26,150 research outputs found
The evolution of planetary nebulae VII. Modelling planetary nebulae of distant stellar systems
By means of hydrodynamical models we do the first investigations of how the
properties of planetary nebulae are affected by their metal content and what
can be learned from spatially unresolved spectrograms of planetary nebulae in
distant stellar systems. We computed a new series of 1D radiation-hydrodynamics
planetary nebulae model sequences with central stars of 0.595 M_sun surrounded
by initial envelope structures that differ only by their metal content. At
selected phases along the evolutionary path, the hydrodynamic terms were
switched off, allowing the models to relax for fixed radial structure and
radiation field into their equilibrium state with respect to energy and
ionisation. The analyses of the line spectra emitted from both the dynamical
and static models enabled us to systematically study the influence of
hydrodynamics as a function of metallicity and evolution. We also recomputed
selected sequences already used in previous publications, but now with
different metal abundances. These sequences were used to study the expansion
properties of planetary nebulae close to the bright cut-off of the planetary
nebula luminosity function. Our simulations show that the metal content
strongly influences the expansion of planetary nebulae: the lower the metal
content, the weaker the pressure of the stellar wind bubble, but the faster the
expansion of the outer shell because of the higher electron temperature. This
is in variance with the predictions of the interacting-stellar-winds model (or
its variants) according to which only the central-star wind is thought to be
responsible for driving the expansion of a planetary nebula. Metal-poor objects
around slowly evolving central stars become very dilute and are prone to depart
from thermal equilibrium because then adiabatic expansion contributes to gas
cooling. ...abridged abstract.Comment: 35 pages, 43 figures, accepted for publication by A&
Figures of merit and constraints from testing General Relativity using the latest cosmological data sets including refined COSMOS 3D weak lensing
We use cosmological constraints from current data sets and a figure of merit
(FoM) approach to probe any deviations from general relativity (GR) at
cosmological scales. The FoM approach is used to study the constraining power
of various combinations of data sets on modified gravity (MG) parameters. We
use recently refined HST-COSMOS weak-lensing tomography data, ISW-galaxy cross
correlations from 2MASS and SDSS LRG surveys, matter power spectrum from
SDSS-DR7 (MPK), WMAP7 temperature and polarization spectra, BAO from 2DF and
SDSS-DR7, and Union2 compilation of supernovae, in addition to other bounds
from H_0 measurements and BBN. We use 3 parametrizations of MG parameters that
enter the perturbed field equations. In order to allow for variations with
redshift and scale, the first 2 parametrizations use recently suggested
functional forms while the third is based on binning methods. Using the first
parametrization, we find that CMB + ISW + WL provides the strongest constraints
on MG parameters followed by CMB+WL or CMB+MPK+ISW. Using the second
parametrization or binning methods, CMB+MPK+ISW consistently provides some of
the strongest constraints. This shows that the constraints are parametrization
dependent. We find that adding up current data sets does not improve
consistently uncertainties on MG parameters due to tensions between best-fit MG
parameters preferred by different data sets. Furthermore, some functional forms
imposed by the parametrizations can lead to an exacerbation of these tensions.
Next, unlike some studies that used the CFHTLS lensing data, we do not find any
deviation from GR using the refined HST-COSMOS data, confirming previous claims
in those studies that their result may have been due to some systematic effect.
Finally, we find in all cases that the values corresponding to GR are within
the 95% confidence level contours for all data set combinations. (abridged)Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, matches version published in PR
Mechanical, Electrical, and Magnetic Properties of Ni Nanocontacts
The dynamic deformation upon stretching of Ni nanowires as those formed with
mechanically controllable break junctions or with a scanning tunneling
microscope is studied both experimentally and theoretically. Molecular dynamics
simulations of the breaking process are performed. In addition, and in order to
compare with experiments, we also compute the transport properties in the last
stages before failure using the first-principles implementation of Landauer's
formalism included in our transport package ALACANT.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
Brief Consultation to Families of Treatment Refusers with Symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Does It Impact Family Accommodation and Quality of Life?
Family members are often directly and significantly impacted by the restrictive demands of OCD, a frequently disabling disorder. Family accommodation behaviors (i.e., doing things for or because of the OCD sufferer that a person would not normally do) are associated with dysfunction, including poorer treatment responses in OCD sufferers and greater distress in family members. Although evidence suggests family-based intervention can reduce symptoms in OCD sufferers who participate in treatment, there is a lack of research documenting the impact of interventions designed for the families of OCD treatment refusers (TR). Brief Family Consultation (BFC) was developed by our clinical team to help families refocus their efforts on the things that they can realistically control and change (e.g., participation in compulsions). In this crossover study, twenty families related to an individual who exhibited OCD symptoms but had refused treatment were assigned to five phone sessions of either BFC or a psychoeducation condition. Compared to this credible, attention-placebo control group (Brief Educational Support; BES), BFC (but not BES) resulted in reductions in family accommodation behavior, yet neither BFC nor BES resulted in improved quality of life for family members of treatment refusers. BFC is one of the first interventions to be evaluated for its ability to help families when their loved ones with obsessive compulsive symptoms refuse treatment. This pilot study provides new insights for clinicians and researchers to better address the needs of these neglected families
Analysis of the Kondo effect in ferromagnetic atomic-sized contacts
Atomic contacts made of ferromagnetic metals present zero-bias anomalies in
the differential conductance due to the Kondo effect. These systems provide a
unique opportunity to perform a statistical analysis of the Kondo parameters in
nanostructures since a large number of contacts can be easily fabricated using
break-junction techniques. The details of the atomic structure differ from one
contact to another so a large number of different configurations can be
statistically analyzed. Here we present such a statistical analysis of the
Kondo effect in atomic contacts made from the ferromagnetic transition metals
Ni, Co and Fe. Our analysis shows clear differences between materials that can
be understood by fundamental theoretical considerations. This combination of
experiments and theory allow us to extract information about the origin and
nature of the Kondo effect in these systems and to explore the influence of
geometry and valence in the Kondo screening of atomic-sized nanostructures.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figure
In-Situ absolute phase detection of a microwave field via incoherent fluorescence
Measuring the amplitude and the absolute phase of a monochromatic microwave
field at a specific point of space and time has many potential applications,
including precise qubit rotations and wavelength quantum teleportation. Here we
show how such a measurement can indeed be made using resonant atomic probes,
via detection of incoherent fluorescence induced by a laser beam. This
measurement is possible due to self-interference effects between the positive
and negative frequency components of the field. In effect, the small cluster of
atoms here act as a highly localized pick-up coil, and the fluorescence channel
acts as a transmission line.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
Scaling properties in the production range of shear dominated flows
Recent developments in turbulence are focused on the effect of large scale
anisotropy on the small scale statistics of velocity increments. According to
Kolmogorov, isotropy is recovered in the large Reynolds number limit as the
scale is reduced and, in the so-called inertial range, universal features
-namely the scaling exponents of structure functions - emerge clearly. However
this picture is violated in a number of cases, typically in the high shear
region of wall bounded flows. The common opinion ascribes this effect to the
contamination of the inertial range by the larger anisotropic scales, i.e. the
residual anisotropy is assumed as a weak perturbation of an otherwise isotropic
dynamics. In this case, given the rotational invariance of the Navier-Stokes
equations, the isotropic component of the structure functions keeps the same
exponents of isotropic turbulence. This kind of reasoning fails when the
anisotropic effects are strong as in the production range of shear dominated
flows. This regime is analyzed here by means of both numerical and experimental
data for a homogeneous shear flow. A well defined scaling behavior is found to
exist, with exponents which differ substantially from those of classical
isotropic turbulence. Contrary to what predicted by the perturbation approach,
such a deep alteration concerns the isotropic sector itself. The general
validity of these results is discussed in the context of turbulence near solid
walls, where more appropriate closure models for the coarse grained
Navier-Stokes equations would be advisable.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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