6,762 research outputs found
Chemical potential shift in La(1-x)Sr(x)MnO(3): Photoemission test of the phase separation scenario
We have studied the chemical potential shift in La(1-x)Sr(x)MnO(3) as a
function of doped hole concentration by core-level x-ray photoemission. The
shift is monotonous, which means that there is no electronic phase separation
on a macroscopic scale, whereas it is consistent with the nano-meter scale
cluster formation induced by chemical disorder. Comparison of the observed
shift with the shift deduced from the electronic specific heat indicates that
hole doping in La(1-x)Sr(x)MnO(3) is well described by the rigid-band picture.
In particular no mass enhancement toward the metal-insulator boundary was
implied by the chemical potential shift, consistent with the electronic
specific heat data.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Europhysics Letter
Prebiotic Organic Microstructures
Micro- and sub-micrometer spheres, tubules and fiber-filament soft structures have been synthesized in our experiments conducted with 3 MeV proton irradiations of a mixture of simple inorganic constituents, CO, N2 and H2O. We analysed the irradiation products, with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). These laboratory organic structures produced wide variety of proteinous and non-proteinous amino acids after HCl hydrolysis. The enantiomer analysis for D-, L- alanine confirmed that the amino acids were abiotically synthesized during the laboratory experiment. Considering hydrothermal activity, the presence of CO2 and H2, of a ferromagnesian silicate mineral environment, of an Earth magnetic field which was much less intense during Archean times than nowadays and consequently of a proton excitation source which was much more abundant, we propose that our laboratory organic microstructures might be synthesized during Archean times. We show similarities in morphology and in formation with some terrestrial Archean microstructures and we suggest that some of the observed Archean carbon spherical and filamentous microstructures might be composed of abiogenic organic molecules. We further propose a search for such prebiotic organic signatures on Mars. This article has been posted on Nature precedings on 21 July 2010 [1]. Extinct radionuclides as source of excitation have been replaced by cosmic radiations which were much more intense 3.5 Ga ago because of a much less intense Earth magnetic field. The new version of the article has been presented at the ORIGINS conference in Montpellier in july 2011 [2] and has since been published in Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres 42 (4) 307-316, 2012. 
DOI: 10.1007/s11084-012-9290-5 


Documentation of the GLAS fourth order general circulation model. Volume 1: Model documentation
The volume 1, of a 3 volume technical memoranda which contains a documentation of the GLAS Fourth Order General Circulation Model is presented. Volume 1 contains the documentation, description of the stratospheric/tropospheric extension, user's guide, climatological boundary data, and some climate simulation studies
The wideband backend at the MDSCC in Robledo. A new facility for radio astronomy at Q- and K- bands
The antennas of NASA's Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC) in
Robledo de Chavela are available as single-dish radio astronomical facilities
during a significant percentage of their operational time. Current
instrumentation includes two antennas of 70 and 34 m in diameter, equipped with
dual-polarization receivers in K (18 - 26 GHz) and Q (38 - 50 GHz) bands,
respectively. We have developed and built a new wideband backend for the
Robledo antennas, with the objectives (1) to optimize the available time and
enhance the efficiency of radio astronomy in MDSCC; and (2) to tackle new
scientific cases impossible to that were investigated with the old, narrow-band
autocorrelator. The backend consists of an IF processor, a FFT spectrometer
(FFTS), and the software that interfaces and manages the events among the
observing program, antenna control, the IF processor, the FFTS operation, and
data recording. The whole system was end-to-end assembled in August 2011, at
the start of commissioning activities, and the results are reported in this
paper. Frequency tunings and line intensities are stable over hours, even when
using different synthesizers and IF channels; no aliasing effects have been
measured, and the rejection of the image sideband was characterized. The first
setup provides 1.5 GHz of instantaneous bandwidth in a single polarization,
using 8192 channels and a frequency resolution of 212 kHz; upgrades under way
include a second FFTS card, and two high-resolution cores providing 100 MHz and
500 MHz of bandwidth, and 16384 channels. These upgrades will permit
simultaneous observations of the two polarizations with instantaneous
bandwidths from 100 MHz to 3 GHz, and spectral resolutions from 7 to 212 kHz.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures. Accepted to Astronomy and Astrophysic
Study of the Bipolar Nebula IRAS 19312+1950. II. Circumstellar Chemistry
The bipolar nebula, IRAS 19312+1950, is a unique SiO maser source exhibiting
both properties as young and evolved objects. To clarify the nature of this
object, we made molecular line observations with the Nobeyama 45-m radio
telescope. We detected emission from O-bearing (HCO^+, SiO, SO, and SO_2), C-
and N-bearing molecules (CN, CS, HCN, HNC, NH_3, N_2H^+, HC_3N, H_2CS, and
CH_3OH), and their isotopic species (C^17O, ^13C^18O, and C^34S). Line profiles
consist of a weak broad (Dv 30 km/s) and/or a strong narrow (DV< 5 km/s)
components, depending on molecular species. Strong time variations of H_2O and
SiO masers were also observed. Numerical modeling of the envelope with the
LVG-code results in a good fit of the model with a mass loss rate of 2.6 10^-4
M_sun/yr to the observed intensities for the broad-component lines. On the
other hand, non-O-bearing molecules, which have only the narrow profiles, were
found to have abundances typical to those in cool dust clouds. No isotopic
enrichment was found, indicating little evidence of the narrow cool component
being an ejecta of the central AGB star or a possible companion. These facts
compelled us to conclude that IRAS 19312+1950 is an exotic mass-losing evolved
star embedded in a low-mass (~20 M_sun) dark cloud.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, high res. figure available at
http://www.nro.nao.ac.jp/library/report/list.html (No. 614). PASJ Dec. 25
issue in pres
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