www.talk107.co.uk

I hate it when you run a code for three or four days and then discover you hadn't reset your RR counter and all your xi(s)'s tend to one at large scales. :-( Gutted. Hopefully fixed code and Bielby is running some of the calculations on his machine. Muchos Apprecieatas.

Wolfe (Chicago), of the Sachs-Wolfe affect, gave a enjoyable talk on Damped Lyman-Alpha (DLAs) systems in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Shanks is convinced that essentially Lyman-Break Galaxies (LBGs) are today's spirals at redshift~3. Wolfe talked about the (neutral gas?) threshold a galaxy has to be at before star-formation can take place and how all observations so far indicated a low SF density for DLAs (rho_star_dot for DLAs <10^-2.4 M_solar per year per Mpc^3 versus 10^-1.7 - 10^-0.8 M_solar per year per Mpc^3 for LBGs). This very low SF density then throws up problems for metal production ("DLAs are alpha-element enhanced) and heating-cooling rates in these systems.

All very interesting and a bit complicated!

Tomorrow: finish prepping codes for *final* xi(r) jackknifes (still worried bout the IDL linfit routine...)

B.T.W. I think I've found the best radio programme in the world: Drive-Time on talk 107 radio, 4pm-7pm. "Upping the Auntie with Simon Pia & Heather Dee". Superb for a New Town boy.