There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of $\sim 1.7\,{\rm{s}}$ with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of ${40}_{-8}^{+8}$ Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 $\,{M}_{\odot }$. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at $\sim 40\,{\rm{Mpc}}$) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient's position $\sim 9$ and $\sim 16$ days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.

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Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

When surrounded by a transparent emission region, black holes are expected to reveal a dark shadow caused by gravitational light bending and photon capture at the event horizon. To image and study this phenomenon, we have assembled the Event Horizon Telescope, a global very long baseline interferometry array observing at a wavelength of 1.3 mm. This allows us to reconstruct event-horizon-scale images of the supermassive black hole candidate in the center of the giant elliptical galaxy M87. We have resolved the central compact radio source as an asymmetric bright emission ring with a diameter of 42 +/- 3 mu as, which is circular and encompasses a central depression in brightness with a flux ratio greater than or similar to 10: 1. The emission ring is recovered using different calibration and imaging schemes, with its diameter and width remaining stable over four different observations carried out in different days. Overall, the observed image is consistent with expectations for the shadow of a Kerr black hole as predicted by general relativity. The asymmetry in brightness in the ring can be explained in terms of relativistic beaming of the emission from a plasma rotating close to the speed of light around a black hole. We compare our images to an extensive library of ray-traced general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of black holes and derive a central mass of M = (6.5 +/- 0.7) x 10(9) M-circle dot. Our radio-wave observations thus provide powerful evidence for the presence of supermassive black holes in centers of galaxies and as the central engines of active galactic nuclei. They also present a new tool to explore gravity in its most extreme limit and on a mass scale that was so far not accessible.

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First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. I. The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole

The third generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) took data from 2008 to 2014 using the original SDSS wide-field imager, the original and an upgraded multi-object fiber-fed optical spectrograph, a new near-infrared high-resolution spectrograph, and a novel optical interferometer. All the data from SDSS-III are now made public. In particular, this paper describes Data Release 11 (DR11) including all data acquired through 2013 July, and Data Release 12 (DR12) adding data acquired through 2014 July (including all data included in previous data releases), marking the end of SDSS-III observing. Relative to our previous public release (DR10), DR12 adds one million new spectra of galaxies and quasars from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) over an additional 3000 sq. deg of sky, more than triples the number of H-band spectra of stars as part of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and includes repeated accurate radial velocity measurements of 5500 stars from the Multi-Object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS). The APOGEE outputs now include measured abundances of 15 different elements for each star. In total, SDSS-III added 2350 sq. deg of ugriz imaging; 155,520 spectra of 138,099 stars as part of the Sloan Exploration of Galactic Understanding and Evolution 2 (SEGUE-2) survey; 2,497,484 BOSS spectra of 1,372,737 galaxies, 294,512 quasars, and 247,216 stars over 9376 sq. deg; 618,080 APOGEE spectra of 156,593 stars; and 197,040 MARVELS spectra of 5,513 stars. Since its first light in 1998, SDSS has imaged over 1/3 of the Celestial sphere in five bands and obtained over five million astronomical spectra.

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The eleventh and twelfth data releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: final data from SDSS-III

Monthly Notices is one of the three largest general primary astronomical research publications. It is an international journal, published by the Royal Astronomical Society. This article 1 describes its publication policy and practice.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

For empirical research on Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) characteristic wave propagation, a beacon transmitter system is needed that can be programmed to emit precisely defined elliptically and circularly polarized waves at high elevation angles. This paper proposes a novel hybrid antenna-transmitter system, a combination of a synchronous dual channel transmitter and a turnstile antenna. The polarization emitted by the turnstile antenna is defined by the power ratio and phase difference of the outputs of the transmitter. Operating frequency is between 3 to 10 MHz. An automated and transportable solution is described, which can be fed by battery or solar power. Power consumption is 5.7 W.

A transportable hybrid antenna-transmitter system for the generation of elliptically polarized waves for NVIS propagation research

Two detection algorithms (heuristic and CFAR) for target detection in pulsar FSR are analyzed using the simulation approach. The simulation results are verified by processing of the experimental data obtained by the radio observatory Dwingeloo in the Netherlands. The simulation and experimental results proved that the CFAR detection algorithm is more effective than the heuristic algorithm and can be successfully used in a pulsar FSR system for protection of air space from unwanted air objects.

Comparison of Two Algorithms for Signal Detection in Pulsarbased FSR

A noise-based frequency offset modulation (N-FOM) system is considered, employing a wideband noise carrier, transmit reference modulation and a self-correlation receiver. The performance of such a system in the presence of in-band interference is studied by modeling the interference as a Gaussian random bandpass process and deriving a closed-form expression for the bit error rate (BER). A numerical example shows that the in-band interference has a significant impact on the performance and that the BER decreases with increasing bandwidth of the interference. The performance degradation can be reduced by a suitable choice of the frequency offset.

Analysis of in-band interference in noise-based frequency offset modulation

To perform biomedical Wireless Power Transfer experiments at UHF and microwave frequencies, a need exists for recipes and procedures to construct human tissue mimicking phantoms. This paper outlines the procedure for realizing body-mimicking phantoms and provides some recipes based on demineralized water, sugar (sucrose) and salt (NaCl). Even without using preservatives all samples made for this research maintained the dielectric characteristics for at least ten days when stored at room temperature. A procedure to construct a low-cost RG405 semi-rigid coaxial waveguide-based measurement probe and calibration method are discussed as well. The absolute error in obtained relative permittivity, using this probe, relative to using a Commercially Off The Shelf probe is less than 2.0.

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DIY Electromagnetic Phantoms for Biomedical Wireless Power Transfer Experiments

This paper presents a new approach for dynamic spectrum management for heterogeneous wireless devices. Local congestion degrades the reliability of wireless applications in the License Exempt bands. This leads to the research questions: (1) how to realize equal spectrum sharing between dissimilar systems, and (2) how to improve the collective spectrum efficiency. A solution is in dynamic distribution of the available spectrum between contesting devices. Politeness mechanisms embedded in the individual devices are considered as building blocks for the creation of a distributed dynamic spectrum management system. Medium Usage defines the medium occupied by each transmitter and receiver. A regulatory view is chosen, favoring technology neutrality and including receiver parameters.

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Mark J. Bentum

Papers

A transportable hybrid antenna-transmitter system for the generation of elliptically polarized waves for NVIS propagation research

Comparison of Two Algorithms for Signal Detection in Pulsarbased FSR

Analysis of in-band interference in noise-based frequency offset modulation

DIY Electromagnetic Phantoms for Biomedical Wireless Power Transfer Experiments

Medium usage model for the design of dynamic spectrum management in ISM bands