67,573 research outputs found
Subdwarf B stars from the common envelope ejection channel
From the canonical binary scenario, the majority of sdBs are produced from
low-mass stars with degenerate cores where helium is ignited in a way of
flashes. Due to numerical difficulties, the models of produced sdBs are
generally constructed from more massive stars with non-degenerate cores,
leaving several uncertainties on the exact characteristics of sdB stars.
Employing MESA, we systematically studied the characteristics of sdBs produced
from the common envelope (CE) ejection channel, and found that the sdB stars
produced from the CE ejection channel appear to form two distinct groups on the
effective temperature-gravity diagram. One group (the flash-mixing model)
almost has no H-rich envelope and crows at the hottest temperature end of the
extremely horizontal branch (EHB), while the other group has significant H-rich
envelope and spreads over the whole canonical EHB region. The key factor for
the dichotomy of the sdB properties is the development of convection during the
first helium flash, which is determined by the interior structure of the star
after the CE ejection. For a given initial stellar mass and a given core mass
at the onset of the CE, if the CE ejection stops early, the star has a
relatively massive H-rich envelope, resulting in a canonical sdB generally. The
fact of only a few short-orbital-period sdB binaries being in the flash-mixing
sdB region and the lack of He-rich sdBs in short-orbital-period binaries
indicate that the flash mixing is not very often in the products of the CE
ejection. A falling back process after the CE ejection, similar to that
happened in nova, is an appropriate way of increasing the envelope mass, then
prevents the flash mixing.Comment: accepted by A&A 12 pages, 11 figure
Stokes Parameters as a Minkowskian Four-vector
It is noted that the Jones-matrix formalism for polarization optics is a
six-parameter two-by-two representation of the Lorentz group. It is shown that
the four independent Stokes parameters form a Minkowskian four-vector, just
like the energy-momentum four-vector in special relativity. The optical filters
are represented by four-by-four Lorentz-transformation matrices. This
four-by-four formalism can deal with partial coherence described by the Stokes
parameters. A four-by-four matrix formulation is given for decoherence effects
on the Stokes parameters, and a possible experiment is proposed. It is shown
also that this Lorentz-group formalism leads to optical filters with a symmetry
property corresponding to that of two-dimensional Euclidean transformations.Comment: RevTeX, 22 pages, no figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Induced Magnetic Ordering by Proton Irradiation in Graphite
We provide evidence that proton irradiation of energy 2.25 MeV on
highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite samples triggers ferro- or ferrimagnetism.
Measurements performed with a superconducting quantum interferometer device
(SQUID) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) reveal that the magnetic ordering
is stable at room temperature.Comment: 3 Figure
A polarizable interatomic force field for TiO parameterized using density functional theory
We report a classical interatomic force field for TiO, which has been
parameterized using density functional theory forces, energies, and stresses in
the rutile crystal structure. The reliability of this new classical potential
is tested by evaluating the structural properties, equation of state, phonon
properties, thermal expansion, and some thermodynamic quantities such as
entropy, free energy, and specific heat under constant volume. The good
agreement of our results with {\em ab initio} calculations and with
experimental data, indicates that our force-field describes the atomic
interactions of TiO in the rutile structure very well. The force field can
also describe the structures of the brookite and anatase crystals with good
accuracy.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B; Changes from v1 include
multiple minor revisions and a re-write of the description of the force field
in Section II
Expansion of the Planet Detection Channels in Next-Generation Microlensing Surveys
We classify various types of planetary lensing signals and the channels of
detecting them. We estimate the relative frequencies of planet detections
through the individual channels with special emphasis on the new channels to be
additionally provided by future lensing experiments that will survey wide
fields continuously at high cadence by using very large-format imaging cameras.
From this investigation, we find that the fraction of wide-separation planets
that would be discovered through the new channels of detecting planetary
signals as independent and repeating events would be substantial. We estimate
that the fraction of planets detectable through the new channels would comprise
~15 -- 30% of all planets depending on the models of the planetary separation
distribution and mass ratios of planets. Considering that a significant
fraction of planets might exist in the form of free-floating planets, the
frequency of planets to be detected through the new channel would be even
higher. With the expansion of the channels of detecting planet, future lensing
surveys will greatly expand the range of planets to be probed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, one tabl
Indications of a Large Fraction of Spectroscopic Binaries Among Nuclei of Planetary Nebulae
Previous work indicates that about 10% of planetary-nebula nuclei (PNNi) are
photometrically variable short-period binaries with periods of hours to a few
days. These systems have most likely descended from common-envelope (CE)
interactions in initially much wider binaries. Population-synthesis studies
suggest that these very close pairs could be the short-period tail of a much
larger post-CE binary population with periods of up to a few months. We have
initiated a radial-velocity (RV) survey of PNNi with the WIYN 3.5-m telescope
and Hydra spectrograph, which is aimed at discovering these intermediate-period
binaries. We present initial results showing that 10 out of 11 well-observed
PNNi have variable RVs, suggesting that a significant binary population may be
present. However, further observations are required because we have as yet been
unable to fit our sparse measurements with definite orbital periods, and
because some of the RV variability might be due to variations in the stellar
winds of some of our PNNi.Comment: 11 pages, 1 table, no figures. Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal
Letter
Method of studying the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for the superconducting vortex lattice state
In this paper, we present a method to construct the eigenspace of the
normal-state electrons moving in a 2D square lattice in presence of a
perpendicular uniform magnetic field which imposes (quasi)-periodic boundary
conditions for the wave functions in the magnetic unit cell. An exact unitary
transformations are put forward to correlate the discrete eigenvectors of the
2D electrons with those of the Harper's equation. The cyclic-tridiagonal matrix
associated with the Harper's equation is then tridiagonalized by another
unitary transformation. The obtained eigenbasis is utilized to expand the
Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for the superconducting vortex lattice state,
which showing the merit of our method in studying the large-sized system. To
test our method, we have applied our results to study the vortex lattice state
of an s-wave superconductor.Comment: 8 pages; 3 figure
Suppression of dephasing by qubit motion in superconducting circuits
We suggest and demonstrate a protocol which suppresses dephasing due to the
low-frequency noise by qubit motion, i.e., transfer of the logical qubit of
information in a system of physical qubits. The protocol requires
only the nearest-neighbor coupling and is applicable to different qubit
structures. We further analyze its effectiveness against noises with arbitrary
correlations. Our analysis, together with experiments using up to three
superconducting qubits, shows that for the realistic uncorrelated noises, qubit
motion increases the dephasing time of the logical qubit as . In
general, the protocol provides a diagnostic tool to measure the noise
correlations.Comment: 5 pages with 3 embedded figures, plus supplementary informatio
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