The TAOS Project: Statistical Analysis of Multi-Telescope Time Series Data

The Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS) monitors fields of up to ~1000 stars at 5 Hz simultaneously with four small telescopes to detect occultation events from small (~1 km) Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). The survey presents a number of challenges, in particular the fact that the occultation events we are searching for are extremely rare and are typically manifested as slight flux drops for only one or two consecutive time series measurements. We have developed a statistical analysis technique to search the multi-telescope data set for simultaneous flux drops which provides a robust false positive rejection and calculation of event significance. In this paper, we describe in detail this statistical technique and its application to the TAOS data set.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures. Submitted to PAS

The Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey Project Stellar Variability. II. Detection of 15 Variable Stars

The Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS) project has collected more than a billion photometric measurements since 2005 January. These sky survey data—covering timescales from a fraction of a second to a few hundred days—are a useful source to study stellar variability. A total of 167 star fields, mostly along the ecliptic plane, have been selected for photometric monitoring with the TAOS telescopes. This paper presents our initial analysis of a search for periodic variable stars from the time-series TAOS data on one particular TAOS field, No. 151 (R.A. = 17^(h)30^(m)6^(s).7, decl. = 27°17'30", J2000), which had been observed over 47 epochs in 2005. A total of 81 candidate variables are identified in the 3 deg^2 field, with magnitudes in the range 8 < R < 16. On the basis of the periodicity and shape of the light curves, 29 variables, 15 of which were previously unknown, are classified as RR Lyrae, Cepheid, δ Scuti, SX Phonencis, semi-regular, and eclipsing binaries

The TAOS Project Stellar Variability I. Detection of Low-Amplitude delta Scuti Stars

We analyzed data accumulated during 2005 and 2006 by the Taiwan-American Occultation Survey (TAOS) in order to detect short-period variable stars (periods of <~ 1 hour) such as delta Scuti. TAOS is designed for the detection of stellar occultation by small-size Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and is operating four 50cm telescopes at an effective cadence of 5Hz. The four telescopes simultaneously monitor the same patch of the sky in order to reduce false positives. To detect short-period variables, we used the Fast Fourier Transform algorithm (FFT) inasmuch as the data points in TAOS light-curves are evenly spaced. Using FFT, we found 41 short-period variables with amplitudes smaller than a few hundredths of a magnitude and periods of about an hour, which suggest that they are low-amplitude delta Scuti stars (LADS). The light-curves of TAOS delta Scuti stars are accessible online at the Time Series Center website (http://timemachine.iic.harvard.edu)Comment: Accepted for publication in A

Spin dynamics of wave packets evolving with the Dirac Hamiltonian in atoms with high Z

The motion of circular WP for one electron in central Coulomb field with high Z is calculated. The WP is defined in terms of solutions of the Dirac equation in order to take into account all possible relevant effects in particular the spin-orbit potential. A time scale is defined within which spin dynamics must be taken into account mainly in the atoms with high Z. Within this time scale there exists a mechanism of collapses and revivals of the spin already shown by the authors for harmonic oscillator potential and called the 'spin-orbit pendulum'. However this effect has not the exact periodicity of the simpler model, but the WP's spatial motion is nevertheless quite similar.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, LaTeX2e, uses IOP style files (included). Title changed, one reference adde

First Results From The Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS)

Results from the first two years of data from the Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS) are presented. Stars have been monitored photometrically at 4 Hz or 5 Hz to search for occultations by small (~3 km) Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). No statistically significant events were found, allowing us to present an upper bound to the size distribution of KBOs with diameters 0.5 km < D < 28 km.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure, accepted in Ap

The TAOS Project Stellar Variability II. Detection of 15 Variable Stars

The Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS) project has collected more than a billion photometric measurements since 2005 January. These sky survey data-covering timescales from a fraction of a second to a few hundred days-are a useful source to study stellar variability. A total of 167 star fields, mostly along the ecliptic plane, have been selected for photometric monitoring with the TAOS telescopes. This paper presents our initial analysis of a search for periodic variable stars from the time-series TAOS data on one particular TAOS field, No. 151 (RA = 17^{\rm h}30^{\rm m}6\fs67, Dec = 27\degr17\arcmin 30\arcsec, J2000), which had been observed over 47 epochs in 2005. A total of 81 candidate variables are identified in the 3 square degree field, with magnitudes in the range 8 < R < 16. On the basis of the periodicity and shape of the lightcurves, 29 variables, 15 of which were previously unknown, are classified as RR Lyrae, Cepheid, delta Scuti, SX Phonencis, semi-regular and eclipsing binaries.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, accepted in The Astronomical Journa

Atomic Transport in Dense, Multi-Component Metallic Liquids

Pd43Ni10Cu27P0 has been investigated in its equilibrium liquid state with incoherent, inelastic neutron scattering. As compared to simple liquids, liquid PdNiCuP is characterized by a dense packing with a packing fraction above 0.5. The intermediate scattering function exhibits a fast relaxation process that precedes structural relaxation. Structural relaxation obeys a time-temperature superposition that extends over a temperature range of 540K. The mode-coupling theory of the liquid to glass transition (MCT) gives a consistent description of the dynamics which governs the mass transport in liquid PdNiCuP alloys. MCT scaling laws extrapolate to a critical temperature Tc at about 20% below the liquidus temperature. Diffusivities derived from the mean relaxation times compare well with Co diffusivities from recent tracer diffusion measurements and diffsuivities calculated from viscosity via the Stokes-Einstein relation. In contrast to simple metallic liquids, the atomic transport in dense, liquid PdNiCuP is characterized by a drastical slowing down of dynamics on cooling, a q^{-2} dependence of the mean relaxation times at intermediate q and a vanishing isotope effect as a result of a highly collective transport mechanism. At temperatures as high as 2Tc diffusion in liquid PdNiCuP is as fast as in simple liquids at the melting point. However, the difference in the underlying atomic transport mechanism indicates that the diffusion mechanism in liquids is not controlled by the value of the diffusivity but rather by that of the packing fraction

Phase-dependent spectra in a driven two-level atom

We propose a method to observe phase-dependent spectra in resonance fluorescence, employing a two-level atom driven by a strong coherent field and a weak, amplitude-fluctuating field. The spectra are similar to those which occur in a squeezed vacuum, but avoid the problem of achieving squeezing over a $4\pi$ solid angle. The system shows other interesting features, such as pronounced gain without population inversion.Comment: 4 pages and 4 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

The TAOS Project: Upper Bounds on the Population of Small KBOs and Tests of Models of Formation and Evolution of the Outer Solar System

We have analyzed the first 3.75 years of data from TAOS, the Taiwanese American Occultation Survey. TAOS monitors bright stars to search for occultations by Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). This dataset comprises 5e5 star-hours of multi-telescope photometric data taken at 4 or 5 Hz. No events consistent with KBO occultations were found in this dataset. We compute the number of events expected for the Kuiper Belt formation and evolution models of Pan & Sari (2005), Kenyon & Bromley (2004), Benavidez & Campo Bagatin (2009), and Fraser (2009). A comparison with the upper limits we derive from our data constrains the parameter space of these models. This is the first detailed comparison of models of the KBO size distribution with data from an occultation survey. Our results suggest that the KBO population is comprised of objects with low internal strength and that planetary migration played a role in the shaping of the size distribution.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, Aj submitte