Pre-discovery and Follow-up Observations of the Nearby SN 2009nr: Implications for Prompt Type Ia SNe

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Type Ia supernova SN 2009nr in UGC 8255 (z=0.0122). Following the discovery announcement at what turned out to be ten days after peak, we detected it at V ~15.7 mag in data collected by the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) North telescope 2 weeks prior to the peak, and then followed it up with telescopes ranging in aperture from 10-cm to 6.5-m. Using early photometric data available only from ASAS, we find that the SN is similar to the over-luminous Type Ia SN 1991T, with a peak at Mv=-19.6 mag, and a slow decline rate of Dm_15(B)=0.95 mag. The early post-maximum spectra closely resemble those of SN 1991T, while the late time spectra are more similar to those of normal Type Ia SNe. Interestingly, SN 2009nr has a projected distance of 13.0 kpc (~4.3 disk scale lengths) from the nucleus of the small star-forming host galaxy UGC 8255. This indicates that the progenitor of SN 2009nr is not associated with a young stellar population, calling into question the conventional association of luminous SNe Ia with the "prompt" component directly correlated with current star formation. The pre-discovery observation of SN 2009nr using ASAS demonstrates the science utility of high cadence all sky surveys conducted using small telescopes for the discovery of nearby (d=<50 Mpc) supernovae.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ on 11/02/201

Racial Differences in the Human Endogenous Circadian Period

The length of the endogenous period of the human circadian clock (tau) is slightly greater than 24 hours. There are individual differences in tau, which influence the phase angle of entrainment to the light/dark (LD) cycle, and in doing so contribute to morningness-eveningness. We have recently reported that tau measured in subjects living on an ultradian LD cycle averaged 24.2 hours, and is similar to tau measured using different experimental methods. Here we report racial differences in tau. Subjects lived on an ultradian LD cycle (1.5 hours sleep, 2.5 hours wake) for 3 days. Circadian phase assessments were conducted before and after the ultradian days to determine the change in circadian phase, which was attributed to tau. African American subjects had a significantly shorter tau than subjects of other races. We also tested for racial differences in our previous circadian phase advancing and phase delaying studies. In the phase advancing study, subjects underwent 4 days of a gradually advancing sleep schedule combined with a bright light pulse upon awakening each morning. In the phase delaying study, subjects underwent 4 days of a gradually delaying sleep schedule combined with evening light pulses before bedtime. African American subjects had larger phase advances and smaller phase delays, relative to Caucasian subjects. The racial differences in tau and circadian phase shifting have important implications for understanding normal phase differences between individuals, for developing solutions to the problems of jet lag and shift work, and for the diagnosis and treatment of circadian rhythm based sleep disorders such as advanced and delayed sleep phase disorder

Spitzer and z' Secondary Eclipse Observations of the Highly Irradiated Transiting Brown Dwarf KELT-1b

We present secondary eclipse observations of the highly irradiated transiting brown dwarf KELT-1b. These observations represent the first constraints on the atmospheric dynamics of a highly irradiated brown dwarf, and the atmospheres of irradiated giant planets at high surface gravity. Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, we measure secondary eclipse depths of 0.195+/-0.010% at 3.6um and 0.200+/-0.012% at 4.5um. We also find tentative evidence for the secondary eclipse in the z' band with a depth of 0.049+/-0.023%. These measured eclipse depths are most consistent with an atmosphere model in which there is a strong substellar hotspot, implying that heat redistribution in the atmosphere of KELT-1b is low. While models with a more mild hotspot or even with dayside heat redistribution are only marginally disfavored, models with complete heat redistribution are strongly ruled out. The eclipse depths also prefer an atmosphere with no TiO inversion layer, although a model with TiO inversion is permitted in the dayside heat redistribution case, and we consider the possibility of a day-night TiO cold trap in this object. For the first time, we compare the IRAC colors of brown dwarfs and hot Jupiters as a function of effective temperature. Importantly, our measurements reveal that KELT-1b has a [3.6]-[4.5] color of 0.07+/-0.11, identical to that of isolated brown dwarfs of similarly high temperature. In contrast, hot Jupiters generally show redder [3.6]-[4.5] colors of ~0.4, with a very large range from ~0 to ~1. Evidently, despite being more similar to hot Jupiters than to isolated brown dwarfs in terms of external forcing of the atmosphere by stellar insolation, KELT-1b has an atmosphere most like that of other brown dwarfs. This suggests that surface gravity is very important in controlling the atmospheric systems of substellar mass bodies.Comment: 14 pages, 3 tables, 11 figures. Accepted by ApJ. Updated to reflect the accepted versio

Velocity autocorrelation function of a Brownian particle

In this article, we present molecular dynamics study of the velocity autocorrelation function (VACF) of a Brownian particle. We compare the results of the simulation with the exact analytic predictions for a compressible fluid from [6] and an approximate result combining the predictions from hydrodynamics at short and long times. The physical quantities which determine the decay were determined from separate bulk simulations of the Lennard-Jones fluid at the same thermodynamic state point.We observe that the long-time regime of the VACF compares well the predictions from the macroscopic hydrodynamics, but the intermediate decay is sensitive to the viscoelastic nature of the solvent.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Timing by Stellar Pulsations as an Exoplanet Discovery Method

The stable oscillations of pulsating stars can serve as accurate timepieces, which may be monitored for the influence of exoplanets. An external companion gravitationally tugs the host star, causing periodic changes in pulsation arrival times. This method is most sensitive to detecting substellar companions around the hottest pulsating stars, especially compact remnants like white dwarfs and hot subdwarfs, as well as delta Scuti variables (A stars). However, it is applicable to any pulsating star with sufficiently stable oscillations. Care must be taken to ensure that the changes in pulsation arrival times are not caused by intrinsic stellar variability; an external, light-travel-time effect from an exoplanet identically affects all pulsation modes. With more long-baseline photometric campaigns coming online, this method is yielding new detections of substellar companions.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures: Invited review to appear in 'Handbook of Exoplanets,' Springer Reference Works, edited by Hans J. Deeg and Juan Antonio Belmont

Exoplanet Catalogues

One of the most exciting developments in the field of exoplanets has been the progression from 'stamp-collecting' to demography, from discovery to characterisation, from exoplanets to comparative exoplanetology. There is an exhilaration when a prediction is confirmed, a trend is observed, or a new population appears. This transition has been driven by the rise in the sheer number of known exoplanets, which has been rising exponentially for two decades (Mamajek 2016). However, the careful collection, scrutiny and organisation of these exoplanets is necessary for drawing robust, scientific conclusions that are sensitive to the biases and caveats that have gone into their discovery. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss and demonstrate important considerations to keep in mind when examining or constructing a catalogue of exoplanets. First, we introduce the value of exoplanetary catalogues. There are a handful of large, online databases that aggregate the available exoplanet literature and render it digestible and navigable - an ever more complex task with the growing number and diversity of exoplanet discoveries. We compare and contrast three of the most up-to-date general catalogues, including the data and tools that are available. We then describe exoplanet catalogues that were constructed to address specific science questions or exoplanet discovery space. Although we do not attempt to list or summarise all the published lists of exoplanets in the literature in this chapter, we explore the case study of the NASA Kepler mission planet catalogues in some detail. Finally, we lay out some of the best practices to adopt when constructing or utilising an exoplanet catalogue.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Invited review chapter, to appear in "Handbook of Exoplanets", edited by H.J. Deeg and J.A. Belmonte, section editor N. Batalh

Exoplanet Research with the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

When the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) was conceived and its first science cases defined, exoplanets had not been detected. Later studies, however, showed that optical and near-infrared photometric and spectrophotometric follow-up observations during planetary transits and eclipses are feasible with SOFIA's instrumentation, in particular with the HIPO-FLITECAM and FPI+ optical and near infrared (NIR) instruments. Additionally, the airborne-based platform SOFIA has a number of unique advantages when compared to other ground- and space-based observatories in this field of research. Here we will outline these theoretical advantages, present some sample science cases and the results of two observations from SOFIA's first five observation cycles -- an observation of the Hot Jupiter HD 189733b with HIPO and an observation of the Super-Earth GJ 1214b with FLIPO and FPI+. Based on these early products available to this science case, we evaluate SOFIA's potential and future perspectives in the field of optical and infrared exoplanet spectrophotometry in the stratosphere.Comment: Invited review chapter, accepted for publication in "Handbook of Exoplanets" edited by H.J. Deeg and J.A. Belmonte, Springer Reference Work

Why is the bandwidth of sodium observed to be narrower in photoemission experiments?

The experimentally predicted narrowing in the bandwidth of sodium is interpreted in terms of the non-local self-energy effect on quasi-particle energies of the electron liquid. The calculated self-energy correction is a monotonically increasing function of the wavenumber variable. The usual analysis of photo-emission experiments assumes the final state energies on the nearly-free-electron-like model and hence it incorrectly ascribes the non-local self-energy correction to the final state energies to the occupied state energies, thus leading to a seeming narrowing in the bandwidth.Comment: 9 page

Electronic Structure of Transition Metals Fe, Ni and Cu in the GW Approximation

The quasiparticle band structures of 3d transition metals, ferromagnetic Fe, Ni and paramagnetic Cu, are calculated by the GW approximation. The width of occupied 3d valence band, which is overestimated in the LSDA, is in good agreement with experimental observation. However the exchange splitting and satellite in spectra are not reproduced and it is required to go beyond the GW approximation. The effects of static screening and dynamical correlation are discussed in detail in comparison with the results of the static COHSEX approximation. The dynamical screening effects are important for band width narrowing.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure