391 research outputs found
Fundamental parameters of Cepheids. V. Additional photometry and radial velocity for southern Cepheids
I present photometric and radial velocity data for Galactic Cepheids, most of
them being in the southern hemisphere. There are 1250 Geneva 7-color
photometric measurements for 62 Cepheids, the average uncertainty per
measurement is better than 0.01 mag. A total of 832 velocity measurements have
been obtained with the CORAVEL radial velocity spectrograph for 46 Cepheids.
The average accuracy of the radial velocity data is 0.38 km/s. There are 33
stars with both photometry and radial velocity data. I discuss the possible
binarity or period change that these new data reveal. I also present reddenings
for all Cepheids with photometry. The data are available electronically.Comment: To appear in ApJS. Data available electronically at
ftp://cfa-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/dbersier
An Error Analysis of the Geometric Baade-Wesselink Method
We derive an analytic solution for the minimization problem in the geometric
Baade-Wesselink method. This solution allows deriving the distance and mean
radius of a pulsating star by fitting its velocity curve and angular diameter
measured interferometrically. The method also provide analytic solutions for
the confidence levels of the best fit parameters, and accurate error estimates
for the Baade-Wesselink solution. Special care is taken in the analysis of the
various error sources in the final solution, among which the uncertainties due
to the projection factor, the limb darkening and the velocity curve. We also
discuss the importance of the phase shift between the stellar lightcurve and
the velocity curve as a potential error source in the geometric Baade-Wesselink
method. We finally discuss the case of the Classical Cepheid zeta Gem, applying
our method to the measurements derived with the Palomar Testbed Interferometer.
We show how a careful treatment of the measurement errors can be potentially
used to discriminate between different models of limb darkening using
interferometric techniques.Comment: 24 pages, to be published on the Astrophysical Journal, vol. 603
March 200
First principles study of local electronic and magnetic properties in pure and electron-doped NdCuO
The local electronic structure of Nd2CuO4 is determined from ab-initio
cluster calculations in the framework of density functional theory.
Spin-polarized calculations with different multiplicities enable a detailed
study of the charge and spin density distributions, using clusters that
comprise up to 13 copper atoms in the CuO2plane. Electron doping is simulated
by two different approaches and the resulting changes in the local charge
distribution are studied in detail and compared to the corresponding changes in
hole doped La2CuO4. The electric field gradient (EFG) at the copper nucleus is
investigated in detail and good agreement is found with experimental values. In
particular the drastic reduction of the main component of the EFG in the
electron-doped material with respect to LaCuO4 is explained by a reduction of
the occupancy of the 3d3z^2-r^2 atomic orbital. Furthermore, the chemical
shieldings at the copper nucleus are determined and are compared to results
obtained from NMR measurements. The magnetic hyperfine coupling constants are
determined from the spin density distribution
Electronic, dynamical and superconducting properties of CaBeSi
We report first-principles calculations on the normal and superconducting
state of CaBe(x)Si(2-x) (x=1), in the framework of density functional theory
for superconductors (SCDFT). CaBeSi is isostructural and isoelectronic to MgB2
and this makes possible a direct comparison of the electronic and vibrational
properties and the electron-phonon interaction of the two materials. Despite
the many similarities with MgB2 (e.g. sigma bands at the Fermi level and a
larger Fermi surface nesting), according to our calculations CaBeSi has a very
low critical temperature (Tc ~ 0.4 K, consistent with the experiment). CaBeSi
exhibits a complex gap structure, with three gaps at Fermi level: besides the
two sigma and pi gaps, present also in MgB2, the appearance of a third gap is
related to the anisotropy of the Coulomb repulsion, acting in different way on
the bonding and antibonding electronic pi states.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
The effects of temperature and dispersal on species diversity in natural microbial metacommunities
Dispersal is key for maintaining biodiversity at local- and regional scales in metacommunities. However, little is known about the combined effects of dispersal and climate change on biodiversity. Theory predicts that alpha-diversity is maximized at intermediate dispersal rates, resulting in a hump-shaped diversity-dispersal relationship. This relationship is predicted to flatten when competition increases. We anticipate that this same flattening will occur with increased temperature because, in the rising part of the temperature performance curve, interspecific competition is predicted to increase. We explored this question using aquatic communities of Sarracenia purpurea from early- and late-successional stages, in which we simulated four levels of dispersal and four temperature scenarios. With increased dispersal, the hump shape was observed consistently in late successional communities, but only in higher temperature treatments in early succession. Increased temperature did not flatten the hump-shape relationship, but decreased the level of alpha- and gamma- diversity. Interestingly, higher temperatures negatively impacted small-bodied species. These metacommunity-level extinctions likely relaxed interspecific competition, which could explain the absence of flattening of the diversity-dispersal relationship. Our findings suggest that climate change will cause extinctions both at local- and global- scales and emphasize the importance of intermediate levels of dispersal as an insurance for local diversity
Classical Cepheid Pulsation Models. III. The Predictable Scenario
Within the current uncertainties in the treatment of the coupling between
pulsation and convection, limiting amplitude, nonlinear, convective models
appear the only viable approach for providing theoretical predictions about the
intrinsic properties of radial pulsators. In this paper we present the results
of a comprehensive set of Cepheid models computed within such theoretical
framework for selected assumptions on their original chemical composition.Comment: 24 pages, 1 latex file containing 6 tables, 10 postscript figures,
accepted for publication on Ap
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