ALBERT

Description: A stochastic background of gravitational waves is expected to arise from a superposition of a large number of unresolved gravitational-wave sources of astrophysical and cosmological origin. It should carry unique signatures from the earliest epochs in the evolution of the Universe, inaccessible to standard astrophysical observations. Direct measurements of the amplitude of this background are therefore of fundamental importance for understanding the evolution of the Universe when it was younger than one minute. Here we report limits on the amplitude of the stochastic gravitational-wave background using the data from a two-year science run of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). Our result constrains the energy density of the stochastic gravitational-wave background normalized by the critical energy density of the Universe, in the frequency band around 100 Hz, to be 〈6.9 x 10(-6) at 95% confidence. The data rule out models of early Universe evolution with relatively large equation-of-state parameter, as well as cosmic (super)string models with relatively small string tension that are favoured in some string theory models. This search for the stochastic background improves on the indirect limits from Big Bang nucleosynthesis and cosmic microwave background at 100 Hz.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉LIGO Scientific Collaboration & Virgo Collaboration -- Abbott, B P -- Abbott, R -- Acernese, F -- Adhikari, R -- Ajith, P -- Allen, B -- Allen, G -- Alshourbagy, M -- Amin, R S -- Anderson, S B -- Anderson, W G -- Antonucci, F -- Aoudia, S -- Arain, M A -- Araya, M -- Armandula, H -- Armor, P -- Arun, K G -- Aso, Y -- Aston, S -- Astone, P -- Aufmuth, P -- Aulbert, C -- Babak, S -- Baker, P -- Ballardin, G -- Ballmer, S -- Barker, C -- Barker, D -- Barone, F -- Barr, B -- Barriga, P -- Barsotti, L -- Barsuglia, M -- Barton, M A -- Bartos, I -- Bassiri, R -- Bastarrika, M -- Bauer, Th S -- Behnke, B -- Beker, M -- Benacquista, M -- Betzwieser, J -- Beyersdorf, P T -- Bigotta, S -- Bilenko, I A -- Billingsley, G -- Birindelli, S -- Biswas, R -- Bizouard, M A -- Black, E -- Blackburn, J K -- Blackburn, L -- Blair, D -- Bland, B -- Boccara, C -- Bodiya, T P -- Bogue, L -- Bondu, F -- Bonelli, L -- Bork, R -- Boschi, V -- Bose, S -- Bosi, L -- Braccini, S -- Bradaschia, C -- Brady, P R -- Braginsky, V B -- Brand, J F J van den -- Brau, J E -- Bridges, D O -- Brillet, A -- Brinkmann, M -- Brisson, V -- Van Den Broeck, C -- Brooks, A F -- Brown, D A -- Brummit, A -- Brunet, G -- Bullington, A -- Bulten, H J -- Buonanno, A -- Burmeister, O -- Buskulic, D -- Byer, R L -- Cadonati, L -- Cagnoli, G -- Calloni, E -- Camp, J B -- Campagna, E -- Cannizzo, J -- Cannon, K C -- Canuel, B -- Cao, J -- Carbognani, F -- Cardenas, L -- Caride, S -- Castaldi, G -- Caudill, S -- Cavaglia, M -- Cavalier, F -- Cavalieri, R -- Cella, G -- Cepeda, C -- Cesarini, E -- Chalermsongsak, T -- Chalkley, E -- Charlton, P -- Chassande-Mottin, E -- Chatterji, S -- Chelkowski, S -- Chen, Y -- Christensen, N -- Chung, C T Y -- Clark, D -- Clark, J -- Clayton, J H -- Cleva, F -- Coccia, E -- Cokelaer, T -- Colacino, C N -- Colas, J -- Colla, A -- Colombini, M -- Conte, R -- Cook, D -- Corbitt, T R C -- Corda, C -- Cornish, N -- Corsi, A -- Coulon, J-P -- Coward, D -- Coyne, D C -- Creighton, J D E -- Creighton, T D -- Cruise, A M -- Culter, R M -- Cumming, A -- Cunningham, L -- Cuoco, E -- Danilishin, S L -- D'Antonio, S -- Danzmann, K -- Dari, A -- Dattilo, V -- Daudert, B -- Davier, M -- Davies, G -- Daw, E J -- Day, R -- De Rosa, R -- Debra, D -- Degallaix, J -- Del Prete, M -- Dergachev, V -- Desai, S -- Desalvo, R -- Dhurandhar, S -- Di Fiore, L -- Di Lieto, A -- Di Paolo Emilio, M -- Di Virgilio, A -- Diaz, M -- Dietz, A -- Donovan, F -- Dooley, K L -- Doomes, E E -- Drago, M -- Drever, R W P -- Dueck, J -- Duke, I -- Dumas, J-C -- Dwyer, J G -- Echols, C -- Edgar, M -- Effler, A -- Ehrens, P -- Ely, G -- Espinoza, E -- Etzel, T -- Evans, M -- Evans, T -- Fafone, V -- Fairhurst, S -- Faltas, Y -- Fan, Y -- Fazi, D -- Fehrmann, H -- Ferrante, I -- Fidecaro, F -- Finn, L S -- Fiori, I -- Flaminio, R -- Flasch, K -- Foley, S -- Forrest, C -- Fotopoulos, N -- Fournier, J-D -- Franc, J -- Franzen, A -- Frasca, S -- Frasconi, F -- Frede, M -- Frei, M -- Frei, Z -- Freise, A -- Frey, R -- Fricke, T -- Fritschel, P -- Frolov, V V -- Fyffe, M -- Galdi, V -- Gammaitoni, L -- Garofoli, J A -- Garufi, F -- Genin, E -- Gennai, A -- Gholami, I -- Giaime, J A -- Giampanis, S -- Giardina, K D -- Giazotto, A -- Goda, K -- Goetz, E -- Goggin, L M -- Gonzalez, G -- Gorodetsky, M L -- Gobler, S -- Gouaty, R -- Granata, M -- Granata, V -- Grant, A -- Gras, S -- Gray, C -- Gray, M -- Greenhalgh, R J S -- Gretarsson, A M -- Greverie, C -- Grimaldi, F -- Grosso, R -- Grote, H -- Grunewald, S -- Guenther, M -- Guidi, G -- Gustafson, E K -- Gustafson, R -- Hage, B -- Hallam, J M -- Hammer, D -- Hammond, G D -- Hanna, C -- Hanson, J -- Harms, J -- Harry, G M -- Harry, I W -- Harstad, E D -- Haughian, K -- Hayama, K -- Heefner, J -- Heitmann, H -- Hello, P -- Heng, I S -- Heptonstall, A -- Hewitson, M -- Hild, S -- Hirose, E -- Hoak, D -- Hodge, K A -- Holt, K -- Hosken, D J -- Hough, J -- Hoyland, D -- Huet, D -- Hughey, B -- Huttner, S H -- Ingram, D R -- Isogai, T -- Ito, M -- Ivanov, A -- Johnson, B -- Johnson, W W -- Jones, D I -- Jones, G -- Jones, R -- Sancho de la Jordana, L -- Ju, L -- Kalmus, P -- Kalogera, V -- Kandhasamy, S -- Kanner, J -- Kasprzyk, D -- Katsavounidis, E -- Kawabe, K -- Kawamura, S -- Kawazoe, F -- Kells, W -- Keppel, D G -- Khalaidovski, A -- Khalili, F Y -- Khan, R -- Khazanov, E -- King, P -- Kissel, J S -- Klimenko, S -- Kokeyama, K -- Kondrashov, V -- Kopparapu, R -- Koranda, S -- Kozak, D -- Krishnan, B -- Kumar, R -- Kwee, P -- La Penna, P -- Lam, P K -- Landry, M -- Lantz, B -- Laval, M -- Lazzarini, A -- Lei, H -- Lei, M -- Leindecker, N -- Leonor, I -- Leroy, N -- Letendre, N -- Li, C -- Lin, H -- Lindquist, P E -- Littenberg, T B -- Lockerbie, N A -- Lodhia, D -- Longo, M -- Lorenzini, M -- Loriette, V -- Lormand, M -- Losurdo, G -- Lu, P -- Lubinski, M -- Lucianetti, A -- Luck, H -- Machenschalk, B -- Macinnis, M -- Mackowski, J-M -- Mageswaran, M -- Mailand, K -- Majorana, E -- Man, N -- Mandel, I -- Mandic, V -- Mantovani, M -- Marchesoni, F -- Marion, F -- Marka, S -- Marka, Z -- Markosyan, A -- Markowitz, J -- Maros, E -- Marque, J -- Martelli, F -- Martin, I W -- Martin, R M -- Marx, J N -- Mason, K -- Masserot, A -- Matichard, F -- Matone, L -- Matzner, R A -- Mavalvala, N -- McCarthy, R -- McClelland, D E -- McGuire, S C -- McHugh, M -- McIntyre, G -- McKechan, D J A -- McKenzie, K -- Mehmet, M -- Melatos, A -- Melissinos, A C -- Mendell, G -- Menendez, D F -- Menzinger, F -- Mercer, R A -- Meshkov, S -- Messenger, C -- Meyer, M S -- Michel, C -- Milano, L -- Miller, J -- Minelli, J -- Minenkov, Y -- Mino, Y -- Mitrofanov, V P -- Mitselmakher, G -- Mittleman, R -- Miyakawa, O -- Moe, B -- Mohan, M -- Mohanty, S D -- Mohapatra, S R P -- Moreau, J -- Moreno, G -- Morgado, N -- Morgia, A -- Morioka, T -- Mors, K -- Mosca, S -- Mossavi, K -- Mours, B -- Mowlowry, C -- Mueller, G -- Muhammad, D -- Muhlen, H Zur -- Mukherjee, S -- Mukhopadhyay, H -- Mullavey, A -- Muller-Ebhardt, H -- Munch, J -- Murray, P G -- Myers, E -- Myers, J -- Nash, T -- Nelson, J -- Neri, I -- Newton, G -- Nishizawa, A -- Nocera, F -- Numata, K -- Ochsner, E -- O'Dell, J -- Ogin, G H -- O'Reilly, B -- O'Shaughnessy, R -- Ottaway, D J -- Ottens, R S -- Overmier, H -- Owen, B J -- Pagliaroli, G -- Palomba, C -- Pan, Y -- Pankow, C -- Paoletti, F -- Papa, M A -- Parameshwaraiah, V -- Pardi, S -- Pasqualetti, A -- Passaquieti, R -- Passuello, D -- Patel, P -- Pedraza, M -- Penn, S -- Perreca, A -- Persichetti, G -- Pichot, M -- Piergiovanni, F -- Pierro, V -- Pinard, L -- Pinto, I M -- Pitkin, M -- Pletsch, H J -- Plissi, M V -- Poggiani, R -- Postiglione, F -- Principe, M -- Prix, R -- Prodi, G A -- Prokhorov, L -- Punken, O -- Punturo, M -- Puppo, P -- Putten, S van der -- Quetschke, V -- Raab, F J -- Rabaste, O -- Rabeling, D S -- Radkins, H -- Raffai, P -- Raics, Z -- Rainer, N -- Rakhmanov, M -- Rapagnani, P -- Raymond, V -- Re, V -- Reed, C M -- Reed, T -- Regimbau, T -- Rehbein, H -- Reid, S -- Reitze, D H -- Ricci, F -- Riesen, R -- Riles, K -- Rivera, B -- Roberts, P -- Robertson, N A -- Robinet, F -- Robinson, C -- Robinson, E L -- Rocchi, A -- Roddy, S -- Rolland, L -- Rollins, J -- Romano, J D -- Romano, R -- Romie, J H -- Rover, C -- Rowan, S -- Rudiger, A -- Ruggi, P -- Russell, P -- Ryan, K -- Sakata, S -- Salemi, F -- Sandberg, V -- Sannibale, V -- Santamaria, L -- Saraf, S -- Sarin, P -- Sassolas, B -- Sathyaprakash, B S -- Sato, S -- Satterthwaite, M -- Saulson, P R -- Savage, R -- Savov, P -- Scanlan, M -- Schilling, R -- Schnabel, R -- Schofield, R -- Schulz, B -- Schutz, B F -- Schwinberg, P -- Scott, J -- Scott, S M -- Searle, A C -- Sears, B -- Seifert, F -- Sellers, D -- Sengupta, A S -- Sentenac, D -- Sergeev, A -- Shapiro, B -- Shawhan, P -- Shoemaker, D H -- Sibley, A -- Siemens, X -- Sigg, D -- Sinha, S -- Sintes, A M -- Slagmolen, B J J -- Slutsky, J -- van der Sluys, M V -- Smith, J R -- Smith, M R -- Smith, N D -- Somiya, K -- Sorazu, B -- Stein, A -- Stein, L C -- Steplewski, S -- Stochino, A -- Stone, R -- Strain, K A -- Strigin, S -- Stroeer, A -- Sturani, R -- Stuver, A L -- Summerscales, T Z -- Sun, K-X -- Sung, M -- Sutton, P J -- Swinkels, B L -- Szokoly, G P -- Talukder, D -- Tang, L -- Tanner, D B -- Tarabrin, S P -- Taylor, J R -- Taylor, R -- Terenzi, R -- Thacker, J -- Thorne, K A -- Thorne, K S -- Thuring, A -- Tokmakov, K V -- Toncelli, A -- Tonelli, M -- Torres, C -- Torrie, C -- Tournefier, E -- Travasso, F -- Traylor, G -- Trias, M -- Trummer, J -- Ugolini, D -- Ulmen, J -- Urbanek, K -- Vahlbruch, H -- Vajente, G -- Vallisneri, M -- Vass, S -- Vaulin, R -- Vavoulidis, M -- Vecchio, A -- Vedovato, G -- van Veggel, A A -- Veitch, J -- Veitch, P -- Veltkamp, C -- Verkindt, D -- Vetrano, F -- Vicere, A -- Villar, A -- Vinet, J-Y -- Vocca, H -- Vorvick, C -- Vyachanin, S P -- Waldman, S J -- Wallace, L -- Ward, H -- Ward, R L -- Was, M -- Weidner, A -- Weinert, M -- Weinstein, A J -- Weiss, R -- Wen, L -- Wen, S -- Wette, K -- Whelan, J T -- Whitcomb, S E -- Whiting, B F -- Wilkinson, C -- Willems, P A -- Williams, H R -- Williams, L -- Willke, B -- Wilmut, I -- Winkelmann, L -- Winkler, W -- Wipf, C C -- Wiseman, A G -- Woan, G -- Wooley, R -- Worden, J -- Wu, W -- Yakushin, I -- Yamamoto, H -- Yan, Z -- Yoshida, S -- Yvert, M -- Zanolin, M -- Zhang, J -- Zhang, L -- Zhao, C -- Zotov, N -- Zucker, M E -- Zweizig, J -- England -- Nature. 2009 Aug 20;460(7258):990-4. doi: 10.1038/nature08278.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Lists of participants and their affiliations appear at the end of the paper.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19693079" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Organic aerosol (OA) particles affect climate forcing and human health, but their sources and evolution remain poorly characterized. We present a unifying model framework describing the atmospheric evolution of OA that is constrained by high-time-resolution measurements of its composition, volatility, and oxidation state. OA and OA precursor gases evolve by becoming increasingly oxidized, less volatile, and more hygroscopic, leading to the formation of oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA), with concentrations comparable to those of sulfate aerosol throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Our model framework captures the dynamic aging behavior observed in both the atmosphere and laboratory: It can serve as a basis for improving parameterizations in regional and global models.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jimenez, J L -- Canagaratna, M R -- Donahue, N M -- Prevot, A S H -- Zhang, Q -- Kroll, J H -- DeCarlo, P F -- Allan, J D -- Coe, H -- Ng, N L -- Aiken, A C -- Docherty, K S -- Ulbrich, I M -- Grieshop, A P -- Robinson, A L -- Duplissy, J -- Smith, J D -- Wilson, K R -- Lanz, V A -- Hueglin, C -- Sun, Y L -- Tian, J -- Laaksonen, A -- Raatikainen, T -- Rautiainen, J -- Vaattovaara, P -- Ehn, M -- Kulmala, M -- Tomlinson, J M -- Collins, D R -- Cubison, M J -- Dunlea, E J -- Huffman, J A -- Onasch, T B -- Alfarra, M R -- Williams, P I -- Bower, K -- Kondo, Y -- Schneider, J -- Drewnick, F -- Borrmann, S -- Weimer, S -- Demerjian, K -- Salcedo, D -- Cottrell, L -- Griffin, R -- Takami, A -- Miyoshi, T -- Hatakeyama, S -- Shimono, A -- Sun, J Y -- Zhang, Y M -- Dzepina, K -- Kimmel, J R -- Sueper, D -- Jayne, J T -- Herndon, S C -- Trimborn, A M -- Williams, L R -- Wood, E C -- Middlebrook, A M -- Kolb, C E -- Baltensperger, U -- Worsnop, D R -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2009 Dec 11;326(5959):1525-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1180353.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. jose.jimenez@colorado.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20007897" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Tilman, David -- Socolow, Robert -- Foley, Jonathan A -- Hill, Jason -- Larson, Eric -- Lynd, Lee -- Pacala, Stephen -- Reilly, John -- Searchinger, Tim -- Somerville, Chris -- Williams, Robert -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2009 Jul 17;325(5938):270-1. doi: 10.1126/science.1177970.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. tilman@umn.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19608900" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉