499 research outputs found
Resolving Vega and the inclination controversy with CHARA/MIRC
Optical and infrared interferometers definitively established that the
photometric standard Vega (alpha Lyrae) is a rapidly rotating star viewed
nearly pole-on. Recent independent spectroscopic analyses could not reconcile
the inferred inclination angle with the observed line profiles, preferring a
larger inclination. In order to resolve this controversy, we observed Vega
using the six-beam Michigan Infrared Combiner on the Center for High Angular
Resolution Astronomy Array. With our greater angular resolution and dense
(u,v)-coverage, we find Vega is rotating less rapidly and with a smaller
gravity darkening coefficient than previous interferometric results. Our models
are compatible with low photospheric macroturbulence and also consistent with
the possible rotational period of ~0.71 days recently reported based on
magnetic field observations. Our updated evolutionary analysis explicitly
incorporates rapid rotation, finding Vega to have a mass of 2.15+0.10_-0.15
Msun and an age 700-75+150 Myrs, substantially older than previous estimates
with errors dominated by lingering metallicity uncertainties
(Z=0.006+0.003-0.002).Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
A young cluster with an extended main-sequence turnoff: Confirmation of a prediction of the stellar rotation scenario
We present Hubble Space Telescope photometry of NGC 1850, a ~100 Myr, ~105 M⊙ cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The colour-magnitude diagram clearly shows the presence of an extended main-sequence turnoff (eMSTO). The use of non-rotating stellar isochrones leads to an age spread of ~40 Myr. This is in good agreement with the age range expected when the effects of rotation in the main-sequence turnoff (MSTO) stars are wrongly interpreted in terms of age spread. We also do not find evidence for multiple, isolated episodes of star formation bursts within the cluster, in contradiction to scenarios that invoke actual age spreads to explain the eMSTO phenomenon. NGC 1850 therefore continues the trend of eMSTO clusters, where the inferred age spread is proportional to the age of the cluster. While our results confirm a key prediction of the scenario where stellar rotation causes the eMSTO feature, direct measurements of the rotational rate of MSTO stars is required to definitively confirm or refute whether stellar rotation is the origin of the eMSTO phenomenon or if it is due to an as yet undiscovered effect. © 2016 The Authors
High-precision calculations of dispersion coefficients, static dipole polarizabilities, and atom-wall interaction constants for alkali-metal atoms
The van der Waals coefficients for the alkali-metal atoms from Na to Fr
interacting in their ground states, are calculated using relativistic ab initio
methods. The accuracy of the calculations is estimated by also evaluating
atomic static electric dipole polarizabilities and coefficients for the
interaction of the atoms with a perfectly conducting wall. The results are in
excellent agreement with the latest data from ultra-cold collisions and from
studies of magnetic field induced Feshbach resonances in Na and Rb. For Cs we
provide critically needed data for ultra-cold collision studies
Electrophysiological correlates of high-level perception during spatial navigation
We studied the electrophysiological basis of object recognition by recording scalp\ud
electroencephalograms while participants played a virtual-reality taxi driver game.\ud
Participants searched for passengers and stores during virtual navigation in simulated\ud
towns. We compared oscillatory brain activity in response to store views that were targets or\ud
nontargets (during store search) or neutral (during passenger search). Even though store\ud
category was solely defined by task context (rather than by sensory cues), frontal ...\ud
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The AMANDA Neutrino Telescope and the Indirect Search for Dark Matter
With an effective telescope area of order 10^4 m^2, a threshold of ~50 GeV
and a pointing accuracy of 2.5 degrees, the AMANDA detector represents the
first of a new generation of high energy neutrino telescopes, reaching a scale
envisaged over 25 years ago. We describe its performance, focussing on the
capability to detect halo dark matter particles via their annihilation into
neutrinos.Comment: Latex2.09, 16 pages, uses epsf.sty to place 15 postscript figures.
Talk presented at the 3rd International Symposium on Sources and Detection of
Dark Matter in the Universe (DM98), Santa Monica, California, Feb. 199
Exclusive Measurements of pp -> dpi+pi0: Double-Pionic Fusion without ABC Effect
Exclusive measurements of the reaction pp -> dpi+pi0 have been carried out at
T_p = 1.1 GeV at the CELSIUS storage ring using the WASA detector. The
isovector pi+pi0 channel exhibits no enhancement at low invariant pipi masses,
i. e. no ABC effect. The differential distributions are in agreement with the
conventional t-channel Delta-Delta excitation process, which also accounts for
the observed energy dependence of the total cross section. This is an update of
a previously published version -- see important note at the end of the article
Long-range interactions of metastable helium atoms
Polarizabilities, dispersion coefficients, and long-range atom-surface
interaction potentials are calculated for the n=2 triplet and singlet states of
helium using highly accurate, variationally determined, wave functions.Comment: RevTeX, epsf, 4 fig
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