3,401 research outputs found
Radio Astronomical Polarimetry and the Lorentz Group
In radio astronomy the polarimetric properties of radiation are often
modified during propagation and reception. Effects such as Faraday rotation,
receiver cross-talk, and differential amplification act to change the state of
polarized radiation. A general description of such transformations is useful
for the investigation of these effects and for the interpretation and
calibration of polarimetric observations. Such a description is provided by the
Lorentz group, which is intimately related to the transformation properties of
polarized radiation. In this paper the transformations that commonly arise in
radio astronomy are analyzed in the context of this group. This analysis is
then used to construct a model for the propagation and reception of radio
waves. The implications of this model for radio astronomical polarimetry are
discussed.Comment: 10 pages, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa
Plasma Physics
Contains reports on two research projects.United States Atomic Energy Commission (Contract AT(30-1)-1842)United States Air Force, Electronic Systems Division (Contract AF19(604)-5992)National Science Foundation (Grant G-24073
Herschel Observations of a Newly Discovered UX Ori Star in the Large Magellanic Cloud
The LMC star, SSTISAGE1C J050756.44-703453.9, was first noticed during a
survey of EROS-2 lightcurves for stars with large irregular brightness
variations typical of the R Coronae Borealis (RCB) class. However, the visible
spectrum showing emission lines including the Balmer and Paschen series as well
as many Fe II lines is emphatically not that of an RCB star. This star has all
of the characteristics of a typical UX Ori star. It has a spectral type of
approximately A2 and has excited an H II region in its vicinity. However, if it
is an LMC member, then it is very luminous for a Herbig Ae/Be star. It shows
irregular drops in brightness of up to 2 mag, and displays the reddening and
"blueing" typical of this class of stars. Its spectrum, showing a combination
of emission and absorption lines, is typical of a UX Ori star that is in a
decline caused by obscuration from the circumstellar dust. SSTISAGE1C
J050756.44-703453.9 has a strong IR excess and significant emission is present
out to 500 micron. Monte Carlo radiative transfer modeling of the SED requires
that SSTISAGE1C J050756.44-703453.9 has both a dusty disk as well as a large
extended diffuse envelope to fit both the mid- and far-IR dust emission. This
star is a new member of the UX Ori subclass of the Herbig Ae/Be stars and only
the second such star to be discovered in the LMC.Comment: ApJ, in press. 9 pages, 5 figure
Post-Pandemic, Translational Research, and Indigenous Communities
It is well documented that American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian/First Nations, known as Indigenous Peoples, have among the most significant health disparities in the world. Clinical services for these populations are typically underfunded, and Indigenous Peoples often have preexisting and co-occurring health conditions. These factors combined with a multitude of social inequities make Indigenous communities extremely susceptible to infectious diseases, including COVID- 19. This paper discusses perspectives on the post-pandemic frameworks and policies toward translational science as an approach to advance health promotion for community-based interventions, dissemination, and sustainability. The importance of exercising Indigenous self-determination, public health authority, and population health sovereignty is emphasized
General duality for abelian-group-valued statistical-mechanics models
We introduce a general class of statistical-mechanics models, taking values
in an abelian group, which includes examples of both spin and gauge models,
both ordered and disordered. The model is described by a set of ``variables''
and a set of ``interactions''. A Gibbs factor is associated to each variable
and to each interaction. We introduce a duality transformation for systems in
this class. The duality exchanges the abelian group with its dual, the Gibbs
factors with their Fourier transforms, and the interactions with the variables.
High (low) couplings in the interaction terms are mapped into low (high)
couplings in the one-body terms. The idea is that our class of systems extends
the one for which the classical procedure 'a la Kramers and Wannier holds, up
to include randomness into the pattern of interaction. We introduce and study
some physical examples: a random Gaussian Model, a random Potts-like model, and
a random variant of discrete scalar QED. We shortly describe the consequence of
duality for each example.Comment: 26 pages, 2 Postscript figure
The youngest massive protostars in the Large Magellanic Cloud
We demonstrate the unique capabilities of Herschel to study very young
luminous extragalactic young stellar objects (YSOs) by analyzing a central
strip of the Large Magellanic Cloud obtained through the HERITAGE Science
Demonstration Program. We combine PACS 100 and 160, and SPIRE 250, 350, and 500
microns photometry with 2MASS (1.25-2.17 microns) and Spitzer IRAC and MIPS
(3.6-70 microns) to construct complete spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of
compact sources. From these, we identify 207 candidate embedded YSOs in the
observed region, ~40% never-before identified. We discuss their position in
far-infrared color-magnitude space, comparing with previously studied,
spectroscopically confirmed YSOs and maser emission. All have red colors
indicating massive cool envelopes and great youth. We analyze four example
YSOs, determining their physical properties by fitting their SEDs with
radiative transfer models. Fitting full SEDs including the Herschel data
requires us to increase the size and mass of envelopes included in the models.
This implies higher accretion rates (greater than or equal to 0.0001 M_sun/yr),
in agreement with previous outflow studies of high-mass protostars. Our results
show that Herschel provides reliable longwave SEDs of large samples of
high-mass YSOs; discovers the youngest YSOs whose SEDs peak in Herschel bands;
and constrains the physical properties and evolutionary stages of YSOs more
precisely than was previously possible.Comment: Main text: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; Online material: 3 figures, 1
table; to appear in the A&A Herschel Special Issu
Luminosity Functions of Spitzer Identified Protostars in Nine Nearby Molecular Clouds
We identify protostars in Spitzer surveys of nine star-forming molecular
clouds within 1 kpc: Serpens, Perseus, Ophiuchus, Chamaeleon, Lupus, Taurus,
Orion, Cep OB3, and Mon R2, which combined host over 700 protostar candidates.
Our diverse cloud sample allows us to compare protostar luminosity functions in
these varied environments. We combine photometry from 2MASS J, H, and Ks bands
and Spitzer IRAC and MIPS 24 micron bands to create 1 - 24 micron spectral
energy distributions (SEDs). Using protostars from the c2d survey with
well-determined bolometric luminosities (Lbol), we derive a relationship
between Lbol, L_MIR (integrated from 1 - 24 microns), and SED slope.
Estimations of Lbol for protostar candidates are combined to create luminosity
functions for each cloud. Contamination due to edge-on disks, reddened Class II
sources, and galaxies is estimated and removed from the luminosity functions.
We find that luminosity functions for high mass star forming clouds peak near 1
Lsun and show a tail extending toward luminosities above 100 Lsun. The
luminosity functions of the low mass star forming clouds do not exhibit a
common peak, however the combined luminosity function of these regions peaks
below 1 Lsun. Finally, we examine the luminosity functions as a function of the
local surface density of YSOs. In the Orion molecular cloud, we find a
significant difference between the luminosity functions of protostars in
regions of high and low stellar density, the former of which is biased toward
more luminous sources. This may be the result of primordial mass segregation,
although this interpretation is not unique. We compare our luminosity functions
to those predicted by models and find that our observed luminosity functions
are best matched by models which invoke competitive accretion, although we do
not find strong agreement of the high mass star forming clouds with any of the
models.Comment: 76 pages, 18 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in the
Astronomical Journa
IR Dust Bubbles: Probing the Detailed Structure and Young Massive Stellar Populations of Galactic HII Regions
We present an analysis of wind-blown, parsec-sized, mid-infrared bubbles and
associated star-formation using GLIMPSE/IRAC, MIPSGAL/MIPS and MAGPIS/VLA
surveys. Three bubbles from the Churchwell et al. (2006) catalog were selected.
The relative distribution of the ionized gas (based on 20 cm emission), PAH
emission (based on 8 um, 5.8 um and lack of 4.5 um emission) and hot dust (24
um emission) are compared. At the center of each bubble there is a region
containing ionized gas and hot dust, surrounded by PAHs. We identify the likely
source(s) of the stellar wind and ionizing flux producing each bubble based
upon SED fitting to numerical hot stellar photosphere models. Candidate YSOs
are also identified using SED fitting, including several sites of possible
triggered star formation.Comment: 37 pages, 17 figure
Scaling and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Si/SiGe Quantum Wells
The existence of a metal-insulator transition at zero magnetic field in two-
dimensional electron systems has recently been confirmed in high mobility
Si-MOSFETs. In this work, the temperature dependence of the resistivity of
gated Si/SiGe/Si quantum well structures has revealed a similar metal-
insulator transition as a function of carrier density at zero magnetic field.
We also report evidence for a Coulomb gap in the temperature dependence of
the resistivity of the dilute 2D hole gas confined in a SiGe quantum well.
In addition, the resistivity in the insulating phase scales with a single
parameter, and is sample independent. These results are consistent with the
occurrence of a metal-insulator transition at zero magnetic field in SiGe
square quantum wells driven by strong hole-hole interactions.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, LaTe
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