Chemical Abundances of the Outer Halo Stars in the Milky Way

We present chemical abundances of 57 metal-poor stars that are likely constituents of the outer stellar halo in the Milky Way. Almost all of the sample stars have an orbit reaching a maximum vertical distance (Z_max) of >5 kpc above and below the Galactic plane. High-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra for the sample stars obtained with Subaru/HDS are used to derive chemical abundances of Na, Mg, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Zn, Y and Ba with an LTE abundance analysis code. The resulting abundance data are combined with those presented in literature that mostly targeted at smaller Z_max stars, and both data are used to investigate any systematic trends in detailed abundance patterns depending on their kinematics. It is shown that, in the metallicity range of -25 kpc are systematically lower (~0.1 dex) than those with smaller Z_max. This result of the lower [alpha/Fe] for the assumed outer halo stars is consistent with previous studies that found a signature of lower [alpha/Fe] ratios for stars with extreme kinematics. A distribution of the [Mg/Fe] ratios for the outer halo stars partly overlaps with that for stars belonging to the Milky Way dwarf satellites in the metallicity interval of -2<[Fe/H]<-1 and spans a range intermediate between the distributions for the inner halo stars and the stars belonging to the satellites. Our results confirm inhomogeneous nature of chemical abundances within the Milky Way stellar halo depending on kinematic properties of constituent stars as suggested by earlier studies. Possible implications for the formation of the Milky Way halo and its relevance to the suggested dual nature of the halo are discussed.Comment: 68 pages with 23 figures, Accepted for publication in PAS

Study of Field-Induced Magnetic Order in Singlet-Ground-State Magnet CsFeCl3_3

The field-induced magnetic order in the singlet-ground-state system CsFeCl$_3$ has been studied by measuring magnetization and neutron diffraction. The field dependence of intensity for the neutron magnetic reflection has clearly demonstrated that the field-induced ordered phase is described by the order parameter $$. A condensate growth of magnons is investigated through the temperature dependence of $M_z$ and $M_{\perp}$, and this ordering is discussed in the context of a magnon Bose-Einstein condensation. Development of the coherent state and the static correlation length has been observed in the incommensurate phase in the field region of $5 H_{\rm c}$, a satellite peak was found in coexistence with the commensurate peak at the phase boundary around 10 T, which indicates that the tilt of the c-axis would be less than $\sim 0.5^{\circ}$ in the whole experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Chemical Abundances of the Milky Way Thick Disk and Stellar Halo I.: Implications of [alpha/Fe] for Star Formation Histories in Their Progenitors

We present the abundance analysis of 97 nearby metal-poor (-3.3<[Fe/H]<-0.5) stars having kinematics characteristics of the Milky Way (MW) thick disk, inner, and outer stellar halos. The high-resolution, high-signal-to-noise optical spectra for the sample stars have been obtained with the High Dispersion Spectrograph mounted on the Subaru Telescope. Abundances of Fe, Mg, Si, Ca and Ti have been derived using a one-dimensional LTE abundance analysis code with Kurucz NEWODF model atmospheres. By assigning membership of the sample stars to the thick disk, inner or outer halo components based on their orbital parameters, we examine abundance ratios as a function of [Fe/H] and kinematics for the three subsamples in wide metallicity and orbital parameter ranges. We show that, in the metallicity range of -1.5<[Fe/H]<= -0.5, the thick disk stars show constantly high mean [Mg/Fe] and [Si/Fe] ratios with small scatter. In contrast, the inner, and the outer halo stars show lower mean values of these abundance ratios with larger scatter. The [Mg/Fe], [Si/Fe] and [Ca/Fe] for the inner and the outer halo stars also show weak decreasing trends with [Fe/H] in the range [Fe/H]$>-2$. These results favor the scenarios that the MW thick disk formed through rapid chemical enrichment primarily through Type II supernovae of massive stars, while the stellar halo has formed at least in part via accretion of progenitor stellar systems having been chemically enriched with different timescales.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Inversion doublets of reflection-asymmetric clustering in 28Si and their isoscalar monopole and dipole transitions

[Background] Various cluster states of astrophysical interest are expected to exist in the excited states of $^{28}{\rm Si}$. However, they have not been identified firmly, because of the experimental and theoretical difficulties. [Purpose] To establish the $^{24}$Mg+$\alpha$, $^{16}$O+$^{12}$C and $^{20}$Ne+2$\alpha$ cluster bands, we theoretically search for the negative-parity cluster bands that are paired with the positive-parity bands to constitute the inversion doublets. We also offer the isoscalar monopole and dipole transitions as a promising probe for the clustering. We numerically show that these transition strengths from the ground state to the cluster states are very enhanced. [Method] The antisymmetrized molecular dynamics with Gogny D1S effective interaction is employed to calculate the excited states of $^{28}{\rm Si}$. The isoscalar monopole and dipole transition strengths are directly evaluated from wave functions of the ground and excited states. [Results] Negative-parity bands having $^{24}$Mg+$\alpha$ and $^{16}$O+$^{12}$C cluster configurations are obtained in addition to the newly calculated $^{20}$Ne+2$\alpha$ cluster bands. All of them are paired with the corresponding positive-parity bands to constitute the inversion doublets with various cluster configurations. The calculation show that the band-head of the $^{24}$Mg+$\alpha$ and $^{20}$Ne+2$\alpha$ cluster bands are strongly excited by the isoscalar monopole and dipole transitions. [Conclusions] The present calculation suggests the existence of the inversion doublets with the $^{24}$Mg+$\alpha$, $^{16}$O+$^{12}$C and $^{20}$Ne+2$\alpha$ configurations.Because of the enhanced transition strengths, we offer the isoscalar monopole and dipole transitions as good probe for the $^{24}$Mg+$\alpha$ and $^{20}$Ne+2$\alpha$ cluster bands.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure

3alpha clustering in the excited states of 16C

The alpha cluster states of 16C are investigated by using the antisymmetrized molecular dynamics. It is shown that two different types of alpha cluster states exist: triangular and linear-chain states. The former has an approximate isosceles triangular configuration of alpha particles surrounded by four valence neutrons occupying sd-shell, while the latter has the linearly aligned alpha particles with two sd-shell neutrons and two pf-shell neutrons. It is found that the structure of the linear-chain state is qualitatively understood in terms of the 3/2 pi- and 1/2 sigma- molecular orbit as predicted by molecular-orbital model, but there exists non-negligible Be+alpha+2n correlation. The band-head energies of the triangular and linear-chain rotational bands are 8.0 and 15.5 MeV, and the latter is close to the He+Be threshold energy. It is also shown that the linear-chain state becomes the yrast sstate at J=10 with excitation energy 27.8 MeV owing to its very large moment-of-inertia comparable with hyperdeformation.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Velocity of domain-wall motion induced by electrical current in a ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As

Current-induced domain-wall motion with velocity spanning over five orders of magnitude up to 22 m/s has been observed by magneto-optical Kerr effect in (Ga,Mn)As with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The data are employed to verify theories of spin-transfer by the Slonczewski-like mechanism as well as by the torque resulting from spin-flip transitions in the domain-wall region. Evidence for domain-wall creep at low currents is found.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Instanton and Monopole in External Chromomagnetic Fields

We study properties of instanton and monopole in an external chromomagnetic field. Generally, the 't Hooft ansatz is no longer a solution of the Yang-Mills field equation in the presence of external fields. Therefore, we investigate a stabilized instanton solution with minimal total Yang-Mills action in a nontrivial topological sector. With this aim, we consider numerical minimization of the action with respect to the global color orientation, the anisotropic scale transformation and the local gauge-like transformation starting from a simple superposed gauge field of the 't Hooft ansatz and the external color field. Here, the external color field is, for simplicity, chosen to be a constant Abelian magnetic field along a certain direction. Then, the 4-dimensional rotational symmetry O(4) of the instanton solution is reduced to two 2-dimensional rotational symmetries $O(2)\times O(2)$ due to the effect of a homogeneous external field. In the space \mib{R}^{3} at fixed $t$, we find a quadrupole deformation of this instanton solution. In the presence of a magnetic field $\vec{H}$, a prolate deformation occurs along the direction of $\vec{H}$. Contrastingly, in the presence of an electric field $\vec{E}$ an oblate deformation occurs along the direction of $\vec{E}$. We further discuss the local correlation between the instanton and the monopole in the external field in the maximally Abelian gauge. The external field affects the appearance of the monopole trajectory around the instanton. In fact, a monopole and anti-monopole pair appears around the instanton center, and this monopole loop seems to partially screen the external field.Comment: 15 pages,8 figure