24,342 research outputs found
A paradigmatic flow for small-scale magnetohydrodynamics: properties of the ideal case and the collision of current sheets
We propose two sets of initial conditions for magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in
which both the velocity and the magnetic fields have spatial symmetries that
are preserved by the dynamical equations as the system evolves. When
implemented numerically they allow for substantial savings in CPU time and
memory storage requirements for a given resolved scale separation. Basic
properties of these Taylor-Green flows generalized to MHD are given, and the
ideal non-dissipative case is studied up to the equivalent of 2048^3 grid
points for one of these flows. The temporal evolution of the logarithmic
decrements, delta, of the energy spectrum remains exponential at the highest
spatial resolution considered, for which an acceleration is observed briefly
before the grid resolution is reached. Up to the end of the exponential decay
of delta, the behavior is consistent with a regular flow with no appearance of
a singularity. The subsequent short acceleration in the formation of small
magnetic scales can be associated with a near collision of two current sheets
driven together by magnetic pressure. It leads to strong gradients with a fast
rotation of the direction of the magnetic field, a feature also observed in the
solar wind.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
The Arecibo Dual-Beam Survey: Arecibo and VLA Observations
The Arecibo Dual-Beam Survey is a "blind" 21 cm search for galaxies covering
\~430 deg^2 of sky. We present the data from the detection survey as well as
from the follow-up observations to confirm detections and improve positions and
flux measurements. We find 265 galaxies, many of which are extremely low
surface brightness. Some of these previously uncataloged galaxies lie within
the zone of avoidance where they are obscured by the gas and dust in our
Galaxy. 81 of these sources are not previously cataloged optically and there
are 11 galaxies that have no associated optical counterpart or are only
tentatively associated with faint wisps of nebulosity on the Digitized Sky
Survey images. We discuss the properties of the survey and in particular we
make direct determinations of the completeness and reliability of the sample.
The behavior of the completeness and its dependencies is essential for
determining the HI mass function. We leave the discussion of the mass function
for a later paper, but do note that we find many low surface brightness
galaxies and 7 sources with M_HI < 10^8 Msolar.Comment: 23 pages, 20 figures, accepted ApJS. For tables 2 and 3 only the
first page has been included. ASCII tables are provided separatel
Finite energy shifts in SU(n) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on T^3xR at weak coupling
We consider a semi-classical treatment, in the regime of weak gauge coupling,
of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in a space-time of the form T^3xR with
SU(n)/Z_n gauge group and a non-trivial gauge bundle. More specifically, we
consider the theories obtained as power series expansions around a certain
class of normalizable vacua of the classical theory, corresponding to isolated
points in the moduli space of flat connections, and the perturbative
corrections to the free energy eigenstates and eigenvalues in the weakly
interacting theory. The perturbation theory construction of the interacting
Hilbert space is complicated by the divergence of the norm of the interacting
states. Consequently, the free and interacting Hilbert furnish unitarily
inequivalent representation of the algebra of creation and annihilation
operators of the quantum theory. We discuss a consistent redefinition of the
Hilbert space norm to obtain the interacting Hilbert space and the properties
of the interacting representation. In particular, we consider the lowest
non-vanishing corrections to the free energy spectrum and discuss the crucial
importance of supersymmetry for these corrections to be finite.Comment: 31 pages, 1 figure, v4 Minor changes, references correcte
Unravelling the Mysteries of the Leo Ring: An Absorption Line Study of an Unusual Gas Cloud
Since the 1980's discovery of the large (2x10^9 Msun) intergalactic cloud
known as the Leo Ring, this object has been the center of a lively debate about
its origin. Determining the origin of this object is still important as we
develop a deeper understanding of the accretion and feedback processes that
shape galaxy evolution. We present HST/COS observations of three sightlines
near the Ring, two of which penetrate the high column density neutral hydrogen
gas visible in 21 cm observations of the object. These observations provide the
first direct measurement of the metallicity of the gas in the Ring, an
important clue to its origins. Our best estimate of the metallicity of the ring
is ~10% Zsun, higher than expected for primordial gas but lower than expected
from an interaction. We discuss possible modifications to the interaction and
primordial gas scenarios that would be consistent with this metallicity
measurement.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted Ap
Molecular gas heating in Arp 299
Understanding the heating and cooling mechanisms in nearby (Ultra) luminous
infrared galaxies can give us insight into the driving mechanisms in their more
distant counterparts. Molecular emission lines play a crucial role in cooling
excited gas, and recently, with Herschel Space Observatory we have been able to
observe the rich molecular spectrum. CO is the most abundant and one of the
brightest molecules in the Herschel wavelength range. CO transitions are
observed with Herschel, and together, these lines trace the excitation of CO.
We study Arp 299, a colliding galaxy group, with one component harboring an AGN
and two more undergoing intense star formation. For Arp 299 A, we present PACS
spectrometer observations of high-J CO lines up to J=20-19 and JCMT
observations of CO and HCN to discern between UV heating and alternative
heating mechanisms. There is an immediately noticeable difference in the
spectra of Arp 299 A and Arp 299 B+C, with source A having brighter high-J CO
transitions. This is reflected in their respective spectral energy line
distributions. We find that photon-dominated regions (PDRs) are unlikely to
heat all the gas since a very extreme PDR is necessary to fit the high-J CO
lines. In addition, this extreme PDR does not fit the HCN observations, and the
dust spectral energy distribution shows that there is not enough hot dust to
match the amount expected from such an extreme PDR. Therefore, we determine
that the high-J CO and HCN transitions are heated by an additional mechanism,
namely cosmic ray heating, mechanical heating, or X-ray heating. We find that
mechanical heating, in combination with UV heating, is the only mechanism that
fits all molecular transitions. We also constrain the molecular gas mass of Arp
299 A to 3e9 Msun and find that we need 4% of the total heating to be
mechanical heating, with the rest UV heating
A Data Model to Manage Data for Water Resources Systems Modeling
Current practices to identify, organize, analyze, and serve data to water resources systems models are typically model and dataset-specific. Data are stored in different formats, described with different vocabularies, and require manual, model-specific, and time-intensive manipulations to find, organize, compare, and then serve to models. This paper presents the Water Management Data Model (WaMDaM) implemented in a relational database. WaMDaM uses contextual metadata, controlled vocabularies, and supporting software tools to organize and store water management data from multiple sources and models and allow users to more easily interact with its database. Five use cases use thirteen datasets and models focused in the Bear River Watershed, United States to show how a user can identify, compare, and choose from multiple types of data, networks, and scenario elements then serve data to models. The database design is flexible and scalable to accommodate new datasets, models, and associated components, attributes, scenarios, and metadata
Adaptive mesh refinement with spectral accuracy for magnetohydrodynamics in two space dimensions
We examine the effect of accuracy of high-order spectral element methods,
with or without adaptive mesh refinement (AMR), in the context of a classical
configuration of magnetic reconnection in two space dimensions, the so-called
Orszag-Tang vortex made up of a magnetic X-point centered on a stagnation point
of the velocity. A recently developed spectral-element adaptive refinement
incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code is applied to simulate this
problem. The MHD solver is explicit, and uses the Elsasser formulation on
high-order elements. It automatically takes advantage of the adaptive grid
mechanics that have been described elsewhere in the fluid context [Rosenberg,
Fournier, Fischer, Pouquet, J. Comp. Phys. 215, 59-80 (2006)]; the code allows
both statically refined and dynamically refined grids. Tests of the algorithm
using analytic solutions are described, and comparisons of the Orszag-Tang
solutions with pseudo-spectral computations are performed. We demonstrate for
moderate Reynolds numbers that the algorithms using both static and refined
grids reproduce the pseudo--spectral solutions quite well. We show that
low-order truncation--even with a comparable number of global degrees of
freedom--fails to correctly model some strong (sup--norm) quantities in this
problem, even though it satisfies adequately the weak (integrated) balance
diagnostics.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. Submitted to New Journal of Physic
Making Sense of Uncertainty in the Science Classroom:A Bayesian Approach
Uncertainty is ubiquitous in science, but scientific knowledge is often represented to the public and in educational contexts as certain and immutable. This contrast can foster distrust when scientific knowledge develops in a way that people perceive as a reversals, as we have observed during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on research in statistics, child development, and several studies in science education, we argue that a Bayesian approach can support science learners to make sense of uncertainty. We provide a brief primer on Bayesâ theorem and then describe three ways to make Bayesian reasoning practical in K-12 science education contexts. There are a) using principles informed by Bayesâ theorem that relate to the nature of knowing and knowledge, b) interacting with a web-based application (or widgetâConfidence Updater) that makes the calculations needed to apply Bayesâ theorem more practical, and c) adopting strategies for supporting even young learners to engage in Bayesian reasoning. We conclude with directions for future research and sum up how viewing science and scientific knowledge from a Bayesian perspective can build trust in science. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11191-022-00341-3
The Diverse Infrared Properties of a Complete Sample of Star-Forming Dwarf Galaxies
We present mid-infrared Spitzer Space Telescope observations of a complete
sample of star-forming dwarf galaxies selected from the KPNO International
Spectroscopic Survey. The galaxies span a wide range in mid-infrared
properties. Contrary to expectations, some of the galaxies emit strongly at 8
micron indicating the presence of hot dust and/or PAHs. The ratio of this
mid-infrared dust emission to the stellar emission is compared with the
galaxies' luminosity, star-formation rate, metallicity, and optical reddening.
We find that the strength of the 8.0 micron dust emission to the stellar
emission ratio is more strongly correlated with the star-formation rate than it
is with the metallicity or the optical reddening in these systems. Nonetheless,
there is a correlation between the 8.0 micron luminosity and metallicity. The
slope of this luminosity-metallicity correlation is shallower than
corresponding ones in the B-band and 3.6 micron. The precise nature of the 8.0
micron emission seen in these galaxies (i.e., PAH versus hot dust or some
combination of the two) will require future study, including deep mid-IR
spectroscopy.Comment: 14 pages, accepted Ap
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