Verifying black hole orbits with gravitational spectroscopy

Gravitational waves from test masses bound to geodesic orbits of rotating black holes are simulated, using Teukolsky's black hole perturbation formalism, for about ten thousand generic orbital configurations. Each binary radiates power exclusively in modes with frequencies that are integer-linear-combinations of the orbit's three fundamental frequencies. The following general spectral properties are found with a survey of orbits: (i) 99% of the radiated power is typically carried by a few hundred modes, and at most by about a thousand modes, (ii) the dominant frequencies can be grouped into a small number of families defined by fixing two of the three integer frequency multipliers, and (iii) the specifics of these trends can be qualitatively inferred from the geometry of the orbit under consideration. Detections using triperiodic analytic templates modeled on these general properties would constitute a verification of radiation from an adiabatic sequence of black hole orbits and would recover the evolution of the fundamental orbital frequencies. In an analogy with ordinary spectroscopy, this would compare to observing the Bohr model's atomic hydrogen spectrum without being able to rule out alternative atomic theories or nuclei. The suitability of such a detection technique is demonstrated using snapshots computed at 12-hour intervals throughout the last three years before merger of a kludged inspiral. Because of circularization, the number of excited modes decreases as the binary evolves. A hypothetical detection algorithm that tracks mode families dominating the first 12 hours of the inspiral would capture 98% of the total power over the remaining three years.Comment: 18 pages, expanded section on detection algorithms and made minor edits. Final published versio

Spin-dependent effective interactions for halo nuclei

We discuss the spin-dependence of the effective two-body interactions appropriate for three-body computations. The only reasonable choice seems to be the fine and hyperfine interactions known for atomic electrons interacting with the nucleus. One exception is the nucleon-nucleon interaction imposing a different type of symmetry. We use the two-neutron halo nucleus 11Li as illustration. We demonstrate that models with the wrong spin-dependence are basically without predictive power. The Pauli forbidden core and valence states must be consistently treated.Comment: TeX file, 6 pages, 3 postscript figure

Mechanical oscillations in lasing microspheres

We investigate the feasibility of activating coherent mechanical oscillations in lasing microspheres by modulating the laser emission at a mechanical eigenfrequency. To this aim, 1.5% Nd3+:Barium-Titanium-Silicate microspheres with diameters around 50 {\mu}m were used as high quality factor (Q>10^6) whispering gallery mode lasing cavities. We have implemented a pump-and-probe technique in which the pump laser used to excite the Nd3+ ions is focused on a single microsphere with a microscope objective and a probe laser excites a specific optical mode with the evanescent field of a tapered fibre. The studied microspheres show monomode and multi-mode lasing action, which can be modulated in the best case up to 10 MHz. We have optically transduced thermally-activated mechanical eigenmodes appearing in the 50-70 MHz range, the frequency of which decreases with increasing the size of the microspheres. In a pump-and-probe configuration we observed modulation of the probe signal up to the maximum pump modulation frequency of our experimental setup, i.e., 20 MHz. This modulation decreases with frequency and is unrelated to lasing emission, pump scattering or thermal effects. We associate this effect to free-carrier-dispersion induced by multiphoton pump light absorption. On the other hand, we conclude that, in our current experimental conditions, it was not possible to resonantly excite the mechanical modes. Finally, we discuss on how to overcome these limitations by increasing the modulation frequency of the lasing emission and decreasing the frequency of the mechanical eigenmodes displaying a strong degree of optomechanical coupling.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

2MASS J154043.42-510135.7: a new addition to the 5 pc population

The aim of the project is to find the stars nearest to the Sun and to contribute to the completion of the stellar and substellar census of the solar neighbourhood. We identified a new late-M dwarf within 5 pc, looking for high proper motion sources in the 2MASS-WISE cross-match. We collected astrometric and photometric data available from public large-scale surveys. We complemented this information with low-resolution optical and near-infrared spectroscopy with instrumentation on the ESO NTT to confirm the nature of our candidate. We also present a high-quality medium-resolution VLT/X-shooter spectrum covering the 400 to 2500 nm wavelength range. We classify this new neighbour as an M7.0$\pm$0.5 dwarf using spectral templates from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and spectral indices. Lithium absorption at 670.8 nm is not detected in the X-shooter spectrum, indicating that the M7 dwarf is older than 600 Myr and more massive than 0.06 M$_{\odot}$. We also derive a trigonometric distance of 4.4 pc, in agreement with the spectroscopic distance estimate, making 2MASS\,J154043.42$-$510135.7 the nearest M7 dwarf to the Sun. This trigonometric distance is somewhat closer than the $\sim$6 pc distance reported by the ALLWISE team, who independently identified this object recently. This discovery represents an increase of 25\% in the number of M7--M8 dwarfs already known at distances closer than 8\,pc from our Sun. We derive a density of $\rho$\,=\,1.9$\pm$0.9$\times$10$^{-3}$\,pc$^{-3}$ for M7 dwarfs in the 8 pc volume, a value similar to those quoted in the literature. This new ultracool dwarf is among the 50 nearest systems to the Sun, demonstrating that our current knowledge of the stellar census within the 5 pc sample remains incomplete. 2M1540 represents a unique opportunity to search for extrasolar planets around ultracool dwarfs due to its proximity and brightness.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Acepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics (15/05/2005

VLT X-shooter spectroscopy of the nearest brown dwarf binary

The aim of the project is to characterise both components of the nearest brown dwarf sytem to the Sun, WISE J104915.57-531906.1 (=Luhman16AB) at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. We obtained high signal-to-noise intermediate-resolution (R~6000-11000) optical (600-1000 nm) and near-infrared (1000-2480nm) spectra of each component of Luhman16AB, the closest brown dwarf binary to the Sun, with the X-Shooter instrument on the Very Large Telescope. We classify the primary and secondary of the Luhman16 system as L6-L7.5 and T0+/-1, respectively, in agreement with previous measurements published in the literature. We present measurements of the lithium pseudo-equivalent widths, which appears of similar strength on both components (8.2+/-1.0 Angstroms and 8.4+/-1.5 Angstroms for the L and T components, respectively). The presence of lithium (Lithium 7) in both components imply masses below 0.06 Msun while comparison with models suggests lower limits of 0.04 Msun. The detection of lithium in the T component is the first of its kind. Similarly, we assess the strength of other alkali lines (e.g. pseudo-equivalent widths of 6-7 Angstroms for RbI and 4-7 Angstroms for CsI) present in the optical and near-infrared regions and compare with estimates for L and T dwarfs. We also derive effective temperatures and luminosities of each component of the binary: -4.66+/-0.08 dex and 1305(+180)(-135) for the L dwarf and -4.68+/-0.13 dex and 1320(+185)(-135) for the T dwarf, respectively. Using our radial velocity determinations, the binary does not appear to belong to any of the well-known moving group. Our preliminary theoretical analysis of the optical and J-band spectra indicates that the L- and T-type spectra can be reproduced with a single temperature and gravity but different relative chemical abundances which impact strongly the spectral energy distribution of L/T transition objects.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure, 3 tables, accepted to A&

Low energy electronic states in spheroidal fullerenes

The field-theory model is proposed to study the electronic states near the Fermi energy in spheroidal fullerenes. The low energy electronic wavefunctions obey a two-dimensional Dirac equation on a spheroid with two kinds of gauge fluxes taken into account. The first one is so-called K spin flux which describes the exchange of two different Dirac spinors in the presence of a conical singularity. The second flux (included in a form of the Dirac monopole field) is a variant of the effective field approximation for elastic flow due to twelve disclination defects through the surface of a spheroid. We consider the case of a slightly elliptically deformed sphere which allows us to apply the perturbation scheme. It is shown exactly how a small deformation of spherical fullerenes provokes an appearance of fine structure in the electronic energy spectrum as compared to the spherical case. In particular, two quasi-zero modes in addition to the true zero mode are predicted to emerge in spheroidal fullerenes. An additional 'hyperfine' splitting of the levels (except the quasi-zero-mode states) is found.Comment: 9 page

Surviving in a second language: survival processing effect in memory of bilinguals

Human memory likely evolved to serve adaptive functions, that is, to help maximise our chances of survival and reproduction. One demonstration of such adaptiveness is the increased retention of information processed in survival contexts, the so-called Survival Processing Effect (SPE). This study examined this effect in a native (L1) and in a second language (L2). This comparison is relevant to explore if emotionality is involved in the SPE, as emotional activation seems to be larger in L1 than in L2. Following the original survival processing procedure, participants rated the relevance of information to the survival and moving scenarios and performed a recognition (Experiment 1) or a free recall (Experiment 2) task in L1 or L2. In both experiments, the SPE was replicated in L1 but not in L2. The absence of the effect when emotional activation is less likely suggests that emotionality might play a role in the survival processing effect; nevertheless, additional studies are needed to further investigate this hypothesis.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Complete Solution of the Kinetics in a Far-from-equilibrium Ising Chain

The one-dimensional Ising model is easily generalized to a \textit{genuinely nonequilibrium} system by coupling alternating spins to two thermal baths at different temperatures. Here, we investigate the full time dependence of this system. In particular, we obtain the evolution of the magnetisation, starting with arbitrary initial conditions. For slightly less general initial conditions, we compute the time dependence of all correlation functions, and so, the probability distribution. Novel properties, such as oscillatory decays into the steady state, are presented. Finally, we comment on the relationship to a reaction-diffusion model with pair annihilation and creation.Comment: Submitted to J. Phys. A (Letter to the editor

Three-body structure of low-lying 18Ne states

We investigate to what extent 18Ne can be descibed as a three-body system made of an inert 16O-core and two protons. We compare to experimental data and occasionally to shell model results. We obtain three-body wave functions with the hyperspherical adiabatic expansion method. We study the spectrum of 18Ne, the structure of the different states and the predominant transition strengths. Two 0+, two 2+, and one 4+ bound states are found where they are all known experimentally. Also one 3+ close to threshold is found and several negative parity states, 1-, 3-, 0-, 2-, most of them bound with respect to the 16O excited 3- state. The structures are extracted as partial wave components, as spatial sizes of matter and charge, and as probability distributions. Electromagnetic decay rates are calculated for these states. The dominating decay mode for the bound states is E2 and occasionally also M1.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures (version to appear in EPJA

Comparing the social images of youth in and out of residential care

The literature indicates that youths in residential care have been associated with negative social images. However, there have been few studies focused on these social images, specifically, comparing them with the images of youths in normative contexts. To address this issue, we conducted two studies comparing the social images people have about youths in residential care to those they hold about youths living out of care. Both studies were conducted in Portugal: Study 1 explores these images through an open-ended questionnaire; Study 2 examines these images with a quantitative instrument. Overall, the results indicate that the perception about youths in residential care was more negative than the perception about youths out of care. Additionally, the first study probed the effect of socioeconomic status of the youths on the social images held about them and the second examined the role of the respondents' professional contact with youth in care population on these social images. The implications of the social images people have about youth in residential care for the research and intervention towards the wellbeing of this population are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio