UGC 7388: a galaxy with two tidal loops

We present the results of spectroscopic and morphological studies of the galaxy UGC7388 with the 8.1-m Gemini North telescope. Judging by its observed characteristics, UGC7388 is a giant late-type spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on. The main body of the galaxy is surrounded by two faint (\mu(B) ~ 24 and \mu(B) ~ 25.5) extended (~20-30 kpc) loop-like structures. A large-scale rotation of the brighter loop about the main galaxy has been detected. We discuss the assumption that the tidal disruption of a relatively massive companion is observed in the case of UGC7388. A detailed study and modeling of the observed structure of this unique galaxy can give important information about the influence of the absorption of massive companions on the galactic disks and about the structure of the dark halo around UGC7388.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Point vortices and classical orthogonal polynomials

Stationary equilibria of point vortices with arbitrary choice of circulations in a background flow are studied. Differential equations satisfied by generating polynomials of vortex configurations are derived. It is shown that these equations can be reduced to a single one. It is found that polynomials that are Wronskians of classical orthogonal polynomials solve the latter equation. As a consequence vortex equilibria at a certain choice of background flows can be described with the help of Wronskians of classical orthogonal polynomials.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure

A Simple Analytical Model of the Angular Momentum Transformation in Strongly Focused Light Beams

A ray-optics model is proposed to describe the vector beam transformation in a strongly focusing optical system. In contrast to usual approaches basing on the focused field distribution near the focal plane, we employ the transformed beam pattern formed immediately near the exit pupil. In this cross section, details of the output field distribution are of minor physical interest but proper allowance is made for transformation of the incident beam polarization state. This enables to obtain the spin and orbital angular momentum representations which are valid everywhere in the transformed beam space. Simple analytical results are available for the transversely homogeneous circularly polarized incident beam limited only by the circular aperture. Behavior of the spin and orbital angular momenta of the output beam and their dependences on the focusing strength (aperture angle) are analyzed. The obtained analytical results are in good qualitative and reasonable quantitative agreement to the calculation performed for the spatially inhomogeneous Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian beams. In application to Laguerre-Gaussian beams, the model provides possibility for analyzing the angular momentum transformation in beams already possessing some mixture of the spin and orbital angular momenta. The model supplies efficient and physically transparent means for qualitative analysis of the spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion. It can be generalized to incident beams with complicated spatial and polarization structure.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. The paper has appeared as an attempt to clearly understand transformations of the light beam polarization in the course of strong focusing. It provides description of the optical vortex formation after focusing a circularly polarized beam and explains why the the orbital angular momentum emerges in the focused bea

Long-time discrete particle effects versus kinetic theory in the self-consistent single-wave model

The influence of the finite number N of particles coupled to a monochromatic wave in a collisionless plasma is investigated. For growth as well as damping of the wave, discrete particle numerical simulations show an N-dependent long time behavior resulting from the dynamics of individual particles. This behavior differs from the one due to the numerical errors incurred by Vlasov approaches. Trapping oscillations are crucial to long time dynamics, as the wave oscillations are controlled by the particle distribution inhomogeneities and the pulsating separatrix crossings drive the relaxation towards thermal equilibrium.Comment: 11 pages incl. 13 figs. Phys. Rev. E, in pres

Creating and studying ion acoustic waves in ultracold neutral plasmas

We excite ion acoustic waves in ultracold neutral plasmas by imprinting density modulations during plasma creation. Laser-induced fluorescence is used to observe the density and velocity perturbations created by the waves. The effect of expansion of the plasma on the evolution of the wave amplitude is described by treating the wave action as an adiabatic invariant. After accounting for this effect, we determine that the waves are weakly damped, but the damping is significantly faster than expected for Landau damping

Abelian symmetries in multi-Higgs-doublet models

N-Higgs doublet models (NHDM) are a popular framework to construct electroweak symmetry breaking mechanisms beyond the Standard model. Usually, one builds an NHDM scalar sector which is invariant under a certain symmetry group. Although several such groups have been used, no general analysis of symmetries possible in the NHDM scalar sector exists. Here, we make the first step towards this goal by classifying the elementary building blocks, namely the abelian symmetry groups, with a special emphasis on finite groups. We describe a strategy that identifies all abelian groups which are realizable as symmetry groups of the NHDM Higgs potential. We consider both the groups of Higgs-family transformations only and the groups which also contain generalized CP transformations. We illustrate this strategy with the examples of 3HDM and 4HDM and prove several statements for arbitrary N.Comment: 33 pages, 2 figures; v2: conjecture 3 is proved and becomes theorem 3, more explanations of the main strategy are added, matches the published versio

Reconstructing Words from Right-Bounded-Block Words

A reconstruction problem of words from scattered factors asks for the minimal information, like multisets of scattered factors of a given length or the number of occurrences of scattered factors from a given set, necessary to uniquely determine a word. We show that a word $w \in \{a, b\}^{*}$ can be reconstructed from the number of occurrences of at most $\min(|w|_a, |w|_b)+ 1$ scattered factors of the form $a^{i} b$. Moreover, we generalize the result to alphabets of the form $\{1,\ldots,q\}$ by showing that at most $\sum^{q-1}_{i=1} |w|_i (q-i+1)$ scattered factors suffices to reconstruct $w$. Both results improve on the upper bounds known so far. Complexity time bounds on reconstruction algorithms are also considered here

Point vortices and polynomials of the Sawada-Kotera and Kaup-Kupershmidt equations

Rational solutions and special polynomials associated with the generalized K_2 hierarchy are studied. This hierarchy is related to the Sawada-Kotera and Kaup-Kupershmidt equations and some other integrable partial differential equations including the Fordy-Gibbons equation. Differential-difference relations and differential equations satisfied by the polynomials are derived. The relationship between these special polynomials and stationary configurations of point vortices with circulations Gamma and -2Gamma is established. Properties of the polynomials are studied. Differential-difference relations enabling one to construct these polynomials explicitly are derived. Algebraic relations satisfied by the roots of the polynomials are found.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

Search for R-parity Violating Supersymmetry in Dimuon and Four-Jets Channel

We present results of a search for R-parity-violating decay of the neutralino chi_1^0, taken to be the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle. It is assumed that this decay proceeds through one of the lepton-number violating couplings lambda-prime_2jk (j=1,2; k=1,2,3). This search is based on 77.5 pb-1 of data, collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron in ppbar collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.8 TeV in 1992-1995.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure