3,092 research outputs found
Cross-correlation of cosmic far-infrared background anisotropies with large scale structures
We measure the cross-power spectra between luminous red galaxies (LRGs) from
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-III Data Release Eight (DR8) and cosmic
infrared background (CIB) anisotropies from Planck and data from the Improved
Reprocessing (IRIS) of the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) at 353, 545,
857, and 3000 GHz, corresponding to 850, 550, 350 and 100 micron, respectively,
in the multipole range 100<l<1000. Using approximately 6.5 10^5 photometrically
determined LRGs in 7760 deg^2 of the northern hemisphere in the redshift range
0.45 < z < 0.65, we model the far-infrared background (FIRB) anisotropies with
an extended version of the halo model. With these methods, we confirm the basic
picture obtained from recent analyses of FIRB anisotropies with Herschel and
Planck, that the most efficient halo mass at hosting star forming galaxies is
log(M_ eff/M_\odot)=12.84+/-0.15. We estimate the percentage of FIRB
anisotropies correlated with LRGs as approximately 11.8 %, 3.9 %, 1.8 %, and
1.0 % of the total at 3000, 857, 545, and 353 GHz, respectively. At redshift
z~0.55, the bias of FIRB galaxies with respect to the dark matter density field
has the value b_{FIRB}~1.45, and the mean dust temperature of FIRB galaxies is
T_d=26 K. Finally, we discuss the impact of present and upcoming
cross-correlations with far-infrared background anisotropies on the
determination of the global star formation history and the link between
galaxies and dark matter.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Noise-induced behaviors in neural mean field dynamics
The collective behavior of cortical neurons is strongly affected by the
presence of noise at the level of individual cells. In order to study these
phenomena in large-scale assemblies of neurons, we consider networks of
firing-rate neurons with linear intrinsic dynamics and nonlinear coupling,
belonging to a few types of cell populations and receiving noisy currents.
Asymptotic equations as the number of neurons tends to infinity (mean field
equations) are rigorously derived based on a probabilistic approach. These
equations are implicit on the probability distribution of the solutions which
generally makes their direct analysis difficult. However, in our case, the
solutions are Gaussian, and their moments satisfy a closed system of nonlinear
ordinary differential equations (ODEs), which are much easier to study than the
original stochastic network equations, and the statistics of the empirical
process uniformly converge towards the solutions of these ODEs. Based on this
description, we analytically and numerically study the influence of noise on
the collective behaviors, and compare these asymptotic regimes to simulations
of the network. We observe that the mean field equations provide an accurate
description of the solutions of the network equations for network sizes as
small as a few hundreds of neurons. In particular, we observe that the level of
noise in the system qualitatively modifies its collective behavior, producing
for instance synchronized oscillations of the whole network, desynchronization
of oscillating regimes, and stabilization or destabilization of stationary
solutions. These results shed a new light on the role of noise in shaping
collective dynamics of neurons, and gives us clues for understanding similar
phenomena observed in biological networks
Combining galaxy and 21cm surveys
Acoustic waves traveling through the early Universe imprint a characteristic
scale in the clustering of galaxies, QSOs and inter-galactic gas. This scale
can be used as a standard ruler to map the expansion history of the Universe, a
technique known as Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). BAO offer a
high-precision, low-systematics means of constraining our cosmological model.
The statistical power of BAO measurements can be improved if the `smearing' of
the acoustic feature by non-linear structure formation is undone in a process
known as reconstruction. In this paper we use low-order Lagrangian perturbation
theory to study the ability of cm experiments to perform reconstruction
and how augmenting these surveys with galaxy redshift surveys at relatively low
number densities can improve performance. We find that the critical number
density which must be achieved in order to benefit cm surveys is set by
the linear theory power spectrum near its peak, and corresponds to densities
achievable by upcoming surveys of emission line galaxies such as eBOSS and
DESI. As part of this work we analyze reconstruction within the framework of
Lagrangian perturbation theory with local Lagrangian bias, redshift-space
distortions, -dependent noise and anisotropic filtering schemes.Comment: 10 pages, final version to appear in MNRAS, helpful suggestions from
referee and others include
Switching in Feedforward Control of Grip Force During Tool-Mediated Interaction With Elastic Force Fields
Switched systems are common in artificial control systems. Here, we suggest that the brain adopts a switched feedforward control of grip forces during manipulation of objects. We measured how participants modulated grip force when interacting with soft and rigid virtual objects when stiffness varied continuously between trials. We identified a sudden phase transition between two forms of feedforward control that differed in the timing of the synchronization between the anticipated load force and the applied grip force. The switch occurred several trials after a threshold stiffness level in the range 100–200 N/m. These results suggest that in the control of grip force, the brain acts as a switching control system. This opens new research questions as to the nature of the discrete state variables that drive the switching
Evidence of a Pro-Arrhythmic Substrate in the Failing Right Ventricle of Pulmonary Hypertensive Rats
Note on Constrained Cohomology
The cohomology of the BRS operator corresponding to a group of rigid
symmetries is studied in a space of local field functionals subjected to a
condition of gauge invariance. We propose a procedure based on a filtration
operator counting the degree in the infinitesimal parameters of the rigid
symmetry transformations. An application to Witten's topological Yang-Mills
theory is given.Comment: appendix and refs adde
Field-Driven Transitions in the Dipolar Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet GdTiO
We present a mean-field theory for magnetic field driven transitions in
dipolar coupled gadolinium titanate GdTiO pyrochlore system. Low
temperature neutron scattering yields a phase that can be regarded as a 8
sublattice antiferromagnet, in which long-ranged ordered moments and
fluctuating moments coexist. Our theory gives parameter regions where such a
phase is realized, and predicts several other phases, with transitions amongst
them driven by magnetic field as well as temperature. We find several instances
of {\em local} disorder parameters describing the transitions.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. v2: longer version with 2 add.fig., to appear in
PR
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Estimating energy expenditure from wrist and thigh accelerometry in free-living adults: a doubly labelled water study.
BACKGROUND: Many large studies have implemented wrist or thigh accelerometry to capture physical activity, but the accuracy of these measurements to infer activity energy expenditure (AEE) and consequently total energy expenditure (TEE) has not been demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of acceleration intensity at wrist and thigh sites as estimates of AEE and TEE under free-living conditions using a gold-standard criterion. METHODS: Measurements for 193 UK adults (105 men, 88 women, aged 40-66 years, BMI 20.4-36.6 kg m-2) were collected with triaxial accelerometers worn on the dominant wrist, non-dominant wrist and thigh in free-living conditions for 9-14 days. In a subsample (50 men, 50 women) TEE was simultaneously assessed with doubly labelled water (DLW). AEE was estimated from non-dominant wrist using an established estimation model, and novel models were derived for dominant wrist and thigh in the non-DLW subsample. Agreement with both AEE and TEE from DLW was evaluated by mean bias, root mean squared error (RMSE), and Pearson correlation. RESULTS: Mean TEE and AEE derived from DLW were 11.6 (2.3) MJ day-1 and 49.8 (16.3) kJ day-1 kg-1. Dominant and non-dominant wrist acceleration were highly correlated in free-living (r = 0.93), but less so with thigh (r = 0.73 and 0.66, respectively). Estimates of AEE were 48.6 (11.8) kJ day-1 kg-1 from dominant wrist, 48.6 (12.3) from non-dominant wrist, and 46.0 (10.1) from thigh; these agreed strongly with AEE (RMSE ~12.2 kJ day-1 kg-1, r ~ 0.71) with small mean biases at the population level (~6%). Only the thigh estimate was statistically significantly different from the criterion. When combining these AEE estimates with estimated REE, agreement was stronger with the criterion (RMSE ~1.0 MJ day-1, r ~ 0.90). CONCLUSIONS: In UK adults, acceleration measured at either wrist or thigh can be used to estimate population levels of AEE and TEE in free-living conditions with high precision.Medical Research Council (http://www.mrc.ac.uk/) grants
MC_UU_12015/1 and MC_UU_12015/3 to NW and SB, studentship from MedImmune to
TW. Medical Research Council, UK Biobank, MedImmune and Newcastle University
strategic funding for Digital Civics covered the costs of the field work
Shadow of a Colossus: A z=2.45 Galaxy Protocluster Detected in 3D Ly-a Forest Tomographic Mapping of the COSMOS Field
Using moderate-resolution optical spectra from 58 background Lyman-break
galaxies and quasars at within a area of the
COSMOS field ( projected area density or mean transverse separation), we reconstruct a 3D
tomographic map of the foreground Ly forest absorption at
with an effective smoothing scale of
comoving. Comparing with 61
coeval galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the same volume, we find that
the galaxy positions are clearly biased towards regions with enhanced IGM
absorption in the tomographic map. We find an extended IGM overdensity with
deep absorption troughs at associated with a recently-discovered
galaxy protocluster at the same redshift. Based on simulations matched to our
data, we estimate the enclosed dark matter mass within this IGM overdensity to
be , and
argue based on this mass and absorption strength that it will form at least one
galaxy cluster with , although its elongated nature suggests that
it will likely collapse into two separate clusters. We also point out a compact
overdensity of six MOSDEF galaxies at within a radius and , which does not appear
to have a large associated IGM overdensity. These results demonstrate the
potential of Ly forest tomography on larger volumes to study galaxy
properties as a function of environment, as well as revealing the large-scale
IGM overdensities associated with protoclusters and other features of
large-scale structure.Comment: To be submitted to ApJ. Figure 3 can be viewed on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/KeW1UJOPMY
Molecular and Ionic shocks in the Supernova Remnant 3C391
New observations of the supernova remnant 3C391 are in the H2 2.12 micron and
[Fe II] 1.64 micron narrow-band filters at the Palomar 200-inch telescope, and
in the 5-15 micron CVF on ISOCAM. Shocked H2 emission was detected from the
region 3C391:BML, where broad millimeter CO and CS lines had previously been
detected. A new H2 clump was confirmed to have broad CO emission, demonstrating
that the near-infrared H2 images can trace previously undetected molecular
shocks. The [Fe II] emission has a significantly different distribution, being
brightest in the bright radio bar, at the interface between the supernova
remnant and the giant molecular cloud, and following filaments in the radio
shell. The near-infrared [Fe II] and the mid-infrared 12-18 micron filter
images are the first images to reveal the radiative shell of 3C391. The
mid-infrared spectrum is dominated by bright ionic lines and H2 S(2) through
S(7). There are no aromatic hydrocarbons associated with the shocks, nor is
their any mid-infrared continuum, suggesting that macromolecules and very small
grains are destroyed. Comparing 3C391 to the better-studied IC443, both
remnants have molecular- and ionic-dominated regions; for 3C391, the
ionic-dominated region is the interface into the giant molecular cloud, showing
that the main bodies of giant molecular clouds contain significant regions with
densities 100 to 1000/cm^3 and a small filling factor with higher-density. The
molecular shocked region resolves into 16 clumps of H2 emission, with some
fainter diffuse emission but with no associated near-infrared continuum
sources. One of the clumps is coincident with a previously-detected OH 1720 MHz
maser. These clumps are interpreted as a cluster of pre-stellar, dense
molecular cores that are presently being shocked by the supernova blast wave
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