In the Shadow of the Transiting Disk: Imaging epsilon Aurigae in Eclipse

Eclipses of the single-line spectroscopic binary star, epsilon Aurigae, provide an opportunity to study the poorly-defined companion. We used the MIRC beam combiner on the CHARA array to create interferometric images during eclipse ingress. Our results demonstrate that the eclipsing body is a dark disk that is opaque and tilted, and therefore exclude alternative models for the system. These data constrain the geometry and masses of the components, providing evidence that the F-star is not a massive supergiant star.Comment: As submitted to Nature. Published in Nature April 8, 2010

Orbital Elements and Stellar Parameters of the Active Binary UX Arietis

This is the final version of the article. Available from American Astronomical Society via the DOI in this record.Stellar activity observed as large surface spots, radio flares, or emission lines is often found in binary systems. UX Arietis exhibits these signs of activity, originating on the K0 subgiant primary component. Our aim is to resolve the binary, measure the orbital motion, and provide accurate stellar parameters such as masses and luminosities to aid in the interpretation of the observed phenomena. Using the CHARA six-telescope optical long-baseline array on Mount Wilson, California, we obtained amplitudes and phases of the interferometric visibility on baselines up to 330 m in length, resolving the two components of the binary. We reanalyzed archival Center for Astrophysics spectra to disentangle the binary component spectra and the spectrum of the third component, which was resolved by speckle interferometry. We also obtained new spectra with the Nordic Optical Telescope, and we present new photometric data that we use to model stellar surface spot locations. Both interferometric visibilities and spectroscopic radial velocities are modeled with a spotted primary stellar surface using the Wilson–Devinney code. We fit the orbital elements to the apparent orbit and radial velocity data to derive the distance (52.1 ± 0.8 pc) and stellar masses (MP = 1.30 0.06 M, MS = 1.14 0.06 M). The radius of the primary can be determined to be RP = 5.6 0.1 R and that of the secondary to be RS = 1.6 0.2 R. The equivalent spot coverage of the primary component was found to be 62% with an effective temperature 20% below that of the unspotted surface.We thank Robert Wilson (University of Florida) for providing a custom version of his code to compute images of spotted stellar surfaces and for his help with using it. This work is based upon observations obtained with the Georgia State University (GSU) Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) array at Mount Wilson Observatory. The CHARA array is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers AST-1211929 and AST-1411654. Institutional support has been provided by the GSU College of Arts and Sciences and the GSU Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development. The MIRC instrument at the CHARA array was funded by the University of Michigan. F.B., R.R., and J.D.M. acknowledge support from NSF-AST 1210972 and 1108963. G.T. acknowledges partial support from NSF grant AST-1509375. S.K. acknowledges support from an STFC Rutherford Fellowship (ST/J004030/1) and ERC Starting Grant (grant agreement no. 639889). This work is also based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), operated by the Nordic Optical Telescope Scientific Association at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Spain, of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at the CDS, Strasbourg, France. This research has made use of the Jean-Marie Mariotti Center SearchCal service13 codeveloped by FIZEAU and LAOG/IPAG and of the CDS astronomical databases SIMBAD and VIZIER.14 This research has made use of the Washington Double Star Catalog, maintained at the U.S. Naval Observatory. We thank Nicholas Elias II for discussions. We thank Dimitri Pourbaix for maintaining and providing access to the SB9 database of RV measurements of spectroscopic binaries

The gradient flow running coupling with twisted boundary conditions

We study the gradient flow for Yang-Mills theories with twisted boundary conditions. The perturbative behavior of the energy density $\langle E(t)\rangle$ is used to define a running coupling at a scale given by the linear size of the finite volume box. We compute the non-perturbative running of the pure gauge $SU(2)$ coupling constant and conclude that the technique is well suited for further applications due to the relatively mild cutoff effects of the step scaling function and the high numerical precision that can be achieved in lattice simulations. We also comment on the inclusion of matter fields.Comment: 27 pages. LaTe

Multiplicity of Galactic Cepheids from long-baseline interferometry. I. CHARA/MIRC detection of the companion of V1334 Cygni

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Context. More than 60% of Cepheids are in binary or multiple systems. Studying such systems could lead to a better understanding of the age and evolution of Cepheids. These are also useful tools to estimate the mass of Cepheids, and constrain theoretical models of their pulsation and evolution. Aims. We aim at determining the masses of Cepheids in binary systems, as well as their geometric distances and the flux contribution of the companions. The combination of interferometry with spectroscopy will offer a unique and independent estimate of the Cepheid masses. Methods. Using long-baseline interferometry at visible and infrared wavelengths, it is possible to spatially resolve binary systems containing a Cepheid down to milliarcsecond separations. Based on the resulting visual orbit and radial velocities, we can then derive the fundamental parameters of these systems, particularly the masses of the components and the geometric distance. We therefore performed interferometric observations of the first-overtone mode Cepheid V1334 Cyg with the CHARA/MIRC combiner. Results. We report the first detection of a Cepheid companion using long-baseline interferometry. We detect the signature of a companion orbiting V1334 Cyg at two epochs. We measure a flux ratio between the companion and the Cepheid f = 3.10 ± 0.08%, giving an apparent magnitude mH = 8.47 ± 0.15 mag. The combination of interferometric and spectroscopic data have enabled the unique determination of the orbital elements. P = 1938.6 ± 1.2 days, Tp = 2 443 616.1 ± 7.3, a = 8.54 ± 0.51 mas, i = 124.7 ± 1.8 ◦ , e = 0.190 ± 0.013, ω = 228.7 ± 1.6 ◦ , and Ω = 206.3 ± 9.4 ◦ . We derive a minimal distance d ∼ 691 pc, a minimum mass for both stars of 3.6 M , with a spectral type earlier than B5.5V for the companion star. Our measured flux ratio suggests that radial velocity detection of the companion using spectroscopy is within reach, and would provide an orbital parallax and model-free massesThe authors would like to thank the CHARA Array and Mount Wilson Observatory staff for their support. Research conducted at the CHARA Array is funded by the National Science Foundation through NSF grant AST-0908253, by Georgia State University, the W. M. Keck Foundation, the Packard Foundation, and the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. J.D.M. acknowledges funding from the NSF grants AST-0707927 and AST-0807577. W.G. and G.P. gratefully acknowledge financial support for this work from the BASAL Centro de Astrofísica y Tecnologías Afines (CATA) PFB-06/2007. Support from the Polish National Science Centre grant MAESTRO and the Polish Ministry of Science grant Ideas Plus (awarded to G. P.) is also acknowledge. This research received the support of PHASE, the high angular resolution partnership between ONERA, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, and University Denis Diderot Paris 7. A.G. acknowledges support from FONDECYT grant 3130361. LSz has been supported by the ESTEC Contract No.4000106398/12/NL/KML. This work made use of the SIMBAD and VIZIER astrophysical database from CDS, Strasbourg, France and the bibliographic informations from the NASA Astrophysics Data System. This research has made use of the Jean-Marie Mariotti Center LITpro service, co-developed by CRAL, LAOG and FIZEAU, and SearchCal service, co-developed by FIZEAU and LAOG/IPAG, and of CDS Astronomical Databases SIMBAD and VIZIER

Ipsilesional trajectory control is related to contralesional arm paralysis after left hemisphere damage

We have recently shown ipsilateral dynamic deficits in trajectory control are present in left hemisphere damaged (LHD) patients with paresis, as evidenced by impaired modulation of torque amplitude as response amplitude increases. The purpose of the current study is to determine if these ipsilateral deficits are more common with contralateral hemiparesis and greater damage to the motor system, as evidenced by structural imaging. Three groups of right-handed subjects (healthy controls, LHD stroke patients with and without upper extremity paresis) performed single-joint elbow movements of varying amplitudes with their left arm in the left hemispace. Only the paretic group demonstrated dynamic deficits characterized by decreased modulation of peak torque (reflected by peak acceleration changes) as response amplitude increased. These results could not be attributed to lesion volume or peak velocity as neither variable differed across the groups. However, the paretic group had damage to a larger number of areas within the motor system than the non-paretic group suggesting that such damage increases the probability of ipsilesional deficits in dynamic control for modulating torque amplitude after left hemisphere damage

Precision Orbit of δ Delphini and Prospects for Astrometric Detection of Exoplanets

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Astronomical Society / IOP Publishing via the DOI in this record.Combining visual and spectroscopic orbits of binary stars leads to a determination of the full 3D orbit, individual masses, and distance to the system. We present a full analysis of the evolved binary system δ Delphini using astrometric data from the MIRC and PAVO instruments on the CHARA long-baseline interferometer, 97 new spectra from the Fairborn Observatory, and 87 unpublished spectra from the Lick Observatory. We determine the full set of orbital elements for δ Del, along with masses of 1.78 ± 0.07 M ⊙ and 1.62 ± 0.07 M ⊙ for each component, and a distance of 63.61 ± 0.89 pc. These results are important in two contexts: for testing stellar evolution models and for defining the detection capabilities for future planet searches. We find that the evolutionary state of this system is puzzling, as our measured flux ratios, radii, and masses imply a ~200 Myr age difference between the components, using standard stellar evolution models. Possible explanations for this age discrepancy include mass transfer scenarios with a now-ejected tertiary companion. For individual measurements taken over a span of two years, we achieve 2 M J on orbits >0.75 au around individual components of hot binary stars via differential astrometry.This work is based upon observations obtained with the Georgia State University Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy Array at Mount Wilson Observatory. The CHARA Array is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. AST-1211929 and AST-1411654. Institutional support has been provided from the GSU College of Arts and Sciences and the GSU Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development. This research has made use of the Jean-Marie Mariotti Center SearchCal service2 . JDM and TG wish to gratefully acknowledge support by NASA XRP Grant NNX16AD43G. Astronomy at Tennessee State University is supported by the state of Tennessee through its Centers of Excellence program. SK acknowledges support from an European Research Council Starting Grant (Grant Agreement No. 639889) and STFC Rutherford Fellowship (ST/J004030/1). D.H. acknowledges support by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant NNX14AB92G issued through the Kepler Participating Scientist Program. TRW acknowledges the support of the Villum Foundation (research grant 10118)

Thermal photons in QGP and non-ideal effects

We investigate the thermal photon production-rates using one dimensional boost-invariant second order relativistic hydrodynamics to find proper time evolution of the energy density and the temperature. The effect of bulk-viscosity and non-ideal equation of state are taken into account in a manner consistent with recent lattice QCD estimates. It is shown that the \textit{non-ideal} gas equation of state i.e $\epsilon-3\,P\,\neq 0$ behaviour of the expanding plasma, which is important near the phase-transition point, can significantly slow down the hydrodynamic expansion and thereby increase the photon production-rates. Inclusion of the bulk viscosity may also have similar effect on the hydrodynamic evolution. However the effect of bulk viscosity is shown to be significantly lower than the \textit{non-ideal} gas equation of state. We also analyze the interesting phenomenon of bulk viscosity induced cavitation making the hydrodynamical description invalid. We include the viscous corrections to the distribution functions while calculating the photon spectra. It is shown that ignoring the cavitation phenomenon can lead to erroneous estimation of the photon flux.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures; accepted for publication in JHE

A geometrical 1% distance to the short-period binary Cepheid V1334 Cygni

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IOP Publishing via the DOI in this record.Cepheid stars play a considerable role as extragalactic distances indicators, thanks to the simple empirical relation between their pulsation period and their luminosity. They overlap with that of secondary distance indicators, such as Type Ia supernovae, whose distance scale is tied to Cepheid luminosities. However, the Period–Luminosity (P-L) relation still lacks a calibration to better than 5 %. Using an original combination of interferometric astrometry with optical and ultraviolet spectroscopy, we measured the geometrical distance d = 720.35±7.84 pc of the 3.33 d period Cepheid V1334 Cyg with an unprecedented accuracy of ±1 %, providing the most accurate distance for a Cepheid. Placing this star in the P–L diagram provides an independent test of existing period-luminosity relations. We show that the secondary star has a significant impact on the integrated magnitude, particularly at visible wavelengths. Binarity in future high precision calibrations of the P–L relations is not negligible, at least in the short-period regime. Subtracting the companion flux leaves V1334 Cyg in marginal agreement with existing photometric-based P–L relations, indicating either an overall calibration bias or a significant intrinsic dispersion at a few percent level. Our work also enabled us to determine the dynamical masses of both components, M1 = 4.288±0.133 M (Cepheid) and M2 = 4.040±0.048 M (companion), providing the most accurate masses for a Galactic binary Cepheid systemThis research is based on observations made with SOPHIE spectrograph on the 1.93-m telescope at Ob- A geometrical 1 % distance to a short-period binary Cepheid 11 servatoire de Haute-Provence (CNRS/AMU), France (ProgID: 13A.PNPS10, 13B.PNPS003, 14A.PNPS010, 15A.PNPS010, 16B.PNPS.KERV). This research is based on observations made with the Mercator Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma by the Flemish Community, at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofsica de Canarias. Hermes is supported by the Fund for Scientific Research of Flanders (FWO), Belgium; the Research Council of K.U.Leuven, Belgium; the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.- FNRS), Belgium; the Royal Observatory of Belgium; the Observatoire de Genve, Switzerland; and the Th¨uringer Landessternwarte, Tautenburg, Germany. This work is also based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555 (ProgID 13454). We acknowledge the support of the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-15-CE31-0012-01, project UnlockCepheids). WG and GP gratefully acknowledge financial support from the BASAL Centro de Astrofisica y Tecnologias Afines (CATA, AFB-170002). WG also acknowledges financial support from the Millenium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS) of the Iniciativa Cientifica Milenio del Ministerio de Economia, Fomento y Turismo de Chile (project IC120009). We acknowledge financial support from the Programme National de Physique Stellaire (PNPS) of CNRS/INSU, France. Support from the Polish National Science Centre grants MAESTRO UMO-2017/26/A/ST9/00446 and from the IdP II 2015 0002 64 grant of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education is also acknowledged. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 695099 and 639889). NRE acknowledge support from the Chandra X-ray Center NASA (contract NAS8-03060) and the HST grants GO-13454.001-A and GO-14194.002. This work is based upon observations obtained with the Georgia State University Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy Array at Mount Wilson Observatory. The CHARA Array is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. AST-1211929, 1411654, and 1636624. Institutional support has been provided from the GSU College of Arts and Sciences and the GSU Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development. BP acknowledges financial support from the Polish National Science Center grant SONATA 2014/15/D/ST9/02248

The H-band Emitting Region of the Luminous Blue Variable P Cygni: Spectrophotometry and Interferometry of the Wind

This is the final version of the article. Available from American Astronomical Society / IOP Publishing via the DOI in this record.We present the first high angular resolution observations in the near-infrared H band (1.6 μm) of the luminous blue variable star P Cygni. We obtained six-telescope interferometric observations with the CHARA Array and the MIRC beam combiner. These show that the spatial flux distribution is larger than expected for the stellar photosphere. A two-component model for the star (uniform disk) plus a halo (two-dimensional Gaussian) yields an excellent fit of the observations, and we suggest that the halo corresponds to flux emitted from the base of the stellar wind. This wind component contributes about 45% of the H-band flux and has an angular FWHM = 0.96 mas, compared to the predicted stellar diameter of 0.41 mas. We show several images reconstructed from the interferometric visibilities and closure phases, and they indicate a generally spherical geometry for the wind. We also obtained near-infrared spectrophotometry of P Cygni from which we derive the flux excess compared to a purely photospheric spectral energy distribution. The H-band flux excess matches that from the wind flux fraction derived from the two-component fits to the interferometry. We find evidence of significant near-infrared flux variability over the period from 2006 to 2010 that appears similar to the variations in the Hα emission flux from the wind.We acknowledge with thanks the variable star observations from the AAVSO International Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this research. Support for Ritter Astrophysical Research Center during the time of the observations was provided by the National Science Foundation Program for Research and Education with Small Telescopes (NSF-PREST) under grant AST-0440784 (N.D.M.). This work was also supported by the National Science Foundation under grants AST-0606861 and AST-1009080 (D.R.G.). N.D.R. gratefully acknowledges his current CRAQ postdoctoral fellowship. We are grateful for the insightful comments of A. F. J. Moffat that improved portions of the paper, discussions with Paco Najarro and Luc Dessart about spectroscopic modeling of P Cygni, and support of the MIRC 6 telescope beam combiner by Ettore Pedretti. Institutional support has been provided by the GSU College of Arts and Sciences and by the Research Program Enhancement fund of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, administered through the GSU Office of the Vice President for Research. Operational funding for the CHARA Array is provided by the GSU College of Arts and Sciences, by the National Science Foundation through grants AST-0606958 and AST-0908253, by the W. M. Keck Foundation, and by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. We thank the Mount Wilson Institute for providing infrastructure support at Mount Wilson Observatory. The CHARA Array, operated by Georgia State University, was built with funding provided by the National Science Foundation, Georgia State University, the W. M. Keck Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. This research was conducted in part using the Mimir instrument, jointly developed at Boston University and Lowell Observatory and supported by NASA, NSF, and the W. M. Keck Foundation. J.D.M. acknowledges University of Michigan and NSF AST-0707927 for support of MIRC construction and observations. D.P.C. acknowledges support under NSF AST-0907790 to Boston University. We gratefully acknowledge all of this support. This research has made use of the SIMBAD database operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France