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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Lower And Upper Bounds On Internal-Wave Frequencies In Stratified Rotating Fluids, Benoit Cushman-Roisin Dec 1996

Lower And Upper Bounds On Internal-Wave Frequencies In Stratified Rotating Fluids, Benoit Cushman-Roisin

Dartmouth Scholarship

According to classical theories, the frequencies of internal-gravity waves in stratified rotating fluids must lie between the Brunt-Väisälä frequency (a measure of the vertical density stratification) and the Coriolis frequency (equal to twice the rotation rate about the vertical axis). It is shown here that, in the case of the Earth's rotation where the pole-to-pole axis of rotation is almost everywhere not parallel to the local vertical, the range of realizable frequencies is broader. New formulas are derived for the lower and upper bounds of the frequencies.


On The Orbital Period Of The New Cataclysmic Variable Euve J2115-586, Stephane Vennes, Dayal T. Wickramasinghe, John R. Thorstensen, Damian J. Christian, Michael S. Bessell Nov 1996

On The Orbital Period Of The New Cataclysmic Variable Euve J2115-586, Stephane Vennes, Dayal T. Wickramasinghe, John R. Thorstensen, Damian J. Christian, Michael S. Bessell

Dartmouth Scholarship

We have obtained phase-resolved spectroscopy (3660-6040 Å) of the recently discovered cataclysmic variable EUVE J21 15-586 using the 74-inch telescope at Mount Stromlo Observatory. The radial velocity is modulated over a period of 110.8 min with a possible one-cycle-per-day alias of 102.8 min, and a semiamplitude of ≍270 km s-1 at Hβ and ≍390 km s-1 at He II λ4686. The spectroscopic appearance (H I Balmer, Ca II, He I, He II emission lines), the orbital period, and the velocity amplitude indicate that this cataclysmic variable is probably an AM Her type; the absence of cyclotron humps indicates …


The Mass Distribution In The Nearby Universe, Luiz N. Da Costa, Wolfram Freudling, Gary Wegner, Riccardo Giovanelli Sep 1996

The Mass Distribution In The Nearby Universe, Luiz N. Da Costa, Wolfram Freudling, Gary Wegner, Riccardo Giovanelli

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present a new reconstruction of the mass density and the peculiar velocity fields in the nearby universe using recent measurements of Tully-Fisher distances for a sample of late spirals. We find significant differences between our reconstructed fields and those obtained in earlier work: overdensities tend to be more compact while underdense regions, consisting of individual voids, are more abundant. Our results suggest that voids observed in redshift surveys of galaxies represent real voids in the underlying matter distribution. While we detect a bulk velocity of ~300 km s-1, within a top-hat window 6000 km s-1 in …


The Peculiar Motions Of Early-Type Galaxies In Two Distant Regions. I. Cluster And Galaxy Selection, Gary Wegner, Matthew Colless, Glenn Baggley, Roger L. Davies Sep 1996

The Peculiar Motions Of Early-Type Galaxies In Two Distant Regions. I. Cluster And Galaxy Selection, Gary Wegner, Matthew Colless, Glenn Baggley, Roger L. Davies

Dartmouth Scholarship

The EFAR project is a study of 736 candidate elliptical galaxies in 84 clusters lying in two regions, toward Hercules-Corona Borealis and Perseus-Pisces-Cetus, at distances cz ~ 6000-15,000 km s^-1^. In this paper (the first of a series), we present an introduction to the EFAR project and describe in detail the selection of the clusters and galaxies in our sample. Fundamental data for the galaxies and clusters are given, including accurate new positions for each galaxy and redshifts for each cluster. The galaxy selection functions are determined by using diameters measured from Schmidt sky survey images for 2185 galaxies in …


A Test Of The Lauer-Postman Bulk Flow, Riccardo Giovanelli, Martha P. Haynes, Gary Wegner, Luiz N. Da Costa Jun 1996

A Test Of The Lauer-Postman Bulk Flow, Riccardo Giovanelli, Martha P. Haynes, Gary Wegner, Luiz N. Da Costa

Dartmouth Scholarship

We use Tully-Fisher distances for a sample of field late spiral galaxies to test the Lauer & Postman result suggestive of a bulk flow with respect to the cosmic microwave background reference frame, of amplitude of +689 km s-1 in the direction l = 343°, b = +52°. A total of 432 galaxies are used, subdivided between two cones, of 30° semiaperture each and pointed toward the apex and antapex of the LP motion, respectively. The peculiar velocities in the two data sets are inconsistent with a bulk flow of the amplitude claimed by Lauer & Postman. When combined …


Discovery Of A White Dwarf Companion (Ms0354.6-3650 = Euve J0356-366) To A G2v Star, Damian J. Christian, Stephane Vennes, John R. Thorstensen, Mihalis Mathioudakis Jun 1996

Discovery Of A White Dwarf Companion (Ms0354.6-3650 = Euve J0356-366) To A G2v Star, Damian J. Christian, Stephane Vennes, John R. Thorstensen, Mihalis Mathioudakis

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present x-ray, ultraviolet, and optical observations of the mysterious EUV/soft x-ray source EUVE J0356-336 (= MS0354.6-3650). Initial Einstein observations identified this source with a cluster of galaxies, but the relatively high source count rate in the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) 100 Å band and the lack of variability hinted that EUVE J0356-3650 might be a white dwarf; the UK Schmidt plate of the field surrounding this object found a 12.45 magnitude G2V star that could hide a compact companion. This hypothesis was confirmed in an IUE ultraviolet spectrum that shows the definite signature of a hydrogen-rich white dwarf (DA). …


Absence Of Open Strings In A Lattice-Free Simulation Of Cosmic String Formation, Julian Borrill Apr 1996

Absence Of Open Strings In A Lattice-Free Simulation Of Cosmic String Formation, Julian Borrill

Dartmouth Scholarship

Lattice-based string formation algorithms can, at least in principle, be reduced to the study of the statistics of the corresponding aperiodic random walk. Since in three or more dimensions such walks are transient, this approach necessarily generates a population of open strings. To investigate whether open strings are an artifact of the lattice we develop an alternative lattice-free simulation of string formation. Replacing the lattice with a graph generated by a minimal dynamical model of a first-order phase transition we obtain results consistent with the hypothesis that the energy density in string is due to a scale-invariant Brownian distribution of …


An Optical And X-Ray Study Of Abell 576, A Galaxy Cluster With A Cold Core, Joseph J. S. Mohr, Margaret J. Geller, Daniel G. Fabricant, Gary Wegner, John Thorstensen, Douglas O. Richstone Apr 1996

An Optical And X-Ray Study Of Abell 576, A Galaxy Cluster With A Cold Core, Joseph J. S. Mohr, Margaret J. Geller, Daniel G. Fabricant, Gary Wegner, John Thorstensen, Douglas O. Richstone

Dartmouth Scholarship

We analyze the galaxy population and dynamics of the galaxy cluster A576; the observational constraints include 281 redshifts (230 new), R- band CCD galaxy photometry over a 2 h^-1^ Mpc x 2 h^-1^ Mpc region centered on the cluster, an Einstein IPC X-ray image, and an Einstein MPC X-ray spectrum. We focus on an 86% complete magnitude-limited sample (R_23.5_ < 17) of 169 cluster galaxies. The cluster galaxies with emission lines in their spectra have a larger velocity dispersion and are significantly less clustered on this 2 h^-1^ Mpc scale than galaxies without emission lines. We show that excluding the emission-line galaxies from the cluster sample decreases the velocity dispersion by 18% and the virial mass estimate by a factor of 2. The central cluster region contains a nonemission galaxy population and an intracluster medium which is significantly cooler (σ_core_ = 387_-105_^+250^ km s^-1^ and T_x_ = 1.6_-0.3_^+0.4^ keV at 90% confidence) than the global populations (σ = 977_-96_^+124^ km s^- 1^ for the nonemission population and T_X_ > 4 keV at 90% confidence). Because (1) the low-dispersion galaxy population is no more luminous than the global population and (2) the evidence for a cooling flow is weak, we suggest that the core of A576 may contain the remnants of …


The Orbital Period Of Bk Lyncis (Pg 0917 + 342), F. A. Ringwald, J. R. Thorstensen, R. K. Honeycutt, J. W. Robertson Jan 1996

The Orbital Period Of Bk Lyncis (Pg 0917 + 342), F. A. Ringwald, J. R. Thorstensen, R. K. Honeycutt, J. W. Robertson

Dartmouth Scholarship

Long-term light curves of the cataclysmic variable BK Lyn = PG 0917 + 342 from the Indiana Automated CCD photometric telescope (‘RoboScope’) and the Harvard College Observatory plate archive reveal no dwarf nova outbursts. Two radial velocity studies show its orbital period to be 107.97 ;1 0.07 min, confirming that it does have an orbital period shorter than the period gap for cataclysmic variables. Whether this is the first nova-like variable below the period gap or a dwarf nova with rare outbursts resembling WZ Sge is still unclear, however.