Cosmic Shear Results from the Deep Lens Survey - II: Full Cosmological Parameter Constraints from Tomography

We present a tomographic cosmic shear study from the Deep Lens Survey (DLS), which, providing a limiting magnitude r_{lim}~27 (5 sigma), is designed as a pre-cursor Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) survey with an emphasis on depth. Using five tomographic redshift bins, we study their auto- and cross-correlations to constrain cosmological parameters. We use a luminosity-dependent nonlinear model to account for the astrophysical systematics originating from intrinsic alignments of galaxy shapes. We find that the cosmological leverage of the DLS is among the highest among existing >10 sq. deg cosmic shear surveys. Combining the DLS tomography with the 9-year results of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP9) gives Omega_m=0.293_{-0.014}^{+0.012}, sigma_8=0.833_{-0.018}^{+0.011}, H_0=68.6_{-1.2}^{+1.4} km/s/Mpc, and Omega_b=0.0475+-0.0012 for LCDM, reducing the uncertainties of the WMAP9-only constraints by ~50%. When we do not assume flatness for LCDM, we obtain the curvature constraint Omega_k=-0.010_{-0.015}^{+0.013} from the DLS+WMAP9 combination, which however is not well constrained when WMAP9 is used alone. The dark energy equation of state parameter w is tightly constrained when Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) data are added, yielding w=-1.02_{-0.09}^{+0.10} with the DLS+WMAP9+BAO joint probe. The addition of supernova constraints further tightens the parameter to w=-1.03+-0.03. Our joint constraints are fully consistent with the final Planck results and also the predictions of a LCDM universe.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Betriebswirtschaftliche Ziele und Effekte einer familienbewussten Personalpolitik

Die Analyse betriebswirtschaftlicher Ziele und Effekte einer familienbewussten Personalpolitik stellt vor dem Hintergrund eines nicht zuletzt demografiebedingten Bedeutungszuwachses der betrieblichen Familienpolitik ein zentrales Forschungsdesiderat dar. Vor der konzeptionellen Folie eines Input-Output Modells wird in vorliegendem Arbeitspapier zunächst gezeigt, dass mit dem berufundfamilie-Index ein dienliches Instrument zur Quantifizierung betrieblichen Familienbewusstseins vorliegt, es jedoch bisher an einer Systematik fehlt, welche die Output-Seite konsistent erfasst. Diese Forschungslücke wird im ersten Teil vorliegender Arbeit geschlossen, indem theoretische Ansätze und metaanalytische Befunde hinsichtlich der Ziele familienbewusster Personalpolitik in einem Zielsystem konzentriert werden. In dessen Zentrum stehen Mitarbeiterbindung und Mitarbeitergewinnung als überlagernde Ziele, welche hinsichtlich aktueller Beschäftigter in Wirkungsbeziehungen zu deren Arbeitszufriedenheit und Motivation, zu Fehlzeiten, Humankapitalakkumulation, Kundenbindung, Kostensenkung und Mitarbeiterproduktivität stehen; hinsichtlich potenzieller Mitarbeiter lassen sich die Wirkungsbeziehungen in Bezug auf den Bewerberpool, die Bewerberqualität sowie die Senkung von Opportunitätskosten unbesetzter Stellen beschreiben. Aufbauend auf dieser Systematik wird im zweiten Teil der Arbeit ein empirisches Forschungsdesign entwickelt und in einer Betriebsstättenbefragung in Deutschland (n=1.001) angewandt. Quantitative Datenanalysen zeigen einerseits, dass familienbewusste Personalpolitik bei allen beschriebenen Zielbereichen einen signifikant positiven Beitrag leistet. Andererseits führen Untersuchungen der Wirkungsintensität familienbewusster Personalpolitik zu dem Ergebnis, dass Unternehmen mit einem hohen betrieblichen Familienbewusstsein die beschriebenen Ziele zum Teil deutlich besser erreichen als die Vergleichsgruppe nicht familienbewusster Unternehmen.Due to the increasing relevance of demographic developments for human resources management, the analysis of goals and effects of corporate family-consciousness has become a central field of research. The concept of an input/output analysis presented in the paper shows that the berufundfamilie-index offers a quantification of corporate family-consciousness but also reveals that the output has not yet been conceptualized consistently. The first part of this paper closes this gap of research by issuing a system of goals of corporate family-consciousness. Central goals are employee loyalty and recruiting. With regard to current employees these goals relate to job satisfaction and motivation, absenteeism, accumulation of human capital, customer loyalty, cost reduction and efficiency of labour. With regard to potential employees they relate to the pool and quality of applicants as well as to the reduction of opportunity costs caused by vacancies. The second part of the paper describes the survey of 1001 companies in Germany based on the construction mentioned before. It shows that corporate family-consciousness significantly contributes to achieving the goals. Furthermore it proves that the more family-conscious a company is, the better the goals mentioned can be achieved. The empirical findings indicate that family friendly human resources management constitutes an important parameter in managerial decision making

Simulations and cosmological inference: A statistical model for power spectra means and covariances

We describe an approximate statistical model for the sample variance distribution of the non-linear matter power spectrum that can be calibrated from limited numbers of simulations. Our model retains the common assumption of a multivariate Normal distribution for the power spectrum band powers, but takes full account of the (parameter dependent) power spectrum covariance. The model is calibrated using an extension of the framework in Habib et al. (2007) to train Gaussian processes for the power spectrum mean and covariance given a set of simulation runs over a hypercube in parameter space. We demonstrate the performance of this machinery by estimating the parameters of a power-law model for the power spectrum. Within this framework, our calibrated sample variance distribution is robust to errors in the estimated covariance and shows rapid convergence of the posterior parameter constraints with the number of training simulations.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, matches final version published in PR

Discovery of an 86 AU Radius Debris Ring Around HD 181327

HST/NICMOS PSF-subtracted coronagraphic observations of HD 181327 have revealed the presence of a ring-like disk of circumstellar debris seen in 1.1 micron light scattered by the disk grains, surrounded by a di use outer region of lower surface brightness. The annular disk appears to be inclined by 31.7 +/- 1.6 deg from face on with the disk major axis PA at 107 +/-2 deg . The total 1.1 micron flux density of the light scattered by the disk (at 1.2" < r < 5.0") of 9.6 mJy +/- 0.8 mJy is 0.17% +/- 0.015% of the starlight. Seventy percent of the light from the scattering grains appears to be confined in a 36 AU wide annulus centered on the peak of the radial surface brightness (SB) profile 86.3 +/- 3.9 AU from the star, well beyond the characteristic radius of thermal emission estimated from IRAS and Spitzer flux densities assuming blackbody grains (~ 22 AU). The light scattered by the ring appears bilaterally symmetric, exhibits directionally preferential scattering well represented by a Henyey-Greenstein scattering phase function with g = 0.30 +/- 0.03, and has an azimuthally medianed SB at the 86.3 AU radius of peak SB of 1.00 +/- 0.07 mJy arcsec^-2. No photocentric offset is seen in the ring relative to the position of the central star. A low surface brightness diffuse halo is seen in the NICMOS image to a distance of ~ 4" Deeper 0.6 micron HST/ACS PSF-subtracted coronagraphic observations reveal a faint outer nebulosity, asymmetrically brighter to the North of the star. We discuss models of the disk and properties of its grains, from which we infer a maximum vertical scale height of 4 - 8 AU at the 87.6 AU radius of maximum surface density, and a total maximum dust mass of collisionally replenished grains with minimum grain sizes of ~ 1 micron of ~ 4 M(moon).Comment: 45 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Progress update on the low-energy demonstration accelerator (LEDA)

As part of the linac design for the accelerator production of tritium (APT) project, the authors are assembling the first approximately 20 MeV portion of this cw proton accelerator. Primary objective of this low-energy demonstration accelerator (LEDA) is to verify the design codes, gain fabrication knowledge, understand LEDA`s beam operation, and be able to better predict costs and operational availability for the full 1,700 MeV APT accelerator. This paper provides an updated report on this past year`s progress that includes beam tests of the 75 keV injector, fabrication of the 6.7 MeV radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ), preparation of the facility, procurement and assembly of the rf system, and detailed design and documentation of many pieces of support equipment. First tests with the 6.7 MeV, 100 mA, cw beam from the RFQ are scheduled for late 1998. References are given to many detailed papers on LEDA at this conference

NICMOS Imaging of the HR 4796A Circumstellar Disk

We report the first near infrared (NIR) imaging of a circumstellar annular disk around the young (~8 Myr), Vega-like star, HR 4796A. NICMOS coronagraph observations at 1.1 and 1.6 microns reveal a ring-like symmetrical structure peaking in reflected intensity 1.05 arcsec +/- 0.02 arcsec (~ 70 AU) from the central A0V star. The ring geometry, with an inclination of 73.1 deg +/- 1.2 deg and a major axis PA of 26.8 deg +/- 0.6 deg, is in good agreement with recent 12.5 and 20.8 micron observations of a truncated disk (Koerner, et al. 1998). The ring is resolved with a characteristic width of less than 0.26 arcsec (17 AU) and appears abruptly truncated at both the inner and outer edges. The region of the disk-plane inward of ~60 AU appears to be relatively free of scattering material. The integrated flux density of the part of the disk that is visible (greater than 0.65 arcsec from the star) is found to be 7.5 +/- 0.5 mJy and 7.4 +/- 1.2 mJy at 1.1 and 1.6 microns, respectively. Correcting for the unseen area of the ring yields total flux densities of 12.8 +/- 1.0 mJy and 12.5 +/- 2.0 mJy, respectively (Vega magnitudes = 12.92 /+- 0.08 and 12.35 +/-0.18). The NIR luminosity ratio is evaluated from these results and ground-based photometry of the star. At these wavelengths Ldisk(lambda)/L*(lambda) = 1.4 +/- 0.2E-3 and 2.4 +/- 0.5E-3, giving reasonable agreement between the stellar flux scattered in the NIR and that which is absorbed in the visible and re-radiated in the thermal infrared. The somewhat red reflectance of the disk at these wavelengths implies mean particle sizes in excess of several microns, larger than typical interstellar grains. The confinement of material to a relatively narrow annular zone implies dynamical constraints on the disk particles by one or more as yet unseen bodies.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure for associated gif file see: http://nicmosis.as.arizona.edu:8000/AAS99/FIGURE1_HR4796A_ApJL.gif . Accepted 13 January 1999, Astrophyical Journal Letter

OMAE2007-29618 THE EFFECT OF STRUCTURAL COMPLIANCE ON FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH IN JACKET STRUCTURES

ABSTRACT Quantifying the fatigue crack growth and remaining life in joints making up jacket structures forms one of the basic requirements of a sub sea structural integrity assurance scheme. The accurate prediction of the likely failure time of welds allows a realistic estimate of the risk of structural collapse at any stage in a structure&apos;s life. It is current practice to consider the welds making up the member as individual components rather than looking at the whole compliant system of welds, joints, members, and structural framing arrangement. In this approach, the nominal loads in any one member are determined from an analysis of the undamaged structure and are then applied to a crack growth solution using handbook stress intensity factor solutions to determine the fatigue life of that component. This method assumes that the applied load is purely load-controlled whereas in reality it is a combination of both load and displacement controlled. A study was performed to investigate the influence of the surrounding structure on crack growth in tubular members located in jacket structures. The aim of the study was to verify whether the traditional approach, which uses stresses from undamaged structures to evaluate crack growth in individual components, is appropriate. The findings of the study showed that structural compliance has only a beneficial effect on fatigue growth in the latter stage of the crack growth process with crack lengths greater than 40% circumference. It was shown that the beneficial effect of structural compliance on fatigue crack growth in the later stage of the growth process does not significantly increase the overall fatigue life. It was concluded, that the current approach, which uses stresses from undamaged structures to evaluate crack growth in individual components, is valid and safe to use

Beyond a warming fingerprint: individualistic biogeographic responses to heterogeneous climate change in California.

Understanding recent biogeographic responses to climate change is fundamental for improving our predictions of likely future responses and guiding conservation planning at both local and global scales. Studies of observed biogeographic responses to 20th century climate change have principally examined effects related to ubiquitous increases in temperature - collectively termed a warming fingerprint. Although the importance of changes in other aspects of climate - particularly precipitation and water availability - is widely acknowledged from a theoretical standpoint and supported by paleontological evidence, we lack a practical understanding of how these changes interact with temperature to drive biogeographic responses. Further complicating matters, differences in life history and ecological attributes may lead species to respond differently to the same changes in climate. Here, we examine whether recent biogeographic patterns across California are consistent with a warming fingerprint. We describe how various components of climate have changed regionally in California during the 20th century and review empirical evidence of biogeographic responses to these changes, particularly elevational range shifts. Many responses to climate change do not appear to be consistent with a warming fingerprint, with downslope shifts in elevation being as common as upslope shifts across a number of taxa and many demographic and community responses being inconsistent with upslope shifts. We identify a number of potential direct and indirect mechanisms for these responses, including the influence of aspects of climate change other than temperature (e.g., the shifting seasonal balance of energy and water availability), differences in each taxon's sensitivity to climate change, trophic interactions, and land-use change. Finally, we highlight the need to move beyond a warming fingerprint in studies of biogeographic responses by considering a more multifaceted view of climate, emphasizing local-scale effects, and including a priori knowledge of relevant natural history for the taxa and regions under study