Non-sinusoidal transit timing variations for the exoplanet HAT-P-12b

Considering the importance of investigating the transit timing variations(TTVs) of transiting exoplanets,we present a follow-up study of HAT-P-12 b.We include six new light curves observed between2011 and 2015 from three different observatories,in association with 25 light curves taken from the published literature.The sample of the data used thus covers a time span of ～10.2 years with a large coverage of epochs(1160) for the transiting events of the exoplanet HAT-P-12 b.The light curves are utilized to determine the orbital parameters and conduct an investigation of possible TTVs.The new linear ephemeris shows a large value of reduced χ~2,i.e.X~2_(red)(23)=7.93,and the sinusoidal fitting using the prominent frequency coming from a periodogram shows a reduced χ~2 around 4.Based on these values and the corresponding O-C diagrams,we suspect the presence of a possible non-sinusoidal TTV in this planetary system.Finally,we find that a scenario with an additional non-transiting exoplanet could explain this TTV with an even smaller reduced χ~2 value of around 2.     

Distributions of ozone and related trace gases at an urban site in western India

Continuous in-situ measurements of surface ozone (O₃), carbon monoxide (CO) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) were conducted at Udaipur city in India during April 2010 to March 2011. We have analyzed the data to investigate both diurnal and seasonal variations in the mixing ratios of trace gases. The diurnal distribution of O₃ showed highest values in the afternoon hours and lower values from evening till early morning. The mixing ratios of CO and NOx showed a sharp peak in the morning hours but lowest in the afternoon hours. The daily mean data of O₃, CO and NOx varied in the ranges of 5–51 ppbv, 145–795 ppbv and 3–25 ppbv, respectively. The mixing ratios of O₃ were highest of 28 ppbv and lowest 19 ppbv during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons, respectively. While the mixing ratios of both CO and NOx showed highest and lowest values during the winter and monsoon seasons, respectively. The diurnal pattern of O₃ is mainly controlled by the variations in photochemistry and planetary boundary layer (PBL) depth. On the other hand, the seasonality of O₃, CO and NOx were governed by the long-range transport associated mainly with the summer and winter monsoon circulations over the Indian subcontinent. The back trajectory data indicate that the seasonal variations in trace gases were caused mainly by the shift in long-range transport pattern. In monsoon season, flow of marine air and negligible presence of biomass burning in India resulted in lowest O₃, CO and NOx values. The mixing ratios of CO and NOx show tight correlations during winter and pre-monsoon seasons, while poor correlation in the monsoon season. The emission ratio of ?CO/?NOx showed large seasonal variability but values were lower than those measured over the Indo Gangetic Plains (IGP). The mixing ratios of CO and NOx decreased with the increase in wind speed, while O₃ tended to increase with the wind speed. Effects of other meteorological parameters in the distributions of trace gases were also noticed.     

String fluid cosmological models in general relativity

LRS Bianchi type-I string cosmological models are studied in the frame work of general relativity when the source for the energy momentum tensor is a bulk viscous fluid containing one dimensional strings embedded in electromagnetic field. A barotropic equation of state for the pressure and density is assumed to get determinate solutions of the field equations. The bulk viscosity is assumed to be inversely proportional to the scalar expansion. The physical and kinematical properties of the models are discussed. The effect of viscosity and electromagnetic field on the physical and kinematical properties is also investigated.     

String cloud cosmologies for Bianchi type-III models with electromagnetic field

The Saez-Ballester field equations for spatially homogeneous and anisotropic Bianchi type-III cosmological models have been solved for pure geometric cosmic string cloud pervading the universe either in the absence or in presence of electromagnetic field. It has been established here that the model does not survive for geometric cosmic string cloud pervading the universe when there is no electromagnetic field. But in presence of electromagnetic field the model can have plausible solutions fostering the idea that strings forming the surface of the world sheet have to co-exist with electromagnetic field.     

Massive scalar field in the Bianchi Type I space time

A class of exact solutions of Eistein's field equations with attractive massive scalar field in LRS Bianchi type I space time is obtained. It is shown that how the dynamical importance of the scalar field and the shear change in the course of evolution. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Bianchi type-I cosmological effective stiff fluid model in Saez and Ballester theory

The problem of viscous fluid distribution in Bianchi type I space-time is considered here in a new scalar tensor theory of gravitation proposed by Saez and Ballester (1986). Particular solutions of the field equations are derived assuming the viscous coefficient to be the power functions of energy density. Some physical and geometrical properties of the solutions are also discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Assessment of groundwater potential of Gandhinagar region,Gujarat

With burgeoning population, the groundwater demands of any area increased by many fold and therefore, it is essential to assess the groundwater potential to choose suitable sites for further groundwater development. Present study determines the groundwater potential of different parts of Gandhinagar region located at Gandhinagar district, Gujarat, India. Here, excluding city dwellers, all villagers are mostly dependent on groundwater for drinking and domestic purposes. With increasing population, there is a rise in daily human consumption and hence reduction in groundwater quantity.Various types of industries of Gandhinagar such as textile industries, food processing industries, ceramic industries etc. also require groundwater. Industrial discharges deteriorate the water quality of this region. Therefore, water level monitoring and quality assessment of groundwater in regular intervals is essential. The groundwater potential zoning is an indicator, which gives the overall idea about the groundwater condition. Overlay analysis in GIS using multiple criteria such as WQI, hydraulic conductivity, groundwater velocity, and depth to piezometric surface discloses that there are five groundwater potential zones in Gandhinagar region. This study reveals that majority of the study area is covered with medium potential zone. Different management plans such as treated surface water supply, reduction in tubewell operation time, development of rooftop rainwater harvesting system and artificial recharge system etc. are recommended for different potential zones for sustainable development of groundwater of Gandhinagar region.     

Evaluation of the Effect of Fault on the Stability of Underground Workings of Coal Mine through DEM and Statistical Analysis

The rock mass around an excavation is generally traversed by different geological discontinuities such as faults, folds, slips, joints, etc. Fault is one of the major geological discontinuities which creates lot of difficulties during underground winning of coal. Entire stress regime and ground conditions in the formation are altered in and around the faults. Faults also impose detrimental effects by introducing impurities, including clay and various forms of mineral matter into the coal seams; opening of pathways for the influx of water and gas into the underground workings; displacing the coal seams upward/downwards making the coal seams difficult or sometimes impractical to mine. Appropriate evaluation of the effect of the fault on the stability of the underground workings is a requisite for safe design of the underground mining structures. In this paper, a study has been carried out to assess the effect of the fault on the stability of underground coal mines by numerical simulation with distinct element method (DEM). On the calibrated DEM model, parametric study has been performed by varying the selected parameters, the dip and the friction angles of the fault. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) shows that both the factors have statistically significant effect on the strength of the coal pillar. Similarly, the displacement of the immediate roof and the height of the disturbed strata are evaluated by the DEM modelling and statistical analysis when the fault passes through the middle of the gallery. The results of ANOVA for both cases indicate that the both factors have significant effect on the displacement of the immediate roof and the height of the disturbed strata. It is obtained from the study that the low angle fault causes high instability in the immediate roof. The paper has been supplemented with the field observations where instability in underground roadways of a coal mine in India is caused by the fault. It was observed in VK-7 incline mine of Singareni Collieries Company Limited, India that there was sudden failure of immediate roof of a roadway where a low angle fault crosses the middle of the roadway. The findings of the paper help to understand the behaviour of the coal pillar and the surrounding rock mass in the presence of the fault. The study would also help to take appropriate decisions about the unstable regions of the working safeguarding safety in underground coal mines.     

Multigroup discrimination of river, beach, and dune sands using axial-ratio sample statistics of quartz grains

Optimal discrimination among several groups can be achieved by simultaneous diagonalization of pooled within-group, W, and among-group, A, sums of squares and cross-product matrices formed by utilizing axial-ratio sample statistics of quartz grains belonging to different sieve grades. This method maximizes the ratio of among-group cross products to within-group cross product quadratic forms (V'AV/V'WV)and simultaneously yields discriminant scores whose correlation coefficients are zero for group means as well as for within each group. This procedure enables a simple Euclidean distance measure for partitioning the discriminant space for assignment. Although W^–1 and Amatrices are symmetric, the W^–1 Amatrix needed for multigroup discrimination is asymmetric and hence the eigenstructure of W^–1 Ais obtained by simultaneous diagonalization of Wand Amatrices. The first four sample statistics (mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis) of normalized axial-ratios are required for discrimination, although the mean and standard deviation are the most important discriminators.