58,322 research outputs found
Shape evolution and shape coexistence in Pt isotopes: comparing interacting boson model configuration mixing and Gogny mean-field energy surfaces
The evolution of the total energy surface and the nuclear shape in the
isotopic chain Pt are studied in the framework of the interacting
boson model, including configuration mixing. The results are compared with a
self-consistent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculation using the Gogny-D1S
interaction and a good agreement between both approaches shows up. The
evolution of the deformation parameters points towards the presence of two
different coexisting configurations in the region 176 A 186.Comment: Submitted to PR
ALMA observations of cool dust in a low-metallicity starburst, SBS0335-052
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Cycle 0 Band 7
observations of an extremely metal-poor dwarf starburst galaxy in the Local
Universe, SBS0335-052 (12+log(O/H)~7.2). With these observations, dust is
detected at 870micron (ALMA Band 7), but 87% of the flux in this band is due to
free-free emission from the starburst. We have compiled a spectral energy
distribution (SED) of SBS0335-052 that spans almost 6 orders of magnitude in
wavelength and fit it with a spherical dust shell heated by a single-age
stellar population; the best-fit model gives a dust mass of (3.8+/-0.6)x10^4
Msun. We have also constructed a SED including Herschel archival data for
IZw18, another low-metallicity dwarf starburst (12+log(O/H)=7.17), and fit it
with a similar model to obtain a dust mass of (3.4+/-1.0)x10^2 Msun. Compared
with their atomic gas mass, the dust mass of SBS0335-052 far exceeds the
prediction of a linear trend of dust-to-gas mass ratio with metallicity, while
IZw18 falls far below. We use gas scaling relations to assess a putative
missing gas component in both galaxies and find that the missing, possibly
molecular, gas in SBS0335-052 is a factor of 6 times higher than the value
inferred from the observed HI column density; in IZw18 the missing component is
4 times smaller. Ultimately, despite their similarly low metallicity, the
differences in gas and dust column densities in SBS0335-052 and IZw18 suggest
that metal abundance does not uniquely define star-formation processes. At some
level, self-shielding and the survival of molecules may depend just as much on
gas and dust column density as on metallicity. The effects of low metallicity
may at least be partially compensated for by large column densities in the
interstellar medium.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Molecular depletion times and the CO-to-H2 conversion factor in metal-poor galaxies
Tracing molecular hydrogen content with carbon monoxide in low-metallicity
galaxies has been exceedingly difficult. Here we present a new effort, with
IRAM 30-m observations of 12CO(1-0) of a sample of 8 dwarf galaxies having
oxygen abundances ranging from 12+logO/H=7.7 to 8.4. CO emission is detected in
all galaxies, including the most metal-poor galaxy of our sample (0.1 Zsun); to
our knowledge this is the largest number of 12CO(1-0) detections ever reported
for galaxies with 12+logO/H<=8 (0.2 Zsun) outside the Local Group. We calculate
stellar masses (Mstar) and star-formation rates (SFRs), and analyze our results
by combining our observations with galaxy samples from the literature.
Extending previous results for a correlation of the molecular gas depletion
time, tau(dep), with Mstar and specific SFR (sSFR), we find a variation in
tau(dep) of a factor of 200 or more (from <50 Myr to 10 Gyr) over a spread of
1000 in sSFR and Mstar. We exploit the variation of tau(dep) to constrain the
CO-to-H2 mass conversion factor alpha(CO) at low metallicity, and assuming a
power-law variation find alpha(CO) \propto (Z/Zsun)^1.9, similar to results
based on dust continuum measurements compared with gas mass. By including HI
measurements, we show that the fraction of total gas mass relative to the
baryonic mass is higher in galaxies that are metal poor, of low mass, and of
high sSFR. Finally, comparisons of the data with star-formation models of the
molecular gas phases suggest that, at metallicities Z/Zsun<=0.2, there are some
discrepancies with model predictions.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Dynamical Realization of Macroscopic Superposition States of Cold Bosons in a Tilted Double Well
We present exact expressions for the quantum sloshing of Bose-Einstein
condensates in a tilted two-well potential. Tunneling is suppressed by a small
potential difference between wells, or tilt. However, tunneling resonances
occur for critical values of the tilt when the barrier is high. At resonance,
tunneling times on the order of 10-100 ms are possible. Furthermore, such
tilted resonances lead to a dynamical scheme for creating few-body NOON-like
macroscopic superposition states which are protected by the many body
wavefunction against potential fluctuations.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, final version, only minor changes from previous
arXiv versio
Discovery of Radio/X-ray/Optical Resolved Supernova Remnants in the Center of the Andromeda Galaxy
We have detected a spatially resolved supernova remnant (SNR) in the center
of the Andromeda Galaxy, in radio, X-ray, and optical wavelengths. These
observations provide the highest spatial resolution imaging of a
radio/X-ray/optical SNR in that galaxy to date. The multi-wavelength
morphology, radio spectral index, X-ray colors, and narrow-band optical imaging
are consistent with a shell-type SNR. A second SNR is also seen resolved in
both radio and X-ray. By comparing the morphological sturcture of the SNRs in
different wavelengths and with that in our own Galaxy, we can study the shock
morphologies of SNRs in the Andromeda Galaxy. The proximity of the SNRs to the
core suggests high interstellar medium density in the vicinity of the SNRs in
the center of the Andromeda Galaxy.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
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