The Dwarf Nova Outbursts of Nova Her 1960 (=V446 Her)

V446 Her is the best example of an old nova which has developed dwarf nova eruptions in the post-nova state. We report on observed properties of the long-term light curve of V446 Her, using photometry over 19 years. Yearly averages of the outburst magnitudes shows a decline of ~0.013 mag/yr, consistent with the decline of other post-novae that do not have dwarf nova outbursts. Previous suggestions of bimodal distributions of the amplitudes and widths of the outbursts are confirmed. The outbursts occur at a mean spacing of 18 days but the range of spacings is large (13-30 days). From simulations of dwarf nova outbursts it has been predicted that the outburst spacing in V446 Her will increase as M-dot from the red dwarf companion slowly falls following the nova; however the large intrinsic scatter in the spacings serves to hide any evidence of this effect. We do find a systematic change in the outburst pattern in which the brighter, wider type of outbursts disappeared after late 2003, and this phenomenon is suggested to be due to falling M-dot following the nova.Comment: To appear at the Astronomical Journal; 7 pages, 1 table, 11 figure

Dark Energy Evolution and the Curvature of the Universe from Recent Observations

We discuss the constraints on the time-varying equation of state for dark energy and the curvature of the universe using observations of type Ia supernovae from Riess et al. and the most recent Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS), the baryon acoustic oscillation peak detected in the SDSS luminous red galaxy survey and cosmic microwave background. Due to the degeneracy among the parameters which describe the time dependence of the equation of state and the curvature of the universe, the constraints on them can be weakened when we try to constrain them simultaneously, in particular when we use a single observational data. However, we show that we can obtain relatively severe constraints when we use all data sets from observations above even if we consider the time-varying equation of state and do not assume a flat universe. We also found that the combined data set favors a flat universe even if we consider the time variation of dark energy equation of state.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, references adde

Effectively Closed Infinite-Genus Surfaces and the String Coupling

The class of effectively closed infinite-genus surfaces, defining the completion of the domain of string perturbation theory, can be included in the category $O_G$, which is characterized by the vanishing capacity of the ideal boundary. The cardinality of the maximal set of endpoints is shown to be 2^{\mit N}. The product of the coefficient of the genus-g superstring amplitude in four dimensions by $2^g$ in the $g\to \infty$ limit is an exponential function of the genus with a base comparable in magnitude to the unified gauge coupling. The value of the string coupling is consistent with the characteristics of configurations which provide a dominant contribution to a finite vacuum amplitude.Comment: TeX, 33 page

Distance Measurement of Galaxies to Redshift of 0.1 using the CO-Line Tully-Fisher Relation

We report on the first results of a long-term project to derive distances of galaxies at cosmological distances by applying the CO-line width-luminosity relation. We have obtained deep CO-line observations of galaxies at redshifts up to 29,000 km/s using the Nobeyama 45-m mm-wave Telescope, and some supplementary data were obtained by using the IRAM 30-m telescope. We have detected the CO line emission for several galaxies, and used their CO line widths to estimate the absolute luminosities using the line-width-luminosity relation. In order to obtain photometric data and inclination correction, we also performed optical imaging observations of the CO-detected galaxies using the CFHT 3.6-m telescope at high resolution. The radio and optical data have been combined to derive the distance moduli and distances of the galaxies, and Hubble ratios were estimated for these galaxies. We propose that the CO line width-luminosity relation can be a powerful method to derive distances of galaxies to redfhift of z = 0.1 and to derive the Hubble ratio in a significant volume of the universe. Key words: Cosmology - Galaxies: general - Distance scale - CO lineComment: To appear in PASJ, Plain Tex, 3 figures (in 10 ps files

Outcome Independence of Entanglement in One-Way Computation

We show that the various intermediate states appearing in the process of one-way computation at a given step of measurement are all equivalent modulo local unitary transformations. This implies, in particular, that all those intermediate states share the same entanglement irrespective of the measurement outcomes, indicating that the process of one-way computation is essentially unique with respect to local quantum operations.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

The Origin of the Young Stars in the Nucleus of M31

The triple nucleus of M31 consists of a population of old red stars in an eccentric disk (P1 and P2) and another population of younger A stars in a circular disk (P3) around M31's central supermassive black hole (SMBH). We argue that P1 and P2 determine the maximal radial extent of the younger A star population and provide the gas that fueled the starburst that generated P3. The eccentric stellar disk creates an $m=1$ non-axisymmetric perturbation to the potential. This perturbed potential drives gas into the inner parsec around the SMBH, if the pattern speed of the eccentric stellar disk is $\Omega_p \lesssim 3-10 {\rm km s^{-1} pc^{-1}}$. We show that stellar mass loss from P1 and P2 is sufficient to create a gravitationally unstable gaseous disk of \sim 10^5\Msun every $0.1-1$ Gyrs, consistent with the 200 Myr age of P3. Similar processes may act in other systems to produce very compact nuclear starbursts.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted by ApJ, changes made from referee suggestion

Neutrino mass constraint from CMB and its degeneracy with other cosmological parameters

We show that the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data of WMAP can give subelectronvolt limit on the neutrino mass: m_nu < 0.63 eV (95% CL). We also investigate its degeneracy with other cosmological parameters. In particular, we show the Hubble constant derived from the WMAP data decreases considerably when the neutrino mass is a few times 0.1 eV.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, prepared for the TAUP2007 Proceeding