2,150 research outputs found
Precise Atmospheric Parameters for the Shortest Period Binary White Dwarfs: Gravitational Waves, Metals, and Pulsations
We present a detailed spectroscopic analysis of 61 low mass white dwarfs and
provide precise atmospheric parameters, masses, and updated binary system
parameters based on our new model atmosphere grids and the most recent
evolutionary model calculations. For the first time, we measure systematic
abundances of He, Ca and Mg for metal-rich extremely low mass white dwarfs and
examine the distribution of these abundances as a function of effective
temperature and mass. Based on our preliminary results, we discuss the
possibility that shell flashes may be responsible for the presence of the
observed He and metals. We compare stellar radii derived from our spectroscopic
analysis to model-independent measurements and find good agreement except for
those white dwarfs with Teff < 10,000 K. We also calculate the expected
gravitational wave strain for each system and discuss their significance to the
eLISA space-borne gravitational wave observatory. Finally, we provide an update
on the instability strip of extremely low mass white dwarf pulsators.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Ap
Phase diagrams of charged colloidal rods: can a uniaxial charge distribution break chiral symmetry?
We construct phase diagrams for charged rodlike colloids within the
second-virial approximation as a function of rod concentration, salt
concentration, and colloidal charge. Besides the expected isotropic-nematic
transition, we also find parameter regimes with a coexistence between a nematic
and a second, more highly aligned nematic phase including an
isotropic-nematic-nematic triple point and a nematic-nematic critical point,
which can all be explained in terms of the twisting effect. We compute the
Frank elastic constants to see if the twist elastic constant can become
negative, which would indicate the possibility of a cholesteric phase
spontaneously forming. Although the twisting effect reduces the twist elastic
constant, we find that it always remains positive. In addition, we find that
for finite aspect-ratio rods the twist elastic constant is also always
positive, such that there is no evidence of chiral symmetry breaking due to a
uniaxial charge distribution.Comment: Added a reference to Sec. 4 and extended discussions in Secs. 4 and
7, results unchange
3D Model Atmospheres for Extremely Low-Mass White Dwarfs
We present an extended grid of mean three-dimensional (3D) spectra for
low-mass, pure-hydrogen atmosphere DA white dwarfs (WDs). We use CO5BOLD
radiation-hydrodynamics 3D simulations covering Teff = 6000-11,500 K and logg =
5-6.5 (cgs units) to derive analytical functions to convert spectroscopically
determined 1D temperatures and surface gravities to 3D atmospheric parameters.
Along with the previously published 3D models, the 1D to 3D corrections are now
available for essentially all known convective DA WDs (i.e., logg = 5-9). For
low-mass WDs, the correction in temperature is relatively small (a few per cent
at the most), but the surface gravities measured from the 3D models are lower
by as much as 0.35 dex. We revisit the spectroscopic analysis of the extremely
low-mass (ELM) WDs, and demonstrate that the 3D models largely resolve the
discrepancies seen in the radius and mass measurements for relatively cool ELM
WDs in eclipsing double WD and WD + milli-second pulsar binary systems. We also
use the 3D corrections to revise the boundaries of the ZZ Ceti instability
strip, including the recently found ELM pulsators.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
On Gauge-Invariant Decomposition of Nucleon Spin
We investigate the relation between the known decompositions of the nucleon
spin into its constituents, thereby clarifying in what respect they are common
and in what respect they are different essentially. The decomposition recently
proposed by Chen et al. can be thought of as a nontrivial generalization of the
gauge-variant Jaffe-Manohar decomposition so as to meet the gauge-invariance
requirement of each term of the decomposition. We however point out that there
is another gauge-invariant decomposition of the nucleon spin, which is closer
to the Ji decomposition, while allowing the decomposition of the gluon total
angular momentum into the spin and orbital parts. After clarifying the reason
why the gauge-invariant decomposition of the nucleon spin is not unique, we
discuss which decomposition is more preferable from the experimental viewpoint.Comment: The version to appear in Phys. Rev.
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