Probing magnetic turbulence by synchrotron polarimetry: statistics and structure of magnetic fields from Stokes correlators

We describe a novel technique for probing the statistical properties of cosmic magnetic fields based on radio polarimetry data. Second-order magnetic field statistics like the power spectrum cannot always distinguish between magnetic fields with essentially different spatial structure. Synchrotron polarimetry naturally allows certain fourth-order magnetic field statistics to be inferred from observational data, which lifts this degeneracy and can thereby help us gain a better picture of the structure of the cosmic fields and test theoretical scenarios describing magnetic turbulence. In this work we show that a fourth-order correlator of specific physical interest, the tension force spectrum, can be recovered from the polarized synchrotron emission data. We develop an estimator for this quantity based on polarized emission observations in the Faraday rotation free frequency regime. We consider two cases: a statistically isotropic field distribution, and a statistically isotropic field superimposed on a weak mean field. In both cases the tension force power spectrum is measurable; in the latter case, the magnetic power spectrum may also be obtainable. The method is exact in the idealized case of a homogeneous relativistic electron distribution that has a power-law energy spectrum with a spectral index of   p = 3  , and assumes statistical isotropy of the turbulent field. We carry out numerical tests of our method using synthetic polarized emission data generated from numerically simulated magnetic fields. We show that the method is valid, that it is not prohibitively sensitive to the value of the electron spectral index p , and that the observed tension force spectrum allows one to distinguish between e.g. a randomly tangled magnetic field (a default assumption in many studies) and a field organized in folded flux sheets or filaments.     

Fisher matrix decomposition for dark energy prediction

Within the context of constraining an expansion of the dark energy equation of state   w ( z ),  we show that the eigendecomposition of Fisher matrices is sensitive to both the maximum order of the expansion and the basis set choice. We investigate the Fisher matrix formalism in the case that a particular function is expanded in some basis set. As an example we show results for an all-sky weak lensing tomographic experiment. We show that the set of eigenfunctions is not unique and that the best constrained functions are only reproduced accurately at very higher order   N ≳ 100  , a top-hat basis set requires an even higher order. We show that the common approach used for finding the marginalized eigenfunction errors is sensitive to the choice of  non- w ( z )  parameters and priors. The eigendecomposition of Fisher matrices is a potentially useful tool that can be used to determine the predicted accuracy with which an experiment could constrain   w ( z )  . It also allows for the reconstruction of the redshift sensitivity of the experiment to changes in   w ( z )  . However, the technique is sensitive to both the order and the basis set choice. Publicly available code is available as part of icosmo at http://www.icosmo.org .     

The Durham/ESO SLODAR optical turbulence profiler

An instrument for monitoring of the vertical profile of atmospheric optical turbulence strength, employing the Slope Detection and Ranging (SLODAR) double star technique applied to a small telescope, has been developed by Durham University and the European South Observatory. The system has been deployed at the Cerro Paranal observatory in Chile for statistical characterization of the site. The instrument is configured to sample the turbulence at altitudes below 1.5 km with a vertical resolution of approximately 170 m. The system also functions as a general-purpose seeing monitor, measuring the integrated optical turbulence strength for the whole atmosphere, and hence the seeing width. We give technical details of the prototype and present data to characterize its performance. Comparisons with contemporaneous measurements from a differential image motion monitor (DIMM) and a multi-aperture scintillation sensor (MASS) are discussed. Statistical results for the optical turbulence profile at the Paranal site are presented. We find that, in the median case, 49 per cent of the total optical turbulence strength is associated with the surface layer (below 100 m), 35 per cent with the 'free atmosphere' (above 1500 m) and 16 per cent with the intermediate altitudes (100–1500 m).     

Cosmological systematics beyond nuisance parameters: form-filling functions

In the absence of any compelling physical model, cosmological systematics are often misrepresented as statistical effects and the approach of marginalizing over extra nuisance systematic parameters is used to gauge the effect of the systematic. In this article, we argue that such an approach is risky at best since the key choice of function can have a large effect on the resultant cosmological errors.
As an alternative we present a functional form-filling technique in which an unknown, residual, systematic is treated as such. Since the underlying function is unknown, we evaluate the effect of every functional form allowed by the information available (either a hard boundary or some data). Using a simple toy model, we introduce the formalism of functional form filling. We show that parameter errors can be dramatically affected by the choice of function in the case of marginalizing over a systematic, but that in contrast the functional form-filling approach is independent of the choice of basis set.
We then apply the technique to cosmic shear shape measurement systematics and show that a shear calibration bias of  | m ( z )| ≲ 10⁻³ (1 + z )^0.7  is required for a future all-sky photometric survey to yield unbiased cosmological parameter constraints to per cent accuracy.
A module associated with the work in this paper is available through the open source icosmo code available at http://www.icosmo.org .     

Spectral properties of simulated impact glasses produced from martian soil analogue JSC Mars-1

To simulate the formation of impact glasses on Mars, an analogue of martian bright soil (altered volcanic soil JSC Mars-1) was melted at relevant oxygen fugacities using a pulsed laser and a resistance furnace. Reduction of Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺ and in some cases formation of nanophase Fe⁰ in the glasses were documented by Mössbauer spectroscopy and TEM studies. Reflectance spectra for several size fractions of the JSC Mars-1 sample and the glasses were acquired between 0.3 and 25 μm. The glasses produced from the JSC Mars-1 soil show significant spectral variability depending on the method of production and the cooling rate. In general, they are dark and less red in the visible compared to the original JSC Mars-1 soil. Their spectra do not have absorption bands due to bound water and structural OH, have positive spectral slopes in the near-infrared range, and show two broad bands centered near 1.05 and 1.9 μm, typical of glasses rich in ferrous iron. The latter bands and low albedo partly mimic the spectral properties of martian dark regions, and may easily be confused with mafic materials containing olivine and low-Ca pyroxene. Due to their disordered structures and vesicular textures, the glasses show relatively weak absorption features from the visible to the thermal infrared. These weak absorption bands may be masked by the stronger bands of mafic minerals. Positive near-infrared spectral slopes typical of fresh iron-bearing impact or volcanic glasses may be masked either by oxide/dust coatings or by aerosols in the Mars' atmosphere. As a result, impact glasses may be present on the surface of Mars in significant quantities that have been either misidentified as other phases or masked by phases with stronger infrared features. Spectrometers with sufficient spatial resolution and wavelength coverage may detect impact glasses at certain locations, e.g., in the vicinity of fresh impact craters. Such dark materials are usually interpreted as accumulations of mafic volcanic sand, but the possibility of an impact melt origin of such materials also should be considered. In addition, our data suggest that high contents of feldspars or zeolites are not necessary to produce the transparency feature at 12.1 μm typical of martian dust spectra.     

The influence of obliquity on europan cycloid formation

Tectonic patterns on Europa are influenced by tidal stress. An important well-recognized component is associated with the orbital eccentricity, which produces a diurnally varying stress as Jupiter's apparent position in Europa's sky oscillates in longitude. Cycloidal lineaments seem to have formed as cracks propagated in this diurnally varying stress field. Maps of theoretical cycloid patterns capture many of the characteristics of the observed distribution on Europa. However, a few details of the observed cycloid distribution have not been reproduced by previous models. Recently, it has been shown that Europa has a finite forced obliquity, so Jupiter's apparent position in Europa's sky will also oscillate in latitude. We explore this new type of diurnal effect on cycloid formation. We find that stress from obliquity may be the key to explaining several characteristics of observed cycloids such as the shape of equator-crossing cycloids and the shift in the crack patterns in the Argadnel Regio region. All of these improvements of the fit between observation and theory seem to require Jupiter crossing Europa's equatorial plane 45° to 180° after perijove passage, suggestive of complex orbital dynamics that locks the direction of Europa's pericenter with the direction of the ascending node at the time these cycloids were formed.     

Jupiter's hydrocarbon polar brightening: Discovery of 3-micron line emission from south polar CH4, C2H2, and C2H6

Jupiter exhibits bright H⁺₃ auroral arcs at 3-4 microns that cool the hot (>1000 K) ionosphere above the ∼¹⁰−7 bar level through the infrared bands of this trace constituent. Below the ¹⁰−7 bar level significant cooling proceeds through infrared active bands of CH₄, C₂H₂, and C₂H₆. We report the discovery of 3-micron line emission from these hydrocarbon species in spectra of the jovian south polar region obtained on April 18 and 20, 2006 (UT) with CGS4 on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope. Estimated cooling rates through these molecules are 7.5×¹⁰−3, 1.4×¹⁰−3, and , respectively, for a total nearly half that of H⁺₃. We derive a temperature of 450 ± 50 K in the ¹⁰−7-¹⁰−5 bar region from the C₂H₂ lines.