An outburst scenario for the X-ray spectral variability in 3C 111

We present a combined Suzaku and Swift BAT broad-band E=0.6-200keV spectral analysis of three 3C 111 observations obtained in 2010. The data are well described with an absorbed power-law continuum and a weak (R~0.2) cold reflection component from distant material. We constrain the continuum cutoff at E_c~150-200keV, which is in accordance with X-ray Comptonization corona models and supports claims that the jet emission is only dominant at much higher energies. Fe XXVI Ly\alpha emission and absorption lines are also present in the first and second observations, respectively. The modelling and interpretation of the emission line is complex and we explore three possibilities. If originating from ionized disc reflection, this should be emitted at r_in> 50r_g or, in the lamp-post configuration, the illuminating source should be at a height of h> 30r_g over the black hole. Alternatively, the line could be modeled with a hot collisionally ionized plasma with temperature kT = 22.0^{+6.1}_{-3.2} keV or a photo-ionized plasma with log\xi=4.52^{+0.10}_{-0.16} erg s^{-1} cm and column density N_H > 3x10^23 cm^{-2}. However, the first and second scenarios are less favored on statistical and physical grounds, respectively. The blue-shifted absorption line in the second observation can be modelled as an ultra-fast outflow (UFO) with ionization parameter log\xi=4.47^{+0.76}_{-0.04} erg s^{-1} cm, column density N_H=(5.3^{+1.8}_{-1.3})x 10^{22} cm^{-2} and outflow velocity v_out = 0.104+/-0.006 c. Interestingly, the parameters of the photo-ionized emission model remarkably match those of the absorbing UFO. We suggest an outburst scenario in which an accretion disc wind, initially lying out of the line of sight and observed in emission, then crosses our view to the source and it is observed in absorption as a mildly-relativistic UFO.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNARS on July 1st 201

Direct determination of the crystal field parameters of Dy, Er and Yb impurities in the skutterudite compound CeFe4_{4}P12_{12} by Electron Spin Resonance

Despite extensive research on the skutterudites for the last decade, their electric crystalline field ground state is still a matter of controversy. We show that Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) measurements can determine the full set of crystal field parameters (CFPs) for the Th cubic symmetry (Im3) of the Ce$_{1-x}$R$_{x}$Fe$_{4}$P$_{12}$ (R = Dy, Er, Yb, $x\lesssim 0.003$) skutterudite compounds. From the analysis of the ESR data the three CFPs, B4c, B6c and B6t were determined for each of these rare-earths at the Ce$^{3+}$ site. The field and temperature dependence of the measured magnetization for the doped crystals are in excellent agreement with the one predicted by the CFPs Bnm derived from ESR.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, to appear in PR

Clone size distributions in networks of genetic similarity

We build networks of genetic similarity in which the nodes are organisms sampled from biological populations. The procedure is illustrated by constructing networks from genetic data of a marine clonal plant. An important feature in the networks is the presence of clone subgraphs, i.e. sets of organisms with identical genotype forming clones. As a first step to understand the dynamics that has shaped these networks, we point up a relationship between a particular degree distribution and the clone size distribution in the populations. We construct a dynamical model for the population dynamics, focussing on the dynamics of the clones, and solve it for the required distributions. Scale free and exponentially decaying forms are obtained depending on parameter values, the first type being obtained when clonal growth is the dominant process. Average distributions are dominated by the power law behavior presented by the fastest replicating populations.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures. One figure improved and other minor changes. To appear in Physica

Thermally activated exchange narrowing of the Gd3+ ESR fine structure in a single crystal of Ce1-xGdxFe4P12 (x = 0.001) skutterudite

We report electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements in the Gd3+ doped semiconducting filled skutterudite compound Ce1-xGdxFe4P12 (x = 0.001). As the temperature T varies from T = 150 K to T = 165 K, the Gd3+ ESR fine and hyperfine structures coalesce into a broad inhomogeneous single resonance. At T = 200 K the line narrows and as T increases further, the resonance becomes homogeneous with a thermal broadening of 1.1(2) Oe/K. These results suggest that the origin of these features may be associated to a subtle interdependence of thermally activated mechanisms that combine: i) an increase with T of the density of activated conduction-carriers across the T-dependent semiconducting pseudogap; ii) the Gd3+ Korringa relaxation process due to an exchange interaction, J_{fd}S.s, between the Gd3+ localized magnetic moments and the thermally activated conduction-carriers and; iii) a relatively weak confining potential of the rare-earth ions inside the oversized (Fe2P3)4 cage, which allows the rare-earths to become rattler Einstein oscillators above T = 148 K. We argue that the rattling of the Gd3+ ions, via a motional narrowing mechanism, also contributes to the coalescence of the ESR fine and hyperfine structure.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Phys Rev

Evolutionary and Ecological Trees and Networks

Evolutionary relationships between species are usually represented in phylogenies, i.e. evolutionary trees, which are a type of networks. The terminal nodes of these trees represent species, which are made of individuals and populations among which gene flow occurs. This flow can also be represented as a network. In this paper we briefly show some properties of these complex networks of evolutionary and ecological relationships. First, we characterize large scale evolutionary relationships in the Tree of Life by a degree distribution. Second, we represent genetic relationships between individuals of a Mediterranean marine plant, Posidonia oceanica, in terms of a Minimum Spanning Tree. Finally, relationships among plant shoots inside populations are represented as networks of genetic similarity.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Proceedings of the Medyfinol06 Conferenc

Anomalous Higgs Couplings

We review the effects of new effective interactions on the Higgs boson phenomenology. New physics in the electroweak bosonic sector is expected to induce additional interactions between the Higgs doublet field and the electroweak gauge bosons leading to anomalous Higgs couplings as well as to anomalous gauge-boson self-interactions. Using a linearly realized $SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y$ invariant effective Lagrangian to describe the bosonic sector of the Standard Model, we review the effects of the new effective interactions on the Higgs boson production rates and decay modes. We summarize the results from searches for the new Higgs signatures induced by the anomalous interactions in order to constrain the scale of new physics in particular at CERN LEP and Fermilab Te vatron colliders.Comment: 35 pages, latex using epsfig.sty psfig.sty and axodraw.sty, 16 postscript figure

The Mass Function of Super Giant Molecular Complexes and Implications for Forming Young Massive Star Clusters in the Antennae (NGC 4038/39)

We have used previously published observations of the CO emission from the Antennae (NGC 4038/39) to study the detailed properties of the super giant molecular complexes with the goal of understanding the formation of young massive star clusters. Over a mass range from 5E6 to 9E8 solar masses, the molecular complexes follow a power-law mass function with a slope of -1.4 +/- 0.1, which is very similar to the slope seen at lower masses in molecular clouds and cloud cores in the Galaxy. Compared to the spiral galaxy M51, which has a similar surface density and total mass of molecular gas, the Antennae contain clouds that are an order of magnitude more massive. Many of the youngest star clusters lie in the gas-rich overlap region, where extinctions as high as Av~100 imply that the clusters must lie in front of the gas. Combining data on the young clusters, thermal and nonthermal radio sources, and the molecular gas suggests that young massive clusters could have formed at a constant rate in the Antennae over the last 160 Myr and that sufficient gas exists to sustain this cluster formation rate well into the future. However, this conclusion requires that a very high fraction of the massive clusters that form initially in the Antennae do not survive as long as 100 Myr. Finally, we compare our data with two models for massive star cluster formation and conclude that the model where young massive star clusters form from dense cores within the observed super giant molecular complexes is most consistent with our current understanding of this merging system. (abbreviated)Comment: 40 pages, four figures; accepted for publication in Ap

Manipulation and Generation of Supercurrent in Out-of-Equilibrium Josephson Tunnel Nanojunctions

We demonstrate experimentally manipulation of supercurrent in Al-AlO_x-Ti Josephson tunnel junctions by injecting quasiparticles in a Ti island from two additional tunnel-coupled Al superconducting reservoirs. Both supercurrent enhancement and quenching with respect to equilibrium are achieved. We demonstrate cooling of the Ti line by quasiparticle injection from the normal state deep into the superconducting phase. A model based on heat transport and non-monotonic current-voltage characteristic of a Josephson junction satisfactorily accounts for our findings.Comment: 4 pages, 4 colour figures, published versio

FUSE Observations of Nebular O VI Emission from NGC 6543

NGC 6543 is one of the few planetary nebulae (PNe) whose X-ray emission has been shown to be extended and originate from hot interior gas. Using FUSE observations we have now detected nebular O VI emission from NGC 6543. Its central star, with an effective temperature of ~50,000 K, is too cool to photoionize O V, so the O VI ions must have been produced by thermal collisions at the interface between the hot interior gas and the cool nebular shell. We modeled the O VI emission incorporating thermal conduction, but find that simplistic assumptions for the AGB and fast wind mass loss rates overproduce X-ray emission and O VI emission. We have therefore adopted the pressure of the interior hot gas for the interface layer and find that expected O VI emission to be comparable to the observations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, using emulateapj.cls style. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter