2,597 research outputs found
A huge reservoir of ionized gas around the Milky Way: Accounting for the Missing Mass?
Most of the baryons from galaxies have been "missing" and several studies
have attempted to map the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of galaxies in their
quest. Recent studies with the Hubble Space Telescope have shown that many
galaxies contain a large reservoir of ionized gas with temperatures of about
10^5 K. Here we report on X-ray observations made with the Chandra X-ray
Observatory probing an even hotter phase of the CGM of our Milky Way at about
10^6 K. We show that this phase of the CGM is massive, extending over a large
region around the Milky Way, with a radius of over 100 kpc. The mass content of
this phase is over ten billion solar masses, many times more than that in
cooler gas phases and comparable to the total baryonic mass in the disk of the
Galaxy. The missing mass of the Galaxy appears to be in this warm-hot gas
phase.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures; http://stacks.iop.org/2041-8205/756/L
Recenti tendenze nei flussi di investimento estero delle economie emergenti. Sovereign wealth funds, imprese globali ed effetti per i paesi sviluppati
L\u2019articolo analizza le caratteristiche principali dei recenti flussi di investimento diretto estero realizzati dalle economie emergenti. In primo luogo, si approfondiscono le determinanti macroeconomiche alla base della disponibilit\ue0 di capitali presso tali paesi, esaminando in particolare il ruolo cruciale e controverso svolto dai sovereign wealth funds. Vengono poi discusse le determinanti istituzionali e strutturali degli investimenti esteri dalla prospettiva delle imprese degli stessi emergenti. Infine, l\u2019analisi viene completata focalizzando l\u2019attenzione sul caso particolare della politica pubblica della Cina nei riguardi degli investimenti diretti verso l\u2019estero, in particolare verso l\u2019Europa e l\u2019Italia
A battery-operated, stabilized, high-energy pulsed electron gun for the production of rare gas excimers
We report on the design of a new type of electron gun to be used for
experiments of infrared emission spectroscopy of rare gas excimers. It is based
on a filament heated by means of a pack of rechargeable batteries floated atop
the high-voltage power supply. The filament current is controlled by a feedback
circuit including a superluminescent diode decoupled from the high voltage by
means of an optical fiber. Our experiment requires that the charge injection is
pulsed and constant and stable in time. This electron gun can deliver several
tens of nC per pulse of electrons of energy up to keV into the sample
cell. This new design eliminates ripples in the emission current and ensures up
to 12 hrs of stable performance.Comment: 1o pages, 8 figures, to be submitted to Review of Scientific
Instrument
Foreign direct investment and the financial crisis: a spotlight on Italian-Balkan country flows
Dynamical Mass Ejection from Binary Neutron Star Mergers
We present fully general-relativistic simulations of binary neutron star
mergers with a temperature and composition dependent nuclear equation of state.
We study the dynamical mass ejection from both quasi-circular and
dynamical-capture eccentric mergers. We systematically vary the level of our
treatment of the microphysics to isolate the effects of neutrino cooling and
heating and we compute the nucleosynthetic yields of the ejecta. We find that
eccentric binaries can eject significantly more material than quasi-circular
binaries and generate bright infrared and radio emission. In all our
simulations the outflow is composed of a combination of tidally- and
shock-driven ejecta, mostly distributed over a broad angle from
the orbital plane, and, to a lesser extent, by thermally driven winds at high
latitudes. Ejecta from eccentric mergers are typically more neutron rich than
those of quasi-circular mergers. We find neutrino cooling and heating to
affect, quantitatively and qualitatively, composition, morphology, and total
mass of the outflows. This is also reflected in the infrared and radio
signatures of the binary. The final nucleosynthetic yields of the ejecta are
robust and insensitive to input physics or merger type in the regions of the
second and third r-process peaks. The yields for elements on the first peak
vary between our simulations, but none of our models is able to explain the
Solar abundances of first-peak elements without invoking additional first-peak
contributions from either neutrino and viscously-driven winds operating on
longer timescales after the mergers, or from core-collapse supernovae.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. We corrected a problem in the formulation of
the neutrino heating scheme and re-ran all of the affected models. The main
conclusions are unchanged. This version also contains one more figure and a
number of improvements on the tex
Implementation of a simplified approach to radiative transfer in general relativity
We describe in detail the implementation of a simplified approach to radiative transfer in general relativity by means of the well-known neutrino leakage scheme (NLS). In particular, we carry out an extensive investigation of the properties and limitations of the NLS for isolated relativistic stars to a level of detail that has not been discussed before in a general-relativistic context. Although the numerous tests considered here are rather idealized, they provide a well-controlled environment in which to understand the relationship between the matter dynamics and the neutrino emission, which is important in order to model the neutrino signals from more complicated scenarios, such as binary neutron-star mergers. When considering nonrotating hot neutron stars we confirm earlier results of one-dimensional simulations, but also present novel results about the equilibrium properties and on how the cooling affects the stability of these configurations. In our idealized but controlled setup, we can then show that deviations from the thermal and weak-interaction equilibrium affect the stability of these models to radial perturbations, leading models that are stable in the absence of radiative losses, to a gravitational collapse to a black hole when neutrinos are instead radiated
Comparing 2D pictures with 3D replicas for the digital preservation and analysis of tangible heritage
In this paper, we present two experiments designed to compare 2D digital pictures and 3D digital replicas of artefacts, to understand how differently these media facilitate the perception and understanding of our past. Archaeologists and museum experts have commonly used 2D digital pictures to preserve and study artefacts. Recently these scholars have also started to use 3D digital archives for their studies. Yet we still need to determine how these two formats (2D vs 3D) affect the perception of our past. Results to our experiments point to 3D digital replicas of artifacts as more effective means to digitally preserve tangible cultural heritage, since 3D multi-visualization augments the perception of physical characteristics of the artifacts allowing a more embodied experience with these objects. Our experiments also suggest that multi-visualization (i.e., point-cloud, mesh, and color information) helps the viewers to overcome their personal conceptualization of specific objects.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2015.104251
Development of a surrogate model of an amine scrubbing digital twin using machine learning methods
Advancements in the process industry require building more complex simulations and performing computationally intensive operations like optimization. To overcome the numerical limit of conventional process simulations a surrogate model is a viable strategy. In this work, a surrogate model of an industrial amine scrubbing digital twin has been developed. The surrogate model has been built based on the process simulation created in Aspen HYSYS and validated as a digital twin against real process data collected during a steady-state operation. The surrogate relies on an accurate Design of Experiments procedure. In this case, the Latin-Hypercube method has been chosen and several nested domains have been defined in ranges around the nominal steady state operative condition. Several machine learning models have been trained using cross-validation, and the most accurate has been selected to predict each target. The resulting surrogate model showed a satisfactory performance, given the data available
3D printing and immersive visualization for improved perception of ancient artifacts
This article investigates the use of 3D immersive virtual environments and 3D prints for interaction with past material culture over traditional observation without manipulation. Our work is motivated by studies in heritage, museum, and cognitive sciences indicating the importance of object manipulation for understanding present and ancient artifacts. While virtual immersive environments and 3D prints have started to be incorporated in heritage research and museum displays as a way to provide improved manipulation experiences, little is known about how these new technologies affect the perception of our past. This article provides first results obtained with three experiments designed to investigate the benefits and tradeoffs in using these technologies. Our results indicate that traditional museum displays limit the experience with past material culture, and reveal how our sample of participants favor tactile and immersive 3D virtual experiences with artifacts over visual non-manipulative experiences with authentic objects. This paper is part of a larger study on how people perceive ancient artifacts, which was partially funded by the University of California Humanities Network and the Center for the Humanities at the University of California, Merced.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from MIT Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/PRES_a_0022
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