A possible cosmological application of some thermodynamic properties of the black body radiation in n−n-dimensional Euclidean spaces

In this work we present the generalization of some thermodynamic properties of the black body radiation (BBR) towards an $n-$dimensional Euclidean space. For this case the Planck function and the Stefan-Boltzmann law have already been given by Landsberg and de Vos and some adjustments by Menon and Agrawal. However, since then no much more has been done on this subject and we believe there are some relevant aspects yet to explore. In addition to the results previously found we calculate the thermodynamic potentials, the efficiency of the Carnot engine, the law for adiabatic processes and the heat capacity at constant volume. There is a region at which an interesting behavior of the thermodynamic potentials arise, maxima and minima appear for the $n-d$ BBR system at very high temperatures and low dimensionality, suggesting a possible application to cosmology. Finally we propose that an optimality criterion in a thermodynamic framework could have to do with the $3-d$ nature of the universe.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

A statistical analysis of electric self-potential time series associated to two 1993 earthquakes in Mexico

Recent studies related with earthquake prediction involve statistical studies of the ground electric self-potential behavior. Published results about the complexity of this kind of processes encourage us to study the statistical behavior of the ground electric self-potential recorded in Guerrero state, Mexico. This region is characterized by high seismicity. The electric self-potential variations were recorded in the Acapulco station directly from the ground. The sampling period was four seconds and the data were stored from March to December of 1993. Two significant earthquakes (EQs) occurred near this station, 15 May and 24 October whose magnitudes were Mw=6.0 and Mw=6.6 respectively. A preliminary processing was carried out consisting of a moving average of the original time series in order to filter the very high frequencies and to complete short lacks of data and outliers. Then, a visual inspection of the complete filtered signal was performed to search some seismic electric signals (SES), which were ambiguously depicted. Subsequently, a detrending of µ=0 was applied with the windows of 3.3, 6.6 and 10 h. Later, the analysis of the spectral exponent β was made, showing changes during the total period examined, and the most evident changes occurred during the preparation mechanism of the Mw=6.6 EQ. Fifteen days before the 24 October EQ, a Brownian-noise like behavior was displayed (β≈2), having a duration of about two days. In addition a Higuchi fractal method and wavelet analysis were made confirming the presence of the β-anomaly

A first--order irreversible thermodynamic approach to a simple energy converter

Several authors have shown that dissipative thermal cycle models based on Finite-Time Thermodynamics exhibit loop-shaped curves of power output versus efficiency, such as it occurs with actual dissipative thermal engines. Within the context of First-Order Irreversible Thermodynamics (FOIT), in this work we show that for an energy converter consisting of two coupled fluxes it is also possible to find loop-shaped curves of both power output and the so-called ecological function against efficiency. In a previous work Stucki [J.W. Stucki, Eur. J. Biochem. vol. 109, 269 (1980)] used a FOIT-approach to describe the modes of thermodynamic performance of oxidative phosphorylation involved in ATP-synthesis within mithochondrias. In that work the author did not use the mentioned loop-shaped curves and he proposed that oxidative phosphorylation operates in a steady state simultaneously at minimum entropy production and maximum efficiency, by means of a conductance matching condition between extreme states of zero and infinite conductances respectively. In the present work we show that all Stucki's results about the oxidative phosphorylation energetics can be obtained without the so-called conductance matching condition. On the other hand, we also show that the minimum entropy production state implies both null power output and efficiency and therefore this state is not fulfilled by the oxidative phosphorylation performance. Our results suggest that actual efficiency values of oxidative phosphorylation performance are better described by a mode of operation consisting in the simultaneous maximization of the so-called ecological function and the efficiency.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

A simple model on the influence of the greenhouse effect on the efficiency of solar-to-wind energy conversion

In the present paper we study the Gordon and Zarmi model (Am. J. Phys., 57 (1989)995)for dealing with the earth’s wind energy as a solar-driven Carnot-like heat engine, incorporating the role of the greenhouse effect on the performance of this heat engine model, following the De Vos approach. We find that when the greenhouse effect is considered only at the low-temperature half part of the cycle, the efficiency of the conversion of solar energy into wind energy strongly depends on the greenhouse effect under both maximum-power and maximum-ecological-function conditions. We also analyze the De Vos-van der Wel model corresponding to the so-called two-reservoir case and find that the efficiency of conversion of solar energy into wind energy under maximum ecological function reaches a reasonable value within the interval of values reported in the literature

NGC 2419: a large and extreme second generation in a currently undisturbed cluster

We analyse complementary HST and SUBARU data for the globular cluster NGC 2419. We make a detailed analysis of the horizontal branch (HB), that appears composed by two main groups of stars: the luminous blue HB stars ---that extend by evolution into the RR Lyrae and red HB region--- and a fainter, extremely blue population. We examine the possible models for this latter group and conclude that a plausible explanation is that they correspond to a significant (~30 %) extreme second generation with a strong helium enhancement (Y~0.4). We also show that the color dispersion of the red giant branch is consistent with this hypothesis, while the main sequence data are compatible with it, although the large observational error blurs the possible underlying splitting. While it is common to find an even larger (50 -- 80) percentage of second generation in a globular cluster, the presence of a substantial and extreme fraction of these stars in NGC 2419 might be surprising, as the cluster is at present well inside the radius beyond which the galactic tidal field would be dominant. If a similar situation had been present in the first stages of the cluster life, the cluster would have retained its initial mass, and the percentage of second generation stars should have been quite small (up to ~10 %). Such a large fraction of extreme second generation stars implies that the system must have been initially much more massive and in different dynamical conditions than today. We discuss this issue in the light of existing models of the formation of multiple populations in globular clusters.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures (5 in low resolution format), 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA

Indirect study of 19Ne states near the 18F+p threshold

The early E < 511 keV gamma-ray emission from novae depends critically on the 18F(p,a)15O reaction. Unfortunately the reaction rate of the 18F(p,a)15O reaction is still largely uncertain due to the unknown strengths of low-lying proton resonances near the 18F+p threshold which play an important role in the nova temperature regime. We report here our last results concerning the study of the d(18F,p)19F(alpha)15N transfer reaction. We show in particular that these two low-lying resonances cannot be neglected. These results are then used to perform a careful study of the remaining uncertainties associated to the 18F(p,a)15O and 18F(p,g)19Ne reaction rates.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures. Accepted in Nuclear Physics

Prospects for asteroseismology

The observational basis for asteroseismology is being dramatically strengthened, through more than two years of data from the CoRoT satellite, the flood of data coming from the Kepler mission and, in the slightly longer term, from dedicated ground-based facilities. Our ability to utilize these data depends on further development of techniques for basic data analysis, as well as on an improved understanding of the relation between the observed frequencies and the underlying properties of the stars. Also, stellar modelling must be further developed, to match the increasing diagnostic potential of the data. Here we discuss some aspects of data interpretation and modelling, focussing on the important case of stars with solar-like oscillations.Comment: Proc. HELAS Workshop on 'Synergies between solar and stellar modelling', eds M. Marconi, D. Cardini & M. P. Di Mauro, Astrophys. Space Sci., in the press Revision: correcting abscissa labels on Figs 1 and