Black holes and the absorption rate of cosmological scalar fields

We study the absorption of a massless scalar field by a static black hole. Using the continuity equation that arises from the Klein-Gordon equation, it is possible to define a normalized absorption rate $\Gamma(t)$ for the scalar field as it falls into the black hole. It is found that the absorption mainly depends upon the characteristics wavelengths involved in the physical system: the mean wavenumber and the width of the wave packet, but that it is insensitive to the scalar field's strength. By taking a limiting procedure, we determine the minimum absorption fraction of the scalar field's mass by the black hole, which is around 50%.Comment: 5 pages, 5 color figures, uses REVTe

The Learning of the subject Biology in a Master in Biomedical Physics

BIOLOGY is a dynamic and fascinating science. The study of this subject is an amazing trip for all the students that have a first contact with this subject. Here, we present the development of the study and learning experience of this subject belonging to an area of knowledge that is different to the training curriculum of students who have studied Physics during their degree period. We have taken a real example, the “Elements of Biology” subject, which is taught as part of the Official Biomedical Physics Master, at the Physics Faculty, of the Complutense University of Madrid, since the course 2006/07. Its main objective is to give to the student an understanding how the Physics can have numerous applications in the Biomedical Sciences area, giving the basic training to develop a professional, academic or research career. The results obtained when we use new virtual tools combined with the classical learning show that there is a clear increase in the number of persons that take and pass the final exam. On the other hand, this new learning strategy is well received by the students and this is translated to a higher participation and a decrease of the giving the subject u

Unitarity of the Leptonic Mixing Matrix

We determine the elements of the leptonic mixing matrix, without assuming unitarity, combining data from neutrino oscillation experiments and weak decays. To that end, we first develop a formalism for studying neutrino oscillations in vacuum and matter when the leptonic mixing matrix is not unitary. To be conservative, only three light neutrino species are considered, whose propagation is generically affected by non-unitary effects. Precision improvements within future facilities are discussed as well.Comment: Standard Model radiative corrections to the invisible Z width included. Some numerical results modified at the percent level. Updated with latest bounds on the rare tau decay. Physical conculsions unchange

The abundance of 28Si32S, 29Si32S, 28Si34S, and 30Si32S in the inner layers of the envelope of IRC+10216

We present high spectral resolution mid-IR observations of SiS towards the C-rich AGB star IRC+10216 carried out with the Texas Echelon-cross-Echelle Spectrograph mounted on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. We have identified 204 ro-vibrational lines of 28Si32S, 26 of 29Si32S, 20 of 28Si34S, and 15 of 30Si32S in the frequency range 720-790 cm-1. These lines belong to bands v=1-0, 2-1, 3-2, 4-3, and 5-4, and involve rotational levels with Jlow<90. About 30 per cent of these lines are unblended or weakly blended and can be partially or entirely fitted with a code developed to model the mid-IR emission of a spherically symmetric circumstellar envelope composed of expanding gas and dust. The observed lines trace the envelope at distances to the star <35R* (~0.7 arcsec). The fits are compatible with an expansion velocity of 1+2.5(r/R*-1) km/s between 1 and 5R*, 11 km/s between 5 and 20R*, and 14.5 km/s outwards. The derived abundance profile of 28Si32S with respect to H2 is 4.9e-6 between the stellar photosphere and 5R*, decreasing linearly to 1.6e-6 at 20R* and to 1.3e-6 at 50R*. 28Si32S seems to be rotationally under LTE in the region of the envelope probed with our observations and vibrationally out of LTE in most of it. There is a red-shifted emission excess in the 28Si32S lines of band v=1-0 that cannot be found in the lines of bands v=2-1, 3-2, 4-3, and 5-4. This excess could be explained by an enhancement of the vibrational temperature around 20R* behind the star. The derived isotopic ratios 28Si/29Si, and 32S/34S are 17 and 14, compatible with previous estimates.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, and 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Study of star-forming galaxies in SDSS up to redshift 0.4: I. Metallicity evolution

The chemical composition of the gas in galaxies versus cosmic time provides a very important tool for understanding galaxy evolution. Although there are many studies at high redshift, they are rather scarce at lower redshifts. However, low redshift studies can provide important clues about the evolution of galaxies, furnishing the required link between local and high redshift universe. In this work we focus on the metallicity of the gas of star-forming galaxies at low redshift, looking for signs of chemical evolution. To analyze the metallicity contents star-forming galaxies of similar luminosities and masses at different redshifts. With this purpose, we present a study of the metallicity of relatively massive (log(M_star/M_sun)>10.5) star forming galaxies from SDSS--DR5 (Sloan Digital Sky Survey--Data Release 5), using different redshift intervals from 0.04 to 0.4. We used data processed with the STARLIGHT spectral synthesis code, correcting the fluxes for dust extinction, estimating metallicities using the R_23 method, and segregating the samples with respect to the value of the [NII]6583/[OII]3727 line ratio in order to break the R_23 degeneracy selecting the upper branch. We analyze the luminosity and mass-metallicity relations, and the effect of the Sloan fiber diameter looking for possible biases. By dividing our redshift samples in intervals of similar magnitude and comparing them, significant signs of metallicity evolution are found. Metallicity correlates inversely with redshift: from redshift 0 to 0.4 a decrement of ~0.1 dex in 12+log(O/H) is found.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in A&

Turning waves and breakdown for incompressible flows

We consider the evolution of an interface generated between two immiscible incompressible and irrotational fluids. Specifically we study the Muskat and water wave problems. We show that starting with a family of initial data given by (\al,f_0(\al)), the interface reaches a regime in finite time in which is no longer a graph. Therefore there exists a time $t^*$ where the solution of the free boundary problem parameterized as (\al,f(\al,t)) blows-up: \|\da f\|_{L^\infty}(t^*)=\infty. In particular, for the Muskat problem, this result allows us to reach an unstable regime, for which the Rayleigh-Taylor condition changes sign and the solution breaks down.Comment: 15 page

Impact of the Intensive Program of Emotional Intelligence (IPEI) on middle man-agers’ emotional intelligence

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the Intensive Program of Emo-tional Intelligence (IPEI; Fernández, 2015) on middle managers’ emotional intelligence, as this variable may have a significant impact on personal satisfaction, task performance, and work environment. Method: The intervention was applied on work team supervisors from a big call center, as it is an overlooked sector in this topic. Two-hundred and eighty-two supervisors from a Spanish multinational Madrid-based company (51.4% males and 48.6% females) participated in this study. Participants were assigned to the experimental group (n = 190) or the control group (n = 92) by availability, according to management decision. All supervisors filled in two questionnaires to evaluate the differ-ent components of intrapersonal emotional intelligence (i.e., attention, clarity, and repair; TMMS-24; Fernández-Berrocal, Extremera, & Ramos, 2004) and cognitive and affec-tive empathy (i.e., perspective taking, emotion understanding, empathic joy, and person-al distress; TECA; López-Pérez, Fernández, & Abad, 2008). Results: The findings showed an increase in the studied variables for the experimental group. Conclusions: The obtained results support middle managers’ training on emotional competences through short, efficient, and economic programs, and it was discussed potential limita-tions and implications of the obtained results