1,326 research outputs found
Barkhausen noise from zigzag domain walls
We investigate the Barkhausen noise in ferromagnetic thin films with zigzag
domain walls. We use a cellular automaton model that describes the motion of a
zigzag domain wall in an impure ferromagnetic quasi-two dimensional sample with
in-plane uniaxial magnetization at zero temperature, driven by an external
magnetic field. The main ingredients of this model are the dipolar spin-spin
interactions and the anisotropy energy. A power law behavior with a cutoff is
found for the probability distributions of size, duration and correlation
length of the Barkhausen avalanches, and the critical exponents are in
agreement with the available experiments. The link between the size and the
duration of the avalanches is analyzed too, and a power law behavior is found
for the average size of an avalanche as a function of its duration.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure
Analyzing intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution via the overlap intensity-level velocity correlator
Numerous experimental and theoretical studies have established that
intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) in isolated molecules
has a heirarchical tier structure. The tier structure implies strong
correlations between the energy level motions of a quantum system and its
intensity-weighted spectrum. A measure, which explicitly accounts for this
correaltion, was first introduced by one of us as a sensitive probe of phase
space localization. It correlates eigenlevel velocities with the overlap
intensities between the eigenstates and some localized state of interest. A
semiclassical theory for the correlation is developed for systems that are
classically integrable and complements earlier work focusing exclusively on the
chaotic case. Application to a model two dimensional effective spectroscopic
Hamiltonian shows that the correlation measure can provide information about
the terms in the molecular Hamiltonian which play an important role in an
energy range of interest and the character of the dynamics. Moreover, the
correlation function is capable of highlighting relevant phase space structures
including the local resonance features associated with a specific bright state.
In addition to being ideally suited for multidimensional systems with a large
density of states, the measure can also be used to gain insights into the phase
space transport and localization. It is argued that the overlap intensity-level
velocity correlation function provides a novel way of studying vibrational
energy redistribution in isolated molecules. The correlation function is
ideally suited to analyzing the parametric spectra of molecules in external
fields.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures (low resolution
Resolving the Crab pulsar wind nebula at teraelectronvolt energies
The Crab nebula is one of the most-studied cosmic particle accelerators, shining brightly across the entire electromagnetic spectrum up to very-high-energy gamma rays1,2. It is known from observations in the radio to gamma-ray part of the spectrum that the nebula is powered by a pulsar, which converts most of its rotational energy losses into a highly relativistic outflow. This outflow powers a pulsar wind nebula, a region of up to ten light-years across, filled with relativistic electrons and positrons. These particles emit synchrotron photons in the ambient magnetic field and produce very-high-energy gamma rays by Compton up-scattering of ambient low-energy photons. Although the synchrotron morphology of the nebula is well established, it has not been known from which region the very-high-energy gamma rays are emitted3,4,5,6,7,8. Here we report that the Crab nebula has an angular extension at gamma-ray energies of 52 arcseconds (assuming a Gaussian source width), much larger than at X-ray energies. This result closes a gap in the multi-wavelength coverage of the nebula, revealing the emission region of the highest-energy gamma rays. These gamma rays enable us to probe a previously inaccessible electron and positron energy range. We find that simulations of the electromagnetic emission reproduce our measurement, pro
The gas turbulence in planetary nebulae: quantification and multi-D maps from long-slit, wide-spectral range echellogram
This methodological paper is part of a short series dedicated to the
long-standing astronomical problem of de-projecting the bi-dimensional,
apparent morphology of a three-dimensional distribution of gas. We focus on the
quantification and spatial recovery of turbulent motions in planetary nebulae
(and other classes of expanding nebulae) by means of long-slit echellograms
over a wide spectral range. We introduce some basic theoretical notions,
discuss the observational methodology, and develop an accurate procedure
disentangling all broadening components of the velocity profile in all spatial
positions of each spectral image. This allows us to extract random, non-thermal
motions at unprecedented accuracy, and to map them in 1-, 2- and 3-dimensions.
We present the solution to practical problems in the multi-dimensional
turbulence-analysis of a testing-planetary nebula (NGC 7009), using the
three-step procedure (spatio-kinematics, tomography, and 3-D rendering)
developed at the Astronomical Observatory of Padua. In addition, we introduce
an observational paradigm valid for all spectroscopic parameters in all classes
of expanding nebulae. Unsteady, chaotic motions at a local scale constitute a
fundamental (although elusive) kinematical parameter of each planetary nebula,
providing deep insights on its different shaping agents and mechanisms, and on
their mutual interaction. The detailed study of turbulence, its stratification
within a target and (possible) systematic variation among different sub-classes
of planetary nebulae deserve long-slit, multi-position angle, wide-spectral
range echellograms containing emissions at low-, medium-, and high-ionization,
to be analyzed pixel-to-pixel with a straightforward and versatile methodology,
extracting all the physical information stored in each frame at best.Comment: 11 page, 10 figures, A&A in pres
The highly polarized open cluster Trumpler 27
We have carried out multicolor linear polarimetry (UBVRI) of the brightest
stars in the area of the open cluster Trumpler 27. Our data show a high level
of polarization in the stellar light with a considerable dispersion, from to . The polarization vectors of the cluster members appear to be
aligned. Foreground polarization was estimated from the data of some non-member
objects, for which two different components were resolved: the first one
associated with a dust cloud close to the Sun producing
and degrees, and a second component, the main source of
polarization for the cluster members, originated in another dust cloud, which
polarizes the light in the direction of degrees. From a detailed
analysis, we found that the two components have associated values for the first one, and for the other. Due the
difference in the orientation of both polarization vectors, almost 90 degrees
(180 degrees at the Stokes representation), the first cloud (
degrees) depolarize the light strongly polarized by the second one ( degrees).Comment: 12 Pages, 6 Figures, 2 tables (9 Pages), accepted for publication in
A
Absolute properties of the binary system BB Pegasi
We present a ground based photometry of the low-temperature contact binary BB
Peg. We collected all times of mid-eclipses available in literature and
combined them with those obtained in this study. Analyses of the data indicate
a period increase of 3.0(1) x 10^{-8} days/yr. This period increase of BB Peg
can be interpreted in terms of the mass transfer 2.4 x 10^{-8} Ms yr^{-1} from
the less massive to the more massive component. The physical parameters have
been determined as Mc = 1.42 Ms, Mh = 0.53 Ms, Rc = 1.29 Rs, Rh = 0.83 Rs, Lc =
1.86 Ls, and Lh = 0.94 Ls through simultaneous solution of light and of the
radial velocity curves. The orbital parameters of the third body, that orbits
the contact system in an eccentric orbit, were obtained from the period
variation analysis. The system is compared to the similar binaries in the
Hertzsprung-Russell and Mass-Radius diagram.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, accepted for Astronomical Journa
A Uniform Approximation for the Fidelity in Chaotic Systems
In quantum/wave systems with chaotic classical analogs, wavefunctions evolve
in highly complex, yet deterministic ways. A slight perturbation of the system,
though, will cause the evolution to diverge from its original behavior
increasingly with time. This divergence can be measured by the fidelity, which
is defined as the squared overlap of the two time evolved states. For chaotic
systems, two main decay regimes of either Gaussian or exponential behavior have
been identified depending on the strength of the perturbation. For perturbation
strengths intermediate between the two regimes, the fidelity displays both
forms of decay. By applying a complementary combination of random matrix and
semiclassical theory, a uniform approximation can be derived that covers the
full range of perturbation strengths. The time dependence is entirely fixed by
the density of states and the so-called transition parameter, which can be
related to the phase space volume of the system and the classical action
diffusion constant, respectively. The accuracy of the approximations are
illustrated with the standard map.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, accepted in J. Phys. A, special edition on
Random Matrix Theor
Hamiltonian dynamics and geometry of phase transitions in classical XY models
The Hamiltonian dynamics associated to classical, planar, Heisenberg XY
models is investigated for two- and three-dimensional lattices. Besides the
conventional signatures of phase transitions, here obtained through time
averages of thermodynamical observables in place of ensemble averages,
qualitatively new information is derived from the temperature dependence of
Lyapunov exponents. A Riemannian geometrization of newtonian dynamics suggests
to consider other observables of geometric meaning tightly related with the
largest Lyapunov exponent. The numerical computation of these observables -
unusual in the study of phase transitions - sheds a new light on the
microscopic dynamical counterpart of thermodynamics also pointing to the
existence of some major change in the geometry of the mechanical manifolds at
the thermodynamical transition. Through the microcanonical definition of the
entropy, a relationship between thermodynamics and the extrinsic geometry of
the constant energy surfaces of phase space can be naturally
established. In this framework, an approximate formula is worked out,
determining a highly non-trivial relationship between temperature and topology
of the . Whence it can be understood that the appearance of a phase
transition must be tightly related to a suitable major topology change of the
. This contributes to the understanding of the origin of phase
transitions in the microcanonical ensemble.Comment: in press on Physical Review E, 43 pages, LaTeX (uses revtex), 22
PostScript figure
Riemannian theory of Hamiltonian chaos and Lyapunov exponents
This paper deals with the problem of analytically computing the largest
Lyapunov exponent for many degrees of freedom Hamiltonian systems. This aim is
succesfully reached within a theoretical framework that makes use of a
geometrization of newtonian dynamics in the language of Riemannian geometry. A
new point of view about the origin of chaos in these systems is obtained
independently of homoclinic intersections. Chaos is here related to curvature
fluctuations of the manifolds whose geodesics are natural motions and is
described by means of Jacobi equation for geodesic spread. Under general
conditions ane effective stability equation is derived; an analytic formula for
the growth-rate of its solutions is worked out and applied to the
Fermi-Pasta-Ulam beta model and to a chain of coupled rotators. An excellent
agreement is found the theoretical prediction and the values of the Lyapunov
exponent obtained by numerical simulations for both models.Comment: RevTex, 40 pages, 8 PostScript figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
E (scheduled for November 1996
Proteasome stress sensitizes malignant pleural mesothelioma cells to bortezomib-induced apoptosis
Abstract Based on promising results in preclinical models, clinical trials have been performed to evaluate the efficacy of the first-in-class proteasome inhibitor bortezomib towards malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), an aggressive cancer arising from the mesothelium of the serous cavities following exposure to asbestos. Unexpectedly, only minimal therapeutic benefits were observed, thus implicating that MPM harbors inherent resistance mechanisms. Identifying the molecular bases of this primary resistance is crucial to develop novel pharmacologic strategies aimed at increasing the vulnerability of MPM to bortezomib. Therefore, we assessed a panel of four human MPM lines with different sensitivity to bortezomib, for functional proteasome activity and levels of free and polymerized ubiquitin. We found that highly sensitive MPM lines display lower proteasome activity than more bortezomib-resistant clones, suggesting that reduced proteasomal capacity might contribute to the intrinsic susceptibility of mesothelioma cells to proteasome inhibitors-induced apoptosis. Moreover, MPM equipped with fewer active proteasomes accumulated polyubiquitinated proteins, at the expense of free ubiquitin, a condition known as proteasome stress, which lowers the cellular apoptotic threshold and sensitizes mesothelioma cells to bortezomib-induced toxicity as shown herein. Taken together, our data suggest that an unfavorable load-versus-capacity balance represents a critical determinant of primary apoptotic sensitivity to bortezomib in MPM
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