7,988 research outputs found
Beam Profile Measurements and Simulations of the PETRA Laser-Wire
The Laser-wire will be an essential diagnostic tool at the International
Linear Collider. It uses a finely focussed laser beam to measure the transverse
profile of electron bunches by detecting the Compton-scattered photons (or
degraded electrons) downstream of where the laser beam intersects the electron
beam. Such a system has been installed at the PETRA storage ring at DESY, which
uses a piezo-driven mirror to scan the laser-light across the electron beam.
Lat- est results of experimental data taking are presented and compared to
detailed simulations using the Geant4 based program BDSIM.Comment: 3 pagesm 4 figures. Submitted as a conference paper for the Particle
Accelerator Conference 2005 (PAC05
Photometric selection of Type Ia supernovae in the Supernova Legacy Survey
We present a sample of 485 photometrically identified Type Ia supernova
candidates mined from the first three years of data of the CFHT SuperNova
Legacy Survey (SNLS). The images were submitted to a deferred processing
independent of the SNLS real-time detection pipeline. Light curves of all
transient events were reconstructed in the g_M, r_M, i_M and z_M filters and
submitted to automated sequential cuts in order to identify possible
supernovae. Pure noise and long-term variable events were rejected by light
curve shape criteria. Type Ia supernova identification relied on event
characteristics fitted to their light curves assuming the events to be normal
SNe Ia. The light curve fitter SALT2 was used for this purpose, assigning host
galaxy photometric redshifts to the tested events. The selected sample of 485
candidates is one magnitude deeper than that allowed by the SNLS spectroscopic
identification. The contamination by supernovae of other types is estimated to
be 4%. Testing Hubble diagram residuals with this enlarged sample allows us to
measure the Malmquist bias due to spectroscopic selections directly. The result
is fully consistent with the precise Monte Carlo based estimate used to correct
SN Ia distance moduli in the SNLS 3-year cosmological analyses. This paper
demonstrates the feasibility of a photometric selection of high redshift
supernovae with known host galaxy redshifts, opening interesting prospects for
cosmological analyses from future large photometric SN Ia surveys.Comment: (The SNLS collaboration) 23 pages, 28 figures, Accepted in A&
Gemini Spectroscopy of Supernovae from SNLS: Improving High Redshift SN Selection and Classification
We present new techiques for improving the efficiency of supernova (SN)
classification at high redshift using 64 candidates observed at Gemini North
and South during the first year of the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). The SNLS
is an ongoing five year project with the goal of measuring the equation of
state of Dark Energy by discovering and following over 700 high-redshift SNe Ia
using data from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey. We achieve an
improvement in the SN Ia spectroscopic confirmation rate: at Gemini 71% of
candidates are now confirmed as SNe Ia, compared to 54% using the methods of
previous surveys. This is despite the comparatively high redshift of this
sample, where the median SN Ia redshift is z=0.81 (0.155 <= z <= 1.01). These
improvements were realized because we use the unprecedented color coverage and
lightcurve sampling of the SNLS to predict whether a candidate is an SN Ia and
estimate its redshift, before obtaining a spectrum, using a new technique
called the "SN photo-z." In addition, we have improved techniques for galaxy
subtraction and SN template chi^2 fitting, allowing us to identify candidates
even when they are only 15% as bright as the host galaxy. The largest
impediment to SN identification is found to be host galaxy contamination of the
spectrum -- when the SN was at least as bright as the underlying host galaxy
the target was identified more than 90% of the time. However, even SNe on
bright host galaxies can be easily identified in good seeing conditions. When
the image quality was better than 0.55 arcsec the candidate was identified 88%
of the time. Over the five-year course of the survey, using the selection
techniques presented here we will be able to add approximately 170 more
confirmed SNe Ia than would be possible using previous methods.Comment: ApJ, accepted, 19 pages, 9 figure
Gravitational red-shift and deflection of slow light
We explore the nature of the classical propagation of light through media
with strong frequency-dependent dispersion in the presence of a gravitational
field. In the weak field limit, gravity causes a redshift of the optical
frequency, which the slow-light medium converts into a spatially-varying index
of refraction. This results in the bending of a light ray in the medium. We
further propose experimental techniques to amplify and detect the phenomenon
using weak value measurements. Independent heuristic and rigorous derivations
of this effect are given.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
EPIC 219217635: A Doubly Eclipsing Quadruple System Containing an Evolved Binary
We have discovered a doubly eclipsing, bound, quadruple star system in the
field of K2 Campaign 7. EPIC 219217635 is a stellar image with that
contains an eclipsing binary (`EB') with d and a second EB with
d. We have obtained followup radial-velocity (`RV')
spectroscopy observations, adaptive optics imaging, as well as ground-based
photometric observations. From our analysis of all the observations, we derive
good estimates for a number of the system parameters. We conclude that (1) both
binaries are bound in a quadruple star system; (2) a linear trend to the RV
curve of binary A is found over a 2-year interval, corresponding to an
acceleration, cm s; (3) small
irregular variations are seen in the eclipse-timing variations (`ETVs')
detected over the same interval; (4) the orbital separation of the quadruple
system is probably in the range of 8-25 AU; and (5) the orbital planes of the
two binaries must be inclined with respect to each other by at least
25. In addition, we find that binary B is evolved, and the cooler and
currently less massive star has transferred much of its envelope to the
currently more massive star. We have also demonstrated that the system is
sufficiently bright that the eclipses can be followed using small ground-based
telescopes, and that this system may be profitably studied over the next decade
when the outer orbit of the quadruple is expected to manifest itself in the ETV
and/or RV curves.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
The effect of progenitor age and metallicity on luminosity and 56Ni yield in Type Ia supernovae
Timmes, Brown & Truran found that metallicity variations could theoretically
account for a 25% variation in the mass of 56Ni synthesized in Type Ia
supernovae (SNe Ia), and thus account for a large fraction of the scatter in
observed SN Ia luminosities. Higher-metallicity progenitors are more
neutron-rich, producing more stable burning products relative to radioactive
56Ni. We develop a new method for estimating bolometric luminosity and 56Ni
yield in SNe Ia and use it to test the theory with data from the Supernova
Legacy Survey. We find that the average 56Ni yield does drop in SNe Ia from
high metallicity environments, but the theory can only account for 7%--10% of
the dispersion in SN Ia 56Ni mass, and thus luminosity. This is because the
effect is dominant at metallicities significantly above solar, whereas we find
that SN hosts have predominantly subsolar or only moderately above-solar
metallicities. We also show that allowing for changes in O/Fe with the
metallicity [Fe/H] does not have a major effect on the theoretical prediction
of Timmes, Brown & Truran, so long as one is using the O/H as the independent
variable. Age may have a greater effect than metallicity -- we find that the
luminosity weighted age of the host galaxy is correlated with 56Ni yield, and
thus more massive progenitors give rise to more luminous explosions. This is
hard to understand if most SNe Ia explode when the primaries reach the
Chandrasekhar mass. Finally, we test the findings of Gallagher et al., that the
residuals of SNe Ia from the Hubble diagram are correlated with host galaxy
metallicity, and we find no such correlation.Comment: ApJ, accepted, 34 pages, 11 figures, apologies for one column format
-- necessary for the equation
Combining airborne gas and aerosol measurements with HYSPLIT: a visualization tool for simultaneous evaluation of air mass history and back trajectory consistency
The history of air masses is often investigated using backward trajectories
to gain knowledge about processes along the air parcel path as well as
possible source regions. Here, we describe a refined approach that
incorporates airborne gas, aerosol, and environmental data into back
trajectories and show how this technique allows for simultaneous evaluation
of air mass history and back trajectory reliability without the need to
calculate trajectory errors.
<br><br>
We use the HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT)
model and add a simple semi-automated computing routine to facilitate
high-frequency coverage of back trajectories initiated along free
tropospheric (FT) flight tracks and profiles every 10 s. We integrate our in
situ physiochemical data by color-coding each of these trajectories with its
corresponding in situ tracer values measured at the back trajectory start
points along the flight path. The unique color for each trajectory aids
assessment of trajectory reliability through the visual clustering of air
mass pathways of similar coloration.
Moreover, marked changes in trajectories associated with marked changes evident
in measured physiochemical or thermodynamic properties of an air mass add credence
to trajectories. This is particularly true when these air mass properties are
linked to trajectory features characteristic of recognized sources or processes.
This visual clustering of air mass pathways is of particular value for large-scale 3-D flight tracks
common to aircraft experiments where air mass features of interest are often
spatially distributed and temporally separated.
<br><br>
The cluster-visualization tool used here reveals that most FT back
trajectories with pollution signatures measured in the central equatorial
Pacific reach back to sources on the South American continent over
10 000 km away and 12 days back in time, e.g., the Amazonian basin. We also
demonstrate the distinctions in air mass properties between these and
trajectories that penetrate deep convection in the Inter-Tropical Convergence
Zone. Additionally, for the first time we show consistency of modeled
precipitation along back trajectories with scavenging signatures in the
aerosol measured for these trajectories
The Type Ia Supernova Rate in Radio and Infrared Galaxies from the CFHT Supernova Legacy Survey
We have combined the large SN Ia database of the Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope Supernova Legacy Survey and catalogs of galaxies with photometric
redshifts, VLA 1.4 GHz radio sources, and Spitzer infrared sources. We present
eight SNe Ia in early-type host galaxies which have counterparts in the radio
and infrared source catalogs. We find the SN Ia rate in subsets of radio and
infrared early-type galaxies is ~1-5 times the rate in all early-type galaxies,
and that any enhancement is always <~ 2 sigma. Rates in these subsets are
consistent with predictions of the two component "A+B" SN Ia rate model. Since
infrared properties of radio SN Ia hosts indicate dust obscured star formation,
we incorporate infrared star formation rates into the "A+B" model. We also show
the properties of SNe Ia in radio and infrared galaxies suggest the hosts
contain dust and support a continuum of delay time distributions for SNe Ia,
although other delay time distributions cannot be ruled out based on our data.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in A
Footprints in Sand: The Response of a Granular Material to Local Perturbations
We experimentally determine ensemble-averaged responses of granular packings
to point forces, and we compare these results to recent models for force
propagation in a granular material. We used 2D granular arrays consisting of
photoelastic particles: either disks or pentagons, thus spanning the range from
ordered to disordered packings. A key finding is that spatial ordering of the
particles is a key factor in the force response. Ordered packings have a
propagative component that does not occur in disordered packings.Comment: 5 pages, 4 eps figures, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 035506 (2001
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