4,096 research outputs found
White Dwarfs In Ngc6397 And M4: Constraints On The Physics Of Crystallization
We explore the physics of crystallization in the dense Coulomb plasma of the deep interiors of white dwarf stars using the color-magnitude diagram and luminosity function constructed from Hubble Space Telescope photometry of the globular cluster M 4 and compare it with our results for proper motion cleaned Hubble Space Telescope photometry of the globular cluster NGC 6397. We demonstrate that the data are consistent with a binary mixture of carbon and oxygen crystallizing at a value of Gamma higher than the theoretical value for a One Component Plasma (OCP). We show that this result is in line with the latest Molecular Dynamics simulations for binary mixtures of C/O. We discuss implications for future work.Astronom
Optimal rotations of deformable bodies and orbits in magnetic fields
Deformations can induce rotation with zero angular momentum where dissipation
is a natural ``cost function''. This gives rise to an optimization problem of
finding the most effective rotation with zero angular momentum. For certain
plastic and viscous media in two dimensions the optimal path is the orbit of a
charged particle on a surface of constant negative curvature with magnetic
field whose total flux is half a quantum unit.Comment: 4 pages revtex, 4 figures + animation in multiframe GIF forma
Re-defining the Empirical ZZ Ceti Instability Strip
We use the new ZZ Ceti stars (hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf variables;
DAVs) discovered within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Mukadam et al. 2004) to
re-define the empirical ZZ Ceti instability strip. This is the first time since
the discovery of white dwarf variables in 1968 that we have a homogeneous set
of spectra acquired using the same instrument on the same telescope, and with
consistent data reductions, for a statistically significant sample of ZZ Ceti
stars. The homogeneity of the spectra reduces the scatter in the spectroscopic
temperatures and we find a narrow instability strip of width ~950K, from
10850--11800K. We question the purity of the DAV instability strip as we find
several non-variables within. We present our best fit for the red edge and our
constraint for the blue edge of the instability strip, determined using a
statistical approach.Comment: 14 pages, 5 pages, ApJ paper, accepte
Hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic computations inside a rotating sphere
Numerical solutions of the incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations
are reported for the interior of a rotating, perfectly-conducting, rigid
spherical shell that is insulator-coated on the inside. A previously-reported
spectral method is used which relies on a Galerkin expansion in
Chandrasekhar-Kendall vector eigenfunctions of the curl. The new ingredient in
this set of computations is the rigid rotation of the sphere. After a few
purely hydrodynamic examples are sampled (spin down, Ekman pumping, inertial
waves), attention is focused on selective decay and the MHD dynamo problem. In
dynamo runs, prescribed mechanical forcing excites a persistent velocity field,
usually turbulent at modest Reynolds numbers, which in turn amplifies a small
seed magnetic field that is introduced. A wide variety of dynamo activity is
observed, all at unit magnetic Prandtl number. The code lacks the resolution to
probe high Reynolds numbers, but nevertheless interesting dynamo regimes turn
out to be plentiful in those parts of parameter space in which the code is
accurate. The key control parameters seem to be mechanical and magnetic
Reynolds numbers, the Rossby and Ekman numbers (which in our computations are
varied mostly by varying the rate of rotation of the sphere) and the amount of
mechanical helicity injected. Magnetic energy levels and magnetic dipole
behavior are exhibited which fluctuate strongly on a time scale of a few eddy
turnover times. These seem to stabilize as the rotation rate is increased until
the limit of the code resolution is reached.Comment: 26 pages, 17 figures, submitted to New Journal of Physic
Semiclassical form factor for chaotic systems with spin 1/2
We study the properties of the two-point spectral form factor for classically
chaotic systems with spin 1/2 in the semiclassical limit, with a suitable
semiclassical trace formula as our principal tool. To this end we introduce a
regularized form factor and discuss the limit in which the so-called diagonal
approximation can be recovered. The incorporation of the spin contribution to
the trace formula requires an appropriate variant of the equidistribution
principle of long periodic orbits as well as the notion of a skew product of
the classical translational and spin dynamics. Provided this skew product is
mixing, we show that generically the diagonal approximation of the form factor
coincides with the respective predictions from random matrix theory.Comment: 20 pages, no figure
Orbitally Driven Spin Pairing in the 3D Non-Magnetic Mott Insulator BaVS3: Evidence from Single Crystal Studies
Static electrical and magnetic properties of single crystal BaVS_3 were
measured over the structural (T_S=240K), metal-insulator (T_MI=69K), and
suspected orbital ordering (T_X=30K) transitions. The resistivity is almost
isotropic both in the metallic and insulating states. An anomaly in the
magnetic anisotropy at T_X signals a phase transition to an ordered low-T
state. The results are interpreted in terms of orbital ordering and spin
pairing within the lowest crystal field quasi-doublet. The disordered insulator
at T_X<T<T_MI is described as a classical liquid of non-magnetic pairs.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, revtex, epsf, and multicol style. Problem with
figures fixed. To appear in Phys. Rev. B Rap. Com
Pauli graphs, Riemann hypothesis, Goldbach pairs
Let consider the Pauli group with unitary quantum
generators (shift) and (clock) acting on the vectors of the
-dimensional Hilbert space via and , with
. It has been found that the number of maximal mutually
commuting sets within is controlled by the Dedekind psi
function (with a prime)
\cite{Planat2011} and that there exists a specific inequality , involving the Euler constant , that is only satisfied at specific low dimensions . The set is closely related to
the set of integers that are totally Goldbach, i.e.
that consist of all primes ) is equivalent to Riemann hypothesis.
Introducing the Hardy-Littlewood function (with the twin prime constant),
that is used for estimating the number of
Goldbach pairs, one shows that the new inequality is also equivalent to Riemann hypothesis. In this paper,
these number theoretical properties are discusssed in the context of the qudit
commutation structure.Comment: 11 page
Search for radial velocity variations in eight M-dwarfs with NIRSPEC/Keck II
Context. Radial velocity (RV) measurements from near-infrared spectra have
become a potentially powerful tool to search for planets around cool stars and
sub-stellar objects. As part of a large survey to characterize M-dwarfs using
NIRSPEC at Keck II, we obtained spectra of eight late M-dwarfs (spectral types
M5.0-M8.0) during two or more observing epochs per target. These spectra were
taken with intermediate spectral resolving powers (R \sim 20,000) in the
J-band.
Aims. We search for relative radial velocity variability in these late
M-dwarfs and test the NIRSPEC capability of detecting short period brown dwarf
and massive planetary companions around low-mass stars in the J-band (\approx
1.25 micron). Additionally, we reanalyzed the data of the M8-type star vB10
(one of our targets) presented in Zapatero Osorio et al. (2009), which were
obtained with the same instrumentation as our data.
Methods. [...]
Results. For the entire M-dwarf sample, we do not find any evidence of
relative RV variations induced by a short period brown dwarf or massive
planetary companion. The typical RV precision of the measurements is between
180 and 300 m/s, which is sufficient to detect hot Neptunes around M-dwarfs.
Also, we find that the spurious RV shift in Zapatero et al. (2009) of the star
VB10 was caused by asymmetries in the instrumental profile between different
observing epochs, which were not taken into account in their analysis.Comment: A&A, 7 pages, 5 figure
On the spacing distribution of the Riemann zeros: corrections to the asymptotic result
It has been conjectured that the statistical properties of zeros of the
Riemann zeta function near z = 1/2 + \ui E tend, as , to the
distribution of eigenvalues of large random matrices from the Unitary Ensemble.
At finite numerical results show that the nearest-neighbour spacing
distribution presents deviations with respect to the conjectured asymptotic
form. We give here arguments indicating that to leading order these deviations
are the same as those of unitary random matrices of finite dimension , where is a well
defined constant.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
Paratesticular myxoid liposarcoma in a 23-year old Nigerian
Paratesticular liposarcomas are rare tumors and are usually seen in patients in middle age or older. Optimal treatment is radical orchidectomy. Radiotherapy or chemotherapy is added for advanced disease or recurrences. These practice guidelines often vary from the experience in developing countries
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