7,553 research outputs found
Product identification techniques used as training aids for analytical chemists
Laboratory staff assistants are trained to use data and observations of routine product analyses performed by experienced analytical chemists when analyzing compounds for potential toxic hazards. Commercial products are used as examples in teaching the analytical approach to unknowns
First gravitational lensing mass estimate of a damped Lyman-alpha galaxy at z=2.2
We present the first lensing total mass estimate of a galaxy, at redshift
2.207, that acts as a gravitational deflector and damped Lyman-alpha absorber
on the background QSO SDSS J1135-0010, at redshift 2.888. The remarkably small
projected distance, or impact parameter, between the lens and the source has
been estimated to be 0.8 +/- 0.1 kpc in a recent work. By exploiting the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey database, we establish a likely lensing magnification signal
in the photometry of the QSO. This is determined to be 2.2 mag brighter (or 8
times more luminous) than the median QSO at comparable redshifts. We describe
the total mass distribution of the lens galaxy with a one-component singular
isothermal sphere model and contrast the values of the observed and
model-predicted magnification factors. For the former, we use conservatively
the photometric data of the 95% of the available distant QSO population. We
estimate that the values of the lens effective velocity dispersion and
two-dimensional total mass, projected within a cylinder with radius equal to
the impact parameter, are included between 60 and 170 km/s and 2.1 x 10^9 and
1.8 x 10^10 M_Sun, respectively. We conclude by remarking that analyses of this
kind are crucial to exploring the relation between the luminous and dark matter
components of galaxies in the high-redshift Universe.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRA
Large-scale multielectrode recording and stimulation of neural activity
Large circuits of neurons are employed by the brain to encode and process information. How this encoding and processing is carried out is one of the central questions in neuroscience. Since individual neurons communicate with each other through electrical signals (action potentials), the recording of neural activity with arrays of extracellular electrodes is uniquely suited for the investigation of this question. Such recordings provide the combination of the best spatial (individual neurons) and temporal (individual action-potentials) resolutions compared to other large-scale imaging methods. Electrical stimulation of neural activity in turn has two very important applications: it enhances our understanding of neural circuits by allowing active interactions with them, and it is a basis for a large variety of neural prosthetic devices. Until recently, the state-of-the-art in neural activity recording systems consisted of several dozen electrodes with inter-electrode spacing ranging from tens to hundreds of microns. Using silicon microstrip detector expertise acquired in the field of high-energy physics, we created a unique neural activity readout and stimulation framework that consists of high-density electrode arrays, multi-channel custom-designed integrated circuits, a data acquisition system, and data-processing software. Using this framework we developed a number of neural readout and stimulation systems: (1) a 512-electrode system for recording the simultaneous activity of as many as hundreds of neurons, (2) a 61-electrode system for electrical stimulation and readout of neural activity in retinas and brain-tissue slices, and (3) a system with telemetry capabilities for recording neural activity in the intact brain of awake, naturally behaving animals. We will report on these systems, their various applications to the field of neurobiology, and novel scientific results obtained with some of them. We will also outline future directions
On the asymptotic behaviour of solutions to the fractional porous medium equation with variable density
We are concerned with the long time behaviour of solutions to the fractional
porous medium equation with a variable spatial density. We prove that if the
density decays slowly at infinity, then the solution approaches the
Barenblatt-type solution of a proper singular fractional problem. If, on the
contrary, the density decays rapidly at infinity, we show that the minimal
solution multiplied by a suitable power of the time variable converges to the
minimal solution of a certain fractional sublinear elliptic equation.Comment: To appear in DCDS-
A highly-ionized region surrounding SN Refsdal revealed by MUSE
Supernova (SN) Refsdal is the first multiply-imaged, highly-magnified, and
spatially-resolved SN ever observed. The SN exploded in a highly-magnified
spiral galaxy at z=1.49 behind the Frontier Fields Cluster MACS1149, and
provides a unique opportunity to study the environment of SNe at high z. We
exploit the time delay between multiple images to determine the properties of
the SN and its environment, before, during, and after the SN exploded. We use
the integral-field spectrograph MUSE on the VLT to simultaneously target all
observed and model-predicted positions of SN Refsdal. We find MgII emission at
all positions of SN Refsdal, accompanied by weak FeII* emission at two
positions. The measured ratios of [OII] to MgII emission of 10-20 indicate a
high degree of ionization with low metallicity. Because the same high degree of
ionization is found in all images, and our spatial resolution is too coarse to
resolve the region of influence of SN Refsdal, we conclude that this high
degree of ionization has been produced by previous SNe or a young and hot
stellar population. We find no variability of the [OII] line over a period of
57 days. This suggests that there is no variation in the [OII] luminosity of
the SN over this period, or that the SN has a small contribution to the
integrated [OII] emission over the scale resolved by our observations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&
RooHammerModel: interfacing the HAMMER software tool with the HistFactory package
Recent -physics results have sparkled great interest in the search for
beyond-the-Standard-Model (BSM) physics in transitions.
The need to analyse in a consistent manner big datasets for these searches,
using high-statistics Monte-Carlo (MC) samples, led to the development of
HAMMER, a software tool which enables to perform a fast morphing of MC-derived
templates to include BSM effects and/or alternative parameterisations of
long-distance effects, avoiding the need to re-generate simulated samples. This
note describes the development of RooHammerModel, an interface between this
tool and the commonly-used data-fitting framework HistFactory. The code is
written in C++ and admits an alternative usage in standalone RooFit analyses.
In this document, the structure and functionality of the user interface are
explained. Information of a public repository where it can be accessed is
provided, as well as validation and performance studies of the interface. The
methods developed in the construction of RooHammerModel can provide specific
information for alternative future attempts to interface HAMMER with other
data-fitting frameworks
Integrable mixing of A_{n-1} type vertex models
Given a family of monodromy matrices {T_u; u=0,1,...,K-1} corresponding to
integrable anisotropic vertex models of A_{(n_u)-1}-type, we build up a related
mixed vertex model by means of glueing the lattices on which they are defined,
in such a way that integrability property is preserved. Algebraically, the
glueing process is implemented through one dimensional representations of
rectangular matrix algebras A(R_p,R_q), namely, the `glueing matrices' zeta_u.
Here R_n indicates the Yang-Baxter operator associated to the standard Hopf
algebra deformation of the simple Lie algebra A_{n-1}. We show there exists a
pseudovacuum subspace with respect to which algebraic Bethe ansatz can be
applied. For each pseudovacuum vector we have a set of nested Bethe ansatz
equations identical to the ones corresponding to an A_{m-1} quasi-periodic
model, with m equal to the minimal range of involved glueing matrices.Comment: REVTeX 28 pages. Here we complete the proof of integrability for
mixed vertex models as defined in the first versio
The influence of the Lande -factor in the classical general relativistic description of atomic and subatomic systems
We study the electromagnetic and gravitational fields of the proton and
electron in terms of the Einstenian gravity via the introduction of an
arbitrary Lande -factor in the Kerr-Newman solution. We show that at length
scales of the order of the reduced Compton wavelength, corrections from
different values of the -factor are not negligible and discuss the presence
of general relativistic effects in highly ionized heavy atoms. On the other
hand, since at the Compton-wavelength scale the gravitational field becomes
spin dominated rather than mass dominated, we also point out the necessity of
including angular momentum as a source of corrections to Newtonian gravity in
the quantum description of gravity at this scale.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure
The final fate of spherical inhomogeneous dust collapse II: Initial data and causal structure of singularity
Further to results in [9], pointing out the role of initial density and
velocity distributions towards determining the final outcome of spherical dust
collapse, the causal structure of singularity is examined here in terms of
evolution of the apparent horizon. We also bring out several related features
which throw some useful light towards understanding the nature of this
singularity, including the behaviour of geodesic families coming out and some
aspects related to the stability of singularity.Comment: Latex file, uses epsf.sty, 15 pages and 3 eps figures. Paragraph on
role of smooth functions rewritten. Four references added. To appear in
Classical & Quantum Gravit
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