Moscow State University

About: Moscow State University is a education organization based out in Moscow, Russia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Laser. The organization has 66747 authors who have published 123358 publications receiving 1753995 citations. The organization is also known as: MSU & Lomonosov Moscow State University.

GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2

Abstract: We describe the observation of GW170104, a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of a pair of stellar-mass black holes. The signal was measured on January 4, 2017 at 10∶11:58.6 UTC by the twin advanced detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory during their second observing run, with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a false alarm rate less than 1 in 70 000 years. The inferred component black hole masses are 31.2^(8.4) _(−6.0)M_⊙ and 19.4^(5.3)_( −5.9)M_⊙ (at the 90% credible level). The black hole spins are best constrained through measurement of the effective inspiral spin parameter, a mass-weighted combination of the spin components perpendicular to the orbital plane, χ_(eff) = −0.12^(0.21)_( −0.30). This result implies that spin configurations with both component spins positively aligned with the orbital angular momentum are disfavored. The source luminosity distance is 880^(450)_(−390) Mpc corresponding to a redshift of z = 0.18^(0.08)_( −0.07) . We constrain the magnitude of modifications to the gravitational-wave dispersion relation and perform null tests of general relativity. Assuming that gravitons are dispersed in vacuum like massive particles, we bound the graviton mass to m_g ≤ 7.7 × 10^(−23) eV/c^2. In all cases, we find that GW170104 is consistent with general relativity.

Shifting the limits in wheat research and breeding using a fully annotated reference genome

Abstract: An annotated reference sequence representing the hexaploid bread wheat genome in 21 pseudomolecules has been analyzed to identify the distribution and genomic context of coding and noncoding elements across the A, B, and D subgenomes. With an estimated coverage of 94% of the genome and containing 107,891 high-confidence gene models, this assembly enabled the discovery of tissue- and developmental stage-related coexpression networks by providing a transcriptome atlas representing major stages of wheat development. Dynamics of complex gene families involved in environmental adaptation and end-use quality were revealed at subgenome resolution and contextualized to known agronomic single-gene or quantitative trait loci. This community resource establishes the foundation for accelerating wheat research and application through improved understanding of wheat biology and genomics-assisted breeding.

TRY - a global database of plant traits

Abstract: Plant traits – the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants and their organs – determine how primary producers respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, influence ecosystem processes and services and provide a link from species richness to ecosystem functional diversity. Trait data thus represent the raw material for a wide range of research from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology to biogeography. Here we present the global database initiative named TRY, which has united a wide range of the plant trait research community worldwide and gained an unprecedented buy-in of trait data: so far 93 trait databases have been contributed. The data repository currently contains almost three million trait entries for 69 000 out of the world's 300 000 plant species, with a focus on 52 groups of traits characterizing the vegetative and regeneration stages of the plant life cycle, including growth, dispersal, establishment and persistence. A first data analysis shows that most plant traits are approximately log-normally distributed, with widely differing ranges of variation across traits. Most trait variation is between species (interspecific), but significant intraspecific variation is also documented, up to 40% of the overall variation. Plant functional types (PFTs), as commonly used in vegetation models, capture a substantial fraction of the observed variation – but for several traits most variation occurs within PFTs, up to 75% of the overall variation. In the context of vegetation models these traits would better be represented by state variables rather than fixed parameter values. The improved availability of plant trait data in the unified global database is expected to support a paradigm shift from species to trait-based ecology, offer new opportunities for synthetic plant trait research and enable a more realistic and empirically grounded representation of terrestrial vegetation in Earth system models.

RSFQ logic/memory family: a new Josephson-junction technology for sub-terahertz-clock-frequency digital systems

Abstract: Recent developments concerning the rapid single-flux-quantum (RSFQ) circuit family are reviewed. Elementary cells in this circuit family can generate, pass, memorize, and reproduce picosecond voltage pulses with a nominally quantized area corresponding to transfer of a single magnetic flux quantum across a Josephson junction. Functionally, each cell can be viewed as a combination of a logic gate and an output latch (register) controlled by clock pulses, which are physically similar to the signal pulses. Hand-shaking style of local exchange by the clock pulses enables one to increase complexity of the LSI RSFQ systems without loss of operating speed. The simplest components of the RSFQ circuitry have been experimentally tested at clock frequencies exceeding 100 GHz, and an increase of the speed beyond 300 GHz is expected as a result of using an up-to-date fabrication technology. This review includes a discussion of possible future developments and applications of this novel, ultrafast digital technology. >

GW170814: A three-detector observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole coalescence

Abstract: On August 14, 2017 at 10∶30:43 UTC, the Advanced Virgo detector and the two Advanced LIGO detectors coherently observed a transient gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of two stellar mass black holes, with a false-alarm rate of ≲1 in 27 000 years. The signal was observed with a three-detector network matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 18. The inferred masses of the initial black holes are 30.5-3.0+5.7M⊙ and 25.3-4.2+2.8M⊙ (at the 90% credible level). The luminosity distance of the source is 540-210+130 Mpc, corresponding to a redshift of z=0.11-0.04+0.03. A network of three detectors improves the sky localization of the source, reducing the area of the 90% credible region from 1160 deg2 using only the two LIGO detectors to 60 deg2 using all three detectors. For the first time, we can test the nature of gravitational-wave polarizations from the antenna response of the LIGO-Virgo network, thus enabling a new class of phenomenological tests of gravity.