3,254 research outputs found
A state-of-the-art analysis of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822
We present a detailed photometric study of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC
6822 aimed at investigating the properties of its stellar populations and, in
particular, the presence of stellar radial gradients. Our goal is to analyse
the stellar populations in six fields, which cover the whole bar of this dwarf
galaxy. We derived the quantitative star formation history (SFH) of the six
fields using the IAC method, involving IAC-pop/MinnIAC codes. The solutions we
derived show an enhanced star formation rate (SFR) in Fields 1 and 3 during the
past 500 Myr. The SFRs of the other fields are almost extinguished at very
recent epochs and. We study the radial gradients of the SFR and consider the
total mass converted into stars in two time intervals (between 0 and 0.5 Gyr
ago and between 0.5 and 13.5 Gyr ago). We find that the scale lengths of the
young and intermediate-to-old populations are perfectly compatible, with the
exception of the young populations in Fields 1 and 3. The recent SF in these
two fields is greater than in the other ones. This might be an indication that
in these two fields we are sampling incipient spiral arms. Further evidence and
new observations are required to prove this hypothesis. In addition, we derived
the age-metallicity relations. As expected, the metallicity increases with time
for all of the fields. We do not observe any radial gradient in the
metallicity.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, Accepted to A&
Spatially resolved LMC star formation history: I. Outside in evolution of the outer LMC disk
We study the evolution of three fields in the outer LMC disk Rgc=3.5-6.2 Kpc.
Their star formation history indicates a stellar populations gradient such that
younger stellar populations are more centrally concentrated. We identify two
main star forming epochs, separated by a period of lower activity between ~7
and ~4 Gyr ago. Their relative importance varies from a similar amount of stars
formed in the two epochs in the innermost field, to only 40% of the stars
formed in the more recent epoch in the outermost field. The young star forming
epoch continues to the present time in the innermost field, but lasted only
till ~0.8 and 1.3 Gyr ago at Rgc=5.5 degrees and 7.1 degrees, respectively.
This gradient is correlated with the measured HI column density and implies an
outside-in quenching of the star formation, possibly related to a variation of
the size of the HI disk. This could either result from gas depletion due to
star formation or ram-pressure stripping, or from to the compression of the gas
disk as ram-pressure from the Milky Way halo acted on the LMC interstellar
medium. The latter two situations may have occurred when the LMC first
approached the Milky Way.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables. MNRAS, in pres
Rotation of Hot Horizontal Branch Stars in the Globular Clusters NGC 1904, NGC 2808, NGC 6093 and NGC 7078
We present high resolution UVES+VLT spectroscopic observations of 56 stars in
the extended horizontal branch (EHB) of the Galactic globular clusters NGC
1904, NGC 2808, NGC 6093, and NGC 7078. Our data reveal for the first time the
presence in NGC 1904 of a sizable population of fast (vsini > 20 km/s)
horizontal branch (HB) rotators, confined to the cool end of the EHB, similar
to that found in M13. We also confirm the fast rotators already observed in NGC
7078. The cooler stars (Teff < 11,500 K) in these three clusters show a range
of rotation rates, with a group of stars rotating at ~ 15 km/s or less, and a
fast rotating group at ~ 30 km/s. Apparently, the fast rotators are relatively
more abundant in NGC 1904 and M13, than in NGC 7078. No fast rotators have been
identified in NGC 2808 and NGC 6093. All the stars hotter than Teff ~ 11,500 K
have projected rotational velocities vsini < 12 km/s, but less than 20% have
vsini < 2 km/s. The connection between photometric gaps in the HB and the
change in the projected rotational velocities is not confirmed by the new data.
However, our data are consistent with a relation between this discontinuity and
the HB jump. We discuss a number of possibilities for the origin of the stellar
rotation distribution along the HB. We conclude that none of them can yet
provide a satisfactory explanation of the observations.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, ApJ Letter, accepte
Strategies for analyzing highly enriched IP-chip datasets
BACKGROUND: Chromatin immunoprecipitation on tiling arrays (ChIP-chip) has been employed to examine features such as protein binding and histone modifications on a genome-wide scale in a variety of cell types. Array data from the latter studies typically have a high proportion of enriched probes whose signals vary considerably (due to heterogeneity in the cell population), and this makes their normalization and downstream analysis difficult. RESULTS: Here we present strategies for analyzing such experiments, focusing our discussion on the analysis of Bromodeoxyruridine (BrdU) immunoprecipitation on tiling array (BrdU-IP-chip) datasets. BrdU-IP-chip experiments map large, recently replicated genomic regions and have similar characteristics to histone modification/location data. To prepare such data for downstream analysis we employ a dynamic programming algorithm that identifies a set of putative unenriched probes, which we use for both within-array and between-array normalization. We also introduce a second dynamic programming algorithm that incorporates a priori knowledge to identify and quantify positive signals in these datasets. CONCLUSION: Highly enriched IP-chip datasets are often difficult to analyze with traditional array normalization and analysis strategies. Here we present and test a set of analytical tools for their normalization and quantification that allows for accurate identification and analysis of enriched regions
Multiple stellar populations in Magellanic Cloud clusters. III. The first evidence of an extended main sequence turn-off in a young cluster: NGC1856
Recent studies have shown that the extended main-sequence turn off (eMSTO) is
a common feature of intermediate-age star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds
(MCs). The most simple explanation is that these stellar systems harbor
multiple generations of stars with an age difference of a few hundred Myrs.
However, while an eMSTO has been detected in a large number of clusters with
ages between ~1-2 Gyrs, several studies of young clusters in both MCs and in
nearby galaxies do not find any evidence for a prolonged star-formation
history, i.e. for multiple stellar generations. These results have suggested
alternative interpretation of the eMSTOs observed in intermediate-age star
clusters. The eMSTO could be due to stellar rotation mimicking an age spread or
to interacting binaries. In these scenarios, intermediate-age MC clusters would
be simple stellar populations, in close analogy with younger clusters.
Here we provide the first evidence for an eMSTO in a young stellar cluster.
We exploit multi-band Hubble Space Telescope photometry to study the ~300-Myr
old star cluster NGC1856 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and detected a broadened
MSTO that is consistent with a prolonged star-formation which had a duration of
about 150 Myrs. Below the turn-off, the MS of NGC1856 is split into a red and
blue component, hosting 33+/-5% and 67+/-5% of the total number of MS stars,
respectively. We discuss these findings in the context of
multiple-stellar-generation, stellar-rotation, and interacting-binary
hypotheses.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Virtual Processes and Superradiance in Spin-Boson Models
We consider spin-boson models composed by a single bosonic mode and an
ensemble of identical two-level atoms. The situation where the coupling
between the bosonic mode and the atoms generates real and virtual processes is
studied, where the whole system is in thermal equilibrium with a reservoir at
temperature . Phase transitions from ordinary fluorescence to
superradiant phase in three different models is investigated. First a model
where the coupling between the bosonic mode and the atom is via the
pseudo-spin operator is studied. Second, we investigate the
generalized Dicke model, introducing different coupling constants between the
single mode bosonic field and the environment, and for rotating
and counter-rotating terms, respectively. Finally it is considered a modified
version of the generalized Dicke model with intensity-dependent coupling in the
rotating terms. In the first model the zero mode contributes to render the
canonical entropy a negative quantity for low temperatures. The last two models
presents phase transitions, even when only Hamiltonian terms which generates
virtual processes are considered
LCC-HVDC Connection of Offshore Wind Farms With Reduced Filter Banks
Despite being more efficient, line commutated converter-HVDC links for the connection of large offshore wind farms have ac-filter bank size as one of their main drawbacks. This paper shows how the HVDC rectifier filter banks can be substantially reduced by taking advantage of the additional control possibilities offered by the use of wind turbines with fully rated converters. PSCAD simulations validate wind farm and diode rectifier HVDC link operation with a capacitor and filter bank five times smaller than its usual value. The proposed control algorithm allows for good harmonic and reactive power sharing between the different wind turbines. As the reduced capacitor bank operation leads to a redistribution of harmonic and reactive currents, an efficiency study has been carried out to evaluate the new power loss distribution with the reduced filter banks
On the volumetric properties of 2-hydroxy ethylammonium formate ionic liquid under high-pressures: Measurement and molecular dynamics
This work aims to report not only the new measurement for densities of 2-hydroxy ethylammonium formate (2-HEAF) ionic liquid under high-pressures but also molecular dynamics considerations of nanoscopic characterization for physicochemical properties in the pressure range studied. High-pressure densities of 2-HEAF showed smooth trends with temperature and pressure variations. Measurements were carried out at temperatures T = (298.15 to 333.15) K and at pressures P = (0.1 to 40) MPa. The high-pressure densities of 2-HEAF have also been correlated by the use of Tait equation with AARD equal to 0.031% and the mechanical coefficients including the isothermal compressibility, isobaric expansivity and thermal pressure were estimated. Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out in the same pressure – temperature range as the experimental study. Force field was validated against experimental results and the microscopic structure was analyzed in terms of intermolecular interactions and their evolution with temperature and pressure.Iran National Science Foundation for supporting this project via the grant number (INSF-96000966
- …