14,935 research outputs found
Analytic Kerr black hole lensing for equatorial observers in the strong deflection limit
In this paper we present an analytical treatment of gravitational lensing by
Kerr black holes in the limit of very large deflection angles, restricting to
observers in the equatorial plane. We accomplish our objective starting from
the Schwarzschild black hole and adding corrections up to second order in the
black hole spin. This is sufficient to provide a full description of all
caustics and the inversion of lens mapping for sources near them. On the basis
of these formulae we argue that relativistic images of Low Mass X-ray Binaries
around Sgr A* are very likely to be seen by future X-ray interferometry
missions.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, published on Phys. Rev.
Conformations Of A Model Protein Revealed By An Aggregating Cu᎔᎔ Porphyrin: Sensing The Difference
Aggregated t-CuP binds to poly-L-glutamate through supramolecular interactions, revealing itself to be an extremely sensitive probe for the major conformations of the polymeric scaffold
Finding a reflexive voice : -- researching the problems of implementing new learning practices within a New Zealand manufacturing organisation : a 100pt thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Human Resources Management at Massey University
This study explored the social forces mediating manager's participation in a new reflexive participative learning practice designed to improve profitability within a New Zealand manufacturing organisation. Despite a large theoretical and managerial body of literature on organisational learning there has been little empirical investigation of how people experience and engage their reflexivity towards challenging the status-quo to create high level learning and new knowledge. Power was identified as a potential moderator of the reflexive learning experience and the variable relations of power and learning were constructed from a review of literature and these relationships were explored and investigated within the case study. Two prevailing discourses were identified as powerful moderators of public reflexivity, the traditionalist discourse which constructed managers actions and conversations towards insularism and survivalist concerns and the productionist discourse in which institutionalised production practices encircled and mediated managers actions and what constituted legitimacy in conversations. This study used a critical action research method to place the reflexive experience of managers and the researcher at the centre of the study and provide data representative of the social discourses that constructed variable freedoms and constraints upon the reflexive voice
The Ineludible non-Gaussianity of the Primordial Black Hole Abundance
We study the formation of primordial black holes when they are generated by
the collapse of large overdensities in the early universe. Since the density
contrast is related to the comoving curvature perturbation by a nonlinear
relation, the overdensity statistics is unavoidably non-Gaussian. We show that
the abundance of primordial black holes at formation may not be captured by a
perturbative approach which retains the first few cumulants of the non-Gaussian
probability distribution. We provide two techniques to calculate the
non-Gaussian abundance of primordial black holes at formation, one based on
peak theory and the other on threshold statistics. Our results show that the
unavoidable non-Gaussian nature of the inhomogeneities in the energy density
makes it harder to generate PBHs. We provide simple (semi-)analytical
expressions to calculate the non-Gaussian abundances of the primordial black
holes and show that for both narrow and broad power spectra the gaussian case
from threshold statistics is reproduced by increasing the amplitude of the
power spectrum by a factor .Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, matching published versio
Testing Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter through LISA
The idea that primordial black holes (PBHs) can comprise most of the dark
matter of the universe has recently reacquired a lot of momentum. Observational
constraints, however, rule out this possibility for most of the PBH masses,
with a notable exception around . These light PBHs may be
originated when a sizeable comoving curvature perturbation generated during
inflation re-enters the horizon during the radiation phase. During such a
stage, it is unavoidable that gravitational waves (GWs) are generated. Since
their source is quadratic in the curvature perturbations, these GWs are
generated fully non-Gaussian. Their frequency today is about the mHz, which is
exactly the range where the LISA mission has the maximum of its sensitivity.
This is certainly an impressive coincidence. We show that this scenario of PBHs
as dark matter can be tested by LISA by measuring the GW two-point correlator.
On the other hand, we show that the short observation time (as compared to the
age of the universe) and propagation effects of the GWs across the perturbed
universe from the production point to the LISA detector suppress the bispectrum
to an unobservable level. This suppression is completely general and not
specific to our model.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures. v3: matching published versio
An information-theoretic and dissipative systems approach to the study of knowledge diffusion and emerging complexity in innovation systems
The paper applies information theory and the theory of dissipative systems to discuss the emergence of complexity in an innovation system, as a result of its adaptation to an uneven distribution of the cognitive distance between its members. By modelling, on one hand, cognitive distance as noise, and, on the other hand, the inefficiencies linked to a bad flow of information as costs, we propose a model of the dynamics by which a horizontal network evolves into a hierarchical network, with some members emerging as intermediaries in the transfer of knowledge between seekers and problem-solvers. Our theoretical model contributes to the understanding of the evolution of an innovation system by explaining how the increased complexity of the system can be thermodynamically justified by purely internal factors. Complementing previous studies, we demonstrate mathematically that the complexity of an innovation system can increase not only to address the complexity of the problems that the system has to solve, but also to improve the performance of the system in transferring the knowledge needed to find a solution
X-ray pulsations from the radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar in CTA 1
Prompted by the Fermi LAT discovery of a radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar inside
the CTA 1 supernova remnant, we obtained a 130 ks XMM-Newton observation to
assess the timing behavior of this pulsar. Exploiting both the unprecedented
photon harvest and the contemporary Fermi LAT timing measurements, a 4.7 sigma
single peak pulsation is detected, making PSR J0007+7303 the second example,
after Geminga, of a radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar also seen to pulsate in
X-rays. Phase-resolved spectroscopy shows that the off-pulse portion of the
light curve is dominated by a power-law, non-thermal spectrum, while the X-ray
peak emission appears to be mainly of thermal origin, probably from a polar cap
heated by magnetospheric return currents, pointing to a hot spot varying
throughout the pulsar rotation.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Mechanism For Copper(II)-Mediated Disaggregation Of A Porphyrin J-Aggregate
J-aggregates of anionic meso-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin form at intermediate pH (2.3â3.1) in the presence of NiSOâ or ZnSOâ (ionic strength, I.S. = 3.2 M). These aggregates convert to monomeric porphyrin units via metallation with copper(II) ions. The kinetics for the disassembly process, as monitored by UV/vis spectroscopy, exhibits zeroth-order behavior. The observed zeroth-order rate constants show a two-term dependence on copper(II) ion concentrations: linear and second order. Also observed is an inverse dependence on hydrogen ion concentration. Activation parameters have been determined for the disassembly process leading to ÎH^â = (+163 ± 15) kJ·molâ»Âč and ÎS^â = (+136 ± 11) J·Kâ»Âč. A mechanism is proposed in which copper(II) cation is in pre-equilibrium with a reactive site at the rim of the J-aggregate. An intermediate copper species is thus formed that eventually leads to the final metallated porphyrin either through an assisted attack of a second metal ion or through a direct insertion of the metal cation into the macrocycle core
A Characterization of Bispecial Sturmian Words
A finite Sturmian word w over the alphabet {a,b} is left special (resp. right
special) if aw and bw (resp. wa and wb) are both Sturmian words. A bispecial
Sturmian word is a Sturmian word that is both left and right special. We show
as a main result that bispecial Sturmian words are exactly the maximal internal
factors of Christoffel words, that are words coding the digital approximations
of segments in the Euclidean plane. This result is an extension of the known
relation between central words and primitive Christoffel words. Our
characterization allows us to give an enumerative formula for bispecial
Sturmian words. We also investigate the minimal forbidden words for the set of
Sturmian words.Comment: Accepted to MFCS 201
- âŠ