ExoData: A python package to handle large exoplanet catalogue data

Exoplanet science often involves using the system parameters of real exoplanets for tasks such as simulations, fitting routines, and target selection for proposals. Several exoplanet catalogues are already well established but often lack a version history and code friendly interfaces. Software that bridges the barrier between the catalogues and code enables users to improve the specific repeatability of results by facilitating the retrieval of exact system parameters used in an articles results along with unifying the equations and software used. As exoplanet science moves towards large data, gone are the days where researchers can recall the current population from memory. An interface able to query the population now becomes invaluable for target selection and population analysis. ExoData is a Python interface and exploratory analysis tool for the Open Exoplanet Catalogue. It allows the loading of exoplanet systems into Python as objects (Planet, Star, Binary etc) from which common orbital and system equations can be calculated and measured parameters retrieved. This allows researchers to use tested code of the common equations they require (with units) and provides a large science input catalogue of planets for easy plotting and use in research. Advanced querying of targets are possible using the database and Python programming language. ExoData is also able to parse spectral types and fill in missing parameters according to programmable specifications and equations. Examples of use cases are integration of equations into data reduction pipelines, selecting planets for observing proposals and as an input catalogue to large scale simulation and analysis of planets.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, 9 tables. Accepted by Computer Physics Communication

Identification of structural controls in an active lava dome with high resolution DEMs:Volcán de Colima, Mexico

Monitoring the topography of active lava domes is critical for detecting changes that may trigger or influence collapse or explosive activity. Internal dome structure and conditions are more difficult to elucidate, but also play vital roles. Here, we describe the exposure (following an explosion) of significant scarps in the active dome at Volcán de Colima, Mexico, that are interpreted as evidence of brittle failure planes and a complex internal dome morphology. In the first use of automated 3D computer vision reconstruction techniques (structure-from-motion and multi-view stereo, SfM-MVS) on an active volcanic dome, we derive high resolution surface models from oblique and archive photographs taken with a consumer camera. The resulting 3D models were geo-referenced using features identified in a web-sourced orthoimage; no ground-based measurements were required. In December 2010, the dome (2.14×106 m3) had a flat upper surface, reflecting an overall ductile emplacement regime. Between then and May 2011, a period of low explosivity was accompanied by a small volume loss (0.4×105 m3) and arcuate steps appeared in the dome surface, suggesting the presence of localized planes of weakness. The complex array of summit scarps was exposed following a significant explosion in June 2011, and is interpreted to be the surface expression of fault planes in the dome. The 1-m resolution DEMs indicated that the region of greatest volume loss was not coincident with the assumed location of the conduit, and that heterogeneity within the dome may have been important during the June explosion

Structure of exciton condensates in imbalanced electron-hole bilayers

We investigate the possibility of excitonic superfluidity in electron-hole bilayers. We calculate the phase diagram of the system for the whole range of electron-hole density imbalance and for different degrees of electrostatic screening, using mean-field theory and a Ginzburg–Landau expansion. We are able to resolve differences on previous work in the literature which concentrated on restricted regions of the parameter space. We also give detailed descriptions of the pairing wave function in the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov paired state. The Ginzburg–Landau treatment allows us to investigate the energy scales involved in the pairing state and discuss the possible spontaneous breaking of two-dimensional translation symmetry in the ground state

On Voice in Poetry: The Work of Animation by David Nowell Smith

A review of On Voice In Poetry: The Work of Animation, by David Nowell Smith