1,130 research outputs found
Ipopv2: Photoionization of Ni XIV -- a test case
Several years ago, M. Asplund and coauthors (2004) proposed a revision of the
Solar composition. The use of this new prescription for Solar abundances in
standard stellar models generated a strong disagreement between the predictions
and the observations of Solar observables. Many claimed that the Standard Solar
Model (SSM) was faulty, and more specifically the opacities used in such
models. As a result, activities around the stellar opacities were boosted. New
experiments (J. Bailey at Sandia on Z-Pinch, The OPAC consortium at LULI200) to
measure directly absorbtion coefficients have been realized or are underway.
Several theoretical groups (CEA-OPAS, Los Alamos Nat. Lab., CEA-SCORCG, The
Opacity Project - The Iron Project (IPOPv2)) have started new sets of
calculations using different approaches and codes. While the new results seem
to confirm the good quality of the opacities used in SSM, it remains important
to improve and complement the data currently available. We present recent
results in the case of the photoionization cross sections for Ni XIV (Ni13+ )
from IPOPv2 and possible implications on stellar modelling.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, Conf. on New Advances in Stellar Physics: From
Microscopic to Macroscopic Processe
Galactic positrons and electrons from astrophysical sources and dark matter
A very interesting puzzle about the origin of electron and positron cosmic
rays is deduced from the latests experimental results. We model the propagation
of such cosmic rays in terms of a successfully tested two--zone propagation
model. Several theoretical uncertainties -- like ones related to propagation --
are considered to study different types of electron and positron sources: dark
matter annihilation, secondary production, and supernova remnants.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure. Proceedings for conference "Topics in
Astroparticle and Underground Physics" (TAUP2009). Rome, July 1-5, 200
Positrons from dark matter annihilation in the galactic halo: uncertainties
Indirect detection signals from dark matter annihilation are studied in the
positron channel. We discuss in detail the positron propagation inside the
galactic medium: we present novel solutions of the diffusion and propagation
equations and we focus on the determination of the astrophysical uncertainties
which affect the positron dark matter signal. We show that, especially in the
low energy tail of the positron spectra at Earth, the uncertainty is sizeable
and we quantify the effect. Comparison of our predictions with current
available and foreseen experimental data are derived.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Proc. of the 30th International Cosmic Ray
Conference, July 3 - 11, 2007, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico (ICRC07
Positrons from dark matter annihilation in the galactic halo: theoretical uncertainties
Indirect detection signals from dark matter annihilation are studied in the
positron channel. We discuss in detail the positron propagation inside the
galactic medium: we present novel solutions of the diffusion and propagation
equations and we focus on the determination of the astrophysical uncertainties
which affect the positron dark matter signal. We find dark matter scenarios and
propagation models that nicely fit existing data on the positron fraction.
Finally, we present predictions both on the positron fraction and on the flux
for already running or planned space experiments, concluding that they have the
potential to discriminate a possible signal from the background and, in some
cases, to distinguish among different astrophysical propagation models.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures. A few comments and references adde
Constraints on WIMP Dark Matter from the High Energy PAMELA data
A new calculation of the ratio in cosmic rays is compared to the
recent PAMELA data. The good match up to 100 GeV allows to set constraints on
exotic contributions from thermal WIMP dark matter candidates. We derive
stringent limits on possible enhancements of the WIMP \pbar flux: a =100 GeV (1 TeV) signal cannot be increased by more than a factor 6 (40)
without overrunning PAMELA data. Annihilation through the channel is
also inspected and cross-checked with data. This scenario is
strongly disfavored as it fails to simultaneously reproduce positron and
antiproton measurements.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, the bibliography has been updated, minor
modifications have been made in the tex
Coexistence of anomalous field effect and mesoscopic conductance fluctuations in granular aluminium
We perform electrical field effect measurements at 4 K on insulating granular
aluminium thin films. When the samples size is reduced below 100 micrometers,
reproducible and stable conductance fluctuations are seen as a function of the
gate voltage. Our results suggest that these fluctuations reflect the
incomplete self-averaging of largely distributed microscopic resistances. We
also study the anomalous field effect (conductance dip) already known to exit
in large samples and its slow conductance relaxation in the presence of the
conductance fluctuations. Within our measurements accuracy, the two phenomena
appear to be independent of each other, like two additive contributions to the
conductance. We discuss the possible physical meaning of this independence and
in particular whether or not this observation is in favor of an electron glass
interpretation of slow conductance anomaly relaxations.Comment: 16 pages, 26 figure
A Universal Machine for Biform Theory Graphs
Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of semantics-aware assistant systems
for mathematics: proof assistants express the semantic in logic and emphasize
deduction, and computer algebra systems express the semantics in programming
languages and emphasize computation. Combining the complementary strengths of
both approaches while mending their complementary weaknesses has been an
important goal of the mechanized mathematics community for some time. We pick
up on the idea of biform theories and interpret it in the MMTt/OMDoc framework
which introduced the foundations-as-theories approach, and can thus represent
both logics and programming languages as theories. This yields a formal,
modular framework of biform theory graphs which mixes specifications and
implementations sharing the module system and typing information. We present
automated knowledge management work flows that interface to existing
specification/programming tools and enable an OpenMath Machine, that
operationalizes biform theories, evaluating expressions by exhaustively
applying the implementations of the respective operators. We evaluate the new
biform framework by adding implementations to the OpenMath standard content
dictionaries.Comment: Conferences on Intelligent Computer Mathematics, CICM 2013 The final
publication is available at http://link.springer.com
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