454 research outputs found
A new Devonian euthycarcinoid reveals the use of different respiratory strategies during the marine-to-terrestrial transition in the myriapod lineage.
Myriapods were, together with arachnids, the earliest animals to occupy terrestrial ecosystems, by at least the Silurian. The origin of myriapods and their land colonization have long remained puzzling until euthycarcinoids, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods considered amphibious, were shown to be stem-group myriapods, extending the lineage to the Cambrian and evidencing a marine-to-terrestrial transition. Although possible respiratory structures comparable to the air-breathing tracheal system of myriapods are visible in several euthycarcinoids, little is known about the mechanism by which they respired. Here, we describe a new euthycarcinoid from Upper Devonian alluvio-lagoonal deposits of Belgium. Synchrotron-based elemental X-ray analyses were used to extract all available information from the only known specimen. Sulfur X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping and spectroscopy unveil sulfate evaporation stains, spread over the entire slab, suggestive of a very shallow-water to the terrestrial environment prior to burial consistent with an amphibious lifestyle. Trace metal XRF mapping reveals a pair of ventral spherical cavities or chambers on the second post-abdominal segment that do not compare to any known feature in aquatic arthropods, but might well play a part in air-breathing. Our data provide additional support for amphibious lifestyle in euthycarcinoids and show that different respiratory strategies were used during the marine-to-terrestrial transition in the myriapod lineage
An outflow in the Seyfert ESO 362-G18 revealed by Gemini-GMOS/IFU observations
Indexación: Scopus.We present two-dimensional stellar and gaseous kinematics of the inner 0.7 × 1.2 kpc2 of the Seyfert 1.5 galaxy ESO 362-G18, derived from optical (4092-7338 Å) spectra obtained with the GMOS integral field spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope at a spatial resolution of ≈ 170 pc and spectral resolution of 36 km s-1. ESO 362-G18 is a strongly perturbed galaxy of morphological type Sa or S0/a, with a minor merger approaching along the NE direction. Previous studies have shown that the [O III] emission shows a fan-shaped extension of ≈ 10′′ to the SE. We detect the [O III] doublet, [N II] and Hα emission lines throughout our field of view. The stellar kinematics is dominated by circular motions in the galaxy plane, with a kinematic position angle of ≈ 137° and is centred approximately on the continuum peak. The gas kinematics is also dominated by rotation, with kinematic position angles ranging from 122° to 139°, projected velocity amplitudes of the order of 100 km s-1, and a mean velocity dispersion of 100 km s-1. A double-Gaussian fit to the [O III]λ5007 and Hα lines, which have the highest signal to noise ratios of the emission lines, reveal two kinematic components: (1) a component at lower radial velocities which we interpret as gas rotating in the galactic disk; and (2) a component with line of sight velocities 100-250 km s-1 higher than the systemic velocity, interpreted as originating in the outflowing gas within the AGN ionization cone. We estimate a mass outflow rate of 7.4 × 10-2 M⊙ yr-1 in the SE ionization cone (this rate doubles if we assume a biconical configuration), and a mass accretion rate on the supermassive black hole (SMBH) of 2.2 × 10-2 M⊙ yr-1. The total ionized gas mass within ∼84 pc of the nucleus is 3.3 × 105 M⊙; infall velocities of ∼34 km s-1 in this gas would be required to feed both the outflow and SMBH accretion. © ESO 2018.https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2018/06/aa31671-17/aa31671-17.htm
PROFIT: a new alternative for emission-line PROfile FITting
I briefly describe a simple routine for emission-line profiles fitting by
Gaussian curves or Gauss-Hermite series. The PROFIT (line-PROfile FITting)
routine represent a new alternative for use in fits data cubes, as those from
Integral Field Spectroscopy or Fabry-Perot Interferometry, and may be useful to
better study the emission-line flux distributions and gas kinematics in
distinct astrophysical objects, such as the central regions of galaxies and
star forming regions. The PROFIT routine is written in IDL language and is
available at http://www.ufsm.br/rogemar/software.html.
The PROFIT routine was used to fit the [Fe II]1.257um emission-line profiles
for about 1800 spectra of the inner 350 pc of the Seyfert galaxy Mrk1066
obtained with Gemini NIFS and shows that the line profiles are better
reproduced by Gauss-Hermite series than by the commonly used Gaussian curves.
The two-dimensional map of the h_3 Gauss-Hermite moment shows its highest
absolute values in regions close to the edge of the radio structure. These high
values may be originated in an biconical outflowing gas associated with the
radio jet - previously observed in the optical [O III] emission. The analysis
of this kinematic component indicates that the radio jet leaves the center of
the galaxy with the north-west side slightly oriented towards us and the
south-east side away from us, being partially hidden by the disc of the galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication Astrophysics & Space Science - 7 pges; 4
Fig
On the statistical significance of the conductance quantization
Recent experiments on atomic-scale metallic contacts have shown that the
quantization of the conductance appears clearly only after the average of the
experimental results. Motivated by these results we have analyzed a simplified
model system in which a narrow neck is randomly coupled to wide ideal leads,
both in absence and presence of time reversal invariance. Based on Random
Matrix Theory we study analytically the probability distribution for the
conductance of such system. As the width of the leads increases the
distribution for the conductance becomes sharply peaked close to an integer
multiple of the quantum of conductance. Our results suggest a possible
statistical origin of conductance quantization in atomic-scale metallic
contacts.Comment: 4 pages, Tex and 3 figures. To be published in PR
The 2-Channel Kondo Model I: Review of Experimental Evidence for its Realization in Metal Nanoconstrictions
Certain zero-bias anomalies (ZBAs) in the voltage, temperature and magnetic
field dependence of the conductance of quenched Cu point contacts
have previously been interpreted to be due to non-magnetic 2-channel Kondo
(2CK) scattering from near-degenerate atomic two-level tunneling systems (Ralph
and Buhrman, 1992; Ralph et al. 1994), and hence to represent an experimental
realization of the non-Fermi-liquid physics of the T=0 fixed point of the
2-channel Kondo model. In this, the first in a series of three papers
(I,II,III) devoted to 2-channel Kondo physics, we present a comprehensive
review of the quenched Cu ZBA experiments and their 2CK interpretation,
including new results on ZBAs in constrictions made from Ti or from metallic
glasses. We first review the evidence that the ZBAs are due to electron
scattering from stuctural defects that are not static, but possess internal
dynamics. In order to distinguish between several mechanisms proposed to
explain the experiments, we then analyze the scaling properties of the
conductance at low temperature and voltage and extract from the data a
universal scaling function . The theoretical calculation of the
corresponding scaling function within the 2CK model is the subject of papers II
and III. The main conclusion of our work is that the properties of the ZBAs,
and most notably their scaling behavior, are in good agreement with the 2CK
model and clearly different from several other proposed mechanisms.Comment: 35 pages RevTeX, 19 encapsulated postscript figures; this final
published version features two additional authors, an additional section
reviewing recent experiments on Ti nanoconstrictions that agree very well
with the 2-channel Kondo model, 6 new figures (and is much shorter the
previous 53 page version, due to reformatting
On the stability of scalar-vacuum space-times
We study the stability of static, spherically symmetric solutions to the
Einstein equations with a scalar field as the source. We describe a general
methodology of studying small radial perturbations of scalar-vacuum
configurations with arbitrary potentials V(\phi), and in particular space-times
with throats (including wormholes), which are possible if the scalar is
phantom. At such a throat, the effective potential for perturbations V_eff has
a positive pole (a potential wall) that prevents a complete perturbation
analysis. We show that, generically, (i) V_eff has precisely the form required
for regularization by the known S-deformation method, and (ii) a solution with
the regularized potential leads to regular scalar field and metric
perturbations of the initial configuration. The well-known conformal mappings
make these results also applicable to scalar-tensor and f(R) theories of
gravity. As a particular example, we prove the instability of all static
solutions with both normal and phantom scalars and V(\phi) = 0 under spherical
perturbations. We thus confirm the previous results on the unstable nature of
anti-Fisher wormholes and Fisher's singular solution and prove the instability
of other branches of these solutions including the anti-Fisher "cold black
holes".Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. A few comments and references added. Final
version accepted at EPJ
Interacting new agegraphic viscous dark energy with varying
We consider the new agegraphic model of dark energy with a varying
gravitational constant, , in a non-flat universe. We obtain the equation of
state and the deceleration parameters for both interacting and noninteracting
new agegraphic dark energy. We also present the equation of motion determining
the evolution behavior of the dark energy density with a time variable
gravitational constant. Finally, we generalize our study to the case of viscous
new agegraphic dark energy in the presence of an interaction term between both
dark components.Comment: 12 pages, accepted for publication in IJTP (2010
Gravitational field around a time-like current-carrying screwed cosmic string in scalar-tensor theories
In this paper we obtain the space-time generated by a time-like
current-carrying superconducting screwed cosmic string(TCSCS). This
gravitational field is obtained in a modified scalar-tensor theory in the sense
that torsion is taken into account. We show that this solution is comptible
with a torsion field generated by the scalar field . The analysis of
gravitational effects of a TCSCS shows up that the torsion effects that appear
in the physical frame of Jordan-Fierz can be described in a geometric form
given by contorsion term plus a symmetric part which contains the scalar
gradient. As an important application of this solution, we consider the linear
perturbation method developed by Zel'dovich, investigate the accretion of cold
dark matter due to the formation of wakes when a TCSCS moves with speed and
discuss the role played by torsion. Our results are compared with those
obtained for cosmic strings in the framework of scalar-tensor theories without
taking torsion into account.Comment: 21 pages, no figures, Revised Version, presented at the "XXIV-
Encontro Nacional de Fisica de Particulas e Campos ", Caxambu, MG, Brazil, to
appear in Phys. Rev.
Stellar populations in local AGNs: evidence for enhanced star formation in the inner 100 pc
Galaxie
Weak Localization Effect in Superconductors by Radiation Damage
Large reductions of the superconducting transition temperature and
the accompanying loss of the thermal electrical resistivity (electron-phonon
interaction) due to radiation damage have been observed for several A15
compounds, Chevrel phase and Ternary superconductors, and in
the high fluence regime. We examine these behaviors based on the recent theory
of weak localization effect in superconductors. We find a good fitting to the
experimental data. In particular, weak localization correction to the
phonon-mediated interaction is derived from the density correlation function.
It is shown that weak localization has a strong influence on both the
phonon-mediated interaction and the electron-phonon interaction, which leads to
the universal correlation of and resistance ratio.Comment: 16 pages plus 3 figures, revtex, 76 references, For more information,
Plesse see http://www.fen.bilkent.edu.tr/~yjki
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