On the Red-Green-Blue Model

We experimentally study the red-green-blue model, which is a sytem of loops obtained by superimposing three dimer coverings on offset hexagonal lattices. We find that when the boundary conditions are ``flat'', the red-green-blue loops are closely related to SLE_4 and double-dimer loops, which are the loops formed by superimposing two dimer coverings of the cartesian lattice. But we also find that the red-green-blue loops are more tightly nested than the double-dimer loops. We also investigate the 2D minimum spanning tree, and find that it is not conformally invariant.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

Nucleotide sequence of the luxA gene of Vibrio harveyi and the complete amino acid sequence of the alpha subunit of bacterial luciferase

The nucleotide sequence of the 1.85-kilobase EcoRI fragment from Vibrio harveyi that was cloned using a mixed-sequence synthetic oligonucleotide probe (Cohn, D. H., Ogden, R. C., Abelson, J. N., Baldwin, T. O., Nealson, K. H., Simon, M. I., and Mileham, A. J. (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80, 120-123) has been determined. The alpha subunit-coding region (luxA) was found to begin at base number 707 and end at base number 1771. The alpha subunit has a calculated molecular weight of 40,108 and comprises a total of 355 amino acid residues. There are 34 base pairs separating the start of the alpha subunit structural gene and a 669-base open reading frame extending from the proximal EcoRI site. At the 3' end of the luxA coding region there are 26 bases between the end of the structural gene and the start of the luxB structural gene. Approximately two-thirds of the alpha subunit was sequenced by protein chemical techniques. The amino acid sequence implied by the DNA sequence, with few exceptions, confirmed the chemically determined sequence. Regions of the alpha subunit thought to comprise the active center were found to reside in two discrete and relatively basic regions, one from around residues 100-115 and the second from around residues 280-295

A Chandra Study of the Dense Globular Cluster Terzan 5

We report a Chandra ACIS-I observation of the dense globular cluster Terzan 5. The previously known transient low-mass x-ray binary (LMXB) EXO 1745-248 in the cluster entered a rare high state during our August 2000 observation, complicating the analysis. Nevertheless nine additional sources clearly associated with the cluster are also detected, ranging from L_X(0.5-2.5 keV)=5.6*10^{32} down to 8.6*10^{31} ergs/s. Their X-ray colors and luminosities, and spectral fitting, indicate that five of them are probably cataclysmic variables, and four are likely quiescent LMXBs containing neutron stars. We estimate the total number of sources between L_X(0.5-2.5 keV)=10^{32} and 10^{33} ergs/s as 11.4^{+4.7}_{-1.8} by the use of artificial point source tests, and note that the numbers of X-ray sources are similar to those detected in NGC 6440. The improved X-ray position allowed us to identify a plausible infrared counterpart to EXO 1745-248 on our 1998 Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS images. This blue star (F110W=18.48, F187W=17.30) lies within 0.2'' of the boresighted LMXB position. Simultaneous Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) spectra, combined with the Chandra spectrum, indicate that EXO 1745-248 is an ultracompact binary system, and show a strong broad 6.55 keV iron line and an 8 keV smeared reflection edge.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted to Ap

Chandra X-ray Sources in the Collapsed-Core Globular Cluster M30 (NGC 7099)

We report the detection of six discrete, low-luminosity (Lx < 10^33 erg/s) X-ray sources, located within 12 arcsec of the center of the collapsed-core globular cluster M30 (NGC 7099), and a total of 13 sources within the half-mass radius, from a 50 ksec Chandra ACIS-S exposure. Three sources lie within the very small upper limit of 1.9 arcsec on the core radius. The brightest of the three core sources has a luminosity of Lx (0.5-6 keV) = 6x10^32 erg/s and a blackbody-like soft X-ray spectrum, which are both consistent with it being a quiescent low-mass X-ray binary (qLMXB). We have identified optical counterparts to four of the six central sources and a number of the outlying sources, using deep Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based imaging. While the two proposed counterparts that lie within the core may represent chance superpositions, the two identified central sources that lie outside of the core have X-ray and optical properties consistent with being CVs. Two additional sources outside of the core have possible active binary counterparts. We discuss the X-ray source population of M30 in light of its collapsed-core status.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures (8 color), resubmitted to ApJ after incorporating referee comment

Zassenhaus conjecture for central extensions of S5

We confirm a conjecture of Zassenhaus about rational conjugacy of torsion units in integral group rings for a covering group of the symmetric group S5 and for the general linear group GLð2; 5Þ. The first result, together with others from the literature, settles the conjugacy question for units of prime-power order in the integral group ring of a finite Frobenius group