1,114 research outputs found
Stellar Chemical Abundances: In Pursuit of the Highest Achievable Precision
The achievable level of precision on photospheric abundances of stars is a
major limiting factor on investigations of exoplanet host star characteristics,
the chemical histories of star clusters, and the evolution of the Milky Way and
other galaxies. While model-induced errors can be minimized through the
differential analysis of spectrally similar stars, the maximum achievable
precision of this technique has been debated. As a test, we derive differential
abundances of 19 elements from high-quality asteroid-reflected solar spectra
taken using a variety of instruments and conditions. We treat the solar spectra
as being from unknown stars and use the resulting differential abundances,
which are expected to be zero, as a diagnostic of the error in our
measurements. Our results indicate that the relative resolution of the target
and reference spectra is a major consideration, with use of different
instruments to obtain the two spectra leading to errors up to 0.04 dex. Use of
the same instrument at different epochs for the two spectra has a much smaller
effect (~0.007 dex). The asteroid used to obtain the solar standard also has a
negligible effect (~0.006 dex). Assuming that systematic errors from the
stellar model atmospheres have been minimized, as in the case of solar twins,
we confirm that differential chemical abundances can be obtained at sub-0.01
dex precision with due care in the observations, data reduction and abundance
analysis.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 13 pages, 6 figures, 7 table
Pairing symmetry signatures of T1 in superconducting ferromagnets
We study the nuclear relaxation rate 1/T1 as a function of temperature for a
superconducting-ferromagnetic coexistent system using a p-wave triplet model
for the superconducting pairing symmetry. This calculation is contrasted with a
singlet s-wave one done previously, and we see for the s-wave case that there
is a Hebel-Slichter peak, albeit reduced due to the magnetization, and no peak
for the p-wave case. We then compare these results to a nuclear relaxation rate
experiment on UGe2 to determine the possible pairing symmetry signatures in
that material. It is seen that the experimental data is inconclusive to rule
out the possibility of s-wave pairing in .Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Status, technology, and rural traditions in Western Pennsylvania, excavations at the shaeffer farm site
The Solar Twin Planet Search II. A Jupiter twin around a solar twin
Through our HARPS radial velocity survey for planets around solar twin stars,
we have identified a promising Jupiter twin candidate around the star HIP11915.
We characterize this Keplerian signal and investigate its potential origins in
stellar activity. Our analysis indicates that HIP11915 hosts a Jupiter-mass
planet with a 3800-day orbital period and low eccentricity. Although we cannot
definitively rule out an activity cycle interpretation, we find that a planet
interpretation is more likely based on a joint analysis of RV and activity
index data. The challenges of long-period radial velocity signals addressed in
this paper are critical for the ongoing discovery of Jupiter-like exoplanets.
If planetary in nature, the signal investigated here represents a very close
analog to the solar system in terms of both Sun-like host star and Jupiter-like
planet.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; A&A accepted; typos corrected in this versio
Physical properties of ferromagnetic-superconducting coexistent system
We studied the nuclear relaxation rate 1/T1 of a
ferromagnetic-superconducting system from the mean field model proposed in
Ref.14. This model predicts the existence of a set of gapless excitations in
the energy spectrum which will affect the properties studied here, such as the
density of states and, hence, 1/T1. The study of the temperature variation of
1/T1(for T<Tc) shows that the usual Hebel-Slichter peak exists, but will be
reduced because of the dominant role of the gapless fermions and the background
magnetic behavior. We have also presented the temperature dependence of
ultrasonic attenuation and the frequency dependence of electromagnetic
absorption within this model. We are successful in explaining certain
experimental results.Comment: 10 Pages, 9 figute
Field testing of World Health Organization (WHO) 2003 recommendations for initiating anti-retroviral therapy (ART) where CD4 is not available revealed low sensitivity among stage I and II patients; a combination of Automated Total Lymphocyte Count (TLC) and Haemoglobin (Hgb) can ration the referral for CD4 testing.
2006 AIDS Conference, Toront
Assessing the organic composition and mineralogy of the Tipton member shale of the Green River Formation utilizing petrological analysis
The objective of this research is to further investigate the resource potential of the Green River Formation (GRF) oil shales by determining the lithological, mineralogical, and organic properties by using hand sample study, thin section analysis, and various other microscopic techniques. By utilizing petrology, or rock characterization, this project will determine the grain size, mineral composition, porosity, permeability, and the organic materials that compose the rock. Thus, also giving a more accurate representation of the depositional environment in which the rock was deposited. This will be done by using characteristics observed from hand sample study, thin section analysis, and various other microscopic techniques such as reflected light microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and ion milling. A successful completion of this project will result in a better understanding of the resource potential within the Green River Formation. It will shed new light on the mineralogy, porosity, and organic matter within the rock. The GRF has not been characterized to the extent and with the technologies that this project proposes. This study will facilitate a new geological perspective of the region which would aid in resource development, environmental protection, and understanding of important episodes of Earth's geologic past
18 Sco: a solar twin rich in refractory and neutron-capture elements. Implications for chemical tagging
We study with unprecedented detail the chemical composition and stellar
parameters of the solar twin 18 Sco in a strictly differential sense relative
to the Sun. Our study is mainly based on high resolution (R ~ 110 000) high S/N
(800-1000) VLT UVES spectra, which allow us to achieve a precision of about
0.005 dex in differential abundances. The effective temperature and surface
gravity of 18 Sco are Teff = 5823+/-6 K and log g = 4.45+/-0.02 dex, i.e., 18
Sco is 46+/-6 K hotter than the Sun and log g is 0.01+/-0.02 dex higher. Its
metallicity is [Fe/H] = 0.054+/-0.005 dex and its microturbulence velocity is
+0.02+/-0.01 km/s higher than solar. Our precise stellar parameters and
differential isochrone analysis show that 18 Sco has a mass of 1.04+/-0.02M_Sun
and that it is ~1.6 Gyr younger than the Sun. We use precise HARPS radial
velocities to search for planets, but none were detected. The chemical
abundance pattern of 18 Sco displays a clear trend with condensation
temperature, showing thus higher abundances of refractories in 18 Sco than in
the Sun. Intriguingly, there are enhancements in the neutron-capture elements
relative to the Sun. Despite the small element-to-element abundance differences
among nearby n-capture elements (~0.02 dex), we successfully reproduce the
r-process pattern in the solar system. This is independent evidence for the
universality of the r-process. Our results have important implications for
chemical tagging in our Galaxy and nucleosynthesis in general.Comment: ApJ, in pres
Acoustic attenuation rate in the Fermi-Bose model with a finite-range fermion-fermion interaction
We study the acoustic attenuation rate in the Fermi-Bose model describing a
mixtures of bosonic and fermionic atom gases. We demonstrate the dramatic
change of the acoustic attenuation rate as the fermionic component is evolved
through the BEC-BCS crossover, in the context of a mean-field model applied to
a finite-range fermion-fermion interaction at zero temperature, such as
discussed previously by M.M. Parish et al. [Phys. Rev. B 71, 064513 (2005)] and
B. Mihaila et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 090402 (2005)]. The shape of the
acoustic attenuation rate as a function of the boson energy represents a
signature for superfluidity in the fermionic component
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