1,996 research outputs found
Direct Detection of Galactic Halo Dark Matter
The Milky Way Galaxy contains a large, spherical component which is believed
to harbor a substantial amount of unseen matter. Recent observations indirectly
suggest that as much as half of this ``dark matter'' may be in the form of old,
very cool white dwarfs, the remnants of an ancient population of stars as old
as the Galaxy itself. We conducted a survey to find faint, cool white dwarfs
with large space velocities, indicative of their membership in the Galaxy's
spherical halo component. The survey reveals a substantial, directly observed
population of old white dwarfs, too faint to be seen in previous surveys. This
newly discovered population accounts for at least 2% of the halo dark matter.
It provides a natural explanation for the indirect observations, and represents
a direct detection of Galactic halo dark matter.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Note added after Science Express online
publication: This text reflects the correction of a few typographical errors
in the online version of the table. It also includes the new constraint on
the calculation of d_max which accounts for the fact that the survey could
not have detected stars with proper motions below 0.33 arcseconds per year.
Published online at ScienceExpress www.sciencemag.org 22 March 2001;
10.1126/science.1059954; To appear in Science 27 April 200
Monte Carlo simulation for statistical mechanics model of ion channel cooperativity in cell membranes
Voltage-gated ion channels are key molecules for the generation and
propagation of electrical signals in excitable cell membranes. The
voltage-dependent switching of these channels between conducting and
nonconducting states is a major factor in controlling the transmembrane
voltage. In this study, a statistical mechanics model of these molecules has
been discussed on the basis of a two-dimensional spin model. A new Hamiltonian
and a new Monte Carlo simulation algorithm are introduced to simulate such a
model. It was shown that the results well match the experimental data obtained
from batrachotoxin-modified sodium channels in the squid giant axon using the
cut-open axon technique.Comment: Paper has been revise
Kinetic models of ion transport through a nanopore
Kinetic equations for the stationary state distribution function of ions
moving through narrow pores are solved for a number of one-dimensional models
of single ion transport. Ions move through pores of length , under the
action of a constant external field and of a concentration gradient. The
interaction of single ions with the confining pore surface and with water
molecules inside the pore are modelled by a Fokker-Planck term in the kinetic
equation, or by uncorrelated collisions with thermalizing centres distributed
along the pore. The temporary binding of ions to polar residues lining the pore
is modelled by stopping traps or energy barriers. Analytic expressions for the
stationary ion current through the pore are derived for several versions of the
model, as functions of key physical parameters. In all cases, saturation of the
current at high fields is predicted. Such simple models, for which results are
analytic, may prove useful in the study of the current/voltage relations of ion
channels through membranes
WD0837+185:the formation and evolution of an extreme mass ratio white dwarf-brown dwarf binary in Praesepe
There is a striking and unexplained dearth of brown dwarf companions in close
orbits (< 3AU) around stars more massive than the Sun, in stark contrast to the
frequency of stellar and planetary companions. Although rare and relatively
short-lived, these systems leave detectable evolutionary end points in the form
of white dwarf - brown dwarf binaries and these remnants can offer unique
insights into the births and deaths of their parent systems. We present the
discovery of a close (orbital separation ~ 0.006 AU) substellar companion to a
massive white dwarf member of the Praesepe star cluster. Using the cluster age
and the mass of the white dwarf we constrain the mass of the white dwarf
progenitor star to lie in the range 3.5 - 3.7 Msun (B9). The high mass of the
white dwarf means the substellar companion must have been engulfed by the B
star's envelope while it was on the late asymptotic giant branch (AGB). Hence,
the initial separation of the system was ~2 AU, with common envelope evolution
reducing the separation to its current value. The initial and final orbital
separations allow us to constrain the combination of the common envelope
efficiency (alpha) and binding energy parameters (lambda) for the AGB star to
alpha lambda ~3. We examine the various formation scenarios and conclude that
the substellar object was most likely to have been captured by the white dwarf
progenitor early in the life of the cluster, rather than forming in situ.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
A photometric and astrometric investigation of the brown dwarfs in Blanco 1
We present the results of a photometric and astrometric study of the low mass
stellar and substellar population of the young open cluster Blanco 1. We have
exploited J band data, obtained recently with the Wide Field Camera (WFCAM) on
the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope (UKIRT), and 10 year old I and z band
optical imaging from CFH12k and Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), to
identify 44 candidate low mass stellar and substellar members, in an area of 2
sq. degrees, on the basis of their colours and proper motions. This sample
includes five sources which are newly discovered. We also confirm the lowest
mass candidate member of Blanco 1 unearthed so far (29MJup). We determine the
cluster mass function to have a slope of alpha=+0.93, assuming it to have a
power law form. This is high, but nearly consistent with previous studies of
the cluster (to within the errors), and also that of its much better studied
northern hemisphere analogue, the Pleiades.Comment: 8 Pages, 5 Figures, 2 Tables and 1 Appendix. Accepted for publication
in MNRA
Capacitance fluctuations causing channel noise reduction in stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley systems
Voltage-dependent ion channels determine the electric properties of axonal
cell membranes. They not only allow the passage of ions through the cell
membrane but also contribute to an additional charging of the cell membrane
resulting in the so-called capacitance loading. The switching of the channel
gates between an open and a closed configuration is intrinsically related to
the movement of gating charge within the cell membrane. At the beginning of an
action potential the transient gating current is opposite to the direction of
the current of sodium ions through the membrane. Therefore, the excitability is
expected to become reduced due to the influence of a gating current. Our
stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley like modeling takes into account both the channel
noise -- i.e. the fluctuations of the number of open ion channels -- and the
capacitance fluctuations that result from the dynamics of the gating charge. We
investigate the spiking dynamics of membrane patches of variable size and
analyze the statistics of the spontaneous spiking. As a main result, we find
that the gating currents yield a drastic reduction of the spontaneous spiking
rate for sufficiently large ion channel clusters. Consequently, this
demonstrates a prominent mechanism for channel noise reduction.Comment: 18 page
Stochastic resonance as a collective property of ion channel assemblies
By use of a stochastic generalization of the Hodgkin-Huxley model we
investigate both the phenomena of stochastic resonance (SR) and coherence
resonance (CR) in variable size patches of an excitable cell membrane. Our
focus is on the challenge how internal noise stemming from individual ion
channels does affect collective properties of the whole ensemble. We
investigate both an unperturbed situation with no applied stimuli and one in
which the membrane is stimulated externally by a periodic signal and additional
external noise. For the nondriven case, we demonstrate the existence of an
optimal size of the membrane patch for which the internal noise causes a most
regular spike activity. This phenomenon shall be termed intrinsic CR. In
presence of an applied periodic stimulus we demonstrate that the
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) exhibits SR vs. decreasing patch size, or vs.
increasing internal noise strength, respectively. Moreover, we demonstrate that
conventional SR vs. the external noise intensity occurs only for sufficiently
large membrane patches, when the intensity of internal noise is below its
optimal level. Thus, biological SR seemingly is rooted in the collective
properties of large ion channel ensembles rather than in the individual
stochastic dynamics of single ion channels.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Measuring the vertical age structure of the Galactic disc using asteroseismology and SAGA
The existence of a vertical age gradient in the Milky Way disc has been
indirectly known for long. Here, we measure it directly for the first time with
seismic ages, using red giants observed by Kepler. We use Stroemgren photometry
to gauge the selection function of asteroseismic targets, and derive colour and
magnitude limits where giants with measured oscillations are representative of
the underlying population in the field. Limits in the 2MASS system are also
derived. We lay out a method to assess and correct for target selection effects
independent of Galaxy models. We find that low mass, i.e. old red giants
dominate at increasing Galactic heights, whereas closer to the Galactic plane
they exhibit a wide range of ages and metallicities. Parametrizing this as a
vertical gradient returns approximately 4 Gyr/kpc for the disc we probe,
although with a large dispersion of ages at all heights. The ages of stars show
a smooth distribution over the last 10 Gyr, consistent with a mostly quiescent
evolution for the Milky Way disc since a redshift of about 2. We also find a
flat age-metallicity relation for disc stars. Finally, we show how to use
secondary clump stars to estimate the present-day intrinsic metallicity spread,
and suggest using their number count as a new proxy for tracing the ageing of
the disc. This work highlights the power of asteroseismology for Galactic
studies; however, we also emphasize the need for better constraints on stellar
mass-loss, which is a major source of systematic age uncertainties in red giant
stars.Comment: MNRAS, accepted. SAGA website and data at
http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/saga/data_access.htm
- …