arXiv subjects

E. Jennings

Publications and source records attributed to E. Jennings.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2018

New Science, New Media: An Assessment of the Online Education and Public Outreach Initiatives of The Dark Energy Survey

As large-scale international collaborations become the standard for astronomy research, a wealth of opportunities have emerged to create innovative education and public outreach (EPO) programming. In the past two decades, large collaborations have focused EPO strategies around published data products. Newer collaborations have begun to explore other avenues of public engagement before and after data are made available. We present a case study of the online EPO program of The Dark Energy Survey, currently one of the largest international astronomy collaborations actively taking data. DES EPO is unique at this scale in astronomy, as far as we are aware, as it evolved organically from scientists' passion for EPO and is entirely organized and implemented by the volunteer efforts of collaboration scientists. We summarize the strategy and implementation of eight EPO initiatives. For content distributed via social media, we present reach and user statistics over the 2016 calendar year. DES EPO online products reached ~2,500 users per post, and 94% of these users indicate a predisposition to science-related interests. We find no obvious correlation between post type and post reach, with the most popular posts featuring the intersections of science and art and/or popular culture. We conclude that one key issue of the online DES EPO program was designing material which would inspire new interest in science. The greatest difficulty of the online DES EPO program was sustaining scientist participation and collaboration support; the most successful programs are those which capitalized on the hobbies of participating scientists. We present statistics and recommendations, along with observations from individual experience, as a potentially instructive resource for scientists or EPO professionals interested in organizing EPO programs and partnerships for large science collaborations or organizations.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2013

Modelling the relative velocities of isolated pairs of galaxies

We study the comoving relative velocities, v12, of model isolated galaxy pairs at z=0.5. For this purpose, we use the predictions from the GALFORM semi-analytical model of galaxy formation and evolution based on a Lambda cold dark matter cosmology consistent with the results from WMAP7. In real space, we find that isolated pairs of galaxies are predicted to form an angle t with the line-of-sight that is uniformily distributed as expected if the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic. We also find that isolated pairs of galaxies separated by a comoving distance between 1 and 3 Mpc/h are predicted to have =0. For galaxies in this regime, the distribution of the angle t is predicted to change minimally from real to redshift space, with a change smaller than 5% in . However, the distances defining the comoving regime strongly depends on the applied isolation criteria.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

How BAO measurements can fail to detect quintessence

We model the nonlinear growth of cosmic structure in different dark energy models, using large volume N-body simulations. We consider a range of quintessence models which feature both rapidly and slowly varying dark energy equations of state, and compare the growth of structure to that in a universe with a cosmological constant. The adoption of a quintessence model changes the expansion history of the universe, the form of the linear theory power spectrum and can alter key observables, such as the horizon scale and the distance to last scattering. The difference in structure formation can be explained to first order by the difference in growth factor at a given epoch; this scaling also accounts for the nonlinear growth at the 15% level. We find that quintessence models which feature late $(z<2)$, rapid transitions towards $w=-1$ in the equation of state, can have identical baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) peak positions to those in $Λ$CDM, despite being very different from $Λ$CDM both today and at high redshifts $(z \sim 1000)$. We find that a second class of models which feature non-negligible amounts of dark energy at early times cannot be distinguished from $Λ$CDM using measurements of the mass function or the BAO. These results highlight the need to accurately model quintessence dark energy in N-body simulations when testing cosmological probes of dynamical dark energy.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2007

Helicity amplitudes and crossing relations for antiproton proton reactions

Antiproton proton annihilation reactions allow unique access to the moduli and phases of nucleon electromagnetic form factors in the time like region. We present the helicity amplitudes for the unequal mass single photon reaction $p \bar{p}\to l^+ l^-$ in the s channel including the lepton mass. The relative signs of these amplitudes are determined using simple invariance properties. Helicity amplitudes for the annihilation reaction $p \bar{p} \to N \bar{N}$ are also given, where $N$ is any spinor particle with structure. Crossing relations between the $e p \to e p$ scattering and the $p \bar{p}\to l^+ l^-$ annihilation channels are discussed and the crossing matrix for the helicity amplitudes is given. This matrix may be used to verify known expressions for the space like helicity amplitudes due to one photon exchange.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

Polarisation Observables in Antiproton Proton to Lepton Antilepton Reactions

The electromagnetic form factors of hadrons as measured both in the space like and time like domains provide fundamental information on the nucleon structure and internal dynamics. General expressions, including the lepton mass, for the spin averaged differential cross section for the annihilation reaction lepton antilepton to proton antiproton are given, as well as general formulae for the single and double spin asymmetries. The time reversed reaction would involve a kinematic factor. We also present general expressions for the helicity amplitudes for this reaction.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Polarisation observables in lepton antilepton to proton antiproton reactions including lepton mass

General expressions, including the lepton mass, for the spin averaged differential cross section for the annihilation reaction lepton antilepton to proton antiproton are given, as well as general formulae for the single and double spin asymmetries in the centre of mass frame. In particular we discuss the single spin asymmetry, normal to the scattering plane, which measures the relative phase difference between nucleon electromagnetic form factors $G_E$ and $G_M$. Recent experimental investigations of these form factors in the space and time like region are reviewed. It is thought that measurements of the phase of these form factors will provide fundamental information on the internal nucleon structure. The phases between $G_E$ and $G_M$ are accessible through polarisation observables measured in the antiproton proton to lepton antilepton reaction, or in its time reversed process.

hep-ph↗