During the WISE at 5: Legacy and Prospects conference in Pasadena, CA -- which ran from February 10 - 12, 2015 -- attendees were invited to engage in an interactive session exploring the future uses of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) d
ata. The 65 participants -- many of whom are extensive users of the data -- brainstormed the top questions still to be answered by the mission, as well as the complementary current and future datasets and additional processing of WISE/NEOWISE data that would aid in addressing these most important scientific questions. The results were mainly bifurcated between topics related to extragalactic studies (e.g. AGN, QSOs) and substellar mass objects. In summary, participants found that complementing WISE/NEOWISE data with cross-correlated multiwavelength surveys (e.g. SDSS, Pan-STARRS, LSST, Gaia, Euclid, etc.) would be highly beneficial for all future mission goals. Moreover, developing or implementing machine-learning tools to comb through and understand cross-correlated data was often mentioned for future uses. Finally, attendees agreed that additional processing of the data such as co-adding WISE and NEOWISE and extracting a multi-epoch photometric database and parallax and proper motion catalog would greatly improve the scientific results of the most important projects identified. In that respect, a project such as MaxWISE which would execute the most important additional processing and extraction as well as make the data and catalogs easily accessible via a public portal was deemed extremely important.
We consider the quantum dynamics of a charged particle evolving under the action of a constant homogeneous magnetic field, with emphasis on the discrete subgroups of the Heisenberg group (in the Euclidean case) and of the SL(2, R) group (in the Hyper
bolic case). We investigate completeness properties of discrete coherent states associated with higher order Euclidean and hyperbolic Landau levels, partially extending classic results of Perelomov and of Bargmann, Butera, Girardello and Klauder. In the Euclidean case, our results follow from identifying the completeness problem with known results from the theory of Gabor frames. The results for the hyperbolic setting follow by using a combination of methods from coherent states, time-scale analysis and the theory of Fuchsian groups and their associated automorphic forms.
A class of pseudoconvex domains in $mathbb{C}^{n}$ generalizing the Hartogs triangle is considered. The $L^p$ boundedness of the Bergman projection associated to these domains is established, for a restricted range of $p$ depending on the fatness of domains. This range of $p$ is shown to be sharp.
We have used the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope to perform the most sensitive search to date for neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) in the circumstellar envelope (CSE) of the carbon star IRC+10216. Our observations have uncovered a low surface brightn
ess HI shell of diameter ~1300 (~0.8 pc), centered on IRC+10216. The HI shell has an angular extent comparable to the far ultraviolet-emitting astrosphere of IRC+10216 previously detected with the GALEX satellite, and its kinematics are consistent with circumstellar matter that has been decelerated by the local interstellar medium. The shell appears to completely surround the star, but the highest HI column densities are measured along the leading edge of the shell, near the location of a previously identified bow shock. We estimate a total mass of atomic hydrogen associated with IRC+10216 CSE of M_HI~3x10e-3 M_sun. This is only a small fraction of the expected total mass of the CSE (<1%) and is consistent with the bulk of the stellar wind originating in molecular rather than atomic form, as expected for a cool star with an effective temperature T_eff<~2200 K. HI mapping of a 2 deg x 2 deg region surrounding IRC+10216 has also allowed us to characterize the line-of-sight interstellar emission in the region and has uncovered a link between diffuse FUV emission southwest of IRC+10216 and the Local Leo Cold Cloud.
We propose a large class of nonsingular cosmologies of arbitrary spatial curvature whose cosmic history is determined by a primeval dynamical $Lambda (t)$-term. For all values of the curvature, the models evolve between two extreme de Sitter phases d
riven by the relic time-varying vacuum energy density. The transition from inflation to the radiation phase is universal and points to a natural solution of the graceful exit problem regardless of the values of the curvature parameter. The flat case recovers the scenario recently discussed in the literature (Perico et al., Phys. Rev. D88, 063531, 2013). The early de Sitter phase is characterized by an arbitrary energy scale $H_I$ associated to the primeval vacuum energy density. If $H_I$ is fixed to be nearly the Planck scale, the ratio between the relic and the present observed vacuum energy density is $rho_{vI}/rho_{v0} simeq 10^{123}$.
The Ebola virus is spreading throughout West Africa and is causing thousands of deaths. In order to quantify the effectiveness of different strategies for controlling the spread, we develop a mathematical model in which the propagation of the Ebola v
irus through Liberia is caused by travel between counties. For the initial months in which the Ebola virus spreads, we find that the arrival times of the disease into the counties predicted by our model are compatible with World Health Organization data, but we also find that reducing mobility is insufficient to contain the epidemic because it delays the arrival of Ebola virus in each county by only a few weeks. We study the effect of a strategy in which safe burials are increased and effective hospitalisation instituted under two scenarios: (i) one implemented in mid-July 2014 and (ii) one in mid-August---which was the actual time that strong interventions began in Liberia. We find that if scenario (i) had been pursued the lifetime of the epidemic would have been three months shorter and the total number of infected individuals 80% less than in scenario (ii). Our projection under scenario (ii) is that the spreading will stop by mid-spring 2015.
Nanoscrolls are papyrus-like nanostructures which present unique properties due to their open ended morphology. These properties can be exploited in a plethora of technological applications, leading to the design of novel and interesting devices. Dur
ing the past decade, significant advances in the synthesis and characterization of these structures have been made, but many challenges still remain. In this mini review we provide an overview on their history, experimental synthesis methods, basic properties and application perspectives.
We use the Mopra radio telescope to test for expansion of the molecular gas associated with the bubble HII region RCW120. A ring, or bubble, morphology is common for Galactic HII regions, but the three-dimensional geometry of such objects is still un
clear. Detected near- and far-side expansion of the associated molecular material would be consistent with a three-dimensional spherical object. We map the $J = 1rightarrow 0$ transitions of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, C$^{18}$O, and C$^{17}$O, and detect emission from all isotopologues. We do not detect the $0_0rightarrow 1_{-1} E$ masing lines of CH$_3$OH at 108.8939 GHz. The strongest CO emission is from the photodissociation region (PDR), and there is a deficit of emission toward the bubble interior. We find no evidence for expansion of the molecular material associated with RCW120 and therefore can make no claims about its geometry. The lack of detected expansion is roughly in agreement with models for the time-evolution of an HII region like RCW120, and is consistent with an expansion speed of $< 1.5, {rm km, s^{-1}}$. Single-position CO spectra show signatures of expansion, which underscores the importance of mapped spectra for such work. Dust temperature enhancements outside the PDR of RCW120 coincide with a deficit of emission in CO, confirming that these temperature enhancements are due to holes in the RCW120 PDR. H$alpha$ emission shows that RCW120 is leaking $sim5%$ of the ionizing photons into the interstellar medium (ISM) through PDR holes at the locations of the temperature enhancements. H-alpha emission also shows a diffuse halo from leaked photons not associated with discrete holes in the PDR. Overall $25pm10%$ of all ionizing photons are leaking into the nearby ISM.
This work aims at improving the current understanding of the interaction between H ii regions and turbulent molecular clouds. We propose a new method to determine the age of a large sample of OB associations by investigating the development of their
associated H ii regions in the surrounding turbulent medium. Using analytical solutions, one-dimensional (1D), and three-dimensional (3D) simulations, we constrained the expansion of the ionized bubble depending on the turbulent level of the parent molecular cloud. A grid of 1D simulations was then computed in order to build isochrone curves for H ii regions in a pressure-size diagram. This grid of models allowed to date large sample of OB associations and was used on the H ii Region Discovery Survey (HRDS). Analytical solutions and numerical simulations showed that the expansion of H ii regions is slowed down by the turbulence up to the point where the pressure of the ionized gas is in a quasi-equilibrium with the turbulent ram pressure. Based on this result, we built a grid of 1D models of the expansion of H ii regions in a profile based on Larson laws. The 3D turbulence is taken into account by an effective 1D temperature profile. The ages estimated by the isochrones of this grid agree well with literature values of well-known regions such as Rosette, RCW 36, RCW 79, and M16. We thus propose that this method can be used to give ages of young OB associations through the Galaxy such as the HRDS survey and also in nearby extra-galactic sources.
The electronic and magnetic properties of Fe atoms in the ferromagnetic semiconductor (In,Fe)As codoped with Be have been studied by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the Fe $L_{2,3}$ edge. The XAS an
d XMCD spectra showed simple spectral line shapes similar to Fe metal, but the ratio of the orbital and spin magnetic moments ($M_mathrm{orb}$/$M_mathrm{spin}$) estimated using the XMCD sum rules was significantly larger than that of Fe metal, indicating a significant orbital moment of Fe $3d$ electrons in (In,Fe)As:Be. The positive value of $M_mathrm{orb}$/$M_mathrm{spin}$ implies that the Fe $3d$ shell is more than half-filled, which arises from the hybridization of the Fe$^{3+}$ ($d^5$) state with the charge-transfer $d^6underline{L}$ states, where $underline{L}$ is a ligand hole in the host valence band. The XMCD intensity as a function of magnetic field indicated hysteretic behavior of the superparamagnetic-like component due to discrete ferromagnetic domains.
