373 research outputs found
A purely geometric distance to the binary star Atlas, a member of the Pleiades
We present radial velocity and new interferometric measurements of the double
star Atlas, which permit, with the addition of published interferometric data,
to precisely derive the orbital parameters of the binary system and the masses
of the components. The derived semi-major axis, compared with its measured
angular size, allows to determine a distance to Atlas of 132+-4 pc in a purely
geometrical way. Under the assumption that the location of Atlas is
representative of the average distance of the cluster, we confirm the distance
value generally obtained through main sequence fitting, in contradiction with
the early Hipparcos result (118.3+-3.5 pc).Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Letter
Contribution to the search for binaries among Am stars — V. Orbital elements of eight short-period spectroscopic binaries
We present the results of a radial-velocity study of eight Am stars (HD 341, 55822, 61250, 67317, 93991, 162950, 224890 and 225137) observed at Observatoire de Haute-Provence with the CORAVEL instrument. We find that these systems are single-line spectroscopic binaries whose orbital elements are determined for the first tim
Maultsby’s rational behavior therapy: background, description, practical applications, and recent developments
In this article we present Maultsby’s Rational Behavior Therapy (RBT) as a unique
and distinct, but underutilized form of cognitive-behavior therapy, including its origins,
theory (with psychosomatic learning theory), basic concepts, and practical
applications, as well as never before published recent developments. As readers will
see, many of Maultsby’s concepts, while pioneering and beckoning the third wave,
still remain fresh, validated by current cognitive neuroscience, and are very relevant
to modern psychotherapeutic practice. We describe RBT’s valuable concepts
and effective techniques in such a way that readers may readily start using them to
complement and enhance any other form of cognitive behavior therapy. An article
comparing RBT with REBT and CBT will follow
Non-linear optical susceptibilities, Raman efficiencies and electrooptic tensors from first-principles density functional perturbation theory
The non-linear response of infinite periodic solids to homogenous electric
fields and collective atomic displacements is discussed in the framework of
density functional perturbation theory. The approach is based on the 2n + 1
theorem applied to an electric-field-dependent energy functional. We report the
expressions for the calculation of the non-linear optical susceptibilities,
Raman scattering efficiencies and electrooptic coefficients. Different
formulations of third-order energy derivatives are examined and their
convergence with respect to the k-point sampling is discussed. We apply our
method to a few simple cases and compare our results to those obtained with
distinct techniques. Finally, we discuss the effect of a scissors correction on
the EO coefficients and non-linear optical susceptibilities
Anharmonic Decay of Vibrational States in Amorphous Silicon
Anharmonic decay rates are calculated for a realistic atomic model of
amorphous silicon. The results show that the vibrational states decay on
picosecond timescales and follow the two-mode density of states, similar to
crystalline silicon, but somewhat faster. Surprisingly little change occurs for
localized states. These results disagree with a recent experiment.Comment: 10 pages, 4 Postscript figure
Phonons and related properties of extended systems from density-functional perturbation theory
This article reviews the current status of lattice-dynamical calculations in
crystals, using density-functional perturbation theory, with emphasis on the
plane-wave pseudo-potential method. Several specialized topics are treated,
including the implementation for metals, the calculation of the response to
macroscopic electric fields and their relevance to long wave-length vibrations
in polar materials, the response to strain deformations, and higher-order
responses. The success of this methodology is demonstrated with a number of
applications existing in the literature.Comment: 52 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Review of Modern Physic
Ab initio Hartree-Fock Born effective charges of LiH, LiF, LiCl, NaF, and NaCl
We use the Berry-phase-based theory of macroscopic polarization of dielectric
crystals formulated in terms of Wannier functions, and state-of-the-art
Gaussian basis functions, to obtain benchmark ab initio Hartree-Fock values of
the Born effective charges of ionic compounds LiH, LiF, LiCl, NaF, and NaCl. We
find excellent agreement with the experimental values for all the compounds
except LiCl and NaCl, for which the disagreement with the experiments is close
to 10% and 16%, respectively. This may imply the importance of many-body
effects in those systems.Comment: 11 pages, Revtex, 2 figures (included), to appear in Phys. Rev. B
April 15, 200
Late stages of the evolution of A-type stars on the main sequence: comparison between observed chemical abundances and diffusion models for 8 Am stars of the Praesepe cluster
Aims. We aim to provide observational constraints on diffusion models that
predict peculiar chemical abundances in the atmospheres of Am stars. We also
intend to check if chemical peculiarities and slow rotation can be explained by
the presence of a weak magnetic field.
Methods. We have obtained high resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio spectra
of eight previously-classified Am stars, two normal A-type stars and one Blue
Straggler, considered to be members of the Praesepe cluster. For all of these
stars we have determined fundamental parameters and photospheric abundances for
a large number of chemical elements, with a higher precision than was ever
obtained before for this cluster. For seven of these stars we also obtained
spectra in circular polarization and applied the LSD technique to constrain the
longitudinal magnetic field.
Results. No magnetic field was detected in any of the analysed stars. HD
73666, a Blue Straggler previously considered as an Ap (Si) star, turns out to
have the abundances of a normal A-type star. Am classification is not confirmed
for HD 72942. For HD 73709 we have also calculated synthetic Delta-a photometry
that is in good agreement with the observations. There is a generally good
agreement between abundance predictions of diffusion models and values that we
have obtained for the remaining Am stars. However, the observed Na and S
abundances deviate from the predictions by 0.6 dex and >0.25 dex respectively.
Li appears to be overabundant in three stars of our sample.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&
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