3,091 research outputs found
A stacking method to study the gamma-ray emission of source samples based on the co-adding of Fermi LAT count maps
We present a stacking method that makes use of co-added maps of gamma-ray
counts produced from data taken with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. Sources
with low integrated gamma-ray fluxes that are not detected individually may
become detectable when their corresponding count maps are added. The combined
data set is analyzed with a maximum likelihood method taking into account the
contribution from point-like and diffuse background sources. For both simulated
and real data, detection significance and integrated gamma-ray flux are
investigated for different numbers of stacked sources using the public Fermi
Science Tools for analysis and data preparation. The co-adding is done such
that potential source signals add constructively, in contrast to the signals
from background sources, which allows the stacked data to be described with
simply structured models. We show, for different scenarios, that the stacking
method can be used to increase the cumulative significance of a sample of
sources and to characterize the corresponding gamma-ray emission. The method
can, for instance, help to search for gamma-ray emission from galaxy clusters.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 10 pages, 12
figure
Anomalous Fermion Production in Gravitational Collapse
The Dirac equation is solved in the Einstein-Yang-Mills background found by
Bartnik and McKinnon. We find a normalizable zero-energy fermion mode in the
-wave sector. As shown recently, their solution corresponds to a
gravitational sphaleron which mediates transitions between topologically
distinct vacua. Since the Bartnik-McKinnon solution is unstable, it will either
collapse to form a black hole or radiate away its energy. In either case, as
the Chern-Simons number of the configuration changes, there will be an
accompanying anomalous change in fermion number.Comment: 12 pages, preprint DAMTP93/R1
Reflections on a Measurement of the Gravitational Constant Using a Beam Balance and 13 Tons of Mercury
In 2006, a final result of a measurement of the gravitational constant
performed by researchers at the University of Z\"urich was published. A value
of G=6.674\,252(122)\times
10^{-11}\,\mbox{m}^3\,\mbox{kg}^{-1}\,\mbox{s}^{-2} was obtained after an
experimental effort that lasted over one decade. Here, we briefly summarize the
measurement and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures accepted for publication in Phil. Trans. R. Soc.
Vector and Tensor Contributions to the Luminosity Distance
We compute the vector and tensor contributions to the luminosity distance
fluctuations in first order perturbation theory and we expand them in spherical
harmonics. This work presents the formalism with a first application to a
stochastic background of primordial gravitational waves.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
Pulsation of Spherically Symmetric Systems in General Relativity
The pulsation equations for spherically symmetric black hole and soliton
solutions are brought into a standard form. The formulae apply to a large class
of field theoretical matter models and can easily be worked out for specific
examples. The close relation to the energy principle in terms of the second
variation of the Schwarzschild mass is also established. The use of the general
expressions is illustrated for the Einstein-Yang-Mills and the Einstein-Skyrme
system.Comment: 21 pages, latex, no figure
Abelian Higgs Hair for Electrically Charged Dilaton Black Holes
It is argued that an electronically charged dilaton black hole can support a
long range field of a Nielsen-Olesen string. Combining both numerical and
perturbative techniques we examine the properties of an Abelian-Higgs vortex in
the presence of the black hole under consideration. Allowing the black hole to
approach extremality we found that all fields of the vortex are expelled from
the extreme black hole. In the thin string limit we obtained the metric of a
conical electrically charged dilaton black hole. The effect of the vortex can
be measured from infinity justifying its characterization as black hole hair.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, Revtex, to appear in Phys.Rev.D1
O(4) texture with a cosmological constant
We investigate O(4) textures in a background with a positive cosmological
constant. We find static solutions which co-move with the expanding background.
There exists a solution in which the scalar field is regular at the horizon.
This solution has a noninteger winding number smaller than one. There also
exist solutions in which scalar-field derivatives are singular at the horizon.
Such solutions can complete one winding within the horizon. If the winding
number is larger than some critical value, static solutions including the
regular one are unstable under perturbations.Comment: 25 pages, revtex, 6 eps figure
Effect of Peculiar Motion in Weak Lensing
We study the effect of peculiar motion in weak gravitational lensing. We
derive a fully relativistic formula for the cosmic shear and the convergence in
a perturbed Friedmann Universe. We find a new contribution related to galaxies
peculiar velocity. This contribution does not affect cosmic shear in a
measurable way, since it is of second order in the velocity. However, its
effect on the convergence (and consequently on the magnification, which is a
measurable quantity) is important, especially for redshifts z < 1. As a
consequence, peculiar motion modifies also the relation between the shear and
the convergence.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures; v2: discussion on the reduced shear added (5.C),
additional references, version accepted in PRD; v3: mistakes corrected in
eqs. (26), (31), (33) and (44); results unchange
Maximum Mass-Radius Ratios for Charged Compact General Relativistic Objects
Upper limits for the mass-radius ratio and total charge are derived for
stable charged general relativistic matter distributions. For charged compact
objects the mass-radius ratio exceeds the value 4/9 corresponding to neutral
stars. General restrictions for the redshift and total energy (including the
gravitational contribution) are also obtained.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, RevTex. To appear in Europhys. Let
Influence of vestibular and visual stimulation on split-belt walking
We investigated the influence of vestibular (caloric ear irrigation) and visual (optokinetic) stimulation on slow and fast split-belt walking. The velocity of one belt was fixed (1.5 or 5.0-6.0km/h) and subjects (N=8 for vestibular and N=6 for visual experiments) were asked to adjust the velocity of the other belt to a level at which they perceived the velocity of both the belts as equal. Throughout all experiments, subjects bimanually held on to the space-fixed handles along the treadmill, which provided haptic information on body orientation. While the optokinetic stimulus (displayed on face-mounted virtual reality goggles) had no effect on belt velocity adjustments compared to control trials, cold-water ear irrigation during slow (but not fast) walking effectively influenced belt velocity adjustments in seven of eight subjects. Only two of these subjects decreased the velocity of the ipsilateral belt, consistent with the ipsilateral turning toward the irrigated ear in the Fukuda stepping test. The other five subjects, however, increased the velocity of the ipsilateral belt. A straight-ahead sense mechanism can explain both decreased and increased velocity adjustments. Subjects decrease or increase ipsilateral belt velocity depending on whether the vestibular stimulus is interpreted as an indicator of the straight-ahead direction (decreased velocity) or as an error signal relative to the straight-ahead direction provided by the haptic input from the space-fixed handles along the treadmill (increased velocity). The missing effect during fast walking corroborates the findings by others that the influence of vestibular tone asymmetry on locomotion decreases at higher gait velocitie
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