The Calcium Triplet metallicity calibration for galactic bulge stars

We present a new calibration of the Calcium II Triplet equivalent widths versus [Fe/H], constructed upon K giant stars in the Galactic bulge. This calibration will be used to derive iron abundances for the targets of the GIBS survey, and in general it is especially suited for solar and supersolar metallicity giants, typical of external massive galaxies. About 150 bulge K giants were observed with the GIRAFFE spectrograph at VLT, both at resolution R~20,000 and at R~6,000. In the first case, the spectra allowed us to perform direct determination of Fe abundances from several unblended Fe lines, deriving what we call here high resolution [Fe/H] measurements. The low resolution spectra allowed us to measure equivalent widths of the two strongest lines of the near infrared Calcium II triplet at 8542 and 8662 A. By comparing the two measurements we derived a relation between Calcium equivalent widths and [Fe/H] that is linear over the metallicity range probed here, -1<[Fe/H]<+0.7. By adding a small second order correction, based on literature globular cluster data, we derived the unique calibration equation [Fe/H]$_{CaT} = -3.150 + 0.432W' + 0.006W'^2$, with a rms dispersion of 0.197 dex, valid across the whole metallicity range -2.3<[Fe/H]<+0.7.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Effective gravity from a quantum gauge theory in Euclidean space-time

We consider a $SO(d)$ gauge theory in an Euclidean $d$-dimensional space-time, which is known to be renormalizable to all orders in perturbation theory for $2\le{d}\le4$. Then, with the help of a space-time representation of the gauge group, the gauge theory is mapped into a curved space-time with linear connection. Further, in that mapping the gauge field plays the role of the linear connection of the curved space-time and an effective metric tensor arises naturally from the mapping. The obtained action, being quadratic in the Riemann-Christoffel tensor, at a first sight, spoils a gravity interpretation of the model. Thus, we provide a sketch of a mechanism that breaks the $SO(d)$ color invariance and generates the Einstein-Hilbert term, as well as a cosmological constant term, allowing an interpretation of the model as a modified gravity in the Palatini formalism. In that sense, gravity can be visualized as an effective classical theory, originated from a well defined quantum gauge theory. We also show that, in the four dimensional case, two possibilities for particular solutions of the field equations are the de Sitter and Anti de Sitter space-times.Comment: 20 pages; Final version accepted for publication in Class.Quant.Gra

Electrostatic Decay of Plasma Turbulence

The study of the evolution of a suprathermal electron beam traveling through a background plasma is relevant for the physics of solar flares and their associated type III solar radio bursts. As they evolve guided by the coronal magnetic field-lines, these beams generate Langmuir turbulence. The beam-generated turbulence is in turn responsible for the emission of radio photons at the second harmonic of the local plasma frequency, which are observed during type III solar radio bursts. To generate the radio emission, the beam-aligned Langmuir waves must coalesce, and therefore a process capable of re-directioning the turbulence in an effective fashion is required. Different theoretical models identify the electrostatic (ES) decay process L1 -> L2 + S (L: Langmuir wave; S: Ion-acoustic wave) as the re-directioning mechanism for the L waves. Two different regimes have been proposed to play a key role: the back-scattering and the diffusive (small angle) scattering. This paper is a comparative analysis of the decay rate of the ES decay for each regime, and of the different observable characteristics that are expected for the resulting ion-acoustic waves.Comment: 14 pages, 8 Figures. AAS LaTeX Macros v5.0. To appear in The Astrophysical Journa

Geometric and Bayesian models for safe navigation in dynamic environments

Autonomous navigation in open and dynamic environments is an important challenge, requiring to solve several difficult research problems located on the cutting edge of the state of the art. Basically, these problems may be classified into three main categories: (a) SLAM in dynamic environments; (b) detection, characterization, and behavior prediction of the potential moving obstacles; and (c) online motion planning and safe navigation decision based on world state predictions. This paper addresses some aspects of these problems and presents our latest approaches and results. The solutions we have implemented are mainly based on the followings paradigms: multiscale world representation of static obstacles based on the wavelet occupancy grid; adaptative clustering for moving obstacle detection inspired on Kohonen networks and the growing neural gas algorithm; and characterization and motion prediction of the observed moving entities using Hidden Markov Models coupled with a novel algorithm for structure and parameter learnin

Hybrid Simulation-Measurement Calibration Technique for Microwave Imaging Systems

This paper proposes an innovative technique to calibrate microwave imaging (MWI) systems combining available measured data with simulated synthetic ones. The introduced technique aims to compensate the variations of the antenna array due to unavoidable manufacturing tolerances and placement, in comparison to the nominal electromagnetic (EM) scenario. The scheme is tested virtually and experimentally for the MWI of the adult human head tissues. The virtual EM analysis uses a realistic 3-D CAD model working together with a full-wave software, based on the finite element method. Meanwhile, the real implementation employs a single-cavity anthropomorphic head phantom and a custom brick-shaped antenna array working at around 1 GHz

Moving Forward to Real-time Imaging-based Monitoring of Cerebrovascular Diseases Using a Microwave Device: Numerical and Experimental Validation

This paper introduces a numerical and experimental assessment of the microwave device capabilities to perform continuous real-time imaging-based monitoring of a brain stroke, exploiting a differential measuring scheme of the scattering matrices and the distorted Born approximation. The device works around 1 GHz and consists of a low-complexity 22-antenna-array composed of custom-made wearable elements. The imaging kernel is built using an average-head reference scenario computed off-line via accurate numerical models and an in-house finite element method electromagnetic solver. The validation follows the progression of emulated evolving hemorrhagic stroke condition, including tests with both an average single-tissue head model and a multi-tissue one in the numerical part and the average scenario in the experimental one. The results show the system's capacity to localize and track the shape changes of the stroke-affected area in all studied cases

The Giraffe Inner Bulge Survey (GIBS) II. Metallicity distributions and alpha element abundances at fixed Galactic latitude

High resolution (R$\sim$22,500) spectra for 400 red clump giants, in four fields within $\rm -4.8^{\circ} \lesssim b \lesssim -3.4^{\circ}$ and $\rm -10^{\circ} \lesssim l \lesssim +10^{\circ}$, were obtained within the GIRAFFE Inner Bulge Survey (GIBS) project. To this sample we added another $\sim$ 400 stars in Baade's Window, observed with the identical instrumental configuration. We constructed the metallicity distributions for the entire sample, as well as for each field individually, in order to investigate the presence of gradients or field-to-field variations in the shape of the distributions. The metallicity distributions in the five fields are consistent with being drawn from a single parent population, indicating the absence of a gradient along the major axis of the Galactic bar. The global metallicity distribution is well fitted by two Gaussians. The metal poor component is rather broad, with a mean at $\rm =-0.31$ dex and $\sigma=0.31$ dex. The metal-rich one is narrower, with mean $\rm =+0.26$ and $\sigma=0.2$ dex. The [Mg/Fe] ratio follows a tight trend with [Fe/H], with enhancement with respect to solar in the metal-poor regime, similar to the one observed for giant stars in the local thick disc. [Ca/Fe] abundances follow a similar trend, but with a considerably larger scatter than [Mg/Fe]. A decrease in [Mg/Fe] is observed at $\rm [Fe/H]=-0.44$ dex. This \textit{knee} is in agreement with our previous bulge study of K-giants along the minor axis, but is 0.1 dex lower in metallicity than the one reported for the Bulge micro lensed dwarf and sub-giant stars. We found no variation in $\alpha$-element abundance distributions between different fields.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Hybrid imaging kernel calibration applied on microwave scanner for brain stroke monitoring

This paper validates a calibration procedure applied on a microwave imaging (MWI) kernel based on the combination of pre-computed simulated data and available S-parameters measurements. The assessed technique compensates for the image degradation caused by mild and non-modeled features of the imaging device, such as the unavoidable manufacturing discrepancies in the antenna array. The testing considers a synthetically mimicked experimental scenario of a hemorrhagic stroke condition and a realistic scanner prototype. This approach allows a thorough comparative assessment of the calibration effect on the electric field estimation used by the MWI algorithm, hardly achievable with measurements. The results show the capability of the calibration procedure to reduce the retrieved images’ distortions and artifacts compared to the non-calibrated approach, being an essential milestone toward its application in real-life scenarios