9,916 research outputs found
CAFE: Calar Alto Fiber-fed Echelle spectrograph
We present here CAFE, the Calar Alto Fiber-fed Echelle spectrograph, a new
instrument built at the Centro Astronomico Hispano Alem\'an (CAHA). CAFE is a
single fiber, high-resolution (70000) spectrograph, covering the
wavelength range between 3650-9800\AA. It was built on the basis of the common
design for Echelle spectrographs. Its main aim is to measure radial velocities
of stellar objects up to 13-14 mag with a precision as good as a few
tens of . To achieve this goal the design was simplified at maximum,
removing all possible movable components, the central wavelength is fixed, so
the wavelentgth coverage; no filter wheel, one slit and so on, with a
particular care taken in the thermal and mechanical stability. The instrument
is fully operational and publically accessible at the 2.2m telescope of the
Calar Alto Observatory.
In this article we describe (i) the design, summarizing its manufacturing
phase; (ii) characterize the main properties of the instrument; (iii) describe
the reduction pipeline; and (iv) show the results from the first light and
commissioning runs. The preliminar results indicate that the instrument fulfill
the specifications and it can achieve the foreseen goals. In particular, they
show that the instrument is more efficient than anticipated, reaching a
20 for a stellar object as faint as 14.5 mag in 2700s
integration time. The instrument is a wonderful machine for exoplanetary
research (by studying large samples of possible systems cotaining massive
planets), galactic dynamics (high precise radial velocities in moving groups or
stellar associations) or astrochemistry.Comment: 12 pages, 23 figures; Acepted for publishing in A&A, 201
Astrometric search for a planet around VB 10
We observed VB 10 in August and September 2009 using the FORS2 camera of the
VLT with the aim of measuring its astrometric motion and of probing the
presence of the announced planet VB 10b. We used the published STEPS
astrometric positions of VB 10 over a time-span of 9 years, which allowed us to
compare the expected motion of VB 10 due to parallax and proper motion with the
observed motion and to compute precise deviations. The achieved single-epoch
precisions of our observations are about 0.1 mas and the data showed no
significant residual trend, while the presence of the planet should have
induced an apparent proper motion larger than 10 mas/yr. Subtraction of the
predicted orbital motion from the observed data produces a large trend in
position residuals of VB 10. We estimated the probability that this trend is
caused by random noise. Taking all the uncertainties into account and using
Monte-Carlo resampling of the data, we are able to reject the existence of VB
10b with the announced mass of 6.4 M_J with the false alarm probability of only
0.0005. A 3.2 M_J planet is also rejected with a false alarm probability of
0.023.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in A&
Determination of the critical current density in the d-wave superconductor YBCO under applied magnetic fields by nodal tunneling
We have studied nodal tunneling into YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) films under magnetic
fields. The films' orientation was such that the CuO2 planes were perpendicular
to the surface with the a and b axis at 450 form the normal. The magnetic field
was applied parallel to the surface and perpendicular to the CuO2 planes. The
Zero Bias Conductance Peak (ZBCP) characteristic of nodal tunneling splits
under the effect of surface currents produced by the applied fields. Measuring
this splitting under different field conditions, zero field cooled and field
cooled, reveals that these currents have different origins. By comparing the
field cooled ZBCP splitting to that taken in decreasing fields we deduce a
value of the Bean critical current superfluid velocity, and calculate a Bean
critical current density of up to 3*10^7 A/cm2 at low temperatures. This
tunneling method for the determination of critical currents under magnetic
fields has serious advantages over the conventional one, as it avoids having to
make high current contacts to the sample.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
A semi-analytical approach to perturbations in mutated hilltop inflation
We study cosmological perturbations and observational aspects for mutated
hilltop model of inflation. Employing mostly analytical treatment, we evaluate
observable parameters during inflation as well as post-inflationary
perturbations. This further leads to exploring observational aspects related to
Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. This semi-analytical treatment
reduces complications related to numerical computation to some extent for
studying the different phenomena related to CMB angular power spectrum for
mutated hilltop inflation.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Improved version to appear in IJMP
The Adiabatic Instability on Cosmology's Dark Side
We consider theories with a nontrivial coupling between the matter and dark
energy sectors. We describe a small scale instability that can occur in such
models when the coupling is strong compared to gravity, generalizing and
correcting earlier treatments. The instability is characterized by a negative
sound speed squared of an effective coupled dark matter/dark energy fluid. Our
results are general, and applicable to a wide class of coupled models and
provide a powerful, redshift-dependent tool, complementary to other
constraints, with which to rule many of them out. A detailed analysis and
applications to a range of models are presented in a longer companion paper.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Hysteresis in mesoscopic superconducting disks: the Bean-Livingston barrier
The magnetization behavior of mesoscopic superconducting disks can show
hysteretic behavior which we explain by using the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory
and properly taking into account the de-magnetization effects due to
geometrical form factors. In large disks the Bean-Livingston surface barrier is
responsible for the hysteresis. While in small disks a volume barrier is
responsible for this hysteresis. It is shown that although the sample
magnetization is diamagnetic (negative), the measured magnetization can be
positive at certain fields as observed experimentally, which is a consequence
of the de-magnetization effects and the experimental set up.Comment: Latex file, 4 ps file
18 Sco: a solar twin rich in refractory and neutron-capture elements. Implications for chemical tagging
We study with unprecedented detail the chemical composition and stellar
parameters of the solar twin 18 Sco in a strictly differential sense relative
to the Sun. Our study is mainly based on high resolution (R ~ 110 000) high S/N
(800-1000) VLT UVES spectra, which allow us to achieve a precision of about
0.005 dex in differential abundances. The effective temperature and surface
gravity of 18 Sco are Teff = 5823+/-6 K and log g = 4.45+/-0.02 dex, i.e., 18
Sco is 46+/-6 K hotter than the Sun and log g is 0.01+/-0.02 dex higher. Its
metallicity is [Fe/H] = 0.054+/-0.005 dex and its microturbulence velocity is
+0.02+/-0.01 km/s higher than solar. Our precise stellar parameters and
differential isochrone analysis show that 18 Sco has a mass of 1.04+/-0.02M_Sun
and that it is ~1.6 Gyr younger than the Sun. We use precise HARPS radial
velocities to search for planets, but none were detected. The chemical
abundance pattern of 18 Sco displays a clear trend with condensation
temperature, showing thus higher abundances of refractories in 18 Sco than in
the Sun. Intriguingly, there are enhancements in the neutron-capture elements
relative to the Sun. Despite the small element-to-element abundance differences
among nearby n-capture elements (~0.02 dex), we successfully reproduce the
r-process pattern in the solar system. This is independent evidence for the
universality of the r-process. Our results have important implications for
chemical tagging in our Galaxy and nucleosynthesis in general.Comment: ApJ, in pres
Autonomous clustering using rough set theory
This paper proposes a clustering technique that minimises the need for subjective
human intervention and is based on elements of rough set theory. The proposed algorithm is
unified in its approach to clustering and makes use of both local and global data properties to
obtain clustering solutions. It handles single-type and mixed attribute data sets with ease and
results from three data sets of single and mixed attribute types are used to illustrate the
technique and establish its efficiency
Duality Cascade in Brane Inflation
We show that brane inflation is very sensitive to tiny sharp features in
extra dimensions, including those in the potential and in the warp factor. This
can show up as observational signatures in the power spectrum and/or
non-Gaussianities of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). One
general example of such sharp features is a succession of small steps in a
warped throat, caused by Seiberg duality cascade using gauge/gravity duality.
We study the cosmological observational consequences of these steps in brane
inflation. Since the steps come in a series, the prediction of other steps and
their properties can be tested by future data and analysis. It is also possible
that the steps are too close to be resolved in the power spectrum, in which
case they may show up only in the non-Gaussianity of the CMB temperature
fluctuations and/or EE polarization. We study two cases. In the slow-roll
scenario where steps appear in the inflaton potential, the sensitivity of brane
inflation to the height and width of the steps is increased by several orders
of magnitude comparing to that in previously studied large field models. In the
IR DBI scenario where steps appear in the warp factor, we find that the
glitches in the power spectrum caused by these sharp features are generally
small or even unobservable, but associated distinctive non-Gaussianity can be
large. Together with its large negative running of the power spectrum index,
this scenario clearly illustrates how rich and different a brane inflationary
scenario can be when compared to generic slow-roll inflation. Such distinctive
stringy features may provide a powerful probe of superstring theory.Comment: Corrections in Eq.(5.47), Eq (5.48), Eq(5.49) and Fig
Inter- and Intragranular Effects in Superconducting Compacted Platinum Powders
Compacted platinum powders exhibit a sharp onset of diamagnetic screening at
mK in zero magnetic field in all samples investigated. This
sharp onset is interpreted in terms of the intragranular transition into the
superconducting state. At lower temperatures, the magnetic ac susceptibility
strongly depends on the ac field amplitude and reflects the small intergranular
critical current density . This critical current density shows a strong
dependence on the packing fraction f of the granular samples. Surprisingly,
increases significantly with decreasing f ( A/cm for f = 0.67 and A/cm for f
= 0.50). The temperature dependence of shows strong positive curvature
over a wide temperature range for both samples. The phase diagrams of inter-
and intragranular superconductivity for different samples indicate that the
granular structure might play the key role for an understanding of the origin
of superconductivity in the platinum compacts.Comment: 11 pages including 9 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. B in Nov. 0
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