On the heating of source of the Orion KL hot core

We present images of the J=10-9 rotational lines of HC3N in the vibrationally excited levels 1v7, 1v6 and 1v5 of the hot core (HC) in Orion KL. The images show that the spatial distribution and the size emission from the 1v7 and 1v5 levels are different. While the J=10-9 1v7 line has a size of 4''x 6'' and peaks 1.1'' NE of the 3 mm continuum peak, the J=10--9 1v5 line emission is unresolved (<3'') and peaks 1.3'' south of the 3 mm peak. This is a clear indication that the HC is composed of condensations with very different temperatures (170 K for the 1v7 peak and $>230$ K for the 1v5 peak). The temperature derived from the 1v7 and 1v5 lines increases with the projected distance to the suspected main heating source I. Projection effects along the line of sight could explain the temperature gradient as produced by source I. However, the large luminosity required for source I, >5 10^5 Lsolar, to explain the 1v5 line suggests that external heating by this source may not dominate the heating of the HC. Simple model calculations of the vibrationally excited emission indicate that the HC can be internally heated by a source with a luminosity of 10^5 Lsolar, located 1.2'' SW of the 1v5 line peak (1.8'' south of source I). We also report the first detection of high-velocity gas from vibrationally excited HC3N emission. Based on excitation arguments we conclude that the main heating source is also driving the molecular outflow. We speculate that all the data presented in this letter and the IR images are consistent with a young massive protostar embedded in an edge-on disk.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, To be published in Ap.J. Letter

Majorana fermions in pinned vortices

Exploiting the peculiar properties of proximity-induced superconductivity on the surface of a topological insulator, we propose a device which allows the creation of a Majorana fermion inside the core of a pinned Abrikosov vortex. The relevant Bogolyubov-de Gennes equations are studied analytically. We demonstrate that in this system the zero-energy Majorana fermion state is separated by a large energy gap, of the order of the zero-temperature superconducting gap $\Delta$, from a band of single-particle non-topological excitations. In other words, the Majorana fermion remains robust against thermal fluctuations, as long as the temperature remains substantially lower than the critical superconducting temperature. Experimentally, the Majorana state may be detected by measuring the tunneling differential conductance at the center of the Abrikosov vortex. In such an experiment, the Majorana state manifests itself as a zero-bias anomaly separated by a gap, of the order of $\Delta$, from the contributions of the nontopological excitations.Comment: 9 pages, 2 eps figures, new references are added, several typos are correcte

Concurrent economic and environmental impacts of food consumption: are low emissions diets affordable?

Sustainability of food consumption concerns both environmental and economic issues. In fact, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization defines as sustainable diets those that are protective and respectful of ecosystems, culturally acceptable, economically affordable, besides ensuring an adequate and healthy nutrition.In this paper, a systematic methodology to plan menus complying with nutritional and health issues, close to current eating habits, affordable and with low greenhouse gas emissions is presented. The methodology relies on a multi-objective optimization model with binary variables. The objectives, that is the greenhouse gas emissions needed to serve the menu and its price, are conflicting and therefore a trade-off has to be established by means of the set of Pareto solutions. Any such a solution delivers a menu in term of the recipes composing each daily meal. The application of the presented methodology to the case of cycle menus for nursing homes is investigated. The case study shows that the menu's environmental impact is generally in inverse proportion to its price. Nevertheless, it is possible to obtain a menu with a significantly reduced environmental impact at an affordable extra cost. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Selective darkening of degenerate transitions for implementing quantum controlled-NOT gates

We present a theoretical analysis of the selective darkening method for implementing quantum controlled-NOT (CNOT) gates. This method, which we recently proposed and demonstrated, consists of driving two transversely-coupled quantum bits (qubits) with a driving field that is resonant with one of the two qubits. For specific relative amplitudes and phases of the driving field felt by the two qubits, one of the two transitions in the degenerate pair is darkened, or in other words, becomes forbidden by effective selection rules. At these driving conditions, the evolution of the two-qubit state realizes a CNOT gate. The gate speed is found to be limited only by the coupling energy J, which is the fundamental speed limit for any entangling gate. Numerical simulations show that at gate speeds corresponding to 0.48J and 0.07J, the gate fidelity is 99% and 99.99%, respectively, and increases further for lower gate speeds. In addition, the effect of higher-lying energy levels and weak anharmonicity is studied, as well as the scalability of the method to systems of multiple qubits. We conclude that in all these respects this method is competitive with existing schemes for creating entanglement, with the added advantages of being applicable for qubits operating at fixed frequencies (either by design or for exploitation of coherence sweet-spots) and having the simplicity of microwave-only operation.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

Comportamento ambiental de dois inseticidas em um solo de Mato Grosso do Sul: experimentação e modelagem matemática.

Informações sobre o comportamento de pesticidas são importantes para o conhecimento do seu destino ambiental e, consequentemente, para a avaliação da sustentabilidade dos sistemas de produção agrícolas. Este trabalho teve os seguintes objetivos: (i) quantificar a lixiviação de dois inseticidas (endossulfam e tiametoxam) em uma área de plantio de soja na região de Ponta Porã, MS; (ii) avaliar a degradação e sorção dos dois inseticidas no solo em estudo; e (iii) testar e calibrar os simuladores MACRO e PEARL para descrever os dados observados da lixiviação dos dois inseticidas nas condições consideradas. Amostras de solo para quantificação da lixiviação dos pesticidas foram coletadas nas profundidades de 0-10 cm, 10-30 cm, 30-50 cm, 50-70 cm e 70-100 cm aos 0, 41, 74 e 125 dias após aplicação. Para estudo da degradação, amostras de solo nas profundidades de 0-30 cm e 50-70 cm foram incubadas a 25 °C (tiametoxam) e 30 °C (endossulfam), umidade correspondente a 80% da capacidade de campo e ausência de luz. Para sorção, utilizou-se o método da batelada, considerando amostras nas profundidades de 0-30 cm e 50-70 cm para o tiametoxam e 0-30 cm para o endossulfam. Os resíduos de tiametoxam no solo foram determinados por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência e do endossulfam por cromatografia gasosa. Ambos os pesticidas estudados não lixiviaram para camadas abaixo de 50 cm de profundidade, indicando, assim, a ausência de transporte preferencial via macroporos. Os valores de meia-vida foram de 96 e 210 dias para o tiametoxam e de 24 e 27 dias para o endossulfam, nas profundidades de 0-30 cm e 50-70 cm, respectivamente. Observou-se uma dissipação mais intensa de ambos os pesticidas no campo quando comparada ao laboratório sob condições controladas. De maneira geral, os simuladores testados (PEARL e MACRO) foram satisfatórios para simular a lixiviação de endossulfam nas condições edafoclimáticas consideradas. No entanto, o desempenho do simulador MACRO foi superior ao PEARL para simular a lixiviação do tiametoxam.bitstream/item/29236/1/BP201057.pd

Motives in Brazilian school education according to the cultural historical perspective and the developmental education approach = Стимулирование образования в бразильской школе на основе культурно-исторической концепции и идей развивающего обучения

The article investigates the concepts "motive" and "activity", according to Leontiev’s constructs and the didactic-formative intervention research. The didactic-formative intervention research consists in a research methodology created and developed in Brazil by Longarezi in 2012-2014 within GEPEDI/UFU, for the accomplishment of developmental education investigations. This kind of research is based on the principles of developmental education and, therefore, has as an objective-goal the development of students for the learning activity (objective-means