Density Measurements of Shock Compressed Matter Using Short Pulse Laser Diagnostics

In this paper, experimental results on X-ray and proton radiography of shock compressed matter are presented. It has been performed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) using three long pulse beams to generate a shock wave in a multi-layer foil and a short pulse beam to create either an X-ray or protons source for a transverse radiography. Depending on the probe material (aluminium or carbon foam) a Molybdenum Kα source or a proton beam are used. Density data of the shocked aluminium, in the multimagabar regime are presented.     

Cosmological Creation of Matter in Conformal Cosmology

The effect of rapid cosmological creation of vector W and Z bosons is studied in the framework of conformal cosmology, which unifies the general theory of relativity and the standard model for strong and electroweak interactions.     

CHAMP观测资料的振幅反演初步结果

在几何光学和薄相位屏的假设下，给出GPS／LEO无线电掩星反演地球大气技术中振幅反演的计算方法．从产生接收信号振幅变化的机制出发，提出产生信号振幅变化的几何衰减和物理衰减两个不同的源．利用CHAMP卫星观测资料的个例，用观测信噪比序列进行了大气弯曲角、大气折射率、压力、温度剖面的反演；并与相位反演结果进行比较和讨论．     

Cosmological Perturbation Theory and the Spherical Collapse model — I. Gaussian initial conditions

We present a simple and intuitive approximation for solving the perturbation theory (PT) of small cosmic fluctuations. We consider only the spherically symmetric or monopole contribution to the PT integrals, which yields the exact result for tree-graphs (i.e. at leading order). We find that the non-linear evolution in Lagrangian space is then given by a simple local transformation over the initial conditions, although it is not local in Euler space. This transformation is found to be described by the spherical collapse (SC) dynamics, as it is the exact solution in the shearless (and therefore local) approximation in Lagrangian space. Taking advantage of this property, it is straightforward to derive the one-point cumulants, ξ_J, for both the unsmoothed and smoothed density fields to arbitrary order in the perturbative regime. To leading-order this reproduces, and provides us with a simple explanation for, the exact results obtained by Bernardeau. We then show that the SC model leads to accurate estimates for the next corrective terms when compared with the results derived in the exact perturbation theory making use of the loop calculations. The agreement is within a few per cent for the hierarchical ratios S _J  = ξ _J /ξ ^{J −1}₂. We compare our analytic results with N -body simulations, which turn out to be in very good agreement up to scales where σ ≈ 1. A similar treatment is presented to estimate higher order corrections in the Zel'dovich approximation. These results represent a powerful and readily usable tool to produce analytical predictions that describe the gravitational clustering of large-scale structure in the weakly non-linear regime.     

On the Behaviour of Test Matter in the Neighbourhood of Caustics of Homogeneous Cosmological Models

Für die BIANCHI -Typen I, V, VII_O, VIII und IX wird unter Benutzung potenzartiger Asymptoten für die Metrik die geodätische Fokussierung von skalarer Testmaterie in der Umgebung der kaustischen Singularität dieser Modelle feldtheoretisch behandelt. Man findet in allen BIANCHI -Typen eine Brennpunktsbeugung vor. Das Beugungsfeld wird von Auslöschungsflächen bzw. Auslöschungslinien begrenzt. Die dadurch definierte Form und das Intensitätsverhalten des Beugungsfeldes hängt von der Struktur der Gravitationslinse ab.     

Meridional-Flow Measurements from Global Oscillation Network Group Data

We present measurements of the solar meridional flow using time-distance analysis based on Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) data. In an attempt to detect the deep equatorward flow, which is believed to be a very small amplitude motion, we averaged time-difference measurements over a 15-year period and utilized both phase-velocity and high-m filtering techniques. These method seem to be capable of extending the meridional-flow measurements to the deep layers of the convection zone, down to 0.7?R _⊙. Typical uncertainties for most depths within ±?35^° latitude are less than 0.03 s. At higher latitudes, the uncertainties are about 0.06 s. There is a significant abrupt decrease in the nature of the travel-time differences for measurements that probe the bottom of the convection zone.     

Halo Profiles and the Nonlinear Two- and Three-Point Correlation Functions of Cosmological Mass Density

NGC 4945 is one of the brightest Seyfert galaxies on the sky at 100 keV, but is completely absorbed below 10 keV; its absorption column is probably the largest that still allows a direct view of the nucleus at hard X-ray energies. Our observations of it with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite confirm the large absorption, which for a simple phenomenological fit using an absorber with solar abundances implies a column of 4.5+0.4-0.4x1024 cm(-2). Using a more realistic scenario (requiring Monte Carlo modeling of the scattering), we infer the optical depth to Thomson scattering of approximately 2.4. If such a scattering medium were to subtend a large solid angle from the nucleus, it should smear out any intrinsic hard X-ray variability on timescales shorter than the light-travel time through it. The rapid (with a timescale of approximately 1 day) hard X-ray variability of NGC 4945 discovered by us with RXTE implies that the bulk of the extreme absorption in this object does not originate in a parsec-size, geometrically thick molecular torus. Instead, the optically thick material on parsec scales must be rather geometrically thin, subtending a half-angle less than 10 degrees, and it is likely to be the same disk of material that is responsible for the water maser emission observed in NGC 4945. Local number counts of Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies show a large population of heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) which are proposed to make up the cosmic X-ray background (CXRB). However, for this to be the case, the absorption geometry in the context of axially symmetric unification schemes must have the obscuring material subtending a large scale height-contrary to our inferences about NGC 4945-implying that NGC 4945 is not a prototype of obscured AGNs postulated to make up the CXRB. The small solid angle of the absorber, together with the black hole mass (of approximately 1.4x106 M( middle dot in circle)) from megamaser measurements, allows a robust determination of the nuclear luminosity, which in turn implies that the source radiates at approximately 10% of the Eddington limit.     

Meteorite Ablation Evaluated from the Data on the Density of Cosmic-Ray Tracks

We determined the form of the functional dependence of the rate of formation of tracks of galactic cosmic rays in meteorites (/t) on the shielding degree for ordinary chondrites with preatmospheric radius R > 5 cm based on published semiempirical data on /t. The resulting dependence was used to construct a nomogram which allowed us to estimate the ablation of a meteorite according to the average rate of track formation in it and its recovered mass. The calculated ablation of meteorites agrees with the estimates obtained by other methods. The average ablation for 83 ordinary chondrites was found to be equal to 78.4^+3.1 _–3.4%. The analysis of the data obtained demonstrated that the average preatmospheric mass of chondrites is M 90 kg, and for 95% of the meteorites, the preatmospheric masses fall in the interval 2–3500 kg, which corresponds to radii from 5 to 60 cm. It was found that meteorites with a small preatmospheric mass tend to higher ablation.     

Real-Time Flux Density Measurements of the 2011 Draconid Meteor Outburst

During the 2011 outburst of the Draconid meteor shower, members of the Video Meteor Network of the International Meteor Organization provided, for the first time, fully automated flux density measurements in the optical domain. The data set revealed a primary maximum at 20:09 UT ± 5 min on 8 October 2011 (195.036° solar longitude) with an equivalent meteoroid flux density of (118 ± 10) × 10^?3/km²/h at a meteor limiting magnitude of +6.5, which is thought to be caused by the 1900 dust trail. We also find that the outburst had a full width at half maximum of 80 min, a mean radiant position of α = 262.2°, δ = +56.2° (±1.3°) and geocentric velocity of v_geo = 17.4 km/s (±0.5 km/s). Finally, our data set appears to be consistent with a small sub-maximum at 19:34 UT ±7 min (195.036° solar longitude) which has earlier been reported by radio observations and may be attributed to the 1907 dust trail. We plan to implement automated real-time flux density measurements for all known meteor showers on a regular basis soon.     

Chromospheric Height and Density Measurements in a Solar Flare Observed with RHESSI – II. Data Analysis

We present an analysis of hard X-ray imaging observations from one of the first solar flares observed with the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft, launched on 5 February 2002. The data were obtained from the 22 February 2002, 11:06 UT flare, which occurred close to the northwest limb. Thanks to the high energy resolution of the germanium-cooled hard X-ray detectors on RHESSI we can measure the flare source positions with a high accuracy as a function of energy. Using a forward-fitting algorithm for image reconstruction, we find a systematic decrease in the altitudes of the source centroids z(ε) as a function of increasing hard X-ray energy ε, as expected in the thick-target bremsstrahlung model of Brown. The altitude of hard X-ray emission as a function of photon energy ε can be characterized by a power-law function in the ε=15–50 keV energy range, viz., z(ε)≈2.3(ε/20 keV)^−1.3 Mm. Based on a purely collisional 1-D thick-target model, this height dependence can be inverted into a chromospheric density model n(z), as derived in Paper I, which follows the power-law function n _e(z)=1.25×10¹³(z/1 Mm)^−2.5 cm⁻³. This density is comparable with models based on optical/UV spectrometry in the chromospheric height range of h≲1000 km, suggesting that the collisional thick-target model is a reasonable first approximation to hard X-ray footpoint sources. At h≈1000–2500 km, the hard X-ray based density model, however, is more consistent with the `spicular extended-chromosphere model' inferred from radio sub-mm observations, than with standard models based on hydrostatic equilibrium. At coronal heights, h≈2.5–12.4 Mm, the average flare loop density inferred from RHESSI is comparable with values from hydrodynamic simulations of flare chromospheric evaporation, soft X-ray, and radio-based measurements, but below the upper limits set by filling-factor insensitive iron line pairs.     

Cosmological constraints from the redshift distribution of galaxy clusters

As they are the largest virialized structures formed in the universe, galaxy clusters are good probes of evolution of dark matter haloes since their formation from the fluctuation of the CMB. While the local cluster abundance allows us to constrain the shape and amplitude of the mass distribution regarding to the matter density, their redshift distribution is much more sensitive to the matter density of the universe and allows us to break the degeneracy. Here I compare the modelized distribution of clusters with existing catalogs such as EMSS to derive constraints on Ω_M, σ₈ and γ.     

Cosmological deductions from the relativistic stability of clusters of galaxies

Clusters of galaxies are approximated by the Schwarzschild interior solution (with non-zero cosmological constant) embedded in a Robertson/Walker background. The conditions that the two metrics join up smoothly and that the cluster be stable imply either (a)k=?1 with Λ lying in the range ?1.1×10^?27?Λ?1.5×10^?36 (s^?2), or (b)k=0. Also, superclustering on a scale larger than 0.5 Mpc is unacceptable unless Λ<0.     

Cosmological parameter estimation and the spectral index from inflation

Accurate estimation of cosmological parameters from microwave background anisotropies requires high-accuracy understanding of the cosmological model. Normally, a power-law spectrum of density perturbations is assumed, in which case the spectral index n can be measured to around ± 0.004 using microwave anisotropy satellites such as MAP Planck . However, inflationary models generically predict that the spectral index n of the density perturbation spectrum will be scale-dependent. We carry out a detailed investigation of the measurability of this scale dependence by Planck , including the influence of polarization on the parameter estimation. We also estimate the increase in the uncertainty in all other parameters if the scale dependence has to be included. This increase applies even if the scale dependence is too small to be measured, unless it is assumed absent. We study the implications for inflation models, beginning with a brief examination of the generic slow-roll inflation situation, and then move to a detailed examination of a recently devised hybrid inflation model for which the scale dependence of n may be observable.     

Measurements of Beam Pattern Perturbation in Corrugated Feed Horn Arrays for CMB Observations

An experimental study on the perturbation of the angular response of a W-band corrugated horn produced by nearby feeds, reproducing a typical situation of multi-feed arrays commonly used in high sensitivity Cosmic Microwave Background instruments, is reported in this paper. The effects for different positions of the scattering horn in the two principal polarisation planes were measured. We analyze the effects on both the side-lobe level and on the main beam. In particular, these results allowed us to validate design criterion for the multi-frequency focal array of the ESA PLANCK mission.This revised version was published online in July 2005. The first author’s e-mail address was removed.     

The Amplitude of Mass Fluctuations and Mass Density of the Universe Constrained by Strong Gravitational Lensing

We investigate the linear amplitude of mass fluctuations in the universe, σ8, and the present mass density parameter of the Universe, Ωm, from statistical strong gravitational lensing. We use the two population model of lens halos with fixed cooling mass scale Mc = 3×1013h-1M⊙ to match the observed lensing probabilities, and leave σ8 orΩm as a free parameter to be constrained by the data. Another varying parameter, the equation of state of dark energy ω, and its typical values of -1, -2/3, -1/2 and -1/3 are investigated. We find that σ8 is degenerate with Ωm in a way similar to that suggested by present day cluster abundance as well as cosmic shear lensing measurements: σ8Ω0.6m≈0.33. However, both σ8≤0.7 and Ωm≤0.2 can be safely ruled out, the best fit is when σ8 = 1.0, Ωm = 0.3 and ω= - 1. This result is different from that obtained by Bahcall & Bode, who gave σ8 = 0.98±0.1 and Ωm = 0.17 ±0.05. For σ8 = 1.0, the higher value ofΩm = 0.35 requires ω = -2/3 and Ωm = 0.40 require     

Cosmological constraints from Chandra X-ray observations of galaxy clusters

Chandra X-ray observations of rich, dynamically relaxed galaxy clusters allow the properties of the X-ray gas and the total gravitating mass to be determined precisely. Here, we discuss how Chandra observations may be used as a powerful tool for cosmological studies. By combining Chandra X-ray results on the X-ray gas mass fractions in clusters with independent measurements of the Hubble constant and the mean baryonic matter density of the universe, we obtain a tight constraint on the mean total matter density of the universe, Ο_m, and an interesting constraint on the cosmological constant, Ο_Λ. Using these results, together with the observed local X-ray luminosity function of the most X-ray luminous galaxy clusters, a mass-luminosity relation determined from Chandra and ROSAT X-ray data and weak gravitational lensing observations, and the mass function predicted by numerical simulations, we obtain a precise constraint on the normalization of the power spectrum of density fluctuations in the nearby universe,σ₈. We compare our results with those obtained from other, independent methods. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Temporal Evolution of the Solar-Wind Electron Core Density at Solar Minimum by Correlating SWEA Measurements from STEREO A and B

The twin STEREO spacecraft provide a unique tool to study the temporal evolution of the solar-wind properties in the ecliptic since their longitudinal separation increases with time. We derive the characteristic temporal variations at ～?1 AU between two different plasma parcels ejected from the same solar source by excluding the spatial variations from our datasets. As part of the onboard IMPACT instrument suite, the SWEA electron experiment provides the solar-wind electron core density at two different heliospheric vantage points. We analyze these density datasets between March and August 2007 and find typical solar minimum conditions. After adjusting for the theoretical time lag between the two spacecraft, we compare the two density datasets. We find that their correlation decreases as the time difference increases between two ejections. The correlation coefficient is about 0.80 for a time lag of a half day and 0.65 for two days. These correlation coefficients from the electron core density are somewhat lower than the ones from the proton bulk velocity obtained in an earlier study, though they are still high enough to consider the solar wind as persistent after two days. These quantitative results reflect the variability of the solar-wind properties in space and time, and they might serve as input for solar-wind models.