710 research outputs found
A Planning Pipeline for Large Multi-Agent Missions
In complex multi-agent applications, human operators are often tasked with planning and managing large heterogeneous teams of humans and autonomous vehicles. Although the use of these autonomous vehicles broadens the scope of meaningful applications, many of their systems remain unintuitive and difficult to master for human operators whose expertise lies in the application domain and not at the platform level. Current research focuses on the development of individual capabilities necessary to plan multi-agent missions of this scope, placing little emphasis on the integration of these components in to a full pipeline. The work presented in this paper presents a complete and user-agnostic planning pipeline for large multiagent missions known as the HOLII GRAILLE. The system takes a holistic approach to mission planning by integrating capabilities in human machine interaction, flight path generation, and validation and verification. Components modules of the pipeline are explored on an individual level, as well as their integration into a whole system. Lastly, implications for future mission planning are discussed
On the origin of the March 5, 1979 gamma ray transient: A vibrating neutron star in the Large Magellanic Cloud
It is proposed that a vibrating neutron star in the Large Magellanic Cloud is the source of the March 5 transient. Neutron star vibrations transport energy rapidly to the surface, heat the atmosphere by wave dissipation, and decay by gravitational radiation reaction. The electromagnetic emission arises from e(+)-e(-) pairs which cool and annihilate in the strong magnetic field of the neutron star. The field also confines the pairs, and this allows the production of the redshifted annihilation feature observed in the data. The redshift implies a gravitational radiation damping time which agrees with the 0.15 second duration of the impulsive phase of the event. Thus, the March 5 transient may be both the first detection of a vibrating neutron star and indirect evidence for gravitational radiation
The observable effects of a photospheric component on GRB's and XRF's prompt emission spectrum
A thermal radiative component is likely to accompany the first stages of the
prompt emission of Gamma-ray bursts (GRB's) and X-ray flashes (XRF's). We
analyze the effect of such a component on the observable spectrum, assuming
that the observable effects are due to a dissipation process occurring below or
near the thermal photosphere. We consider both the internal shock model and a
'slow heating' model as possible dissipation mechanisms. For comparable energy
densities in the thermal and the leptonic component, the dominant emission
mechanism is Compton scattering. This leads to a nearly flat energy spectrum
(\nu F_\nu \propto \nu^0) above the thermal peak at ~10-100 keV and below
10-100 MeV, for a wide range of optical depths 0.03 <~ \tau_{\gamma e} <~ 100,
regardless of the details of the dissipation mechanism or the strength of the
magnetic field. At lower energies steep slopes are expected, while above 100
MeV the spectrum depends on the details of the dissipation process. For higher
values of the optical depth, a Wien peak is formed at 100 keV - 1 MeV, and no
higher energy component exists. For any value of \tau_{\gamma e}, the number of
pairs produced does not exceed the baryon related electrons by a factor larger
than a few. We conclude that dissipation near the thermal photosphere can
naturally explain both the steep slopes observed at low energies and a flat
spectrum above 10 keV, thus providing an alternative scenario to the optically
thin synchrotron - SSC model.Comment: Discussion added on the results of Baring & Braby (2004); Accepted
for publication in Ap.
Phi Zeta Delta: Growth of Perturbations in Parameterized Gravity for an Einstein-de Sitter Universe
Parameterized frameworks for modified gravity are potentially useful tools
for model-independent tests of General Relativity on cosmological scales. The
toy model of an Einstein-de Sitter (EdS) universe provides a safe testbed in
which to improve our understanding of their behaviour. We implement a
mathematically consistent parameterization at the level of the field equations,
and use this to calculate the evolution of perturbations in an EdS scenario.
Our parameterization explicitly allows for new scalar degrees of freedom, and
we compare this to theories in which the only degrees of freedom come from the
metric and ordinary matter. The impact on the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect and
canonically-conserved superhorizon perturbations is considered.Comment: Updated to match published versio
On the crosscorrelation between Gravitational Wave Detectors for detecting association with Gamma Ray Bursts
Crosscorrelation of the outputs of two Gravitational Wave (GW) detectors has
recently been proposed [1] as a method for detecting statistical association
between GWs and Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). Unfortunately, the method can be
effectively used only in the case of stationary noise. In this work a different
crosscorrelation algorithm is presented, which may effectively be applied also
in non-stationary conditions for the cumulative analysis of a large number of
GRBs. The value of the crosscorrelation at zero delay, which is the only one
expected to be correlated to any astrophysical signal, is compared with the
distribution of crosscorrelation of the same data for all non-zero delays
within the integration time interval. This background distribution is gaussian,
so the statistical significance of an experimentally observed excess would be
well-defined.
Computer simulations using real noise data of the cryogenic GW detectors
Explorer and Nautilus with superimposed delta-like signals were performed, to
test the effectiveness of the method, and theoretical estimates of its
sensitivity compared to the results of the simulation. The effectiveness of the
proposed algorithm is compared to that of other cumulative techniques, finding
that the algorithm is particularly effective in the case of non-gaussian noise
and of a large (100-1000s) and unpredictable delay between GWs and GRBs.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Submitted by Phys. Rev.
Polarization of Thermal X-rays from Isolated Neutron Stars
Since the opacity of a magnetized plasma depends on polarization of
radiation, the radiation emergent from atmospheres of neutron stars with strong
magnetic fields is expected to be strongly polarized. The degree of linear
polarization, typically ~10-30%, depends on photon energy, effective
temperature and magnetic field. The spectrum of polarization is more sensitive
to the magnetic field than the spectrum of intensity. Both the degree of
polarization and the position angle vary with the neutron star rotation period
so that the shape of polarization pulse profiles depends on the orientation of
the rotational and magnetic axes. Moreover, as the polarization is
substantially modified by the general relativistic effects, observations of
polarization of X-ray radiation from isolated neutron stars provide a new
method for evaluating the mass-to-radius ratio of these objects, which is
particularly important for elucidating the properties of the superdense matter
in the neutron star interiors.Comment: 7 figures, to be published in Ap
the SDSS-III APOGEE Spectral Line List for H-Band Spectroscopy
We present the H-band spectral line lists adopted by the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). The APOGEE line lists comprise astrophysical, theoretical, and laboratory sources from the literature, as well as newly evaluated astrophysical oscillator strengths and damping parameters. We discuss the construction of the APOGEE line list, which is one of the critical inputs for the APOGEE Stellar Parameters and Chemical Abundances Pipeline, and present three different versions that have been used at various stages of the project. The methodology for the newly calculated astrophysical line lists is reviewed. The largest of these three line lists contains 134,457 molecular and atomic transitions. In addition to the format adopted to store the data, the line lists are available in MOOG, Synspec, and Turbospectrum formats. The limitations of the line lists along with guidance for its use on different spectral types are discussed. We also present a list of H-band spectral features that are either poorly represented or completely missing in our line list. This list is based on the average of a large number of spectral fit residuals for APOGEE observations spanning a wide range of stellar parameters.Alfred P. Sloan FoundationNational Science FoundationU.S. Department of Energy Office of ScienceJanos Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of SciencesSpanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness AYA-2011-27754, AYA-2014-58082-PRSF 14-50-00043McDonald Observator
Low energy polarization sensitivity of the Gas Pixel Detector
An X-ray photoelectric polarimeter based on the Gas Pixel Detector has been
proposed to be included in many upcoming space missions to fill the gap of
about 30 years from the first (and to date only) positive measurement of
polarized X-ray emission from an astrophysical source. The estimated
sensitivity of the current prototype peaks at an energy of about 3 keV, but the
lack of readily available polarized sources in this energy range has prevented
the measurement of detector polarimetric performances.
In this paper we present the measurement of the Gas Pixel Detector
polarimetric sensitivity at energies of a few keV and the new, light, compact
and transportable polarized source that was devised and built to this aim.
Polarized photons are produced, from unpolarized radiation generated with an
X-ray tube, by means of Bragg diffraction at nearly 45 degrees.
The employment of mosaic graphite and flat aluminum crystals allow the
production of nearly completely polarized photons at 2.6, 3.7 and 5.2 keV from
the diffraction of unpolarized continuum or line emission. The measured
modulation factor of the Gas Pixel Detector at these energies is in good
agreement with the estimates derived from a Monte Carlo software, which was up
to now employed for driving the development of the instrument and for
estimating its low energy sensitivity. In this paper we present the excellent
polarimetric performance of the Gas Pixel Detector at energies where the peak
sensitivity is expected. These measurements not only support our previous
claims of high sensitivity but confirm the feasibility of astrophysical X-ray
photoelectric polarimetry.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in NIM
Correlation between Gamma-Ray bursts and Gravitational Waves
The cosmological origin of -ray bursts (GRBs) is now commonly
accepted and, according to several models for the central engine, GRB sources
should also emit at the same time gravitational waves bursts (GWBs). We have
performed two correlation searches between the data of the resonant
gravitational wave detector AURIGA and GRB arrival times collected in the BATSE
4B catalog. No correlation was found and an upper limit \bbox{} on the averaged amplitude of gravitational waves
associated with -ray bursts has been set for the first time.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Kinetics of electron-positron pair plasmas using an adaptive Monte Carlo method
A new algorithm for implementing the adaptive Monte Carlo method is given. It
is used to solve the relativistic Boltzmann equations that describe the time
evolution of a nonequilibrium electron-positron pair plasma containing
high-energy photons and pairs. The collision kernels for the photons as well as
pairs are constructed for Compton scattering, pair annihilation and creation,
bremsstrahlung, and Bhabha & Moller scattering. For a homogeneous and isotropic
plasma, analytical equilibrium solutions are obtained in terms of the initial
conditions. For two non-equilibrium models, the time evolution of the photon
and pair spectra is determined using the new method. The asymptotic numerical
solutions are found to be in a good agreement with the analytical equilibrium
states. Astrophysical applications of this scheme are discussed.Comment: 43 pages, 7 postscript figures, to appear in the Astrophysical
Journa
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