25,423 research outputs found
An Improved Measurement of the Hubble Constant from the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect
We present a determination of the Hubble constant from measurements of the
Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect (SZE) in an orientation-unbiased sample of 7 z < 0.1
galaxy clusters. With improved X-ray models and a more accurate 32-GHz
calibration, we obtain H_O = 64+14-11 +/- 14_sys km/s/Mpc. for a standard CDM
cosmology, or 66+14-11 +/- 15_sys km/s/Mpc for a flat LambdaCDM cosmology. In
combination with X-ray cluster measurements and the BBN value for Omega_B, we
find Omega_M = 0.32 +/- 0.05.Comment: 5 pp., Accepted for publication in ApJ
Towards an Improved Test of the Standard Model's Most Precise Prediction
The electron and positron magnetic moments are the most precise prediction of
the standard model of particle physics. The most accurate measurement of a
property of an elementary particle has been made to test this result. A new
experimental method is now being employed in an attempt to improve the
measurement accuracy by an order of magnitude. Positrons from a "student
source" now suffice for the experiment. Progress toward a new measurement is
summarized
Zika Virus: Can Artificial Contraception Be Condoned?
As the Zika virus pandemic continues to bring worry and fear to health officials and medical scientists, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) have recommended that residents of the Zika-infected countries, e.g., Brazil, and those who have traveled to the area should delay having babies which may involve artificial contraceptive, particularly condom. This preventive policy, however, is seemingly at odds with the Roman Catholic Church’s position on the contraceptive. As least since the promulgation of Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae, the Church has explicitly condemned artificial birth control as intrinsic evil. However, the current pontiff, Pope Francis, during his recent visit to Latin America, remarked that the use of artificial contraception may not be in contradiction to the teaching of Humanae Vitae while drawing a parallel between the current Zika Crisis and the 1960’s Belgian Congo Nun Controversy. The pope mentioned that the traditional ethical principle of the lesser of two evils may be the doctrine that justified the exceptions. The authors of this paper attempt to expand the theological rationale of the pope’s suggestion. In so doing, the authors rely on casuistical reasoning as an analytic tool that compares the Belgian Congo Nun case and the given Zika case, and suggest that the former is highly similar to, if not the same as, the latter in terms of normative moral feature. That is, in both cases the use of artificial contraception is theologically justified in reference to the criteria that the doctrine of the lesser of two evils requires. The authors wish that the paper would provide a solid theological-ethical ground based on which condom-use as the most immediate and effective preventive measure can be recommended in numerous Catholic hospitals as well as among Catholic communities in the world, particularly the most Zika-affected and largest Catholic community in the world, Brazil – 123 million present Brazilian citizens are reported to be Roman Catholic
Structure of Lanczos-Lovelock Lagrangians in Critical Dimensions
The Lanczos-Lovelock models of gravity constitute the most general theories
of gravity in D dimensions which satisfy (a) the principle of of equivalence,
(b) the principle of general co-variance, and (c) have field equations
involving derivatives of the metric tensor only up to second order. The mth
order Lanczos-Lovelock Lagrangian is a polynomial of degree m in the curvature
tensor. The field equations resulting from it become trivial in the critical
dimension and the action itself can be written as the integral of an
exterior derivative of an expression involving the vierbeins, in the
differential form language. While these results are well known, there is some
controversy in the literature as to whether the Lanczos-Lovelock Lagrangian
itself can be expressed as a total divergence of quantities built only from the
metric and its derivatives (without using the vierbeins) in . We settle
this issue by showing that this is indeed possible and provide an algorithm for
its construction. In particular, we demonstrate that, in two dimensions, for a doublet of functions which
depends only on the metric and its first derivatives. We explicitly construct
families of such R^j -s in two dimensions. We also address related questions
regarding the Gauss-Bonnet Lagrangian in . Finally, we demonstrate the
relation between the Chern-Simons form and the mth order Lanczos-Lovelock
Lagrangian.Comment: 15 pages, no figure
Climate change in the Capricorn Coast: an analysis of stewardship potential
Climate change in the Keppel Bay and Capricorn Coast region: an analysis of stewardship potential was a research project undertaken by the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland in 2010, in collaboration with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), Townsville, Queensland. The project collected data on ways to increase community resilience to the impacts of climate change through fostering stewardship in the Capricorn Coast. Data were obtained by engaging key stakeholders through an online survey. The research aims were: • to develop and test a conceptual framework for understanding stewardship in relation to building resilience to climate change in the Capricorn Coast region, and • to identify barriers and opportunities to successful stewardship to build community-based resilience to the impacts of climate change on the Capricorn Coast.ID: 183
The Cosmic Microwave Background & Inflation, Then & Now
Boomerang, Maxima, DASI, CBI and VSA significantly increase the case for
accelerated expansion in the early universe (the inflationary paradigm) and at
the current epoch (dark energy dominance), especially when combined with data
on high redshift supernovae (SN1) and large scale structure (LSS). There are
``7 pillars of Inflation'' that can be shown with the CMB probe, and at least
5, and possibly 6, of these have already been demonstrated in the CMB data: (1)
a large scale gravitational potential; (2) acoustic peaks/dips; (3) damping due
to shear viscosity; (4) a Gaussian (maximally random) distribution; (5)
secondary anisotropies; (6) polarization. A 7th pillar, anisotropies induced by
gravity wave quantum noise, could be too small. A minimal inflation parameter
set, \omega_b,\omega_{cdm}, \Omega_{tot}, \Omega_Q,w_Q,n_s,\tau_C, \sigma_8},
is used to illustrate the power of the current data. We find the CMB+LSS+SN1
data give \Omega_{tot} =1.00^{+.07}_{-.03}, consistent with (non-baroque)
inflation theory. Restricting to \Omega_{tot}=1, we find a nearly scale
invariant spectrum, n_s =0.97^{+.08}_{-.05}. The CDM density, \Omega_{cdm}{\rm
h}^2 =.12^{+.01}_{-.01}, and baryon density, \Omega_b {\rm h}^2 =
>.022^{+.003}_{-.002}, are in the expected range. (The Big Bang nucleosynthesis
estimate is 0.019\pm 0.002.) Substantial dark (unclustered) energy is inferred,
\Omega_Q \approx 0.68 \pm 0.05, and CMB+LSS \Omega_Q values are compatible with
the independent SN1 estimates. The dark energy equation of state, crudely
parameterized by a quintessence-field pressure-to-density ratio w_Q, is not
well determined by CMB+LSS (w_Q < -0.4 at 95% CL), but when combined with SN1
the resulting w_Q < -0.7 limit is quite consistent with the w_Q=-1 cosmological
constant case.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, in Theoretical Physics, MRST 2002: A Tribute to
George Libbrandt (AIP), eds. V. Elias, R. Epp, R. Myer
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