14,563 research outputs found
Application of PN and avalanche silicon photodiodes to low-level optical
New approaches to the discovery of other planetary systems require very sensitive and stable detection techniques in order to succeed. Two methods in particular, the astrometric and the photometric methods, require this. To begin understanding the problems and limitations of solid state detectors regarding this application, preliminary experiments were performed at the National Bureau of Standards and a low light level detector characterization facility was built. This facility is briefly described, and the results of tests conducted in it are outlined. A breadboard photometer that was used to obtain stellar brightness ratio precision data is described. The design principles of PN and avalanche silicon photodiodes based on low light level measuring circuits are discussed
Discovery of the 2010 Eruption and the Pre-Eruption Light Curve for Recurrent Nova U Scorpii
We report the discovery by B. G. Harris and S. Dvorak on JD 2455224.9385
(2010 Jan 28.4385 UT) of the predicted eruption of the recurrent nova U Scorpii
(U Sco). We also report on 815 magnitudes (and 16 useful limits) on the
pre-eruption light curve in the UBVRI and Sloan r' and i' bands from 2000.4 up
to 9 hours before the peak of the January 2010 eruption. We found no
significant long-term variations, though we did find frequent fast variations
(flickering) with amplitudes up to 0.4 mag. We show that U Sco did not have any
rises or dips with amplitude greater than 0.2 mag on timescales from one day to
one year before the eruption. We find that the peak of this eruption occurred
at JD 2455224.69+-0.07 and the start of the rise was at JD 2455224.32+-0.12.
From our analysis of the average B-band flux between eruptions, we find that
the total mass accreted between eruptions is consistent with being a constant,
in agreement with a strong prediction of nova trigger theory. The date of the
next eruption can be anticipated with an accuracy of +-5 months by following
the average B-band magnitudes for the next ~10 years, although at this time we
can only predict that the next eruption will be in the year 2020+-2.Comment: Astronomical Journal submitted, 36 pages, 3 figures, full table
Properties and use of CMB power spectrum likelihoods
Fast robust methods for calculating likelihoods from CMB observations on
small scales generally rely on approximations based on a set of power spectrum
estimators and their covariances. We investigate the optimality of these
approximation, how accurate the covariance needs to be, and how to estimate the
covariance from simulations. For a simple case with azimuthal symmetry we
compare optimality of hybrid pseudo-C_l CMB power spectrum estimators with the
exact result, indicating that the loss of information is not negligible, but
neither is it enough to have a large effect on standard parameter constraints.
We then discuss the number of samples required to estimate the covariance from
simulations, with and without a good analytic approximation, and assess the use
of shrinkage estimators. Finally we discuss how to combine an approximate
high-ell likelihood with a more exact low-ell harmonic-space likelihood as a
practical method for accurate likelihood calculation on all scales.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures; updated to match version accepted by PR
From X-ray dips to eclipse: Witnessing disk reformation in the recurrent nova USco
The 10th recorded outburst of the recurrent eclipsing nova USco was observed
simultaneously in X-ray, UV, and optical by XMM-Newton on days 22.9 and 34.9
after outburst. Two full passages of the companion in front of the nova ejecta
were observed, witnessing the reformation of the accretion disk. On day 22.9,
we observed smooth eclipses in UV and optical but deep dips in the X-ray light
curve which disappeared by day 34.9, then yielding clean eclipses in all bands.
X-ray dips can be caused by clumpy absorbing material that intersects the line
of sight while moving along highly elliptical trajectories. Cold material from
the companion could explain the absence of dips in UV and optical light. The
disappearance of X-ray dips before day 34.9 implies significant progress in the
formation of the disk. The X-ray spectra contain photospheric continuum
emission plus strong emission lines, but no clear absorption lines. Both
continuum and emission lines in the X-ray spectra indicate a temperature
increase from day 22.9 to day 34.9. We find clear evidence in the spectra and
light curves for Thompson scattering of the photospheric emission from the
white dwarf. Photospheric absorption lines can be smeared out during scattering
in a plasma of fast electrons. We also find spectral signatures of resonant
line scattering that lead to the observation of the strong emission lines.
Their dominance could be a general phenomenon in high-inclination systems such
as Cal87.Comment: Submitted to ApJ. 16 pages, 16 figure
Ultracold collisions between two light indistinguishable diatomic molecules: elastic and rotational energy transfer in HD+HD
A close coupling quantum-mechanical calculation is performed for rotational
energy transfer in a HD+HD collision at very low energy, down to the ultracold
temperatures: K. A global six-dimensional H-H
potential energy surface is adopted from a previous work [Boothroyd {\it et
al.}, J. Chem. Phys., {\bf 116}, 666 (2002).] State-resolved integral cross
sections of different
quantum-mechanical rotational transitions in the HD
molecules and corresponding state-resolved thermal rate coefficients
have been computed. Additionally, for comparison,
H+H calculations for a few selected rotational transitions have also
been performed. The hydrogen and deuterated hydrogen molecules are treated as
rigid rotors in this work. A pronounced isotope effect is identified in the
cross sections of these collisions at low and ultracold temperatures.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Endothelial Progenitors Exist within the Kidney and Lung Mesenchyme
The renal endothelium has been debated as arising from resident hemangioblast precursors that transdifferentiate from the nephrogenic mesenchyme (vasculogenesis) and/or from invading vessels (angiogenesis). While the Foxd1-positive renal cortical stroma has been shown to differentiate into cells that support the vasculature in the kidney (including vascular smooth muscle and pericytes) it has not been considered as a source of endothelial cell progenitors. In addition, it is unclear if Foxd1-positive mesenchymal cells in other organs such as the lung have the potential to form endothelium. This study examines the potential for Foxd1-positive cells of the kidney and lung to give rise to endothelial progenitors. We utilized immunofluorescence (IF) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to co-label Foxd1-expressing cells (including permanently lineage-tagged cells) with endothelial markers in embryonic and postnatal mice. We also cultured FACsorted Foxd1-positive cells, performed in vitro endothelial cell tubulogenesis assays and examined for endocytosis of acetylated low-density lipoprotein (Ac-LDL), a functional assay for endothelial cells. Immunofluorescence and FACS revealed that a subset of Foxd1-positive cells from kidney and lung co-expressed endothelial cell markers throughout embryogenesis. In vitro, cultured embryonic Foxd1-positive cells were able to differentiate into tubular networks that expressed endothelial cell markers and were able to endocytose Ac-LDL. IF and FACS in both the kidney and lung revealed that lineage-tagged Foxd1-positive cells gave rise to a significant portion of the endothelium in postnatal mice. In the kidney, the stromal-derived cells gave rise to a portion of the peritubular capillary endothelium, but not of the glomerular or large vessel endothelium. These findings reveal the heterogeneity of endothelial cell lineages; moreover, Foxd1-positive mesenchymal cells of the developing kidney and lung are a source of endothelial progenitors that are likely critical to patterning the vasculature. © 2013 Sims-Lucas et al
A lattice evaluation of four-quark operators in the nucleon
Nucleon matrix elements of various four-quark operators are evaluated in
quenched lattice QCD using Wilson fermions. Some of these operators give rise
to twist-four contributions to nucleon structure functions. Furthermore, they
bear valuable information about the diquark structure of the nucleon. Mixing
with lower-dimensional operators is avoided by considering appropriate
representations of the flavour group. We find that for a certain flavour
combination of baryon structure functions, twist-four contributions are very
small. This suggests that twist-four effects for the nucleon might be much
smaller than m_p^2/Q^2.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure
Applied lattice gauge calculations: diquark content of the nucleon
As an example of an application of lattice QCD we describe a computation of
four-quark operators in the nucleon. The results are interpreted in a diquark
language.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, Invited talk given by M. G\"ockeler at the
European Workshop on the QCD Structure of the Nucleon (QCD - N'02), Ferrara,
Italy, 3-6 Apr 200
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