A new look inside Planetary Nebula LoTr 5: A long-period binary with hints of a possible third component

LoTr 5 is a planetary nebula with an unusual long-period binary central star. As far as we know, the pair consists of a rapidly rotating G-type star and a hot star, which is responsible for the ionization of the nebula. The rotation period of the G-type star is 5.95 days and the orbital period of the binary is now known to be $\sim$2700 days, one of the longest in central star of planetary nebulae. The spectrum of the G central star shows a complex H$\alpha$ double-peaked profile which varies with very short time scales, also reported in other central stars of planetary nebulae and whose origin is still unknown. We present new radial velocity observations of the central star which allow us to confirm the orbital period for the long-period binary and discuss the possibility of a third component in the system at $\sim$129 days to the G star. This is complemented with the analysis of archival light curves from SuperWASP, ASAS and OMC. From the spectral fitting of the G-type star, we obtain a effective temperature of $T_{\rm eff}$ = 5410$\pm$250 K and surface gravity of $\log g$ = 2.7$\pm$0.5, consistent with both giant and subgiant stars. We also present a detailed analysis of the H$\alpha$ double-peaked profile and conclude that it does not present correlation with the rotation period and that the presence of an accretion disk via Roche lobe overflow is unlikely.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Effects of chemical treatments on infestation of Alternaria spp. and Fusarium spp. in correlation with technological wheat quality

In this study, the time of infestation by fungi from genus Alternaria spp. and Fusarium spp. was investigated in different stages of wheat maturity (milk, waxy, and technological maturity); the effects of different fungicides on the yield, technological properties, and content of mycotoxin DON were studied also. The results showed that Alternaria spp. attacked spike and kernel in f lowering and end-f lowering stage, as it was already known for Fusarium species. Fungicide treatment increases the yield up to 20%, test weight by 3.7%, and thousand-kernel weight up to 19.1%. High content of mycotoxin DON, above tolerable limits, was detected only in the treatment with fungicide Caramba and in untreated control

Radial and angular derivatives of distributions

When expressing a distribution in Euclidean space in spherical coordinates, derivation with respect to the radial and angular co-ordinates is far from trivial. Exploring the possibilities of defining a radial derivative of the delta distribution 8{x) (the angular derivatives of S(x) being zero since the delta distribution is itself radial) led to the introduction of a new kind of distributions, the so-called signumdistributions, as continuous linear functionals on a space of test functions showing a singularity at the origin. In this paper we search for a definition of the radial and angular derivatives of a general standard distribution and again, as expected, we are inevitably led to consider signumdistributions. Although these signumdistributions provide an adequate framework for the actions on distributions aimed at, it turns out that the derivation with respect to the radial distance of a general (signum)distribution is still not yet unambiguous

Ultrafast photon-photon interaction in a strongly coupled quantum dot-cavity system

We study dynamics of the interaction between two weak light beams mediated by a strongly coupled quantum dot-photonic crystal cavity system. First, we perform all optical switching of a weak continuous-wave signal with a pulsed control beam, and then perform switching between two pulsed beams (40ps pulses) at the single photon level. Our results show that the quantum dot-nanocavity system creates strong, controllable interactions at the single photon level

Sub-microsecond correlations in photoluminescence from InAs quantum dots

Photon correlation measurements reveal memory effects in the optical emission of single InAs quantum dots with timescales from 10 to 800 ns. With above-band optical excitation, a long-timescale negative correlation (antibunching) is observed, while with quasi-resonant excitation, a positive correlation (blinking) is observed. A simple model based on long-lived charged states is presented that approximately explains the observed behavior, providing insight into the excitation process. Such memory effects can limit the internal efficiency of light emitters based on single quantum dots, and could also be problematic for proposed quantum-computation schemes.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Detection of frequency spacings in the young O-type binary HD 46149 from CoRoT photometry

Using the CoRoT space based photometry of the O-type binary HD46149, stellar atmospheric effects related to rotation can be separated from pulsations, because they leave distinct signatures in the light curve. This offers the possibility of characterising and exploiting any pulsations seismologically. Combining high-quality space based photometry, multi-wavelength photometry, spectroscopy and constraints imposed by binarity and cluster membership, the detected pulsations in HD46149 are analyzed and compared with those for a grid of stellar evolutionary models in a proof-of-concept approach. We present evidence of solar-like oscillations in a massive O-type star, and show that the observed frequency range and spacings are compatible with theoretical predictions. Thus, we unlock and confirm the strong potential of this seismically unexplored region in the HR diagram.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Efficient Photonic Integration of Diamond Color Centers and Thin-Film Lithium Niobate

On-chip photonic quantum circuits with integrated quantum memories have the potential to radically progress hardware for quantum information processing. In particular, negatively charged group-IV color centers in diamond are promising candidates for quantum memories, as they combine long storage times with excellent optical emission properties and an optically-addressable spin state. However, as a material, diamond lacks many functionalities needed to realize scalable quantum systems. Thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN), in contrast, offers a number of useful photonic nonlinearities, including the electro-optic effect, piezoelectricity, and capabilities for periodically-poled quasi-phase matching. Here, we present highly efficient heterogeneous integration of diamond nanobeams containing negatively charged silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers with TFLN waveguides. We observe greater than 90\% transmission efficiency between the diamond nanobeam and TFLN waveguide on average across multiple measurements. By comparing saturation signal levels between confocal and integrated collection, we determine a $10$-fold increase in photon counts channeled into TFLN waveguides versus that into out-of-plane collection channels. Our results constitute a key step for creating scalable integrated quantum photonic circuits that leverage the advantages of both diamond and TFLN materials