Search

We search for the signature of cosmological shocks in stacked gas pressure profiles of galaxy clusters using data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Specifically, we stack the latest Compton- y maps from the 2500 deg2 SPT-SZ survey on the locations of clusters identified in that same data set. The sample contains 516 clusters with mean mass |$\langle M_{\rm 200m}\rangle = 10^{14.9} \, {\rm M}_\odot$| and redshift 〈 z 〉 = 0.55. We analyse in parallel a set of zoom-in hydrodynamical simulations from the three hundred project. The SPT-SZ data show two features: (i) a pressure deficit at R / R 200m = 1.08 ± 0.09, measured at 3.1σ significance and not observed in the simulations, and; (ii) a sharp decrease in pressure at R / R 200m = 4.58 ± 1.24 at 2.0σ significance. The pressure deficit is qualitatively consistent with a shock-induced thermal non-equilibrium between electrons and ions, and the second feature is consistent with accretion shocks seen in previous studies. We split the cluster sample by redshift and mass, and find both features exist in all cases. There are also no significant differences in features along and across the cluster major axis, whose orientation roughly points towards filamentary structure. As a consistency test, we also analyse clusters from the Planck and Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter surveys and find quantitatively similar features in the pressure profiles. Finally, we compare the accretion shock radius (⁠|$R_{\rm sh,\, acc}$|⁠) with existing measurements of the splashback radius (R sp) for SPT-SZ and constrain the lower limit of the ratio, |$R_{\rm sh,\, acc}/R_{\rm sp}\gt 2.16 \pm 0.59$|⁠. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide the first combined cosmological analysis of the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck cluster catalogs. The aim is to provide an independent calibration for Planck scaling relations, exploiting the cosmological constraining power of the SPT-SZ cluster catalog and its dedicated weak lensing (WL) and X-ray follow-up observations. We build a new version of the Planck cluster likelihood. In the ν Λ CDM scenario, focusing on the mass slope and mass bias of Planck scaling relations, we find α SZ = 1.49 âˆ' 0.10 + 0.07 and 1 âˆ' b SZ = 0.69 âˆ' 0.14 + 0.07 , respectively. The results for the mass slope show a ∼4 σ departure from the self-similar evolution, α SZ ∼ 1.8. This shift is mainly driven by the matter density value preferred by SPT data, Ω m = 0.30 ± 0.03, lower than the one obtained by Planck data alone, Ω m = 0.37 âˆ' 0.06 + 0.02 . The mass bias constraints are consistent both with outcomes of hydrodynamical simulations and external WL calibrations, (1 âˆ' b) ∼ 0.8, and with results required by the Planck cosmic microwave background cosmology, (1 âˆ' b) ∼ 0.6. From this analysis, we obtain a new catalog of Planck cluster masses M 500. We estimate the ratio between the published Planck M SZ masses and our derived masses M 500, as a “measured mass bias,” 1 âˆ' b M . We analyze the mass, redshift, and detection noise dependence of 1 âˆ' b M , finding an increasing trend toward high redshift and low mass. These results mimic the effect of departure from self-similarity in cluster evolution, showing different dependencies for the low-mass, high-mass, low- z, and high- z regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many animals use assessment signals to resolve contests over limited resources while minimizing the costs of those contests. The carotenoid‐based orange to red bills of male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) are thought to function as assessment signals in male–male contests, but behavioral analyses relating contest behaviors and outcomes to bill coloration have yielded mixed results. We examined the relationship between bill color and contests while incorporating measurements of color perception and testosterone (T) production, for an integrative view of aggressive signal behavior, production, and perception. We assayed the T production capabilities of 12 males in response to a gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH) challenge. We then quantified the initiation, escalation, and outcome of over 400 contests in the group, and measured bill color using calibrated photography. Finally, because signal perception can influence signal function, we tested how males perceive variation in bill coloration, asking if males exhibit categorical perception of bill color, as has been shown recently in female zebra finches. The data suggest that males with greater T production capabilities than their rivals were more likely to initiate contests against those rivals, while males with redder bills than their rivals were more likely to win contests. Males exhibited categorical color perception, but individual variation in the effect of categorical perception on color discrimination abilities did not predict any aspects of contest behavior or outcomes. Our results are consistent with the hypotheses that T plays a role in zebra finch contests and that bill coloration functions as an aggressive signal. We suggest future approaches, based on animal contest theory, for how links among signals, perception, and assessment can be tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fokker--Planck (FP) equation governing the evolution of the probability density function (PDF) is applicable to many disciplines, but it requires specification of the coefficients for each case, which can be functions of space-time and not just constants and hence require the development of a data-driven modeling approach. When the data available is directly on the PDF, there exist methods for inverse problems that can be employed to infer the coefficients and thus determine the FP equation and subsequently obtain its solution. Herein, we address a more realistic scenario, where only sparse data are given on the particles' positions at a few time instants, which are not sufficient to accurately construct directly the PDF even at those times from existing methods, e.g., kernel estimation algorithms. To this end, we develop a general framework based on physicsinformed neural networks (PINNs) that introduces a new loss function using the Kullback--Leibler divergence to connect the stochastic samples with the FP equation to simultaneously learn the equation and infer the multidimensional PDF at all times. In particular, we consider two types of inverse problems, type I, where the FP equation is known but the initial PDF is unknown, and type II, in which, in addition to the unknown initial PDF, the drift and diffusion terms are also unknown. In both cases, we investigate problems with either Brownian or L\'evy noise or a combination of both. We demonstrate the new PINN framework in detail in the one-dimensional (1D) case, but we also provide results for up to five dimensions demonstrating that we can infer both the FP equation and dynamics simultaneously at all times with high accuracy using only very few discrete observations of the particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a catalog of emissive point sources detected in the SPT-SZ survey, a contiguous 2530 square degree area surveyed with the South Pole Telescope (SPT) from 2008–2011 in three bands centered at 95, 150, and 220 GHz. The catalog contains 4845 sources measured at a significance of 4.5σ or greater in at least one band, corresponding to detections above approximately 9.8, 5.8, and 20.4 mJy in 95, 150, and 220 GHz, respectively. The spectral behavior in the SPT bands is used for source classification into two populations based on the underlying physical mechanisms of compact, emissive sources that are bright at millimeter wavelengths: synchrotron radiation from active galactic nuclei and thermal emission from dust. The latter population includes a component of high-redshift sources often referred to as submillimeter galaxies (SMGs). In the relatively bright flux ranges probed by the survey, these sources are expected to be magnified by strong gravitational lensing. The survey also contains sources consistent with protoclusters, groups of dusty galaxies at high redshift undergoing collapse. We cross-match the SPT-SZ catalog with external catalogs at radio, infrared, and X-ray wavelengths and identify available redshift information. The catalog splits into 3980 synchrotron-dominated and 865 dust-dominated sources, and we determine a list of 506 SMGs. Ten sources in the catalog are identified as stars. We calculate number counts for the full catalog, and synchrotron and dusty components, using a bootstrap method and compare our measured counts with models. This paper represents the third and final catalog of point sources in the SPT-SZ survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fractional Laplacian &916;&946;/2 is the generator of the &946;-stable Lévy process, which is the scaling limit of the Lévy flight. Due to the divergence of the second moment of the jump length of the Lévy flight, it may not be a suitable physical model in many practical applications. However, using a parameter &955; to exponentially temper the isotropic power law measure of the jump length leads to the tempered Lévy flight, which has finite second moment. For a short time the tempered Lévy flight exhibits the dynamics of Lévy flight, while after a sufficiently long time it turns to normal diffusion. The generator of the tempered &946;-stable Lévy process is the tempered fractional Laplacian (&916;+ &955;)&946;/2 [W. H. Deng et al., Multiscale Model. Simul., 16 (2018), pp. 125-149]. In the current work, we present new computational methods for the tempered fractional Laplacian equation, including the cases with the homogeneous and nonhomogeneous generalized Dirichlet type boundary conditions. We prove the well-posedness of the Galerkin weak formulation and provide convergence analysis of the single scaling B-spline and multiscale Riesz bases finite element methods. We propose a technique for efficiently generating the entries of the dense stiffness matrix and for solving the resulting algebraic equation by preconditioning. We also present several numerical experiments to verify the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a computational stochastic methodology for generating and optimizing random meta-material (MM) configurations with nonoverlapping geometric constraints subject to various types of covariances and distributions characterizing the randomness of the MM configura- tions. The methodology developed consists of three main components: (1) a deterministic solver for electromagnetic scattering from multiple objects, (2) the Karhunen-Loève (K-L) expansion to represent the correlated configurations of the scattering objects, and (3) the multi-element proba- bilistic collocation method (ME-PCM) to provide flexibility in achieving desired distributions of the MMs. In the current work, we employ random fields from a Spartan family that includes covariance functions with damped oscillatory behavior. The algorithm is applied to study light propagation through random layered heterojunctions and random 3-D MMs. We found that greater transmission and reflection, compared to the uniformly spaced structures, can be achieved for a structure with an oscillatory spacing profile along the propagation direction. Optimized configurations of the hetero- junctions and 3-D MMs have been found with larger or smaller transmission coefficients for different wave numbers of the incoming wave and different correlations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An open problem in the numerical solution of fractional partial differential equations (FPDEs) is how to obtain high-order accuracy for singular solutions; even for smooth right-hand sides solutions of FPDEs are singular. Here, we consider the one-dimensional diffusion equation with general two-sided fractional derivative characterized by a parameter p ∊ [0; 1]; for p = 1=2 we recover the Riesz fractional derivative, while for p = 1, 0 we obtain the one-sided fractional derivative. We employ a Petrov-Galerkin projection in a properly weighted Sobolev space with (two-sided) Jacobi polyfracnomials as basis and test functions. In particular, we derive these two-sided Jacobi polyfractonomials as eigenfunctions of a Sturm-Liouville problem with weights uniquely determined by the parameter p. We provide a rigorous analysis and obtain optimal error estimates that depend on the regularity of the forcing term, i.e., for smooth data (corresponding to singular solutions) we obtain exponential convergence, while for smooth solutions we obtain algebraic convergence. We demonstrate the sharpness of our error estimates with numerical examples, and we present comparisons with a competitive spectral collocation method of tunable accuracy. We also investigate numerically deviations from the theory for inhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions as well as for a fractional diffusion-reaction equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce the concept of numerical Gaussian processes, which we define as Gauss- ian processes with covariance functions resulting from temporal discretization of time-dependent partial differential equations. Numerical Gaussian processes, by construction, are designed to deal with cases where (a) all we observe are noisy data on black-box initial conditions, and (b) we are interested in quantifying the uncertainty associated with such noisy data in our solutions to time- dependent partial differential equations. Our method circumvents the need for spatial discretization of the differential operators by proper placement of Gaussian process priors. This is an attempt to construct structured and data-efficient learning machines, which are explicitly informed by the underlying physics that possibly generated the observed data. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through several benchmark problems involving linear and nonlinear time- dependent operators. In all examples, we are able to recover accurate approximations of the latent solutions, and consistently propagate uncertainty, even in cases involving very long time integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although healthcare is the biggest service industry in the world, it has yet to realise the full potential of the e-business revolution in the form of e-Healthcare due to many complex challenges. E-Healthcare also does not solve all the problems of rural and remote communities with geographical barriers, because most of the rural and remote areas that e-Healthcare are supposed to help have no electricity connections and other infrastructure needed by e-Healthcare systems. Mobile e-Healthcare removes the restrictions imposed by infrastructure challenged, underserved population, rural geographical locations, wires and cables and enables patients to benefit from increased mobility provided by e-Healthcare. The main objective of this study was therefore to identify e-Healthcare readiness assessment factors in the literature and use them to develop a Mobile e-Healthcare readiness assessment framework for the implementation of Mobile e-Healthcare in rural South Africa health facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a framework for multifidelity information fusion and predictive inference in high-dimensional input spaces and in the presence of massive data sets. Hence, we tackle simultaneously the "big N" problem for big data and the curse of dimensionality in multivariate parametric problems. The proposed methodology establishes a new paradigm for constructing response surfaces of high-dimensional stochastic dynamical systems, simultaneously accounting for multifidelity in physical models as well as multifidelity in probability space. Scaling to high dimensions is achieved by data-driven dimensionality reduction techniques based on hierarchical functional decompositions and a graph-theoretic approach for encoding custom autocorrelation structure in Gaussian process priors. Multifidelity information fusion is facilitated through stochastic autoregressive schemes and frequency-domain machine learning algorithms that scale linearly with the data. Taking together these new developments leads to linear complexity algorithms as demonstrated in benchmark problems involving deterministic and stochastic fields in up to 105 input dimensions and 105 training points on a standard desktop computer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We generalize existing Jacobi-Gauss-Lobatto collocation methods for variable-order fractional differential equations using a singular approximation basis in terms of weighted Jacobi polynomials of the form (1 ± x)μPa,b j (x), where μ > -1. In order to derive the differentiation matrices of the variable-order fractional derivatives, we develop a three-term recurrence relation for both integrals and derivatives of these weighted Jacobi polynomials, hence extending the three-term recurrence relationship of Jacobi polynomials. The new spectral collocation method is applied to solve fractional ordinary and partial differential equations with endpoint singularities. We demonstrate that the singular basis enhances greatly the accuracy of the numerical solution by properly tuning the parameter μ, even for cases where we do not know explicitly the form of singularity in the solution at the boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose three time-splitting schemes for nonlinear time-fractional differential equations with smooth solutions, where the order of the fractional derivative is 0 < α < 1. While one of the schemes is of order α, the other two schemes are of order 1 + α and 2 - α and thus they can be combined to provide flexible numerical methods with convergence order no less than 3/2. We prove the convergence and stability of the proposed schemes. Numerical examples illustrate the flexibility and the efficiency of these time-splitting schemes and show that they work for multirate and stiff time-fractional differential systems effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuum-time random walk is a general model for particle kinetics, which allows for incorporating waiting times and/or non-Gaussian jump distributions with divergent second moments to account for Lévy flights. Exponentially tempering the probability distribution of the waiting times and the anomalously large displacements results in tempered-stable L´evy processes with finite moments, where the fluid (continuous) limit leads to the tempered fractional diffusion equation. The development of fast and accurate numerical schemes for such nonlocal problems requires a new spectral theory and suitable choice of basis functions. In this study, we introduce two classes of regular and singular tempered fractional Sturm-Liouville problems of two kinds (TFSLP-I and TFSLP-II) of order v ∈ (0, 2). In the regular case, the corresponding tempered differential operators are associated with tempering functions pI (x) = exp(2τ) and pII (x) = exp(-2τ), τ ≥ 0, respectively, in the regular TFSLP-I and TFSLP-II, which do not vanish in [-1, 1]. In contrast, the corresponding differential operators in the singular setting are associated with different forms of pI (x) = exp(2τ)(1-x)1+α(1+ x)1+β and pII (x) = exp(-2τ)(1 - x)1+α(1 + x)1+β, vanishing at x = ±1 in the singular TFSLP-I and TFSLP-II, respectively. The aforementioned tempered fractional differential operators are both of tempered Riemann--Liouville and tempered Caputo type of fractional order μ = v/2 ∈ (0, 1). We prove the well-posedness of the boundary-value problems and that the eigenvalues of the regular tempered problems are real-valued and the corresponding eigenfunctions are orthogonal. Next, we obtain the explicit eigensolutions to TFSLP-I and -II as nonpolynomial functions, which we define as tempered Jacobi poly-fractonomials. These eigenfunctions are orthogonal with respect to the weight function associated with TFSLP-I and -II. Finally, we introduce these eigenfunctions as new basis (and test) functions for spectrally accurate approximation of functions and tempered-fractional differential operators. To this end, we further develop a Petrov-Galerkin spectral method for solving tempered fractional ODEs, followed by the corresponding stability and convergence analysis, which validates the achieved spectral convergence in our simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We present a measurement of the angular bispectrum of the millimeter-wave sky in observing bands centered at roughly 95, 150, and 220 GHz, on angular scales of 1′ ≲ θ ≲ 10′ (multipole number 1000 ≲ l ≲ 10,000). At these frequencies and angular scales, the main contributions to the bispectrum are expected to be the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect and emission from extragalactic sources, predominantly dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) and active galactic nuclei. We measure the bispectrum in 800 deg2 of three-band South Pole Telescope data, and we use a multi-frequency fitting procedure to separate the bispectrum of the tSZ effect from the extragalactic source contribution. We simultaneously detect the bispectrum of the tSZ effect at >10σ, the unclustered component of the extragalactic source bispectrum at >5σ in each frequency band, and the bispectrum due to the clustering of DSFGs—i.e., the clustered cosmic infrared background (CIB) bispectrum—at >5σ. This is the first reported detection of the clustered CIB bispectrum. We use the measured tSZ bispectrum amplitude, compared to model predictions, to constrain the normalization of the matter power spectrum to be σ8 = 0.787 ± 0.031 and to predict the amplitude of the tSZ power spectrum at l = 3000. This prediction improves our ability to separate the thermal and kinematic contributions to the total SZ power spectrum. The addition of bispectrum data improves our constraint on the tSZ power spectrum amplitude by a factor of two compared to power spectrum measurements alone and demonstrates a preference for a nonzero kinematic SZ (kSZ) power spectrum, with a derived constraint on the kSZ amplitude at l = 3000 of AkSZ = 2.9 ± 1.6 μK2, or AkSZ = 2.6 ± 1.8 μK2 if the default AkSZ > 0 prior is removed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore extensions to the ΛCDM cosmology using measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from the recent SPT-SZ survey, along with data from WMAP7 and measurements of H0 and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO). We check for consistency within ΛCDM between these data sets, and find some tension. The CMB alone gives weak support to physics beyond ΛCDM, due to a slight trend relative to ΛCDM of decreasing power toward smaller angular scales. While it may be due to statistical fluctuation, this trend could also be explained by several extensions. We consider running of the primordial spectral index (dns/dln k), as well as two extensions that modify the damping tail power (the primordial helium abundance Yp and the effective number of neutrino species Neff) and one that modifies the large-scale power due to the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect (the sum of neutrino masses ∑mν). These extensions have similar observational consequences and are partially degenerate when considered simultaneously. Of the six one-parameter extensions considered, we find CMB to have the largest preference for dns/dln k with –0.046 < dns/dln k < –0.003 at 95% confidence, which strengthens to a 2.7σ indication of dns/dln k < 0 from CMB+BAO+H0. Detectable dns/dln k ≠ 0 is difficult to explain in the context of single-field, slow-roll inflation models. We find Neff = 3.62 ± 0.48 for the CMB, which tightens to Neff = 3.71 ± 0.35 from CMB+BAO+H0. Larger values of Neff relieve the mild tension between CMB, BAO, and H0. When the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich selected galaxy cluster abundances () data are also included, we obtain Neff = 3.29 ± 0.31. Allowing for ∑mν gives a 3.0σ detection of ∑mν > 0 from CMB+BAO+H0 +. The median value is (0.32 ± 0.11) eV, a factor of six above the lower bound set by neutrino oscillation observations. All data sets except H0 show some preference for massive neutrinos; data combinations including H0 favor nonzero masses only if BAO data are also included. We also constrain the two-parameter extensions Neff + ∑mν and Neff + Yp to explore constraints on additional light species and big bang nucleosynthesis, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponentially decaying behavior of the momentum-momentum and momentumforce time correlation functions of Brownian motion at large times has been extensively used for the numerical evaluation of the friction coefficient γ from molecular dynamics simulations. We perform numerical analysis on these methods and address issues related to the appropriate choice of large time and the rate of convergence of these methods. To this end, we obtain asymptotic expansions of the time correlation functions with respect to the reduced mass μ of the Brownian particle. For two important limit procedures of achieving the Brownian limit, certain forms of the asymptotic expansion of the Mori memory function K(t) are introduced by physical arguments, and then the asymptotic expansions of the time correlation functions are expressed in terms of the limit of K(t), i.e., K0(t) = limμ→∝ K(t), and the next-order correction term K1(t). For the infinite mass limit case, we show that the numerical methods of estimating γ from the exponential decay of the time correlation functions produce γ + O(μ-1), where the first-order correction depends on the microscopic nature of K0(t) (i.e., deviation of K0(t) from the Dirac delta function γδ(t)) as well as the contribution of K1(t) (i.e., deviation of K(t) from K0(t)). We also analyze the ratio of the momentum-force correlation function to the momentum-momentum correlation function, which gives instantaneous exponential decay rate. For the thermodynamic limit case, we consider the Rayleigh gas system to investigate the finite-volume effect due to the boundary conditions and to demonstrate that the lowest-order terms of the asymptotic expansions may fail to describe some characteristic behavior of the time correlation functions. We perform systematic molecular dynamics simulations of the Rayleigh gas system to confirm the theoretical predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new dynamic elastic network model (DENM) that describes the unfolding process of a force-loaded protein. The protein interaction network and its potentials are constructed based on information of its native-state structure obtained from the Protein Data Bank, with network nodes positioned at the Cα coordinates of the protein backbone. Specifically, to mimic the unfolding process, i.e., to simulate the process of overcoming the local energy barrier on the free energy landscape with force loading, the noncovalent protein network bonds (i.e., hydrogen bonds, salt bridges, hydrophobic contacts, etc.) are broken one-by-one with a certain probability, while the strong covalent bonds along the backbone (i.e., peptide bonds, disulfide bonds, etc.) are kept intact. The jumping event from local energy minima (bonds breaking rate) are chosen according to Kramer's theory and the Bell model. Moreover, we exploit the self-similar structure of proteins at different scales to design an effective coarse-graining procedure for DENM with optimal parameter selection. The robustness of DENM is validated by coarse-grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulation against atomistic MD simulation of force-extension processes of the Fibrinogen and Titin Immunoglobulin proteins. We observe that the native structure of the proteins determines the total unfolding dynamics (including large deviations) and not just the fluctuations around the native state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature power spectrum using data from the recently completed South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SPT-SZ) survey. This measurement is made from observations of 2540 deg2 of sky with arcminute resolution at 150 GHz, and improves upon previous measurements using the SPT by tripling the sky area. We report CMB temperature anisotropy power over the multipole range 650 < ℓ < 3000. We fit the SPT bandpowers, combined with the 7 yr Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP7) data, with a six-parameter ΛCDM cosmological model and find that the two datasets are consistent and well fit by the model. Adding SPT measurements significantly improves ΛCDM parameter constraints; in particular, the constraint on θs tightens by a factor of 2.7. The impact of gravitational lensing is detected at 8.1σ, the most significant detection to date. This sensitivity of the SPT+WMAP7 data to lensing by large-scale structure at low redshifts allows us to constrain the mean curvature of the observable universe with CMB data alone to be . Using the SPT+WMAP7 data, we measure the spectral index of scalar fluctuations to be ns = 0.9623 ± 0.0097 in the ΛCDM model, a 3.9σ preference for a scale-dependent spectrum with ns < 1. The SPT measurement of the CMB damping tail helps break the degeneracy that exists between the tensor-to-scalar ratio r and ns in large-scale CMB measurements, leading to an upper limit of r < 0.18 (95% C.L.) in the ΛCDM+r model. Adding low-redshift measurements of the Hubble constant (H0) and the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) feature to the SPT+WMAP7 data leads to further improvements. The combination of SPT+WMAP7+H0+BAO constrains ns = 0.9538 ± 0.0081 in the ΛCDM model, a 5.7σ detection of ns < 1, and places an upper limit of r < 0.11 (95% C.L.) in the ΛCDM+r model. These new constraints on ns and r have significant implications for our understanding of inflation, which we discuss in the context of selected single-field inflation models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a point-source catalog from 771 deg2 of the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich survey at 95, 150, and 220 GHz. We detect 1545 sources above 4.5σ significance in at least one band. Based on their relative brightness between survey bands, we classify the sources into two populations, one dominated by synchrotron emission from active galactic nuclei, and one dominated by thermal emission from dust-enshrouded star-forming galaxies. We find 1238 synchrotron and 307 dusty sources. We cross-match all sources against external catalogs and find 189 unidentified synchrotron sources and 189 unidentified dusty sources. The dusty sources without counterparts are good candidates for high-redshift, strongly lensed submillimeter galaxies. We derive number counts for each population from 1 Jy down to roughly 11, 4, and 11 mJy at 95, 150, and 220 GHz. We compare these counts with galaxy population models and find that none of the models we consider for either population provide a good fit to the measured counts in all three bands. The disparities imply that these measurements will be an important input to the next generation of millimeter-wave extragalactic source population models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being one of the leading causes of maternal death and a major contributor of maternal and perinatal morbidity, the mechanisms responsible for the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia have yet to be fully elucidated. However, it is evident that this is a complex disorder involving multiple organ systems, and by using integrative approaches, enormous progress has been made towards understanding the pathophysiology of pre-eclampsia. Growing evidence supports the concept that the placenta plays a central role in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia and that reduced uteroplacental perfusion, which develops as a result of abnormal cytotrophoblast invasion of spiral arterioles, triggers the cascade of events leading to the maternal disorder. Placental ischaemia leads to release of soluble placental factors, many of which are classified as anti-angiogenic or pro-inflammatory. Once these ischaemic placental factors reach the maternal circulation, they cause widespread activation and dysfunction of the maternal vascular endothelium that results in enhanced formation of endothelin-1 and superoxide, increased vascular sensitivity to angiotensin II and decreased formation of vasodilators such as nitric oxide. This review highlights these links between placental ischaemia, maternal endothelial activation and renal dysfunction in the pathogenesis of hypertension in pre-eclampsia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South Pole Telescope (SPT) has nearly completed a 2500 deg² survey of the southern sky in three frequency bands. Here, we present the first public release of SPT maps and associated data products. We present arcminute-resolution maps at 150 GHz and 220 GHz of an approximately 95 deg² field centered at R.A. 82°.17, decl.-55°. The field was observed to a depth of approximately 17 µK arcmin at 150 GHz and 41 µK arcmin at 220 GHz during the 2008 austral winter season. Two variations on map filtering and map projection are presented, one tailored for producing catalogs of galaxy clusters detected through their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect signature and one tailored for producing catalogs of emissive sources. We describe the data processing pipeline, and we present instrument response functions, filter transfer functions, and map noise properties. All data products described in this paper are available for download at http://pole.uchicago.edu/public/data/maps/ra5h30dec-55 and from the NASA Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis server. This is the first step in the eventual release of data from the full 2500 deg² SPT survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a measurement of the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT). The data consist of 790 deg² of sky observed at 150 GHz during 2008 and 2009. Here we present the power spectrum over the multipole range 650 < ℓ < 3000, where it is dominated by primary CMB anisotropy. We combine this power spectrum with the power spectra from the seven-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data release to constrain cosmological models. We find that the SIM and WMAP data are consistent with each other and, when combined, are well fit by a spatially flat, ACDM cosmological model. The SVT+WMAP constraint on the spectral index of scalar fluctuations is ns = 0.9663 ± 0.0112. We detect, at ~5σ significance, the effect of gravitational lensing on the CMB power spectrum, and find its amplitude to be consistent with the ACDM cosmological model. We explore a number of extensions beyond the ACDM model. Each extension is tested independently, although there are degeneracies between some of the extension parameters We constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio to be r < 0.21 (95% CL) and constrain the running of the scalar spectral index to be dns/d lnk = -0.024 ± 0.013. We strongly detect the effects of primordial helium and neutrinos on the CMB; a model without helium is rejected at 7.7σ, while a model without neutrinos is rejected at 7.5σ. The primordial helium abundance is measured to be Yp = 0.296 ± 0.030, and the effective number of relativistic. species is measured to be Neff = 3.85 ± 0.62. The constraints on these models are strengthened when the CMB data are combined with measurements of the Hubble constant and the baryon acoustic oscillation feature. Notable improvements include ns = 0.9668 ± 0.0093, r < 0.17 (95% CL), and Neff = 3.86 ± 0.42. The SPT+WMAP data show a mild preference for low power in the CMB damping tail, and while this preference may be accommodated by models that have a negative spectral running, a high primordial helium abundance, or a high effective number of relativistic species, such models are disfavored by the abundance of low-redshift galaxy clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results of X-ray observations of a sample of 15 clusters selected via their imprint on the cosmic microwave background from the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. These clusters are a subset of the first SZ-selected cluster catalog, obtained from observations of 178 deg² of sky surveyed by the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Using X-ray observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton, we estimate the temperature, TX, and mass, Mg, of the intracluster medium within r500 for each cluster. From these, we calculate YX = MgTX and estimate the total cluster mass using an M500-YX scaling relation measured from previous X-ray studies. The integrated Comptonization, YSZ. is derived from the SZ measurements, using additional information from the X-ray-measured gas density profiles and a universal temperature profile. We calculate scaling relations between the X-ray and SZ observables and find results generally consistent with other measurements and the expectations from simple self-similar behavior. Specifically, we fit a YSZ-YX relation and find a normalization of 0.82 ± 0.07, marginally consistent with the predicted ratio of YSZ/YX - 0.91 ± 0.01 that would be expected from the density and temperature models used in this work. Using the YX-derived mass estimates, we fit a YSZ-M500 relation and find a slope consistent with the self-similar expectation of YSZ ∝ M5/3 with a normalization consistent with predictions from other X-ray studies. We find that the SZ mass estimates, derived from cosmological simulations of the SPT survey, are lower by a factor of 0.78 ± 0.06 relative to the X-ray mass estimates. This offset is at a level of 1.3σ when considering the ~15% systematic uncertainty for the simulation-based SZ masses. Overall, the X-ray measurements confirm that the scaling relations of the SZ-selected clusters are consistent with the properties of other X-ray-selected samples of massive clusters, even allowing for the broad redshift range (0.29 < z < 1.08) of the sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We report measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum from the complete 2008 South Pole Telescope (SPT) data set. We analyze twice as much data as the first SPT power spectrum analysis, using an improved cosmological parameter estimator which fits multi-frequency models to the SPT 150 and 220 GHz bandpowers. We find an excellent fit to the measured bandpowers with a model that includes lensed primary CMB anisotropy, secondary thermal (tSZ) and kinetic (kSZ) Sunyaev-Zel'dovich anisotropies, unclustered synchrotron point sources, and clustered dusty point sources. In addition to measuring the power spectrum of dusty galaxies at high signal-to-noise, the data primarily constrain a linear combination of the kSZ and tSZ anisotropy contributions at 150 GHz and Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed. The 95% confidence upper limits on secondary anisotropy power are Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed. and Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed. We also consider the potential correlation of dusty and tSZ sources and find it incapable of relaxing the tSZ upper limit. These results increase the significance of the lower than expected tSZ amplitude previously determined from SPT power spectrum measurements. We find that models including non-thermal pressure support in groups and clusters predict tSZ power in better agreement with the SPT data. Combining the tSZ power measurement with primary CMB data halves the statistical uncertainty on or8. However, the preferred value of σ8 varies significantly between tSZ models. Improved constraints on cosmological parameters from tSZ power spectrum measurements require continued progress in the modeling of the tSZ power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present progress on Argonne/KICP TES bolometers fabricated at Argonne National Labs. These detectors will be used to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation with SPTpol. The sensors are bolometers consisting of a Mo/Au transition edge sensors (TES) suspended on silicon nitride with a gold bar absorber to couple radiation to the device. We present optical measurements and thermal characterizations of prototype devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are developing arrays of 150 GHz transition edge sensor (TES) polarimeters for the South Pole Telescope polarimeter (SPTpol). Prototype devices use an aluminum manganese (Al-Mn) alloy TES with a normal resistance Rn suited to frequency domain multiplexing (fMUX) used in SPTpol. Using the fMUX readout, the devices exhibit noise performance consistent with expectations when R>0.8Rn. Below 0.8Rn, the detectors have high loopgain and become unstable, which is predicted by use of a compound TES model. We address this issue in a recent fabrication with increased TES heat capacity and normal metal structures on the TES to tune the temperature sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Early diagnosis and treatment of spinal epidural metastases (SEM) is of the utmost importance to prevent neurological deficit due to spinal cord compression. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the final tool in that diagnostic process. However, access to MRI is still limited in the Netherlands, requiring cost-effective use. It is generally acknowledged that patients with systemic cancer who present with a radiculopathy or myelopathy should undergo an MRI. However, the diagnostic policy in patients with systemic cancer who present with recently developed back pain is still a matter of debate. Objective: To identify the patients with back pain in whom MRI can safely be omitted because of a low risk of SEM. Methods: In a prospective series of 170 consecutive patients with cancer with recently developed back pain, prediction of spinal metastatic disease (SMD) and especially SEM was studied by means of a multivariate risk analysis of the parameters of the standard neurological evaluation (medical history, neurological examination, and plain films of the whole spine). Magnetic resonance imaging was used as the criterion standard. We calculated the risk implications of omitting MRI in patients with an estimated risk below different cutoff points. Results: Spinal metastatic disease was diagnosed in 80 patients (47%); of these, 31 had SEM. A metastatic abnormality on plain films was the strongest independent predictor for SMD. Other important predictors were night pain, progressive pain, and Karnofsky score. Advanced age, exacerbation of pain during recumbency, and osteoporotic fracture imply a low risk of SMD. Night pain and the Karnofsky score proved to be the main predictors for SEM. A plain film showing an osteoporotic fracture strongly decreased the risk of SEM. The discriminating value of the multivariate analysis was too low, and too few patients can be excluded from undergoing MRI on the basis of the standard neurological checkup. To ident... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superconducting transition edge sensors (TES) require superconducting films with transition temperatures (Tc) and properties that can be tailored to the particular requirements of individual applications. We have been developing Al-Mn films with a tunable Tc. The addition of Mn to Al suppresses Tc, but does not significantly broaden the superconducting density of states of the Al. We can produce films with Tc from below 50 mK to 1.4 K through adjustment of the Mn concentration. Since this is a bulk effect, Tc is not as dependent on precise control of film thickness as in the standard bilayer approach for TESs. We have previously used Al-Mn to fabricate TES sensors for x-ray microcalorimeters targeted for read-out with time division SQUID multiplexing schemes. In this work, we explore the properties of Al-Mn in a regime well suited for frequency division multiplexing. We have also fabricated prototype Al-Mn cosmic microwave background polarimeters for the South Pole Telescope and will show initial measurements of these sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present measurements of secondary cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies and cosmic infrared background (CIB) fluctuations using data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT) covering the complete 2540 deg2 SPT-SZ survey area. Data in the three SPT-SZ frequency bands centered at 95, 150, and 220 GHz, are used to produce six angular power spectra (three single-frequency auto-spectra and three cross-spectra) covering the multipole range 2000 < ℓ < 11, 000 (angular scales 5′ ≳ θ ≳ 1′). These are the most precise measurements of the angular power spectra at ℓ > 2500 at these frequencies. The main contributors to the power spectra at these angular scales and frequencies are the primary CMB, CIB, thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects (tSZ and kSZ), and radio galaxies. We include a constraint on the tSZ power from a measurement of the tSZ bispectrum from 800 deg2 of the SPT-SZ survey. We measure the tSZ power at 143 GHz to be and the kSZ power to be . The data prefer positive kSZ power at 98.1% CL. We measure a correlation coefficient of between sources of tSZ and CIB power, with ξ < 0 disfavored at a confidence level of 99.0%. The constraint on kSZ power can be interpreted as an upper limit on the duration of reionization. When the post-reionization homogeneous kSZ signal is accounted for, we find an upper limit on the duration Δz < 5.4 at 95% CL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use South Pole Telescope data from 2008 and 2009 to detect the non-Gaussian signature in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) produced by gravitational lensing and to measure the power spectrum of the projected gravitational potential. We constrain the ratio of the measured amplitude of the lensing signal to that expected in a fiducial ΛCDM cosmological model to be 0.86 ± 0.16, with no lensing disfavored at 6.3σ. Marginalizing over ΛCDM cosmological models allowed by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP7) results in a measurement of Alens = 0.90 ± 0.19, indicating that the amplitude of matter fluctuations over the redshift range 0.5 ≲ z ≲ 5 probed by CMB lensing is in good agreement with predictions. We present the results of several consistency checks. These include a clear detection of the lensing signature in CMB maps filtered to have no overlap in Fourier space, as well as a “curl” diagnostic that is consistent with the signal expected for ΛCDM. We perform a detailed study of bias in the measurement due to noise, foregrounds, and other effects and determine that these contributions are relatively small compared to the statistical uncertainty in the measurement. We combine this lensing measurement with results from WMAP7 to improve constraints on cosmological parameters when compared to those from WMAP7 alone: we find a factor of 3.9 improvement in the measurement of the spatial curvature of the universe, Ωk = –0.0014 ± 0.0172; a 10% improvement in the amplitude of matter fluctuations within ΛCDM, σ8 = 0.810 ± 0.026; and a 5% improvement in the dark energy equation of state, w = –1.04 ± 0.40. When compared with the measurement of w provided by the combination of WMAP7 and external constraints on the Hubble parameter, the addition of the lensing data improves the measurement of w by 15% to give w = –1.087 ± 0.096. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epoch of reionization is a milestone of cosmological structure formation, marking the birth of the first objects massive enough to yield large numbers of ionizing photons. However, the mechanism and timescale of reionization remain largely unknown. Measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) Doppler effect from ionizing bubbles embedded in large-scale velocity streams—known as the patchy kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect—can be used to constrain the duration of reionization. When combined with large-scale CMB polarization measurements, the evolution of the ionized fraction, , can be inferred. Using new multi-frequency data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT), we show that the ionized fraction evolved relatively rapidly. For our basic foreground model, we find the kSZ power sourced by reionization at ℓ = 3000 to be Dpatchy3000 ⩽ 2.1 μK2 at 95% confidence. Using reionization simulations, we translate this to a limit on the duration of reionization of (95% confidence). We find that this constraint depends on assumptions about the angular correlation between the thermal SZ power and the cosmic infrared background (CIB). Introducing the degree of correlation as a free parameter, we find that the limit on kSZ power weakens to Dpatchy3000 ⩽ 4.9 μK2, implying Δz ⩽ 7.9 (95% confidence). We combine the SPT constraint on the duration of reionization with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe measurement of the integrated optical depth to probe the cosmic ionization history. We find that reionization ended with 95% confidence at z > 7.2 under the assumption of no tSZ-CIB correlation, and z > 5.8 when correlations are allowed. Improved constraints from the full SPT data set in conjunction with upcoming Herschel and Planck data should detect extended reionization at >95% confidence provided Δz ⩾ 2. These CMB observations complement other observational probes of the epoch of reionization such as the redshifted 21 cm line and narrowband surveys for Lyα-emitting galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first three-frequency South Pole Telescope (SPT) cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectra. The band powers presented here cover angular scales 2000 < ℓ < 9400 in frequency bands centered at 95, 150, and 220 GHz. At these frequencies and angular scales, a combination of the primary CMB anisotropy, thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effects, radio galaxies, and cosmic infrared background (CIB) contributes to the signal. We combine Planck/HFI and SPT data at 220 GHz to constrain the amplitude and shape of the CIB power spectrum and find strong evidence for nonlinear clustering. We explore the SZ results using a variety of cosmological models for the CMB and CIB anisotropies and find them to be robust with one exception: allowing for spatial correlations between the thermal SZ effect and CIB significantly degrades the SZ constraints. Neglecting this potential correlation, we find the thermal SZ power at 150 GHz and ℓ = 3000 to be 3.65 ± 0.69 μK2, and set an upper limit on the kinetic SZ power to be less than 2.8 μK2 at 95% confidence. When a correlation between the thermal SZ and CIB is allowed, we constrain a linear combination of thermal and kinetic SZ power: DtSZ3000 + 0.5D3000kSZ = 4.60 ± 0.63 μK2, consistent with earlier measurements. We use the measured thermal SZ power and an analytic, thermal SZ model calibrated with simulations to determine σ8 = 0.807 ± 0.016. Modeling uncertainties involving the astrophysics of the intracluster medium rather than the statistical uncertainty in the measured band powers are the dominant source of uncertainty on σ8. We also place an upper limit on the kinetic SZ power produced by patchy reionization; a companion paper uses these limits to constrain the reionization history of the universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A technological milestone for experiments employing transition edge sensor bolometers operating at sub-Kelvin temperature is the deployment of detector arrays with 100s-1000s of bolometers. One key technology for such arrays is readout multiplexing: the ability to read out many sensors simultaneously on the same set of wires. This paper describes a frequency-domain multiplexed readout system which has been developed for and deployed on the APEX-SZ and South Pole Telescope millimeter wavelength receivers. In this system, the detector array is divided into modules of seven detectors, and each bolometer within the module is biased with a unique ∼MHz sinusoidal carrier such that the individual bolometer signals are well separated in frequency space. The currents from all bolometers in a module are summed together and pre-amplified with superconducting quantum interference devices operating at 4 K. Room temperature electronics demodulate the carriers to recover the bolometer signals, which are digitized separately and stored to disk. This readout system contributes little noise relative to the detectors themselves, is remarkably insensitive to unwanted microphonic excitations, and provides a technology pathway to multiplexing larger numbers of sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]