1,493 research outputs found
A Consistency Test of Spectroscopic Gravities for Late-Type Stars
Chemical analyses of late-type stars are usually carried out following the
classical recipe: LTE line formation and homogeneous, plane-parallel,
flux-constant, and LTE model atmospheres. We review different results in the
literature that have suggested significant inconsistencies in the spectroscopic
analyses, pointing out the difficulties in deriving independent estimates of
the stellar fundamental parameters and hence,detecting systematic errors.
The trigonometric parallaxes measured by the HIPPARCOS mission provide
accurate appraisals of the stellar surface gravity for nearby stars, which are
used here to check the gravities obtained from the photospheric iron ionization
balance. We find an approximate agreement for stars in the metallicity range -1
<= [Fe/H] <= 0, but the comparison shows that the differences between the
spectroscopic and trigonometric gravities decrease towards lower metallicities
for more metal-deficient dwarfs (-2.5 <= [Fe/H] <= -1.0), which casts a shadow
upon the abundance analyses for extreme metal-poor stars that make use of the
ionization equilibrium to constrain the gravity. The comparison with the
strong-line gravities derived by Edvardsson (1988) and Fuhrmann (1998a)
confirms that this method provides systematically larger gravities than the
ionization balance. The strong-line gravities get closer to the physical ones
for the stars analyzed by Fuhrmann, but they are even further away than the
iron ionization gravities for the stars of lower gravities in Edvardsson's
sample. The confrontation of the deviations of the iron ionization gravities in
metal-poor stars reported here with departures from the excitation balance
found in the literature, show that they are likely to be induced by the same
physical mechanism(s).Comment: AAS LaTeX v4.0, 35 pages, 10 PostScript files; to appear in The
Astrophysical Journa
Testing Spallation Processes With Beryllium and Boron
The nucleosynthesis of Be and B by spallation processes provides unique
insight into the origin of cosmic rays. Namely, different spallation schemes
predict sharply different trends for the growth of LiBeB abundances with
respect to oxygen. ``Primary'' mechanisms predict BeB O, and are well
motivated by the data if O/Fe is constant at low metallicity. In contrast,
``secondary'' mechanisms predict BeB O and are consistent with
the data if O/Fe increases towards low metallicity as some recent data suggest.
Clearly, any primary mechanism, if operative, will dominate early in the
history of the Galaxy. In this paper, we fit the BeB data to a two-component
scheme which includes both primary and secondary trends. In this way, the data
can be used to probe the period in which primary mechanisms are effective. We
analyze the data using consistent stellar atmospheric parameters based on
Balmer line data and the continuum infrared flux. Results depend sensitively on
Pop II O abundances and, unfortunately, on the choice of stellar parameters.
When using recent results which show O/Fe increasing toward lower metallicity,
a two-component Be-O fits indicates that primary and secondary components
contribute equally at [O/H] = -1.8 for Balmer line data; and
[O/H] = -1.4 to -1.8 for IRFM. We apply these constraints to recent
models for LiBeB origin. The Balmer line data does not show any evidence for
primary production. On the other hand, the IRFM data does indicate a preference
for a two-component model, such as a combination of standard GCR and
metal-enriched particles accelerated in superbubbles. These conclusions rely on
a detailed understanding of the abundance data including systematic effects
which may alter the derived O-Fe and BeB-Fe relations.Comment: 40 pages including 11 ps figures. Written in AASTe
A Spectroscopic Study of the Ancient Milky Way: F- and G-Type Stars in the Third Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
(Abridged) We perform an analysis of spectra and photometry for 22,770 stars
included in the third data release (DR3) of the SDSS. We measure radial
velocities and, based on a model-atmosphere analysis, derive estimates ofthe
atmospheric parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, and [Fe/H]) for
each star. Stellar evolution models are then used to estimate distances. The
SDSS sample covers a range in stellar brightness of 14 < V < 22, and comprises
large numbers of F- and G-type stars from the thick-disk and halo populations
(up to 100 kpc from the galactic plane), therefore including some of the oldest
stars in the Milky Way. In agreement with previous results from the literature,
we find that halo stars exhibit a broad range of iron abundances, with a peak
at [Fe/H] ~ -1.4. This population exhibits essentially no galactic rotation.
Thick-disk G-dwarf stars at distances from the galactic plane in the range
1<|z|<3 kpc show a much more compact metallicity distribution, with a maximum
at [Fe/H] ~ -0.7, and a median galactic rotation velocity at that metallicity
of 157 +/- 4 km/s (a lag relative to the thin disk of 63 km/s). A comparison of
color indices and metal abundances with isochrones indicates that no
significant star formation has taken place in the halo in the last ~ 11 Gyr,
but there are thick-disk stars which are at least 2 Gyr younger. We find the
metallicities of thick-disk stars to be nearly independent of galactocentric
distance between 5 and 14 kpc, in contrast with the marked gradients found in
the literature for the thin disk. No vertical metallicity gradient is apparent
for the thick disk, but we detect a gradient inits rotational velocity of -16
+/- 4 km/s/kpc between 1 and 3 kpc from the plane.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures; accepted for publication in the ApJ; also
available from http://hebe.as.utexas.edu
Detailed Analysis of Nearby Bulgelike Dwarf Stars III. Alpha and Heavy-element abundances
The present sample of nearby bulgelike dwarf stars has kinematics and
metallicities characteristic of a probable inner disk or bulge origin. Ages
derived by using isochrones give 10-11 Gyr for these stars and metallicities
are in the range -0.80< [Fe/H]< +0.40. We calculate stellar parameters from
spectroscopic data, and chemical abundances of Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, La, Ba, Y, Zr
and Eu are derived by using spectrum synthesis.
We found that [alpha-elements/Fe] show different patterns depending on the
element. Si, Ca and Ti-to-iron ratios decline smoothly for increasing
metallicities, and follow essentially the disk pattern. O and Mg, products of
massive supernovae, and also the r-process element Eu, are overabundant
relative to disk stars, showing a steeper decline for metallicities [Fe/H] >
-0.3 dex. [s-elements/Fe] roughly track the solar values with no apparent trend
with metallicity for [Fe/H] < 0, showing subsolar values for the metal rich
stars. Both kinematical and chemical properties of the bulgelike stars indicate
a distinct identity of this population when compared to disk stars.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, to appear in Ap
Variabilidade genética de genótipos elite de maracujazeiro obtidos em programas de retrocruzamento envolvendo espécies silvestres e comerciais com base em marcadores Rapd.
CaracterĂsticas sensoriais e fĂsicas de frutos de hĂbridos interespecĂficos de maracujazeiro.
Abundance Analysis of Planetary Host Stars I. Differential Iron Abundances
We present atmospheric parameters and iron abundances derived from
high-resolution spectra for three samples of dwarf stars: stars which are known
to host close-in giant planets (CGP), stars for which radial velocity data
exclude the presence of a close-in giant planetary companion (no-CGP), as well
as a random sample of dwarfs with a spectral type and magnitude distribution
similar to that of the planetary host stars (control). All stars have been
observed with the same instrument and have been analyzed using the same model
atmospheres, atomic data and equivalent width modeling program. Abundances have
been derived differentially to the Sun, using a solar spectrum obtained with
Callisto as the reflector with the same instrumentation. We find that the iron
abundances of CGP dwarfs are on average by 0.22 dex greater than that of no-CGP
dwarfs. The iron abundance distributions of both the CGP and no-CGP dwarfs are
different than that of the control dwarfs, while the combined iron abundances
have a distribution which is very similar to that of the control dwarfs. All
four samples (CGP, no-CGP, combined, control) have different effective
temperature distributions. We show that metal enrichment occurs only for CGP
dwarfs with temperatures just below solar and approximately 300 K higher than
solar, whereas the abundance difference is insignificant at Teff around 6000 K.Comment: 52 pages (aastex 11pt, preprint style), including 17 figures and 13
tables; accepted for publication in AJ (scheduled for the October 2003 issue
Through Thick and Thin: Kinematic and Chemical Components in the Solar Neighbourhood
We search for the existence of chemically-distinct stellar components in the
solar neighbourhood using published data. Extending earlier work, we show that
when the abundances of Fe, alpha elements, and the r-process element Eu are
considered, stars separate neatly into two groups that delineate the
traditional thin and thick disk of the Milky Way. The group akin to the thin
disk is traced by stars with [Fe/H]>-0.7 and alpha/Fe<0.2. The thick disk-like
group overlaps the thin disk in [Fe/H] but has higher abundances of alpha
elements and Eu. Stars in the range -1.5<[Fe/H]<-0.7 with low [alpha/Fe]
ratios, however, seem to belong to a separate, dynamically-cold, non-rotating
component that we associate with tidal debris. The kinematically-hot stellar
halo dominates the sample for [Fe/H]<-1.5. These results suggest that it may be
possible to define the main dynamical components of the solar neighbourhood
using only their chemistry, an approach with a number of interesting
consequences. The kinematics of thin disk stars is then independent of
metallicity: their average rotation speed remains roughly constant in the range
-0.7<[Fe/H]<+0.4, a result that argues against radial migration having played a
substantial role in the evolution of the thin disk. The velocity dispersion of
stars assigned to the thin disk is also independent of [Fe/H], implying that
the familiar increase in velocity dispersion with decreasing metallicity is the
result of the increased prevalence of the thick disk at lower metallicities,
rather than of the sustained operation of a dynamical heating mechanism. The
substantial overlap in [Fe/H] and, probably, stellar age, of the various
components might affect other reported trends in the properties of stars in the
solar neighbourhood.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, some clarifications after referee report.
Conclusions unchange
Correlation entropy of synaptic input-output dynamics
The responses of synapses in the neocortex show highly stochastic and
nonlinear behavior. The microscopic dynamics underlying this behavior, and its
computational consequences during natural patterns of synaptic input, are not
explained by conventional macroscopic models of deterministic ensemble mean
dynamics. Here, we introduce the correlation entropy of the synaptic
input-output map as a measure of synaptic reliability which explicitly includes
the microscopic dynamics. Applying this to experimental data, we find that
cortical synapses show a low-dimensional chaos driven by the natural input
pattern.Comment: 7 pages, 6 Figures (7 figure files
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