Digital Commons Network^™

Upper Bounds On The Low-Frequency Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background From Pulsar Timing Observations: Current Limits And Future Prospects, F. A. Jenet, G. B. Hobbs, W. Van Straten, R. N. Manchester, M. Bailes, J. P.W. Verbiest, R. T. Edwards, A. W. Hotan, J. M. Sarkissian, S. M. Ord

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using a statistically rigorous analysis method, we place limits on the existence of an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background using pulsar timing observations. We consider backgrounds whose characteristic strain spectra may be described as a power-law dependence with frequency. Such backgrounds include an astrophysical background produced by coalescing supermassive black-hole binary systems and cosmological backgrounds due to relic gravitational waves and cosmic strings. Using the best available data, we obtain an upper limit on the energy density per unit logarithmic frequency interval of ΩgSMBH[1/(8 yr)}h2 ≤ 1.9 × 10-8 for an astrophysical background that is 5 times more stringent than …

Observation Of Fano Asymmetry In Raman Spectra Of Srtio3 And Cax Sr1-Xtio3 Perovskite Nanocubes, Sarbajit Banerjee, Dae In Kim, Richard D. Robinson, Irving P. Herman, Yuanbing Mao, Stanislaus S. Wong

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Bulk SrTi O3 is cubic and not expected to exhibit any first-order Raman scattering. However, nanocubes of SrTi O3 with an edge length of 80±10 nm show strong first-order Raman scattering originating from the breaking of symmetry caused by frozen surface dipoles (local tetragonality) and the presence of nanoscopic polar domains (arising from incorporated impurities). Rapid polarization fluctuations within these nanoscopic ferroelectric regions interfere with a polar phonon, resulting in a Fano-like asymmetric line shape in these SrTi O3 nanocubes, as well as in Ca0.3 Sr0.7 Ti O3 nanocubes.

On The Use Of Modis Evi To Assess Gross Primary Productivity Of North American Ecosystems, Daniel A. Sims, Abdullah Rahman, Vicente D. Cordova, Bassil Z. El-Masri, Dennis D. Baldocchi, Lawrence B. Flanagan, Allen H. Goldstein, David Y. Hollinger, Laurent Misson, Russell K. Monson, Walter C. Oechel, Hans P. Schmid, Steven C. Wofsy, Liukang Xu

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

[1] Carbon flux models based on light use efficiency (LUE), such as the MOD17 algorithm, have proved difficult to parameterize because of uncertainties in the LUE term, which is usually estimated from meteorological variables available only at large spatial scales. In search of simpler models based entirely on remote‐sensing data, we examined direct relationships between the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and gross primary productivity (GPP) measured at nine eddy covariance flux tower sites across North America. When data from the winter period of inactive photosynthesis were excluded, the overall relationship between EVI and tower GPP was better than that between …

A New Integrable Equation With Cuspons And W/M-Shape-Peaks Solitons, Zhijun Qiao

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, we propose a new completely integrable wave equation: mt+mx u2 −ux 2 +2m2ux=0, m=u−uxx. The equation is derived from the two dimensional Euler equation and is proven to have Lax pair and bi-Hamiltonian structures. This equation possesses new cusp solitons—cuspons, instead of regular peakons ce− −ct with speed c. Through investigating the equation, we develop a new kind of soliton solutions—“W/M”-shape-peaks solitons. There exist no smooth solitons for this integrable water wave equation.

Recent Developments In Understanding Two-Dimensional Turbulence And The Nastrom-Gage Spectrum, Eleftherios Gkioulekas, Ka Kit Tung

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Two-dimensional turbulence appears to be a more formidable problem than three-dimensional turbulence despite the numerical advantage of working with one less dimension. In the present paper we review recent numerical investigations of the phenomenology of two-dimensional turbulence as well as recent theoretical breakthroughs by various leading researchers. We also review efforts to reconcile the observed energy spectrum of the atmosphere (the spectrum) with the predictions of two-dimensional turbulence and quasigeostrophic turbulence.

The P14 Fusion-Associated Small Transmembrane (Fast) Protein Effects Membrane Fusion From A Subset Of Membrane Microdomains, Jennifer A. Corcoran, Jayme Salsman, Roberto De Antueno, Ahmed Touhami, Manfred H. Jericho, Eileen K. Clancy, Roy Duncan

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The reovirus fusion-associated small transmembrane (FAST) proteins are a unique family of viral membrane fusion proteins. These nonstructural viral proteins induce efficient cell-cell rather than virus-cell membrane fusion. We analyzed the lipid environment in which the reptilian reovirus p14 FAST protein resides to determine the influence of the cell membrane on the fusion activity of the FAST proteins. Topographical mapping of the surface of fusogenic p14-containing liposomes by atomic force microscopy under aqueous conditions revealed that p14 resides almost exclusively in thickened membrane microdomains. In transfected cells, p14 was found in both Lubrol WX-and Triton X-100-resistant membrane complexes. Cholesterol depletion …

Spinning-Black-Hole Binaries: The Orbital Hang-Up, Manuela Campanelli, Carlos O. Lousto, Y. Zlochower

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present the first fully-nonlinear numerical study of the dynamics of highly-spinning-black-hole binaries. We evolve binaries from quasicircular orbits (as inferred from post-Newtonian theory), and find that the last stages of the orbital motion of black-hole binaries are profoundly affected by their individual spins. In order to cleanly display its effects, we consider two equal-mass holes with individual spin parameters S/m2=0.757, both aligned and antialigned with the orbital angular momentum (and compare with the spinless case), and with an initial orbital period of 125M. We find that the aligned case completes three orbits and merges significantly after the antialigned case, …

Image Up-Sampling Using The Discrete Wavelet Transform, Laleh Asgharian

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Image up-sampling is an effective technique, useful in today's digital image processing applications and rendering devices. In image up-sampling, an image is enhanced from a lower resolution to a higher resolution with the degree of enhancement depending upon application requirements. It is known that the traditional interpolation based approaches for up-sampling, such as the Bilinear or Bicubic interpolations, blur the resultant images along edges and image features. Furthermore, in color imagery, these interpolation-based up-sampling methods may have color infringing artifacts in the areas where the images contain sharp edges and fine textures. We present an interesting up-sampling algorithm based on …

4,4′-(1,1,1,3,3,3-Hexafluoro­Propane-2,2-Diyl)Bis­(Benzoyl Chloride), Cecilia Rodriguez De Barbarin, Sylvain Bernes, Javier Macossay-Torres, Patrick E. Cassidy

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the structure of the title mol­ecule, C17H8Cl2F6O2, the dihedral angle between the least-squares planes of the benzene rings is 66.31 (15)°. The CF3 groups adopt an eclipsed conformation.

Consequences Of Disk Scale Height On Lisa Confusion Noise From Close White Dwarf Binaries, M. Benacquista, K. Holley-Bockelmann

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Gravitational radiation from the Galactic population of close white dwarf binaries (CWDBs) is expected to produce a confusion-limited signal at the lower end of the sensitivity band of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The canonical scale height of the disk population has been taken to be 90 pc for most studies of the nature of this confusion-limited signal. This estimate is probably too low, and the consequences of a more realistic scale height are investigated with a model of the LISA signal due to populations of CWDBs with different scale heights. If the local space density of CWDBs is …

Measurement Of Orbital Decay In The Double Neutron Star Binary Psr B2127+11c, B. A. Jacoby, P. B. Cameron, F. A. Jenet, S. B. Anderson, R. N. Murty, S. R. Kulkarni

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report the direct measurement of orbital period decay in the double neutron star pulsar system PSR B2127 + 11C in the globular cluster M15 at the rate of (-3.95 ± 0.13) × 10-12, consistent with the prediction of general relativity at the ∼3% level. We find the pulsar mass to be mp = 1.358 ± 0.010 M⊙ and the companion mc = 1.354 ± 0.010 M⊙. We also report long-term pulse timing results for the pulsars PSR B2127+11A and PSR B2127+11B, including confirmation of the cluster proper motion.

Joint Ligo And Tama300 Search For Gravitational Waves From Inspiralling Neutron Star Binaries, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, W. G. Anderson, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We search for coincident gravitational wave signals from inspiralling neutron star binaries using LIGO and TAMA300 data taken during early 2003. Using a simple trigger exchange method, we perform an intercollaboration coincidence search during times when TAMA300 and only one of the LIGO sites were operational. We find no evidence of any gravitational wave signals. We place an observational upper limit on the rate of binary neutron star coalescence with component masses between 1 and 3M⊙ of 49 per year per Milky Way equivalent galaxy at a 90% confidence level. The methods developed during this search will find application in …

Tomographic Approach To Resolving The Distribution Of Lisa Galactic Binaries, Soumya Mohanty, Rajesh K. Nayak

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The space based gravitational wave detector LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is expected to observe a large population of Galactic white dwarf binaries whose collective signal is likely to dominate instrumental noise at observational frequencies in the range 10−4 to 10−3  Hz. The motion of LISA modulates the signal of each binary in both frequency and amplitude—the exact modulation depending on the source direction and frequency. Starting with the observed response of one LISA interferometer and assuming only Doppler modulation due to the orbital motion of LISA, we show how the distribution of the entire binary population in frequency and …

Mercury Concentrations In South Texas Game Fishes, E. Anthony Reisinger

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Mercury (Hg) is one of the most ubiquitous and controversial metals in the world primarily due to the toxicity of the organic form of the metal, methylmercury (MeHg). MeHg is a neurotoxin at high levels, known to manifest its effects on humans primarily through consumption of certain fish and marine mammals, which tend to bioaccumulate MeHg in their tissues over time. Increased fish consumption and, thus, mercury intake in residents of coastal areas necessitates a better awareness of MeHg content in game fish species, thus the subject of this study.

Three hundred thirty-nine tissue samples were taken from 19 south …

Accurate Evolutions Of Orbiting Black-Hole Binaries Without Excision, M. Campanelli, C. O. Lousto, P. Marronetti, Z. Zlochower

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present a new algorithm for evolving orbiting black-hole binaries that does not require excision or a corotating shift. Our algorithm is based on a novel technique to handle the singular puncture conformal factor. This system, based on the Baumgarte-Shapiro-Shibata-Nakamura formulation of Einstein’s equations, when used with a ‘‘precollapsed’’ initial lapse, is nonsingular at the start of the evolution and remains nonsingular and stable provided that a good choice is made for the gauge. As a test case, we use this technique to fully evolve orbiting black-hole binaries from near the innermost stable circular orbit regime. We show fourth-order convergence …

High-Resolution Studies Of Tropolone In The S 0 And S 1 Electronic States: Isotope Driven Dynamics In The Zero-Point Energy Levels, John C. Keske, Wei Lin, Wallace C. Pringle, Stewart E. Novick, Thomas A. Blake, David F. Plusquellic

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Rotationally resolved microwave (MW) and ultraviolet (UV) spectra of jet-cooled tropolone have been obtained in S0 and S1 electronic states using Fourier-transform microwave and UV-laser/molecular-beam spectrometers. In the ground electronic state, the MW spectra of all heavy-atom isotopomers including one O18 and four C13 isotopomers were observed in natural abundance. The OD isotopomer was obtained from isotopically enriched samples. The two lowest tunneling states of each isotopomer except O18 have been assigned. The observed inversion splitting for the OD isotopomer is 1523.227(5) MHz. For the asymmetric C13 structures, the magnitudes of tunneling-rotation interactions are found to diminish with decreasing distance …

Relativistic Binaries In Globular Clusters, Matthew J. Benacquista

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The galactic population of globular- cluster's are old, dense star systems, with a typical cluster containing 104 -107 stars. As an old population of stars, globular clusters contain many collapsed and degenerate objects. As a dense population of stars, globular clusters are the scene of many interesting close dynamical interactions between stars. These dynamical interactions can alter the evolution of individual stars and can produce tight binary systems containing one or- two compact objects. In this review, we discuss the theoretical models of globular cluster evolution and binary evolution, techniques for simulating this evolution which lead to relativistic binaries, and …

Ferromagnetic Resonance Investigations On Ga0.965mn0.035as Film, S. Balascuta, X. Liu, D. V. Baxter, J. Carini, T. Wojtowicz, Y. Sasaki, J. Furdyna, Mircea Chipara

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Ferromagnetic resonance studies of the temperature dependence of magnetic anisotropies in a Ga0.965Mn0.035As film between 5 and 40K are reported. The in-plane and out-of-the-plane angular dependences of the resonance field were analyzed within the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert approach. The second- and fourth-order magnetic anisotropy energies were derived. The temperature dependence of magnetization and of magnetic anisotropy were studied by superconducting quantum interference device and ferromagnetic resonance.

Relativistic Three-Body Effects In Black Hole Coalescence, Manuela Campanelli, Miranda Dettwyler, Mark Hannam, Carlos O. Lousto

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Three-body interactions are expected to be common in globular clusters and in galactic cores hosting supermassive black holes. We consider an equal-mass binary black hole system in the presence of a third black hole. Using numerically generated binary black hole initial data sets, and first and second-order post-Newtonian (1PN and 2PN) techniques, we find that the presence of the third black hole has nonnegligible relativistic effects on the location of the binary’s innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO), and that these effects arise at 2PN order. For a stellar-mass black hole binary in orbit about a supermassive black hole, the massive …

Study Of Metals In Leached Soils Of A Municipal Dumpsite In Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico: Preliminary Results, P. F. Rodríguez-Espinosa, D. Chazaro Mendoza, J. A. Montes De Oca, G. Sánchez Torres E., Alejandro Fierro-Cabo

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Zapote dumpsite measures 420000 m 2 and is 28 years old; an estimated 2.5 millions tons of waste have accumulated on the site (household waste, clinical waste, commercial waste). The thickness of the waste is 3 to 9 meters. Since operations began, no control regulations have existed on the residues received. The Zapote dumpsite is located within a salt-marsh between a system of channels and river lagoons of brackish water, located in a tropical sedimentary environment in the urban zone of Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Recently, the Zapote has been closed and work is presently underway in its rehabilitation since …

Search For Gravitational Waves From Binary Black Hole Inspirals In Ligo Data, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, W. G. Anderson, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report on a search for gravitational waves from binary black hole inspirals in the data from the second science run of the LIGO interferometers. The search focused on binary systems with component masses between 3 and 20M⊙. Optimally oriented binaries with distances up to 1 Mpc could be detected with efficiency of at least 90%. We found no events that could be identified as gravitational waves in the 385.6 hours of data that we searched.

Electrical Pulse Formation During High Temperature Reaction Between Ni And Al, Mona Setoodeh, Karen S. Martirosyan, Dan Luss

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

An electric voltage pulse (duration of about 2ms) with an amplitude of up to 0.6V was generated during the reaction between nickel and aluminum powders by a high temperature moving reaction front. The electrical signal formed during the initial stages of the combustion was annihilated before the moving front attained its maximum temperature. The voltage amplitude and combustion temperature depended on the particle size of the reactants as well as the Al to Ni ratio in the reactant mixture, and their largest values were attained for a mixture containing 27–31.5wt% Al. The combustion temperature increased when smaller Al particles were …

The Lazarus Project. Ii. Spacelike Extraction With The Quasi-Kinnersley Tetrad, Manuela Campanelli, Bernard Kelly, Carlos O. Lousto

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Lazarus project was designed to make the most of limited 3D binary black-hole simulations, through the identification of perturbations at late times, and subsequent evolution of the Weyl scalar Ψ4 via the Teukolsky formulation. Here we report on new developments, employing the concept of the “quasi-Kinnersley” (transverse) frame, valid in the full nonlinear regime, to analyze late-time numerical space-times that should differ only slightly from Kerr. This allows us to extract the essential information about the background Kerr solution, and through this, to identify the radiation present. We explicitly test this procedure with full-numerical evolutions of Bowen-York data for …