337 research outputs found

    Fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background I: Form Factors and their Calculation in Synchronous Gauge

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    It is shown that the fluctuation in the temperature of the cosmic microwave background in any direction may be evaluated as an integral involving scalar and dipole form factors, which incorporate all relevant information about acoustic oscillations before the time of last scattering. A companion paper gives asymptotic expressions for the multipole coefficient Câ„“C_\ell in terms of these form factors. Explicit expressions are given here for the form factors in a simplified hydrodynamic model for the evolution of perturbations.Comment: 35 pages, no figures. Improved treatment of damping, including both Landau and Silk damping; inclusion of late-time effects; several references added; minor changes and corrections made. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D1

    Evidence for Expanding Superbubbles in a Galaxy at z=0.7443

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    The intervening z=0.7443 Mg II absorption system in the spectrum of MC 1331+170 shows an unusual series of line pairs, each with velocity separations of 30 km/s. These lines could be explained as the shells of expanding superbubbles residing in the outer regions of an edge-on spiral galaxy visible in the optical image of the MC 1331+170 field. The color and brightness of this galaxy make it the most likely candidate z=0.7443 absorber, though two other galaxies in the quasar field could also be contributing to the Mg II absorption profile. Kinematic models of absorption from compact groups and galaxy pairs produce profiles largely inconsistent with the observed Mg II spectrum. Superbubbles would naturally generate more regular structures such as those observed. Photoionization models of the superbubble shell are consistent with the observed profile for many realistic physical conditions. In a pure superbubble model, the large velocity spread of the Mg II absorption system is inconsistent with the expected spread of a quiescent, rotating disk. This requires unusual kinematics within the host galaxy, perhaps due to a recent interaction.Comment: Five Figures; Two Tables; 12 Pages using emulateapj.sty; Submitted to Ap

    Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of Lyman Alpha Emission at z=4.4

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    We present the highest redshift detections of resolved Lyman alpha emission, using Hubble Space Telescope/ACS F658N narrowband-imaging data taken in parallel with the Wide Field Camera 3 Early Release Science program in the GOODS CDF-S. We detect Lyman alpha emission from three spectroscopically confirmed z = 4.4 Lyman alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs), more than doubling the sample of LAEs with resolved Lyman alpha emission. Comparing the light distribution between the rest-frame ultraviolet continuum and narrowband images, we investigate the escape of Lyman alpha photons at high redshift. While our data do not support a positional offset between the Lyman alpha and rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) continuum emission, the half-light radii in two out of the three galaxies are significantly larger in Lyman alpha than in the rest-frame UV continuum. This result is confirmed when comparing object sizes in a stack of all objects in both bands. Additionally, the narrowband flux detected with HST is significantly less than observed in similar filters from the ground. These results together imply that the Lyman alpha emission is not strictly confined to its indigenous star-forming regions. Rather, the Lyman alpha emission is more extended, with the missing HST flux likely existing in a diffuse outer halo. This suggests that the radiative transfer of Lyman alpha photons in high-redshift LAEs is complicated, with the interstellar-medium geometry and/or outflows playing a significant role in galaxies at these redshifts.Comment: Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal. 11 pages, 10 figure

    The Open Linguistics Working Group: developing the Linguistic Linked Open Data cloud

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    The Open Linguistics Working Group (OWLG) brings together researchers from various fields of linguistics, natural language processing, and information technology to present and discuss principles, case studies, and best practices for representing, publishing and linking linguistic data collections. A major outcome of our work is the Linguistic Linked Open Data (LLOD) cloud, an LOD (sub-)cloud of linguistic resources, which covers various linguistic databases, lexicons, corpora, terminologies, and metadata repositories. We present and summarize five years of progress on the development of the cloud and of advancements in open data in linguistics, and we describe recent community activities. The paper aims to serve as a guideline to orient and involve researchers with the community and/or Linguistic Linked Open Data

    UVUDF: Ultraviolet Imaging of the Hubble Ultradeep Field with Wide-field Camera 3

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    We present an overview of a 90-orbit Hubble Space Telescope treasury program to obtain near ultraviolet imaging of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field using the Wide Field Camera 3 UVIS detector with the F225W, F275W, and F336W filters. This survey is designed to: (i) Investigate the episode of peak star formation activity in galaxies at 1<z<2.5; (ii) Probe the evolution of massive galaxies by resolving sub-galactic units (clumps); (iii) Examine the escape fraction of ionizing radiation from galaxies at z~2-3; (iv) Greatly improve the reliability of photometric redshift estimates; and (v) Measure the star formation rate efficiency of neutral atomic-dominated hydrogen gas at z~1-3. In this overview paper, we describe the survey details and data reduction challenges, including both the necessity of specialized calibrations and the effects of charge transfer inefficiency. We provide a stark demonstration of the effects of charge transfer inefficiency on resultant data products, which when uncorrected, result in uncertain photometry, elongation of morphology in the readout direction, and loss of faint sources far from the readout. We agree with the STScI recommendation that future UVIS observations that require very sensitive measurements use the instrument's capability to add background light through a "post-flash". Preliminary results on number counts of UV-selected galaxies and morphology of galaxies at z~1 are presented. We find that the number density of UV dropouts at redshifts 1.7, 2.1, and 2.7 is largely consistent with the number predicted by published luminosity functions. We also confirm that the image mosaics have sufficient sensitivity and resolution to support the analysis of the evolution of star-forming clumps, reaching 28-29th magnitude depth at 5 sigma in a 0.2 arcsecond radius aperture depending on filter and observing epoch.Comment: Accepted A

    Modulation of cognitive performance and mood by aromas of peppermint and ylang-ylang

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    This study provides further evidence for the impact of the aromas of plant essential oils on aspects of cognition and mood in healthy participants. One hundred and forty-four volunteers were randomly assigned to conditions of ylang-ylang aroma, peppermint aroma, or no aroma control. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research computerized assessment battery, with mood scales completed before and after cognitive testing. The analysis of the data revealed significant differences between conditions on a number of the factors underpinning the tests that constitute the battery. Peppermint was found to enhance memory whereas ylang-ylang impaired it, and lengthened processing speed. In terms of subjective mood peppermint increased alertness and ylang-ylang decreased it, but significantly increased calmness. These results provide support for the contention that the aromas of essential oils can produce significant and idiosyncratic effects on both subjective and objective assessments of aspects of human behavior. They are discussed with reference to possible pharmacological and psychological modes of influence

    CMB observations from the CBI and VSA: A comparison of coincident maps and parameter estimation methods

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    We present coincident observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from the Very Small Array (VSA) and Cosmic Background Imager (CBI) telescopes. The consistency of the full datasets is tested in the map plane and the Fourier plane, prior to the usual compression of CMB data into flat bandpowers. Of the three mosaics observed by each group, two are found to be in excellent agreement. In the third mosaic, there is a 2 sigma discrepancy between the correlation of the data and the level expected from Monte Carlo simulations. This is shown to be consistent with increased phase calibration errors on VSA data during summer observations. We also consider the parameter estimation method of each group. The key difference is the use of the variance window function in place of the bandpower window function, an approximation used by the VSA group. A re-evaluation of the VSA parameter estimates, using bandpower windows, shows that the two methods yield consistent results.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Final version. Accepted for publication in MNRA

    Spectral Energy Distribution Fitting of Hetdex Pilot Survey Ly-alpha Emitters in Cosmos and Goods-N

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    We use broadband photometry extending from the rest-frame UV to the near-IR to fit the individual spectral energy distributions of 63 bright (L(Ly-alpha) greater than 10(exp 43) erg s(exp 1) Ly-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs) in the redshift range 1.9 less than z less than 3.6. We find that these LAEs are quite heterogeneous, with stellar masses that span over three orders of magnitude, from 7.5 greater than logM/solar mass less than 10.5. Moreover, although most LAEs have small amounts of extinction, some high-mass objects have stellar reddenings as large as E(B V ) is approximately 0.4. Interestingly, in dusty objects the optical depths for Ly-alpha and the UV continuum are always similar, indicating that Ly photons are not undergoing many scatters before escaping their galaxy. In contrast, the ratio of optical depths in low-reddening systems can vary widely, illustrating the diverse nature of the systems. Finally, we show that in the star-formation-rate-log-mass diagram, our LAEs fall above the "main-sequence" defined by z is approximately 3 continuum selected star-forming galaxies. In this respect, they are similar to submillimeter-selected galaxies, although most LAEs have much lower mass

    Pointing control for the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope

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    We present the technology and control methods developed for the pointing system of the SPIDER experiment. SPIDER is a balloon-borne polarimeter designed to detect the imprint of primordial gravitational waves in the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. We describe the two main components of the telescope's azimuth drive: the reaction wheel and the motorized pivot. A 13 kHz PI control loop runs on a digital signal processor, with feedback from fibre optic rate gyroscopes. This system can control azimuthal speed with < 0.02 deg/s RMS error. To control elevation, SPIDER uses stepper-motor-driven linear actuators to rotate the cryostat, which houses the optical instruments, relative to the outer frame. With the velocity in each axis controlled in this way, higher-level control loops on the onboard flight computers can implement the pointing and scanning observation modes required for the experiment. We have accomplished the non-trivial task of scanning a 5000 lb payload sinusoidally in azimuth at a peak acceleration of 0.8 deg/s2^2, and a peak speed of 6 deg/s. We can do so while reliably achieving sub-arcminute pointing control accuracy.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, Presented at SPIE Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V, June 23, 2014. To be published in Proceedings of SPIE Volume 914
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