237 research outputs found
Observation of Microlensing towards the Galactic Spiral Arms. EROS II 2 year survey
We present the analysis of the light curves of 8.5 million stars observed
during two seasons by EROS (Experience de Recherche d'Objets Sombres), in the
galactic plane away from the bulge. Three stars have been found that exhibit
luminosity variations compatible with gravitational microlensing effects due to
unseen objects. The corresponding optical depth, averaged over four directions,
is 0.38 (+0.53, -0.15) 10^{-6}. All three candidates have long Einstein radius
crossing times ( 70 to 100 days). For one of them, the lack of evidence
for a parallax or a source size effect enabled us to constrain the lens-source
% geometric configuration. Another candidate displays a modulation of the
magnification, which is compatible with the lensing of a binary source.
The interpretation of the optical depths inferred from these observations is
hindered by the imperfect knowledge of the distance to the target stars. Our
measurements are compatible with expectations from simple galactic models under
reasonable assumptions on the target distances.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, accepted by A&A in Aug 9
Improved stability regions for ground states of the extended Hubbard model
The ground state phase diagram of the extended Hubbard model containing
nearest and next-to-nearest neighbor interactions is investigated in the
thermodynamic limit using an exact method. It is found that taking into account
local correlations and adding next-to-nearest neighbor interactions both have
significant effects on the position of the phase boundaries. Improved stability
domains for the -pairing state and for the fully saturated ferromagnetic
state at half filling have been constructed. The results show that these states
are the ground states for model Hamiltonians with realistic values of the
interaction parameters.Comment: 21 pages (10 figures are included) Revtex, revised version. To be
published in Phys. Rev. B. E-mail: [email protected]
Observation of periodic variable stars towards the galactic spiral arms by EROS II
We present the results of a massive variability search based on a photometric
survey of a six square degree region along the Galactic plane at (, ) and (, ). This
survey was performed in the framework of the EROS II (Exp\'erience de Recherche
d'Objets Sombres) microlensing program. The variable stars were found among
1,913,576 stars that were monitored between April and June 1998 in two
passbands, with an average of 60 measurements. A new period-search technique is
proposed which makes use of a statistical variable that characterizes the
overall regularity of the flux versus phase diagram. This method is well suited
when the photometric data are unevenly distributed in time, as is our case.
1,362 objects whose luminosity varies were selected. Among them we identified 9
Cepheids, 19 RR Lyrae, 34 Miras, 176 eclipsing binaries and 266 Semi-Regular
stars. Most of them are newly identified objects. The cross-identification with
known catalogues has been performed. The mean distance of the RR Lyrae is
estimated to be kpc undergoing an average absorption of
magnitudes. This distance is in good agreement with the one
of disc stars which contribute to the microlensing source star population.Our
catalogue and light curves are available electronically from the CDS,
Strasbourg and from our Web site http://eros.in2p3.fr.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, accepted in A&A (april 2002
Consistent LDA'+DMFT approach to electronic structure of transition metal oxides: charge transfer insulators and correlated metals
We discuss the recently proposed LDA'+DMFT approach providing consistent
parameter free treatment of the so called double counting problem arising
within the LDA+DMFT hybrid computational method for realistic strongly
correlated materials. In this approach the local exchange-correlation portion
of electron-electron interaction is excluded from self consistent LDA
calculations for strongly correlated electronic shells, e.g. d-states of
transition metal compounds. Then the corresponding double counting term in
LDA+DMFT Hamiltonian is consistently set in the local Hartree (fully localized
limit - FLL) form of the Hubbard model interaction term. We present the results
of extensive LDA'+DMFT calculations of densities of states, spectral densities
and optical conductivity for most typical representatives of two wide classes
of strongly correlated systems in paramagnetic phase: charge transfer
insulators (MnO, CoO and NiO) and strongly correlated metals (SrVO3 and
Sr2RuO4). It is shown that for NiO and CoO systems LDA'+DMFT qualitatively
improves the conventional LDA+DMFT results with FLL type of double counting,
where CoO and NiO were obtained to be metals. We also include in our
calculations transition metal 4s-states located near the Fermi level missed in
previous LDA+DMFT studies of these monooxides. General agreement with optical
and X-ray experiments is obtained. For strongly correlated metals
LDA+DMFT results agree well with earlier LDA+DMFT calculations and
existing experiments. However, in general LDA'+DMFT results give better
quantitative agreement with experimental data for band gap sizes and oxygen
states positions, as compared to the conventional LDA+DMFT.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, 1 table. In v2 there some additional
clarifications are include
Metallic ferromagnetism without exchange splitting
In the band theory of ferromagnetism there is a relative shift in the
position of majority and minority spin bands due to the self-consistent field
due to opposite spin electrons. In the simplest realization, the Stoner model,
the majority and minority spin bands are rigidly shifted with respect to each
other. Here we consider models at the opposite extreme, where there is no
overall shift of the energy bands. Instead, upon spin polarization one of the
bands broadens relative to the other. Ferromagnetism is driven by the resulting
gain in kinetic energy. A signature of this class of mechanisms is that a
transfer of spectral weight in optical absorption from high to low frequencies
occurs upon spin polarization. We show that such models arise from generalized
tight binding models that include off-diagonal matrix elements of the Coulomb
interaction. For certain parameter ranges it is also found that reentrant
ferromagnetism occurs. We examine properties of these models at zero and finite
temperatures, and discuss their possible relevance to real materials
Metal-insulator transition in a doubly orbitally degenerate model with correlated hopping
In the present paper we propose a doubly orbitally degenerate narrow-band
model with correlated hopping. The peculiarity of the model is taking into
account the matrix element of electron-electron interaction which describes
intersite hoppings of electrons. In particular, this leads to the concentration
dependence of the effective hopping integral. The cases of the strong and weak
Hund's coupling are considered. By means of a generalized mean-field
approximation the single-particle Green function and quasiparticle energy
spectrum are calculated. Metal-insulator transition is studied in the model at
different integer values of the electron concentration. With the help of the
obtained energy spectrum we find energy gap width and criteria of
metal-insulator transition.Comment: minor revisions, published in Phys. Rev.
Spectroscopic Observations and Analysis of the Unusual Type Ia SN 1999ac
We present optical spectra of the peculiar Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 1999ac.
The data extend from -15 to +42 days with respect to B-band maximum and reveal
an event that is unusual in several respects. Prior to B-band maximum, the
spectra resemble those of SN 1999aa, a slowly declining event, but possess
stronger SiII and CaII signatures (more characteristic of a spectroscopically
normal SN). Spectra after B-band maximum appear more normal. The expansion
velocities inferred from the Iron lines appear to be lower than average;
whereas, the expansion velocity inferred from Calcium H and K are higher than
average. The expansion velocities inferred from SiII are among the slowest ever
observed, though SN 1999ac is not particularly dim. The analysis of the
parameters v_10, R(SiII), dv(SiII)/dt, and d_m15 further underlines the unique
characteristics of SN 1999ac. We find convincing evidence of CII 6580 in the
day -15 spectrum with ejection velocity v > 16,000 km/s, but this signature
disappears by day -9. This rapid evolution at early times highlights the
importance of extremely early-time spectroscopy.Comment: 40 pages, 24 figures, accepted for publication in The Astronomical
Journa
Dynamical mean-field approach to materials with strong electronic correlations
We review recent results on the properties of materials with correlated
electrons obtained within the LDA+DMFT approach, a combination of a
conventional band structure approach based on the local density approximation
(LDA) and the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). The application to four
outstanding problems in this field is discussed: (i) we compute the full
valence band structure of the charge-transfer insulator NiO by explicitly
including the p-d hybridization, (ii) we explain the origin for the
simultaneously occuring metal-insulator transition and collapse of the magnetic
moment in MnO and Fe2O3, (iii) we describe a novel GGA+DMFT scheme in terms of
plane-wave pseudopotentials which allows us to compute the orbital order and
cooperative Jahn-Teller distortion in KCuF3 and LaMnO3, and (iv) we provide a
general explanation for the appearance of kinks in the effective dispersion of
correlated electrons in systems with a pronounced three-peak spectral function
without having to resort to the coupling of electrons to bosonic excitations.
These results provide a considerable progress in the fully microscopic
investigations of correlated electron materials.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, final version, submitted to Eur. Phys. J. for
publication in the Special Topics volume "Cooperative Phenomena in Solids:
Metal-Insulator Transitions and Ordering of Microscopic Degrees of Freedom
Review of the development of cesium iodide photocathodes for application to large RICH detectors
CsI photocathodes were studied in order to evaluate their potential use as large photo converters in RICH detectors for the PID system of ALICE at LHC in heavy-ion collider mode. It has been demonstrated that a quantum efficiency close to the reference value obtained on small samples can be obtained on CsI layers evaporated on large pad electrodes operated in a MWPC at atmospheric pressure. We present a survey of the results obtained in the laboratory on small samples irradiated with UV-monochromatic beams and with large area RICH detectors of proximity-focusing geometry in a 3 GeV/c pion beam
Type Ia supernova rate at
We present the EROS nearby supernova () search and the
analysis of the first year of data (1997). A total of 80 square degrees were
surveyed. Eight supernov{\ae} were detected, four of which were
spectroscopically identified as type Ia supernov{\ae}. The search efficiency
was determined with a Monte-Carlo simulation taking into account the
efficiencies for both supernova detection and host galaxy identification.
Assuming that for a given galaxy the supernova rate is proportional to the
galactic luminosity, we compute a type Ia supernova explosion rate of:
{\cal R} = 0.44 {}_{-0.21}^{+0.35} {}_{-0.07}^{+0.13} h^2: / 10^{10}
\lbsun / 100 {\rm yrs} at an average redshift of where the errors
are respectively statistical and systematic (type misidentification included).Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted in A&
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