Physics of SNeIa and Cosmology

We give an overview of the current understanding of Type Ia supernovae relevant for their use as cosmological distance indicators. We present the physical basis to understand their homogeneity of the observed light curves and spectra and the observed correlations. This provides a robust method to determine the Hubble constant, 67 +- 8 (2 sigma) km/Mpc/sec, independently from primary distance indicators. We discuss the uncertainties and tests which include SNe Ia based distance determinations prior to delta-Ceph. measurements for the host galaxies. Based on detailed models, we study the small variations from homogeneities and their observable consequences. In combination with future data, this underlines the suitability and promises the refinements needed to determine accurate relative distances within 2 to 3 % and to use SNe Ia for high precision cosmology.Comment: to be published in "Stellar Candles", eds. Gieren et al. Lecture Notes in Physics (http://link.springer.de/series/lnpp

Vegetative morphology and interfire survival strategies in the Cape Fynbos grasses

It is shown that there is a wide range of structural variation in the habit of the Arundineae and Ehrharteae of the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Region (Cape Province, South Africa). Structural differences in the bases of the fynbos grasses have been classified into four groups: swollen, knotty tillering, weak and annual. Variation in the position of the innovation buds occurs with one group having basal perennating buds, implying that all the culm material is annual, while the second group has cauline innovation buds, leading to the development of a divaricate perennial herb. The recognition of caducous, mesic (orthophyllous) and sclerophyllous leaf blades is also possible, based on leaf morphology and anatomy. These variations in growth forms allow the classification of the Cape grasses into five guilds adapted for survival in the dense fynbos vegetation that develops between the well-spaced fires in these heathlands. The following guilds have been recognized: competition avoiders that grow on rock ledges and outcrops where competition from shrubby vegetation is reduced; reseeders, that survive the protracted interfire period as seed; geophytes, that survive this period as underground organs; coppicers, that survive as small plants; and competitors, that grow tall by means of cauline innovation buds, and so are able to compete with the shrubby heath vegetation

Dark energy records in lensed cosmic microwave background

We consider the weak lensing effect induced by linear cosmological perturbations on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization anisotropies. We find that the amplitude of the lensing peak in the BB mode power spectrum is a faithful tracer of the dark energy dynamics at the onset of cosmic acceleration. This is due to two reasons. First, the lensing power is non-zero only at intermediate redshifts between the observer and the source, keeping record of the linear perturbation growth rate at the corresponding epoch. Second, the BB lensing signal is expected to dominate over the other sources. The lensing distortion on the TT and EE spectra do exhibit a similar dependence on the dark energy dynamics, although those are dominated by primary anisotropies. We investigate and quantify the effect by means of exact tracking quintessence models, as well as parameterizing the dark energy equation of state in terms of the present value ($w_{0}$) and its asymptotic value in the past ($w_{\infty}$); in the interval allowed by the present constraints on dark energy, the variation of $w_{\infty}$ induces a significant change in the BB mode lensing amplitude. A Fisher matrix analysis, under conservative assumptions concerning the increase of the sample variance due to the lensing non-Gaussian statistics, shows that a precision of order 10% on both $w_{0}$ and $w_{\infty}$ is achievable by the future experiments probing a large sky area with angular resolution and sensitivity appropriate to detect the lensing effect on the CMB angular power spectrum. These results show that the CMB can probe the differential redshift behavior of the dark energy equation of state, beyond its average.Comment: New version including substantial text change, three more figures and two more table

Quantum transport in noncentrosymmetric superconductors and thermodynamics of ferromagnetic superconductors

We consider a general Hamiltonian describing coexistence of itinerant ferromagnetism, spin-orbit coupling and mixed spin-singlet/triplet superconducting pairing in the context of mean-field theory. The Hamiltonian is diagonalized and exact eigenvalues are obtained, thus allowing us to write down the coupled gap equations for the different order parameters. Our results may then be applied to any model describing coexistence of any combination of these three phenomena. As a specific application of our results, we consider tunneling between a normal metal and a noncentrosymmetric superconductor with mixed singlet and triplet gaps. The conductance spectrum reveals information about these gaps in addition to how the influence of spin-orbit coupling is manifested. We also consider the coexistence of itinerant ferromagnetism and triplet superconductivity as a model for recently discovered ferromagnetic superconductors. The coupled gap equations are solved self-consistently, and we study the conditions necessary to obtain the coexistent regime of ferromagnetism and superconductivity. Analytical expressions are presented for the order parameters, and we provide an analysis of the free energy to identify the preferred system state. Moreover, we make specific predictions concerning the heat capacity for a ferromagnetic superconductor. In particular, we report a nonuniversal relative jump in the specific heat, depending on the magnetization of the system, at the uppermost superconducting phase transition. [Shortened abstract due to arXiv submission.]Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures (high quality figures available in published version). Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Estimating the age of fire in the Cape flora of South Africa from an orchid phylogeny

Fire may have been a crucial component in the evolution of the Cape flora of South Africa, a region characterized by outstanding levels of species richness and endemism. However, there is, to date, no critical assessment of the age of the modern fire regime in this biome. Here, we exploit the presence of two obligate post-fire flowering clades in the orchid genus Disa, in conjunction with a robust, well-sampled and dated molecular phylogeny, to estimate the age by which fire must have been present. Our results indicate that summer drought (winter rainfall), the fire regime and the fynbos vegetation are several million years older than currently suggested. Summer drought and the fynbos vegetation are estimated to date back to at least the Early Miocene (ca 19.5 Ma). The current fire regime may have been established during a period of global cooling that followed the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (ca 15 Ma), which led to the expansion of open habitats and increased aridification. The first appearance of Disa species in the grassland biome, as well as in the subalpine habitat, is in striking agreement with reliable geological and palaeontological evidence of the age of these ecosystems, thus corroborating the efficacy of our methods. These results change our understanding of the historical mechanisms underlying botanical evolution in southern Africa, and confirm the potential of using molecular phylogenies to date events for which other information is lacking or inconclusive

Galaxy Peculiar Velocities From Large-Scale Supernova Surveys as a Dark Energy Probe

Upcoming imaging surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will repeatedly scan large areas of sky and have the potential to yield million-supernova catalogs. Type Ia supernovae are excellent standard candles and will provide distance measures that suffice to detect mean pairwise velocities of their host galaxies. We show that when combining these distance measures with photometric redshifts for either the supernovae or their host galaxies, the mean pairwise velocities of the host galaxies will provide a dark energy probe which is competitive with other widely discussed methods. Adding information from this test to type Ia supernova photometric luminosity distances from the same experiment, plus the cosmic microwave background power spectrum from the Planck satellite, improves the Dark Energy Task Force Figure of Merit by a factor of 1.8. Pairwise velocity measurements require no additional observational effort beyond that required to perform the traditional supernova luminosity distance test, but may provide complementary constraints on dark energy parameters and the nature of gravity. Incorporating additional spectroscopic redshift follow-up observations could provide important dark energy constraints from pairwise velocities alone. Mean pairwise velocities are much less sensitive to systematic redshift errors than the luminosity distance test or weak lensing techniques, and also are only mildly affected by systematic evolution of supernova luminosity.Comment: 18 pages; 4 figures; 4 tables; replaced to match the accepted versio

Reticulation, Data Combination, and Inferring Evolutionary History: An Example from Danthonioideae (Poaceae)

We explore the potential impact of conflicting gene trees on inferences of evolutionary history above the species level. When conflict between gene trees is discovered, it is common practice either to analyze the data separately or to combine the data having excluded the conflicting taxa or data partitions for those taxa (which are then recoded as missing). We demonstrate an alternative approach, which involves duplicating conflicting taxa in the matrix, such that each duplicate is represented by one partition only. This allows the combination of all available data in standard phylogenetic analyses, despite reticulations. We show how interpretation of contradictory gene trees can lead to conflicting inferences of both morphological evolution and biogeographic history, using the example of the pampas grasses, Cortaderia. The characteristic morphological syndrome of Cortaderia can be inferred as having arisen multiple times (chloroplast DNA [cpDNA]) or just once (nuclear ribosomal DNA [nrDNA]). The distributions of species of Cortaderia and related genera in Australia/New Guinea, New Zealand, and South America can be explained by few (nrDNA) or several (cpDNA) dispersals between the southern continents. These contradictions can be explained by past hybridization events, which have linked gains of complex morphologies with unrelated chloroplast lineages and have erased evidence of dispersals from the nuclear genome. Given the discrepancies between inferences based on the gene trees individually, we urge the use of approaches such as ours that take multiple gene trees into accoun

Crystal structure of the human ATP-dependent splicing and export factor UAP56

Pre-mRNA splicing requires the function of a number of RNA-dependent ATPases/helicases, yet no three-dimensional structure of any spliceosomal ATPases/helicases is known. The highly conserved DECD-box protein UAP56/Sub2 is an essential splicing factor that is also important for mRNA export. The expected ATPase/helicase activity appears to be essential for the UAP56/Sub2 functions. Here, we show that purified human UAP56 is an active RNA-dependent ATPase, and we also report the crystal structures of UAP56 alone and in complex with ADP, as well as a DECD to DEAD mutant. The structures reveal a unique spatial arrangement of the two conserved helicase domains, and ADP-binding induces significant conformational changes of key residues in the ATP-binding pocket. Our structural analyses suggest a specific protein-RNA displacement model of UAP56/Sub2. The detailed structural information provides important mechanistic insights into the splicing function of UAP56/Sub2. The structures also will be useful for the analysis of other spliceosomal DExD-box ATPases/helicases

Tunneling currents in ferromagnetic systems with multiple broken symmetries

SHORTENED ABSTRACT: A system exhibiting multiple simultaneously broken symmetries offers the opportunity to influence physical phenomena such as tunneling currents by means of external control parameters. In this paper, we consider the broken SU(2) (internal spin) symmetry of ferromagnetic systems coexisting with \textit{i)} the broken U(1) symmetry of superconductors and \textit{ii)} the broken spatial inversion symmetry induced by a Rashba term in a spin-orbit coupling Hamiltonian. In order to study the effect of these broken symmetries, we consider tunneling currents that arise in two different systems; tunneling junctions consisting of non-unitary spin-triplet ferromagnetic superconductors and junctions consisting of ferromagnets with spin-orbit coupling.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Cosmological Models and Latest Observational Data

In this note, we consider the observational constraints on some cosmological models by using the 307 Union type Ia supernovae (SNIa), the 32 calibrated Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) at $z>1.4$, the updated shift parameter $R$ from WMAP 5-year data (WMAP5), and the distance parameter $A$ of the measurement of the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) peak in the distribution of SDSS luminous red galaxies with the updated scalar spectral index $n_s$ from WMAP5. The tighter constraints obtained here update the ones obtained previously in the literature.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, revtex4; v2: discussions added, accepted by Eur. Phys. J. C; v3: published versio