Computing Matveev's complexity via crystallization theory: the boundary case

The notion of Gem-Matveev complexity has been introduced within crystallization theory, as a combinatorial method to estimate Matveev's complexity of closed 3-manifolds; it yielded upper bounds for interesting classes of such manifolds. In this paper we extend the definition to the case of non-empty boundary and prove that for each compact irreducible and boundary-irreducible 3-manifold it coincides with the modified Heegaard complexity introduced by Cattabriga, Mulazzani and Vesnin. Moreover, via Gem-Matveev complexity, we obtain an estimation of Matveev's complexity for all Seifert 3-manifolds with base $\mathbb D^2$ and two exceptional fibers and, therefore, for all torus knot complements.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figure

Sistemas de culturas sob diferentes manejos por longa duração alteram as formas de fósforo do solo?

The thesis objective was to evaluate the forms of accumulation and release of phosphorus from cover crops waste under long time of different soil management systems and its relationship with the soil phosphorus forms. The experiment was established in 1986 on an Oxisol in the IAPAR experimental station in Pato Branco, Paraná State, Brazil. The treatments consisted of six winter cover crops (blue lupine, vetch, oats, radish, rye and wheat) and the winter fallow treatment, cultivated under no-tillage (NT) and conventional (CT). In September 2011 were collected soil samples (0-5 and 5-10 cm) and the shoots of winter cover crops. Confected litterbags (0.2 x 0.2 m) were collected at 7, 14, 28, 56 and 112 days after the cover crops management. In the residues collected, we assessed the accumulation of C, N, P, and held the fractionation of P. In the soil samples, we made the separation of aggregates by wet way and in the original soil and aggregates we evaluated the content of total C, N, P, the P forms, and the acid phosphatase activity. The distribution of P forms in the cover crops tissue varies among species and their accumulation was a function of nutrient soil P availability, as in NT. But for all of them, the soluble inorganic P was the principal storage form. The release of P from plant residues depends not only on its rate of decomposition, but also on the content of total and soluble P. The vetch and rye have great potential to recycle soil P, and this amount of P should be considered when prescribing phosphorus fertilization for the culture implanted in sequence. However, the long term cultivation of different winter cover crops did not affected the soil P forms in highly weathered clay soils, managed under NT and CT. On the other hand, practices that favor the accumulation of organic residues on the soil surface as the NT system, increase the acid phosphatase enzyme activity and labile organic and inorganic P forms, besides the formation of larger aggregates, which have higher levels of C, N, total P and organic labile P

VLA 3.5 cm continuum sources in the Serpens cloud core

We present VLA 3.5 cm continuum observations of the Serpens cloud core. 22 radio continuum sources are detected. 16 out of the 22 cm sources are suggested to be associated with young stellar objects (Class 0, Class I, flat-spectrum, and Class II) of the young Serpens cluster. The rest of the VLA sources plausibly are background objects. Most of the Serpens cm sources likely represent thermal radio jets; on the other hand, the radio continuum emission of some sources could be due to a gyrosynchroton mechanism arising from coronally active young stars. The Serpens VLA sources are spatially distributed into two groups; one of them located towards the NW clump of the Serpens core, where only Class 0 and Class I protostars are found to present cm emission, and a second group located towards the SE clump, where radio continuum sources are associated with objects in evolutionary classes from Class 0 to Class II. This subgrouping is similar to that found in the near IR, mid-IR and mm wavelength regimes.Comment: 2 figures, accepted by Astronomical journa

Near-Infrared Adaptive Optics Imaging of the Central Regions of Nearby Sc Galaxies: I. M33

Near-infrared images obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) Adaptive Optics Bonnette (AOB) are used to investigate the stellar content within 18 arcsec of the center of the Local Group spiral galaxy M33. AGB stars with near-infrared spectral-energy distributions similar to those of giants in the solar neighborhood and Baade's Window are detected over most of the field. The bolometric luminosity function (LF) of these stars has a discontinuity near M_{bol} = -5.25, and comparisons with evolutionary tracks suggest that most of the AGB stars formed in a burst of star formation 1 - 3 Gyr in the past. The images are also used to investigate the integrated near-infrared photometric properties of the nucleus and the central light concentration. The nucleus is bluer than the central light concentration, in agreement with previous studies at visible wavelengths. The CO index of the central light concentration 0.5 arcsec from the galaxy center is 0.05, which corresponds to [Fe/H] = -1.2 for simple stellar systems. Hence, the central light concentration could not have formed from the chemically-enriched material that dominates the present-day inner disk of M33.Comment: 23 pages of text + 11 figures; to appear in A

New application of superconductors: high sensitivity cryogenic light detectors

In this paper we describe the current status of the CALDER project, which is developing ultra-sensitive light detectors based on superconductors for cryogenic applications. When we apply an AC current to a superconductor, the Cooper pairs oscillate and acquire kinetic inductance, that can be measured by inserting the superconductor in a LC circuit with high merit factor. Interactions in the superconductor can break the Cooper pairs, causing sizable variations in the kinetic inductance and, thus, in the response of the LC circuit. The continuous monitoring of the amplitude and frequency modulation allows to reconstruct the incident energy with excellent sensitivity. This concept is at the basis of Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs), that are characterized by natural aptitude to multiplexed read-out (several sensors can be tuned to different resonant frequencies and coupled to the same line), resolution of few eV, stable behavior over a wide temperature range, and ease in fabrication. We present the results obtained by the CALDER collaboration with 2x2 cm2 substrates sampled by 1 or 4 Aluminum KIDs. We show that the performances of the first prototypes are already competitive with those of other commonly used light detectors, and we discuss the strategies for a further improvement

Characterization of the KID-Based Light Detectors of CALDER

The aim of the Cryogenic wide-Area Light Detectors with Excellent Resolution (CALDER) project is the development of light detectors with active area of $5\times5$ cm$^2$ and noise energy resolution smaller than 20 eV RMS, implementing phonon-mediated kinetic inductance detectors. The detectors are developed to improve the background suppression in large-mass bolometric experiments such as CUORE, via the double read-out of the light and the heat released by particles interacting in the bolometers. In this work, we present the characterization of the first light detectors developed by CALDER. We describe the analysis tools to evaluate the resonator parameters (resonant frequency and quality factors) taking into account simultaneously all the resonance distortions introduced by the read-out chain (as the feed-line impedance and its mismatch) and by the power stored in the resonator itself. We detail the method for the selection of the optimal point for the detector operation (maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio). Finally, we present the response of the detector to optical pulses in the energy range of 0-30 keV

Compact 3-manifolds via 4-colored graphs

We introduce a representation of compact 3-manifolds without spherical boundary components via (regular) 4-colored graphs, which turns out to be very convenient for computer aided study and tabulation. Our construction is a direct generalization of the one given in the eighties by S. Lins for closed 3-manifolds, which is in turn dual to the earlier construction introduced by Pezzana's school in Modena. In this context we establish some results concerning fundamental groups, connected sums, moves between graphs representing the same manifold, Heegaard genus and complexity, as well as an enumeration and classification of compact 3-manifolds representable by graphs with few vertices ($\le 6$ in the non-orientable case and $\le 8$ in the orientable one).Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures; changes suggested by referee: references added, figure 2 modified, results about classification of the manifolds in Proposition 17 announced at the end of section 9. Accepted for publication in RACSAM. The final publication is available at Springer (see DOI

Estabilidade de agregados de um Latossolo Vermelho sob diferentes plantas de coberturas de inverno e sistemas de preparo do solo.

Os sistemas de manejo agrícolas interferem nas características físicas do solo, principalmente na agregação. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a estabilidade de agregados do solo de um experimento de longa duração com plantas de cobertura de inverno e sistemas de preparo do solo. O experimento teve início no ano de 1986, no Instituto Agronômico do Paraná, em Pato Branco sob um Latossolo Vermelho aluminoférrico. Os tratamentos são uma combinação entre coberturas de solo: aveia preta, centeio, ervilhaca comum, ervilhaca peluda, nabo forrageiro, tremoço azul, trigo e pousio, e sistemas de preparo: plantio direto (PD) e plantio convencional (PC), dispostos em parcelas subdivididas com três repetições. As amostras de solo foram coletadas em 2012, nas profundidades de 0 a 5, 5 a 10 e 10 a 20 cm. A estabilidade de agregados foi determinada através de tamisamento a úmido, e posteriormente calculado o índice de diâmetro médio ponderado (DMP) dos agregados. O PD apresentou maior DMP na profundidade de 0 a 5 cm, enquanto que para o PC, o maior DMP ocorreu de 10 a 20 cm de profundidade. O pousio obteve o menor DMP diferindo das espécies de cobertura de inverno, para o PD de 0 a 5 e 5 a 10 cm de profundidade. A utilização de espécies de cobertura de inverno associada a sistemas conservacionistas de preparo do solo, com mínimo revolvimento, promove maior estabilidade da agregação do solo

High sensitivity phonon-mediated kinetic inductance detector with combined amplitude and phase read-out

The development of wide-area cryogenic light detectors with good energy resolution is one of the priorities of next generation bolometric experiments searching for rare interactions, as the simultaneous read-out of the light and heat signals enables background suppression through particle identification. Among the proposed technological approaches for the phonon sensor, the naturally-multiplexed Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) stand out for their excellent intrinsic energy resolution and reproducibility. To satisfy the large surface requirement (several cm$^2$) KIDs are deposited on an insulating substrate that converts the impinging photons into phonons. A fraction of phonons is absorbed by the KID, producing a signal proportional to the energy of the original photons. The potential of this technique was proved by the CALDER project, that reached a baseline resolution of 154$\pm$7 eV RMS by sampling a 2$\times$2 cm$^2$ Silicon substrate with 4 Aluminum KIDs. In this paper we present a prototype of Aluminum KID with improved geometry and quality factor. The design improvement, as well as the combined analysis of amplitude and phase signals, allowed to reach a baseline resolution of 82$\pm$4 eV by sampling the same substrate with a single Aluminum KID