20,366 research outputs found
RXTE and BeppoSAX Observations of MCG -5-23-16: Reflection From Distant Cold Material
We examine the spectral variability of the Seyfert 1.9 galaxy MCG -5-23-16
using RXTE and BeppoSAX observations spanning 2 years from April 1996 to April
1998. During the first year the X-ray source brightens by a factor of ~25% on
timescales of days to months. During this time, the reprocessed continuum
emission seen with RXTE does not respond measurably to the continuum increase.
However, by the end of the second year during the BeppoSAX epoch the X-ray
source has faded again. This time, the reprocessed emission has also faded,
indicating that the reprocessed flux has responded to the continuum. If these
effects are caused by time delays due to the distance between the X-ray source
and the reprocessing region, we derive a light crossing time of between ~1
light day and ~1.5 light years. This corresponds to a distance of 0.001 pc to
0.55 pc, which implies that the reprocessed emission originates between 3x10^15
cm and 1.6x10^18 cm from the X-ray source. In other words, the reprocessing in
MCG -5-23-16 is not dominated by the inner regions of a standard accretion
disk.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 17 pages, 8 figure
Ventilation of the North Atlantic Ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum: A comparison between simulated and observed radiocarbon ages
The distribution of radiocarbon during simulations of the Last Glacial Maximum with a coupled ocean-atmosphere-sea ice model is compared with sediment core measurements from the equatorial Atlantic Ceara Rise, Blake Ridge, Caribbean Sea, and South China Sea. During these simulations we introduce a perturbation of North Atlantic freshwater fluxes leading to varying strengths of the Atlantic meridional overturning. The best fit with the observations is obtained for an overturning weakened by 40% compared with today. Further, we simulate the phenomenon of an “age reversal” found in deep sea corals, but we suggest that this indicates rather a sudden interruption of deep water formation instead of an increase in ventilation, which was suggested earlier
Infrared molecular emissions from comets
The possibility of detecting IR molecular line emission from cometary parent molecules is explored. Due to the non-LTE conditions in the inner coma and the large amount of near IR solar flux, IR fluorescence will be a significant source of cometary emission and, in fact, will dominate the grain radiation in a sufficiently high resolution instrument. The detection of this line emission will be difficult due to absorption in the terrestrial atmosphere, but it appears possible to measure cometary H2O emission from airplane altitudes. As IR molecular line emission represents one of the few promising methods of detecting cometary parent molecules directly, further research on this problem should be vigorously pursued
Joint Density-Functional Theory of the Electrode-Electrolyte Interface: Application to Fixed Electrode Potentials, Interfacial Capacitances, and Potentials of Zero Charge
This work explores the use of joint density-functional theory, a new form of
density-functional theory for the ab initio description of electronic systems
in thermodynamic equilibrium with a liquid environment, to describe
electrochemical systems. After reviewing the physics of the underlying
fundamental electrochemical concepts, we identify the mapping between commonly
measured electrochemical observables and microscopically computable quantities
within an, in principle, exact theoretical framework. We then introduce a
simple, computationally efficient approximate functional which we find to be
quite successful in capturing a priori basic electrochemical phenomena,
including the capacitive Stern and diffusive Gouy-Chapman regions in the
electrochemical double layer, quantitative values for interfacial capacitance,
and electrochemical potentials of zero charge for a series of metals. We
explore surface charging with applied potential and are able to place our ab
initio results directly on the scale associated with the Standard Hydrogen
Electrode (SHE). Finally, we provide explicit details for implementation within
standard density-functional theory software packages at negligible
computational cost over standard calculations carried out within vacuum
environments.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. Initially presented at APS March Meeting 2010.
Accepted for publication in Physical Review B on Jul. 27, 201
On the area of the symmetry orbits in symmetric spacetimes with Vlasov matter
This paper treats the global existence question for a collection of general
relativistic collisionless particles, all having the same mass. The spacetimes
considered are globally hyperbolic, with Cauchy surface a 3-torus. Furthermore,
the spacetimes considered are isometrically invariant under a two-dimensional
group action, the orbits of which are spacelike 2-tori. It is known from
previous work that the area of the group orbits serves as a global time
coordinate. In the present work it is shown that the area takes on all positive
values in the maximal Cauchy development.Comment: 27 pages, version 2 minor changes and correction
Laser Doppler technology applied to atmospheric environmental operating problems
Carbon dioxide laser Doppler ground wind data were very favorably compared with data from standard anemometers. As a result of these measurements, two breadboard systems were developed for taking research data: a continuous wave velocimeter and a pulsed Doppler system. The scanning continuous wave laser Doppler velocimeter developed for detecting, tracking and measuring aircraft wake vortices was successfully tested at an airport where it located vortices to an accuracy of 3 meters at a range of 150 meters. The airborne pulsed laser Doppler system was developed to detect and measure clear air turbulence (CAT). This system was tested aboard an aircraft, but jet stream CAT was not encountered. However, low altitude turbulence in cumulus clouds near a mountain range was detected by the system and encountered by the aircraft at the predicted time
A computationally efficacious free-energy functional for studies of inhomogeneous liquid water
We present an accurate equation of state for water based on a simple
microscopic Hamiltonian, with only four parameters that are well-constrained by
bulk experimental data. With one additional parameter for the range of
interaction, this model yields a computationally efficient free-energy
functional for inhomogeneous water which captures short-ranged correlations,
cavitation energies and, with suitable long-range corrections, the non-linear
dielectric response of water, making it an excellent candidate for studies of
mesoscale water and for use in ab initio solvation methods.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
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