6,232 research outputs found
Carbon line formation and spectroscopy in O-type stars
The determination of chemical abundances constitutes a fundamental
requirement for obtaining a complete picture of a star. Particularly in massive
stars, CNO abundances are of prime interest, due to the nuclear CNO-cycle and
various mixing processes which bring these elements to the surface.
We aim at enabling a reliable carbon spectroscopy for our unified NLTE
atmosphere code FASTWIND.
We develop a new carbon model atom including CII/III/IV/V, and discuss
problems related to carbon spectroscopy in O-type stars. We describe different
tests to examine the reliability of our implementation, and investigate which
mechanisms influence the carbon ionization balance. By comparing with
high-resolution spectra from six O-type stars, we check in how far
observational constraints can be reproduced by our new carbon line synthesis.
Carbon lines are even more sensitive to a variation of temperature, gravity,
and mass-loss rate, than hydrogen/helium lines. We are able to reproduce most
of the observed lines from our stellar sample, and to estimate those specific
carbon abundances which bring the lines from different ions into agreement. For
hot dwarfs and supergiants earlier than O7, X-rays from wind-embedded shocks
can impact the synthesized line strengths, particularly for CIV, potentially
affecting the abundance determination.
We have demonstrated our capability to derive realistic carbon abundances by
means of FASTWIND, using our recently developed model atom. We found that
complex effects can have a strong influence on the carbon ionization balance in
hot stars. For a further understanding, the UV range needs to be explored as
well. By means of detailed nitrogen and oxygen model atoms available to use, we
will be able to perform a complete CNO abundance analysis for larger samples of
massive stars, and to provide constraints on corresponding evolutionary models
and aspects.Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures, 6 table
Advances in enantioselective resolution applying preferential crystallization and enzymatic racemization
Removing the Veil of Ignorance in Assessing the Distributional Impacts of Social Policies
This paper summarizes our recent research on evaluating the distributional consequences of social programs. This research advances the economic policy evaluation literature beyond estimating assorted mean impacts to estimate distributions of outcomes generated by different policies and determine how those policies shift persons across the distributions of potential outcomes produced by them. Our approach enables analysts to evaluate the distributional effects of social programs without invoking the 'Veil of Ignorance' assumption often used in the literature in applied welfare economics. Our methods determine which persons are affected by a given policy, where they come from in the ex-ante outcome distribution and what their gains are. We apply our methods to analyze two proposed policy reforms in American education. These reforms benefit the middle class and not the poor.
Estimating Distributions of Treatment Effects with an Application to the Returns to Schooling and Measurement of the Effects of Uncertainty on College
This paper uses factor models to identify and estimate distributions of counterfactuals. We extend LISREL frameworks to a dynamic treatment effect setting, extending matching to account for unobserved conditioning variables. Using these models, we can identify all pairwise and joint treatment effects. We apply these methods to a model of schooling and determine the intrinsic uncertainty facing agents at the time they make their decisions about enrollment in school. Reducing uncertainty in returns raises college enrollment. We go beyond the Veil of Ignorance' in evaluating educational policies and determine who benefits and who loses from commonly proposed educational reforms.
Atmospheric NLTE-Models for the Spectroscopic Analysis of Blue Stars with Winds. III. X-ray emission from wind-embedded shocks
X-rays/EUV radiation emitted from wind-embedded shocks in hot, massive stars
can affect the ionization balance in their outer atmospheres, and can be the
mechanism responsible for the production of highly ionized species. To allow
for these processes in the context of spectral analysis, we have implemented
such emission into our unified, NLTE model atmosphere/spectrum synthesis code
FASTWIND.
The shock structure and corresponding emission is calculated as a function of
user-supplied parameters. We account for a temperature and density
stratification inside the post-shock cooling zones, calculated for radiative
and adiabatic cooling in the inner and outer wind, respectively. The
high-energy absorption of the cool wind is considered by adding important
K-shell opacities, and corresponding Auger ionization rates have been included
into the NLTE network.
We tested and verified our implementation carefully against corresponding
results from various alternative model atmosphere codes, and studied the
effects from shock emission for important ions from He, C, N, O, Si, and P.
Surprisingly, dielectronic recombination turned out to play an essential role
for the ionization balance of OIV/OV around Teff = 45,000 K. Finally, we
investigated the behavior of the mass absorption coefficient, kappa_nu(r),
important in the context of X-ray line formation in massive star winds.
In almost all considered cases, direct ionization is of major influence, and
Auger ionization significantly affects only NVI and OVI. The approximation of a
radially constant kappa_nu is justified for r > 1.2 Rstar and lambda < 18 A,
and also for many models at longer wavelengths. To estimate the actual value of
this quantity, however, the HeII opacities need to be calculated from detailed
NLTE modeling, at least for wavelengths longer than 18 to 20 A, and information
on the individual CNO abundances has to be present.Comment: accepted by A&
Quantification of reachable attractors in asynchronous discrete dynamics
Motivation: Models of discrete concurrent systems often lead to huge and
complex state transition graphs that represent their dynamics. This makes
difficult to analyse dynamical properties. In particular, for logical models of
biological regulatory networks, it is of real interest to study attractors and
their reachability from specific initial conditions, i.e. to assess the
potential asymptotical behaviours of the system. Beyond the identification of
the reachable attractors, we propose to quantify this reachability.
Results: Relying on the structure of the state transition graph, we estimate
the probability of each attractor reachable from a given initial condition or
from a portion of the state space. First, we present a quasi-exact solution
with an original algorithm called Firefront, based on the exhaustive
exploration of the reachable state space. Then, we introduce an adapted version
of Monte Carlo simulation algorithm, termed Avatar, better suited to larger
models. Firefront and Avatar methods are validated and compared to other
related approaches, using as test cases logical models of synthetic and
biological networks.
Availability: Both algorithms are implemented as Perl scripts that can be
freely downloaded from http://compbio.igc.gulbenkian.pt/nmd/node/59 along with
Supplementary Material.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures, 2 algorithms and 2 table
Quantum Electrodynamics vacuum polarization solver
The self-consistent modeling of vacuum polarization due to virtual
electron-positron fluctuations is of relevance for many near term experiments
associated with high intensity radiation sources and represents a milestone in
describing scenarios of extreme energy density. We present a generalized
finite-difference time-domain solver that can incorporate the modifications to
Maxwell's equations due to vacuum polarization. Our multidimensional solver
reproduced in one dimensional configurations the results for which an analytic
treatment is possible, yielding vacuum harmonic generation and birefringence.
The solver has also been tested for two-dimensional scenarios where finite
laser beam spot sizes must be taken into account. We employ this solver to
explore different types of counter-propagating configurations that can be
relevant for future planned experiments aiming to detect quantum vacuum
dynamics at ultra-high electromagnetic field intensities
Efeito da variação de temperatura noturna sobre o desenvolvimento de Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: crambidae).
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