10,252 research outputs found
Geometry of flux attachment in anisotropic fractional quantum Hall states
Fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states are known to possess an internal metric
degree of freedom that allows them to minimize their energy when contrasting
geometries are present in the problem (e.g., electron band mass and dielectric
tensor). We investigate the internal metric of several incompressible FQH
states by probing its response to band mass anisotropy using infinite DMRG
simulations on a cylinder geometry. We test and apply a method to extract the
internal metric of a FQH state from its guiding center structure factor. We
find that the response to band mass anisotropy is approximately the same for
states in the same Jain sequence, but changes substantially between different
sequences. We provide a theoretical explanation of the observed behavior of
primary states at filling in terms of a minimal microscopic model
of flux attachment.Comment: 12 pages including references, 14 figure
The age structure of stellar populations in the solar vicinity. Clues of a two-phase formation history of the Milky Way disk
We analyze high quality abundances data of solar neighborhood stars and show
that there are two distinct regimes of [alpha/Fe] versus age which we identify
as the epochs of the thick and thin disk formation. A tight correlation between
metallicity and [alpha/Fe] versus age is clearly identifiable on thick disk
stars, implying that this population formed from a well mixed ISM, over a time
scale of 4-5 Gyr. Thick disk stars vertical velocity dispersion correlate with
age, with the youngest objects having as small scale heights as those of thin
disk stars. A natural consequence of these two results is that a vertical
metallicity gradient is expected in this population. We suggest that the thick
disk set the initial conditions for the formation of the inner thin disk. This
provides also an explanation of the apparent coincidence between the step in
metallicity at 7-10 kpc in the thin disk and the confinment of the thick disk
at about R<10 kpc. We suggest that the outer thin disk developped outside the
influence of the thick disk, but also that the high alpha-enrichment of the
outer regions may originate from a primordial pollution by the gas expelled
from the thick disk. Local metal-poor thin disk stars, whose properties are
best explained by an origin in the outer disk, are shown to be as old as the
youngest thick disk (9-10 Gyr), implying that the outer thin disk started to
form while the thick disk formation was still on-going in the inner Galaxy. We
point out that, given the tight age-abundance relations in the thick disk, an
inside-out process would give rise to a radial gradient in abundances in this
population which is not observed. Finally, we argue that the data discussed
here leave little room for radial migration, either to have contaminated the
solar vicinity, or, to have redistributed stars in significant proportion
across the solar annulus.Comment: Accepted in A&A, Revised version with new figures and extended
discussio
X-ray Dichroism and the Pseudogap Phase of Cuprates
A recent polarized x-ray absorption experiment on the high temperature
cuprate superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 indicates the presence of broken parity
symmetry below the temperature, T*, where a pseudogap appears in photoemission.
We critically analyze the x-ray data, and conclude that a parity-breaking
signal of the kind suggested is unlikely based on the crystal structures
reported in the literature. Possible other origins of the observed dichroism
signal are discussed. We propose x-ray scattering experiments that can be done
in order to determine whether such alternative interpretations are valid or
not.Comment: final version to be published in Phys Rev B: some calculational
details added, clarification of XNLD contamination and biaxiality, more
discussion on possible space groups and previous optics result
When the Milky Way turned off the lights: APOGEE provides evidence of star formation quenching in our Galaxy
Quenching, the cessation of star formation, is one of the most significant
events in the life cycle of galaxies. We show here the first evidence that the
Milky Way experienced a generalised quenching of its star formation at the end
of its thick disk formation 9 Gyr ago. Elemental abundances of stars
studied as part of the APOGEE survey reveal indeed that in less than 2
Gyr the star formation rate in our Galaxy dropped by an order-of-magnitude.
Because of the tight correlation between age and alpha abundance, this event
reflects in the dearth of stars along the inner disk sequence in the
[Fe/H]-[/Fe] plane. Before this phase, which lasted about 1.5 Gyr, the
Milky Way was actively forming stars. Afterwards, the star formation resumed at
a much lower level to form the thin disk. These events are very well matched by
the latest observation of MW-type progenitors at high redshifts. In late type
galaxies, quenching is believed to be related to a long and secular exhaustion
of gas. In our Galaxy, it occurred on a much shorter time scale, while the
chemical continuity before and after the quenching indicates that it was not
due to the exhaustion of the gas. While quenching is generally associated with
spheroids, our results show that it also occurs in galaxies like the Milky Way,
possibly when they are undergoing a morphological transition from thick to thin
disks. Given the demographics of late type galaxies in the local universe, in
which classical bulges are rare, we suggest further that this may hold true
generally in galaxies with mass lower than or approximately , where
quenching could be directly a consequence of thick disk formation. We emphasize
that the quenching phase in the Milky Way could be contemporaneous with, and
related to, the formation of the bar. We sketch a scenario on how a strong bar
may inhibit star formation.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures. Published versio
Regular R-R and NS-NS BPS black holes
We show in a precise group theoretical fashion how the generating solution of
regular BPS black holes of N=8 supergravity, which is known to be a solution
also of a simpler N=2 STU model truncation, can be characterized as NS-NS or
R-R charged according to the way the corresponding STU model is embedded in the
original N=8 theory. Of particular interest is the class of embeddings which
yield regular BPS black hole solutions carrying only R-R charge and whose
microscopic description can possibly be given in terms of bound states of
D-branes only. The microscopic interpretation of the bosonic fields in this
class of STU models relies on the solvable Lie algebra (SLA) method. In the
present article we improve this mathematical technique in order to provide two
distinct descriptions for type IIA and type IIB theories and an algebraic
characterization of S*T--dual embeddings within the N=8,d=4 theory. This
analysis will be applied to the particular example of a four parameter
(dilatonic) solution of which both the full macroscopic and microscopic
descriptions will be worked out.Comment: latex, 30 pages. Final version to appear on Int.J.Mod.Phy
Interplay between topology and dynamics in the World Trade Web
We present an empirical analysis of the network formed by the trade
relationships between all world countries, or World Trade Web (WTW). Each
(directed) link is weighted by the amount of wealth flowing between two
countries, and each country is characterized by the value of its Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). By analysing a set of year-by-year data covering the time
interval 1950-2000, we show that the dynamics of all GDP values and the
evolution of the WTW (trade flow and topology) are tightly coupled. The
probability that two countries are connected depends on their GDP values,
supporting recent theoretical models relating network topology to the presence
of a `hidden' variable (or fitness). On the other hand, the topology is shown
to determine the GDP values due to the exchange between countries. This leads
us to a new framework where the fitness value is a dynamical variable
determining, and at the same time depending on, network topology in a
continuous feedback.Comment: Proceedings of the 5th conference on Applications of Physics in
Financial Analysis (APFA5), 29 June - 1 July 2006, Torino (ITALY
Drying kinetics and physico-chemical quality of mango slices
Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is an important tropical fruit consumed worldwide and grown in Italy only in Sicily, where the areas of the Tyrrhenian coast have proved to be suitable to produce valuable fruits. Mango fruit has a pleasant aroma and taste, which are important qualities for consumer’s sensorial acceptance. However, they are highly perishable, prone to progressive undesired changes if stored untreated, resulting in around 25% postharvest losses, which is further increased during storage and transportation. An alternative for reducing the above-mentioned undesired changes is the dehydration of the cut fruit, which reduce the fruit water activity, thereby avoiding the deteriorative process and extending the shelf-life. This study investigates the effect of dehydration at different temperatures (50, 60 and 70°C) on drying kinetics and volatile compounds of two cultivars (Keitt and Osteen) of mango fruits cultivated in Sicily. Significant losses of volatile constituents of fresh mango occurred at higher temperature, especially for the Osteen cultivar. A diffusion model including the effect of shrinkage is also proposed, which may be used to describe drying behaviour of fruits and to define the optimal drying conditions.. Experimental data of the moisture ratio during drying were well predicted by the model
Applications of physical methods in high-frequency futures markets
In the present work we demonstrate the application of different physical
methods to high-frequency or tick-by-tick financial time series data. In
particular, we calculate the Hurst exponent and inverse statistics for the
price time series taken from a range of futures indices. Additionally, we show
that in a limit order book the relaxation times of an imbalanced book state
with more demand or supply can be described by stretched exponential laws
analogous to those seen in many physical systems.Comment: 14 Pages and 10 figures. Proceeding to the SPIE conference, 4 - 7
December 2007 Australian National Univ. Canberra, ACT, Australi
Ideal, Defective, and Gold--Promoted Rutile TiO2(110) Surfaces: Structures, Energies, Dynamics, and Thermodynamics from PBE+U
Extensive first principles calculations are carried out to investigate
gold-promoted TiO2(110) surfaces in terms of structure optimizations,
electronic structure analyses, ab initio thermodynamics calculations of surface
phase diagrams, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. All computations
rely on density functional theory in the generalized gradient approximation
(PBE) and account for on-site Coulomb interactions via inclusion of a Hubbard
correction, PBE+U, where U is computed from linear response theory. This
approach is validated by investigating the interaction between TiO2(110)
surfaces and typical probe species (H, H2O, CO). Relaxed structures and binding
energies are compared to both data from the literature and plain PBE results.
The main focus of the study is on the properties of gold-promoted titania
surfaces and their interactions with CO. Both PBE+U and PBE optimized
structures of Au adatoms adsorbed on stoichiometric and reduced TiO2 surfaces
are computed, along with their electronic structure. The charge rearrangement
induced by the adsorbates at the metal/oxide contact are also analyzed and
discussed. By performing PBE+U ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, it is
demonstrated that the diffusion of Au adatoms on the stoichiometric surface is
highly anisotropic. The metal atoms migrate either along the top of the
bridging oxygen rows, or around the area between these rows, from one bridging
position to the next along the [001] direction. Approximate ab initio
thermodynamics predicts that under O-rich conditions, structures obtained by
substituting a Ti5c atom with an Au atom are thermodynamically stable over a
wide range of temperatures and pressures.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
HII Region Ionization of the Interstellar Medium: A Case Study of NGC 7538
Using data from the Green Bank Telescope, we analyze the radio continuum
(free-free) and radio recombination line (RRL) emission of the compact HII
region NGC 7538 (Sharpless 158). We detect extended radio continuum and
hydrogen RRL emission beyond the photodissociation region (PDR) toward the
north and east, but a sharp decrease in emission toward the south and west.
This indicates that a non-uniform PDR morphology is affecting the amount of
radiation "leaking" through the PDR. The strongest carbon RRL emission is found
in the western PDR that appears to be dense. We compute a leaking fraction % of the radio continuum emission measured in the plane of the sky
which represents a lower limit when accounting for the three-dimensional
geometry of the region. We detect an average
abundance ratio by number of inside the HII region and a
decrease in this ratio with increasing distance from the region beyond the PDR.
Using Herschel Space Observatory data, we show that small dust temperature
enhancements to the north and east of NGC 7538 coincide with extended radio
emission, but that the dust temperature enhancements are mostly contained
within a second PDR to the east. Unlike the giant HII region W43, the radiation
leaking from NGC 7538 seems to only affect the local ambient medium. This
suggests that giant HII regions may have a large effect in maintaining the
ionization of the interstellar medium.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (15 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables
- …