27,070 research outputs found
The projection of a nonlocal mechanical system onto the irreversible generalized Langevin equation, II: Numerical simulations
The irreversible generalized Langevin equation (iGLE) contains a
nonstationary friction kernel that in certain limits reduces to the GLE with
space-dependent friction. For more general forms of the friction kernel, the
iGLE was previously shown to be the projection of a mechanical system with a
time-dependent Hamiltonian. [R. Hernandez, J. Chem. Phys. 110, 7701 (1999)] In
the present work, the corresponding open Hamiltonian system is further
explored. Numerical simulations of this mechanical system illustrate that the
time dependence of the observed total energy and the correlations of the
solvent force are in precise agreement with the projected iGLE.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, submitted to J. Chem. Phy
Probing O-enrichment in C-rich dust planetary nebulae
The abundance of O in planetary nebulae (PNe) has been historically used as a
metallicity indicator of the interstellar medium (ISM) where they originated;
e.g., it has been widely used to study metallicity gradients in our Galaxy and
beyond. However, clear observational evidence for O self enrichment in
low-metallicity Galactic PNe with C-rich dust has been recently reported. Here
we report asymptotic giant branch (AGB) nucleosynthesis predictions for the
abundances of the CNO elements and helium in the metallicity range Zsun/4 < Z <
2Zsun. Our AGB models, with diffusive overshooting from all the convective
borders, predict that O is overproduced in low-Z low-mass (~1-3 Msun) AGB stars
and nicely reproduce the recent O overabundances observed in C-rich dust PNe.
This confirms that O is not always a good proxy of the original ISM metallicity
and another chemical elements such as Cl or Ar should be used instead. The
production of oxygen by low-mass stars should be thus considered in
galactic-evolution models.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters (5 pages, 1 figure, and 1
table
Hot bottom burning and s-process nucleosynthesis in massive AGB stars at the beginning of the thermally-pulsing phase
We report the first spectroscopic identification of massive Galactic
asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars at the beginning of the thermal pulse (TP)
phase. These stars are the most Li-rich massive AGBs found to date, super
Li-rich AGBs with logE(Li)~3-4. The high Li overabundances are accompanied by
weak or no s-process element (i.e. Rb and Zr) enhancements. A comparison of our
observations with the most recent hot bottom burning (HBB) and s-process
nucleosynthesis models confirms that HBB is strongly activated during the first
TPs but the 22Ne neutron source needs many more TP and third dredge-up episodes
to produce enough Rb at the stellar surface. We also show that the short-lived
element Tc, usually used as an indicator of AGB genuineness, is not detected in
massive AGBs which is in agreement with the theoretical predictions when the
22Ne neutron source dominates the s-process nucleosynthesis.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters (7
pages, 5 figures and 1 table); final version (language corrected
Galactic planetary nebulae with precise nebular abundances as a tool to understand the evolution of asymptotic giant branch stars
We present nucleosynthesis predictions (HeCNOCl) from asymptotic giant branch
(AGB) models, with diffusive overshooting from all the convective borders, in
the metallicity range Z/4 < Z < 2Zsun. They are compared to recent precise
nebular abundances in a sample of Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) that is
divided among double-dust chemistry (DC) and oxygen-dust chemistry (OC)
according to the infrared dust features. Unlike the similar subsample of
Galactic carbon-dust chemistry PNe recently analysed by us, here the individual
abundance errors, the higher metallicity spread, and the uncertain dust
types/subtypes in some PNe do not allow a clear determination of the AGB
progenitor masses (and formation epochs) for both PNe samples; the comparison
is thus more focussed on a object-by-object basis. The lowest metallicity OC
PNe evolve from low-mass (~1 Msun) O-rich AGBs, while the higher metallicity
ones (all with uncertain dust classifications) display a chemical pattern
similar to the DC PNe. In agreement with recent literature, the DC PNe mostly
descend from high-mass (M > 3.5 Msun) solar/supersolar metallicity AGBs that
experience hot bottom burning (HBB), but other formation channels in low-mass
AGBs like extra mixing, stellar rotation, binary interaction, or He
pre-enrichment cannot be disregarded until more accurate C/O ratios would be
obtained. Two objects among the DC PNe show the imprint of advanced CNO
processing and deep second dredge-up, suggesting progenitors masses close to
the limit to evolve as core collapse supernovae (above 6 Msun). Their actual
C/O ratio, if confirmed, indicate contamination from the third dredge-up,
rejecting the hypothesis that the chemical composition of such high-metallicity
massive AGBs is modified exclusively by HBB.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (11 pages, 3 figures, and 2 tables
HERA-B Framework for Online Calibration and Alignment
This paper describes the architecture and implementation of the HERA-B
framework for online calibration and alignment. At HERA-B the performance of
all trigger levels, including the online reconstruction, strongly depends on
using the appropriate calibration and alignment constants, which might change
during data taking. A system to monitor, recompute and distribute those
constants to online processes has been integrated in the data acquisition and
trigger systems.Comment: Submitted to NIM A. 4 figures, 15 page
Studying the evolution of AGB stars in the Gaia epoch
We present asymptotic giant branch (AGB) models of solar metallicity, to
allow the interpretation of observations of Galactic AGB stars, whose distances
should be soon available after the first release of the Gaia catalogue. We find
an abrupt change in the AGB physical and chemical properties, occurring at the
threshold mass to ignite hot bottom burning,i.e. . Stars with
mass below reach the C-star stage and eject into the
interstellar medium gas enriched in carbon , nitrogen and . The higher
mass counterparts evolve at large luminosities, between and . The mass expelled from the massive AGB stars
shows the imprinting of proton-capture nucleosynthesis, with considerable
production of nitrogen and sodium and destruction of and . The
comparison with the most recent results from other research groups are
discussed, to evaluate the robustness of the present findings. Finally, we
compare the models with recent observations of galactic AGB stars, outlining
the possibility offered by Gaia to shed new light on the evolution properties
of this class of objects.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS
(2016 July 11
Physics Potential of Very Intense Conventional Neutrino Beams
The physics potential of high intensity conventional beams is explored. We
consider a low energy super beam which could be produced by a proposed new
accelerator at CERN, the Super Proton Linac. Water Cherenkov and liquid oil
scintillator detectors are studied as possible candidates for a neutrino
oscillation experiment which could improve our current knowledge of the
atmospheric parameters and measure or severely constrain the parameter
connecting the atmospheric and solar realms. It is also shown that a very large
water detector could eventually observe leptonic CP violation. The reach of
such an experiment to the neutrino mixing parameters would lie in-between the
next generation of neutrino experiments (MINOS, OPERA, etc) and a future
neutrino factory.Comment: Talk given at the Venice Conference on Neutrino Telescopes, Venice,
March, 200
Dorey's Rule and the q-Characters of Simply-Laced Quantum Affine Algebras
Let Uq(ghat) be the quantum affine algebra associated to a simply-laced
simple Lie algebra g. We examine the relationship between Dorey's rule, which
is a geometrical statement about Coxeter orbits of g-weights, and the structure
of q-characters of fundamental representations V_{i,a} of Uq(ghat). In
particular, we prove, without recourse to the ADE classification, that the rule
provides a necessary and sufficient condition for the monomial 1 to appear in
the q-character of a three-fold tensor product V_{i,a} x V_{j,b} x V_{k,c}.Comment: 30 pages, latex; v2, to appear in Communications in Mathematical
Physic
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