1,005 research outputs found
Laboratory studies of uv emissions of H_2 by electron impact. The Werner- and Lyman-band systems
We report a laboratory measurement of absolute emission cross sections of both the Lyman bands (B^1Σ_u^+→X^1Σ_g^+) and Werner bands (C^1Π_u→X^1Π_g^+) of H_2 by electron impact over the energy range from threshold to 400 eV with the same optical system. We find the emission cross section for the B^1Σ_u^+→X^1Σ_g^+ transition at 100 eV to be (3.55±0.8) × 10^(−17) cm^2 (2.7 × 10^(−17) cm^2, direct excitation, 0.85 × 10^(−17) cm^2, cascading) and the emission cross section for the C^1Π_u→X^1Σ_g^+ transition at 100 eV to be (3.1±0.6) × 10^(−17) cm^2 (cascading is estimated to be not present). The cross-section ratio Qc/Qb for direct excitation is 1.21±0.30 at 300 eV in excellent agreement with published values for this ratio from theoretical calculations and experimental data of the optical oscillator strengths. We measure the cross section for cascading to the B state to be 24±10% of the total emission cross section both at 100 and 300 eV. We show that cascading increases to 51±20% of the total cross section of the B state at 20 eV. The vibrational population distribution of the B state is found to be a function of electron-impact energy as the importance of cascading relative to direct excitation changes with electron-impact energy
Head-on collisions of binary white dwarf--neutron stars: Simulations in full general relativity
We simulate head-on collisions from rest at large separation of binary white
dwarf -- neutron stars (WDNSs) in full general relativity. Our study serves as
a prelude to our analysis of the circular binary WDNS problem. We focus on
compact binaries whose total mass exceeds the maximum mass that a cold
degenerate star can support, and our goal is to determine the fate of such
systems. A fully general relativistic hydrodynamic computation of a realistic
WDNS head-on collision is prohibitive due to the large range of dynamical time
scales and length scales involved. For this reason, we construct an equation of
state (EOS) which captures the main physical features of NSs while, at the same
time, scales down the size of WDs. We call these scaled-down WD models
"pseudo-WDs (pWDs)". Using pWDs, we can study these systems via a sequence of
simulations where the size of the pWD gradually increases toward the realistic
case. We perform two sets of simulations; One set studies the effects of the NS
mass on the final outcome, when the pWD is kept fixed. The other set studies
the effect of the pWD compaction on the final outcome, when the pWD mass and
the NS are kept fixed. All simulations show that 14%-18% of the initial total
rest mass escapes to infinity. All remnant masses still exceed the maximum rest
mass that our cold EOS can support (1.92 solar masses), but no case leads to
prompt collapse to a black hole. This outcome arises because the final
configurations are hot. All cases settle into spherical, quasiequilibrium
configurations consisting of a cold NS core surrounded by a hot mantle,
resembling Thorne-Zytkow objects. Extrapolating our results to realistic WD
compactions, we predict that the likely outcome of a head-on collision of a
realistic, massive WDNS system will be the formation of a quasiequilibrium
Thorne-Zytkow-like object.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, matches PRD published version, tests of HRSC
schemes with piecewise polytropes adde
The influence of tropospheric biennial oscillation on mid-tropospheric CO_2
Mid-tropospheric CO_2 retrieved from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) was used to investigate CO_2 interannual variability over the Indo-Pacific region. A signal with periodicity around two years was found for the AIRS mid-tropospheric CO_2 for the first time, which is related to the Tropospheric Biennial Oscillation (TBO) associated with the strength of the monsoon. During a strong (weak) monsoon year, the Western Walker Circulation is strong (weak), resulting in enhanced (diminished) CO_2 transport from the surface to the mid-troposphere. As a result, there are positive (negative) CO2 anomalies at mid-troposphere over the Indo-Pacific region. We simulated the influence of the TBO on the mid-tropospheric CO_2 over the Indo-Pacific region using the MOZART-2 model, and results were consistent with observations, although we found the TBO signal in the model CO_2 is to be smaller than that in the AIRS observations
{BOAO Photometric Survey of Galactic Open Clusters. II. Physical Parameters of 12 Open Clusters
We have initiated a long-term project, the BOAO photometric survey of open
clusters, to enlarge our understanding of galactic structure using UBVI CCD
photometry of open clusters which have been little studied before. This is the
second paper of the project in which we present the photometry of 12 open
clusters. We have determined the cluster parameters by fitting the Padova
isochrones to the color-magnitude diagrams of the clusters. All the clusters
except for Be 0 and NGC 1348 are found to be intermediate-age to old (0.2 - 4.0
Gyrs) open clusters with a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = 0.0.Comment: 11 page
Magnetorotational collapse of very massive stars to black holes in full general relativity
We perform axisymmetric simulations of the magnetorotational collapse of very
massive stars in full general relativity. Our simulations are applicable to the
collapse of supermassive stars (M > 10^3M_sun) and to very massive Pop III
stars. We model our initial configurations by n=3 polytropes. The ratio of
magnetic to rotational kinetic energy in these configurations is chosen to be
small (1% and 10%). We find that such magnetic fields do not affect the initial
collapse significantly. The core collapses to a black hole, after which black
hole excision is employed to continue the evolution long enough for the hole to
reach a quasi-stationary state. We find that the black hole mass is M_h = 0.95M
and its spin parameter is J_h/M_h^2 = 0.7, with the remaining matter forming a
torus around the black hole. We freeze the spacetime metric ("Cowling
approximation") and continue to follow the evolution of the torus after the
black hole has relaxed to quasi-stationary equilibrium. In the absence of
magnetic fields, the torus settles down following ejection of a small amount of
matter due to shock heating. When magnetic fields are present, the field lines
gradually collimate along the hole's rotation axis. MHD shocks and the MRI
generate MHD turbulence in the torus and stochastic accretion onto the central
black hole. When the magnetic field is strong, a wind is generated in the
torus, and the torus undergoes radial oscillations that drive episodic
accretion onto the hole. These oscillations produce long-wavelength
gravitational waves potentially detectable by LISA. The final state of the
magnetorotational collapse always consists of a central black hole surrounded
by a collimated magnetic field and a hot, thick accretion torus. This system is
a viable candidate for the central engine of a long-soft gamma-ray burst.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, replaced with the published versio
Simulation of the transport of halogen species from the equatorial and mid-latitude stratosphere to the polar stratosphere in a two-dimensional model
The bulk of O sub 3 destruction in the Antarctic stratosphere takes place in the lower stratosphere between 15 and 25 km. Both O sub 3 and the halogen reservoir species have their origins in the higher altitude region (20 to 30 km) in the equatorial and mid-latitude stratosphere. Using the Caltech-JPL two-dimensional residual circulation model, researchers investigate the growth of stratospheric halogen due to the increase of CFCl sub 3 and CF sub 2 Cl sub 2
Genie: A Generator of Natural Language Semantic Parsers for Virtual Assistant Commands
To understand diverse natural language commands, virtual assistants today are
trained with numerous labor-intensive, manually annotated sentences. This paper
presents a methodology and the Genie toolkit that can handle new compound
commands with significantly less manual effort. We advocate formalizing the
capability of virtual assistants with a Virtual Assistant Programming Language
(VAPL) and using a neural semantic parser to translate natural language into
VAPL code. Genie needs only a small realistic set of input sentences for
validating the neural model. Developers write templates to synthesize data;
Genie uses crowdsourced paraphrases and data augmentation, along with the
synthesized data, to train a semantic parser. We also propose design principles
that make VAPL languages amenable to natural language translation. We apply
these principles to revise ThingTalk, the language used by the Almond virtual
assistant. We use Genie to build the first semantic parser that can support
compound virtual assistants commands with unquoted free-form parameters. Genie
achieves a 62% accuracy on realistic user inputs. We demonstrate Genie's
generality by showing a 19% and 31% improvement over the previous state of the
art on a music skill, aggregate functions, and access control.Comment: To appear in PLDI 201
The Berkeley Sample of Stripped-Envelope Supernovae
We present the complete sample of stripped-envelope supernova (SN) spectra
observed by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) collaboration over the
last three decades: 888 spectra of 302 SNe, 652 published here for the first
time, with 384 spectra (of 92 SNe) having photometrically-determined phases.
After correcting for redshift and Milky Way dust reddening and reevaluating the
spectroscopic classifications for each SN, we construct mean spectra of the
three major spectral subtypes (Types IIb, Ib, and Ic) binned by phase. We
compare measures of line strengths and widths made from this sample to the
results of previous efforts, confirming that O I {\lambda}7774 absorption is
stronger and found at higher velocity in Type Ic SNe than in Types Ib or IIb
SNe in the first 30 days after peak brightness, though the widths of nebular
emission lines are consistent across subtypes. We also highlight newly
available observations for a few rare subpopulations of interest.Comment: 13 pages; 14 figures; 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Influence of El Niño on Midtropospheric CO_2 from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder and Model
The authors investigate the influence of El Niño on midtropospheric CO_2 from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and the Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, version 2 (MOZART-2). AIRS midtropospheric CO_2 data are used to study the temporal and spatial variability of CO_2 in response to El Niño. CO_2 differences between the central and western Pacific Ocean correlate well with the Southern Oscillation index. To reveal the temporal and spatial variability of the El Niño signal in the AIRS midtropospheric CO_2, a multiple regression method is applied to the CO_2 data from September 2002 to February 2011. There is more (less) midtropospheric CO_2 in the central Pacific and less (more) midtropospheric CO_2 in the western Pacific during El Niño (La Niña) events. Similar results are seen in the MOZART-2 convolved midtropospheric CO_2, although the El Niño signal in the MOZART-2 is weaker than that in the AIRS data
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