The Central Regions of M31 in the 3 - 5 micron Wavelength Region

Images obtained with NIRI on the Gemini North telescope are used to investigate the photometric properties of the central regions of M31 in the 3 - 5 micron wavelength range. The light distribution in the central arcsecond differs from what is seen in the near-infrared in the sense that the difference in peak brigh tness between P1 and P2 is larger in M' than in K'; no obvious signature of P3 is dete cted in M'. These results can be explained if there is a source of emission that contributes ~ 20% of the peak M' light of P1 and has an effective temperature of no more than a few hundred K that is located between P1 and P2. Based on the red K-M' color of this source, it is suggested that the emission originates in a circumstellar dust shell surrounding a single bright AGB star. A similar bright source that is ~ 8 arcsec from the center of the galaxy is also detected in M'. Finally, the (L', K-L') color-magnitude diagram of unblended stars shows a domin ant AGB population with photometric characteristics that are similar to those of the most luminous M giants in the Galactic bulge.Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journa

Cusps and shocks in the renormalized potential of glassy random manifolds: How Functional Renormalization Group and Replica Symmetry Breaking fit together

We compute the Functional Renormalization Group (FRG) disorder- correlator function R(v) for d-dimensional elastic manifolds pinned by a random potential in the limit of infinite embedding space dimension N. It measures the equilibrium response of the manifold in a quadratic potential well as the center of the well is varied from 0 to v. We find two distinct scaling regimes: (i) a "single shock" regime, v^2 ~ 1/L^d where L^d is the system volume and (ii) a "thermodynamic" regime, v^2 ~ N. In regime (i) all the equivalent replica symmetry breaking (RSB) saddle points within the Gaussian variational approximation contribute, while in regime (ii) the effect of RSB enters only through a single anomaly. When the RSB is continuous (e.g., for short-range disorder, in dimension 2 <= d <= 4), we prove that regime (ii) yields the large-N FRG function obtained previously. In that case, the disorder correlator exhibits a cusp in both regimes, though with different amplitudes and of different physical origin. When the RSB solution is 1-step and non- marginal (e.g., d < 2 for SR disorder), the correlator R(v) in regime (ii) is considerably reduced, and exhibits no cusp. Solutions of the FRG flow corresponding to non-equilibrium states are discussed as well. In all cases the regime (i) exhibits a cusp non-analyticity at T=0, whose form and thermal rounding at finite T is obtained exactly and interpreted in terms of shocks. The results are compared with previous work, and consequences for manifolds at finite N, as well as extensions to spin glasses and related models are discussed.Comment: v2: Note added in proo

Displaying desire and distinction in housing

The article discusses the significance of cultural capital for the understanding of the field of housing in contemporary Britain. It explores the relationship between housing and the position of individuals in social space mapped out by means of a multiple correspondence analysis. It considers the material aspects of housing and the changing contexts that are linked to the creation and display of desire for social position and distinction expressed in talk about home decoration as personal expression and individuals' ideas of a `dream house'. It is based on an empirical investigation of taste and lifestyle using nationally representative survey data and qualitative interviews. The article shows both that personal resources and the imagination of home are linked to levels of cultural capital, and that rich methods of investigation are required to grasp the significance of these normally invisible assets to broaden the academic understanding of the field of housing in contemporary culture

In an Ising model with spin-exchange dynamics damage always spreads

We investigate the spreading of damage in Ising models with Kawasaki spin-exchange dynamics which conserves the magnetization. We first modify a recent master equation approach to account for dynamic rules involving more than a single site. We then derive an effective-field theory for damage spreading in Ising models with Kawasaki spin-exchange dynamics and solve it for a two-dimensional model on a honeycomb lattice. In contrast to the cases of Glauber or heat-bath dynamics, we find that the damage always spreads and never heals. In the long-time limit the average Hamming distance approaches that of two uncorrelated systems. These results are verified by Monte-Carlo simulations.Comment: 5 pages REVTeX, 4 EPS figures, final version as publishe

Disorder Induced Transitions in Layered Coulomb Gases and Superconductors

A 3D layered system of charges with logarithmic interaction parallel to the layers and random dipoles is studied via a novel variational method and an energy rationale which reproduce the known phase diagram for a single layer. Increasing interlayer coupling leads to successive transitions in which charge rods correlated in N>1 neighboring layers are nucleated by weaker disorder. For layered superconductors in the limit of only magnetic interlayer coupling, the method predicts and locates a disorder-induced defect-unbinding transition in the flux lattice. While N=1 charges dominate there, N>1 disorder induced defect rods are predicted for multi-layer superconductors.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, RevTe

X-ray spectrum of a pinned charge density wave

We calculate the X-ray diffraction spectrum produced by a pinned charge density wave (CDW). The signature of the presence of a CDW consists of two satellite peaks, asymmetric as a consequence of disorder. The shape and the intensity of these peaks are determined in the case of a collective weak pinning using the variational method. We predict divergent asymmetric peaks, revealing the presence of a Bragg glass phase. We deal also with the long range Coulomb interactions, concluding that both peak divergence and anisotropy are enhanced. Finally we discuss how to detect experimentally the Bragg glass phase in the view of the role played by the finite resolution of measurements.Comment: 13 pages 10 figure

Damage assessment of concrete gravity dams using vibration characteristics

Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (VBSHM) has emerged as a feasible technique in long-term monitoring, structural performance evaluation and damage assessment of civil structures. As an important as-pect of the complete VBSHM system, over the last three decades, many vibration-based damage detection methods have been developed for buildings and bridges. However, the application of these techniques to con-crete gravity (CG) dams has been limited. In the present study, damage indices based on changes in modal flexibility and modal strain energy are suitably enhanced to be applicable for plane-strain structures. They are then used to investigate the feasibility of detecting and locating damage in a finite element CG dam model without noise effects. Results show that the enhanced damage indices can be promising for locating damage in the upstream part of CG dams by using only the first lateral mode of vibration. In addition, it is necessary to monitor both horizontal and vertical mode shape components and use these for structural damage diagnoses in CG dams

High Metallicity Mg II Absorbers in the z < 1 Lyman alpha Forest of PKS 0454+039: Giant LSB Galaxies?

We report the discovery of two iron-group enhanced high-metallicity Mg II absorbers in a search through 28 Lyman Alpha forest clouds along the PKS 0454+039 sight line. Based upon our survey and the measured redshift number densities of W_r(MgII) <= 0.3 A absorbers and Lyman Alpha absorbers at z ~ 1, we suggest that roughly 5% of Lyman Alpha absorbers at z < 1 will exhibit "weak" Mg II absorption to a 5-sigma W_r(2796) detection limit of 0.02 A. The two discovered absorbers, at redshifts z = 0.6248 and z = 0.9315, have W_r(Lya) = 0.33 and 0.15 A, respectively. Based upon photoionization modeling, the H I column densities are inferred to be in the range 15.8 <= log N(HI) <= 16.8 cm^-2. For the z = 0.6428 absorber, if the abundance pattern is solar, then the cloud has [Fe/H] > -1; if its gas-phase abundance follows that of depleted clouds in our Galaxy, then [Fe/H] > 0 is inferred. For the z = 0.9315 absorber, the metallicity is [Fe/H] > 0, whether the abundance pattern is solar or suffers depletion. Imaging and spectroscopic studies of the PKS 0454+039 field reveal no candidate luminous objects at these redshifts. We discuss the possibility that these Mg II absorbers may arise in the class of "giant" low surface brightness galaxies, which have [Fe/H] >= -1, and even [Fe/H] >= 0, in their extended disks. We tentatively suggest that a substantial fraction of these "weak" Mg II absorbers may select low surface brightness galaxies out to z ~ 1.Comment: Accepted The Astrophysical Journal; 25 pages; 6 encapsulated figure