12,155 research outputs found
The role of translational invariance in non linear gauge theories of gravity
The internal structure of the tetrads in a Poincar\'e non linear gauge theory
of gravity is considered. Minkowskian coordinates becomes dynamical degrees of
freedom playing the role of Goldstone bosons of the translations. A critical
length allowing a covariant expansion similar to the weak field approach is
deduced, the zeroth order metric being maximally symmetric (Minkowskian in some
cases).Comment: 17 pages, LaTe
Chemical Evolution of the Galaxy Based on the Oscillatory Star Formation History
We model the star formation history (SFH) and the chemical evolution of the
Galactic disk by combining an infall model and a limit-cycle model of the
interstellar medium (ISM). Recent observations have shown that the SFH of the
Galactic disk violently variates or oscillates. We model the oscillatory SFH
based on the limit-cycle behavior of the fractional masses of three components
of the ISM. The observed period of the oscillation ( Gyr) is reproduced
within the natural parameter range. This means that we can interpret the
oscillatory SFH as the limit-cycle behavior of the ISM. We then test the
chemical evolution of stars and gas in the framework of the limit-cycle model,
since the oscillatory behavior of the SFH may cause an oscillatory evolution of
the metallicity. We find however that the oscillatory behavior of metallicity
is not prominent because the metallicity reflects the past integrated SFH. This
indicates that the metallicity cannot be used to distinguish an oscillatory SFH
from one without oscillations.Comment: 21 pages LaTeX, to appear in Ap
Improving the Knowledge on Seismogenic Sources in the Lower Tagus Valley for Seismic Hazard Purposes
The Lower Tagus Valley, that includes the metropolitan area of Lisbon, has been struck by several earthquakes which produced significant material damage and loss of lives. Their exact location remains unknown. Our goal is to shed some light into the seismogenic sources in the area using seismic reflection and geological data. In areas with no seismic coverage, potential-field data interpretation was carried out. Seismicity was overlaid to the potential seismogenic structures and high-resolution data was acquired in order to confirm which structures have been active into the Quaternary. Three major fault-zones affecting the Neogene were identified: V. F. Xira, Samora-Alcochete and Pinhal Novo. For the first fault, strong evidences suggest it is active. The other two fault-zones and other structures previously unknown can be correlated with several epicentres. Empirical relationships between maximum moment magnitude and fault area indicate that MW > 6.5 earthquakes can be expected for the larger structures
Fast Huffman decoding by exploiting data level parallelism
The frame rates and resolutions of digital videos are on the rising edge. Thereby, pushing the compression ratios of video coding standards to their limits, resulting in more complex and computational power hungry algorithms. Programmable solutions are gaining interest to keep up the pace of the evolving video coding standards, by reducing the time-to-market of upcoming video products. However, to compete with hardwired solutions, parallelism needs to be exploited on as many levels as possible. In this paper the focus will be on data level parallelism. Huffman coding is proven to be very efficient and therefore commonly applied in many coding standards. However, due to the inherently sequential nature, parallelization of the Huffman decoding is considered hard. The proposed fully flexible and programmable acceleration exploits available data level parallelism in Huffman decoding. Our implementation achieves a decoding speed of 106 MBit/s while running on a 250 MHz processor. This is a speed-up of 24× compared to our sequential reference implementation
On the Relation Between Peak Luminosity and Parent Population of Type Ia Supernovae: A New Tool for Probing the Ages of Distant Galaxies
We study the properties of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) as functions of the
radial distance from their host galaxy centers. Using a sample of 62 SNe Ia
with reliable luminosity, reddening, and decline rate determinations, we find
no significant radial gradients of SNe Ia peak absolute magnitudes or decline
rates in elliptical+S0 galaxies, suggesting that the diversity of SN properties
is not related to the metallicity of their progenitors. We do find that the
range in brightness and light curve width of supernovae in spiral galaxies
extends to brighter, broader values. These results are interpreted as support
for an age, but not metallicity, related origin of the diversity in SNe Ia. If
confirmed with a larger and more accurate sample of data, the age-luminosity
relation would offer a new and powerful tool to probe the ages and age
gradients of stellar populations in galaxies at redshift as high as .
The absence of significant radial gradients in the peak and colors of SNe Ia supports the redding correction method of Phillips et
al (1999). We find no radial gradient in residuals from the SN Ia
luminosity-width relation, suggesting that the relation is not affected by
properties of the progenitor populations and supporting the reliability of
cosmological results based upon the use of SNe Ia as distance indicators.Comment: 19 pages, incl. 3 tables & 3 figures; to appear in Nov 2000 issue of
Ap
Reconstructing Deconstruction: High-Velocity Cloud Distance Through Disruption Morphology
We present Arecibo L-band Feed Array 21-cm observations of a sub-complex of
HVCs at the tip of the Anti-Center Complex. These observations show
morphological details that point to interaction with the ambient halo medium
and differential drag within the cloud sub-complex. We develop a new technique
for measuring cloud distances, which relies upon these observed morphological
and kinematic characteristics, and show that it is consistent with H-alpha
distances. These results are consistent with distances to HVCs and halo
densities derived from models in which HVCs are formed from cooling halo gas.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabe, Accepted to Ap
A backwards approach to the formation of disk galaxies I. Stellar and gas content
A simple chemical enrichment code is described where the two basic mechanisms
driving the evolution of the ages and metallicities of the stellar populations
are the star formation efficiency and the fraction of gas ejected from the
galaxy. Using the observed Tully-Fisher relation in different passbands as a
constraint, it is found that a steep correlation between the maximum disk
rotational velocity and star formation efficiency must exist either for a
linear or a quadratic Schmidt law. Outflows do not play a major role. The
redshift evolution of disk galaxies is explored, showing that a significant
change in the slope of the Tully-Fisher relation is expected because of the
different age distributions of the stellar components in high and low-mass disk
galaxies. The slope measured in the rest frame B,K bands is found to change
from 3(B); 4(K) at z=0 up to 4.5(B); 5(K) at z~1, with a slight dependence on
formation redshift.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. Uses emulateapj.sty. 12 pages with
10 embedded EPS figure
ETosis: A Microbicidal Mechanism beyond Cell Death
Netosis is a recently described type of neutrophil death occurring with the release to the extracellular milieu of a lattice composed of DNA associated with histones and granular and cytoplasmic proteins. These webs, initially named neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), ensnare and kill microorganisms. Similarly, other cell types, such as eosinophils, mast cells, and macrophages, can also dye by this mechanism; thus, it was renamed as ETosis, meaning death with release of extracellular traps (ETs). Here, we review the mechanism of NETosis/etosis, emphasizing its role in diseases caused by protozoan parasites, fungi, and viruses
Modeling of Spiking-Bursting Neural Behavior Using Two-Dimensional Map
A simple model that replicates the dynamics of spiking and spiking-bursting
activity of real biological neurons is proposed. The model is a two-dimensional
map which contains one fast and one slow variable. The mechanisms behind
generation of spikes, bursts of spikes, and restructuring of the map behavior
are explained using phase portrait analysis. The dynamics of two coupled maps
which model the behavior of two electrically coupled neurons is discussed.
Synchronization regimes for spiking and bursting activity of these maps are
studied as a function of coupling strength. It is demonstrated that the results
of this model are in agreement with the synchronization of chaotic
spiking-bursting behavior experimentally found in real biological neurons.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figure
Higher Order Evaluation of the Critical Temperature for Interacting Homogeneous Dilute Bose Gases
We use the nonperturbative linear \delta expansion method to evaluate
analytically the coefficients c_1 and c_2^{\prime \prime} which appear in the
expansion for the transition temperature for a dilute, homogeneous, three
dimensional Bose gas given by T_c= T_0 \{1 + c_1 a n^{1/3} + [ c_2^{\prime}
\ln(a n^{1/3}) +c_2^{\prime \prime} ] a^2 n^{2/3} + {\cal O} (a^3 n)\}, where
T_0 is the result for an ideal gas, a is the s-wave scattering length and n is
the number density. In a previous work the same method has been used to
evaluate c_1 to order-\delta^2 with the result c_1= 3.06. Here, we push the
calculation to the next two orders obtaining c_1=2.45 at order-\delta^3 and
c_1=1.48 at order-\delta^4. Analysing the topology of the graphs involved we
discuss how our results relate to other nonperturbative analytical methods such
as the self-consistent resummation and the 1/N approximations. At the same
orders we obtain c_2^{\prime\prime}=101.4, c_2^{\prime \prime}=98.2 and
c_2^{\prime \prime}=82.9. Our analytical results seem to support the recent
Monte Carlo estimates c_1=1.32 \pm 0.02 and c_2^{\prime \prime}= 75.7 \pm 0.4.Comment: 29 pages, 3 eps figures. Minor changes, one reference added. Version
in press Physical Review A (2002
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