35,253 research outputs found
QFT results for neutrino oscillations and New Physics
The CP asymmetry in neutrino oscillations, assuming new physics at production
and/or detection processes, is analyzed. We compute this CP asymmetry using the
standard quantum field theory within a general new physics scenario that may
generate new sources of CP and flavor violation. Well known results for the CP
asymmetry are reproduced in the case of V -A operators, and additional
contributions from new physics operators are derived. We apply this formalism
to SUSY extensions of the Standard Model where the contributions from new
operators could produce a CP asymmetry observable in the next generation of
neutrino experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, version to be published in Phys.Rev.
Numerical study of barriers and valleys in the free-energy landscape of spin glasses
We study the problem of glassy relaxations in the presence of an external
field in the highly controlled context of a spin-glass simulation. We consider
a small spin glass in three dimensions (specifically, a lattice of size L=8,
small enough to be equilibrated through a Parallel Tempering simulations at low
temperatures, deep in the spin glass phase). After equilibrating the sample, an
external field is switched on, and the subsequent dynamics is studied. The
field turns out to reduce the relaxation time, but huge statistical
fluctuations are found when different samples are compared. After taking care
of these fluctuations we find that the expected linear regime is very narrow.
Nevertheless, when regarded as a purely numerical method, we find that the
external field is extremely effective in reducing the relaxation times.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures; Published versio
A continuous Mott transition between a metal and a quantum spin liquid
More than half a century after first being proposed by Sir Nevill Mott, the
deceptively simple question of whether the interaction-driven electronic
metal-insulator transition may be continuous remains enigmatic. Recent
experiments on two-dimensional materials suggest that when the insulator is a
quantum spin liquid, lack of magnetic long-range order on the insulating side
may cause the transition to be continuous, or only very weakly first order.
Motivated by this, we study a half-filled extended Hubbard model on a
triangular lattice strip geometry. We argue, through use of large-scale
numerical simulations and analytical bosonization, that this model harbors a
continuous (Kosterlitz-Thouless-like) quantum phase transition between a metal
and a gapless spin liquid characterized by a spinon Fermi surface, i.e., a
"spinon metal." These results may provide a rare insight into the development
of Mott criticality in strongly interacting two-dimensional materials and
represent one of the first numerical demonstrations of a Mott insulating
quantum spin liquid phase in a genuinely electronic microscopic model.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figure
The Calcium Triplet metallicity calibration for galactic bulge stars
We present a new calibration of the Calcium II Triplet equivalent widths
versus [Fe/H], constructed upon K giant stars in the Galactic bulge. This
calibration will be used to derive iron abundances for the targets of the GIBS
survey, and in general it is especially suited for solar and supersolar
metallicity giants, typical of external massive galaxies. About 150 bulge K
giants were observed with the GIRAFFE spectrograph at VLT, both at resolution
R~20,000 and at R~6,000. In the first case, the spectra allowed us to perform
direct determination of Fe abundances from several unblended Fe lines, deriving
what we call here high resolution [Fe/H] measurements. The low resolution
spectra allowed us to measure equivalent widths of the two strongest lines of
the near infrared Calcium II triplet at 8542 and 8662 A. By comparing the two
measurements we derived a relation between Calcium equivalent widths and [Fe/H]
that is linear over the metallicity range probed here, -1<[Fe/H]<+0.7. By
adding a small second order correction, based on literature globular cluster
data, we derived the unique calibration equation [Fe/H], with a rms dispersion of 0.197 dex, valid across the
whole metallicity range -2.3<[Fe/H]<+0.7.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
3D molecular line formation in dwarf carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars
We present a detailed analysis of the carbon and nitrogen abundances of two
dwarf carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars: SDSS J1349-0229 and SDSS
J0912+0216. We also report the oxygen abundance of SDSS J1349-0229. These stars
are metal-poor, with [Fe/H] < -2.5, and were selected from our ongoing survey
of extremely metal-poor dwarf candidates from the Sloan Digital SkySurvey
(SDSS). The carbon, nitrogen and oxygen abundances rely on molecular lines
which form in the outer layers of the stellar atmosphere. It is known that
convection in metal-poor stars induces very low temperatures which are not
predicted by `classical' 1D stellar atmospheres. To obtain the correct
temperature structure, one needs full 3D hydrodynamical models. Using CO5BOLD
3D hydrodynamical model atmospheres and the Linfor3D line formation code,
molecular lines of CH, NH, OH and C2 were computed, and 3D carbon, nitrogen and
oxygen abundances were determined. The resulting carbon abundances were
compared to abundances derived using atomic CI lines in 1D LTE and NLTE. There
is not a good agreement between the carbon abundances determined from C2 bands
and from the CH band, and molecular lines do not agree with the atomic CI
lines. Although this may be partly due to uncertainties in the transition
probabilities of the molecular bands it certainly has to do with the
temperature structure of the outer layers of the adopted model atmosphere. We
explore the influence of the 3D model properties on the molecular abundance
determination. In particular, the choice of the number of opacity bins used in
the model calculations and its subsequent effects on the temperature structure
and molecular line formation is discussed. (Abridged)Comment: Poster presented at IAU JD 10, Rio de Janeiro, 10-11 August 2009,
published in Memorie della Societa' Astronomica Italiana, Vol. 80 n.3 P.735.
One reference corrected, matches the published versio
Solar analogs with and without planets: T trends and galactic evolution
We explore a sample of 148 solar-like stars to search for a possible
correlation between the slopes of the abundance trends versus condensation
temperature (known as the Tc slope) both with stellar parameters and Galactic
orbital parameters in order to understand the nature of the peculiar chemical
signatures of these stars and the possible connection with planet formation. We
find that the Tc slope correlates at a significant level with the stellar age
and the stellar surface gravity. We also find tentative evidence that the Tc
slope correlates with the mean galactocentric distance of the stars (Rmean),
suggesting that stars that originated in the inner Galaxy have fewer refractory
elements relative to the volatile ones. We found that the chemical
peculiarities (small refractory-to-volatile ratio) of planet-hosting stars is
probably a reflection of their older age and their inner Galaxy origin. We
conclude that the stellar age and probably Galactic birth place are key to
establish the abundances of some specific elements.Comment: Proceedings of the GREAT-ITN conference: The Milky Way Unravelled by
Gaia. Will be published in the "EAS Publications Series
Diagnostic accuracy of a brief screening tool forAttention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in UK prison inmates
BackgroundAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is overrepresented in prison, making it imperative to identify a screening tool that can be quickly applied to efficiently detect the disorder. We explored the discrimination ability of a widely used ADHD screen, the Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale (BAARS-IV), against a clinical diagnostic interview. A brief version of the screen was then developed in order to simplify its use in the prison context, and maximize its diagnostic properties.MethodA cross-sectional study of 390 male prison inmates was performed in the UK, all participants were screened and interviewed via the Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults 2.0 (DIVA-2).ResultsA total of 47 (12.1%) inmates screened positive for ADHD using the full BAARS-IV, and 96 (24.6%) were clinically diagnosed, for a sensitivity of 37.9 and a specificity of 96.3. Our models identified the six items that most predicted ADHD diagnosis, with adjusted odds ratios ranging from 2.66 to 4.58. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 0.82, 0.84 and 0.84, respectively, for the developed brief scale, and 0.71, 0.85 and 0.81 for its validation. Weighted probability scores produced an area under the curve of 0.89 for development, and 0.82 for validation of the brief scale.ConclusionsThe original BAARS-IV performed poorly at identifying prison inmates with ADHD. Our developed brief scale substantially improved diagnostic accuracy. The brief screening instrument has great potential to be used as an accurate and resource-effective tool to screen young people and adults for likely ADHD in the criminal justice system.</jats:sec
The exceptional Herbig Ae star HD101412: The first detection of resolved magnetically split lines and the presence of chemical spots in a Herbig star
We obtained high-resolution, high signal-to-noise UVES and a few lower
quality HARPS spectra revealing the presence of resolved magnetically split
lines. HD101412 is the first Herbig Ae star for which the rotational Doppler
effect was found to be small in comparison to the magnetic splitting. The
measured mean magnetic field modulus varies from 2.5 to 3.5kG, while the mean
quadratic field was found to vary in the range of 3.5 to 4.8kG. To determine
the period of variations, we used radial velocity, equivalent width, line
width, and line asymmetry measurements of variable spectral lines of several
elements, as well as magnetic field measurements. The most pronounced
variability was detected for spectral lines of He I and the iron peak elements,
whereas the spectral lines of CNO elements are only slightly variable. From
spectral variations and magnetic field measurements we derived a potential
rotation period P_rot=13.86d, which has to be proven in future studies with a
larger number of observations. It is the first time that the presence of
element spots is detected on the surface of a Herbig Ae/Be star. Our previous
study of Herbig Ae stars revealed a trend towards stronger magnetic fields for
younger Herbig Ae stars, confirmed by statistical tests. This is in contrast to
a few other (non-statistical) studies claiming that magnetic Herbig Ae stars
are progenitors of the magnetic Ap stars. New developments in MHD theory show
that the measured magnetic field strengths are compatible with a current-driven
instability of toroidal fields generated by differential rotation in the
stellar interior. This explanation for magnetic intermediate-mass stars could
be an alternative to a frozen-in fossil field.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, to appear in Astronomische Nachrichte
Abundance trend with condensation temperature for stars with different Galactic birth places
During the past decade, several studies reported a correlation between
chemical abundances of stars and condensation temperature (also known as Tc
trend). However, the real astrophysical nature of this correlation is still
debated. The main goal of this work is to explore the possible dependence of
the Tc trend on stellar Galactocentric distances, Rmean. We used high-quality
spectra of about 40 stars observed with the HARPS and UVES spectrographs to
derive precise stellar parameters, chemical abundances, and stellar ages. A
differential line-by-line analysis was applied to achieve the highest possible
precision in the chemical abundances. We confirm previous results that [X/Fe]
abundance ratios depend on stellar age and that for a given age, some elements
also show a dependence on Rmean. When using the whole sample of stars, we
observe a weak hint that the Tc trend depends on Rmean. The observed dependence
is very complex and disappears when only stars with similar ages are
considered. To conclude on the possible dependence of the Tc trend on the
formation place of stars, a larger sample of stars with very similar
atmospheric parameters and stellar ages observed at different Galactocentric
distances is neededComment: Accepted by A&
A Spectroscopic Redshift Measurement for a Luminous Lyman Break Galaxy at z=7.730 using Keck/MOSFIRE
We present a spectroscopic redshift measurement of a very bright Lyman break
galaxy at z=7.7302+-0.0006 using Keck/MOSFIRE. The source was pre-selected
photometrically in the EGS field as a robust z~8 candidate with H=25.0 mag
based on optical non-detections and a very red Spitzer/IRAC [3.6]-[4.5]
broad-band color driven by high equivalent width [OIII]+Hbeta line emission.
The Lyalpha line is reliably detected at 6.1 sigma and shows an asymmetric
profile as expected for a galaxy embedded in a relatively neutral
inter-galactic medium near the Planck peak of cosmic reionization. The line has
a rest-frame equivalent width of EW0=21+-4 A and is extended with
V_FWHM=360+90-70 km/s. The source is perhaps the brightest and most massive z~8
Lyman break galaxy in the full CANDELS and BoRG/HIPPIES surveys, having
assembled already 10^(9.9+-0.2) M_sol of stars at only 650 Myr after the Big
Bang. The spectroscopic redshift measurement sets a new redshift record for
galaxies. This enables reliable constraints on the stellar mass, star-formation
rate, formation epoch, as well as combined [OIII]+Hbeta line equivalent widths.
The redshift confirms that the IRAC [4.5] photometry is very likely dominated
by line emission with EW0(OIII+Hbeta)= 720-150+180 A. This detection thus adds
to the evidence that extreme rest-frame optical emission lines are a ubiquitous
feature of early galaxies promising very efficient spectroscopic follow-up in
the future with infrared spectroscopy using JWST and, later, ELTs.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, small updates to match ApJL accepted versio
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