Cno Abundances Of Hydrogen-Deficient Carbon And R Coronae Borealis Stars: A View Of The Nucleosynthesis In A White Dwarf Merger

We present high-resolution (R similar to 50,000) observations of near-IR transitions of CO and CN of the five known hydrogen-deficient carbon (HdC) stars and four R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars. We perform an abundance analysis of these stars by using spectrum synthesis and state-of-the-art MARCS model atmospheres for cool hydrogen-deficient stars. Our analysis confirms reports by Clayton and colleagues that those HdC stars exhibiting CO lines in their spectrum and the cool RCB star SAps are strongly enriched in (18)O(with (16)O/(18)Oratios ranging from 0.3 to 16). Nitrogen and carbon are in the form of (14)N and (12)C, respectively. Elemental abundances for CNO are obtained from C I, Ci2, CN, and CO lines. Difficulties in deriving the carbon abundance are discussed. Abundances of Na from Na I lines and S from S I lines are obtained. Elemental and isotopic CNO abundances suggest that HdC and RCB stars may be related objects, and that they probably formed from a merger of an He white dwarf with a C-O white dwarf.Robert A. Welch Foundation of Houston, TexasSwedish Research CouncilGS-2006A-C-13GS-2007A-DD-1McDonald Observator

H^\pm W^\mp production in the MSSM at the LHC

We investigate the viability of observing charged Higgs bosons (H^\pm) produced in association with W bosons at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, using the leptonic decay H^+ -> tau^+ nu_tau and hadronic W decay, within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. Performing a parton level study we show how the irreducible Standard Model background from W + 2 jets can be controlled by applying appropriate cuts. In the standard m_h^max scenario we find a viable signal for large tan beta and intermediate H^\pm masses (~ m_t).Comment: 3 pages, LaTeX, 4 eps figures, uses jpconf.cls, talk given by S. Hesselbach at the 2007 Europhysics Conference on High Energy Physics, Manchester, England, 19-25 July 200

Comparison of pollutant emission control strategies for cadmium and mercury in urban water systems using substance flow analysis

The European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires Member States to protect inland surface and groundwater bodies but does not directly stipulate how the associated environmental quality standards should be achieved. This paper develops and assesses the performance of a series of urban emission control strategies (ECS) with an emphasis on the scientific and technological benefits which can be achieved. Data from the literature, in combination with expert judgement, have been used to develop two different semi-hypothetical case cities (SHCC), which represent virtual platforms for the evaluation of ECS using substance flow analysis (SFA). The results indicate that the full implementation of existing EU legislation is capable of reducing the total emissions of cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg) by between 11% and 20%. The ability to apply voluntary reduction practices is shown to be particularly effective for Cd with the potential to further lower the overall emissions by between 16% and 27%. The most efficient protection of the receiving surface water environment is strongly influenced by the city characteristics with the introduction of stormwater treatment practices being particularly effective for one city (59% reduction of Hg; 39% reduction of Cd) and the other city being most influenced by the presence of efficient advanced wastewater treatment processes (63% reduction of Hg; 43% reduction of Cd). These reductions in receiving water loads are necessarily accompanied by either increases in stormwater sediment loadings (2.6 to 14.9 kg/year or 0.6 to 2.4 kg/year for Hg) or wastewater sludge loadings (45.8 to 57.2 kg/year or 42.0 to 57.4 kg/year for Cd)

Evaluation of alternative pollutant emission control strategies to urban water systems using substance flow analysis

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires Member States to protect their inland (and coastal) surface and groundwater bodies. However, the way in which WFD requirements can be met, including the associated stringent environmental quality standards, is less clear. This paper presents selected results from the ScorePP project (an EU Framework Programme 6-funded consortium) which developed and assessed the performance of a series of emission control strategies (ECS) at an urban scale. Data from the literature, in combination with expert judgement (where data was not available), have been used to develop semi-hypothetical case cities (SHCCs), which represent virtual platforms for the evaluation of ECSs using substance flow analysis. The results indicate that the full implementation of existing legislation is capable of reducing total emissions of Cd and Hg by between 11% and 20%. Consideration of emissions on a compartment-by-compartment basis indicates that the impact of a particular ECS is sensitive to both pollutant and city-specific characteristics. Whilst reductions in emissions to one compartment are typically associated with an increase in emissions to an alternative compartment, the final compartment is influenced by the type of ECS selected. Limitations of the current approach are discussed

Conserved Matter Superenergy Currents for Orthogonally Transitive Abelian G2 Isometry Groups

In a previous paper we showed that the electromagnetic superenergy tensor, the Chevreton tensor, gives rise to a conserved current when there is a hypersurface orthogonal Killing vector present. In addition, the current is proportional to the Killing vector. The aim of this paper is to extend this result to the case when we have a two-parameter Abelian isometry group that acts orthogonally transitive on non-null surfaces. It is shown that for four-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell theory with a source-free electromagnetic field, the corresponding superenergy currents lie in the orbits of the group and are conserved. A similar result is also shown to hold for the trace of the Chevreton tensor and for the Bach tensor, and also in Einstein-Klein-Gordon theory for the superenergy of the scalar field. This links up well with the fact that the Bel tensor has these properties and the possibility of constructing conserved mixed currents between the gravitational field and the matter fields.Comment: 15 page

Sludge management paradigms: impact of priority substances and priority hazardous substances

As a by-product of treatment processes, municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) generate large quantities of sludge, with sludge treatment focused on sterilisation, volume reduction and biogas production. Whilst the EU Sewage Sludge Directive sets limits on the concentrations of selected metals in sludge applied to agricultural land, the potential impact of many EU Water Framework Directive priority and priority hazardous substances (PS/PHS) on human or environmental health has yet to be fully addressed. Research presented here shows that treated sludge from five urban WWTPs experiencing differing local conditions contain a range of PS/PHS including substances whose use has been banned or heavily restricted. Concentrations reported in this study do not exceed the limit values set for the four PS/PHS currently included in the EU Sewage Sludge Directive. However, more stringent national limits are exceeded. The basis for developing and applying Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC) values for the application of sludge to agricultural land is still unclear. However, comparison between PS/PHS sludge concentrations and available PNEC soil values clearly indicate the need for further research. Implications and research priorities arising from these findings in terms of achieving compliance with EU Sewage Sludge and Water Framework Directives are discussed

Backflow in a Fermi Liquid

We calculate the backflow current around a fixed impurity in a Fermi liquid. The leading contribution at long distances is radial and proportional to 1/r^2. It is caused by the current induced density modulation first discussed by Landauer. The familiar 1/r^3 dipolar backflow obtained in linear response by Pines and Nozieres is only the next to leading term, whose strength is calculated here to all orders in the scattering. In the charged case the condition of perfect screening gives rise to a novel sum rule for the phase shifts. Similar to the behavior in a classical viscous liquid, the friction force is due only to the leading contribution in the backflow while the dipolar term does not contribute.Comment: 4 pages, 1 postscript figure, uses ReVTeX and epsfig macro, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Second Harmonic Coherent Driving of a Spin Qubit in a Si/SiGe Quantum Dot

We demonstrate coherent driving of a single electron spin using second harmonic excitation in a Si/SiGe quantum dot. Our estimates suggest that the anharmonic dot confining potential combined with a gradient in the transverse magnetic field dominates the second harmonic response. As expected, the Rabi frequency depends quadratically on the driving amplitude and the periodicity with respect to the phase of the drive is twice that of the fundamental harmonic. The maximum Rabi frequency observed for the second harmonic is just a factor of two lower than that achieved for the first harmonic when driving at the same power. Combined with the lower demands on microwave circuitry when operating at half the qubit frequency, these observations indicate that second harmonic driving can be a useful technique for future quantum computation architectures.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Experimental f-value and isotopic structure for the Ni I line blended with [OI] at 6300A

We have measured the oscillator strength of the Ni I line at 6300.34 \AA, which is known to be blended with the forbidden [O I] $\lambda$6300 line, used for determination of the oxygen abundance in cool stars. We give also wavelengths of the two isotopic line components of $^{58}$Ni and $^{60}$Ni derived from the asymmetric laboratory line profile. These two line components of Ni I have to be considered when calculating a line profile of the 6300 \AA\ feature observed in stellar and solar spectra. We also discuss the labelling of the energy levels involved in the Ni I line, as level mixing makes the theoretical predictions uncertain.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJLetter