23,310 research outputs found
Evidence for quasi-chemically homogeneous evolution of massive stars up to solar metallicity
Long soft gamma ray bursts (LGRBs) are usually associated with the death of
the most massive stars. A large amount of core angular momentum in the phases
preceding the explosion is required to form LGRBs. A very high initial
rotational velocity can provide this angular momentum. Such a velocity strongly
influences the way the star evolves: it is chemically homogeneously mixed and
evolves directly towards the blue part of the HR diagram from the main
sequence. We have shown that chemically homogeneous evolution (CHE) takes place
in the SMC, at low metallicity. We want to see if there is a metallicity
threshold above which such an evolution does not exist. We perform a
spectroscopic analysis of H-rich early-type WN stars in the LMC and the Galaxy.
We use the code CMFGEN to determine the fundamental properties and the surface
composition of the target stars. We then place the stars in the HR diagram and
determine their evolution. We show that both the LMC and Galactic WNh stars we
selected cannot be explained by standard stellar evolution. They are located on
the left of the main sequence but show surface abundances typical of CN
equilibrium. In addition, they still contain a large amount of hydrogen. They
are thus core-H burning objects. Their properties are consistent with CHE. We
determine the metallicity of the Galactic stars from their position and
Galactic metallicity gradients, and conclude that they have 0.6<Z<1.0. A
moderate coupling between the core and the envelope is required to explain that
stellar winds do not extract to much angular momentum to prevent a blueward
evolution. In view of the findings that some long gamma ray bursts appear in
solar environments, CHE may be a viable way to form them over a wide range of
metallicities.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures. Accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysic
Transport properties of a two impurity system: a theoretical approach
A system of two interacting cobalt atoms, at varying distances, was studied
in a recent scanning tunneling microscope experiment by Bork et. al.[Nature
Phys. 7, 901 (2011)]. We propose a microscopic model that explains, for all
experimentally analyzed interatomic distances, the physics observed in these
experiments. Our proposal is based on the two-impurity Anderson model, with the
inclusion of a two-path geometry for charge transport. This many-body system is
treated in the finite-U slave boson mean-field approximation and the
logarithmic-discretization embedded-cluster approximation. We physically
characterize the different charge transport regimes of this system at various
interatomic distances and show that, as in the experiments, the features
observed in the transport properties depend on the presence of two impurities
but also on the existence of two conducting channels for electron transport. We
interpret the splitting observed in the conductance as the result of the
hybridization of the two Kondo resonances associated with each impurity.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Liquid mixtures involving fluorinated alcohols: The equation of state (p, r, T, x) of (Ethanol + Trifluoroethanol) Experimental and Simulation
Liquid mixtures involving fluorinated alcohols:
The equation of state (p, r, T, x) of (Ethanol + Trifluoroethanol)
Experimental and Simulation
Pedro Duartea, Djêide Rodriguesa, Marcelo Silvaa, Pedro Morgadoa,
Luís Martinsa,b and Eduardo J. M. Filipea*
aCentro de Química Estrutural, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
bCentro de Química de Évora, Universidade de Évora, 7000-671 Évora, Portugal
Fluorinated alcohols are substances with unique properties and high technological value in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Trifluoroethanol (TFE), in particular, displays a number of unusual properties as a solvent. For example, it dissolves nylon at room temperature and is effectively used as solvent in bioengineering. The presence of the three fluorines atoms gives the alcohol a high ionization constant, strong hydrogen bonding capability and stability at high temperatures.
In the pharmaceutical industry, TFE finds use as the major raw material for the production of inhalation anesthetics. Mixtures of TFE and water (known as Fluorinols®) are used as working fluids for Rankine cycle heat engines for terrestrial and space applications, as a result of a unique combination of physical and thermodynamic properties such as high thermal efficiency and excellent turbine expansion characteristics.
Environmentally, TFE is a CFC substitute with an acceptable short lifetime and with small ozone depletion potential. Additionally, TFE is known to induce conformational changes in proteins and it is used as a co-solvent to analyze structural features of partially folded states.
The (ethanol + TFE) system displays an interesting and peculiar behaviour, combining a negative azeotrope with high positive excess volumes.
In this work, liquid mixtures of (ethanol + TFE) were investigated. The densities of the mixtures were measured as a function of composition between 278K and 338K and at pressures up to 700 bar. The corresponding excess volumes as a function of temperature and pressure, the isothermal compressibilities and thermal expansivities were calculated from the experimental results. The mixtures are highly non-ideal with excess volumes ranging from 0.8 - 1.0 cm3mol-1.
Finally, molecular dynamic simulations were performed to model and interpret the experimental results. The Trappe force field was used to simulate the (TFE + ethanol) mixtures and calculate the corresponding excess volumes. The simulation results are able to reproduce the correct sign and order of magnitude of the experimental VE without fitting to the experimental data. Furthermore, the simulations suggest the presence of a particular type of hydrogen bridge between ethanol and TFE, that can help to rationalize the experimental results
Automatic speaker segmentation using multiple features and distance measures: a comparison of three approaches
This paper addresses the problem of unsupervised speaker change detection. Three systems based on the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) are tested. The first system investigates the AudioSpectrumCentroid and the AudioWaveformEnvelope features, implements a dynamic thresholding followed by a fusion scheme, and finally applies BIC. The second method is a real-time one that uses a metric-based approach employing the line spectral pairs and the BIC to validate a potential speaker change point. The third method consists of three modules. In the first module, a measure based on second-order statistics is used; in the second module, the Euclidean distance and T2 Hotelling statistic are applied; and in the third module, the BIC is utilized. The experiments are carried out on a dataset created by concatenating speakers from the TIMIT database, that is referred to as the TIMIT data set. A comparison between the performance of the three systems is made based on t-statistics
Probability distribution of the order parameter in the directed percolation universality class
The probability distributions of the order parameter for two models in the
directed percolation universality class were evaluated. Monte Carlo simulations
have been performed for the one-dimensional generalized contact process and the
Domany-Kinzel cellular automaton. In both cases, the density of active sites
was chosen as the order parameter. The criticality of those models was obtained
by solely using the corresponding probability distribution function. It has
been shown that the present method, which has been successfully employed in
treating equilibrium systems, is indeed also useful in the study of
nonequilibrium phase transitions.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Qualitative understanding of the sign of t' asymmetry in the extended t-J Model and relevance for pairing properties
Numerical calculations illustrate the effect of the sign of the next
nearest-neighbor hopping term t' on the 2-hole properties of the t-t'-J model.
Working mainly on 2-leg ladders, in the -1.0 < t'/t < 1.0 regime, it is shown
that introducing t' in the t-J model is equivalent to effectively renormalizing
J, namely t' negative (positive) is equivalent to an effective t-J model with
smaller (bigger) J. This effect is present even at the level of a 2x2 plaquette
toy model, and was observed also in calculations on small square clusters.
Analyzing the transition probabilities of a hole-pair in the plaquette toy
model, it is argued that the coherent propagation of such hole-pair is enhanced
by a constructive interference between both t and t' for t'>0. This
interference is destructive for t'<0.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in PRB as a Rapid Communicatio
Recuperação de Mata Ciliar em Ouro Preto do Oeste, estado de Rondônia, Brasil.
Este trabalho foi realizado na bacia do rio Boa Vista localizada no município de Ouro Preto do Oeste, Rondônia, com o intuito de avaliar o desenvolvimento de um plantio de espécies arbóreas na área de mata ciliar. A recuperação desta bacia se deu mediante acordos firmados entre o poder público Estadual e a sociedade envolvida, a partir daí vários produtores se engajaram no projeto, visto que o rio é muito importante na região e também é fonte de captação da água que abastece a cidade. Foi observado a área de um produtor envolvido neste processo. No caso em estudo foram encontradas 13 espécies, 11 famílias e 92 indivíduos plantados e nativos, com grande chance de sobrevivência nas parcelas.Resumos do VIII Congresso Brasileiro de Agroecologia. Porto Alegre/RS - 25 a 28/11/2013. Trabalho n. 14816
The influence of the Al stabilizer layer thickness on the normal zone propagation velocity in high current superconductors
The stability of high-current superconductors is challenging in the design of
superconducting magnets. When the stability requirements are fulfilled, the
protection against a quench must still be considered. A main factor in the
design of quench protection systems is the resistance growth rate in the magnet
following a quench. The usual method for determining the resistance growth in
impregnated coils is to calculate the longitudinal velocity with which the
normal zone propagates in the conductor along the coil windings.
Here, we present a 2D numerical model for predicting the normal zone
propagation velocity in Al stabilized Rutherford NbTi cables with large cross
section. By solving two coupled differential equations under adiabatic
conditions, the model takes into account the thermal diffusion and the current
redistribution process following a quench. Both the temperature and magnetic
field dependencies of the superconductor and the metal cladding materials
properties are included. Unlike common normal zone propagation analyses, we
study the influence of the thickness of the cladding on the propagation
velocity for varying operating current and magnetic field.
To assist in the comprehension of the numerical results, we also introduce an
analytical formula for the longitudinal normal zone propagation. The analysis
distinguishes between low-current and high-current regimes of normal zone
propagation, depending on the ratio between the characteristic times of thermal
and magnetic diffusion. We show that above a certain thickness, the cladding
acts as a heat sink with a limited contribution to the acceleration of the
propagation velocity with respect to the cladding geometry. Both numerical and
analytical results show good agreement with experimental data.Comment: To be published in Physics Procedia (ICEC 25 conference special
issue
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