2,286 research outputs found
Everything Changes, Nothing Dies.
My recent work directly responds to my current state of being. The past three years have °been the peak of the exploration within myself, learning the capacity of my mind. I’ve spent my time in the heat of trauma, filled with anger and resentment. I’ve spent time in a steady state of confusion, wondering who exactly I am and who I want to be. I am in a constant state of change, thinking deeply about my actions and how I can improve on processing the correlating emotions. Creating a body of work during times when listening to conversations within the self can feel so vulnerable, but also alleviating. I have learned to share my world with the people who surround me in hopes that we can connect and feel less alone in our troubles. Clay has been meditative through this stretch of time as it teaches through the process as well as the final product. Starting with semi-coarse clay, I can feel what its made up of and the integrity it will bring to my sculpture. The fast manipulation of the material allows me to flesh out thoughts and ideas with ease. When creating, I make work in “the heat of the moment”, shaping thoughts that weigh heavy on my mind at that current moment. I enjoy leaving the maker\u27s mark on the piece for aesthetics and for the humanity of straying away from perfection, especially in the task of healing. The pieces are surfaced with washes of underglazes and stains, layered on in a meditative fashion; taking the time to see where each color lands and how it emphasizes the tenderness and fragility of the human body. Firing to cone 6 (2232°F) burns the chemical colorants in the underglaze, creating a somber color palette. The end result shows a figure who embodies these thoughts, experiences and lessons learned; becoming a physical representation of change, adaptation, and difficult conversations. When formulating ideas, I am inspired by artists such as Andrea Keys Connell, Nancy Kubale and painter Julie Speed, through their use of fluid methods and engaging compositions. I use the figure and supporting objects to tell a story deeper than the eye can see. I put great importance on creating ambiguous figures and compositions so that the viewer can connect with the artwork and draw out their own meaning and healing. ‘Til Death Do Us Part alludes to the experiences one may go through and how it alters their course of life. We become bonded to our trauma as it sets the tone for future interactions. As we get to know this damage, we learn to either become one with the hurt, or to heal and grow. We will always change, but the deep mental wound will never leave us. As an artist, I will be on a continual quest to explore the connection between our lived experience and how it impacts our course of life for the future. How can we differ in our trauma yet support each other and empathize with one another. We lose touch of our innermost selves when we can not identify the grim in ourselves and others, and act on being progressive in making the steps towards a more understanding and connective life
Constraining sub-grid physics with high-redshift spatially-resolved metallicity distributions
Aims. We examine the role of energy feedback in shaping the distribution of metals within cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of L* disc galaxies. While negative abundance gradients today provide a boundary condition for galaxy evolution models, in support of inside-out disc growth, empirical evidence as to whether abundance gradients steepen or flatten with time remains highly contradictory.
Methods. We made use of a suite of L* discs, realised with and without "enhanced" feedback. All the simulations were produced using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics code Gasoline, and their in situ gas-phase metallicity gradients traced from redshift z similar to 2 to the present-day. Present-day age-metallicity relations and metallicity distribution functions were derived for each system.
Results. The "enhanced" feedback models, which have been shown to be in agreement with a broad range of empirical scaling relations, distribute energy and re-cycled ISM material over large scales and predict the existence of relatively "flat" and temporally invariant abundance gradients. Enhanced feedback schemes reduce significantly the scatter in the local stellar age-metallicity relation and, especially, the [O/Fe]-[Fe/H] relation. The local [O/Fe] distribution functions for our L* discs show clear bimodality, with peaks at [O/Fe] = -0.05 and +0.05 (for stars with [Fe/H] > -1), consistent with our earlier work on dwarf discs.
Conclusions. Our results with "enhanced" feedback are inconsistent with our earlier generation of simulations realised with "conservative" feedback. We conclude that spatially-resolved metallicity distributions, particularly at high-redshift, offer a unique and under-utilised constraint on the uncertain nature of stellar feedback processes
WAS FAIR FAIR TO U.S. CORN GROWERS? AN ANALYSIS OF THE PAYMENTS OFFERED TO CORN GROWERS UNDER THE 1996 FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT AND REFORM ACT
The 1996 Farm Bill (FAIR) dramatically changed agricultural policy for producers of many commodities. A series of 7 annual decoupled payments replaced the deficiency-payment program. Option-pricing techniques are used to determine whether program benefits to corn producers are smaller or larger under the new program than the old.Agricultural and Food Policy,
The role of feedback in shaping the structure of the interstellar medium
We present an analysis of the role of feedback in shaping the neutral hydrogen (H I) content of simulated disc galaxies. For our analysis, we have used two realizations of two separate Milky Way-like (similar to L star) discs - one employing a conservative feedback scheme (McMaster Unbiased Galaxy Survey), the other significantly more energetic [Making Galaxies In a Cosmological Context (MaGICC)]. To quantify the impact of these schemes, we generate zeroth moment (surface density) maps of the inferred H I distribution; construct power spectra associated with the underlying structure of the simulated cold interstellar medium, in addition to their radial surface density and velocity dispersion profiles. Our results are compared with a parallel, self-consistent, analysis of empirical data from The H I Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS). Single power-law fits (P proportional to k(gamma)) to the power spectra of the stronger feedback (MaGICC) runs (over spatial scales corresponding to similar to 0.5 to similar to 20 kpc) result in slopes consistent with those seen in the THINGS sample (gamma similar to -2.5). The weaker feedback (MUGS) runs exhibit shallower power-law slopes (gamma similar to -1.2). The power spectra of the MaGICC simulations are more consistent though with a two-component fit, with a flatter distribution of power on larger scales (i.e. gamma similar to -1.4 for scales in excess of similar to 2 kpc) and a steeper slope on scales below similar to 1 kpc (gamma similar to -5), qualitatively consistent with empirical claims, as well as our earlier work on dwarf discs. The radial H I surface density profiles of the MaGICC discs show a clear exponential behaviour, while those of the MUGS suite are essentially flat; both behaviours are encountered in nature, although the THINGS sample is more consistent with our stronger (MaGICC) feedback runs
Dark MaGICC: the effect of Dark Energy on galaxy formation. Cosmology does matter
We present the Dark MaGICC project, which aims to investigate the effect of
Dark Energy (DE) modeling on galaxy formation via hydrodynamical cosmological
simulations. Dark MaGICC includes four dynamical Dark Energy scenarios with
time varying equations of state, one with a self-interacting Ratra-Peebles
model. In each scenario we simulate three galaxies with high resolution using
smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). The baryonic physics model is the same
used in the Making Galaxies in a Cosmological Context (MaGICC) project, and we
varied only the background cosmology. We find that the Dark Energy
parameterization has a surprisingly important impact on galaxy evolution and on
structural properties of galaxies at z=0, in striking contrast with predictions
from pure Nbody simulations. The different background evolutions can (depending
on the behavior of the DE equation of state) either enhance or quench star
formation with respect to a LCDM model, at a level similar to the variation of
the stellar feedback parameterization, with strong effects on the final galaxy
rotation curves. While overall stellar feedback is still the driving force in
shaping galaxies, we show that the effect of the Dark Energy parameterization
plays a larger role than previously thought, especially at lower redshifts. For
this reason, the influence of Dark Energy parametrization on galaxy formation
must be taken into account, especially in the era of precision cosmology.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figure
The impact of baryons on the direct detection of dark matter
The spatial and velocity distributions of dark matter particles in the Milky
Way Halo affect the signals expected to be observed in searches for dark
matter. Results from direct detection experiments are often analyzed assuming a
simple isothermal distribution of dark matter, the Standard Halo Model (SHM).
Yet there has been skepticism regarding the validity of this simple model due
to the complicated gravitational collapse and merger history of actual
galaxies. In this paper we compare the SHM to the results of cosmological
hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation to investigate whether or not
the SHM is a good representation of the true WIMP distribution in the analysis
of direct detection data. We examine two Milky Way-like galaxies from the
MaGICC cosmological simulations (a) with dark matter only and (b) with baryonic
physics included. The inclusion of baryons drives the shape of the DM halo to
become more spherical and makes the velocity distribution of dark matter
particles less anisotropic especially at large heliocentric velocities, thereby
making the SHM a better fit. We also note that we do not find a significant
disk-like rotating dark matter component in either of the two galaxy halos with
baryons that we examine, suggesting that dark disks are not a generic
prediction of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. We conclude that in the
Solar neighborhood, the SHM is in fact a good approximation to the true dark
matter distribution in these cosmological simulations (with baryons) which are
reasonable representations of the Milky Way, and hence can also be used for the
purpose of dark matter direct detection calculations.Comment: Minor changes to match JCAP version. 21 pages, 9 figure
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