arXiv subjects

R. Cohen

Publications and source records attributed to R. Cohen.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Curve-Fitted QPE: Extending Quantum Phase Estimation Results for a Higher Precision using Classical Post-Processing

Quantum Phase Estimation is a crucial component of several front-running quantum algorithms. Improving the efficiency and accuracy of QPE is currently a very active field of research. In this work, we present a hybrid quantum-classical approach that consists of the standard QPE circuit and classical post-processing using curve-fitting, where special attention is given to the latter. We show that our approach achieves high precision with optimal Cram\'er-Rao lower bound performance and is comparable in error resolution with the Variational Quantum Eigensolver and Maximum Likelihood Amplitude Estimation algorithms. Our method could potentially be further extended to the case of estimating multiple phases.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Life and death of a hero - Lessons learned from modeling the dwarf spheroidal Hercules: an incorrect orbit?

Hercules is a dwarf spheroidal satellite of the Milky Way, found at a distance of about 138 kpc, and showing evidence of tidal disruption. It is very elongated and exhibits a velocity gradient of 16 +/- 3 km/s/kpc. Using this data a possible orbit of Hercules has previously been deduced in the literature. In this study we make use of a novel approach to find a best fit model that follows the published orbit. Instead of using trial and error, we use a systematic approach in order to find a model that fits multiple observables simultaneously. As such, we investigate a much wider parameter range of initial conditions and ensure we have found the best match possible. Using a dark matter free progenitor that undergoes tidal disruption, our best-fit model can simultaneously match the observed luminosity, central surface brightness, effective radius, velocity dispersion, and velocity gradient of Hercules. However, we find it is impossible to reproduce the observed elongation and the position angle of Hercules at the same time in our models. This failure persists even when we vary the duration of the simulation significantly, and consider a more cuspy density distribution for the progenitor. We discuss how this suggests that the published orbit of Hercules is very likely to be incorrect.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Deriving Metallicities from Calcium Triplet Spectroscopy in combination with Near Infrared Photometry

Context. [...] One of the most efficient methods is the measurement of the equivalent width (EW) of the Calcium II Triplet (CaT), corrected for the luminosity and temperature effects via magnitude differences from the horizontal branch (HB). Methods. We use the Ks magnitude difference between the star and the reddest part of the HB (RHB) to generate reduced equivalent widths (rEW) from the datasets presented in Saviane et al. (2012) and Rutledge et al. (1997). Subsequently we calibrated these rEW against three different metellicity (met) scales: the one presented in Carretta et al. (2009), the met values given in Harris (2010) and a version of the former corrected via high-resolution spectroscopic met. Results. We calculated the calibration relations for the two datasets and the three met scales and found that they are approximately equivalent, with differences almost negligible. We compared our nIR calibrations with the corresponding optical ones, and found them to be equivalent, establishing that the luminosity-corrected rEW using the Ks magnitude is compatible with the one obtained from the V magnitude. We then used the met obtained from the calibration to investigate the internal met distributions of the GCs. Conclusions. We have established that the ([Fe/H]:rEW) relation is independent from the mag used for the luminosity correction and find that the calibration relations only change slightly for different met scales. The CaT technique using NIR photometry is thus a powerful tool to derive met. In particular, it can be used to study the internal met spread of a GC. We confirm the presence of at least two met populations in NGC 6656 and find that several other GCs present peculiar met distributions.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Stellar Variability in the VVV survey

The Vista Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) ESO Public Survey is an ongoing time-series, near-infrared (IR) survey of the Galactic bulge and an adjacent portion of the inner disk, covering 562 square degrees of the sky, using ESO's VISTA telescope. The survey has provided superb multi-color photometry in 5 broadband filters ($Z$, $Y$, $J$, $H$, and $K_s$), leading to the best map of the inner Milky Way ever obtained, particularly in the near-IR. The main variability part of the survey, which is focused on $K_s$-band observations, is currently underway, with bulge fields having been observed between 31 and 70 times, and disk fields between 17 and 36 times. When the survey is complete, bulge (disk) fields will have been observed up to a total of 100 (60) times, providing unprecedented depth and time coverage. Here we provide a first overview of stellar variability in the VVV data, including examples of the light curves that have been collected thus far, scientific applications, and our efforts towards the automated classification of VVV light curves.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Anchors for the Cosmic Distance Scale: the Cepheid QZ Normae in the Open Cluster NGC 6067

Cepheids are key to establishing the cosmic distance scale. Therefore it's important to assess the viability of QZ Nor, V340 Nor, and GU Nor as calibrators for Leavitt's law via their purported membership in the open cluster NGC 6067. The following suite of evidence confirms that QZ Nor and V340 Nor are members of NGC 6067, whereas GU Nor likely lies in the foreground: (i) existing radial velocities for QZ Nor and V340 Nor agree with that established for the cluster (-39.4+-1.2 km/s) to within 1 km/s, whereas GU Nor exhibits a markedly smaller value; (ii) a steep velocity-distance gradient characterizes the sight-line toward NGC 6067, thus implying that objects sharing common velocities are nearly equidistant; (iii) a radial profile constructed for NGC 6067 indicates that QZ Nor is within the cluster bounds, despite being 20' from the cluster center; (iv) new BVJH photometry for NGC 6067 confirms the cluster lies d=1.75+-0.10 kpc distant, a result that matches Wesenheit distances computed for QZ Nor/V340 Nor using the Benedict et al. (2007, HST parallaxes) calibration. QZ Nor is a cluster Cepheid that should be employed as a calibrator for the cosmic distance scale.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

Mid-infrared size survey of Young Stellar Objects: Description of Keck segment-tilting experiment and basic results

The mid-infrared properties of pre-planetary disks are sensitive to the temperature and flaring profiles of disks for the regions where planet formation is expected to occur. In order to constrain theories of planet formation, we have carried out a mid-infrared (wavelength 10.7 microns) size survey of young stellar objects using the segmented Keck telescope in a novel configuration. We introduced a customized pattern of tilts to individual mirror segments to allow efficient sparse-aperture interferometry, allowing full aperture synthesis imaging with higher calibration precision than traditional imaging. In contrast to previous surveys on smaller telescopes and with poorer calibration precision, we find most objects in our sample are partially resolved. Here we present the main observational results of our survey of 5 embedded massive protostars, 25 Herbig Ae/Be stars, 3 T Tauri stars, 1 FU Ori system, and 5 emission-line objects of uncertain classification. The observed mid-infrared sizes do not obey the size-luminosity relation found at near-infrared wavelengths and a companion paper will provide further modelling analysis of this sample. In addition, we report imaging results for a few of the most resolved objects, including complex emission around embedded massive protostars, the photoevaporating circumbinary disk around MWC 361A, and the subarcsecond binaries T Tau, FU Ori and MWC 1080.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2008

Discovery of a Circumbinary Disk around Herbig Ae/Be system v892 Tau

We report the discovery of a circumbinary disk around the Herbig Ae/Be system v892 Tau. Our detailed mid-infrared images were made using segment-tilting interferometry on the Keck-1 Telescope and reveal an asymmetric disk inclined at ~60 degs with an inner hole diameter of 250 mas (35 AU), approximately 5X larger than the apparent separation of the binary components. In addition, we report a new measurement along the binary orbit using near-infrared Keck aperture masking, allowing a crude estimate of orbital parameters and the system mass for the first time. The size of the inner hole appears to be consistent with the minimum size prediction from tidal truncation theory, bearing a resemblance to the recently unmasked binary CoKu Tau/4. Our results have motivated a re-analysis of the system spectral energy distribution, concluding the luminosity of this system has been severely underestimated. With further study and monitoring, v892 Tau should prove a powerful testing ground for both predictions of dynamical models for disk-star interactions in young systems with gas-rich disks and for calibrations of pre-main-sequence tracks for intermediate-mass stars.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Optimal Path and Minimal Spanning Trees in Random Weighted Networks

We review results on the scaling of the optimal path length in random networks with weighted links or nodes. In strong disorder we find that the length of the optimal path increases dramatically compared to the known small world result for the minimum distance. For Erdős-Rényi (ER) and scale free networks (SF), with parameter $λ$ ($λ>3$), we find that the small-world nature is destroyed. We also find numerically that for weak disorder the length of the optimal path scales logaritmically with the size of the networks studied. We also review the transition between the strong and weak disorder regimes in the scaling properties of the length of the optimal path for ER and SF networks and for a general distribution of weights, and suggest that for any distribution of weigths, the distribution of optimal path lengths has a universal form which is controlled by the scaling parameter $Z=\ell_{\infty}/A$ where $A$ plays the role of the disorder strength, and $\ell_{\infty}$ is the length of the optimal path in strong disorder. The relation for $A$ is derived analytically and supported by numerical simulations. We then study the minimum spanning tree (MST) and show that it is composed of percolation clusters, which we regard as "super-nodes", connected by a scale-free tree. We furthermore show that the MST can be partitioned into two distinct components. One component the {\it superhighways}, for which the nodes with high centrality dominate, corresponds to the largest cluster at the percolation threshold which is a subset of the MST. In the other component, {\it roads}, low centrality nodes dominate. We demonstrate the significance identifying the superhighways by showing that one can improve significantly the global transport by improving a very small fraction of the network.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2004

Optimization of Network Robustness to Waves of Targeted and Random Attack

We study the robustness of complex networks to multiple waves of simultaneous (i) targeted attacks in which the highest degree nodes are removed and (ii) random attacks (or failures) in which fractions $p_t$ and $p_r$ respectively of the nodes are removed until the network collapses. We find that the network design which optimizes network robustness has a bimodal degree distribution, with a fraction $r$ of the nodes having degree $k_2= (\kav - 1 +r)/r$ and the remainder of the nodes having degree $k_1=1$, where $\kav$ is the average degree of all the nodes. We find that the optimal value of $r$ is of the order of $p_t/p_r$ for $p_t/p_r\ll 1$.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2003

On the Tomography of Networks and Multicast Trees

In this paper we model the tomography of scale free networks by studying the structure of layers around an arbitrary network node. We find, both analytically and empirically, that the distance distribution of all nodes from a specific network node consists of two regimes. The first is characterized by rapid growth, and the second decays exponentially. We also show that the nodes degree distribution at each layer is a power law with an exponential cut-off. We obtain similar results for the layers surrounding the root of multicast trees cut from such networks, as well as the Internet. All of our results were obtained both analytically and on empirical Interenet data.

cond-mat↗

arXiv2003

How Massive Are BALQSO Winds?

We are involved in a program to derive properties of broad absorption line (BAL) winds in quasars using combined UV and X-ray observations. A major obstacle is large uncertainties in the derived BAL column densities because of partial coverage of the background light source. In this preliminary report, we circumnavigate those uncertainties by making a simple assumption -- that the relative metal abundances are roughly solar. In this case, the PV 1118,1128 multiplet should have at least 500 times lower optical depth than CIV 1549,1551. Nonetheless, a PV BAL is present in at least half of the well-measured BALQSOs we studied. We conclude that the strong lines of abundant species like CIV are typically very optically thick. The total BAL column densities are N_H > 10^22 cm^-2 (for solar overall metallicity), and they might be comparable to the X-ray absorbers, of order 10^23 cm^-2, if the BAL gas is sufficiently ionized. If the column densities in outflowing BAL gas are, in fact, as large as the X-ray absorbers, it would present a serious challenge to models of radiatively-driven BAL winds.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Percolation in Directed Scale-Free Networks

Many complex networks in nature have directed links, a property that affects the network's navigability and large-scale topology. Here we study the percolation properties of such directed scale-free networks with correlated in- and out-degree distributions. We derive a phase diagram that indicates the existence of three regimes, determined by the values of the degree exponents. In the first regime we regain the known directed percolation mean field exponents. In contrast, the second and third regimes are characterized by anomalous exponents, which we calculate analytically. In the third regime the network is resilient to random dilution, i.e., the percolation threshold is p_c->1.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗