735 research outputs found

    High Mass Triple Systems: The Classical Cepheid Y Car

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    We have obtained an HST STIS ultraviolet high dispersion Echelle mode spectrum the binary companion of the double mode classical Cepheid Y Car. The velocity measured for the hot companion from this spectrum is very different from reasonable predictions for binary motion, implying that the companion is itself a short period binary. The measured velocity changed by 7 km/ s during the 4 days between two segments of the observation confirming this interpretation. We summarize "binary" Cepheids which are in fact members of triple system and find at least 44% are triples. The summary of information on Cepheids with orbits makes it likely that the fraction is under-estimated.Comment: accepted by A

    Saliency Benchmarking Made Easy: Separating Models, Maps and Metrics

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    Dozens of new models on fixation prediction are published every year and compared on open benchmarks such as MIT300 and LSUN. However, progress in the field can be difficult to judge because models are compared using a variety of inconsistent metrics. Here we show that no single saliency map can perform well under all metrics. Instead, we propose a principled approach to solve the benchmarking problem by separating the notions of saliency models, maps and metrics. Inspired by Bayesian decision theory, we define a saliency model to be a probabilistic model of fixation density prediction and a saliency map to be a metric-specific prediction derived from the model density which maximizes the expected performance on that metric given the model density. We derive these optimal saliency maps for the most commonly used saliency metrics (AUC, sAUC, NSS, CC, SIM, KL-Div) and show that they can be computed analytically or approximated with high precision. We show that this leads to consistent rankings in all metrics and avoids the penalties of using one saliency map for all metrics. Our method allows researchers to have their model compete on many different metrics with state-of-the-art in those metrics: "good" models will perform well in all metrics.Comment: published at ECCV 201

    Classical Cepheid Pulsation Models. III. The Predictable Scenario

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    Within the current uncertainties in the treatment of the coupling between pulsation and convection, limiting amplitude, nonlinear, convective models appear the only viable approach for providing theoretical predictions about the intrinsic properties of radial pulsators. In this paper we present the results of a comprehensive set of Cepheid models computed within such theoretical framework for selected assumptions on their original chemical composition.Comment: 24 pages, 1 latex file containing 6 tables, 10 postscript figures, accepted for publication on Ap

    Line profile variations in classical Cepheids. Evidence for non-radial pulsations?

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    We have investigated line profiles in a large sample of Cepheid spectra, and found four stars that show unusual (for Cepheids) line profile structure (bumps or/and asymmetries). The profiles can be phase dependent but the behavior persists over many cycles. The asymmetries are unlikely to be due to the spectroscopic binarity of these stars or the specific velocity field in their atmospheres caused by shock waves. As a preliminary hypothesis, we suggest that the observed features on the line profiles in the spectra of X Sgr, V1334 Cyg, EV Sct and BG Cru can be caused by the non-radial oscillations. It is possible that these non-radial oscillations are connected to resonances between the radial modes (3.2, 7.5 or 10.0 days).Comment: Accepted by A&

    Calibrating the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation from the infrared surface brightness technique I. The p-factor, the Milky Way relations, and a universal K-band relation

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    We determine Period-Luminosity relations for Milky Way Cepheids in the optical and near-IR bands. These relations can be used directly as reference for extra-galactic distance determination to Cepheid populations with solar metallicity, and they form the basis for a direct comparison with relations obtained in exactly the same manner for stars in the Magellanic Clouds, presented in an accompanying paper. In that paper we show that the metallicity effect is very small and consistent with a null effect, particularly in the near-IR bands, and we combine here all 111 Cepheids from the Milky Way, the LMC and SMC to form a best relation. We employ the near-IR surface brightness (IRSB) method to determine direct distances to the individual Cepheids after we have recalibrated the projection factor using the recent parallax measurements to ten Galactic Cepheids and the constraint that Cepheid distances to the LMC should be independent of pulsation period. We confirm our earlier finding that the projection factor for converting radial velocity to pulsational velocity depends quite steeply on pulsation period, p=1.550-0.186*log(P) in disagrement with recent theoretical predictions. We delineate the Cepheid PL relation using 111 Cepheids with direct distances from the IRSB analysis. The relations are by construction in agreement with the recent HST parallax distances to Cepheids and slopes are in excellent agreement with the slopes of apparent magnitudes versus period observed in the LMC.Comment: Accepted for publication by Astronomy and Astrophysics. 15 pages, 11 figure

    Heavy Quarkonium Physics

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    This report is the result of the collaboration and research effort of the Quarkonium Working Group over the last three years. It provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in heavy-quarkonium theory and experiment, covering quarkonium spectroscopy, decay, and production, the determination of QCD parameters from quarkonium observables, quarkonia in media, and the effects on quarkonia of physics beyond the Standard Model. An introduction to common theoretical and experimental tools is included. Future opportunities for research in quarkonium physics are also discussed.Comment: xviii + 487 pages, 260 figures. The full text is also available at the Quarkonium Working Group web page: http://www.qwg.to.infn.i

    Study of Spin and Decay-Plane Correlations of W Bosons in the e+e- -> W+W- Process at LEP

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    Data collected at LEP at centre-of-mass energies \sqrt(s) = 189 - 209 GeV are used to study correlations of the spin of W bosons using e+e- -> W+W- -> lnqq~ events. Spin correlations are favoured by data, and found to agree with the Standard Model predictions. In addition, correlations between the W-boson decay planes are studied in e+e- -> W+W- -> lnqq~ and e+e- -> W+W- -> qq~qq~ events. Decay-plane correlations, consistent with zero and with the Standard Model predictions, are measured
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