360 research outputs found
X-ray flares on the UV Ceti-type star CC Eridani: a "peculiar" time-evolution of spectral parameters
Context: Weak flares are supposed to be an important heating agent of the
outer layers of stellar atmospheres. However, due to instrumental limitations,
only large X-ray flares have been studied in detail until now.
Aims: We used an XMM-Newton observation of the very active BY-Dra type binary
star CC Eri in order to investigate the properties of two flares that are
weaker than those typically studied in the literature.
Methods: We performed time-resolved spectroscopy of the data taken with the
EPIC-PN CCD camera. A multi-temperature model was used to fit the spectra. We
inferred the size of the flaring loops using the density-temperature diagram.
The loop scaling laws were applied for deriving physical parameters of the
flaring plasma. We also estimated the number of loops involved in the observed
flares.
Results: A large X-ray variability was found. Spectral analysis showed that
all the regions in the light curve, including the flare segments, are
well-described by a 3-T model with variable emission measures but,
surprisingly, with constant temperatures (values of 3, 10 and 22 MK). The
analysed flares lasted ~ 3.4 and 7.1 ks, with flux increases of factors
1.5-1.9. They occurred in arcades made of a few tens of similar coronal loops.
The size of the flaring loops is much smaller than the distance between the
stellar surfaces in the binary system, and even smaller than the radius of each
of the stars. The obtained results are consistent with the following ideas: (i)
the whole X-ray light curve of CC Eri could be the result of a superposition of
multiple low-energy flares, and (ii) stellar flares can be scaled-up versions
of solar flares.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Homoclinic Signatures of Dynamical Localization
It is demonstrated that the oscillations in the width of the momentum
distribution of atoms moving in a phase-modulated standing light field, as a
function of the modulation amplitude, are correlated with the variation of the
chaotic layer width in energy of an underlying effective pendulum. The maximum
effect of dynamical localization and the nearly perfect delocalization are
associated with the maxima and minima, respectively, of the chaotic layer
width. It is also demonstrated that kinetic energy is conserved as an almost
adiabatic invariant at the minima of the chaotic layer width, and that the
system is accurately described by delta-kicked rotors at the zeros of the
Bessel functions J_0 and J_1. Numerical calculations of kinetic energy and
Lyapunov exponents confirm all the theoretical predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, enlarged versio
A critical assessment of methods for the intrinsic analysis of liquid interfaces. 1. surface site distributions
Substantial progress in our understanding of interfacial structure and dynamics has stemmed from the recent development of algorithms that allow for an intrinsic analysis of fluid interfaces. These work by identifying the instantaneous location of the interface, at the atomic level, for each molecular configuration and then computing properties relative to this location. Such a procedure eliminates the broadening of the interface caused by capillary waves and reveals the underlying features of the system. However, a precise definition of which molecules actually belong to the interfacial layer is difficult to achieve in practice. Furthermore, it is not known if the different intrinsic analysis methods are consistent with each other and yield similar results for the interfacial properties. In this paper, we carry out a systematic and detailed comparison of the available methods for intrinsic analysis of fluid interfaces, based on a molecular dynamics simulation of the interface between liquid water and carbon tetrachloride. We critically assess the advantages and shortcomings of each method, based on reliability, robustness, and speed of computation, and establish consistent criteria for determining which molecules belong to the surface layer. We believe this will significantly contribute to make intrinsic analysis methods widely and routinely applicable to interfacial systems
Association of Motivational Climate With Addictive Behaviors Depending on Type of Sport in University Students: Structural Equation Analysis
This research study aims at contrasting a structural model of the associations between the alcohol consumption, tobacco
dependence, and the problematic use of video games with motivational climate toward sport depending on the category of
sports practiced in a sample of Physical Education university students. The sample consisted of 775 university students from
the Autonomous Community of Andalusia (Spain), aged between 21 and 35 (22.22 ± 3.76) years. The instruments used
were the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ-2), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test
(AUDIT), the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), and the Questionnaire of Experiences Related to Video
Games (QERV) questionnaires. A path model that fitted properly in the multigroup analysis for both categories of sports was
used, χ2 = 19.843; gl = 8; p = .011; comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.911; normed fit index (NFI) = 0.903; incremental fit
index (IFI) = 0.912; root mean square error approximation (RMSEA) = 0.085. An inverse association was shown between
task climate and tobacco consumption in individual sports, being weaker in collective sports. This association is not significant
for collective sports, but it is for individual sports for ego climate. However, a positive association was found between ego
climate and the use of video games in individual sports, not being significant in the case of collective sports. The importance
of promoting motivational climates oriented toward tasks that are based on the practice of collective sports is established,
because they could act as protective factors against the development of addictive behavior in university students.This
research study has been supported by the Education Innovation
Project PID 16-45, named “Implementation of digital resources in
the classroom for the development of psychosocial and motivational
factors in students of the degree in Primary Education with
the speciality in Physical Education,” funded by the University of
Granada. Education Innovation Project PIBD Advanced 470,
named “Program of teaching intervention in students of the degree
in primary education and early childhood education through the use
of new technologies for the improvement of the psychosocial factors
of the students,” funded by the University of Granada. Project
I+D+I “DISPERSA,” with code number TIN2015-67149-C3-R,
named “Design of Pervasive Games Based on Learning Experiences
Sensitive to Context” funded by the Ministry of Economy and
Competitiveness. Precompetitive Research Projects for Young
Researchers (PPJI_B-05); Self-plan Research of the University of
Granada
Pair distribution function in a two-dimensional electron gas
We calculate the pair distribution function, , in a two-dimensional
electron gas and derive a simple analytical expression for its value at the
origin as a function of . Our approach is based on solving the
Schr\"{o}dinger equation for the two-electron wave function in an appropriate
effective potential, leading to results that are in good agreement with Quantum
Monte Carlo data and with the most recent numerical calculations of . [C.
Bulutay and B. Tanatar, Phys. Rev. B {\bf 65}, 195116 (2002)] We also show that
the spin-up spin-down correlation function at the origin, , is mainly independent of the degree of spin polarization of
the electronic system.Comment: 5 figures, pair distribution dependence with distance is calculate
Resonance phenomena of a solitonlike extended object in a bistable potential
We investigate the dynamics of a soliton that behaves as an extended
particle. The soliton motion in an effective bistable potential can be chaotic
in a similar way as the Duffing oscillator. We generalize the concept of
geometrical resonance to spatiotemporal systems and apply it to design a
nonfeedback mechanism of chaos control using localized perturbations.We show
the existence of solitonic stochastic resonance.Comment: 3 postscript figure
Intrinsic structure and dynamics of the water/nitrobenzene interface
In this paper we present results of a detailed and systematic molecular dynamics study of the water/nitrobenzene interface. Using a simple procedure to eliminate fluctuations of the interface position, we are able to obtain true intrinsic profiles for several properties (density, hydrogen bonds, molecular orientation, etc.) in the direction perpendicular to the interfacial plane. Our results show that both water and organic inter-facial molecules form a tightly packed layer oriented parallel to the interface, with reduced mobility in the perpendicular direction. Beyond this layer, water quickly restores its bulk structure, while nitrobenzene exhibits structural anisotropies that extend further into the bulk region: Water molecules that protrude farthest into the organic phase point one hydrogen atom in the direction perpendicular to the interface, forming a hydrogen bond with a nitrobenzene oxygen. By fitting both the global and the intrinsic density profiles, we obtain estimates for the total and intrinsic interface widths, respectively. These are combined with capillary wave theory to produce a self-consistent method for the calculation of the inter-facial tension. Values calculated using this method are in very good agreement with direct calculations from the components of the pressure tensor
Analytic structure factors and pair-correlation functions for the unpolarized homogeneous electron gas
We propose a simple and accurate model for the electron static structure
factors (and corresponding pair-correlation functions) of the 3D unpolarized
homogeneous electron gas. Our spin-resolved pair-correlation function is built
up with a combination of analytic constraints and fitting procedures to quantum
Monte Carlo data, and, in comparison to previous attempts (i) fulfills more
known integral and differential properties of the exact pair-correlation
function, (ii) is analytic both in real and in reciprocal space, and (iii)
accurately interpolates the newest, extensive diffusion-Monte Carlo data of
Ortiz, Harris and Ballone [Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 5317 (1999)]. This can be of
interest for the study of electron correlations of real materials and for the
construction of new exchange and correlation energy density functionals.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Herringbone ordering and lattice distortions in a planar-molecule model for Langmuir monolayers
A model of planar molecules, made up of "atoms" interacting by Lennard-Jones potentials and arranged to mimic the cross section of alkyl chains, is used to study the problem of backbone plane ordering in Langmuir monolayers. It is shown that two minima of the interaction energy are reached if molecules lie on the sites of a centered rectangular lattice in a herringbone configuration with two different dihedral angles. These orientationally ordered phases can be related to the so-called herringbone and pseudoherringbone structures, whose lattice distortions qualitatively agree with those determined by means of grazing incidence x-ray diffraction experiments on Langmuir monolayers. A third energy minimum is obtained for a configuration of parallel molecules on an oblique lattice, which has also been observed in some experiments. The competition between the three phases is investigated, upon varying geometric parameters of the model molecules and surface pressure. The effect of temperature is analyzed in a mean field approximation, by taking into account the orientational entropy contribution on a lattice system with variable unit cell parameters. In this framework the transition to an orientationally disordered phase is also pointed out
Dynamical properties of liquid Al near melting. An orbital-free molecular dynamics study
The static and dynamic structure of liquid Al is studied using the orbital
free ab-initio molecular dynamics method. Two thermodynamic states along the
coexistence line are considered, namely T = 943 K and 1323 K for which X-ray
and neutron scattering data are available. A new kinetic energy functional,
which fulfills a number of physically relevant conditions is employed, along
with a local first principles pseudopotential. In addition to a comparison with
experiment, we also compare our ab-initio results with those obtained from
conventional molecular dynamics simulations using effective interionic pair
potentials derived from second order pseudopotential perturbation theory.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, submitted to PR
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