576 research outputs found
Benchmark low-mass objects in Moving Groups
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.In order to compile a sample of ultracool dwarfs that will serve as benchmarks for testing theoretical formation and evolutionary models, we selected low-mass cool (>M7) objects that are potentially members of five known young Moving Groups in the solar neighbourhood. We have studied the kinematics of the sample, finding that 49 targets belong to the young disk area, from which 36 are kinematic member of one of the five moving groups under study. Some of the identified low-mass members have been spectroscopically characterised (T-eff, log g) and confirmed as young members through a detailed study of age indicators
Hydrodynamics of thermal granular convection
A hydrodynamic theory is formulated for buoyancy-driven ("thermal") granular
convection, recently predicted in molecular dynamic simulations and observed in
experiment. The limit of a dilute flow is considered. The problem is fully
described by three scaled parameters. The convection occurs via a supercritical
bifurcation, the inelasticity of the collisions being the control parameter.
The theory is expected to be valid for small Knudsen numbers and nearly elastic
grain collisions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 EPS figures, some details adde
Electromagnetic Decays of Heavy Baryons
The electromagnetic decays of the ground state baryon multiplets with one
heavy quark are calculated using Heavy Hadron Chiral Perturbation Theory. The
M1 and E2 amplitudes for S^{*}--> S gamma, S^{*} --> T gamma and S --> T gamma
are separately computed. All M1 transitions are calculated up to
O(1/Lambda_chi^2). The E2 amplitudes contribute at the same order for S^{*}-->
S gamma, while for S^{*} --> T gamma they first appear at O(1/(m_Q
\Lambda_\chi^2)) and for S --> T gamma are completely negligible. The
renormalization of the chiral loops is discussed and relations among different
decay amplitudes are derived. We find that chiral loops involving
electromagnetic interactions of the light pseudoscalar mesons provide a sizable
enhancement of these decay widths. Furthermore, we obtain an absolute
prediction for the widths of Xi^{0'(*)}_c--> Xi^{0}_c gamma and Xi^{-'(*)}_b-->
Xi^{-}_b gamma. Our results are compared to other estimates existing in the
literature.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Does social contact lessen perceived cultural distance? Evidence from touristâhost social contact
2016-2017 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journal201804_a bcm
Ab-initio density-functional lattice-dynamics studies of ice
We present the results of first-principles computational studies of the dynamical properties of hexagonal ice using both the ab-initio pseudopotential method and the full-potential augmented plane-wave method. Properties obtained using both the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and the meta-GGA in density-functional theory are compared. The lattice-dynamical properties of the structures are obtained using a finite-difference evaluation of the dynamical matrix and force-constant matrix from atomic forces. Phonon dispersion is evaluated by the direct determination of the force-constant matrix in supercells derived from the primitive molecule unit cells with the assumption that force constants are zero beyond the second molecular nearest neighbors. The k-dependent phonon frequencies are then obtained from the force-constant matrix and dispersion relations, and the Brillouin-zone integrated density of states is evaluated. The importance of phonon dispersion in the various regions of the phonon spectra is then assessed and compared to existing neutron-scattering data. Frozen-phonon calculations are used to compare phonon frequencies evaluated in both the GGA and meta-GGA
Symmetry-breaking instability in a prototypical driven granular gas
Symmetry-breaking instability of a laterally uniform granular cluster (strip
state) in a prototypical driven granular gas is investigated. The system
consists of smooth hard disks in a two-dimensional box, colliding inelastically
with each other and driven, at zero gravity, by a "thermal" wall. The limit of
nearly elastic particle collisions is considered, and granular hydrodynamics
with the Jenkins-Richman constitutive relations is employed. The hydrodynamic
problem is completely described by two scaled parameters and the aspect ratio
of the box. Marginal stability analysis predicts a spontaneous symmetry
breaking instability of the strip state, similar to that predicted recently for
a different set of constitutive relations. If the system is big enough, the
marginal stability curve becomes independent of the details of the boundary
condition at the driving wall. In this regime, the density perturbation is
exponentially localized at the elastic wall opposite to the thermal wall. The
short- and long-wavelength asymptotics of the marginal stability curves are
obtained analytically in the dilute limit. The physics of the symmetry-breaking
instability is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure
Onset of thermal convection in a horizontal layer of granular gas
The Navier-Stokes granular hydrodynamics is employed for determining the
threshold of thermal convection in an infinite horizontal layer of granular
gas. The dependence of the convection threshold, in terms of the inelasticity
of particle collisions, on the Froude and Knudsen numbers is found. A simple
necessary condition for convection is formulated in terms of the
Schwarzschild's criterion, well-known in thermal convection of (compressible)
classical fluids. The morphology of convection cells at the onset is
determined. At large Froude numbers, the Froude number drops out of the
problem. As the Froude number goes to zero, the convection instability turns
into a recently discovered phase separation instability.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures. An extended version. A simple and universal
necessary criterion for convection presente
The effects of grain shape and frustration in a granular column near jamming
We investigate the full phase diagram of a column of grains near jamming, as
a function of varying levels of frustration. Frustration is modelled by the
effect of two opposing fields on a grain, due respectively to grains above and
below it. The resulting four dynamical regimes (ballistic, logarithmic,
activated and glassy) are characterised by means of the jamming time of
zero-temperature dynamics, and of the statistics of attractors reached by the
latter. Shape effects are most pronounced in the cases of strong and weak
frustration, and essentially disappear around a mean-field point.Comment: 17 pages, 19 figure
Soil biochemistry and microbial activity in vineyards under conventional and organic management at Northeast Brazil.
The SĂŁo Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that orgThe SĂŁo Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that organic fertilization can improve soil quality, we compared the effects of conventional and organic soil management on microbial activity and mycorrhization of seedless grape crops. We measured glomerospores number, most probable number (MPN) of propagules, richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) species, AMF root colonization, EE-BRSP production, carbon microbial biomass (C-MB), microbial respiration, fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activity (FDA) and metabolic coefficient (qCO2). The organic management led to an increase in all variables with the exception of EE-BRSP and qCO2. Mycorrhizal colonization increased from 4.7% in conventional crops to 15.9% in organic crops. Spore number ranged from 4.1 to 12.4 per 50 g-1 soil in both management systems. The most probable number of AMF propagules increased from 79 cm-3 soil in the conventional system to 110 cm-3 soil in the organic system. Microbial carbon, CO2 emission, and FDA activity were increased by 100 to 200% in the organic crop. Thirteen species of AMF were identified, the majority in the organic cultivation system. Acaulospora excavata, Entrophospora infrequens, Glomus sp.3 and Scutellospora sp. were found only in the organically managed crop. S. gregaria was found only in the conventional crop. Organically managed vineyards increased mycorrhization and general soil microbial activity
Evidence Against Instanton Dominance of Topological Charge Fluctuations in QCD
The low-lying eigenmodes of the Dirac operator associated with typical gauge
field configurations in QCD encode, among other low-energy properties, the
physics behind the solution to the problem (i.e. the origin of the
mass), the nature of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, and the
physics of string-breaking, quark-antiquark pair production, and the OZI rule.
Moreover, the space-time chiral structure of these eigenmodes reflects the
space-time topological structure of the underlying gauge field. We present
evidence from lattice QCD on the local chiral structure of low Dirac eigenmodes
leading to the conclusion that topological charge fluctuations of the QCD
vacuum are not instanton-dominated. The result supports Witten's arguments that
topological charge is produced by confinement-related gauge fluctuations rather
than instantons.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figure
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