1,731 research outputs found
Another look at anomalous J/Psi suppression in Pb+Pb collisions at P/A = 158 GeV/c
A new data presentation is proposed to consider anomalous
suppression in Pb + Pb collisions at GeV/c. If the inclusive
differential cross section with respect to a centrality variable is available,
one can plot the yield of J/Psi events per Pb-Pb collision as a function of an
estimated squared impact parameter. Both quantities are raw experimental data
and have a clear physical meaning. As compared to the usual J/Psi over
Drell-Yan ratio, there is a huge gain in statistical accuracy. This
presentation could be applied advantageously to many processes in the field of
nucleus-nucleus collisions at various energies.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to The European Physical Journal C;
minor revisions for final versio
The performance of the quantum adiabatic algorithm on random instances of two optimization problems on regular hypergraphs
In this paper we study the performance of the quantum adiabatic algorithm on
random instances of two combinatorial optimization problems, 3-regular 3-XORSAT
and 3-regular Max-Cut. The cost functions associated with these two
clause-based optimization problems are similar as they are both defined on
3-regular hypergraphs. For 3-regular 3-XORSAT the clauses contain three
variables and for 3-regular Max-Cut the clauses contain two variables. The
quantum adiabatic algorithms we study for these two problems use interpolating
Hamiltonians which are stoquastic and therefore amenable to sign-problem free
quantum Monte Carlo and quantum cavity methods. Using these techniques we find
that the quantum adiabatic algorithm fails to solve either of these problems
efficiently, although for different reasons.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figure
A modern study of HD166734: a massive supergiant system
Aims. HD166734 is an eccentric eclipsing binary system composed of two
supergiant O-type stars, orbiting with a 34.5-day period. In this rare
configuration for such stars, the two objects mainly evolve independently,
following single-star evolution so far. This system provides a chance to study
the individual parameters of two supergiant massive stars and to derive their
real masses. Methods. An intensive monitoring was dedicated to HD166734.We
analyzed mid- and high-resolution optical spectra to constrain the orbital
parameters of this system. We also studied its light curve for the first time,
obtained in the VRI filters. Finally, we disentangled the spectra of the two
stars and modeled them with the CMFGEN atmosphere code in order to determine
the individual physical parameters. Results. HD166734 is a O7.5If+O9I(f)
binary. We confirm its orbital period but we revise the other orbital
parameters. In comparison to what we found in the literature, the system is
more eccentric and, now, the hottest and the most luminous component is also
the most massive one. The light curve exhibits only one eclipse and its
analysis indicates an inclination of 63.0{\deg} 2.7{\deg}. The
photometric analysis provides us with a good estimation of the luminosities of
the stars, and therefore their exact positions in the Hertzsprung-Russell
diagram. The evolutionary and the spectroscopic masses show good agreement with
the dynamical masses of 39.5 Msun for the primary and 33.5 Msun for the
secondary, within the uncertainties. The two components are both enriched in
helium and in nitrogen and depleted in carbon. In addition, the primary also
shows a depletion in oxygen. Their surface abundances are however not different
from those derived from single supergiant stars, yielding, for both components,
an evolution similar to that of single stars.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, A&A accepte
Apsidal motion in the massive binary HD152218
Massive binary systems are important laboratories in which to probe the
properties of massive stars and stellar physics in general. In this context, we
analysed optical spectroscopy and photometry of the eccentric short-period
early-type binary HD 152218 in the young open cluster NGC 6231. We
reconstructed the spectra of the individual stars using a separating code. The
individual spectra were then compared with synthetic spectra obtained with the
CMFGEN model atmosphere code. We furthermore analysed the light curve of the
binary and used it to constrain the orbital inclination and to derive absolute
masses of 19.8 +/- 1.5 and 15.0 +/- 1.1 solar masses. Combining radial velocity
measurements from over 60 years, we show that the system displays apsidal
motion at a rate of (2.04^{+.23}_{-.24}) degree/year. Solving the
Clairaut-Radau equation, we used stellar evolution models, obtained with the
CLES code, to compute the internal structure constants and to evaluate the
theoretically predicted rate of apsidal motion as a function of stellar age and
primary mass. In this way, we determine an age of 5.8 +/- 0.6 Myr for HD
152218, which is towards the higher end of, but compatible with, the range of
ages of the massive star population of NGC 6231 as determined from isochrone
fitting.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Universal computation by multi-particle quantum walk
A quantum walk is a time-homogeneous quantum-mechanical process on a graph
defined by analogy to classical random walk. The quantum walker is a particle
that moves from a given vertex to adjacent vertices in quantum superposition.
Here we consider a generalization of quantum walk to systems with more than one
walker. A continuous-time multi-particle quantum walk is generated by a
time-independent Hamiltonian with a term corresponding to a single-particle
quantum walk for each particle, along with an interaction term. Multi-particle
quantum walk includes a broad class of interacting many-body systems such as
the Bose-Hubbard model and systems of fermions or distinguishable particles
with nearest-neighbor interactions. We show that multi-particle quantum walk is
capable of universal quantum computation. Since it is also possible to
efficiently simulate a multi-particle quantum walk of the type we consider
using a universal quantum computer, this model exactly captures the power of
quantum computation. In principle our construction could be used as an
architecture for building a scalable quantum computer with no need for
time-dependent control
Sampling Distributions of Random Electromagnetic Fields in Mesoscopic or Dynamical Systems
We derive the sampling probability density function (pdf) of an ideal
localized random electromagnetic field, its amplitude and intensity in an
electromagnetic environment that is quasi-statically time-varying statistically
homogeneous or static statistically inhomogeneous. The results allow for the
estimation of field statistics and confidence intervals when a single spatial
or temporal stochastic process produces randomization of the field. Results for
both coherent and incoherent detection techniques are derived, for Cartesian,
planar and full-vectorial fields. We show that the functional form of the
sampling pdf depends on whether the random variable is dimensioned (e.g., the
sampled electric field proper) or is expressed in dimensionless standardized or
normalized form (e.g., the sampled electric field divided by its sampled
standard deviation). For dimensioned quantities, the electric field, its
amplitude and intensity exhibit different types of
Bessel sampling pdfs, which differ significantly from the asymptotic
Gauss normal and ensemble pdfs when is relatively
small. By contrast, for the corresponding standardized quantities, Student ,
Fisher-Snedecor and root- sampling pdfs are obtained that exhibit
heavier tails than comparable Bessel pdfs. Statistical uncertainties
obtained from classical small-sample theory for dimensionless quantities are
shown to be overestimated compared to dimensioned quantities. Differences in
the sampling pdfs arising from de-normalization versus de-standardization are
obtained.Comment: 12 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. E, minor
typos correcte
Amorphization of ZnAl2O4 spinel under heavy ion irradiation
ZnAl2O4 spinels have been irradiated with several ions (Ne, S, Kr and Xe) at the IRRSUD beam-line of the GANIL facility, in order to determine irradiation conditions (stopping power, fluence) for amorphisation. We observed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) that with Xe ions at 92 MeV, individual ion tracks are still crystalline, whereas an amorphisation starts below a fluence of 5.1012 cm-2 up to a total amorphisation between 1x1013 and 1x1014 cm-2. The coexistence of amorphous and crystalline domains in the same pristine grain is clearly visible in the TEM images. All the crystalline domains remain close to the same orientation as the original grain. According to TEM and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) results, the stopping power threshold for amorphisation is between 9 and 12 keV.nm-1
Simultaneous X-ray and optical spectroscopy of the Oef supergiant lambda Cep
Probing the structures of stellar winds is of prime importance for the
understanding of massive stars. Based on their optical spectral morphology and
variability, the stars of the Oef class have been suggested to feature
large-scale structures in their wind. High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy and
time-series of X-ray observations of presumably-single O-type stars can help us
understand the physics of their stellar winds. We have collected XMM-Newton
observations and coordinated optical spectroscopy of the O6Ief star lambda Cep
to study its X-ray and optical variability and to analyse its high-resolution
X-ray spectrum. We investigate the line profile variability of the He II 4686
and H-alpha emission lines in our time series of optical spectra, including a
search for periodicities. We further discuss the variability of the broadband
X-ray flux and analyse the high-resolution spectrum of lambda Cep using
line-by-line fits as well as a code designed to fit the full high-resolution
X-ray spectrum consistently. During our observing campaign, the He II 4686 line
varies on a timescale of ~18 hours. On the contrary, the H-alpha line profile
displays a modulation on a timescale of 4.1 days which is likely the rotation
period of the star. The X-ray flux varies on time-scales of days and could in
fact be modulated by the same 4.1 days period as H-alpha, although both
variations are shifted in phase. The high-resolution X-ray spectrum reveals
broad and skewed emission lines as expected for the X-ray emission from a
distribution of wind-embedded shocks. Most of the X-ray emission arises within
less than 2R* above the photosphere.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Constraining the fundamental parameters of the O-type binary CPD-41degr7733
Using a set of high-resolution spectra, we studied the physical and orbital
properties of the O-type binary CPD-41 7733, located in the core of \ngc. We
report the unambiguous detection of the secondary spectral signature and we
derive the first SB2 orbital solution of the system. The period is 5.6815 +/-
0.0015 d and the orbit has no significant eccentricity. CPD-41 7733 probably
consists of stars of spectral types O8.5 and B3. As for other objects in the
cluster, we observe discrepant luminosity classifications while using
spectroscopic or brightness criteria. Still, the present analysis suggests that
both components display physical parameters close to those of typical O8.5 and
B3 dwarfs. We also analyze the X-ray light curves and spectra obtained during
six 30 ks XMM-Newton pointings spread over the 5.7 d period. We find no
significant variability between the different pointings, nor within the
individual observations. The CPD-41 7733 X-ray spectrum is well reproduced by a
three-temperature thermal mekal model with temperatures of 0.3, 0.8 and 2.4
keV. No X-ray overluminosity, resulting e.g. from a possible wind interaction,
is observed. The emission of CPD-41 7733 is thus very representative of typical
O-type star X-ray emission.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 15 pages, 9 figure
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