6,450 research outputs found
Sensitivity of a Bolometric Interferometer to the CMB power spectrum
Context. The search for B-mode polarization fluctuations in the Cosmic
Microwave Background is one of the main challenges of modern cosmology. The
expected level of the B-mode signal is very low and therefore requires the
development of highly sensitive instruments with low systematic errors. An
appealing possibility is bolometric interferometry. Aims. We compare in this
article the sensitivity on the CMB angular power spectrum achieved with direct
imaging, heterodyne and bolometric interferometry. Methods. Using a simple
power spectrum estimator, we calculate its variance leading to the counterpart
for bolometric interferometry of the well known Knox formula for direct
imaging. Results. We find that bolometric interferometry is less sensitive than
direct imaging. However, as expected, it is finally more sensitive than
heterodyne interferometry due to the low noise of the bolometers. It therefore
appears as an alternative to direct imagers with different and possibly lower
systematic errors, mainly due to the absence of an optical setup in front of
the horns.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. This last version matches the published version
(Astronomy and Astrophysics 491 3 (2008) 923-927). Sensitivity of Heterodyne
Interferometers modified by a factor of tw
Computer Simulation and Modeling of CO2 Removal Systems for Exploration 2013-2014
The Atmosphere Revitalization Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) project was initiated in September of 2011 as part of the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) program. Under the ARREM project and the follow-on Life Support Systems (LSS) project, testing of sub-scale and full-scale systems has been combined with multiphysics computer simulations for evaluation and optimization of subsystem approaches. In particular, this paper will describes the testing and 1-D modeling of the combined water desiccant and carbon dioxide sorbent subsystems of the carbon dioxide removal assembly (CDRA). The goal is a full system predictive model of CDRA to guide system optimization and development
Diameter and Chirality Dependence of Exciton Properties in Carbon Nanotubes
We calculate the diameter and chirality dependences of the binding energies,
sizes, and bright-dark splittings of excitons in semiconducting single-wall
carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Using results and insights from {\it ab initio}
calculations, we employ a symmetry-based, variational method based on the
effective-mass and envelope-function approximations using tight-binding
wavefunctions. Binding energies and spatial extents show a leading dependence
with diameter as and , respectively, with chirality corrections
providing a spread of roughly 20% with a strong family behavior. Bright-dark
exciton splittings show a leading dependence. We provide analytical
expressions for the binding energies, sizes, and splittings that should be
useful to guide future experiments
Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy Window Functions Revisited
The primary results of most observations of cosmic microwave background (CMB)
anisotropy are estimates of the angular power spectrum averaged through some
broad band, called band-powers. These estimates are in turn what are used to
produce constraints on cosmological parameters due to all CMB observations.
Essential to this estimation of cosmological parameters is the calculation of
the expected band-power for a given experiment, given a theoretical power
spectrum. Here we derive the "band power" window function which should be used
for this calculation, and point out that it is not equivalent to the window
function used to calculate the variance. This important distinction has been
absent from much of the literature: the variance window function is often used
as the band-power window function. We discuss the validity of this assumed
equivalence, the role of window functions for experiments that constrain the
power in {\it multiple} bands, and summarize a prescription for reporting
experimental results. The analysis methods detailed here are applied in a
companion paper to three years of data from the Medium Scale Anisotropy
Measurement.Comment: 5 pages, 1 included .eps figure, PRD in press---final published
versio
On the jets, kinks, and spheromaks formed by a planar magnetized coaxial gun
Measurements of the various plasma configurations produced by a planar
magnetized coaxial gun provide insight into the magnetic topology evolution
resulting from magnetic helicity injection. Important features of the
experiments are a very simple coaxial gun design so that all observed
geometrical complexity is due to the intrinsic physical dynamics rather than
the source shape and use of a fast multiple-frame digital camera which provides
direct imaging of topologically complex shapes and dynamics. Three key
experimental findings were obtained: (1) formation of an axial collimated jet
[Hsu and Bellan, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 334, 257 (2002)] that is consistent
with a magnetohydrodynamic description of astrophysical jets, (2)
identification of the kink instability when this jet satisfies the
Kruskal-Shafranov limit, and (3) the nonlinear properties of the kink
instability providing a conversion of toroidal to poloidal flux as required for
spheromak formation by a coaxial magnetized source [Hsu and Bellan, Phys. Rev.
Lett. 90, 215002 (2003)]. A new interpretation is proposed for how the n=1
central column instability provides flux amplification during spheromak
formation and sustainment, and it is shown that jet collimation can occur
within one rotation of the background poloidal field.Comment: Physics of Plasmas (accepted
Probing the equation of state of the early universe with a space laser interferometer
We propose a method to probe the equation of state of the early universe and
its evolution, using the stochastic gravitational wave background from
inflation. A small deviation from purely radiation dominated universe () would be clearly imprinted on the gravitational wave spectrum
due to the nearly scale invariant nature of inflationary
generated waves.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur
The Distance to the Cygnus Loop from Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of the Primary Shock Front
We present a Hubble Space Telescope/WFPC2 narrow-band H-alpha image of a
region on the northeastern limb of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant. This
location provides a detailed example of where the primary blast wave first
encounters the surrounding interstellar medium. The filament structure is seen
in exquisite detail in this image, which was obtained primarily as an EARLY
ACQuisition image for a follow-up spectroscopic program. We compare the HST
image to a digitized version of the POSS-I red plate to measure the proper
motion of this filament. By combining this value for the proper motion with
previous measurements of the shock velocity at this position we find that the
distance to the Cygnus Loop is 440 (+130, -100) pc, considerably smaller than
the canonical value of 770 pc. We briefly discuss the ramifications of this new
distance estimate for our understanding of this prototypical supernova remnant.Comment: 18 pages, 3 Figures (2 JPEG and one Postscript
Power Spectrum Estimators For Large CMB Datasets
Forthcoming high-resolution observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background
(CMB) radiation will generate datasets many orders of magnitude larger than
have been obtained to date. The size and complexity of such datasets presents a
very serious challenge to analysing them with existing or anticipated
computers. Here we present an investigation of the currently favored algorithm
for obtaining the power spectrum from a sky-temperature map --- the quadratic
estimator. We show that, whilst improving on direct evaluation of the
likelihood function, current implementations still inherently scale as the
equivalent of the cube of the number of pixels or worse, and demonstrate the
critical importance of choosing the right implementation for a particular
dataset.Comment: 8 pages LATEX, no figures, corrected misaligned columns in table
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