6,326 research outputs found
Comparison of Magnetic Anomalies of Lithospheric Origin Measured by Satellite and Airborne Magnetometers over Western Canada
Crustal magnetic anomaly data from the OGO 2, 4 and 6 (Pogo) satellites are compared with upward-continued aeromagnetic data between 50 deg -85 deg N latitude and 220 deg - 260 deg E longitude. Agreement is good both in anomaly location and in amplitude, giving confidence that it is possible to proceed with the derivation and interpretation of satellite anomaly maps in all parts of the globe. The data contain a magnetic high over the Alpha ridge suggesting continental composition and a magnetic low over the southern Canada basin and northern Canadian Arctic islands (Sverdrup basin). The low in the Sverdrup basin corresponds to a region of high heat flow, suggesting a shallow Curie isotherm. A ridge of high field, with two distinct peaks in amplitude, is found over the northern portion of the platform deposits and a relative high is located in the central portion of the Churchill province. No features are present to indicate a magnetic boundary between Slave and Bear provinces, but a trend change is evident between Slave and Churchill provinces. South of 60 deg latitude a broad magnetic low is located over very thick (40-50 km) crust, interpreted to be a region of low magnetization
The Cluster Distribution as a Test of Dark Matter Models. IV: Topology and Geometry
We study the geometry and topology of the large-scale structure traced by
galaxy clusters in numerical simulations of a box of side 320 Mpc, and
compare them with available data on real clusters. The simulations we use are
generated by the Zel'dovich approximation, using the same methods as we have
used in the first three papers in this series. We consider the following models
to see if there are measurable differences in the topology and geometry of the
superclustering they produce: (i) the standard CDM model (SCDM); (ii) a CDM
model with (OCDM); (iii) a CDM model with a `tilted' power
spectrum having (TCDM); (iv) a CDM model with a very low Hubble
constant, (LOWH); (v) a model with mixed CDM and HDM (CHDM); (vi) a
flat low-density CDM model with and a non-zero cosmological
term (CDM). We analyse these models using a variety of
statistical tests based on the analysis of: (i) the Euler-Poincar\'{e}
characteristic; (ii) percolation properties; (iii) the Minimal Spanning Tree
construction. Taking all these tests together we find that the best fitting
model is CDM and, indeed, the others do not appear to be consistent
with the data. Our results demonstrate that despite their biased and extremely
sparse sampling of the cosmological density field, it is possible to use
clusters to probe subtle statistical diagnostics of models which go far beyond
the low-order correlation functions usually applied to study superclustering.Comment: 17 pages, 7 postscript figures, uses mn.sty, MNRAS in pres
Extreme events and event size fluctuations in biased random walks on networks
Random walk on discrete lattice models is important to understand various
types of transport processes. The extreme events, defined as exceedences of the
flux of walkers above a prescribed threshold, have been studied recently in the
context of complex networks. This was motivated by the occurrence of rare
events such as traffic jams, floods, and power black-outs which take place on
networks. In this work, we study extreme events in a generalized random walk
model in which the walk is preferentially biased by the network topology. The
walkers preferentially choose to hop toward the hubs or small degree nodes. In
this setting, we show that extremely large fluctuations in event-sizes are
possible on small degree nodes when the walkers are biased toward the hubs. In
particular, we obtain the distribution of event-sizes on the network. Further,
the probability for the occurrence of extreme events on any node in the network
depends on its 'generalized strength', a measure of the ability of a node to
attract walkers. The 'generalized strength' is a function of the degree of the
node and that of its nearest neighbors. We obtain analytical and simulation
results for the probability of occurrence of extreme events on the nodes of a
network using a generalized random walk model. The result reveals that the
nodes with a larger value of 'generalized strength', on average, display lower
probability for the occurrence of extreme events compared to the nodes with
lower values of 'generalized strength'
Getting the Measure of the Flatness Problem
The problem of estimating cosmological parameters such as from noisy
or incomplete data is an example of an inverse problem and, as such, generally
requires a probablistic approach. We adopt the Bayesian interpretation of
probability for such problems and stress the connection between probability and
information which this approach makes explicit.
This connection is important even when information is ``minimal'' or, in
other words, when we need to argue from a state of maximum ignorance. We use
the transformation group method of Jaynes to assign minimally--informative
prior probability measure for cosmological parameters in the simple example of
a dust Friedman model, showing that the usual statements of the cosmological
flatness problem are based on an inappropriate choice of prior. We further
demonstrate that, in the framework of a classical cosmological model, there is
no flatness problem.Comment: 11 pages, submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravity, Tex source
file, no figur
Scale-dependent Galaxy Bias
We present a simple heuristic model to demonstrate how feedback related to
the galaxy formation process can result in a scale-dependent bias of mass
versus light, even on very large scales. The model invokes the idea that
galaxies form initially in locations determined by the local density field, but
the subsequent formation of galaxies is also influenced by the presence of
nearby galaxies that have already formed. The form of bias that results
possesses some features that are usually described in terms of stochastic
effects, but our model is entirely deterministic once the density field is
specified. Features in the large-scale galaxy power spectrum (such as wiggles
that might in an extreme case mimic the effect of baryons on the primordial
transfer function) could, at least in principle, arise from spatial modulations
of the galaxy formation process that arise naturally in our model. We also show
how this fully deterministic model gives rise to apparently stochasticity in
the galaxy distribution.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, typos corrected, discussion added and references
corrected; matches version accepted by JCA
A low CMB variance in the WMAP data
We have estimated the CMB variance from the three-year WMAP data, finding a
value which is significantly lower than the one expected from Gaussian
simulations using the WMAP best-fit cosmological model, at a significance level
of 98.7 per cent. This result is even more prominent if we consider only the
north ecliptic hemisphere (99.8 per cent). Different analyses have been
performed in order to identify a possible origin for this anomaly. In
particular we have studied the behaviour of single radiometers and single year
data as well as the effect of residual foregrounds and 1/f noise, finding that
none of these possibilities can explain the low value of the variance. We have
also tested the effect of varying the cosmological parameters, finding that the
estimated CMB variance tends to favour higher values of than the one of
the WMAP best-fit model. In addition, we have also tested the consistency
between the estimated CMB variance and the actual measured CMB power spectrum
of the WMAP data, finding a strong discrepancy. A possible interpretation of
this result could be a deviation from Gaussianity and/or isotropy of the CMB.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Some new tests added. Section 5 largely
modified. Accepted for publication in MNRA
A Counts-in-Cells Analysis of Lyman-break Galaxies at z~3
We have measured the counts-in-cells fluctuations of 268 Lyman-break galaxies
with spectroscopic redshifts in six 9 arcmin by 9 arcmin fields at z~3. The
variance of galaxy counts in cubes of comoving side length 7.7, 11.9, 11.4
h^{-1} Mpc is \sigma_{gal}^2 ~ 1.3\pm0.4 for \Omega_M=1, 0.2 open, 0.3 flat,
implying a bias on these scales of \sigma_{gal} / \sigma_{mass} = 6.0\pm1.1,
1.9\pm0.4, 4.0\pm0.7. The bias and abundance of Lyman-break galaxies are
surprisingly consistent with a simple model of structure formation which
assumes only that galaxies form within dark matter halos, that Lyman-break
galaxies' rest-UV luminosities are tightly correlated with their dark masses,
and that matter fluctuations are Gaussian and have a linear power-spectrum
shape at z~3 similar to that determined locally (\Gamma~0.2). This conclusion
is largely independent of cosmology or spectral normalization \sigma_8. A
measurement of the masses of Lyman-break galaxies would in principle
distinguish between different cosmological scenarios.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 16 pages including 4 figure
Computational Study of Turbulent-Laminar Patterns in Couette Flow
Turbulent-laminar patterns near transition are simulated in plane Couette
flow using an extension of the minimal flow unit methodology. Computational
domains are of minimal size in two directions but large in the third. The long
direction can be tilted at any prescribed angle to the streamwise direction.
Three types of patterned states are found and studied: periodic, localized, and
intermittent. These correspond closely to observations in large aspect ratio
experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
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