2,261 research outputs found
Gemini optical observations of binary millisecond-pulsars
Milli-second pulsars (MSPs) are rapidly spinning neutron stars, with spin
periods P_s <= 10 ms, which have been most likely spun up after a phase of
matter accretion from a companion star. In this work we present the results of
the search for the companion stars of four binary milli-second pulsars, carried
out with archival data from the Gemini South telescope. Based upon a very good
positional coincidence with the pulsar radio coordinates, we likely identified
the companion stars to three MSPs, namely PSRJ0614-3329 (g=21.95 +- 0.05),
J1231-1411 (g=25.40 +-0.23), and J2017+0603 (g=24.72 +- 0.28). For the last
pulsar (PSRJ0613-0200) the identification was hampered by the presence of a
bright star (g=16 +- 0.03) at \sim 2" from the pulsar radio coordinates and we
could only set 3-sigma upper limits of g=25.0, r= 24.3, and i= 24.2 on the
magnitudes of its companion star. The candidate companion stars to
PSRJ0614-3329, J1231-1411, and J2017+0603 can be tentatively identified as He
white dwarfs (WDs) on the basis of their optical colours and brightness and the
comparison with stellar model tracks. From the comparison of our multi-band
photometry with stellar model tracks we also obtained possible ranges on the
mass, temperature, and gravity of the candidate WD companions to these three
MSPs. Optical spectroscopy observations are needed to confirm their possible
classification as He WDs and accurately measure their stellar parameters.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Time asymmetries in quantum cosmology and the searching for boundary conditions to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation
The paper addresses the quantization of minisuperspace cosmological models by
studying a possible solution to the problem of time and time asymmetries in
quantum cosmology. Since General Relativity does not have a privileged time
variable of the newtonian type, it is necessary, in order to have a dynamical
evolution, to select a physical clock. This choice yields, in the proposed
approach, to the breaking of the so called clock-reversal invariance of the
theory which is clearly distinguished from the well known motion-reversal
invariance of both classical and quantum mechanics. In the light of this new
perspective, the problem of imposing proper boundary conditions on the space of
solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation is reformulated. The symmetry-breaking
formalism of previous papers is analyzed and a clarification of it is proposed
in order to satisfy the requirements of the new interpretation.Comment: 25 pages, 1 figur
M75, a Globular Cluster with a Trimodal Horizontal Branch. I. Color-Magnitude Diagram
Deep UBVI photometry for a large field covering the distant globular cluster
M75 (NGC 6864) is presented. We confirm a previous suggestion (Catelan et al.
1998a) that M75 possesses a bimodal horizontal branch (HB) bearing striking
resemblance to the well-known case of NGC 1851. In addition, we detect a third,
smaller grouping of stars on the M75 blue tail, separated from the bulk of the
blue HB stars by a gap spanning about 0.5 mag in V. Such a group of stars may
correspond to the upper part of a very extended, though thinly populated, blue
tail. Thus M75 appears to have a trimodal HB. The presence of the "Grundahl
jump" is verified using the broadband U filter. We explore the color-magnitude
diagram of M75 with the purpose of deriving the cluster's fundamental
parameters, and find a metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.03 +/- 0.17 dex and -1.24 +/-
0.21 dex in the Carretta & Gratton (1997) and Zinn & West (1984) scales,
respectively. We discuss earlier suggestions that the cluster has an
anomalously low ratio of bright red giants to HB stars. A differential age
analysis with respect to NGC 1851 suggests that the two clusters are
essentially coeval.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, emulateapj5/apjfonts style. Astronomical
Journal, in press. This version contains some very low-resolution figures,
due to the size constraints of astro-ph. We strongly encourage the interested
reader to download instead the preprint with full-resolution figures, which
can be found at http://www.astro.puc.cl/~mcatelan
On the optimal feedback control of linear quantum systems in the presence of thermal noise
We study the possibility of taking bosonic systems subject to quadratic
Hamiltonians and a noisy thermal environment to non-classical stationary states
by feedback loops based on weak measurements and conditioned linear driving. We
derive general analytical upper bounds for the single mode squeezing and
multimode entanglement at steady state, depending only on the Hamiltonian
parameters and on the number of thermal excitations of the bath. Our findings
show that, rather surprisingly, larger number of thermal excitations in the
bath allow for larger steady-state squeezing and entanglement if the efficiency
of the optimal continuous measurements conditioning the feedback loop is high
enough. We also consider the performance of feedback strategies based on
homodyne detection and show that, at variance with the optimal measurements, it
degrades with increasing temperature.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. v2: minor changes to the letter; better
explanation of the necessary and sufficient conditions to achieve the bounds
(in the supplemental material); v3: title changed; comparison between optimal
general-dyne strategy and homodyne strategy is discussed; supplemental
material included in the manuscript and few references added. v4: published
versio
The giant, horizontal and asymptotic branches of galactic globular clusters. I. The catalog, photometric observables and features
A catalog including a set of the most recent Color Magnitude Diagrams (CMDs)
is presented for a sample of 61 Galactic Globular Clusters (GGCs). We used this
data-base to perform an homogeneous systematic analysis of the evolved
sequences (namely, Red Giant Branch (RGB), Horizontal Branch (HB) and
Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB)). Based on this analysis, we present: (1) a new
procedure to measure the level of the ZAHB (V_ZAHB) and an homogeneous set of
distance moduli obtained adopting the HB as standard candle; (2) an independent
estimate for RGB metallicity indicators and new calibrations of these
parameters in terms of both spectroscopic ([Fe/H]_CG97) and global metallicity
([M/H], including also the alpha-elements enhancement). The set of equations
presented can be used to simultaneously derive a photometric estimate of the
metal abundance and the reddening from the morphology and the location of the
RGB in the (V,B-V)-CMD. (3) the location of the RGB-Bump (in 47 GGCs) and the
AGB-Bump (in 9 GGCs). The dependence of these features on the metallicity is
discussed. We find that by using the latest theoretical models and the new
metallicity scales the earlier discrepancy between theory and observations
(~0.4 mag) completely disappears.Comment: 51 pages, 23 figures, AAS Latex, macro rtrpp4.sty included, accepted
by A
Pulsation Period Changes as a Tool to Identify Pre-Zero Age Horizontal Branch Stars
One of the most dramatic events in the life of a low-mass star is the He
flash, which takes place at the tip of the red giant branch (RGB) and is
followed by a series of secondary flashes before the star settles into the
zero-age horizontal branch (ZAHB). Yet, no stars have been positively
identified in this key evolutionary phase, mainly for two reasons: first, this
pre-ZAHB phase is very short compared to other major evolutionary phases in the
life of a star; and second, these pre-ZAHB stars are expected to overlap the
loci occupied by asymptotic giant branch (AGB), HB and RGB stars observed in
the color-magnitude diagram (CMD). We investigate the possibility of detecting
these stars through stellar pulsations, since some of them are expected to
rapidly cross the Cepheid/RR Lyrae instability strip in their route from the
RGB tip to the ZAHB, thus becoming pulsating stars along the way. As a
consequence of their very high evolutionary speed, some of these stars may
present anomalously large period change rates. We constructed an extensive grid
of stellar models and produced pre-ZAHB Monte Carlo simulations appropriate for
the case of the Galactic globular cluster M3 (NGC 5272), where a number of RR
Lyrae stars with high period change rates are found. Our results suggest that
some -- but certainly not all -- of the RR Lyrae stars in M3 with large period
change rates are in fact pre-ZAHB pulsators.Comment: Conference Proceedings HELAS Workshop on 'Synergies between solar and
stellar modelling', Rome, June 2009, Astrophys. Space Sci., in the pres
BRST operator quantization of generally covariant gauge systems
The BRST generator is realized as a Hermitian nilpotent operator for a
finite-dimensional gauge system featuring a quadratic super-Hamiltonian and
linear supermomentum constraints. As a result, the emerging ordering for the
Hamiltonian constraint is not trivial, because the potential must enter the
kinetic term in order to obtain a quantization invariant under scaling. Namely,
BRST quantization does not lead to the curvature term used in the literature as
a means to get that invariance. The inclusion of the potential in the kinetic
term, far from being unnatural, is beautifully justified in light of the
Jacobi's principle.Comment: 16 pages (LaTeX manuscript). Revised version (minor changes) to
appear in Physical Review
The Luminosity Function of M3
We present a high precision, large sample luminosity function (LF) for the
Galactic globular cluster M3. With a combination of ground based and Hubble
Space Telescope data we cover the entire radial extent of the cluster. The
observed LF is well fit by canonical standard stellar models from the red giant
branch (RGB) tip to below the main sequence turnoff point. Specifically,
neither the RGB LF-bump nor subgiant branch LF indicate any breakdown in the
standard models. On the main sequence we find evidence for a flat initial mass
function and for mass segregation due to the dynamical evolution of the
cluster.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures. ApJ, in pres
The Large Magellanic Cloud globular cluster NGC 1866: new data, new models, new analysis
We present a new deep (down to V ~ 24) photometry of a wide region (6'x 6')
around the LMC globular cluster NGC1866: our sample is complete, down to 3 mag
below the brightest MS star. Detailed comparisons with various theoretical
scenarios using models computed with the evolutionary code FRANEC have been
done reaching the following conclusions: both standard models (i.e. computed by
adopting the Schwarzschild criterion to fix the border of the convective core)
and models with an enlarged convective core (overshooting) lead to a fair fit
of the MS but are not able to reproduce the luminosity and/or the number of He
burning giants. Models including a fraction of 30% of binaries leads to a good
fit both to the MS luminosity function and to the He clump, if standards models
are considered, for a visual distance modulus (m-M)v = 18.8, age t ~ 100 Myr
and mass function slope alpha ~ 2.4, thus largely removing the "classical"
discrepancy between observed and predicted number of stars in the He burning
clump. The fit obtained with models computed with an enlarged convective core
gets worse when a binary component is taken into account, because the presence
of binary systems increases the existing discrepancy between the observed and
predicted clump luminosity. As a consequence of this analysis, we conclude that
the next step towards a proper understanding of NGC 1866, and similar clusters,
must include the accurate determination of the frequency of binary systems that
will be hopefully performed with the incoming Cycle 8 HST observations of
NGC~1866.Comment: AASTEX 5.0, 33 pages, 35 figures. Two tables of photometry and full
resolution figures available on request from the first author
([email protected]). Accepted on A
Computable bounds for the discrimination of Gaussian states
By combining the Minkowski inequality and the quantum Chernoff bound, we
derive easy-to-compute upper bounds for the error probability affecting the
optimal discrimination of Gaussian states. In particular, these bounds are
useful when the Gaussian states are unitarily inequivalent, i.e., they differ
in their symplectic invariants.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. REVTe
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