Pulsation in carbon-atmosphere white dwarfs: A new chapter in white dwarf asteroseismology

We present some of the results of a survey aimed at exploring the asteroseismological potential of the newly-discovered carbon-atmosphere white dwarfs. We show that, in certains regions of parameter space, carbon-atmosphere white dwarfs may drive low-order gravity modes. We demonstrate that our theoretical results are consistent with the recent exciting discovery of luminosity variations in SDSS J1426+5752 and some null results obtained by a team of scientists at McDonald Observatory. We also present follow-up photometric observations carried out by ourselves at the Mount Bigelow 1.6-m telescope using the new Mont4K camera. The results of follow-up spectroscopic observations at the MMT are also briefly reported, including the surprising discovery that SDSS J1426+5752 is not only a pulsating star but that it is also a magnetic white dwarf with a surface field near 1.2 MG. The discovery of $g$-mode pulsations in SDSS J1426+5752 is quite significant in itself as it opens a fourth asteroseismological "window", after the GW Vir, V777 Her, and ZZ Ceti families, through which one may study white dwarfs.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Journal of Physics Conference Proceedings for the 16th European White Dwarf Worksho

SDSS J142625.71+575218.3: the First Pulsating White Dwarf With A Large Detectable Magnetic Field

We report the discovery of a strong magnetic field in the unique pulsating carbon- atmosphere white dwarf SDSS J142625.71 + 575218.3. From spectra gathered at the MMT and Keck telescopes, we infer a surface field of B(s) similar or equal to 1.2 MG, based on obvious Zeeman components seen in several carbon lines. We also detect the presence of a Zeeman- splitted He I lambda 4471 line, which is an indicator of the presence of a nonnegligible amount of helium in the atmosphere of this "hot DQ" star. This is important for understanding its pulsations, as nonadabatic theory reveals that some helium must be present in the envelope mixture for pulsation modes to be excited in the range of effective temperature where the target star is found. Out of nearly 200 pulsating white dwarfs known today, this is the first example of a star with a large detectable magnetic field. We suggest that SDSS J142625.71 + 575218.3 is the white dwarf equivalent of a rapidly oscillating Ap star.NSERCNSF AST 03-07321Reardon FoundationAstronom

Energy density of foods and beverages in the Australian food supply: influence of macronutrients and comparison to dietary intake.

OBJECTIVES: The energy density (ED) of the diet is considered an important determinant of total energy intake and thus energy balance and weight change. We aimed to compare relationships between ED and macronutrient content in individual food and beverage items as well as population diet in a typical Western country. DESIGN: Nutrient data for 3673 food items and 247 beverage items came from the Australian Food and Nutrient database (AusNut). Food and beverage intake data came from the 1995 Australian National Nutrition Survey (a 24-h dietary recall survey in 13 858 people over the age of 2). Relationships between ED and macronutrient and water content were analysed by linear regression with 95% prediction bands. RESULTS: For both individual food items and population food intake, there was a positive relationship between ED and percent energy as fat and negative relationships between ED and percent energy as carbohydrate and percent water by weight. In all cases, there was close agreement between the slopes of the regression lines between food items and dietary intake. There were no clear relationships between ED and macronutrient content for beverage items. Carbohydrate (mostly sucrose) contributed 91, 47, and 25% of total energy for sugar-based, fat-based, and alcohol-based beverages respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between ED and fat content of foods holds true across both population diets and individual food items available in the food supply in a typical Western country such as Australia. As high-fat diets are associated with a high BMI, population measures with an overall aim of reducing the ED of diets may be effective in mediating the growing problem of overweight and obesity

Vibrational thermodynamics: coupling of chemical order and size effects

The effects of chemical order on the vibrational entropy have been studied using first-principles and semi-empirical potential methods. Pseudopotential calculations on the Pd_3V system show that the vibrational entropy decreases by 0.07k_B upon disordering in the high-temperature limit. The decrease in entropy contradicts what would be expected from simple bonding arguments, but can be explained by the influence of size effects on the vibrations. In addition, the embedded-atom method is used to study the effects of local environments on the entropic contributions of individual Ni and Al atoms in Ni_3Al. It is found that increasing numbers of Al nearest neighbours decreases the vibrational entropy of an atom when relaxations are not included. When the system is relaxed, this effect disappears, and the local entropy is approximately uniform with increasing number of Al neighbours. These results are explained in terms of the large size mismatch between Ni and Al. In addition, a local cluster expansion is used to show how the relaxations increase the importance of long-range and multisite interactions

Studies of the use of high-temperature nuclear heat from an HTGR for hydrogen production

The results of a study which surveyed various methods of hydrogen production using nuclear and fossil energy are presented. A description of these methods is provided, and efficiencies are calculated for each case. The process designs of systems that utilize the heat from a general atomic high temperature gas cooled reactor with a steam methane reformer and feed the reformer with substitute natural gas manufactured from coal, using reforming temperatures, are presented. The capital costs for these systems and the resultant hydrogen production price for these cases are discussed along with a research and development program

One Dimensional Oxygen Ordering in YBa2Cu3O(7-delta)

A model consisting of oxygen-occupied and -vacant chains is considered, with repulsive first and second nearest-neighbor interactions V1 and V2, respectively. The statistical mechanics and the diffraction spectrum of the model is solved exactly and analytically with the only assumption V1 >> V2. At temperatures T ~ V1 only a broad maximum at (1/2,0,0) is present, while for ABS(delta - 1/2) > 1/14 at low enough T, the peak splits into two. The simple expression for the diffraction intensity obtained for T << V1 represents in a more compact form previous results of Khachaturyan and Morris[1],extends them to all delta and T/V2 and leads to a good agreement with experiment. [1] A.G.Khachaturyan and J.W.Morris, Jr., Phys.Rev.Lett. 64,76(1990)Comment: 13 pages,Revtex,3 figures available upon request but can be plotted using simple analytical functions,CNEA-CAB 92/04

Diluted Random Fields in Mixed Cyanide Crystals

A percolation argument and a dilute compressible random field Ising model are used to present a simple model for mixed cyanide crystals. The model reproduces quantitatively several features of the phase diagrams altough some crude approximations are made. In particular critical thresholds x_c at which ferroelastic first order transitions disappear, are calculated. Moreover, transitions are found to remain first order down to x_c for all mixtures except for bromine, for which the transition becomes continuous. All the results are in full agreement with experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, late