9,181 research outputs found
Carbon-accounting methods and reforestation incentives
The emission of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, and the consequent potential for climate change are the focus of increasing international concern. Temporary land-use change and forestry projects (LUCF) can be implemented to offset permanent emissions of carbon dioxide from the energy sector. Several approaches to accounting for carbon sequestration in LUCF projects have been proposed. In the present paper, the economic implications of adopting four of these approaches are evaluated in a normative context. The analysis is based on simulation of Australian farm–forestry systems. Results are interpreted from the standpoint of both investors and landholders. The role of baselines and transaction costs are discussed.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
Early Science with the Karoo Array Telescope: a Mini-Halo Candidate in Galaxy Cluster Abell 3667
Abell 3667 is among the most well-studied galaxy clusters in the Southern
Hemisphere. It is known to host two giant radio relics and a head-tail radio
galaxy as the brightest cluster galaxy. Recent work has suggested the
additional presence of a bridge of diffuse synchrotron emission connecting the
North-Western radio relic with the cluster centre. In this work, we present
full-polarization observations of Abell 3667 conducted with the Karoo Array
Telescope at 1.33 and 1.82 GHz. Our results show both radio relics as well as
the brightest cluster galaxy. We use ancillary higher-resolution data to
subtract the emission from this galaxy, revealing a localised excess, which we
tentatively identify as a radio mini-halo. This mini-halo candidate has an
integrated flux density of mJy beam at 1.37 GHz,
corresponding to a radio power of P
W Hz, consistent with established trends in mini-halo power scaling.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted MNRA
Higgs Properties and Fourth Generation Leptons
It is possible that there are additional vector-like generations where the
quarks have mass terms that do not originate from weak symmetry breaking, but
the leptons only get mass through weak symmetry breaking. We discuss the impact
that the new leptons have on Higgs boson decay branching ratios and on the
range of allowed Higgs masses in such a model (with a single new vector-like
generation). We find that if the fourth generation leptons are too heavy to be
produced in Higgs decay, then the new leptons reduce the branching ratio for h
-> gamma gamma to about 30% of its standard-model value. The dependence of this
branching ratio on the new charged lepton masses is weak. Furthermore the
expected Higgs production rate at the LHC is very near its standard-model value
if the new quarks are much heavier than the weak scale. If the new quarks have
masses near the cutoff for the theory then for cutoffs greater than 10^15 GeV,
the new lepton masses cannot be much heavier than about 100 GeV and the Higgs
mass must have a value around 175 GeV.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, published versio
The Detectability of AGN Cavities in Cooling-Flow Clusters
Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed X-ray cavities in many nearby cooling
flow clusters. The cavities trace feedback from the central active galactic
nulceus (AGN) on the intracluster medium (ICM), an important ingredient in
stabilizing cooling flows and in the process of galaxy formation and evolution.
But, the prevalence and duty cycle of such AGN outbursts is not well
understood. To this end, we study how the cooling is balanced by the cavity
heating for a complete sample of clusters (the Brightest 55 clusters of
galaxies, hereafter B55). In the B55, we found 33 cooling flow clusters, 20 of
which have detected X-ray bubbles in their ICM. Among the remaining 13, all
except Ophiuchus could have significant cavity power yet remain undetected in
existing images. This implies that the duty cycle of AGN outbursts with
significant heating potential in cooling flow clusters is at least 60 % and
could approach 100 %, but deeper data is required to constrain this further.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; to appear in the proceedings of "The Monsters'
Fiery Breath", Madison, Wisconsin 1-5 June 2009, Eds. Sebastian Heinz & Eric
Wilcots; added annotation to the figur
X-ray Supercavities in the Hydra A Cluster and the Outburst History of the Central Galaxy's Active Nucleus
A 227 ksec Chandra Observatory X-ray image of the hot plasma in the Hydra A
cluster has revealed an extensive cavity system. The system was created by a
continuous outflow or a series of bursts from the nucleus of the central galaxy
over the past 200-500 Myr. The cavities have displaced 10% of the plasma within
a 300 kpc radius of the central galaxy, creating a swiss-cheese-like topology
in the hot gas. The surface brightness decrements are consistent with empty
cavities oriented within 40 degrees of the plane of the sky. The outflow has
deposited upward of 10^61 erg into the cluster gas, most of which was propelled
beyond the inner ~100 kpc cooling region. The supermassive black hole has
accreted at a rate of approximately 0.1-0.25 solar masses per year over this
time frame, which is a small fraction of the Eddington rate of a ~10^9 solar
mass black hole, but is dramatically larger than the Bondi rate. Given the
previous evidence for a circumnuclear disk of cold gas in Hydra A, these
results are consistent with the AGN being powered primarily by infalling cold
gas. The cavity system is shadowed perfectly by 330 MHz radio emission. Such
low frequency synchrotron emission may be an excellent proxy for X-ray cavities
and thus the total energy liberated by the supermassive black hole.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; Submitted to ApJ, revised per referee's
suggestion
The powerful outburst in Hercules A
The radio source Hercules A resides at the center of a cooling flow cluster
of galaxies at redshift z = 0.154. A Chandra X-ray image reveals a shock front
in the intracluster medium (ICM) surrounding the radio source, about 160 kpc
from the active galactic nucleus (AGN) that hosts it. The shock has a Mach
number of 1.65, making it the strongest of the cluster-scale shocks driven by
an AGN outburst found so far. The age of the outburst ~5.9e7 y, its energy
about 3e61 erg and its mean power ~1.6e46 erg/s. As for the other large AGN
outbursts in cooling flow clusters, this outburst overwhelms radiative losses
from the ICM of the Hercules A cluster by a factor of ~100. It adds to the case
that AGN outbursts are a significant source of preheating for the ICM. Unless
the mechanical efficiency of the AGN in Hercules A exceeds 10%, the central
black hole must have grown by more than 1.7e8 Msun to power this one outburst.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, accepted by ApJ
Jet Interactions with the Hot Halos of Clusters and Galaxies
X-ray observations of cavities and shock fronts produced by jets streaming
through hot halos have significantly advanced our understanding of the
energetics and dynamics of extragalactic radio sources. Radio sources at the
centers of clusters have dynamical ages between ten and several hundred million
years. They liberate between 1E58-1E62 erg per outburst, which is enough energy
to regulate cooling of hot halos from galaxies to the richest clusters. Jet
power scales approximately with the radio synchrotron luminosity to the one
half power. However, the synchrotron efficiency varies widely from nearly unity
to one part in 10,000, such that relatively feeble radio source can have
quasar-like mechanical power. The synchrotron ages of cluster radio sources are
decoupled from their dynamical ages, which tend to be factors of several to
orders of magnitude older. Magnetic fields and particles in the lobes tend to
be out of equipartition. The lobes may be maintained by heavy particles (e.g.,
protons), low energy electrons, a hot, diffuse thermal gas, or possibly
magnetic (Poynting) stresses. Sensitive X-ray images of shock fronts and
cavities can be used to study the dynamics of extragalactic radio sources.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, invited review, "Extragalactic Jets: Theory and
Observation from Radio to Gamma Ray, held in Girdwood, Alaska, U.S.A. 21-24
May, 2007, minor text changes; one added referenc
Impact of palmitic acid coating on the water uptake and loss of ammonium sulfate particles
International audienceWhile water insoluble organics are prevalent in the atmosphere, it is not clear how the presence of such species alters the chemical and physical properties of atmospheric aerosols. Here we use a combination of FTIR spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (AMS) to characterize ammonium sulfate particles coated with palmitic acid. Coated aerosols were generated by atomizing pure ammonium sulfate, mixing the particles with a heated flow of nitrogen with palmitic acid vapor, and then flowing the mixture through an in-line oven to create internally mixed particles. The mixing state of the particles was probed using the AMS data and images from the TEM. Both of these probes suggest that the particles were internally mixed. Water uptake by the mixed particles was then probed at 273 K. It was found that for ammonium sulfate containing ~20 wt% palmitic acid the deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) was the same as for pure ammonium sulfate (80±3% RH). For particles with ~50 wt% palmitic acid however, the mixed particles began to take up water at relative humidities as low at 69% and continued to slowly take up water to 85% RH without fully deliquescing. In addition to studies of water uptake, water loss was also investigated. Here coatings of up to 50 wt% had no impact on the efflorescence relative humidity. These studies suggest that even if insoluble substances coat salt particles in the atmosphere, there may be relatively little effect on the resulting water uptake and loss
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