5,038 research outputs found
O stars effective temperature and HII regions ionization parameter gradients in the Galaxy
Extensive photoionization model grids are computed for single star HII
regions using stellar atmosphere models from the WM-basic code. Mid-IR emission
line intensities are predicted and diagnostic diagrams of [NeIII]/[NeII] and
[SIV]/[SIII] excitation ratio are build, taking into account the metallicities
of both the star and the HII region. The diagrams are used in conjunction with
galactic HII region observations obtained with the ISO Observatory to determine
the effective temperature Teff of the exciting O stars and the mean ionization
parameter U. Teff and U are found to increase and decrease, respectively, with
the metallicity of the HII region represented by the [Ne/Ne_sol] ratio. No
evidence is found for gradients of Teff or U with galactocentric distance Rgal.
The observed excitation sequence with Rgal is mainly due to the effect of the
metallicity gradient on the spectral ionizing shape, upon which the effect of
an increase in Teff with Z is superimposed. We show that not taking properly
into account the effect of metallicity on the ionizing shape of the stellar
atmosphere would lead to an apparent decrease of Teff with Z and an increase of
Teff with Rgal.Comment: Accepted in Ap
Empirical logic of finite automata: microstatements versus macrostatements
We compare the two approaches to the empirical logic of automata. The first,
called partition logic (logic of microstatements), refers to experiments on
individual automata. The second one, the logic of simulation (logic of
macrostatements), deals with ensembles of automata.Comment: late
Evolution-guided functional analyses reveal diverse antiviral specificities encoded by IFIT1 genes in mammals.
IFIT (interferon-induced with tetratricopeptide repeats) proteins are critical mediators of mammalian innate antiviral immunity. Mouse IFIT1 selectively inhibits viruses that lack 2'O-methylation of their mRNA 5' caps. Surprisingly, human IFIT1 does not share this antiviral specificity. Here, we resolve this discrepancy by demonstrating that human and mouse IFIT1 have evolved distinct functions using a combination of evolutionary, genetic and virological analyses. First, we show that human IFIT1 and mouse IFIT1 (renamed IFIT1B) are not orthologs, but are paralogs that diverged >100 mya. Second, using a yeast genetic assay, we show that IFIT1 and IFIT1B proteins differ in their ability to be suppressed by a cap 2'O-methyltransferase. Finally, we demonstrate that IFIT1 and IFIT1B have divergent antiviral specificities, including the discovery that only IFIT1 proteins inhibit a virus encoding a cap 2'O-methyltransferase. These functional data, combined with widespread turnover of mammalian IFIT genes, reveal dramatic species-specific differences in IFIT-mediated antiviral repertoires
Revealing the Exciton Fine Structure in PbSe Nanocrystal Quantum Dots
We measure the photoluminescence (PL) lifetime, , of excitons in
colloidal PbSe nanocrystals (NCs) at low temperatures to 270~mK and in high
magnetic fields to 15~T. For all NCs (1.3-2.3~nm radii), increases
sharply below 10~K but saturates by 500~mK. In contrast to the usual picture of
well-separated ``bright" and ``dark" exciton states (found, e.g., in CdSe NCs),
these dynamics fit remarkably well to a system having two exciton states with
comparable - but small - oscillator strengths that are separated by only
300-900 eV. Importantly, magnetic fields reduce below 10~K,
consistent with field-induced mixing between the two states. Magnetic circular
dichroism studies reveal exciton g-factors from 2-5, and magneto-PL shows
10\% circularly polarized emission.Comment: To appear in Physical Review Letter
General error estimate for adiabatic quantum computing
Most investigations devoted to the conditions for adiabatic quantum computing
are based on the first-order correction . However, it is
demonstrated that this first-order correction does not yield a good estimate
for the computational error. Therefore, a more general criterion is proposed,
which includes higher-order corrections as well and shows that the
computational error can be made exponentially small -- which facilitates
significantly shorter evolution times than the above first-order estimate in
certain situations. Based on this criterion and rather general arguments and
assumptions, it can be demonstrated that a run-time of order of the inverse
minimum energy gap is sufficient and necessary, i.e.,
T=\ord(\Delta E_{\rm min}^{-1}). For some examples, these analytical
investigations are confirmed by numerical simulations. PACS: 03.67.Lx,
03.67.-a.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, several modification
Direct measurement of the size of 2003 UB313 from the Hubble Space Telescope
We have used the Hubble Space Telescope to directly measure the angular size
of the large Kuiper belt object 2003 UB313. By carefully calibrating the point
spread function of a nearby field star, we measure the size of 2003 UB313 to be
34.31.4 milliarcseconds, corresponding to a diameter of 2400100 km or
a size % larger than Pluto. The V band geometric albedo of 2003 UB313 is
%. The extremely high albedo is consistent with the frosty methane
spectrum, the lack of red coloring, and the lack of observed photometric
variation on the surface of 2003 UB313. Methane photolysis should quickly
darken the surface of 2003 UB313, but continuous evaporation and redeposition
of surface ices appears capable of maintaining the extreme alebdo of this body
Dynamical Friction on Star Clusters near the Galactic Center
Numerical simulations of the dynamical friction suffered by a star cluster
near the Galactic center have been performed with a parallelized tree code.
Gerhard (2001) has suggested that dynamical friction, which causes a cluster to
lose orbital energy and spiral in towards the galactic center, may explain the
presence of a cluster of very young stars in the central parsec, where star
formation might be prohibitively difficult owing to strong tidal forces. The
clusters modeled in our simulations have an initial total mass of 10^5-10^6
Msun and initial galactocentric radii of 2.5-30 pc. We have identified a few
simulations in which dynamical friction indeed brings a cluster to the central
parsec, although this is only possible if the cluster is either very massive
(~10^6 Msun), or is formed near the central parsec (<~ 5 pc). In both cases,
the cluster should have an initially very dense core (> 10^6 Msun pc-3). The
initial core collapse and segregation of massive stars into the cluster core,
which typically happens on a much shorter time scale than that characterizing
the dynamical inspiral of the cluster toward the Galactic center, can provide
the requisite high density. Furthermore, because it is the cluster core which
is most likely to survive the cluster disintegration during its journey
inwards, this can help account for the observed distribution of presumably
massive HeI stars in the central parsec.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Generalized 2d dilaton gravity with matter fields
We extend the classical integrability of the CGHS model of 2d dilaton gravity
[1] to a larger class of models, allowing the gravitational part of the action
to depend more generally on the dilaton field and, simultaneously, adding
fermion- and U(1)-gauge-fields to the scalar matter. On the other hand we
provide the complete solution of the most general dilaton-dependent 2d gravity
action coupled to chiral fermions. The latter analysis is generalized to a
chiral fermion multiplet with a non-abelian gauge symmetry as well as to the
(anti-)self-dual sector df = *df (df = -*df) of a scalar field f.Comment: 37 pages, Latex; typos and Eqs. (44,45) corrected; paragraph on p.
26, referring to a work of S. Solodukhin, reformulated; references adde
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