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2007

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Articles 181 - 202 of 202

Full-Text Articles in Astrophysics and Astronomy

Discovery Of Atomic And Molecular Mid-Infrared Emission Lines In Off-Nuclear Regions Of Ngc 1275 And Ngc 4696 With The Spitzer Space Telescope, R. M. Johnstone, N. A. Hatch, Gary J. Ferland, A. C. Fabian, C. S. Crawford, R. J. Wilman Jan 2007

Discovery Of Atomic And Molecular Mid-Infrared Emission Lines In Off-Nuclear Regions Of Ngc 1275 And Ngc 4696 With The Spitzer Space Telescope, R. M. Johnstone, N. A. Hatch, Gary J. Ferland, A. C. Fabian, C. S. Crawford, R. J. Wilman

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present Spitzer high-resolution spectra of off-nuclear regions in the central cluster galaxies NGC 1275 and NGC 4696 in the Perseus and Centaurus clusters, respectively. Both objects are surrounded by extensive optical emission-line filamentary nebulae, bright outer parts of which are the targets of our observations. The 10–37 μm spectra show strong pure-rotational lines from molecular hydrogen revealing a molecular component to the filaments which has an excitation temperature of ∼300−400 K. The flux in the 0−0 S(1) molecular hydrogen line correlates well with the strength of the optical lines, having about 3 per cent of the Hα+[N II] emission. …

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Searches For Periodic Gravitational Waves From Unknown Isolated Sources And Scorpius X-1: Results From The Second Ligo Science Run, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Mario C. Diaz, R. Grosso, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres Jan 2007

Searches For Periodic Gravitational Waves From Unknown Isolated Sources And Scorpius X-1: Results From The Second Ligo Science Run, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Mario C. Diaz, R. Grosso, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We carry out two searches for periodic gravitational waves using the most sensitive few hours of data from the second LIGO science run. Both searches exploit fully coherent matched filtering and cover wide areas of parameter space, an innovation over previous analyses which requires considerable algorithm development and computational power. The first search is targeted at isolated, previously unknown neutron stars, covers the entire sky in the frequency band 160–728.8 Hz, and assumes a frequency derivative of less than 4×10−10  Hz/s. The second search targets the accreting neutron star in the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1 and covers the frequency …

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External Control Of Electron Temperature In Ultra-Cold Plasmas, Roy O. Wilson Jan 2007

External Control Of Electron Temperature In Ultra-Cold Plasmas, Roy O. Wilson

Honors Theses

This thesis discusses progress towards achieving external control of the electron temperature and the Coulomb coupling parameter of ultra-cold plasmas. Using a Littman dye laser, we create the plasma by partially photoionizing a dense, cold sample of rubidium atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). At a controllable time delay, we excite neutral atoms in the plasma to a specific Rydberg state using a narrow bandwidth pulsed dye laser. We have made progress towards optimizing and quantifying the achievable Rydberg atom density by using mm-wave spectroscopy to control the evolution of a cold dense Rydberg sample to plasma and have also …

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Reissner–Nordstrom Expansion, Emil Prodanov, Rossen Ivanov, Vesselin Gueorguiev Jan 2007

Reissner–Nordstrom Expansion, Emil Prodanov, Rossen Ivanov, Vesselin Gueorguiev

Articles

We propose a classical mechanism for the cosmic expansion during the radiation-dominated era, assuming the Universe as a two-component gas. The first component is the ultra-relativistic “standard” fraction described by an equation of state of an ideal quantum gas of massless particles. The second component consist of superheavy charged particles and their interaction with the “standard” fraction drives the expansion. This interaction is described by the Reissner–Nordstr¨om metric purely geometrically — the superheavy charged particles are modeled as zero-dimensional naked singularities which exhibit gravitational repulsion. The radius of a repulsive sphere, surrounding a naked singularity of charge Q, is inversely …

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Predicting Magnetopause Crossings At Geosynchronous Orbit During The Halloween Storms, Ramon E. Lopez, S. Hernandez, Michael J. Wiltberger, C.-L. Huang, E. I. Kepko, H. Spence, C. C. Goodrich, J. G. Lyon Jan 2007

Predicting Magnetopause Crossings At Geosynchronous Orbit During The Halloween Storms, Ramon E. Lopez, S. Hernandez, Michael J. Wiltberger, C.-L. Huang, E. I. Kepko, H. Spence, C. C. Goodrich, J. G. Lyon

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

In late October and early November of 2003, the Sun unleashed a powerful series of events known as the Halloween storms. The coronal mass ejections launched by the Sun produced several severe compressions of the magnetosphere that moved the magnetopause inside of geosynchronous orbit. Such events are of interest to satellite operators, and the ability to predict magnetopause crossings along a given orbit is an important space weather capability. In this paper we compare geosynchronous observations of magnetopause crossings during the Halloween storms to crossings determined from the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the magnetosphere as well to predictions of …

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Ion Escape From The High Latitude Magnetopause: Analysis Of Oxygen And Proton Dynamics In The Presence Of Magnetic Turbulence, Alexander L. Taktakishvili, G Zimbardo, Ermanno Amata, Sergey P. Savin, Antonella Greco, Pierluigi Veltri, Ramon E. Lopez Jan 2007

Ion Escape From The High Latitude Magnetopause: Analysis Of Oxygen And Proton Dynamics In The Presence Of Magnetic Turbulence, Alexander L. Taktakishvili, G Zimbardo, Ermanno Amata, Sergey P. Savin, Antonella Greco, Pierluigi Veltri, Ramon E. Lopez

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

Recent Cluster observations of the vicinity of the high latitude magnetopause indicate the presence of beams of singly charged oxygen ions, which are of ionospheric origin. In this paper we examine the role of magnetic turbulence combined with a dc electric field across the magnetopause in causing the cross field transport of protons and of singly charged oxygen ions, by means of a kinetic test particle simulation. We find that the observed values of magnetosheath turbulence and electric fields can produce a substantial escape of the oxygen ions relative to protons. By varying the magnetic turbulence level in the simulation, …

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Asteroseismology Of The Pg 1159 Star Pg 0122+200, Jianning Fu, Matt A. Wood Jan 2007

Asteroseismology Of The Pg 1159 Star Pg 0122+200, Jianning Fu, Matt A. Wood

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

Context. The variable pre-white dwarf PG 1159 stars (GW Vir) are g-mode non-radial pulsators. Asteroseismology puts strong constraints on their global parameters and internal structure. PG 0122+200 defines the red edge of the instability strip and its evolutionary timescale is predicted to be dominated by neutrino emission. Its study offers the opportunity to better understand the instability mechanism and to validate the physics of the neutrino production in dense plasma. Aims. To achieve such a goal requires determining precisely its fundamental parameters. This is the goal of this paper. Methods. We present new multi-site photometric observations obtained in 2001 and …

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Spectropolarimetric Survey Of Hydrogen-Rich White Dwarf Stars, Adéla Kawka, Stéphane Vennes, Gary D. Schmidt, Dayal T. Wickramasinghe, Rolf Koch Jan 2007

Spectropolarimetric Survey Of Hydrogen-Rich White Dwarf Stars, Adéla Kawka, Stéphane Vennes, Gary D. Schmidt, Dayal T. Wickramasinghe, Rolf Koch

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We have conducted a survey of 61 southern white dwarfs searching for magnetic fields using Zeeman spectropolarimetry. Our objective is to obtain a magnetic field distribution for these objects and, in particular, to find white dwarfs with weak fields. We found one possible candidate (WD 0310-688) that may have a weak magnetic field of -6.1 ±2.2 kG. Next, we determine the fraction and distribution of magnetic white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood and investigate the probability of finding more of these objects based on the current incidence of magnetism in white dwarfs within 20 pc of the Sun. We have …

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World Bank -Cpa Conflict: The Struggle To Define Human Rights And Development In The Philippines, Adam B. Robbins Jan 2007

World Bank -Cpa Conflict: The Struggle To Define Human Rights And Development In The Philippines, Adam B. Robbins

Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes the interactions between the World Bank (hereafter, the Bank) and the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), an indigenous and environmental advocacy group based in the Cordillera region of Luzon, in the Philippines. Using data gathered through both text-based and participatory research methods, I analyze the discursive relationship and violent confrontations between the two organizations. Conflicting development and human rights values cause the majority of these conflicts. I focus on how each organization enacts development and human rights, and how this leads to conflict. Ultimately, I intend for this thesis to offer practical guidance for the reader involved in …

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Spin Flips And Precession In Black-Hole-Binary Mergers, Manuela Campanelli, Carlos O. Lousto, Z. Zlochower, Badri Krishnan, David Merritt Jan 2007

Spin Flips And Precession In Black-Hole-Binary Mergers, Manuela Campanelli, Carlos O. Lousto, Z. Zlochower, Badri Krishnan, David Merritt

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We use the “moving puncture” approach to perform fully nonlinear evolutions of spinning quasicircular black-hole binaries with individual spins unaligned with the orbital angular momentum. We evolve configurations with the individual spins (parallel and equal in magnitude) pointing in the orbital plane and 45° above the orbital plane. We introduce a technique to measure the spin direction and track the precession of the spin during the merger, as well as measure the spin flip in the remnant horizon. The former configuration completes 1.75 orbits before merging, with the spin precessing by 98° and the final remnant horizon spin flipped by …

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Mid-Infrared Galaxy Classification Based On Silicate Obscuration And Pah Equivalent Width, H. W. W. Spoon, J. A. Marshall, J. R. Houck, Moshe Elitzur, L. Hao, L. Armus, B. R. Brandl, V. Charmandaris Jan 2007

Mid-Infrared Galaxy Classification Based On Silicate Obscuration And Pah Equivalent Width, H. W. W. Spoon, J. A. Marshall, J. R. Houck, Moshe Elitzur, L. Hao, L. Armus, B. R. Brandl, V. Charmandaris

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present a new diagnostic diagram for mid-infrared spectra of infrared galaxies based on the equivalent width of the 6.2 μm PAH emission feature and the strength of the 9.7 μm silicate feature. Based on the positions in this diagram, we classify galaxies into nine classes ranging from continuum-dominated AGN hot dust spectra and PAH-dominated starburst spectra to absorption-dominated spectra of deeply obscured galactic nuclei. We find that galaxies are systematically distributed along two distinct branches: one of AGN and starburst-dominated spectra and one of deeply obscured nuclei and starburst-dominated spectra. The separation into two branches likely reflects …

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Deep Mid-Infrared Silicate Absorption As A Diagnostic Of Obscuring Geometry Toward Galactic Nuclei, N. A. Levenson, M. M. Sirocky, L. Hao, H. W. W. Spoon, J. A. Marshall, Moshe Elitzur, J. R. Houck Jan 2007

Deep Mid-Infrared Silicate Absorption As A Diagnostic Of Obscuring Geometry Toward Galactic Nuclei, N. A. Levenson, M. M. Sirocky, L. Hao, H. W. W. Spoon, J. A. Marshall, Moshe Elitzur, J. R. Houck

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The silicate cross section peak near 10 μm produces emission and absorption features in the spectra of dusty galactic nuclei observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Especially in ultraluminous infrared galaxies, the observed absorption feature can be extremely deep, as IRAS 08572+3915 illustrates. A foreground screen of obscuration cannot reproduce this observed feature, even at a large optical depth. Instead, the deep absorption requires a nuclear source to be deeply embedded in a smooth distribution of material that is both geometrically and optically thick. In contrast, a clumpy medium can produce only shallow absorption or emission, which are …

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First Cross-Correlation Analysis Of Interferometric And Resonant-Bar Gravitational-Wave Data For Stochastic Backgrounds, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Mario C. Diaz, R. Grosso, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres Jan 2007

First Cross-Correlation Analysis Of Interferometric And Resonant-Bar Gravitational-Wave Data For Stochastic Backgrounds, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Mario C. Diaz, R. Grosso, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Data from the LIGO Livingston interferometer and the ALLEGRO resonant-bar detector, taken during LIGO’s fourth science run, were examined for cross correlations indicative of a stochastic gravitational-wave background in the frequency range 850–950 Hz, with most of the sensitivity arising between 905 and 925 Hz. ALLEGRO was operated in three different orientations during the experiment to modulate the relative sign of gravitational-wave and environmental correlations. No statistically significant correlations were seen in any of the orientations, and the results were used to set a Bayesian 90% confidence level upper limit of Ωgw(f)≤1.02, which corresponds to a gravitational-wave strain at 915 …

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Quantization In Astrophysics, Brownian Motion, And Supersymmetry, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto Jan 2007

Quantization In Astrophysics, Brownian Motion, And Supersymmetry, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

The present book discusses, among other things, various quantization phenomena found in Astrophysics and some related issues including Brownian Motion. With recent discoveries of exoplanets in our galaxy and beyond, this Astrophysics quantization issue has attracted numerous discussions in the past few years. Most chapters in this book come from published papers in various peer-reviewed journals, and they cover different methods to describe quantization, including Weyl geometry, Supersymmetry, generalized Schrödinger, and Cartan torsion method. In some chapters Navier-Stokes equations are also discussed, because it is likely that this theory will remain relevant in Astrophysics and Cosmology While much of the …

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In-Situ And Simultaneous Measurements Of Size And Charge Distributions Of Dust On Mars: Instrumentation And Analysis, Praveen Kumar Srirama Jan 2007

In-Situ And Simultaneous Measurements Of Size And Charge Distributions Of Dust On Mars: Instrumentation And Analysis, Praveen Kumar Srirama

Theses and Dissertations

Martian dust characterization is important for minimizing the effects of abrasion, adhesion, corrosion, and damage to mission hardware, and also to reduce the effect on human health during future robotic and human exploratory missions. Characterizing the particle size and charge on Mars dust will help in the development of techniques for dust mitigation. Presently there is no miniature instrument which is capable of in-situ and real time measurements on Mars. In order to simultaneously analyze the particle size and charge of Mars dust, a Dust Particle Analyzer (DPA) has been developed and tested which is based on a Laser Doppler …

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Form Factors And Wave Functions Of Vector Mesons In Holographic Qcd, Hovhannes R. Grigoryan, Anatoly V. Radyushkin Jan 2007

Form Factors And Wave Functions Of Vector Mesons In Holographic Qcd, Hovhannes R. Grigoryan, Anatoly V. Radyushkin

Physics Faculty Publications

Within the framework of a holographic dual model of QCD, we develop a formalism for calculating form factors of vector mesons. We show that the holographic bound states can be described not only in terms of eigenfunctions of the equation of motion, but also in terms of conjugate wave functions that are close analogues of quantum-mechanical bound state wave functions. We derive a generalized VMD representation for form factors, and find a very specific VMD pattern, in which form factors are essentially given by contributions due to the first two bound states in the Q2 -channel. We calculate electric …

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Video-Tutorials For Tech Sign Vocabulary In Astronomy, Judy Egelston-Dodd, Simon Ting Jan 2007

Video-Tutorials For Tech Sign Vocabulary In Astronomy, Judy Egelston-Dodd, Simon Ting

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This article describes the mediated American Sing Language (ASL) presentation of technical vocabulary and definitions within the context of a web-based astronomy course for first year students at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY). Deaf students showed achievement gains with fewer astronomy misconceptions. Also, student ratings of instructor ASL skill, as reported on the student rating system, were higher after students used the ASL vocabulary videos.

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Exotic Statistics For Strings In 4d Bf Theory, John C. Baez, Derek K. Wise, Alissa S. Crans Jan 2007

Exotic Statistics For Strings In 4d Bf Theory, John C. Baez, Derek K. Wise, Alissa S. Crans

Mathematics, Statistics and Data Science Faculty Works

After a review of exotic statistics for point particles in 3d BF theory, and especially 3d quantum gravity, we show that string-like defects in 4d BF theory obey exotic statistics governed by the 'loop braid group'. This group has a set of generators that switch two strings just as one would normally switch point particles, but also a set of generators that switch two strings by passing one through the other. The first set generates a copy of the symmetric group, while the second generates a copy of the braid group. Thanks to recent work of Xiao-Song Lin, we can …

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Results From The Dc-8 Inlet Characterization Experiment (Dice): Airborne Versus Surface Sampling Of Mineral Dust And Sea Salt Aerosols, Cameron S. Mcnaughton, Antony D. Clarke, Steven G. Howell, Mitchell Pinkerton, Bruce Anderson, Lee Thornhill, Charlie Hudgins, Edward Winstead, Jack E. Dibb, Eric Scheuer, Hal Maring Jan 2007

Results From The Dc-8 Inlet Characterization Experiment (Dice): Airborne Versus Surface Sampling Of Mineral Dust And Sea Salt Aerosols, Cameron S. Mcnaughton, Antony D. Clarke, Steven G. Howell, Mitchell Pinkerton, Bruce Anderson, Lee Thornhill, Charlie Hudgins, Edward Winstead, Jack E. Dibb, Eric Scheuer, Hal Maring

United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Publications

During May and June of 2003 NASA conducted the DC-8 Inlet Characterization Experiment (DICE). The study was undertaken to quantify the performance of three passive, solid diffuser inlets used aboard the DC-8 aircraft to sample optically effective aerosol sizes. Aerosol optical properties measured behind the University of Hawai’i (UH) and the University of New Hampshire (UNH) inlets were within 10% of the ground based measurements whereas the NASA Langley (LaRC) inlet reduced scattering values for supermicrometer dust by approximately 50%. Based on the DICE results the aerodynamic 50% passing efficiency of the inlets and transport plumbing is determined to be …

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Single Dna Conformations And Biological Function, Ralf Metzler, Tobias Ambjoernsson, Andreas Hanke, Yongli Zhang, Stephen Levene Jan 2007

Single Dna Conformations And Biological Function, Ralf Metzler, Tobias Ambjoernsson, Andreas Hanke, Yongli Zhang, Stephen Levene

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

From a nanoscience perspective, cellular processes and their reduced in vitro imitations provide extraordinary examples for highly robust few or single molecule reaction pathways. A prime example are biochemical reactions involving DNA molecules, and the coupling of these reactions to the physical conformations of DNA. In this review, we summarise recent results on the following phenomena: We investigate the biophysical properties of DNA-looping and the equilibrium configurations of DNA-knots, whose relevance to biological processes are increasingly appreciated. We discuss how random DNA-looping may be related to the efficiency of the target search process of proteins for their specific binding site …

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Electromagnetic Strong Plasma Turbulence, A. Melatos, F. A. Jenet, P. A. Robinson Jan 2007

Electromagnetic Strong Plasma Turbulence, A. Melatos, F. A. Jenet, P. A. Robinson

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The first large-scale simulations of continuously driven, two-dimensional electromagnetic strong plasma turbulence are performed, for electron thermal speeds 0.01c⩽v⩽0.57c, by integrating the Zakharov equations for coupled Langmuir and transverse (T) waves near the plasma frequency. Turbulence scalings and wave number spectra are calculated, a transition is found from a mix of trapped and free T eigenstates for v⩾0.1c to just free eigenstates for v⩽0.1c, and wave energy densities are observed to undergo slow quasiperiodic oscillations.

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Search For Gravitational-Wave Bursts In Ligo Data From The Fourth Science Run, B. Abbott, R. Abbott, R. Adhikari, J. Agresti, P. Ajith, B. Allen, R. Amin, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, M. Arain, M. Araya, H. Armandula, M. Ashley, S. Aston, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, S. Babak, S. Ballmer, H. Bantilan, B. C. Barish, C. Barker, D. Barker, B. Barr, P. Barriga, M. A. Barton, K. Bayer, K. Belczynski, J. Betzwieser, P. T. Beyersdorf, B. Bhawal, I. A. Bilenko, Tiffany Z. Summerscales Jan 2007

Search For Gravitational-Wave Bursts In Ligo Data From The Fourth Science Run, B. Abbott, R. Abbott, R. Adhikari, J. Agresti, P. Ajith, B. Allen, R. Amin, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, M. Arain, M. Araya, H. Armandula, M. Ashley, S. Aston, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, S. Babak, S. Ballmer, H. Bantilan, B. C. Barish, C. Barker, D. Barker, B. Barr, P. Barriga, M. A. Barton, K. Bayer, K. Belczynski, J. Betzwieser, P. T. Beyersdorf, B. Bhawal, I. A. Bilenko, Tiffany Z. Summerscales

Faculty Publications

The fourth science run of the LIGO and GEO 600 gravitational-wave detectors, carried out in early 2005, collected data with significantly lower noise than previous science runs. We report on a search for short-duration gravitational-wave bursts with arbitrary waveform in the 64-1600 Hz frequency range appearing in all three LIGO interferometers. Signal consistency tests, data quality cuts and auxiliary-channel vetoes are applied to reduce the rate of spurious triggers. No gravitational-wave signals are detected in 15.5 days of live observation time; we set a frequentist upper limit of 0.15 day-1 (at 90% confidence level) on the rate of bursts with …

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