349 research outputs found
Monte Carlo transition probabilities
Transition probabilities governing the interaction of energy packets and
matter are derived that allow Monte Carlo NLTE transfer codes to be constructed
without simplifying the treatment of line formation. These probabilities are
such that the Monte Carlo calculation asymptotically recovers the local
emissivity of a gas in statistical equilibrium. Numerical experiments with
one-point statistical equilibrium problems for Fe II and Hydrogen confirm this
asymptotic behaviour. In addition, the resulting Monte Carlo emissivities are
shown to be far less sensitive to errors in the populations of the emitting
levels than are the values obtained with the basic emissivity formula.Comment: Improved text. Accepted for publication in A&
Looking back to see the future: building nuclear power plants in Europe
The so-called ‘nuclear renaissance’ in Europe is promulgated by the execution of two large engineering projects involving the construction of two European Pressurized Reactors (EPRs) in Flamanville, France and Olkiluoto in Finland. As both projects have faced budget overruns and delays, this paper analyses their governance and history to derive lessons useful for the construction of future projects. Analysis indicates that the reasons for these poor outcomes are: overoptimistic estimations, first-of-a-kind (FOAK) issues and undervaluation of regulation requirements. These pitfalls have the potential to impact on many other engineering construction projects and highlight fruitful areas of further research into project performance
Ab initio calculation of the 66 low lying electronic states of HeH: adiabatic and diabatic representations
We present an ab initio study of the HeH molecule. Using the quantum
chemistry package MOLPRO and a large adapted basis set, we have calculated the
adiabatic potential energy curves of the first 20 , 19
, 12 , 9 , 4 and 2 electronic
states of the ion in CASSCF and CI approaches. The results are compared with
previous works. The radial and rotational non-adiabatic coupling matrix
elements as well as the dipole moments are also calculated. The asymptotic
behaviour of the potential energy curves and of the various couplings between
the states is also studied. Using the radial couplings, the diabatic
representation is defined and we present an example of our diabatization
procedure on the states.Comment: v2. Minor text changes. 28 pages, 18 figures. accepted in J. Phys.
A combined optical/infrared spectral diagnostic analysis of the HH1 jet
Complete flux-calibrated spectra covering the spectral range from 6000 A to
2.5 um have been obtained along the HH1 jet and analysed in order to explore
the potential of a combined optical/near-IR diagnostic applied to jets from
young stellar objects. Important physical parameters have been derived along
the jet using various diagnostic line ratios. This multi-line analysis shows,
in each spatially unresolved knot, the presence of zones at different
excitation conditions, as expected from the cooling layers behind a shock
front. In particular, a density stratification in the jet is evident from
ratios of various lines of different critical density. In particular, [FeII]
lines originate in a cooling layer located at larger distances from the shock
front than that generating the optical lines, where the compression is higher
and the temperature is declining. The derived parameters were used to measure
the mass flux along the jet, adopting different procedures, the advantages and
limitations of which are discussed. dM/dt is high in the initial part of the
flow but decreases by about an order of magnitude further out. Conversely, the
mass flux associated with the warm molecular material is low and does not show
appreciable variations along the jet. We suggest that part of the mass flux in
the external regions is not revealed in optical and IR lines because it is
associated with a colder atomic component, which may be traced by the far-IR [O
I]63 um line.
Finally, we find that the gas-phase abundance of refractory species is lower
than the solar value suggesting that a significant fraction of dust grains may
still be present in the jet beam.Comment: Accepted on Astronomy & Astrophysic
Putrescine differently influences the effect of salt stress on polyamine metabolism and ethylene synthesis in rice cultivars differing in salt resistance
Effects of salt stress on polyamine metabolism and ethylene production were examined in two rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars [I Kong Pao (IKP), salt sensitive; and Pokkali, salt resistant] grown for 5 d and 12 d in nutrient solution in the presence or absence of putrescine (1 mM) and 0, 50, and 100 mM NaCl. The salt-sensitive (IKP) and salt-resistant (Pokkali) cultivars differ not only in their mean levels of putrescine, but also in the physiological functions assumed by this molecule in stressed tissues. Salt stress increased the proportion of conjugated putrescine in salt-resistant Pokkali and decreased it in the salt-sensitive IKP, suggesting a possible protective function in response to NaCl. Activities of the enzymes ornithine decarboxylase (ODC; EC 4.1.1.17) and arginine decarboxylase (ADC; EC 4.1.1.19) involved in putrescine synthesis were higher in salt-resistant Pokkali than in salt-sensitive IKP. Both enzymes were involved in the response to salt stress. Salt stress also increased diamine oxidase (DAO; 1.4.3.6) and polyamine oxidase (PAO EC 1.5.3.11) activities in the roots of salt-resistant Pokkali and in the shoots of salt-sensitive IKP. Gene expression followed by reverse transcription-PCR suggested that putrescine could have a post-translational impact on genes coding for ADC (ADCa) and ODC (ODCa and ODCb) but could induce a transcriptional activation of genes coding for PAO (PAOb) mainly in the shoot of salt-stressed plants. The salt-resistant cultivar Pokkali produced higher amounts of ethylene than the salt-sensitive cultivar IKP, and exogenous putrescine increased ethylene synthesis in both cultivars, suggesting no direct antagonism between polyamine and ethylene pathways in rice
Accretion and ejection properties of embedded protostars: the case of HH26, HH34 and HH46 IRS
We present the results of a near-IR spectroscopic analysis on 3 young
embedded sources (HH26IRS, HH34IRS and HH46IRS) belonging to different
star-forming regions and displaying well developed jet structures. The aim is
to investigate the source accretion and ejection properties and their
connection. We used VLT-ISAAC spectra (R~9000, H and K bands) to derive in a
self-consistent way parameters like the star luminosity, the accretion
luminosity and the mass accretion rate. Mass loss rates have also been
estimated from the analysis of different emission features. The spectra present
several emission lines but no photospheric features in absorption, indicating a
large veiling in H and K. We detected features commonly observed in jet-driving
sources (HI,[FeII],H_2,CO) and also a number of emission lines due to permitted
atomic transitions, like NaI and TiI. The NaI 2.2um doublet is observed along
with CO(2-0) band-head emission, indicating a common origin in an inner gaseous
disc heated by accretion. We find that accretion provides ~50% and ~80% of the
bolometric luminosity in HH26IRS and HH34IRS, as expected for accreting young
objects.Mass accretion and loss rates spanning 10^-8 - 10^-6 Msun/yr have been
measured. The derived Mloss/Macc is ~0.01 for HH26IRS and HH34IRS, and >0.1 for
HH46IRS, numbers that are in the range of values predicted by MHD jet-launching
models and found in the most active classical T Tauri stars. Comparison with
other similar studies seems to indicate that Class Is actually having
accretion- dominated luminosities are a limited number. Although the analysed
sample is small, we tentatively present some criteria to characterise such
sources. Studies like the one presented here but on larger samples of
candidates should be performed in order to test and refine these criteria.Comment: Accepted for A&A - 13 pages, 7 figure
Recipes for stellar jets: results of combined optical/infrared diagnostics
We examine the conditions of the plasma along a sample of 'classical'
Herbig-Haro jets located in the Orion and Vela star forming regions, through
combined optical-infrared spectral diagnostics. Our sample includes HH 111, HH
34, HH 83, HH 73, HH 24 C/E, HH 24 J, observed at moderate spatial/spectral
resolution. The obtained spectra cover a wide wavelength range from 0.6-2.5 um,
including many transitions from regions of different excitation conditions.
This allows us to probe the density and temperature stratification which
characterises the cooling zones behind the shock fronts along the jet. The
derived physical parameters (such as the extinction, the electron density and
temperature, the ionisation fraction, and the total density) are used to
estimate the depletion onto dust grains of Calcium and Iron with respect to
solar abundances. This turns out to be between 70% and 0% for Ca and ~90% for
Fe, suggesting that the weak shocks present in the beams are not capable of
completely destroying the dust grains. We then derive the mass flux rates
(Mdot_jet is on average 5 10^-8 M_solar yr^-1) and the associated linear
momentum fluxes. The latter are higher than, or of the same order as, those
measured in the coaxial molecular flows, suggesting that the flows are jet
driven. Finally, we discuss differences between jets in our sample.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, accepted by A&
Observational Constraints on Chaplygin Quartessence: Background Results
We derive the constraints set by several experiments on the quartessence
Chaplygin model (QCM). In this scenario, a single fluid component drives the
Universe from a nonrelativistic matter-dominated phase to an accelerated
expansion phase behaving, first, like dark matter and in a more recent epoch
like dark energy. We consider current data from SNIa experiments, statistics of
gravitational lensing, FR IIb radio galaxies, and x-ray gas mass fraction in
galaxy clusters. We investigate the constraints from this data set on flat
Chaplygin quartessence cosmologies. The observables considered here are
dependent essentially on the background geometry, and not on the specific form
of the QCM fluctuations. We obtain the confidence region on the two parameters
of the model from a combined analysis of all the above tests. We find that the
best-fit occurs close to the CDM limit (). The standard
Chaplygin quartessence () is also allowed by the data, but only at
the level.Comment: Replaced to match the published version, references update
Morris-Thorne wormholes with a cosmological constant
First, the ideas introduced in the wormhole research field since the work of
Morris and Thorne are briefly reviewed, namely, the issues of energy
conditions, wormhole construction, stability, time machines and astrophysical
signatures. Then, spherically symmetric and static traversable Morris-Thorne
wormholes in the presence of a generic cosmological constant are analyzed. A
matching of an interior solution to the unique exterior vacuum solution is done
using directly the Einstein equations. The structure as well as several
physical properties and characteristics of traversable wormholes due to the
effects of the cosmological term are studied. Interesting equations appear in
the process of matching. For instance, one finds that for asymptotically flat
and anti-de Sitter spacetimes the surface tangential pressure of the
thin-shell, at the boundary of the interior and exterior solutions, is always
strictly positive, whereas for de Sitter spacetime it can take either sign as
one could expect, being negative (tension) for relatively high cosmological
constant and high wormhole radius, positive for relatively high mass and small
wormhole radius, and zero in-between. Finally, some specific solutions with
generic cosmological constant, based on the Morris-Thorne solutions, are
provided.Comment: latex, 49 pages, 8 figures. Expanded version of the paper published
in Physical Review
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