems Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) with a refresh rate of 203Hz. We obtain a reduction of 44% in the variance of the bead's position, corresponding to an increase in effective trap stiffness of 77%. This reduction relies on the generation of holograms at high speed. We present software capable of calculating holograms in under 1ms using a graphics processor unit. © 2009 Optical Society of America
Automatic identification of gait events using an instrumented sock
Background: textile-based transducers are an emerging technology in which piezo-resistive properties of materials
are used to measure an applied strain. By incorporating these sensors into a sock, this technology offers the
potential to detect critical events during the stance phase of the gait cycle. This could prove useful in several
applications, such as functional electrical stimulation (FES) systems to assist gait.
Methods: we investigated the output of a knitted resistive strain sensor during walking and sought to determine
the degree of similarity between the sensor output and the ankle angle in the sagittal plane. In addition, we
investigated whether it would be possible to predict three key gait events, heel strike, heel lift and toe off, with a
relatively straight-forward algorithm. This worked by predicting gait events to occur at fixed time offsets from
specific peaks in the sensor signal.
Results: our results showed that, for all subjects, the sensor output exhibited the same general characteristics as
the ankle joint angle. However, there were large between-subjects differences in the degree of similarity between
the two curves. Despite this variability, it was possible to accurately predict gait events using a simple algorithm.
This algorithm displayed high levels of trial-to-trial repeatability.
Conclusions: this study demonstrates the potential of using textile-based transducers in future devices that provide active gait assistance
The Statistics of the BATSE Spectral Features
The absence of a BATSE line detection in a gamma-ray burst spectrum during
the mission's first six years has led to a statistical analysis of the
occurrence of lines in the BATSE burst database; this statistical analysis will
still be relevant if lines are detected. We review our methodology, and present
new simulations of line detectability as a function of the line parameters. We
also discuss the calculation of the number of ``trials'' in the BATSE database,
which is necessary for our line detection criteria.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, AIPPROC LaTeX, to appear in "Gamma-Ray Bursts,
4th Huntsville Symposium," eds. C. Meegan, R. Preece and T. Koshu
Improved Limits on Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter using Full-Sky Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor Data
A sterile neutrino of ~keV mass is a well motivated dark matter candidate.
Its decay generates an X-ray line that offers a unique target for X-ray
telescopes. For the first time, we use the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM)
onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope to search for sterile neutrino
decay lines; our analysis covers the energy range 10-25 keV (sterile neutrino
mass 20-50 keV), which is inaccessible to X-ray and gamma-ray satellites such
as Chandra, Suzaku, XMM-Newton, and INTEGRAL. The extremely wide field of view
of the GBM enables a large fraction of the Milky Way dark matter halo to be
probed. After implementing careful data cuts, we obtain ~53 days of full sky
observational data. We observe an excess of photons towards the Galactic
Center, as expected from astrophysical emission. We search for sterile neutrino
decay lines in the energy spectrum, and find no significant signal. From this,
we obtain upper limits on the sterile neutrino mixing angle as a function of
mass. In the sterile neutrino mass range 25-40 keV, we improve upon previous
upper limits by approximately an order of magnitude. Better understanding of
detector and astrophysical backgrounds, as well as detector response, will
further improve the sensitivity of a search with the GBM.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, references added, discussion expanded, some
typos fixed, matches the published versio
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