6,199 research outputs found
Introduction to Principal Components Analysis
Understanding the inverse equivalent width - luminosity relationship (Baldwin
Effect), the topic of this meeting, requires extracting information on
continuum and emission line parameters from samples of AGN. We wish to discover
whether, and how, different subsets of measured parameters may correlate with
each other. This general problem is the domain of Principal Components Analysis
(PCA). We discuss the purpose, principles, and the interpretation of PCA, using
some examples from QSO spectroscopy. The hope is that identification of
relationships among subsets of correlated variables may lead to new physical
insight.Comment: Invited review to appear in ``Quasars and Cosmology'', A.S.P.
Conference Series 1999. eds. G. J. Ferland, J. A. Baldwin, (San Francisco:
ASP). 10 pages, 2 figure
The Intermediate Line Region and the Baldwin Effect
Statistical investigations of samples of quasars have established that
clusters of properties are correlated. The strongest trends among the
ultraviolet emission-line properties are characterized by the object-to-object
variation of emission from low-velocity gas, the so-called ``intermediate-line
region'' or ILR. The strongest trends among the optical emission-line
properties are characterized by the object-to-object variation of the line
intensity ratio of [O III] 5007 to optical Fe II. Additionally, the strength of
ILR emission correlates with [O III]/Fe II, as well as with radio and X-ray
properties. The fundamental physical parameter driving these related
correlations is not yet identified. Because the variation in the ILR dominates
the variation in the equivalent widths of lines showing the Baldwin effect, it
is important to understand whether the physical parameter underlying this
variation also drives the Baldwin effect or is a primary source of scatter in
the Baldwin effect.Comment: 11 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the meeting on "Quasars as
Standard Candles for Cosmology" held on May 18-22, 1998, at La Serena, Chile.
To be published by ASP, editor G. Ferlan
The Continuum Slopes of Optically Selected QSOs
Quasi-simultaneous optical/near-IR photometry is presented for a sample of 37
luminous optically selected QSOs drawn from the Large Bright QSO Survey. Most
of the QSOs have decreased in brightness since discovery; this is expected in
flux-limited samples. The continuum shape of most of the QSOs can be
represented by a power-law of the form F(nu) = nu**-0.3, but a few have softer
(redder) continuum slopes.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, 2 postscript figures. Accepted for publication in
Publ. AS
A Group of Red, Ly-alpha Emitting, High Redshift Galaxies
We have discovered two new high redshift (z=2.38) galaxies, near the
previously known z=2.38 galaxy 2139-4434 B1 (Francis et al. 1996).
All three galaxies are strong Ly-alpha emitters, and have much redder
continuum colors (I-K about 5) than other optically-selected high redshift
galaxies. We hypothesize that these three galaxies are QSO IIs; radio-quiet
counterparts of high redshift radio galaxies, containing concealed QSO nuclei.
The red colors are most easily modelled by an old (> 0.5 Gyr), massive (> 10E11
solar masses) stellar population. If true, this implies that at least one
galaxy cluster of mass much greater than 3E11 solar masses had collapsed before
redshift five.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, uses aaspp4 style file. Accepted for publication
in Astrophysical Journal Letter
Psychological type and attitude towards Celtic Christianity among committed Churchgoers in the United Kingdom: an empirical study
This article takes the burgeoning interest in Celtic Christianity as a key example of the way in which churches may be responding to the changing spiritual and religious landscape in the United Kingdom today and examines the power of psychological type theory to account for variation in the attitude of committed churchgoers to this innovation. Data provided by a sample of 248 Anglican clergy and lay church officers (who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales together with the Attitude toward Celtic Christianity Scale) demonstrated that intuitive types, feeling types, and perceiving types reported a more positive attitude towards Celtic Christianity than sensing types, thinking types, and judging types. These findings are interpreted to analyse the appeal of Celtic Christianity and to suggest why some committed churchgoers may find this innovation less attractive
Host Galaxy Contribution to the Colours of `Red' Quasars
We describe an algorithm that measures self-consistently the relative galaxy
contribution in a sample of radio-quasars from their optical spectra alone.
This is based on a spectral fitting method which uses the size of the
characteristic 4000\AA~ feature of elliptical galaxy SEDs. We apply this method
to the Parkes Half-Jansky Flat Spectrum sample of Drinkwater et al. (1997) to
determine whether emission from the host galaxy can significantly contribute to
the very red optical-to-near-infrared colours observed. We find that at around
confidence, most of the reddening in unresolved (mostly quasar-like)
sources is unlikely to be due to contamination by a red stellar component.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for Publication in Monthly Notices of
the Royal Astronomical Societ
Multi-object spectroscopy of the field surrounding PKS 2126-158: Discovery of a z=0.66 galaxy group
The high-redshift radio-loud quasar PKS 2126-158 is found to have a large
number of red galaxies in close apparent proximity. We use the Gemini
Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South to obtain optical spectra for
a large fraction of these sources. We show that there is a group of galaxies at
, coincident with a metal-line absorption system seen in the
quasar's optical spectrum. The multiplexing capabilities of GMOS also allow us
to measure redshifts of many foreground galaxies in the field surrounding the
quasar.
The galaxy group has five confirmed members, and a further four fainter
galaxies are possibly associated. All confirmed members exhibit early-type
galaxy spectra, a rare situation for a Mg II absorbing system. We discuss the
relationship of this group to the absorbing gas, and the possibility of
gravitational lensing of the quasar due to the intervening galaxies.Comment: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, in press. 10
pages, 8 figure
Ministry and stress : listening to Anglican clergy in Wales
This study set out to examine the experiences of stress in ministry among a sample of Anglican clergy serving in Wales. Building on recent quantitative studies of work-related psychological health among Anglican clergy in England, the study employed mainly qualitative methods to illustrate eight issues: the clergy's overall assessment of their present health, their understanding of the characteristics of stress, their assessment of the levels of symptoms of stress within their own lives, their identification of the causes of stress within their experience of ministry, the people on whom they call for support in times of stress, their strategy for and styles of recreation, their assessment of the pastoral care provision available to clergy, and their views on enhancing initial clergy training to equip clergy to cope with stress. Data provided by 73 clergy (10 female and 63 male) portray a group of professionally engaged men and women who are well aware of the stress-related dynamics of their vocation, who are displaying classic signs of work-overload, and who are critical of and resistant to strategies that may confuse the pastoral care of stressed clergy with the accepted management role of the Church's hierarchy of bishops and archdeacons
Entropic Priors and Bayesian Model Selection
We demonstrate that the principle of maximum relative entropy (ME), used
judiciously, can ease the specification of priors in model selection problems.
The resulting effect is that models that make sharp predictions are
disfavoured, weakening the usual Bayesian "Occam's Razor". This is illustrated
with a simple example involving what Jaynes called a "sure thing" hypothesis.
Jaynes' resolution of the situation involved introducing a large number of
alternative "sure thing" hypotheses that were possible before we observed the
data. However, in more complex situations, it may not be possible to explicitly
enumerate large numbers of alternatives. The entropic priors formalism produces
the desired result without modifying the hypothesis space or requiring explicit
enumeration of alternatives; all that is required is a good model for the prior
predictive distribution for the data. This idea is illustrated with a simple
rigged-lottery example, and we outline how this idea may help to resolve a
recent debate amongst cosmologists: is dark energy a cosmological constant, or
has it evolved with time in some way? And how shall we decide, when the data
are in?Comment: Presented at MaxEnt 2009, the 29th International Workshop on Bayesian
Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering (July 5-10,
2009, Oxford, Mississippi, USA
Dynamic analysis of space-related linear and non-linear structures
In order to be cost effective, space structures must be extremely light weight, and subsequently, very flexible structures. The power system for Space Station Freedom is such a structure. Each array consists of a deployable truss mast and a split blanket of photovoltaic solar collectors. The solar arrays are deployed in orbit, and the blanket is stretched into position as the mast is extended. Geometric stiffness due to the preload make this an interesting non-linear problem. The space station will be subjected to various dynamic loads, during shuttle docking, solar tracking, attitude adjustment, etc. Accurate prediction of the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the space station components, including the solar arrays, is critical for determining the structural adequacy of the components, and for designing a dynamic controls system. The process used in developing and verifying the finite element dynamic model of the photo-voltaic arrays is documented. Various problems were identified, such as grounding effects due to geometric stiffness, large displacement effects, and pseudo-stiffness (grounding) due to lack of required rigid body modes. Analysis techniques, such as development of rigorous solutions using continuum mechanics, finite element solution sequence altering, equivalent systems using a curvature basis, Craig-Bampton superelement approach, and modal ordering schemes were utilized. The grounding problems associated with the geometric stiffness are emphasized
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