The unusual distribution of molecular gas and star formation in Arp 140

We investigate the atomic and molecular interstellar medium and star formation of NGC 275, the late-type spiral galaxy in Arp 140, which is interacting with NGC 274, an early-type system. The atomic gas (HI) observations reveal a tidal tail from NGC 275 which extends many optical radii beyond the interacting pair. The HI morphology implies a prograde encounter between the galaxy pair approximately 1.5 x 10**8 years ago. The Halpha emission from NGC 275 indicates clumpy irregular star-formation, clumpiness which is mirrored by the underlying mass distribution as traced by the Ks-band emission. The molecular gas distribution is striking in its anti-correlation with the {HII regions. Despite the evolved nature of NGC 275's interaction and its barred potential, neither the molecular gas nor the star formation are centrally concentrated. We suggest that this structure results from stochastic star formation leading to preferential consumption of the gas in certain regions of the galaxy. In contrast to the often assumed picture of interacting galaxies, NGC 275, which appears to be close to merger, does not display enhanced or centrally concentrated star formation. If the eventual merger is to lead to a significant burst of star formation it must be preceded by a significant conversion of atomic to molecular gas as at the current rate of star formation all the molecular gas will be exhausted by the time the merger is complete.Comment: 13 paper, accepted my Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Quartic double solids with ordinary singularities

We study the mixed Hodge structure on the third homology group of a threefold which is the double cover of projective three-space ramified over a quartic surface with a double conic. We deal with the Torelli problem for such threefolds.Comment: 14 pages, presented at the Conference Arnol'd 7

Nonclassical effects in a driven atoms/cavity system in the presence of arbitrary driving field and dephasing

We investigate the photon statistics of light transmitted from a driven optical cavity containing one or two atoms interacting with a single mode of the cavity field. We treat arbitrary driving fields with emphasis on departure from previous weak field results. In addition effects of dephasing due to atomic transit through the cavity mode are included using two different models. We find that both models show the nonclassical correlations are quite sensitive to dephasing. The effect of multiple atoms on the system dynamics is investigated by placing two atoms in the cavity mode at different positions, therefore having different coupling strengths.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, minor typographical errors corrected, submitted to Phys Rev

Chen-Ruan cohomology of ADE singularities

We study Ruan's \textit{cohomological crepant resolution conjecture} for orbifolds with transversal ADE singularities. In the $A_n$-case we compute both the Chen-Ruan cohomology ring $H^*_{\rm CR}([Y])$ and the quantum corrected cohomology ring $H^*(Z)(q_1,...,q_n)$. The former is achieved in general, the later up to some additional, technical assumptions. We construct an explicit isomorphism between $H^*_{\rm CR}([Y])$ and $H^*(Z)(-1)$ in the $A_1$-case, verifying Ruan's conjecture. In the $A_n$-case, the family $H^*(Z)(q_1,...,q_n)$ is not defined for $q_1=...=q_n=-1$. This implies that the conjecture should be slightly modified. We propose a new conjecture in the $A_n$-case which we prove in the $A_2$-case by constructing an explicit isomorphism.Comment: This is a short version of my Ph.D. Thesis math.AG/0510528. Version 2: chapters 2,3,4 and 5 has been rewritten using the language of groupoids; a link with the classical McKay correpondence is given. International Journal of Mathematics (to appear

Concentration of Chlorophyl-a in the Solok Pulau Lake, Tanjung Balam Village, Siak Hulu Sub District, Kampar District, Riau Province

The Solok Pulau Lake is an oxbow lake that receive water from the Tangon and Kampar Rivers. To understand the concentration of chlorophyll-a in the lake, this research was conducted from January to February 2015 in Solok Pulau Lake. Water samples were collected from three station, namely station1 (in the inlet from the Tangon River, station2 in the middle of the lake and station3 in the inlet from the Kampar River). Water quality parameters measured were transparency, temperature, dissolved oxygen, depth, pH, velocity, nitrates and phosphates concentration. Results shown the chlorophyll-a concentration ranged from 0.013- 0.016 (μg/L), transparency of 42-50 cm, temperature 28.3-28.70C, dissolved oxygen 1.56 to 2.17 mg/L, depth 1.56 to 2.17 mg/L, pH 5.5 and velocity 15-16 cm/sec. Based on chlorophyll-a concentration, it can be concluded the Solok Pulau Lake was oligotrophic

Decay of a Yukawa fermion at finite temperature and applications to leptogenesis

We calculate the decay rate of a Yukawa fermion in a thermal bath using finite temperature cutting rules and effective Green's functions according to the hard thermal loop resummation technique. We apply this result to the decay of a heavy Majorana neutrino in leptogenesis. Compared to the usual approach where thermal masses are inserted into the kinematics of final states, we find that deviations arise through two different leptonic dispersion relations. The decay rate differs from the usual approach by more than one order of magnitude in the temperature range which is interesting for the weak washout regime. We discuss how to arrive at consistent finite temperature treatments of leptogenesis.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

Dual-probe decoherence microscopy: Probing pockets of coherence in a decohering environment

We study the use of a pair of qubits as a decoherence probe of a non-trivial environment. This dual-probe configuration is modelled by three two-level-systems which are coupled in a chain in which the middle system represents an environmental two-level-system (TLS). This TLS resides within the environment of the qubits and therefore its coupling to perturbing fluctuations (i.e. its decoherence) is assumed much stronger than the decoherence acting on the probe qubits. We study the evolution of such a tripartite system including the appearance of a decoherence-free state (dark state) and non-Markovian behaviour. We find that all parameters of this TLS can be obtained from measurements of one of the probe qubits. Furthermore we show the advantages of two qubits in probing environments and the new dynamics imposed by a TLS which couples to two qubits at once.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figure

Petrology of the Early Cretaceous Sierra Nevada Batholith; the Stokes Mountain region, CA

Previous studies have shown that the early Cretaceous batholith (130-110 Ma) contains the least chemically and isotopically evolved lithologies of the composite Sierra Nevada batholith. Mapping at 1:24,000 of a 360 km^2 area in the foothills ESE of Fresno (the Stokes Mountain region; latitude 36°30') reveals a smoothly continuous range (SiO_2 = 44-78%) of calcic lithologies dominated by norites, hornblende gabbros, quartz diorites, tonalites and granodiorites

Evidence from K2 for rapid rotation in the descendant of an intermediate-mass star

Using patterns in the oscillation frequencies of a white dwarf observed by K2, we have measured the fastest rotation rate, 1.13(02) hr, of any isolated pulsating white dwarf known to date. Balmer-line fits to follow-up spectroscopy from the SOAR telescope show that the star (SDSSJ0837+1856, EPIC 211914185) is a 13,590(340) K, 0.87(03) solar-mass white dwarf. This is the highest mass measured for any pulsating white dwarf with known rotation, suggesting a possible link between high mass and fast rotation. If it is the product of single-star evolution, its progenitor was a roughly 4.0 solar-mass main-sequence B star; we know very little about the angular momentum evolution of such intermediate-mass stars. We explore the possibility that this rapidly rotating white dwarf is the byproduct of a binary merger, which we conclude is unlikely given the pulsation periods observed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure, 1 table; accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letter