17,090 research outputs found
Mapping the Asymmetric Thick Disk I. A Search for Triaxiality
A significant asymmetry in the distribution of faint blue stars in the inner
Galaxy, Quadrant 1 (l = 20 to 45 degrees) compared to Quadrant 4 was first
reported by Larsen & Humphreys (1996). Parker et al (2003, 2004) greatly
expanded the survey to determine its spatial extent and shape and the
kinematics of the affected stars. This excess in the star counts was
subsequently confirmed by Juric et al. (2008) using SDSS data. Possible
explanations for the asymmetry include a merger remnant, a triaxial Thick Disk,
and a possible interaction with the bar in the Disk. In this paper we describe
our program of wide field photometry to map the asymmetry to fainter magnitudes
and therefore larger distances. To search for the signature of triaxiality, we
extended our survey to higher Galactic longitudes. We find no evidence for an
excess of faint blue stars at l > 55 degrees including the faintest magnitude
interval. The asymmetry and star count excess in Quadrant 1 is thus not due to
a triaxial Thick Disk.Comment: 36 pages, 8 figures. Accepted by Astronomical Journa
Non-linear optomechanical measurement of mechanical motion
Precision measurement of non-linear observables is an important goal in all
facets of quantum optics. This allows measurement-based non-classical state
preparation, which has been applied to great success in various physical
systems, and provides a route for quantum information processing with otherwise
linear interactions. In cavity optomechanics much progress has been made using
linear interactions and measurement, but observation of non-linear mechanical
degrees-of-freedom remains outstanding. Here we report the observation of
displacement-squared thermal motion of a micro-mechanical resonator by
exploiting the intrinsic non-linearity of the radiation pressure interaction.
Using this measurement we generate bimodal mechanical states of motion with
separations and feature sizes well below 100~pm. Future improvements to this
approach will allow the preparation of quantum superposition states, which can
be used to experimentally explore collapse models of the wavefunction and the
potential for mechanical-resonator-based quantum information and metrology
applications.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, extensive supplementary material available with
published versio
Radiation and String Atmosphere for Relativistic Stars
We extend the Vaidya radiating metric to include both a radiation field and a
string fluid. Assuming diffusive transport for the string fluid, we find new
analytic solutions of Einstein's field equations. Our new solutions represent
an extention of Xanthopoulos superposition.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. D, Rapid Communicatio
WFPC2 Observations of Massive and Compact Young Star Clusters in M31
We present color magnitude diagrams of four blue massive and compact star
clusters in M31: G38, G44, G94, and G293. The diagrams of the four clusters
reveal a well-populated upper main sequence and various numbers of supergiants.
The U-B and B-V colors of the upper main sequence stars are used to determine
reddening estimates of the different lines of sight in the M31 disk. Reddening
values range from E(B-V) = 0.20 +/- 0.10 to 0.31 +/- 0.11. We statistically
remove field stars on the basis of completeness, magnitude and color. Isochrone
fits to the field-subtracted, reddening-corrected diagrams yield age estimates
ranging from 63 +/- 15 Myr to 160 +/- 60 Myr. Implications for the recent
evolution of the disk near NGC 206 are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, Latex, ApJ, in Pres
Duration and cost variability of construction activities: an empirical study
The unique nature of construction projects can mean that construction activities often suffer from duration and cost variability. Because this variability is unplanned, it can present a problem when attempting to complete a project on time and on budget. Various factors causing this variability have been identified in the literature, but they predominantly refer to the nature and/or context of the whole project rather than specific activities. In this paper, the order of magnitude of and correlation between activity duration and cost variability is analyzed in 101 construction projects with over 5,000 activities. To do this, the first four moments (mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis) of actual versus planned duration and cost (log) ratios are analyzed by project, phase of execution, and activity type. Results suggest that, contrary to common wisdom, construction activities do not end late on average. Instead, the large variability in the activity duration is the major factor causing significant project delays and cost overruns. The values of average activity duration and cost variability gathered in this study will also serve as a reference for construction managers to improve future construction planning and project simulation studies with more realistic data
A dynamical and kinematical model of the Galactic stellar halo and possible implications for galaxy formation scenarios
We re-analyse the kinematics of the system of blue horizontal branch field
(BHBF) stars in the Galactic halo (in particular the outer halo), fitting the
kinematics with the model of radial and tangential velocity dispersions in the
halo as a function of galactocentric distance r proposed by Sommer-Larsen,
Flynn & Christensen (1994), using a much larger sample (almost 700) of BHBF
stars. The basic result is that the character of the stellar halo velocity
ellipsoid changes markedly from radial anisotropy at the sun to tangential
anisotropy in the outer parts of the Galactic halo (r greater than approx 20
kpc). Specifically, the radial component of the stellar halo's velocity
ellipsoid decreases fairly rapidly beyond the solar circle, from approx 140 +/-
10 km/s at the sun, to an asymptotic value of 89 +/- 19 km/s at large r. The
rapid decrease in the radial velocity dispersion is matched by an increase in
the tangential velocity dispersion, with increasing r.
Our results may indicate that the Galaxy formed hierarchically (partly or
fully) through merging of smaller subsystems - the 'bottom-up' galaxy formation
scenario, which for quite a while has been favoured by most theorists and
recently also has been given some observational credibility by HST observations
of a potential group of small galaxies, at high redshift, possibly in the
process of merging to a larger galaxy (Pascarelle et al 1996).Comment: Latex, 16 pages. 2 postscript figures. Submitted to the Astrophysical
Journal. also available at http://astro.utu.fi/~cflynn/outerhalo.htm
ICP polishing of silicon for high quality optical resonators on a chip
Miniature concave hollows, made by wet etching silicon through a circular
mask, can be used as mirror substrates for building optical micro-cavities on a
chip. In this paper we investigate how ICP polishing improves both shape and
roughness of the mirror substrates. We characterise the evolution of the
surfaces during the ICP polishing using white-light optical profilometry and
atomic force microscopy. A surface roughness of 1 nm is reached, which reduces
to 0.5 nm after coating with a high reflectivity dielectric. With such smooth
mirrors, the optical cavity finesse is now limited by the shape of the
underlying mirror
The initial conditions of observed star clusters - I. Method description and validation
We have coupled a fast, parametrized star cluster evolution code to a Markov
Chain Monte Carlo code to determine the distribution of probable initial
conditions of observed star clusters, which may serve as a starting point for
future -body calculations. In this paper we validate our method by applying
it to a set of star clusters which have been studied in detail numerically with
-body simulations and Monte Carlo methods: the Galactic globular clusters
M4, 47 Tucanae, NGC 6397, M22, Centauri, Palomar 14 and Palomar 4, the
Galactic open cluster M67, and the M31 globular cluster G1. For each cluster we
derive a distribution of initial conditions that, after evolution up to the
cluster's current age, evolves to the currently observed conditions. We find
that there is a connection between the morphology of the distribution of
initial conditions and the dynamical age of a cluster and that a degeneracy in
the initial half-mass radius towards small radii is present for clusters which
have undergone a core collapse during their evolution. We find that the results
of our method are in agreement with -body and Monte Carlo studies for the
majority of clusters. We conclude that our method is able to find reliable
posteriors for the determined initial mass and half-mass radius for observed
star clusters, and thus forms an suitable starting point for modeling an
observed cluster\rq{}s evolution.Comment: 39 pages, 28 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The Age Difference between the Globular Cluster Sub-populations in NGC 4472
The age difference between the two main globular cluster sub-populations in
the Virgo giant elliptical galaxy, NGC 4472 (M 49), has been determined using
HST WFPC2 images in the F555W and F814W filters. Accurate photometry has been
obtained for several hundred globular clusters in each of the two main
sub-populations, down to more than one magnitude below the turn-over of their
luminosity functions. This allows precise determinations of both the mean
colors and the turn-over magnitudes of the two main sub-populations. By
comparing the data with various population synthesis models, the
age-metallicity pairs that fit both the observed colors and magnitudes have
been identified. The metal-poor and the metal-rich globular clusters are found
to be coeval within the errors ( Gyr). If one accepts the validity of
our assumptions, these errors are dominated by model uncertainties. A
systematic error of up to 4 Gyr could affect this result if the blue and the
red clusters have significantly different mass distributions. However, that one
sub-population is half as old as the other is excluded at the 99% confidence
level. The different globular cluster populations are assumed to trace the
galaxy's major star-formation episodes. Consequently, the vast majority of
globular clusters, and by implication the majority of stars, in NGC 4472 formed
at high redshifts but by two distinct mechanisms or in two episodes.Comment: 32 pages, including 12 postscript figures, accepted for publication
in the Astronomical Journal, December 1999 issu
The Holographic Universe
We present a holographic description of four-dimensional single-scalar
inflationary universes in terms of a three-dimensional quantum field theory.
The holographic description correctly reproduces standard inflationary
predictions in their regime of applicability. In the opposite case, wherein
gravity is strongly coupled at early times, we propose a holographic
description in terms of perturbative QFT and present models capable of
satisfying the current observational constraints while exhibiting a
phenomenology distinct from standard inflation. This provides a qualitatively
new method for generating a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of primordial
cosmological perturbations.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figs; extended version of arXiv:0907.5542 including
background material and detailed derivations. To appear in Proceedings of 1st
Mediterranean Conference on Classical and Quantum Gravit
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