3,533 research outputs found
Sparse component separation for accurate CMB map estimation
The Cosmological Microwave Background (CMB) is of premier importance for the
cosmologists to study the birth of our universe. Unfortunately, most CMB
experiments such as COBE, WMAP or Planck do not provide a direct measure of the
cosmological signal; CMB is mixed up with galactic foregrounds and point
sources. For the sake of scientific exploitation, measuring the CMB requires
extracting several different astrophysical components (CMB, Sunyaev-Zel'dovich
clusters, galactic dust) form multi-wavelength observations. Mathematically
speaking, the problem of disentangling the CMB map from the galactic
foregrounds amounts to a component or source separation problem. In the field
of CMB studies, a very large range of source separation methods have been
applied which all differ from each other in the way they model the data and the
criteria they rely on to separate components. Two main difficulties are i) the
instrument's beam varies across frequencies and ii) the emission laws of most
astrophysical components vary across pixels. This paper aims at introducing a
very accurate modeling of CMB data, based on sparsity, accounting for beams
variability across frequencies as well as spatial variations of the components'
spectral characteristics. Based on this new sparse modeling of the data, a
sparsity-based component separation method coined Local-Generalized
Morphological Component Analysis (L-GMCA) is described. Extensive numerical
experiments have been carried out with simulated Planck data. These experiments
show the high efficiency of the proposed component separation methods to
estimate a clean CMB map with a very low foreground contamination, which makes
L-GMCA of prime interest for CMB studies.Comment: submitted to A&
The networked character of migration and transnationalism
Acknowledgement of the prominent role of social networks in migration studies marked a significant departure from earlier studies, suggesting that social networks determine migration decisions, trajectories, and outcomes. While social network analytical tools have not always been used in empirical investigations of migratory phenomena, studies on migration that use relational approaches also show an inherent network thinking. In this paper, we review the state of the art of the literature on migration and social networks, highlighting the advances made by empirical research using network thinking, particularly in different stages of migration and for operationalizing transnational phenomena related to migration. Based on this review, we detect the role of networks in different stages of migration, andwe reflect on the remaining challenges for future research regarding the role of social networks within migration scholarship
The networked character of migration and transnationalism
Acknowledgement of the prominent role of social networks in migration studies marked a significant departure from earlier studies, suggesting that social networks determine migration decisions, trajectories, and outcomes.While social network analytical tools have not always been used in empirical investigations of migratory phenomena, studies on migration that use relational approaches also show an inherent network thinking. In this paper, we review the state of the art of the literature on migration and social networks, highlighting the advances made by empirical research using network thinking, particularly in different stages of migration and for operationalizing transnational phenomena related to migration. Based on this review, we detect the role of networks in different stages of migration, and we reflect on the remaining challenges for future research regarding the role of social networks within migration scholarship
Isospin breaking in the nucleon mass and the sensitivity of β decays to new physics
We discuss the consequences of the approximate conservation of the vector and axial currents for the hadronic matrix elements appearing in β decay if nonstandard interactions are present. In particular, the isovector (pseudo)scalar charge gS(P) of the nucleon can be related to the difference (sum) of the nucleon masses in the absence of electromagnetic effects. Using recent determinations of these quantities from phenomenological and lattice QCD studies we obtain the accurate values gS=1.02(11) and gP=349(9) in the modified minimal subtraction scheme at μ=2  GeV. The consequences for searches of nonstandard scalar interactions in nuclear β decays are studied, finding for the corresponding Wilson coefficient εS=0.0012(24) at 90% C.L., which is significantly more stringent than current LHC bounds and previous low-energy bounds using less precise gS values. We argue that our results could be rapidly improved with updated computations and the direct calculation of certain ratios in lattice QCD. Finally, we discuss the pion-pole enhancement of gP, which makes β decays much more sensitive to nonstandard pseudoscalar interactions than previously thought
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