Symbolic Sequences and Tsallis Entropy

We address this work to investigate symbolic sequences with long-range correlations by using computational simulation. We analyze sequences with two, three and four symbols that could be repeated $l$ times, with the probability distribution $p(l)\propto 1/ l^{\mu}$. For these sequences, we verified that the usual entropy increases more slowly when the symbols are correlated and the Tsallis entropy exhibits, for a suitable choice of $q$, a linear behavior. We also study the chain as a random walk-like process and observe a nonusual diffusive behavior depending on the values of the parameter $\mu$.Comment: Published in the Brazilian Journal of Physic

The compact group--fossil group connection: observations of a massive compact group at z=0.22

It has been suggested that fossil groups could be the cannibalized remains of compact groups, that lost energy through tidal friction. However, in the nearby universe, compact groups which are close to the merging phase and display a wealth of interacting features (such as HCG 31 and HCG 79) have very low velocity dispersions and poor neighborhoods, unlike the massive, cluster-like fossil groups studied to date. In fact, known z=0 compact groups are very seldom embedded in massive enough structures which may have resembled the intergalactic medium of fossil groups. In this paper we study the dynamical properties of CG6, a massive compact group at z=0.220 that has several properties in common with known fossil groups. We report on new g' and i' imaging and multi-slit spectroscopic performed with GMOS on Gemini South. The system has 20 members, within a radius of 1 h_70^-1 Mpc, a velocity dispersion of 700 km/s and has a mass of 1.8 x 10^14 h_70^-1 Msun, similar to that of the most massive fossil groups known. The merging of the four central galaxies in this group would form a galaxy with magnitude M_r' ~ -23.4, typical for first-ranked galaxies of fossil groups. Although nearby compact groups with similar properties to CG 6 are rare, we speculate that such systems occurred more frequently in the past and they may have been the precursors of fossil groups.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures (one color, low resolution), uses emulateapj.sty. Accepted for publication in ApJ Lette

Logarithmic Clustering in Submonolayer Epitaxial Growth

We investigate submonolayer epitaxial growth with a fixed monomer flux and irreversible aggregation of adatom islands due to their effective diffusion. When the diffusivity D_k of an island of mass k is proportional to k^{-\mu}, a Smoluchowski rate equation approach predicts steady behavior for 0<\mu<1, with the concentration c_k of islands of mass k varying as k^{-(3-\mu)/2}. For \mu>1, continuous evolution occurs in which c_k(t)~(\ln t)^{-(2k-1)\mu/2}, while the total island density increases as N(t)~(\ln t)^{\mu/2}. Monte Carlo simulations support these predictions.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Ciências de informação geográfica no apoio à decisão.

"A utilização de informação geográfica na tomada de decisão é já bastante usual. As decisões relacionadas com o posicionamento ou localização de estruturas e pessoas no espaço beneficiam com a observação da relação espacial entre os objectos. Os investimentos efectuados nos últimos anos com a aquisição de Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG) e integração de bases de dados de acesso partilhado, visam a optimização e coerência das decisões e a avaliação de riscos. [...]"

Hidden symmetries in the two-dimensional isotropic antiferromagnet

We discuss the two-dimensional isotropic antiferromagnet in the framework of gauge invariance. Gauge invariance is one of the most subtle useful concepts in theoretical physics, since it allows one to describe the time evolution of complex physical systesm in arbitrary sequences of reference frames. All theories of the fundamental interactions rely on gauge invariance. In Dirac's approach, the two-dimensional isotropic antiferromagnet is subject to second class constraints, which are independent of the Hamiltonian symmetries and can be used to eliminate certain canonical variables from the theory. We have used the symplectic embedding formalism developed by a few of us to make the system under study gauge-invariant. After carrying out the embedding and Dirac analysis, we systematically show how second class constraints can generate hidden symmetries. We obtain the invariant second-order Lagrangian and the gauge-invariant model Hamiltonian. Finally, for a particular choice of factor ordering, we derive the functional Schr\"odinger equations for the original Hamiltonian and for the first class Hamiltonian and show them to be identical, which justifies our choice of factor ordering.Comment: To appear in Volume 43 of the Brazilian Journal of Physic