1,786 research outputs found
Sparse Bayesian mass-mapping with uncertainties: hypothesis testing of structure
A crucial aspect of mass-mapping, via weak lensing, is quantification of the
uncertainty introduced during the reconstruction process. Properly accounting
for these errors has been largely ignored to date. We present results from a
new method that reconstructs maximum a posteriori (MAP) convergence maps by
formulating an unconstrained Bayesian inference problem with Laplace-type
-norm sparsity-promoting priors, which we solve via convex
optimization. Approaching mass-mapping in this manner allows us to exploit
recent developments in probability concentration theory to infer theoretically
conservative uncertainties for our MAP reconstructions, without relying on
assumptions of Gaussianity. For the first time these methods allow us to
perform hypothesis testing of structure, from which it is possible to
distinguish between physical objects and artifacts of the reconstruction. Here
we present this new formalism, demonstrate the method on illustrative examples,
before applying the developed formalism to two observational datasets of the
Abel-520 cluster. In our Bayesian framework it is found that neither Abel-520
dataset can conclusively determine the physicality of individual local massive
substructure at significant confidence. However, in both cases the recovered
MAP estimators are consistent with both sets of data
Life, Death and Preferential Attachment
Scientific communities are characterized by strong stratification. The highly
skewed frequency distribution of citations of published scientific papers
suggests a relatively small number of active, cited papers embedded in a sea of
inactive and uncited papers. We propose an analytically soluble model which
allows for the death of nodes. This model provides an excellent description of
the citation distributions for live and dead papers in the SPIRES database.
Further, this model suggests a novel and general mechanism for the generation
of power law distributions in networks whenever the fraction of active nodes is
small.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Geodynamic implications for zonal and meridional isotopic patterns across the northern Lau and North Fiji Basins
We present new Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf-He isotopic data for sixty-five volcanic samples from the northern Lau and North Fiji Basin. This includes forty-seven lavas obtained from forty dredge sites spanning an east-west transect across the Lau and North Fiji basins, ten ocean island basalt (OIB)-type lavas collected from seven Fijian islands, and eight OIB lavas sampled on Rotuma. For the first time we are able to map clear north-south and east-west geochemical gradients in 87Sr/86Sr across the northern Lau and North Fiji Basins: lavas with the most geochemically enriched radiogenic isotopic signatures are located in the northeast Lau Basin, while signatures of geochemical enrichment are diminished to the south and west away from the Samoan hotspot. Based on these geochemical patterns and plate reconstructions of the region, these observations are best explained by the addition of Samoa, Rurutu, and Rarotonga hotspot material over the past 4 Ma. We suggest that underplated Samoan material has been advected into the Lau Basin over the past ∼4 Ma. As the slab migrated west (and toward the Samoan plume) via rollback over time, younger and hotter (and therefore less viscous) underplated Samoan plume material was entrained. Thus, entrainment efficiency of underplated plume material was enhanced, and Samoan plume signatures in the Lau Basin became stronger as the trench approached the Samoan hotspot. The addition of subducted volcanoes to the Cook-Austral Volcanic Lineament material, first from the Rarotonga hotspot, then followed by the Rurutu hotspot, contributes to the extreme geochemical signatures observed in the northeast Lau Basin
The effect of magnetic fields on star cluster formation
We examine the effect of magnetic fields on star cluster formation by
performing simulations following the self-gravitating collapse of a turbulent
molecular cloud to form stars in ideal MHD. The collapse of the cloud is
computed for global mass-to-flux ratios of infinity, 20, 10, 5 and 3, that is
using both weak and strong magnetic fields. Whilst even at very low strengths
the magnetic field is able to significantly influence the star formation
process, for magnetic fields with plasma beta < 1 the results are substantially
different to the hydrodynamic case. In these cases we find large-scale
magnetically-supported voids imprinted in the cloud structure; anisotropic
turbulent motions and column density structure aligned with the magnetic field
lines, both of which have recently been observed in the Taurus molecular cloud.
We also find strongly suppressed accretion in the magnetised runs, leading to
up to a 75% reduction in the amount of mass converted into stars over the
course of the calculations and a more quiescent mode of star formation. There
is also some indication that the relative formation efficiency of brown dwarfs
is lower in the strongly magnetised runs due to the reduction in the importance
of protostellar ejections.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, 8 very pretty movies, MNRAS, accepted. Version
with high-res figures + movies available from
http://www.astro.ex.ac.uk/people/dprice/pubs/mcluster/index.htm
FSI simulations for explosions very near reinforced concrete structures
The analysis of explosives in contact or very near to reinforced concrete (RC)
structures is an important aspect in the design of protective structures and vulnerability
assessments. Although this remains a topic of high importance for defence, a more
widespread interest has developed as civilian structures become the targets of terrorism. This
type of assessment requires a robust simulation method for coupled fluid-structural
interactions (FSI) which can handle the explosive detonation, air blast propagation, structural
deformation, and damage evolution. This paper describes the application of a loose-coupling
method which combines the FEFLO CFD code and SAIC’s CSD code for 3D numerical
simulations of unconfined and semi-confined explosions near RC structures. This approach
takes advantage of the unstructured tetrahedral mesh for the CFD and an embedded method
for CSD structures inside the fluid domain. Comparisons of simulations with experiment
provide validation, but also reveal some weaknesses of the method. A good agreement
between simulation and experiment is found with moderate explosive loading. However, a
severe explosive loading with confinement results in extensive damage to the structure which
is difficult to reproduce in simulations
Fast emulation of anisotropies induced in the cosmic microwave background by cosmic strings
Cosmic strings are linear topological defects that may have been produced
during symmetry-breaking phase transitions in the very early Universe. In an
expanding Universe the existence of causally separate regions prevents such
symmetries from being broken uniformly, with a network of cosmic string
inevitably forming as a result. To faithfully generate observables of such
processes requires computationally expensive numerical simulations, which
prohibits many types of analyses. We propose a technique to instead rapidly
emulate observables, thus circumventing simulation. Emulation is a form of
generative modelling, often built upon a machine learning backbone. End-to-end
emulation often fails due to high dimensionality and insufficient training
data. Consequently, it is common to instead emulate a latent representation
from which observables may readily be synthesised. Wavelet phase harmonics are
an excellent latent representations for cosmological fields, both as a summary
statistic and for emulation, since they do not require training and are highly
sensitive to non-Gaussian information. Leveraging wavelet phase harmonics as a
latent representation, we develop techniques to emulate string induced CMB
anisotropies over a 7.2 degree field of view, with sub-arcminute resolution, in
under a minute on a single GPU. Beyond generating high fidelity emulations, we
provide a technique to ensure these observables are distributed correctly,
providing a more representative ensemble of samples. The statistics of our
emulations are commensurate with those calculated on comprehensive Nambu-Goto
simulations. Our findings indicate these fast emulation approaches may be
suitable for wide use in, e.g., simulation based inference pipelines. We make
our code available to the community so that researchers may rapidly emulate
cosmic string induced CMB anisotropies for their own analysis
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