115 research outputs found
Secular dynamics of a planar model of the Sun-Jupiter-Saturn-Uranus system; effective stability into the light of Kolmogorov and Nekhoroshev theories
We investigate the long-time stability of the Sun-Jupiter-Saturn-Uranus
system by considering a planar secular model, that can be regarded as a major
refinement of the approach first introduced by Lagrange. Indeed, concerning the
planetary orbital revolutions, we improve the classical circular approximation
by replacing it with a solution that is invariant up to order two in the
masses; therefore, we investigate the stability of the secular system for
rather small values of the eccentricities. First, we explicitly construct a
Kolmogorov normal form, so as to find an invariant KAM torus which approximates
very well the secular orbits. Finally, we adapt the approach that is at basis
of the analytic part of the Nekhoroshev's theorem, so as to show that there is
a neighborhood of that torus for which the estimated stability time is larger
than the lifetime of the Solar System. The size of such a neighborhood,
compared with the uncertainties of the astronomical observations, is about ten
times smaller.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1010.260
Superconductivity of bulk CaC6
We have obtained bulk samples of the graphite intercalation compound, CaC6,
by a novel method of synthesis from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. The
crystal structure has been completely determined showing that it is the only
member of the MC6, metal-graphite compounds, which has rhombohedral symmetry.
We have clearly shown the occurrence of superconductivity in the bulk sample at
11.5K, using magnetization measurements.Comment: 8 pages of text + 4 figures = 12 page
The Carbon-Rich Gas in the Beta Pictoris Circumstellar Disk
The edge-on disk surrounding the nearby young star Beta Pictoris is the
archetype of the "debris disks", which are composed of dust and gas produced by
collisions and evaporation of planetesimals, analogues of Solar System comets
and asteroids. These disks provide a window on the formation and early
evolution of terrestrial planets. Previous observations of Beta Pic concluded
that the disk gas has roughly solar abundances of elements [1], but this poses
a problem because such gas should be rapidly blown away from the star, contrary
to observations of a stable gas disk in Keplerian rotation [1, 2]. Here we
report the detection of singly and doubly ionized carbon (CII, CIII) and
neutral atomic oxygen (OI) gas in the Beta Pic disk; measurement of these
abundant volatile species permits a much more complete gas inventory. Carbon is
extremely overabundant relative to every other measured element. This appears
to solve the problem of the stable gas disk, since the carbon overabundance
should keep the gas disk in Keplerian rotation [3]. New questions arise,
however, since the overabundance may indicate the gas is produced from material
more carbon-rich than the expected Solar System analogues.Comment: Accepted for publication in Nature. PDF document, 12 pages.
Supplementary information may be found at
http://www.dtm.ciw.edu/akir/Documents/roberge_supp.pdf *** Version 2 :
Removed extraneous publication information, per instructions from the Nature
editor. No other changes mad
Combinatorial Hopf algebras in quantum field theory I
This manuscript stands at the interface between combinatorial Hopf algebra
theory and renormalization theory. Its plan is as follows: Section 1 is the
introduction, and contains as well an elementary invitation to the subject. The
rest of part I, comprising Sections 2-6, is devoted to the basics of Hopf
algebra theory and examples, in ascending level of complexity. Part II turns
around the all-important Faa di Bruno Hopf algebra. Section 7 contains a first,
direct approach to it. Section 8 gives applications of the Faa di Bruno algebra
to quantum field theory and Lagrange reversion. Section 9 rederives the related
Connes-Moscovici algebras. In Part III we turn to the Connes-Kreimer Hopf
algebras of Feynman graphs and, more generally, to incidence bialgebras. In
Section10 we describe the first. Then in Section11 we give a simple derivation
of (the properly combinatorial part of) Zimmermann's cancellation-free method,
in its original diagrammatic form. In Section 12 general incidence algebras are
introduced, and the Faa di Bruno bialgebras are described as incidence
bialgebras. In Section 13, deeper lore on Rota's incidence algebras allows us
to reinterpret Connes-Kreimer algebras in terms of distributive lattices. Next,
the general algebraic-combinatorial proof of the cancellation-free formula for
antipodes is ascertained; this is the heart of the paper. The structure results
for commutative Hopf algebras are found in Sections 14 and 15. An outlook
section very briefly reviews the coalgebraic aspects of quantization and the
Rota-Baxter map in renormalization.Comment: 94 pages, LaTeX figures, precisions made, typos corrected, more
references adde
Dusty Planetary Systems
Extensive photometric stellar surveys show that many main sequence stars show
emission at infrared and longer wavelengths that is in excess of the stellar
photosphere; this emission is thought to arise from circumstellar dust. The
presence of dust disks is confirmed by spatially resolved imaging at infrared
to millimeter wavelengths (tracing the dust thermal emission), and at optical
to near infrared wavelengths (tracing the dust scattered light). Because the
expected lifetime of these dust particles is much shorter than the age of the
stars (>10 Myr), it is inferred that this solid material not primordial, i.e.
the remaining from the placental cloud of gas and dust where the star was born,
but instead is replenished by dust-producing planetesimals. These planetesimals
are analogous to the asteroids, comets and Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) in our
Solar system that produce the interplanetary dust that gives rise to the
zodiacal light (tracing the inner component of the Solar system debris disk).
The presence of these "debris disks" around stars with a wide range of masses,
luminosities, and metallicities, with and without binary companions, is
evidence that planetesimal formation is a robust process that can take place
under a wide range of conditions. This chapter is divided in two parts. Part I
discusses how the study of the Solar system debris disk and the study of debris
disks around other stars can help us learn about the formation, evolution and
diversity of planetary systems by shedding light on the frequency and timing of
planetesimal formation, the location and physical properties of the
planetesimals, the presence of long-period planets, and the dynamical and
collisional evolution of the system. Part II reviews the physical processes
that affect dust particles in the gas-free environment of a debris disk and
their effect on the dust particle size and spatial distribution.Comment: 68 pages, 25 figures. To be published in "Solar and Planetary
Systems" (P. Kalas and L. French, Eds.), Volume 3 of the series "Planets,
Stars and Stellar Systems" (T.D. Oswalt, Editor-in-chief), Springer 201
The sub-arcsecond dusty environment of Eta Carinae
The core of the nebula surrounding Eta Carinae has been observed with the VLT
Adaptive Optics system NACO and with the interferometer VLTI/MIDI to constrain
spatially and spectrally the warm dusty environment and the central object. In
particular, narrow-band images at 3.74 and 4.05 micron reveal the butterfly
shaped dusty environment close to the central star with unprecedented spatial
resolution. A void whose radius corresponds to the expected sublimation radius
has been discovered around the central source. Fringes have been obtained in
the Mid-IR which reveal a correlated flux of about 100Jy situated 0.3"
south-east of the photocenter of the nebula at 8.7 micron, which corresponds
with the location of the star as seen in other wavelengths. This correlated
flux is partly attributed to the central object, and these observations provide
an upper limit for the SED of the central source from 2.2 to 13.5 micron.
Moreover, we have been able to spectrally disperse the signal from the nebula
itself at PA=318 degree, i.e. in the direction of the bipolar nebula 310
degree) within the MIDI field of view of 3". A large amount of corundum (Al2O3)
is discovered, peaking at 0.6-1.2" south-east from the star, whereas the dust
content of the Weigelt blobs is dominated b silicates. We discuss the
mechanisms of dust formation which are closely related to the geometry of this
Butterfly nebulae
Preliminary Evidence for Cell Membrane Amelioration in Children with Cystic Fibrosis by 5-MTHF and Vitamin B12 Supplementation: A Single Arm Trial
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common fatal autosomal recessive disorders in the Caucasian population caused by mutations of gene for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). New experimental therapeutic strategies for CF propose a diet supplementation to affect the plasma membrane fluidity and to modulate amplified inflammatory response. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) and vitamin B12 supplementation for ameliorating cell plasma membrane features in pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis.A single arm trial was conducted from April 2004 to March 2006 in an Italian CF care centre. 31 children with CF aged from 3 to 8 years old were enrolled. Exclusion criteria were diabetes, chronic infections of the airways and regular antibiotics intake. Children with CF were supplemented for 24 weeks with 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF, 7.5 mg /day) and vitamin B12 (0.5 mg/day). Red blood cells (RBCs) were used to investigate plasma membrane, since RBCs share lipid, protein composition and organization with other cell types. We evaluated RBCs membrane lipid composition, membrane protein oxidative damage, cation content, cation transport pathways, plasma and RBCs folate levels and plasma homocysteine levels at baseline and after 24 weeks of 5-MTHF and vitamin B12 supplementation. In CF children, 5-MTHF and vitamin B12 supplementation (i) increased plasma and RBC folate levels; (ii) decreased plasma homocysteine levels; (iii) modified RBC membrane phospholipid fatty acid composition; (iv) increased RBC K(+) content; (v) reduced RBC membrane oxidative damage and HSP70 membrane association.5-MTHF and vitamin B12 supplementation might ameliorate RBC membrane features of children with CF.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00730509
First Scattered-light Images of the Gas-rich Debris Disk around 49 Ceti
We present the first scattered-light images of the debris disk around 49 Ceti, a ∼40 Myr A1 main-sequence star at 59 pc, famous for hosting two massive dust belts as well as large quantities of atomic and molecular gas. The outer disk is revealed in reprocessed archival Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS-F110W images, as well as new coronagraphic H-band images from the Very Large Telescope SPHERE instrument. The disk extends from 1.″1 (65 au) to 4.″6 (250 au) and is seen at an inclination of 73°, which refines previous measurements at lower angular resolution. We also report no companion detection larger than 3 M Jup at projected separations beyond 20 au from the star (0.″34). Comparison between the F110W and H-band images is consistent with a gray color of 49 Ceti's dust, indicating grains larger than 2 μm. Our photometric measurements indicate a scattering efficiency/infrared excess ratio of 0.2-0.4, relatively low compared to other characterized debris disks. We find that 49 Ceti presents morphological and scattering properties very similar to the gas-rich HD 131835 system. From our constraint on the disk inclination we find that the atomic gas previously detected in absorption must extend to the inner disk, and that the latter must be depleted of CO gas. Building on previous studies, we propose a schematic view of the system describing the dust and gas structure around 49 Ceti and hypothetical scenarios for the gas nature and origin.E.C. acknowledges support from NASA through Hubble Fellowship grant HST-HF2-51355 awarded by STScI, operated by AURA, Inc. under contract NAS5-26555, and support from HST-AR-12652, for research carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. J.M. acknowledges ESO through the ESO fellowship program. M.B. acknowledges support from DFG project Kr 2164/15-1. G.M.K. is supported by the Royal Society as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. C.d.B. is supported by Mexican CONACyT research grant CB-2012-183007. L.M. acknowledges support by STFC through a graduate studentship. J.C.A. acknowledges support by the Programme National de Planétologie. We acknowledge support by the European Union through ERC grant 337569 for O.A. and C.A.G.G. and grant 279973 for M.W. and L.M
Cellular binding partners of the human papillomavirus E6 protein
The high-risk strains of human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) are known to be causative agents of cervical cancer and have recently also been implicated in cancers of the oropharynx. E6 is a potent oncogene of HR-HPVs, and its role in the progression to malignancy has been and continues to be explored. E6 is known to interact with and subsequently inactivate numerous cellular proteins pivotal in the mediation of apoptosis, transcription of tumor suppressor genes, maintenance of epithelial organization, and control of cell proliferation. Binding of E6 to these proteins cumulatively contributes to the oncogenic potential of HPV. This paper provides an overview of these cellular protein partners of HR-E6, the motifs known to mediate oncoprotein binding, and the agents that have the potential to interfere with E6 expression and activity and thus prevent the subsequent progression to oncogenesis
The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems. IV. NIRISS Aperture Masking Interferometry Performance and Lessons Learned
This is the final version. Available on open access from IOP Publishing via the DOI in this recordWe present a performance analysis for the aperture masking interferometry (AMI) mode on board the James Webb Space Telescope Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (JWST/NIRISS). Thanks to self-calibrating observables, AMI accesses inner working angles down to and even within the classical diffraction limit. The scientific potential of this mode has recently been demonstrated by the Early Release Science (ERS) 1386 program with a deep search for close-in companions in the HIP 65426 exoplanetary system. As part of ERS 1386, we use the same data set to explore the random, static, and calibration errors of NIRISS AMI observables. We compare the observed noise properties and achievable contrast to theoretical predictions. We explore possible sources of calibration errors and show that differences in charge migration between the observations of HIP 65426 and point-spread function calibration stars can account for the achieved contrast curves. Lastly, we use self-calibration tests to demonstrate that with adequate calibration NIRISS F380M AMI can reach contrast levels of ~9-10 mag at ≥λ/D. These tests lead us to observation planning recommendations and strongly motivate future studies aimed at producing sophisticated calibration strategies taking these systematic effects into account. This will unlock the unprecedented capabilities of JWST/NIRISS AMI, with sensitivity to significantly colder, lower-mass exoplanets than lower-contrast ground-based AMI setups, at orbital separations inaccessible to JWST coronagraphy.National Science Foundation (NSF)NASAEuropean Union Horizon 2020Royal Societ
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