Molecular gas temperature and density in spiral galaxies

We combine beam-matched CO-13, CO-12 J = 3 yields 2 and J = 2 yields 1 line data to infer the molecular gas excitation conditions in the central 500 to 1600 pc diameters of a small sample of infrared-bright external galaxies: NGC253, IC342, M 83, Maffei 2, and NGC6946. Additional observations of the J = 1 yields 0 lines of C-18O and CO-13 set limits on the opacity of the CO-13 J = 1 yields 0 line averaged over the central kiloparsec of these spiral galaxies

VLA Limits for Intermediate Mass Black Holes in Three Globular Clusters

The observational evidence for central black holes in globular clusters has been argued extensively, and their existence has important consequences for both the formation and evolution of the cluster. Most of the evidence comes from dynamical arguments, but the interpretation is difficult, given the short relaxation times and old ages of the clusters. One of the most robust signatures for the existence of a black hole is radio and/or X-ray emission. We observed three globular clusters, NGC6093 (M80), NGC6266 (M62), and NGC7078 (M15), with the VLA in the A and C configuration with a 3-sigma noise of 36, 36 and 25 microJy, respectively. We find no statistically-significant evidence for radio emission from the central region for any of the three clusters. NGC6266 shows a 2-sigma detection. It is difficult to infer a mass from these upper limits due to uncertainty about the central gas density, accretion rate, and accretion model.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

Ammonia Emissions in the United States, European Union, and China Derived by High-Resolution Inversion of Ammonium Wet Deposition Data: Interpretation with a New Agricultural Emissions Inventory (MASAGE_NH3)

We use the adjoint of a global 3-D chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to optimize ammonia $(NH_3)$ emissions in the U.S., European Union, and China by inversion of 2005–2008 network data for $NH^+_4$ wet deposition fluxes. Optimized emissions are derived on a 2° × 2.5° grid for individual months and years. Error characterization in the optimization includes model errors in precipitation. Annual optimized emissions are $2.8 Tg NH_3−N a^{−1}$ for the contiguous U.S., $3.1 Tg NH_3−N a^{−1}$ for the European Union, and $8.4 Tg NH_3−N a^{−1}$ for China. Comparisons to previous inventories for the U.S. and European Union show consistency $(\sim \pm 15$ in annual totals but some large spatial and seasonal differences. We develop a new global bottom-up inventory of $NH_3$ emissions (Magnitude And Seasonality of Agricultural Emissions model for NH3 (MASAGE_NH3)) to interpret the results of the adjoint optimization. MASAGE_NH3 provides information on the magnitude and seasonality of $NH_3$ emissions from individual crop and livestock sources on a 0.5° × 0.5° grid. We find that U.S. emissions peak in the spring in the Midwest due to corn fertilization and in the summer elsewhere due to manure. The seasonality of European emissions is more homogeneous with a well-defined maximum in spring associated with manure and mineral fertilizer application. There is some evidence for the effect of European regulations of $NH_3$ emissions, notably a large fall decrease in northern Europe. Emissions in China peak in summer because of the summertime application of fertilizer for double cropping.Engineering and Applied Science

Revisiting Deniability in Quantum Key Exchange via Covert Communication and Entanglement Distillation

We revisit the notion of deniability in quantum key exchange (QKE), a topic that remains largely unexplored. In the only work on this subject by Donald Beaver, it is argued that QKE is not necessarily deniable due to an eavesdropping attack that limits key equivocation. We provide more insight into the nature of this attack and how it extends to other constructions such as QKE obtained from uncloneable encryption. We then adopt the framework for quantum authenticated key exchange, developed by Mosca et al., and extend it to introduce the notion of coercer-deniable QKE, formalized in terms of the indistinguishability of real and fake coercer views. Next, we apply results from a recent work by Arrazola and Scarani on covert quantum communication to establish a connection between covert QKE and deniability. We propose DC-QKE, a simple deniable covert QKE protocol, and prove its deniability via a reduction to the security of covert QKE. Finally, we consider how entanglement distillation can be used to enable information-theoretically deniable protocols for QKE and tasks beyond key exchange.Comment: 16 pages, published in the proceedings of NordSec 201

The CI lines as tracers of molecular gas, and their prospects at high redshifts

We examine the fine structure lines $^{3}P_{1}\to$$^{3}P_{0}$ (492 GHz) and $^{3}P_2\to$$^{3}P_1$ (809 GHz) of neutral atomic carbon as bulk molecular gas mass tracers and find that they can be good and on many occasions better than $^{12}$CO transitions, especially at high redshifts. The notion of CI emission as an H$_2$ gas mass tracer challenges the long-held view of its distribution over only a relatively narrow layer in the CII/CI/CO transition zone in FUV-illuminated molecular clouds. Past observations have indeed consistently pointed towards a more extended CI distribution but it was only recently, with the advent of large scale imaging of its $^{3}P_{1}\to$$^{3}P_{0}$ transition, that its surprising ubiquity in molecular clouds has been fully revealed. In the present work we show that under {\it typical} ISM conditions such an ubiquity is inevitable because of well known dynamic and non-equilibrium chemistry processes maintaining a significant [C]/[$^{12}$CO] abundance throughout Giant Molecular Clouds during their lifetime. These processes are more intense in star-forming environments where a larger ambient cosmic ray flux will also play an important role in boosting [C]/[$^{12}$CO]. The resulting CI lines can be bright and effective H$_2$ mass tracers especially for diffuse ($\sim 10^2-10^3\rm cm^{-3}$) gas while in UV-intense and/or metal-poor environments their H$_2$-tracing capability diminishes because of large scale CII production but nevertheless remains superior to that of $^{12}$CO. The best place to take full advantage of CI's capacity to trace H$_2$ is not in the low-$z$ Universe, where large atmospheric absorption at 492 and 809 GHz precludes routine observations, but at high redshifts (\rm z\ga 1).Comment: Accepted for publication at the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (29 pages, 5 figures

Research Progress Reports, 1962. Fruit and Vegetable Processing and Technology Division, Department of Horticulture.

Tomato variety evaluation for processing, 1962 / W. A. Gould, J. R. Geisman and Wade Schulte -- Evaluation of snap bean varieties for processing, 1962 / Wilbur A. Gould -- Handling and holding studies of mechanically harvested tomatoes. 1. Processed product quality / W. A. Gould, W. D. Bash, J. R. Geisman, D. E. Yingst, G. A. Marlowe and W. N. Brown -- Handling and holding studies of mechanically harvested tomatoes. 2. Spore counts / Winston D. Bash and W. A. Gould -- Handling and holding studies of mechanically harvested tomatoes. 3. pH / Winston D. Bash and W. A. Gould -- Handling and holding studies of mechanically harvested tomatoes. 4. Chlorine residuals / Donald E. Yingst and W. A. Gould -- Removal of insects and residues from sweet corn by washing techniques / J. R. Geisman and W. A. Gould -- Removal of pesticides and radioactive fallout from fruits and vegetables / J. R. Geisman, R. P. Blackmore, R. W. Hirzel and W. S. Stinson -- The effect of apple variety and browning prevention treatments during preparation on the quality of frozen apple pies / D. Robert Davis and James F. Gallander -- Effect of three tomato peeling methods on efficiency and product quality / Wade A. Schulte and W. A. Gould -- Effects of cooling rates on vacuum of canned pumpkin / Winston D. Bash -- New flavors for sauerkraut / J. R. Geisman and Robert Reyda -- Flavor of tomato juice / Wilbur A. Gould, Natholyn Dalton and John Hal Johnson -- Fruit juice blends offer a promising new field for apple cider / D. Robert Davi