29,450 research outputs found
Cold giant planets evaporated by hot white dwarfs
Atmospheric escape from close-in Neptunes and hot Jupiters around Sun-like stars driven by extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiation plays an important role in the evolution of exoplanets and in shaping their ensemble properties. Intermediate and low mass stars are brightest at EUV wavelengths at the very end of their lives, after they have expelled their envelopes and evolved into hot white dwarfs. Yet the effect of the intense EUV irradiation of giant planets orbiting young white dwarfs has not been assessed. We show that the giant planets in the solar system will experience significant hydrodynamic escape caused by the EUV irradiation from the white dwarf left behind by the Sun. A fraction of the evaporated volatiles will be accreted by the solar white dwarf, resulting in detectable photospheric absorption lines. As a large number of the currently known extrasolar giant planets will survive the metamorphosis of their host stars into white dwarfs, observational signatures of accretion from evaporating planetary atmospheres are expected to be common. In fact, one-third of the known hot single white dwarfs show photospheric absorption lines of volatile elements, which we argue are indicative of ongoing accretion from evaporating planets. The fraction of volatile contaminated hot white dwarfs strongly decreases as they cool. We show that accretion from evaporating planetary atmospheres naturally explains this temperature dependence if more than 50% of hot white dwarfs still host giant planets
Scanning laser techniques for characterisation of different surface breaking defect geometries
Measurements using a laser scanning system consisting of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser to generate surface ultrasonic
waves and an interferometer to detect the surface displacement, are presented for different samples and defect geometries. We show, ïŹrstly, details of the interaction of Rayleigh waves in thick samples with machined slots inclined at an angle to the surface normal, or with simple branched geometries, scanning the generation source over the defect (SLLS) or scanning the detection point over the defect (SLD). Secondly, we discuss effects of Lamb waves interacting with V-shaped defects in thin samples. The results from these measurements have shown that the signal enhancement found in the near-ïŹeld in both cases can be used to position the defect and gain an idea of its geometry, and have shown this to be a suitable ïŹngerprint of the presence of the defect
Localization of Two-dimensional Electron Gas in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Heterostructures
We report strong localization of 2D electron gas in LaAlO3 / SrTiO3 epitaxial
thin-film heterostructures grown on (LaAlO3)0.3-(Sr2AlTaO3)0.7 substrates by
using pulsed laser deposition with in-situ reflection high-energy electron
diffraction. Using longitudinal and transverse magnetotransport measurements,
we have determined that disorder at the interface influences the conduction
behavior, and that increasing the carrier concentration by growing at lower
oxygen partial pressure changes the conduction from strongly localized at low
carrier concentration to metallic at higher carrier concentration, with
indications of weak localization. We interpret this behavior in terms of a
changing occupation of Ti 3d bands near the interface, each with a different
spatial extent and susceptibility to localization by disorder, and differences
in carrier confinement due to misfit strain and point defects.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
ATRA mechanically reprograms pancreatic stellate cells to suppress matrix remodelling and inhibit cancer cell invasion
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive malignancy with a dismal survival rate. Persistent activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) can perturb the biomechanical homoeostasis of the tumour microenvironment to favour cancer cell invasion. Here we report that ATRA, an active metabolite of vitamin A, restores mechanical quiescence in PSCs via a mechanism involving a retinoic acid receptor beta (RAR-ÎČ)-dependent downregulation of actomyosin (MLC-2) contractility. We show that ATRA reduces the ability of PSCs to generate high traction forces and adapt to extracellular mechanical cues (mechanosensing), as well as suppresses force-mediated extracellular matrix remodelling to inhibit local cancer cell invasion in 3D organotypic models. Our findings implicate a RAR-ÎČ/MLC-2 pathway in peritumoural stromal remodelling and mechanosensory-driven activation of PSCs, and further suggest that mechanical reprogramming of PSCs with retinoic acid derivatives might be a viable alternative to stromal ablation strategies for the treatment of PDAC
Clear evidence for the presence of second-generation asymptotic giant branch stars in metal-poor Galactic globular clusters
Galactic globular clusters (GCs) are known to host multiple stellar
populations: a first generation with a chemical pattern typical of halo field
stars and a second generation (SG) enriched in Na and Al and depleted in O and
Mg. Both stellar generations are found at different evolutionary stages (e.g.,
the main-sequence turnoff, the subgiant branch, and the red giant branch). The
non detection of SG asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in several metal-poor
([Fe/H] < -1) GCs suggests that not all SG stars ascend the AGB phase, and that
failed AGB stars may be very common in metal-poor GCs. This observation
represents a serious problem for stellar evolution and GC formation/evolution
theories. We report fourteen SG-AGB stars in four metal-poor GCs (M 13, M 5, M
3, and M 2) with different observational properties: horizontal branch (HB)
morphology, metallicity, and age. By combining the H-band Al abundances
obtained by the APOGEE survey with ground-based optical photometry, we identify
SG Al-rich AGB stars in these four GCs and show that Al-rich RGB/AGB GC stars
should be Na-rich. Our observations provide strong support for present,
standard stellar models, i.e., without including a strong mass-loss efficiency,
for low-mass HB stars. In fact, current empirical evidence is in agreement with
the predicted distribution of FG and and SG stars during the He-burning stages
based on these standard stellar models.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters (16
pages, 4 figures, and 1 table
Summary of Golden Measurements at a -Factory
The precision and discovery potential of a neutrino factory based on muon
storage rings is summarized. For three-family neutrino oscillations, we analyze
how to measure or severely constraint the angle , CP violation,
MSW effects and the sign of the atmospheric mass difference .
The appearance of ``wrong-sign muons'' at three reference baselines is
considered: 732 km, 3500 km and 7332 km. We exploit the dependence of the
signal on the neutrino energy, and include as well realistic background
estimations and detection efficiencies. The optimal baseline turns out to be
(3000 km).Comment: 7 pages, Latex2e, 5 eps figures, use package espfi
Golden measurements at a neutrino factory
The precision and discovery potential of a neutrino factory based on muon
storage rings is studied. For three-family neutrino oscillations, we analyse
how to measure or severely constraint the angle , CP violation,
MSW effects and the sign of the atmospheric mass difference .
We present a simple analytical formula for the oscillation probabilities in
matter, with all neutrino mass differences non-vanishing, which clarifies the
subtleties involved in disentangling the unknown parameters. The appearance of
``wrong-sign muons'' at three reference baselines is considered: 732 km, 3500
km, and 7332 km. We exploit the dependence of the signal on the neutrino
energy, and include as well realistic background estimations and detection
efficiencies. The optimal baseline turns out to be km).
Analyses combining the information from different baselines are also presented.Comment: 45 pages, Latex2e, 24 figures using epsfig.sty. An incorrect
statement and a few misprints have been corrected. Results and conclusions
are unchange
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