25,916 research outputs found
Near-infrared and X-ray obscuration to the nucleus of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 3281
We present the results of a near-infrared and X-ray study of the Seyfert 2
galaxy NGC 3281. Emission from the Seyfert nucleus is detected in both regions
of the electromagnetic spectrum, allowing us to infer both the equivalent line
of sight hydrogen column density, N_H = 71.0(+11.3,-12.3)e26/m^2 and the
extinction due to dust, A_V = 22+/-11 magnitudes (90% confidence intervals). We
infer a ratio of N_H/A_V which is an order of magnitude larger than that
determined along lines of sight in the Milky Way and discuss possible
interpretations. We consider the most plausible explanation to be a dense cloud
in the foreground of both the X-ray and infrared emitting regions which
obscures the entire X-ray source but only a fraction of the much larger
infrared source.Comment: 23 pages including 9 figure
Overview of the Main Propulsion System for a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Flight Demonstrator
A demonstration of a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) engine has not been conducted in over 50 years. Several tests were conducted during the NERVA program but no NTP engine was ever flown in space. In the last several years there has been a considerable amount of conceptual design work on NTP engines conducted. With the prospect of human Mars missions in the 2030s there has been a renewed interest in NTP engines. A concept design study was conducted with the intent to design 2 flight demonstrator vehicles that would buy down programmatic and technical risks associated with launching and operating nuclear reactors in space. The intent of the first demonstrator mission would be to employ a simplified NTP engine and buy down programmatic risks whereas the second demonstrator would buy down technical risks with a NTP engine designed to be similar to an operational NTP model. The results of the study showed that a simplified NTP engine demonstrator could be feasibly built and flown in the near term with mostly high TRL, commercial off-the-shelf components
An algorithm for determining program feasibility of a multi-mode PAM commutator telemetry system Technical report no. 10
Algorithm formulation for evaluation of strapping arrangement programs for PAM multimode commutation system of Saturn telemetry syste
Two quantum Simpson's paradoxes
The so-called Simpson's "paradox", or Yule-Simpson (YS) effect, occurs in
classical statistics when the correlations that are present among different
sets of samples are reversed if the sets are combined together, thus ignoring
one or more lurking variables. Here we illustrate the occurrence of two
analogue effects in quantum measurements. The first, which we term
quantum-classical YS effect, may occur with quantum limited measurements and
with lurking variables coming from the mixing of states, whereas the second,
here referred to as quantum-quantum YS effect, may take place when coherent
superpositions of quantum states are allowed. By analyzing quantum measurements
on low dimensional systems (qubits and qutrits), we show that the two effects
may occur independently, and that the quantum-quantum YS effect is more likely
to occur than the corresponding quantum-classical one. We also found that there
exist classes of superposition states for which the quantum-classical YS effect
cannot occur for any measurement and, at the same time, the quantum-quantum YS
effect takes place in a consistent fraction of the possible measurement
settings. The occurrence of the effect in the presence of partial coherence is
discussed as well as its possible implications for quantum hypothesis testing.Comment: published versio
Estimating the masses of extra-solar planets
All extra-solar planet masses that have been derived spectroscopically are
lower limits since the inclination of the orbit to our line-of-sight is unknown
except for transiting systems. It is, however, possible to determine the
inclination angle, i, between the rotation axis of a star and an observer's
line-of-sight from measurements of the projected equatorial velocity (v sin i),
the stellar rotation period (P_rot) and the stellar radius (R_star). This
allows the removal of the sin i dependency of spectroscopically derived
extra-solar planet masses under the assumption that the planetary orbits lie
perpendicular to the stellar rotation axis. We have carried out an extensive
literature search and present a catalogue of v sin i, P_rot, and R_star
estimates for exoplanet host stars. In addition, we have used Hipparcos
parallaxes and the Barnes-Evans relationship to further supplement the R_star
estimates obtained from the literature. Using this catalogue, we have obtained
sin i estimates using a Markov-chain Monte Carlo analysis. This allows proper
1-sigma two-tailed confidence limits to be placed on the derived sin i's along
with the transit probability for each planet to be determined. While a small
proportion of systems yield sin i's significantly greater than 1, most likely
due to poor P_rot estimations, the large majority are acceptable. We are
further encouraged by the cases where we have data on transiting systems, as
the technique indicates inclinations of ~90 degrees and high transit
probabilities. In total, we estimate the true masses of 133 extra-solar
planets. Of these, only 6 have revised masses that place them above the 13
Jupiter mass deuterium burning limit. Our work reveals a population of
high-mass planets with low eccentricities and we speculate that these may
represent the signature of different planetary formation mechanisms at work.Comment: 40 pages, 6 tables, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in the
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society after editing of Tables 1 &
6 for electronic publication. Html abstract shortened for astro-ph submissio
Statistical quality control applied to a telemetry system acceptance prodedure Technical report no. 13
Statistical quality control applied to telemetry system acceptance procedur
Approximate Hermitian-Yang-Mills structures and semistability for Higgs bundles. II: Higgs sheaves and admissible structures
We study the basic properties of Higgs sheaves over compact K\"ahler
manifolds and we establish some results concerning the notion of semistability;
in particular, we show that any extension of semistable Higgs sheaves with
equal slopes is semistable. Then, we use the flattening theorem to construct a
regularization of any torsion-free Higgs sheaf and we show that it is in fact a
Higgs bundle. Using this, we prove that any Hermitian metric on a
regularization of a torsion-free Higgs sheaf induces an admissible structure on
the Higgs sheaf. Finally, using admissible structures we proved some properties
of semistable Higgs sheaves.Comment: 18 pages; some typos correcte
Towards a performative understanding of deservingness: merit, gender and the BBC pay dispute
Drawing largely on a high profile case of unequal pay at the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) as an illustrative example, this conceptual paper considers differences and interrelationships between merit and deservingness, where the latter captures how, through appropriate performances, merit is given recognition and value. We propose a performative understanding of deservingness that highlights its gendered and embodied dimensions. Informed by Judith Butler's account of gender performativity, we show that, while merit is conventionally conceptualized as a relatively fixed set of attributes (qualifications, skill) ‘attached' to the individual, deservingness captures how, in gendered terms, value and recognition are both claimed and conferred. As we argue, a gendered, deserving subject does not pre‐exist but is performatively constituted through embodied practices and performances of what is seen as worthy in a particular time and place
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