Evolution and instabilities of disks harboring super massive black holes

The bar formation is still an open problem in modern astrophysics. In this paper we present numerical simulation performed with the aim of analyzing the growth of the bar instability inside stellar-gaseous disks, where the star formation is triggered, and a central black hole is present. The aim of this paper is to point out the impact of such a central massive black hole on the growth of the bar. We use N-body-SPH simulations of the same isolated disk-to-halo mass systems harboring black holes with different initial masses and different energy feedback on the surrounding gas. We compare the results of these simulations with the one of the same disk without black hole in its center. We make the same comparison (disk with and without black hole) for a stellar disk in a fully cosmological scenario. A stellar bar, lasting 10 Gyrs, is present in all our simulations. The central black hole mass has in general a mild effect on the ellipticity of the bar but it is never able to destroy it. The black holes grow in different way according their initial mass and their feedback efficiency, the final values of the velocity dispersions and of the black hole masses are near to the phenomenological constraints.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for pubblication in "Astrophysics and Space Science

Synthesis of titanate nanofibers co-sensitized with ZnS and Bi2S3 nanocrystallites and their application on pollutants removal

The synthesis of nanocomposite materials combining titanate nanofibers (TNF) with nanocrystalline ZnS and Bi2S3 semiconductors is described in this work. The TNF were produced via hydrothermal synthesis and sensitized with the semiconductor nanoparticles, through a single-source precursor decomposition method. ZnS and Bi2S3 nanoparticles were successfully grown onto the TNF's surface and Bi2S3-ZnS/TNF nanocomposite materials with different layouts were obtained using either a layer-by-layer or a co-sensitization approach. The samples' photocatalytic performance was first evaluated through the production of the hydroxyl radical using terephthalic acid as probe molecule. All the tested samples show photocatalytic ability for the production of this oxidizing species. Afterwards, the samples were investigated for the removal of methylene blue. The nanocomposite materials with best adsorption ability for the organic dye were the ZnS/TNF and Bi2S3ZnS/TNF. The removal of the methylene blue was systematically studied, and the most promising results were obtained considering a sequential combination of an adsorption-photocatalytic degradation process using the Bi2S3ZnS/TNF powder as a highly adsorbent and photocatalyst material.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figure

Algebraic Quantization, Good Operators and Fractional Quantum Numbers

The problems arising when quantizing systems with periodic boundary conditions are analysed, in an algebraic (group-) quantization scheme, and the ``failure" of the Ehrenfest theorem is clarified in terms of the already defined notion of {\it good} (and {\it bad}) operators. The analysis of ``constrained" Heisenberg-Weyl groups according to this quantization scheme reveals the possibility for new quantum (fractional) numbers extending those allowed for Chern classes in traditional Geometric Quantization. This study is illustrated with the examples of the free particle on the circumference and the charged particle in a homogeneous magnetic field on the torus, both examples featuring ``anomalous" operators, non-equivalent quantization and the latter, fractional quantum numbers. These provide the rationale behind flux quantization in superconducting rings and Fractional Quantum Hall Effect, respectively.Comment: 29 pages, latex, 1 figure included with EPSF. Revised version with minor changes intended to clarify notation. Acepted for publication in Comm. Math. Phy

Andrographolide Inhibits PI3K/AKT-Dependent NOX2 and iNOS Expression Protecting Mice against Hypoxia/Ischemia-Induced Oxidative Brain Injury

This study aimed to explore the mechanisms by which andrographolide protects against hypoxia-induced oxidative/nitrosative brain injury provoked by cerebral ischemic/reperfusion (CI/R) injury in mice. Hypoxia in vitro was modeled using oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) followed by reoxygenation of BV-2 microglial cells. Our results showed that treatment of mice that have undergone CI/R injury with andrographolide (10-100 mu g/kg, i.v.) at 1 h after hypoxia ameliorated CI/R-induced oxidative/nitrosative stress, brain infarction, and neurological deficits in the mice, and enhanced their survival rate. CI/R induced a remarkable production in the mouse brains of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a significant increase in protein nitrosylation; this primarily resulted from enhanced expression of NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and the infiltration of CD11b cells due to activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1 alpha). All these changes were significantly diminished by andrographolide. In BV-2 cells, OGD induced ROS and nitric oxide production by upregulating NOX2 and iNOS via the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT-dependent NF-kappa B and HIF-1 alpha pathways, and these changes were suppressed by andrographolide and LY294002. Our results indicate that andrographolide reduces NOX2 and iNOS expression possibly by impairing PI3K/AKT-dependent NF-kappa B and HIF-1 alpha activation. This compromises microglial activation, which then, in turn, mediates andrographolide's protective effect in the CI/R mice

Vertical transport and electroluminescence in InAs/GaSb/InAs structures: GaSb thickness and hydrostatic pressure studies

We have measured the current-voltage (I-V) of type II InAs/GaSb/InAs double heterojunctions (DHETs) with 'GaAs like' interface bonding and GaSb thickness between 0-1200 \AA. A negative differential resistance (NDR) is observed for all DHETs with GaSb thickness $>$ 60 \AA below which a dramatic change in the shape of the I-V and a marked hysteresis is observed. The temperature dependence of the I-V is found to be very strong below this critical GaSb thickness. The I-V characteristics of selected DHETs are also presented under hydrostatic pressures up to 11 kbar. Finally, a mid infra-red electroluminescence is observed at 1 bar with a threshold at the NDR valley bias. The band profile calculations presented in the analysis are markedly different to those given in the literature, and arise due to the positive charge that it is argued will build up in the GaSb layer under bias. We conclude that the dominant conduction mechanism in DHETs is most likely to arise out of an inelastic electron-heavy-hole interaction similar to that observed in single heterojunctions (SHETs) with 'GaAs like' interface bonding, and not out of resonant electron-light-hole tunnelling as proposed by Yu et al. A Zener tunnelling mechanism is shown to contribute to the background current beyond NDR.Comment: 8 pages 12 fig

Black Hole Lasers Revisited

Contribution to "Quantum Analogues: From Phase Transitions to Black Holes and Cosmology" edited by William G. Unruh and Ralf Schutzhold. (Lecture Notes in Physics Vol. 718)The production of Hawking radiation by a single horizon is not dependent on the high-frequency dispersion relation of the radiated field. When there are two horizons, however, Corley and Jacobson have shown that superluminal dispersion leads to an amplification of the particle production in the case of bosons. The analytic theory of this "black hole laser" process is quite complicated, so we provide some numerical results in the hope of aiding understanding of this interesting phenomenon. Specifically, we consider sonic horizons in a moving fluid. The theory of elementary excitations in a Bose-Einstein condensate provides an example of "superluminal" (Bogoliubov) dispersion, so we add Bogoliubov dispersion to Unruh's equation for sound in the fluid. A white-hole/black-hole horizon pair will then display black hole lasing. Numerical analysis of the evolution of a wave packet gives a clear picture of the amplification process. By utilizing the similarity of a radiating horizon to a parametric amplifier in quantum optics we also analyze the black hole laser as a quantum-optical network

On possible interpretations of the high energy electron-positron spectrum measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope

The Fermi-LAT experiment recently reported high precision measurements of the spectrum of cosmic-ray electrons-plus-positrons (CRE) between 20 GeV and 1 TeV. The spectrum shows no prominent spectral features, and is significantly harder than that inferred from several previous experiments. Here we discuss several interpretations of the Fermi results based either on a single large scale Galactic CRE component or by invoking additional electron-positron primary sources, e.g. nearby pulsars or particle Dark Matter annihilation. We show that while the reported Fermi-LAT data alone can be interpreted in terms of a single component scenario, when combined with other complementary experimental results, specifically the CRE spectrum measured by H.E.S.S. and especially the positron fraction reported by PAMELA between 1 and 100 GeV, that class of models fails to provide a consistent interpretation. Rather, we find that several combinations of parameters, involving both the pulsar and dark matter scenarios, allow a consistent description of those results. We also briefly discuss the possibility of discriminating between the pulsar and dark matter interpretations by looking for a possible anisotropy in the CRE flux.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures. Final version accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

PPPC 4 DM ID: A Poor Particle Physicist Cookbook for Dark Matter Indirect Detection

We provide ingredients and recipes for computing signals of TeV-scale Dark Matter annihilations and decays in the Galaxy and beyond. For each DM channel, we present the energy spectra of electrons and positrons, antiprotons, antideuterons, gamma rays, neutrinos and antineutrinos e, mu, tau at production, computed by high-statistics simulations. We estimate the Monte Carlo uncertainty by comparing the results yielded by the Pythia and Herwig event generators. We then provide the propagation functions for charged particles in the Galaxy, for several DM distribution profiles and sets of propagation parameters. Propagation of electrons and positrons is performed with an improved semi-analytic method that takes into account position-dependent energy losses in the Milky Way. Using such propagation functions, we compute the energy spectra of electrons and positrons, antiprotons and antideuterons at the location of the Earth. We then present the gamma ray fluxes, both from prompt emission and from Inverse Compton scattering in the galactic halo. Finally, we provide the spectra of extragalactic gamma rays. All results are available in numerical form and ready to be consumed.Comment: 57 pages with many figures and tables. v4: updated to include a 125 higgs boson, computation and discussion of extragalactic spectra corrected, some other typos fixed; all these corrections and updates are reflected on the numerical ingredients available at http://www.marcocirelli.net/PPPC4DMID.html they correspond to Release 2.

Milagrito: a TeV air-shower array

Milagrito, a large, covered water-Cherenkov detector, was the world's first air-shower-particle detector sensitive to cosmic gamma rays below 1 TeV. It served as a prototype for the Milagro detector and operated from February 1997 to May 1998. This paper gives a description of Milagrito, a summary of the operating experience, and early results that demonstrate the capabilities of this technique.Comment: 38 pages including 24 figure