5,607 research outputs found
Color-flavor locked strange matter and strangelets at finite temperature
It is possible that a system composed of up, down and strange quarks consists
the true ground state of nuclear matter at high densities and low temperatures.
This exotic plasma, called strange quark matter (SQM), seems to be even more
favorable energetically if quarks are in a superconducting state, the so-called
color-flavor locked state. Here are presented calculations made on the basis of
the MIT bag model considering the influence of finite temperature on the
allowed parameters characterizing the system for stability of bulk SQM (the
so-called stability windows) and also for strangelets, small lumps of SQM, both
in the color-flavor locking scenario. We compare these results with the
unpaired SQM and also briefly discuss some astrophysical implications of them.
Also, the issue of strangelet's electric charge is discussed. The effects of
dynamical screening, though important for non-paired SQM strangelets, are not
relevant when considering pairing among all three flavor and colors of quarks.Comment: 17 pp. 15 figs., to appear in Phys. Rev.
Nucleation of quark matter bubbles in neutron stars
The thermal nucleation of quark matter bubbles inside neutron stars is
examined for various temperatures which the star may realistically encounter
during its lifetime. It is found that for a bag constant less than a critical
value, a very large part of the star will be converted into the quark phase
within a fraction of a second. Depending on the equation of state for neutron
star matter and strange quark matter, all or some of the outer parts of the
star may subsequently be converted by a slower burning or a detonation.Comment: 13 pages, REVTeX, Phys.Rev.D (in press), IFA 93-32. 5 figures (not
included) available upon request from [email protected]
Manipulating the torsion of molecules by strong laser pulses
A proof-of-principle experiment is reported, where torsional motion of a
molecule, consisting of a pair of phenyl rings, is induced by strong laser
pulses. A nanosecond laser pulse spatially aligns the carbon-carbon bond axis,
connecting the two phenyl rings, allowing a perpendicularly polarized, intense
femtosecond pulse to initiate torsional motion accompanied by an overall
rotation about the fixed axis. The induced motion is monitored by femtosecond
time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging. Our theoretical analysis accounts for
and generalizes the experimental findings.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PRL; Major revision of the
presentation of the material; Correction of ion labels in Fig. 2(a
Summary of the 13th IACHEC Meeting
We summarize the outcome of the 13th meeting of the International
Astronomical Consortium for High Energy Calibration (IACHEC), held at Tenuta
dei Ciclamini (Avigliano Umbro, Italy) in April 2018. Fifty-one scientists
directly involved in the calibration of operational and future high-energy
missions gathered during 3.5 days to discuss the current status of the X-ray
payload inter-calibration and possible approaches to improve it. This summary
consists of reports from the various working groups with topics ranging from
the identification and characterization of standard calibration sources,
multi-observatory cross-calibration campaigns, appropriate and new statistical
techniques, calibration of instruments and characterization of background, and
communication and preservation of knowledge and results for the benefit of the
astronomical community.Comment: 12 page
Thermodynamics, strange quark matter, and strange stars
Because of the mass density-dependence, an extra term should be added to the
expression of pressure. However, it should not appear in that of energy
according to both the general ensemble theory and basic thermodynamic
principle. We give a detail derivation of the thermodynamics with
density-dependent particle masses. With our recently determined quark mass
scaling, we study strange quark matter in this new thermodynamic treatment,
which still indicates a possible absolute stability as previously found.
However, the density behavior of the sound velocity is opposite to the previous
finding, but consistent with one of our recent publication. We have also
studied the structure of strange stars using the obtained equation of state.Comment: 6 pages, 6 PS figures, REVTeX styl
Curvature energy effects on strange quark matter nucleation at finite density
We consider the effects of the curvature energy term on thermal strange quark
matter nucleation in dense neutron matter. Lower bounds on the temperature at
which this process can take place are given and compared to those without the
curvature term.Comment: PlainTex, 6 pp., IAG-USP Rep.5
Lattice QCD Constraints on Hybrid and Quark Stars
A QCD-motivated dynamical-quasiparticle model with parameters adjusted to
reproduce the lattice-QCD equation of state is extrapolated from region of high
temperatures and moderate baryonic densities to the domain of high baryonic
densities and zero temperature. The resulting equation of state matched with
realistic hadronic equations of state predicts a phase transition into the
quark phase at higher densities than those reachable in neutron star interiors.
This excludes the possibility of the existence of hybrid (hadron-quark) stars.
Pure quark stars are possible and have low masses, small radii and very high
central densities. Similar results are obtained for a simple bag model with
massive quarks, fitted to reproduce the same lattice results. Self-bound quark
matter is also excluded within these models. Uncertainties in the present
extrapolation re discussed. Comparison with standard bag models is made.Comment: 13 p., 8 figs., 7 tables, Version accepted by Phys. Rev.
A Dynamical Study of the Friedmann Equations
Cosmology is an attracting subject for students but usually difficult to deal
with if general relativity is not known. In this article, we first recall the
Newtonian derivation of the Friedmann equations which govern the dynamics of
our universe and discuss the validity of such a derivation. We then study the
equations of evolution of the universe in terms of a dynamical system. This
sums up the different behaviors of our universe and enables to address some
cosmological problems.Comment: Needs IOP LaTeX class; 17 pages, 9 figure
Structure peculiarities of cementite and their influence on the magnetic characteristics
The iron carbide is studied by the first-principle density functional
theory. It is shown that the crystal structure with the carbon disposition in a
prismatic environment has the lowest total energy and the highest energy of
magnetic anisotropy as compared to the structure with carbon in an octahedron
environment. This fact explains the behavior of the coercive force upon
annealing of the plastically deformed samples. The appearance of carbon atoms
in the octahedron environment can be revealed by Mossbauer experiment.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables. submitted to Phys.Rev.
Trapping of strangelets in the geomagnetic field
Strangelets coming from the interstellar medium (ISM) are an interesting
target to experiments searching for evidence of this hypothetic state of
hadronic matter. We entertain the possibility of a {\it trapped} strangelet
population, quite analogous to ordinary nuclei and electron belts. For a
population of strangelets to be trapped by the geomagnetic field, these
incoming particles would have to fulfill certain conditions, namely having
magnetic rigidities above the geomagnetic cutoff and below a certain threshold
for adiabatic motion to hold. We show in this work that, for fully ionized
strangelets, there is a narrow window for stable trapping. An estimate of the
stationary population is presented and the dominant loss mechanisms discussed.
It is shown that the population would be substantially enhanced with respect to
the ISM flux (up to two orders of magnitude) due to quasi-stable trapping.Comment: 10 pp., 5 figure
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