The Cosmological Mean Density and its Local Variations Probed by Peculiar Velocities

Peculiar velocities thoughout the region of the local supercluster are reconstructed by two different orbit-retracing methods. The requirement of the optimal correlation between the radial components of reconstructed velocities and the observed peculiar velocities derived from our extensive new catalog of distances puts stringent constraints on the values of the cosmological parameters. Our constraints intersect those from studies of microwave background fluctuations and statistical properties of galaxy clustering: the ensemble of constraints are consistent with Omega_m=0.22\pm 0.02. While motions throughout the Local Supercluster provide a measure of the mean ratio of mass to light, there can be large local fluctuations. Our reconstruction of the infall velocities in the immediate vicinity of the Virgo Cluster shows that there is a mass-to-light anomaly of a factor of 3 to 6 between groups in the general field environment and the heavily populated Virgo Cluster.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, version to appear in Astrophysical Journal Letter

Hierarchy in the Phase Space and Dark Matter Astronomy

We develop a theoretical framework for describing the hierarchical structure of the phase space of cold dark matter haloes, due to gravitationally bound substructures. Because it includes the full hierarchy of the cold dark matter initial conditions and is hence complementary to the halo model, the stable clustering hypothesis is applied for the first time here to the small-scale phase space structure. As an application, we show that the particle dark matter annihilation signal could be up to two orders of magnitude larger than that of the smooth halo within the Galactic virial radius. The local boost is inversely proportional to the smooth halo density, and thus is O(1) within the solar radius, which could translate into interesting signatures for dark matter direct detection experiments: The temporal correlation of dark matter detection can change by a factor of 2 in the span of 10 years, while there will be significant correlations in the velocity space of dark matter particles. This can introduce O(1) uncertainty in the direction of local dark matter wind, which was believed to be a benchmark of directional dark matter searches or the annual modulation signal.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Scale Invariance in a Perturbed Einstein-de Sitter Cosmology

This paper seeks to check the validity of the "apparent fractal conjecture" (Ribeiro 2001ab: gr-qc/9909093, astro-ph/0104181), which states that the observed power-law behaviour for the average density of large-scale distribution of galaxies arises when some observational quantities, selected by their relevance in average density profile determination, are calculated along the past light cone. Implementing these conditions in the proposed set of observational relations profoundly changes the behaviour of many observables in the standard cosmological models. In particular, the average density becomes observationally inhomogeneous, even in the spatially homogeneous spacetime of standard cosmology, change which was already analysed by Ribeiro (1992b, 1993, 1994, 1995: astro-ph/9910145) for a non-perturbed model. Here we derive observational relations in a perturbed Einstein-de Sitter cosmology by means of the perturbation scheme proposed by Abdalla and Mohayaee (1999: astro-ph/9810146), where the scale factor is expanded in power series to yield perturbative terms. The differential equations derived in this perturbative context, and other observables necessary in our analysis, are solved numerically. The results show that our perturbed Einstein-de Sitter cosmology can be approximately described by a decaying power-law like average density profile, meaning that the dust distribution of this cosmology has a scaling behaviour compatible with the power-law profile of the density-distance correlation observed in the galaxy catalogues. These results show that, in the context of this work, the apparent fractal conjecture is correct.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX. Final version (small changes in the figure plus some references update). Fortran code included with the LaTeX source. To be published in "Fractals

Fluctuation-induced forces between inclusions in a fluid membrane under tension

We discuss the fluctuation-induced force, a finite-temperature analog of the Casimir force, between two inclusions embedded in a fluid membrane under tension. We suggest a method to calculate this Casimir interaction in the most general case, where membrane fluctuations are governed by the combined action of surface tension, bending modulus, and the Gaussian rigidity. We find that the surface tension strongly modifies the power law in the separation dependence of the Casimir interaction. This results in a strong suppression of the Casimir force at separations beyond a characteristic length, which could affect protein aggregation dynamics in cell membranes.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Quantum and thermal Casimir interaction between a sphere and a plate: Comparison of Drude and plasma models

We calculate the Casimir interaction between a sphere and a plate, both described by the plasma model, the Drude model, or generalizations of the two models. We compare the results at both zero and finite temperatures. At asymptotically large separations we obtain analytical results for the interaction that reveal a non-universal, i.e., material dependent interaction for the plasma model. The latter result contains the asymptotic interaction for Drude metals and perfect reflectors as different but universal limiting cases. This observation is related to the screening of a static magnetic field by a London superconductor. For small separations we find corrections to the proximity force approximation (PFA) that support correlations between geometry and material properties that are not captured by the Lifshitz theory. Our results at finite temperatures reveal for Drude metals a non-monotonic temperature dependence of the Casimir free energy and a negative entropy over a sizeable range of separations.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Constraints, Histones, and the 30 Nanometer Spiral

We investigate the mechanical stability of a segment of DNA wrapped around a histone in the nucleosome configuration. The assumption underlying this investigation is that the proper model for this packaging arrangement is that of an elastic rod that is free to twist and that writhes subject to mechanical constraints. We find that the number of constraints required to stabilize the nuclesome configuration is determined by the length of the segment, the number of times the DNA wraps around the histone spool, and the specific constraints utilized. While it can be shown that four constraints suffice, in principle, to insure stability of the nucleosome, a proper choice must be made to guarantee the effectiveness of this minimal number. The optimal choice of constraints appears to bear a relation to the existence of a spiral ridge on the surface of the histone octamer. The particular configuration that we investigate is related to the 30 nanometer spiral, a higher-order organization of DNA in chromatin.Comment: ReVTeX, 15 pages, 18 figure

Sources and characteristics of summertime organic aerosol in the Colorado Front Range: perspective from measurements and WRF-Chem modeling

Abstract. The evolution of organic aerosols (OAs) and their precursors in the boundary layer (BL) of the Colorado Front Range during the Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment (FRAPPÉ, July–August 2014) was analyzed by in situ measurements and chemical transport modeling. Measurements indicated significant production of secondary OA (SOA), with enhancement ratio of OA with respect to carbon monoxide (CO) reaching 0.085±0.003 µg m−3 ppbv−1. At background mixing ratios of CO, up to  ∼  1.8 µg m−3 background OA was observed, suggesting significant non-combustion contribution to OA in the Front Range. The mean concentration of OA in plumes with a high influence of oil and natural gas (O&G) emissions was  ∼  40 % higher than in urban-influenced plumes. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) confirmed a dominant contribution of secondary, oxygenated OA (OOA) in the boundary layer instead of fresh, hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA). Combinations of primary OA (POA) volatility assumptions, aging of semi-volatile species, and different emission estimates from the O&G sector were used in the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) simulation scenarios. The assumption of semi-volatile POA resulted in greater than a factor of 10 lower POA concentrations compared to PMF-resolved HOA. Including top-down modified O&G emissions resulted in substantially better agreements in modeled ethane, toluene, hydroxyl radical, and ozone compared to measurements in the high-O&G-influenced plumes. By including emissions from the O&G sector using the top-down approach, it was estimated that the O&G sector contributed to  <  5 % of total OA, but up to 38 % of anthropogenic SOA (aSOA) in the region. The best agreement between the measured and simulated median OA was achieved by limiting the extent of biogenic hydrocarbon aging and consequently biogenic SOA (bSOA) production. Despite a lower production of bSOA in this scenario, contribution of bSOA to total SOA remained high at 40–54 %. Future studies aiming at a better emissions characterization of POA and intermediate-volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) from the O&G sector are valuable

Strong interlayer coupling in van der Waals heterostructures built from single-layer chalcogenides

Semiconductor heterostructures are the fundamental platform for many important device applications such as lasers, light-emitting diodes, solar cells and high-electron-mobility transistors. Analogous to traditional heterostructures, layered transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) heterostructures can be designed and built by assembling individual single-layers into functional multilayer structures, but in principle with atomically sharp interfaces, no interdiffusion of atoms, digitally controlled layered components and no lattice parameter constraints. Nonetheless, the optoelectronic behavior of this new type of van der Waals (vdW) semiconductor heterostructure is unknown at the single-layer limit. Specifically, it is experimentally unknown whether the optical transitions will be spatially direct or indirect in such hetero-bilayers. Here, we investigate artificial semiconductor heterostructures built from single layer WSe2 and MoS2 building blocks. We observe a large Stokes-like shift of ~100 meV between the photoluminescence peak and the lowest absorption peak that is consistent with a type II band alignment with spatially direct absorption but spatially indirect emission. Notably, the photoluminescence intensity of this spatially indirect transition is strong, suggesting strong interlayer coupling of charge carriers. The coupling at the hetero-interface can be readily tuned by inserting hexagonal BN (h-BN) dielectric layers into the vdW gap. The generic nature of this interlayer coupling consequently provides a new degree of freedom in band engineering and is expected to yield a new family of semiconductor heterostructures having tunable optoelectronic properties with customized composite layers.Comment: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/04/10/1405435111.abstrac

Stiction, Adhesion Energy and the Casimir Effect in Micromechanical Systems

We measure the adhesion energy of gold using a micromachined doubly-clamped beam. The stress and stiffness of the beam are characterized by measuring the spectrum of mechanical vibrations and the deflection due to an external force. To determine the adhesion energy we induce stiction between the beam and a nearby surface by capillary forces. Subsequent analysis yields a value $\gamma =0.06$ J/m$^{2}$ that is a factor of approximately six smaller than predicted by idealized theory. This discrepancy may be resolved with revised models that include surface roughness and the effect of adsorbed monolayers intervening between the contacting surfaces in these mesoscopic structures.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages, 4 eps figure