19,050 research outputs found
KIC 9821622: An interesting lithium-rich giant in the Kepler field
We report the discovery of a new exceptional young lithium-rich giant, KIC
9821622, in the \textit{Kepler} field that exhibits an unusually large
enhancement of , Fe-peak, and \textit{r}-process elements. From
high-resolution spectra obtained with GRACES at Gemini North, we derived
fundamental parameters and detailed chemical abundances of 23 elements from
equivalent widths and synthesis analysis. By combining atmospheric stellar
parameters with available asteroseismic data, we obtained the stellar mass,
radius, and age. The data analysis reveals that KIC 9821622 is a Li-rich
(A(Li) = 1.80 0.2) intermediate-mass giant star ( = 1.64
) located at the red giant branch near the luminosity bump. We find
unexpectedly elevated abundances of Fe-peak and \textit{r}-process elements. In
addition, as previously reported, we find that this is a young star (2.37 Gyr)
with unusually high abundances of -elements ([/Fe] = 0.31). The
evolutionary status of KIC 9821622 suggests that its Li-rich nature is the
result of internal fresh Li that is synthesized through the Cameron-Fowler
mechanism near the luminosity bump. However, its peculiar enhancement of
, Fe-peak, and \textit{r}-process elements opens the possibility of
external contamination by material enriched by a supernova explosion. Although
it is less likely, planet accretion cannot be ruled out.Comment: Letter, 6 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A. - Some
language editing include
Gravitational waveforms with controlled accuracy
A partially first-order form of the characteristic formulation is introduced
to control the accuracy in the computation of gravitational waveforms produced
by highly distorted single black hole spacetimes. Our approach is to reduce the
system of equations to first-order differential form on the angular
derivatives, while retaining the proven radial and time integration schemes of
the standard characteristic formulation. This results in significantly improved
accuracy over the standard mixed-order approach in the extremely nonlinear
post-merger regime of binary black hole collisions.Comment: Revised version, published in Phys. Rev. D, RevTeX, 16 pages, 4
figure
Gravitational Waves from a Fissioning White Hole
We present a fully nonlinear calculation of the waveform of the gravitational
radiation emitted in the fission of a vacuum white hole. At early times, the
waveforms agree with close-approximation perturbative calculations but they
reveal dramatic time and angular dependence in the nonlinear regime. The
results pave the way for a subsequent computation of the radiation emitted
after a binary black hole merger.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX
Interpreting the time variable RM observed in the core region of the TeV blazar Mrk 421
In this work we interpret and discuss the time variable rotation measure (RM)
found, for the first time over a 1-yr period, in the core region of a blazar.
These results are based on a one-year, multi-frequency (15, 24, and 43 GHz)
Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) monitoring of the TeV blazar Markarian 421 (Mrk
421). We investigate the Faraday screen properties and its location with
respect to the jet emitting region. Given that the 43 GHz radio core flux
density and the RM time evolution suggest a similar trend, we explore the
possible connection between the RM and the accretion rate. Among the various
scenarios that we explore, the jet sheath is the most promising candidate for
being the main source of Faraday rotation. During the one-year observing period
the RM trend shows two sign reversals, which may be qualitatively interpreted
within the context of the magnetic tower models. We invoke the presence of two
nested helical magnetic fields in the relativistic jet with opposite
helicities, whose relative contribution produce the observed RM values. The
inner helical field has the poloidal component () oriented in the
observer's direction and produces a positive RM, while the outer helical field,
with in the opposite direction, produces a negative RM. We assume
that the external helical field dominates the contribution to the observed RM,
while the internal helical field dominates when a jet perturbation arises
during the second observing epoch. Being the intrinsic polarization angle
parallel to the jet axis, a pitch angle of the helical magnetic field
is required. Additional scenarios are also considered to
explain the observed RM sign reversals.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Published on MNRA
Non-stochastic behavior of atomic surface diffusion on Cu(111) at all temperatures
Atomic diffusion is usually understood as a succession of random, independent
displacements of an adatom over the surface's potential energy landscape.
Nevertheless, an analysis of Molecular Dynamics simulations of self-diffusion
on Cu(111) demonstrates the existence of different types of correlations in the
atomic jumps at all temperatures. Thus, the atomic displacements cannot be
correctly described in terms of a random walk model. This fact has a profound
impact on the determination and interpretation of diffusion coefficients.Comment: 5 figure
First clear evidence of quantum chaos in the bound states of an atomic nucleus
We study the spectral fluctuations of the Pb nucleus using the
complete experimental spectrum of 151 states up to excitation energies of
MeV recently identified at the Maier-Leibnitz-Laboratorium at Garching,
Germany. For natural parity states the results are very close to the
predictions of Random Matrix Theory (RMT) for the nearest-neighbor spacing
distribution. A quantitative estimate of the agreement is given by the Brody
parameter , which takes the value for regular systems and
for chaotic systems. We obtain which
is, to our knowledge, the closest value to chaos ever observed in experimental
bound states of nuclei. By contrast, the results for unnatural parity states
are far from RMT behavior. We interpret these results as a consequence of the
strength of the residual interaction in Pb, which, according to
experimental data, is much stronger for natural than for unnatural parity
states. In addition our results show that chaotic and non-chaotic nuclear
states coexist in the same energy region of the spectrum.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
Strong lensing by fermionic dark matter in galaxies
It has been shown that a self-gravitating system of massive keV fermions in
thermodynamic equilibrium correctly describes the dark matter (DM) distribution
in galactic halos and predicts a denser quantum core towards the center of the
configuration. Such a quantum core, for a fermion mass in the range of keV
keV, can be an alternative interpretation of the
central compact object in Sgr A*. We present in this work the gravitational
lensing properties of this novel DM model in Milky Way-like spiral galaxies. We
describe the lensing effects of the pure DM component both on halo scales,
where we compare them to the effects of the Navarro-Frenk-White and the
Non-Singular Isothermal Sphere DM models, and near the galaxy center, where we
compare them with the effects of a Schwarzschild BH. For the particle mass
leading to the most compact DM core, keV, we draw the
following conclusions. At distances pc from the center of the
lens the effect of the central object on the lensing properties is negligible.
However, we show that measurements of the deflection angle produced by the DM
distribution in the outer region at a few kpc, together with rotation curve
data, could help to discriminate between different DM models. We show that at
distances pc strong lensing effects, such as multiple images and
Einstein rings, may occur. Large differences in the deflection angle produced
by a DM central core and a central BH appear at distances
pc; in this regime the weak-field formalism is no longer applicable and the
exact general-relativistic formula has to be used. We find that quantum DM
cores do not show a photon sphere what implies that they do not cast a shadow.
Similar conclusions apply to the other DM distributions for other fermion
masses in the above specified range and for other galaxy types.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures. v2: Version published in PR
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