2,974 research outputs found
Ray-tracing and physical-optics analysis of the aperture efficiency in a radio telescope
The performance of telescope systems working at microwave or visible/IR
wavelengths is typically described in terms of different parameters according
to the wavelength range. Most commercial ray tracing packages have been
specifically designed for use with visible/IR systems and thus, though very
flexible and sophisticated, do not provide the appropriate parameters to fully
describe microwave antennas, and thus to compare with specifications. In this
work we demonstrate that the Strehl ratio is equal to the phase efficiency when
the apodization factor is taken into account. The phase efficiency is the most
critical contribution to the aperture efficiency of an antenna, and the most
difficult parameter to optimize during the telescope design. The equivalence
between the Strehl ratio and the phase efficiency gives the designer/user of
the telescope the opportunity to use the faster commercial ray-tracing software
to optimize the design. We also discuss the results of several tests performed
to check the validity of this relationship that we carried out using a
ray-tracing software, ZEMAX and a full Physical Optics software, GRASP9.3,
applied to three different telescope designs that span a factor of \simeq 0.4 and 1.9 up to an offset angle of
>40 beams, depending on the optical configuration, but it is always less than
0.5 where the Strehl ratio is >0.95.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figure
Methods for a quantitative evaluation of odd-even staggering effects
Odd-even effects, also known as "staggering" effects, are a common feature
observed in the yield distributions of fragments produced in different types of
nuclear reactions. We review old methods, and we propose new ones, for a
quantitative estimation of these effects as a function of proton or neutron
number of the reaction products. All methods are compared on the basis of Monte
Carlo simulations. We find that some are not well suited for the task, the most
reliable ones being those based either on a non-linear fit with a properly
oscillating function or on a third (or fourth) finite difference approach. In
any case, high statistic is of paramount importance to avoid that spurious
structures appear just because of statistical fluctuations in the data and of
strong correlations among the yields of neighboring fragments.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures - Revised version, mainly with an expanded sect.
2 about smoothing methods (three more methods are presented and an appendix
on relevant aspects of the finite-differences formalism is added); results
are shown also for the simulations with the three additional methods. Some
more references are added. Conclusions are unchange
Modeling Radio Circular Polarization in the Crab Nebula
In this paper we present, for the first time, simulated maps of the
circularly polarized synchrotron emission from the Crab nebula, using
multidimensional state of the art models for the magnetic field geometry.
Synchrotron emission is the signature of non-thermal emitting particles,
typical of many high-energy astrophysical sources, both Galactic and
extra-galactic ones. Its spectral and polarization properties allow us to infer
key informations on the particles distribution function and magnetic field
geometry. In recent years our understanding of pulsar wind nebulae has improved
substantially thanks to a combination of observations and numerical models. A
robust detection or non-detection of circular polarization will enable us to
discriminate between an electron-proton plasma and a pair plasma, clarifying
once for all the origin of the radio emitting particles, setting strong
constraints on the pair production in pulsar magnetosphere, and the role of
turbulence in the nebula. Previous attempts at measuring the circular
polarization have only provided upper limits, but the lack of accurate
estimates, based on reliable models, makes their interpretation ambiguous. We
show here that those results are above the expected values, and that current
polarimetric tecniques are not robust enough for conclusive result, suggesting
that improvements in construction and calibration of next generation radio
facilities are necessary to achieve the desired sensitivity.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Chimera states in pulse coupled neural networks: the influence of dilution and noise
We analyse the possible dynamical states emerging for two symmetrically pulse
coupled populations of leaky integrate-and-fire neurons. In particular, we
observe broken symmetry states in this set-up: namely, breathing chimeras,
where one population is fully synchronized and the other is in a state of
partial synchronization (PS) as well as generalized chimera states, where both
populations are in PS, but with different levels of synchronization. Symmetric
macroscopic states are also present, ranging from quasi-periodic motions, to
collective chaos, from splay states to population anti-phase partial
synchronization. We then investigate the influence disorder, random link
removal or noise, on the dynamics of collective solutions in this model. As a
result, we observe that broken symmetry chimera-like states, with both
populations partially synchronized, persist up to 80 \% of broken links and up
to noise amplitudes 8 \% of threshold-reset distance. Furthermore, the
introduction of disorder on symmetric chaotic state has a constructive effect,
namely to induce the emergence of chimera-like states at intermediate dilution
or noise level.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure, contribution for the Workshop "Nonlinear Dynamics
in Computational Neuroscience: from Physics and Biology to ICT" held in Turin
(Italy) in September 201
Anteon ephippiger (Dalman, 1818) (Hymenoptera, Dryinidae) : a new dryinid record for the Maltese entomofauna
Short correspondence article about the Dryinidae family of wasps. The article mentions the only 3 records of this dryinid for the Maltese Islands.peer-reviewe
A New Species of Anteon (Hymenoptera: Dryinidae) from Argentina
Se describe la nueva especie Anteon tucumanense de San Miguel de Tucumán (Provincia de Tucumán, Argentina). A. tucumanense puede ser diferenciada de las especies neotropicales relacionadas, A. molle Olmi y A. parkeri Olmi, por diferencias en la forma del quinto segmento de los tarsos anteriores (con la parte distal ancha, robusta y derecha en A. tucumanense; con la parte distal angosta, delicada y curva en las otras dos especies). Se provee una clave para la determinación de las especies antedichas y la ilustración de la quela de la nueva especie.A new species, Anteon tucumanense, is described from San Miguel de Tucumán (Tucumán Province, Argentina). This new species can be distinguished from the related Neotropical species A. molle Olmi and A. parkeri Olmi by differences in segment 5 of the fore tarsus (distal part large and straight in A. tucumanense, slender and curved in the other 2 species). A key is provided for the determinations of the above species with an illustration of the female chela of the new species.Fil: Olmi, Massimo. Universita Degli Studi Della Tuscia; ItaliaFil: Virla, Eduardo Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Centro CientÃfico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; Argentin
Description of Bocchus irwini sp. nov. from Madagascar (Hymenoptera Dryinidae)
Bocchus irwini sp. nov. is described from a male collected in Analagnambe forest,
Mahajanga Province, Madagascar. The new species is similar to Bocchus watshami Olmi 1987.
Keys to the Afrotropical species of Bocchus are modified to include the new species
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