Color Superconductivity in Compact Stars and Gamma Ray Bursts

We study the effects of color superconductivity on the structure and formation of compact stars. We show that it is possible to satisfy most of recent observational boundaries on masses and radii if a diquark condensate forms in a hybrid or a quark star. Moreover, we find that a huge amount of energy, of the order of $10^{53}$ erg, can be released in the conversion from a (metastable) hadronic star into a (stable) hybrid or quark star, if the presence of a color superconducting phase is taken into account. Accordingly to the scenario proposed in Astrophys.J.586(2003)1250, the energy released in this conversion can power a Gamma Ray Burst. This mechanism can explain the recent observations indicating a delay, of the order of days or years, between a few Supernova explosions and the subsequent Gamma Ray Burst.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Formation of Quark Phases in compact stars and their connection to Gamma-Ray-Bursts

We analyse the occurrence of quiescent times in the temporal structure of the Gamma-Ray-Bursts (GRBs) light curves. We show that if a long quiescent time is present, it is possible to divide the total duration of GRBs into three periods: the pre-quiescence emission, the quiescent time and the post-quiescence emission. We then discuss a model of the GRBs inner engine based on the formation of quark phases during the life of an hadronic star. Within this model the pre-quiescence emission is interpreted as due to the deconfinement of quark inside an hadronic star and the formation of 2SC quark matter. The post-quiescence emission is due to the conversion of 2SC into the Color-Flavor-Locking (CFL) phase. The temporal delay between these two processes is connected with the nucleation time of the CFL phase in the 2SC phase and it can be associated with the observed quiescent times in the GRBs light curves. The stability of CFL cores in compact stars is also discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of 3th International Conference on Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics (NPAIII), 26 - 31 March 2007 Dresden, German

Synchrotron oscillation damping due to beam-beam collisions

In DA{\Phi}NE, the Frascati e+/e- collider, the crab waist collision scheme has been successfully implemented in 2008 and 2009. During the collision operations for Siddharta experiment, an unusual synchrotron damping effect has been observed. Indeed, with the longitudinal feedback switched off, the positron beam becomes unstable with beam currents in the order of 200-300 mA. The longitudinal instability is damped by bringing the positron beam in collision with a high current electron beam (~2A). Besides, we have observed a shift of \approx 600Hz in the residual synchrotron sidebands. Precise measurements have been performed by using both a commercial spectrum analyzer and the diagnostics capabilities of the DA{\Phi}NE longitudinal bunch-by-bunch feedback. This damping effect has been observed in DA{\Phi}NE for the first time during collisions with the crab waist scheme. Our explanation is that beam collisions with a large crossing angle produce a longitudinal tune shift and a longitudinal tune spread, providing Landau damping of synchrotron oscillations.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures, talk presented to IPAC'10 - Kyoto - May 24-28 201

Commentary on: "Pityriasis Rosea Recurrence is Much Higher than Previously Known: A Prospective Study".

Abstract is missing (Correspondence

Development of an olive phenological model in relation to air temperature

The effect of air temperature on olive phenological development has not been extensively studied. Indirectly related data are available, mostly from air pollen concentration measurements rather than direct observation of phenological stages. Data on phenological stages of olive collected in Sicily, by the Sicilian Agrometeorological Service (SIAS), in 10 locations characterized by different climatic conditions were used to develop and calibrate a phenological model for the most important developmental stages in olive. Phenological stages under study were: bud break, inflorescence emission, and full bloom A base-temperature linear model was developed by choosing a temperature threshold using as optimization criteria the Mean Bias Error (MBE) and the R2 of the relationship between observed vs. predicted phenological stage dates. A model with base temperature of 12\ub0C was found to be the best predictor for all initial phenological stages. A more detailed analysis within each single phase showed a decreasing performance compared to predictions performed on the whole period (January 1st to full bloom). Highest displacements of model predictions from observed values occurred starting from bloom, whereas bud-break predictions had the best fit, with lowest residuals. This difference in the predicting ability of the model in different phenological stages could be ascribed to the stronger limitations by low temperatures that can occur early in the season, as for bud-break stage

Prospects for intermediate mass black hole binary searches with advanced gravitational-wave detectors

We estimated the sensitivity of the upcoming advanced, ground-based gravitational-wave observatories (the upgraded LIGO and Virgo and the KAGRA interferometers) to coalescing intermediate mass black hole binaries (IMBHB). We added waveforms modeling the gravitational radiation emitted by IMBHBs to detectors' simulated data and searched for the injected signals with the coherent WaveBurst algorithm. The tested binary's parameter space covers non-spinning IMBHBs with source-frame total masses between 50 and 1050 $\text{M}_{\odot}$ and mass ratios between $1/6$ and 1$\,$. We found that advanced detectors could be sensitive to these systems up to a range of a few Gpc. A theoretical model was adopted to estimate the expected observation rates, yielding up to a few tens of events per year. Thus, our results indicate that advanced detectors will have a reasonable chance to collect the first direct evidence for intermediate mass black holes and open a new, intriguing channel for probing the Universe over cosmological scales.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, corrected the name of one author (previously misspelled

Formation of quark phases in compact stars and SN explosion

We describe possible scenarios of quark deconfinement in compact stars and we analyze their astrophysical implications. The quark deconfinement process can proceed rapidly, as a strong deflagration, releasing a huge amount of energy in a short time and generating an extra neutrino burst. If energy is transferred efficiently to the surface, like e.g. in the presence of convective instabilities, this burst could contribute to revitalize a partially failed SN explosion. We discuss how the neutrino observations from SN1987A would fit in this scenario. Finally, we focus on the fate of massive and rapidly rotating progenitors, discussing possible time separations between the moment of the core collapse and the moment of quark deconfinement. This mechanism can be at the basis of the interpretation of gamma ray bursts in which lines associated with heavy elements are present in the spectrum.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings "6th International Conference on Perspectives in Hadronic Physics", May 2008, Triest