1,458 research outputs found
The intrinsic three-dimensional shape of galactic bars
We present the first statistical study on the intrinsic three-dimensional
(3D) shape of a sample of 83 galactic bars extracted from the CALIFA survey. We
use the galaXYZ code to derive the bar intrinsic shape with a statistical
approach. The method uses only the geometric information (ellipticities and
position angles) of bars and discs obtained from a multi-component photometric
decomposition of the galaxy surface-brightness distributions. We find that bars
are predominantly prolate-triaxial ellipsoids (68%), with a small fraction of
oblate-triaxial ellipsoids (32%). The typical flattening (intrinsic C/A
semiaxis ratio) of the bars in our sample is 0.34, which matches well the
typical intrinsic flattening of stellar discs at these galaxy masses. We
demonstrate that, for prolate-triaxial bars, the intrinsic shape of bars
depends on the galaxy Hubble type and stellar mass (bars in massive S0 galaxies
are thicker and more circular than those in less massive spirals). The bar
intrinsic shape correlates with bulge, disc, and bar parameters. In particular
with the bulge-to-total (B/T) luminosity ratio, disc g-r color, and central
surface brightness of the bar, confirming the tight link between bars and their
host galaxies. Combining the probability distributions of the intrinsic shape
of bulges and bars in our sample we show that 52% (16%) of bulges are thicker
(flatter) than the surrounding bar at 1 level. We suggest that these
percentages might be representative of the fraction of classical and disc-like
bulges in our sample, respectively.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The Energy of a Moving Quark-Antiquark Pair in an N=4 SYM Plasma
We make use of the AdS/CFT correspondence to determine the energy of an
external quark-antiquark pair that moves through strongly-coupled thermal N=4
super-Yang-Mills plasma, both in the rest frame of the plasma and in the rest
frame of the pair. It is found that the pair feels no drag force, has an energy
that reproduces the expected 1/L (or gamma/L) behavior at small quark-antiquark
separations, and becomes unbound beyond a certain screening length whose
velocity-dependence we determine. We discuss the relation between the
high-velocity limit of our results and the lightlike Wilson loop proposed
recently as a definition of the jet-quenching parameter.Comment: LaTeX 2e, 27 pages, 8 eps figures; v2: added computation of the pair
energy in the plasma rest frame, clarified the comparison with
hep-ph/0607062, corrected typos, added reference
Indirect Collider Signals for Extra Dimensions
A recent suggestion that quantum gravity may become strong near the weak
scale has several testable consequences. In addition to probing for the new
large (submillimeter) extra dimensions associated with these theories via
gravitational experiments, one could search for the Kaluza Klein towers of
massive gravitons which are predicted in these models and which can interact
with the fields of the Standard Model. Here we examine the indirect effects of
these massive gravitons being exchanged in fermion pair production in \epem
annihilation and Drell-Yan production at hadron colliders. In the latter case,
we examine a novel feature of this theory, which is the contribution of gluon
gluon initiated processes to lepton pair production. We find that these
processes provide strong bounds, up to several TeV, on the string scale which
are essentially independent of the number of extra dimensions. In addition, we
analyze the angular distributions for fermion pair production with spin-2
graviton exchanges and demonstrate that they provide a smoking gun signal for
low-scale quantum gravity which cannot be mimicked by other new physics
scenarios.Comment: Corrected typos, added table and reference
Constraining the mass of the planet(s) sculpting a disk cavity. The intriguing case of 2MASS J16042165-2130284
The large cavities observed in the dust and gas distributions of transition
disks may be explained by planet-disk interactions. At ~145 pc, 2MASS
J16042165-2130284 (J1604) is a 5-12 Myr old transitional disk with different
gap sizes in the mm- and m-sized dust distributions (outer edges at ~79
and at ~63 au, respectively). Its CO emission shows a ~30 au cavity.
This radial structure suggests that giant planets are sculpting this disk. We
aim to constrain the masses and locations of plausible giant planets around
J1604. We observed J1604 with the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet
REsearch (SPHERE) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), in IRDIFS\_EXT,
pupil-stabilized mode, obtaining YJH- band images with the integral field
spectrograph (IFS) and K1K2-band images with the Infra-Red Dual-beam Imager and
Spectrograph (IRDIS). The dataset was processed exploiting the angular
differential imaging (ADI) technique with high-contrast algorithms. Our
observations reach a contrast of ~12 mag from 0.15" to 0.80"
(~22 to 115 au), but no planet candidate is detected. The disk is directly
imaged in scattered light at all bands from Y to K, and it shows a red color.
This indicates that the dust particles in the disk surface are mainly
m-sized grains. We confirm the sharp dip/decrement in
scattered light in agreement with polarized light observations. Comparing our
images with a radiative transfer model we argue that the southern side of the
disk is most likely the nearest. This work represents the deepest search yet
for companions around J1604. We reach a mass sensitivity of from ~22 to ~115 au according to a hot start scenario. We propose
that a brown dwarf orbiting inside of ~15 au and additional Jovian planets at
larger radii could account for the observed properties of J1604 while
explaining our lack of detection.Comment: 10 pages, 7 Figures. Accepted for publication in A&A . Abridged
abstrac
Exploring improved holographic theories for QCD: Part II
This paper is a continuation of ArXiv:0707.1324 where improved holographic
theories for QCD were set up and explored. Here, the IR confining geometries
are classified and analyzed. They all end in a "good" (repulsive) singularity
in the IR. The glueball spectra are gaped and discrete, and they favorably
compare to the lattice data. Quite generally, confinement and discrete spectra
imply each other. Asymptotically linear glueball masses can also be achieved.
Asymptotic mass ratios of various glueballs with different spin also turn out
to be universal. Mesons dynamics is implemented via space filling D4-anti-D4
brane pairs. The associated tachyon dynamics is analyzed and chiral symmetry
breaking is shown. The dynamics of the RR axion is analyzed, and the
non-perturbative running of the QCD theta-angle is obtained. It is shown to
always vanish in the IR.Comment: 65+18 pages, 20 figures (v3) Some modifications in Appendix E
explaining in more detail the issue of initial conditions; typos corrected.
Published versio
Energy Loss of Gluons, Baryons and k-Quarks in an N=4 SYM Plasma
We consider different types of external color sources that move through a
strongly-coupled thermal N=4 super-Yang-Mills plasma, and calculate, via the
AdS/CFT correspondence, the dissipative force (or equivalently, the rate of
energy loss) they experience. A bound state of k quarks in the totally
antisymmetric representation is found to feel a force with a nontrivial
k-dependence. Our result for k=1 (or k=N-1) agrees at large N with the one
obtained recently by Herzog et al. and Gubser, but contains in addition an
infinite series of 1/N corrections. The baryon (k=N) is seen to experience no
drag. Finally, a heavy gluon is found to be subject to a force which at large N
is twice as large as the one experienced by a heavy quark, in accordance with
gauge theory expectations.Comment: Latex 2e, 24 pages, 1 eps figure; v2: slightly amplified discussion
on the relation between the drag force and the tension of a spatial Wilson
loop; v3: minor changes, version to appear in JHE
Glueball masses in the large N limit
The lowest-lying glueball masses are computed in SU() gauge theory on a
spacetime lattice for constant value of the lattice spacing and for
ranging from 3 to 8. The lattice spacing is fixed using the deconfinement
temperature at temporal extension of the lattice . The calculation is
conducted employing in each channel a variational ansatz performed on a large
basis of operators that includes also torelon and (for the lightest states)
scattering trial functions. This basis is constructed using an automatic
algorithm that allows us to build operators of any size and shape in any
irreducible representation of the cubic group. A good signal is extracted for
the ground state and the first excitation in several symmetry channels. It is
shown that all the observed states are well described by their large
values, with modest corrections. In addition spurious states
are identified that couple to torelon and scattering operators. As a byproduct
of our calculation, the critical couplings for the deconfinement phase
transition for N=5 and N=7 and temporal extension of the lattice are
determined.Comment: 1+36 pages, 22 tables, 21 figures. Typos corrected, conclusions
unchanged, matches the published versio
DZ Cha: a bona fide photoevaporating disc
DZ Cha is a weak-lined T Tauri star (WTTS) surrounded by a bright
protoplanetary disc with evidence of inner disc clearing. Its narrow \Ha line
and infrared spectral energy distribution suggest that DZ Cha may be a
photoevaporating disc. We aim to analyse the DZ Cha star + disc system to
identify the mechanism driving the evolution of this object. We have analysed
three epochs of high resolution optical spectroscopy, photometry from the UV up
to the sub-mm regime, infrared spectroscopy, and J-band imaging polarimetry
observations of DZ Cha. Combining our analysis with previous studies we find no
signatures of accretion in the \Ha line profile in nine epochs covering a
time baseline of years. The optical spectra are dominated by
chromospheric emission lines, but they also show emission from the forbidden
lines [SII] 4068 and [OI] 6300 that indicate a disc outflow. The
polarized images reveal a dust depleted cavity of au in radius and two
spiral-like features, and we derive a disc dust mass limit of
M_\mathrm{dust}
80 \MJup) companions are detected down to 0\farcs07 ( au,
projected). The negligible accretion rate, small cavity, and forbidden line
emission strongly suggests that DZ Cha is currently at the initial stages of
disc clearing by photoevaporation. At this point the inner disc has drained and
the inner wall of the truncated outer disc is directly exposed to the stellar
radiation. We argue that other mechanisms like planet formation or binarity
cannot explain the observed properties of DZ Cha. The scarcity of objects like
this one is in line with the dispersal timescale ( yr) predicted
by this theory. DZ Cha is therefore an ideal target to study the initial stages
of photoevaporation.Comment: A&A in press, language corrections include
Compactification and Supersymmetry Breaking in M-theory
Keeping N=1 supersymmetry in 4-dimension and in the leading order, we disuss
the various orbifold compactifications of M-theory suggested by Horava and
Witten on , , , and the compactification by
keeping singlets under symmetry, then the compactification
on . We also discuss the next to leading order K\"ahler potential,
superpotential, and gauge kinetic function in the case. In addition,
we calculate the SUSY breaking soft terms and find out that the universality of
the scalar masses will be violated, but the violation might be very small.Comment: 16 pages, latex, no figure
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