Investigation of the existence of hybrid stars using Nambu-Jona-Lasinio models

We investigate the hadron-quark phase transition inside neutron stars and obtain mass-radius relations for hybrid stars. The equation of state for the quark phase using the standard NJL model is too soft leading to an unstable star and suggesting a modification of the NJL model by introducing a momentum cutoff dependent on the chemical potential. However, even in this approach, the instability remains. In order to remedy the instability we suggest the introduction of a vector coupling in the NJL model, which makes the EoS stiffer, reducing the instability. We conclude that the possible existence of quark matter inside the stars require high densities, leading to very compact stars.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; prepared for IV International Workshop on Astronomy and Relativistic Astrophysics (IWARA 2009), Maresias, 4-8 Oct 200

White dwarfs with a surface electrical charge distribution: Equilibrium and stability

The equilibrium configuration and the radial stability of white dwarfs composed of charged perfect fluid are investigated. These cases are analyzed through the results obtained from the solution of the hydrostatic equilibrium equation. We regard that the fluid pressure and the fluid energy density follow the relation of a fully degenerate electron gas. For the electric charge distribution in the object, we consider that it is centralized only close to the white dwarfs' surfaces. We obtain larger and more massive white dwarfs when the total electric charge is increased. To appreciate the effects of the electric charge in the structure of the star, we found that it must be in the order of $10^{20}\,[{\rm C}]$ with which the electric field is about $10^{16}\,[{\rm V/cm}]$. For white dwarfs with electric fields close to the Schwinger limit, we obtain masses around $2\,M_{\odot}$. We also found that in a system constituted by charged static equilibrium configurations, the maximum mass point found on it marks the onset of the instability. This indicates that the necessary and sufficient conditions to recognize regions constituted by stable and unstable equilibrium configurations against small radial perturbations are respectively $dM/d\rho_c>0$ and $dM/d\rho_c<0$.Comment: This is a preprint. The original paper will be published in EPJ

Genetic structure of sigmodontine rodents (Cricetidae) along an altitudinal gradient of the Atlantic Rain Forest in southern Brazil

The population genetic structure of two sympatric species of sigmodontine rodents (Oligoryzomys nigripes and Euryoryzomys russatus) was examined for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence haplotypes of the control region. Samples were taken from three localities in the Atlantic Rain Forest in southern Brazil, along an altitudinal gradient with different types of habitat. In both species there was no genetic structure throughout their distribution, although levels of genetic variability and gene flow were high

Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions in the forward region in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions, produced in protonproton collisions at a 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy, are studied using a data sample collected by the LHCb experiment. The signature for Bose-Einstein correlations is observed in the form of an enhancement of pairs of like-sign charged pions with small four-momentum difference squared. The charged-particle multiplicity dependence of the Bose-Einstein correlation parameters describing the correlation strength and the size of the emitting source is investigated, determining both the correlation radius and the chaoticity parameter. The measured correlation radius is found to increase as a function of increasing charged-particle multiplicity, while the chaoticity parameter is seen to decreas