9,134 research outputs found
The Dog on the Ship: The "Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy" as an Outlying Part of the Argo Star System
Overdensities in the distribution of low latitude, 2MASS giant stars are
revealed by systematically peeling away from sky maps the bulk of the giant
stars conforming to ``isotropic'' density laws generally accounting for known
Milky Way components. This procedure, combined with a higher resolution
treatment of the sky density of both giants and dust allows us to probe to
lower Galactic latitudes than previous 2MASS giant star studies. While the
results show the swath of excess giants previously associated with the
Monoceros ring system in the second and third Galactic quadrants at distances
of 6-20 kpc, we also find a several times larger overdensity of giants in the
same distance range concentrated in the direction of the ancient constellation
Argo. Isodensity contours of the large structure suggest that it is highly
elongated and inclined by about 3 deg to the disk, although details of the
structure -- including the actual location of highest density, overall extent,
true shape -- and its origin, remain unknown because only a fraction of it lies
outside highly dust-obscured, low latitude regions. Nevertheless, our results
suggest that the 2MASS M giant overdensity previously claimed to represent the
core of a dwarf galaxy in Canis Major (l ~ 240 deg) is an artifact of a dust
extinction window opening to the overall density rise to the more significant
Argo structure centered at larger longitude (l ~ 290 +- 10 deg, b ~ -4 +- 2
deg).Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
The Enigma of the Dark Matter
One of the great scientific enigmas still unsolved, the existence of dark
matter, is reviewed. Simple gravitational arguments imply that most of the mass
in the Universe, at least 90%, is some (unknown) non-luminous matter. Some
particle candidates for dark matter are discussed with particular emphasis on
the neutralino, a particle predicted by the supersymmetric extension of the
Standard Model of particle physics. Experiments searching for these relic
particles, carried out by many groups around the world, are also discussed.
These experiments are becoming more sensitive every year and in fact one of the
collaborations claims that the first direct evidence for dark matter has
already been observed.Comment: Invited review article for the journal Contemporary Physics. The
level is suitable for researchers which are non-specialists in the subject,
and also for students. Latex, 20 pages, 5 figure
Absorbing states and elastic interfaces in random media: two equivalent descriptions of self-organized criticality
We elucidate a long-standing puzzle about the non-equilibrium universality
classes describing self-organized criticality in sandpile models. We show that
depinning transitions of linear interfaces in random media and absorbing phase
transitions (with a conserved non-diffusive field) are two equivalent languages
to describe sandpile criticality. This is so despite the fact that local
roughening properties can be radically different in the two pictures, as
explained here. Experimental implications of our work as well as promising
paths for future theoretical investigations are also discussed.Comment: 4 pages. 2 Figure
Langevin theory of absorbing phase transitions with a conserved magnitude
The recently proposed Langevin equation, aimed to capture the relevant
critical features of stochastic sandpiles, and other self-organizing systems is
studied numerically. This equation is similar to the Reggeon field theory,
describing generic systems with absorbing states, but it is coupled linearly to
a second conserved and static (non-diffusive) field. It has been claimed to
represent a new universality class, including different discrete models: the
Manna as well as other sandpiles, reaction-diffusion systems, etc. In order to
integrate the equation, and surpass the difficulties associated with its
singular noise, we follow a numerical technique introduced by Dickman. Our
results coincide remarkably well with those of discrete models claimed to
belong to this universality class, in one, two, and three dimensions. This
provides a strong backing for the Langevin theory of stochastic sandpiles, and
to the very existence of this new, yet meagerly understood, universality class.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figs, submitted to PR
Understanding the Observed Evolution of the Galaxy Luminosity Function from z=6-10 in the Context of Hierarchical Structure Formation
Recent observations of the Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) luminosity function (LF)
from z~6-10 show a steep decline in abundance with increasing redshift.
However, the LF is a convolution of the mass function of dark matter halos
(HMF)--which also declines sharply over this redshift range--and the
galaxy-formation physics that maps halo mass to galaxy luminosity. We consider
the strong observed evolution in the LF from z~6-10 in this context and
determine whether it can be explained solely by the behavior of the HMF. From
z~6-8, we find a residual change in the physics of galaxy formation
corresponding to a ~0.5 dex increase in the average luminosity of a halo of
fixed mass. On the other hand, our analysis of recent LF measurements at z~10
shows that the paucity of detected galaxies is consistent with almost no change
in the average luminosity at fixed halo mass from z~8. The LF slope also
constrains the variation about this mean such that the luminosity of galaxies
hosted by halos of the same mass are all within about an order-of-magnitude of
each other. We show that these results are well-described by a simple model of
galaxy formation in which cold-flow accretion is balanced by star formation and
momentum-driven outflows. If galaxy formation proceeds in halos with masses
down to 10^8 Msun, then such a model predicts that LBGs at z~10 should be able
to maintain an ionized intergalactic medium as long as the ratio of the
clumping factor to the ionizing escape fraction is C/f_esc < 10.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures; results unchanged; accepted by JCA
On the nature of the near-UV extended light in Seyfert galaxies
We study the nature of the extended near-UV emission in the inner kiloparsec
of a sample of 15 Seyfert galaxies which have both near-UV (F330W) and narrow
band [OIII] high resolution Hubble images. For the majority of the objects we
find a very similar morphology in both bands. From the [OIII] images we
construct synthetic images of the nebular continuum plus the emission line
contribution expected through the F330W filter, which can be subtracted from
the F330W images. We find that the emission of the ionised gas dominates the
near-UV extended emission in half of the objects. A further broad band
photometric study, in the bands F330W (U), F547M (V) and F160W (H), shows that
the remaining emission is dominated by the underlying galactic bulge
contribution. We also find a blue component whose nature is not clear in 4 out
of 15 objects. This component may be attributed to scattered light from the
AGN, to a young stellar population in unresolved star clusters, or to
early-disrupted clusters. Star forming regions and/or bright off-nuclear star
clusters are observed in 4/15 galaxies of the sample.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables; accepted for publication in MNRA
Electronic and phononic properties of the chalcopyrite CuGaS2
The availability of ab initio electronic calculations and the concomitant
techniques for deriving the corresponding lattice dynamics have been profusely
used for calculating thermodynamic and vibrational properties of
semiconductors, as well as their dependence on isotopic masses. The latter have
been compared with experimental data for elemental and binary semiconductors
with different isotopic compositions. Here we present theoretical and
experimental data for several vibronic and thermodynamic properties of CuGa2, a
canonical ternary semiconductor of the chalcopyrite family. Among these
properties are the lattice parameters, the phonon dispersion relations and
densities of states (projected on the Cu, Ga, and S constituents), the specific
heat and the volume thermal expansion coefficient. The calculations were
performed with the ABINIT and VASP codes within the LDA approximation for
exchange and correlation and the results are compared with data obtained on
samples with the natural isotope composition for Cu, Ga and S, as well as for
isotope enriched samples.Comment: 9 pages, 8 Figures, submitted to Phys. Rev
Caracterização e comparação florĂstica em remanescentes de florestas de várzea adjacentes aos rios Amazonas e Pará.
Florestas inundadas, ou conhecidas por Florestas de várzea sĂŁo formações florestais sujeitas a inundações periĂłdicas associadas aos rios. Apresentam um nĂşmero reduzido de espĂ©cies comparando a florestas de terra firme, essa menor diversidade de espĂ©cies se deve a adaptabilidade necessária pelas plantas para os perĂodos de inundação. As áreas de estudo estĂŁo localizadas adjacentes ao rio Pará (Ilha Paulista, Curralinho e Breves) e rio Amazonas (Ilha das Cinzas, Ilha do Pará, Ilha Pequena e Ilha TurĂ©), foram realizadas coletas em 24 parcelas (50mx100m ) distribuĂdas nos sete sĂtios, onde todas as árvores e palmeiras com DAP ?10cm foram medidas. Foram realizadas análises a partir de planilhas geradas pelo programa MFT e Microsoft Excel, foram utilizados os seguintes Ăndices: Valor de Cobertura (IVC), diversidade de Shannon & Wienner (H?), Equabilidade de Pilou (J?) e Similaridade de Bray-Curtis (Magurran, 1988). Um pequeno grupo de nove espĂ©cies acumulou mais de 60% do IVC, Ă© importante ressaltar que no ranking das cinco espĂ©cies dominantes, trĂŞs sĂŁo palmeiras, e acumularam um quarto do IVC florestal. A espĂ©cie Euterpe oleracea foi uma das mais abundantes e freqĂĽentes em todos os sĂtios amostrados. A riqueza e diversidade de espĂ©cies entre os sĂtios amostrados indicam importante variação na composição florĂstica, o que resultou na baixa similaridade entre os remanescentes de floresta de várzea. Contudo, essa dissimilaridade Ă© maior se comparado os remanescentes entre as bacias dos dois rios (Amazonas e Pará)
Genetic algorithm optimization of entanglement
We present an application of a genetic algorithmic computational method to
the optimization of the concurrence measure of entanglement for the cases of
one dimensional chains, as well as square and triangular lattices in a simple
tight-binding approach in which the hopping of electrons is much stronger than
the phonon dissipationComment: 26 pages with 13 figures, based on Chapter 3 of the Master thesis of
the first author defended at IPICyT, San Luis Potosi, Mx, on 22nd of February
2006, similar to the published version [Fig. 5 left out but contains the
Appendix figure
Sticky grains do not change the universality class of isotropic sandpiles
We revisit the sandpile model with ``sticky'' grains introduced by Mohanty
and Dhar [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 89}, 104303 (2002)] whose scaling properties
were claimed to be in the universality class of directed percolation for both
isotropic and directed models. Simulations in the so-called fixed-energy
ensemble show that this conclusion is not valid for isotropic sandpiles and
that this model shares the same critical properties of other stochastic
sandpiles, such as the Manna model. %as expected from the existence of an extra
%conservation-law, absent in directed percolation. These results are
strengthened by the analysis of the Langevin equations proposed by the same
authors to account for this problem which we show to converge, upon
coarse-graining, to the well-established set of Langevin equations for the
Manna class. Therefore, the presence of a conservation law keeps isotropic
sandpiles, with or without stickiness, away from the directed percolation
class.Comment: 4 pages. 3 Figures. Subm. to PR
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