Base manifolds for fibrations of projective irreducible symplectic manifolds

Given a projective irreducible symplectic manifold $M$ of dimension $2n$, a projective manifold $X$ and a surjective holomorphic map $f:M \to X$ with connected fibers of positive dimension, we prove that $X$ is biholomorphic to the projective space of dimension $n$. The proof is obtained by exploiting two geometric structures at general points of $X$: the affine structure arising from the action variables of the Lagrangian fibration $f$ and the structure defined by the variety of minimal rational tangents on the Fano manifold $X$

A study of fragmentation processes using a discrete element method

We present a model of solids made from polygonal cells connected via beams. We calculate the macroscopic elastic moduli from the beam and cell parameters. This modellisation is particularly suited for the simulation of fragmentation processes. We study the effects of an explosion inside a circular disk and the impact of a projectile and obtain the fragment size distribution. We find that if breaking only happens under tensile forces a layer on the free wall opposed to impact is first ejected. In that case the distribution follows a power-law with an exponent that in most cases is around two.Comment: 16 pages in LaTex format, 17 PostScript figures. Figures are available upon request from the authors. Submitted to Int. J. of Mod. Phys.

Jet-disturbed molecular gas near the Seyfert 2 nucleus in M51

Previous molecular gas observations at arcsecond-scale resolution of the Seyfert 2 galaxy M51 suggest the presence of a dense circumnuclear rotating disk, which may be the reservoir for fueling the active nucleus and obscures it from direct view in the optical. However, our recent interferometric CO(3-2) observations show a hint of a velocity gradient perpendicular to the rotating disk, which suggests a more complex structure than previously thought. To image the putative circumnuclear molecular gas disk at sub-arcsecond resolution to better understand both the spatial distribution and kinematics of the molecular gas. We carried out CO(2-1) and CO(1-0) line observations of the nuclear region of M51 with the new A configuration of the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer, yielding a spatial resolution lower than 15 pc. The high resolution images show no clear evidence of a disk, aligned nearly east-west and perpendicular to the radio jet axis, as suggested by previous observations, but show two separate features located on the eastern and western sides of the nucleus. The western feature shows an elongated structure along the jet and a good velocity correspondence with optical emission lines associated with the jet, suggesting that this feature is a jet-entrained gas. The eastern feature is elongated nearly east-west ending around the nucleus. A velocity gradient appears in the same direction with increasingly blueshifted velocities near the nucleus. This velocity gradient is in the opposite sense of that previously inferred for the putative circumnuclear disk. Possible explanations for the observed molecular gas distribution and kinematics are that a rotating gas disk disturbed by the jet, gas streaming toward the nucleus, or a ring with another smaller counter- or Keplarian-rotating gas disk inside.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in A&A Letters Special Issue for the new extended configuration at the IRAM PdB

SMA/PdBI multiple line observations of the nearby Seyfert2 galaxy NGC 1068: Shock related gas kinematics and heating in the central 100pc?

We present high angular resolution (0.5-2.0") observations of the mm continuum and the 12CO(J=3-2), 13CO(J=3-2), 13CO(J=2-1), C18O(J=2-1), HCN(J=3-2), HCO+(J=4-3) and HCO+(J=3-2) line emission in the circumnuclear disk (r=100pc) of the proto-typical Seyfert type-2 galaxy NGC1068, carried out with the Submillimeter Array. We further include in our analysis new 13CO(J=1-0) and improved 12CO(J=2-1) observations of NGC1068 at high angular resolution (1.0-2.0") and sensitivity, conducted with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. Based on the complex dynamics of the molecular gas emission indicating non-circular motions in the central ~100pc, we propose a scenario in which part of the molecular gas in the circumnuclear disk of NGC1068 is radially blown outwards as a result of shocks. This shock scenario is further supported by quite warm (Tkin>=200K) and dense (nH2=10^4cm^-3) gas constrained from the observed molecular line ratios. The HCN abundance in the circumnuclear disk is found to be [HCN]/[12CO]=10^-3.5. This is slightly higher than the abundances derived for galactic and extragalactic starforming/starbursting regions. This results lends further support to X-ray enhanced HCN formation in the circumnuclear disk of NGC1068, as suggested by earlier studies. The HCO+ abundance ([HCO+]/[12CO]=10^-5) appears to be somewhat lower than that of galactic and extragalactic starforming/starbursting regions. When trying to fit the cm to mm continuum emission by different thermal and non-thermal processes, it appears that electron-scattered synchrotron emission yields the best results while thermal free-free emission seems to over-predict the mm continuum emission.Comment: accepted for publication by ApJ; 35pages, 22 figures and 6 tables (at the end of the file); 3 figures have been decreased in quality to match size limi

X-MAS2: Study Systematics on the ICM Metallicity Measurements

(Abridged)The X-ray measurements of the ICM metallicity are becoming more frequent due to the availability of powerful X-ray telescope with excellent spatial and spectral resolutions. The information which can be extracted from the measurements of the alpha-elements, like Oxygen, Magnesium and Silicon with respect to the Iron abundance is extremely important to better understand the stellar formation and its evolutionary history. In this paper we investigate possible source of bias connected to the plasma physics when recovering metal abundances from X-ray spectra. To do this we analyze 6 simulated galaxy clusters processed through the new version of our X-ray MAp Simulator, which allows to create mock XMM-Newton EPIC MOS1 and MOS2 observations. By comparing the spectroscopic results to the input values we find that: i) Fe is recovered with high accuracy for both hot (T>3 keV) and cold (T<2 keV) systems; at intermediate temperatures, however, we find a systematic overestimate which depends on the number counts; ii) O is well recovered in cold clusters, while in hot systems its measure may overestimate by a factor up to 2-3; iii) Being a weak line, the measurement of Mg is always difficult; despite of this, for cold systems (T<2 keV) we do not find any systematic behavior, while for very hot systems (T>5 keV) the spectroscopic measurement may be strongly overestimated up to a factor of 4; iv) Si is well recovered for all the clusters in our sample. We investigate in detail the nature of the systematic effects and biases found. We conclude that they are mainly connected with the multi-temperature nature of the projected observed spectra and to the intrinsic limitation of the XMM-Newton EPIC spectral resolution that does not always allow to disentangle among the emission lines produced by different elements.Comment: (e.g.: 17 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, updated discussion to match published version-new section:6.3

Synthesis of bulk, dense, nanocrystalline yttrium aluminum garnet from amorphous powders

Amorphous powders of Al2O3x2014;37.5 mol% Y2O3 (yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG)) were prepared by coprecipitation, decomposed at 800xB0;C, and hot-pressed uniaxally at low temperature (600xB0;C) and a moderate pressure (750 MPa). Optimum conditions yielded microstructures with only 2% porosity and partial crystallization of YAG. Further processing using high quasi-hydrostatic pressure (1 GPa) at 1000xB0;C enabled the production of fully crystallized YAG with gt;96% relative density and a nanocrystalline grain size of x223C;70 nm. 13

A spinor approach to Walker geometry

A four-dimensional Walker geometry is a four-dimensional manifold M with a neutral metric g and a parallel distribution of totally null two-planes. This distribution has a natural characterization as a projective spinor field subject to a certain constraint. Spinors therefore provide a natural tool for studying Walker geometry, which we exploit to draw together several themes in recent explicit studies of Walker geometry and in other work of Dunajski (2002) and Plebanski (1975) in which Walker geometry is implicit. In addition to studying local Walker geometry, we address a global question raised by the use of spinors.Comment: 41 pages. Typos which persisted into published version corrected, notably at (2.15

Single crystal MgB2 with anisotropic superconducting properties

The discovery of superconductor in magnesium diboride MgB2 with high Tc (39 K) has raised some challenging issues; whether this new superconductor resembles a high temperature cuprate superconductor(HTS) or a low temperature metallic superconductor; which superconducting mechanism, a phonon- mediated BCS or a hole superconducting mechanism or other new exotic mechanism may account for this superconductivity; and how about its future for applications. In order to clarify the above questions, experiments using the single crystal sample are urgently required. Here we have first succeeded in obtaining the single crystal of this new MgB2 superconductivity, and performed its electrical resistance and magnetization measurements. Their experiments show that the electronic and magnetic properties depend on the crystallographic direction. Our results indicate that the single crystal MgB2 superconductor shows anisotropic superconducting properties and thus can provide scientific basis for the research of its superconducting mechanism and its applications.Comment: 7 pages pdf fil