602 research outputs found
The white dwarf in dwarf nova SDSS J080434.20+510349.2: Entering the instability strip?
SDSS J080434.20+510349.2 is the WZ type binary that displayed rare outburst
in 2006 (Pavlenko et al., 2007). During the long-lasting tail of the late stage
of the outburst binary shown the two-humped or four-humped profile of the
orbital light modulation. The amplitude of orbital light curve decreased while
the mean brightness decreased, more over that occurred 10 times faster
during the fast outburst decline in respect to the late quiet state of slow
outburst fading. There were no white dwarf pulsations detected neither 1 - 1.5
months prior to the outburst nor in 1.5 - 2 months after the 2006 outburst in
this system. However the strong non-radial pulsations with period 12.6 minutes
and mean amplitude of 0.05^m were first detected in V band with 2.6-m Shajn
mirror telescope of the Crimean astrophysical observatory in ~ 8 months after
the outburst. The evolution of pulsations over two years in 2006 - 2008 is
considered. It is supposed that pulsations first appeared when the cooling
white dwarf (after the outburst) entered the instability strip although the
possibility of temporary lack of pulsations at some occasions also could not be
excluded.Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of 16th European White Dwarf Workshop
(EUROWD08
The Abelianization of QCD Plasma Instabilities
QCD plasma instabilities appear to play an important role in the
equilibration of quark-gluon plasmas in heavy-ion collisions in the theoretical
limit of weak coupling (i.e. asymptotically high energy). It is important to
understand what non-linear physics eventually stops the exponential growth of
unstable modes. It is already known that the initial growth of plasma
instabilities in QCD closely parallels that in QED. However, once the unstable
modes of the gauge-fields grow large enough for non-Abelian interactions
between them to become important, one might guess that the dynamics of QCD
plasma instabilities and QED plasma instabilities become very different. In
this paper, we give suggestive arguments that non-Abelian self-interactions
between the unstable modes are ineffective at stopping instability growth, and
that the growing non-Abelian gauge fields become approximately Abelian after a
certain stage in their growth. This in turn suggests that understanding the
development of QCD plasma instabilities in the non-linear regime may have close
parallels to similar processes in traditional plasma physics. We conjecture
that the physics of collisionless plasma instabilities in SU(2) and SU(3) gauge
theory becomes equivalent, respectively, to (i) traditional plasma physics,
which is U(1) gauge theory, and (ii) plasma physics of U(1)x U(1) gauge theory.Comment: 36 pages; 15 figures [minor changes made to text, and new figure
added, to reflect published version
Lessons from Non-Abelian Plasma Instabilities in Two Spatial Dimensions
Plasma instabilities can play a fundamental role in quark-gluon plasma
equilibration in the high energy (weak coupling) limit. Early simulations of
the evolution of plasma instabilities in non-abelian gauge theory, performed in
one spatial dimension, found behavior qualitatively similar to traditional QED
plasmas. Later simulations of the fully three-dimensional theory found
different behavior, unlike traditional QED plasmas. To shed light on the origin
of this difference, we study the intermediate case of two spatial dimensions.
Depending on how the "two-dimensional'' theory is formulated, we can obtain
either behavior.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure
Magnetism and superconductivity at LAO/STO-interfaces: the role of Ti 3d interface electrons
Ferromagnetism and superconductivity are in most cases adverse. However,
recent experiments reveal that they coexist at interfaces of LaAlO3 and SrTiO3.
We analyze the magnetic state within density functional theory and provide
evidence that magnetism is not an intrinsic property of the two-dimensional
electron liquid at the interface. We demonstrate that the robust ferromagnetic
state is induced by the oxygen vacancies in SrTiO3- or in the LaAlO3-layer.
This allows for the notion that areas with increased density of oxygen
vacancies produce ferromagnetic puddles and account for the previous
observation of a superparamagnetic behavior in the superconducting state.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Physical Review B (Rapid
Communications
The turbulent spectrum created by non-Abelian plasma instabilities
Recent numerical work on the fate of plasma instabilities in weakly-coupled
non-Abelian gauge theory has shown the development of a cascade of energy from
long to short wavelengths. This cascade has a steady-state spectrum, analogous
to the Kolmogorov spectrum for turbulence in hydrodynamics or for energy
cascades in other systems. In this paper, we theoretically analyze processes
responsible for this cascade and find a steady-state spectrum f_k ~ k^-2, where
f_k is the phase-space density of particles with momentum k. The exponent -2 is
consistent with results from numerical simulations. We also discuss
implications of the emerging picture of instability development on the
"bottom-up" thermalization scenario for (extremely high energy) heavy ion
collisions, emphasizing fundamental questions that remain to be answered.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Oxygen vacancies at titanate interfaces: two-dimensional magnetism and orbital reconstruction
We show that oxygen vacancies at titanate interfaces induce a complex
multiorbital reconstruction which involves a lowering of the local symmetry and
an inversion of t2g and eg orbitals resulting in the occupation of the eg
orbitals of Ti atoms neighboring the O vacancy. The orbital reconstruction
depends strongly on the clustering of O vacancies and can be accompanied by a
magnetic splitting between the local eg orbitals with lobes directed towards
the vacancy and interface dxy orbitals. The reconstruction generates a
two-dimensional interface magnetic state not observed in bulk SrTiO3. Using
generalized gradient approximation (LSDA) with intra-atomic Coulomb repulsion
(GGA+U), we find that this magnetic state is common for titanate surfaces and
interfaces.Comment: 13 pages, 18 figures, to appear in Physical Review
Optical studies of the X-ray transient XTE J2123-058 -I. Photometry
We present optical photometry of the X-ray transient XTE J2123-058, obtained
in July-October 1998. The light curves are strongly modulated on the 5.95hrs
orbital period, and exhibit dramatic changes in amplitude and form during the
decline. We used synthetic models which include the effect of partial eclipses
and X-ray heating effects, to estimate the system parameters, and we constrain
the binary inclination to be i=73+-4 degrees. The model is successful in
reproducing the light curves at different stages of the decay by requiring the
accretion disc to become smaller and thinner by 30% as the system fades by 1.7
mags in the optical. From Aug 26 the system reaches quiescence with a mean
magnitude of R=21.7+-0.1 and our data are consistent with the optical
variability being dominated by the companion's ellipsoidal modulation.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Boron in Very Metal-Poor Stars
We have observed the B I 2497 A line to derive the boron abundances of two
very metal-poor stars selected to help in tracing the origin and evolution of
this element in the early Galaxy: BD +23 3130 and HD 84937. The observations
were conducted using the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph on board the
Hubble Space Telescope. A very detailed abundance analysis via spectral
synthesis has been carried out for these two stars, as well as for two other
metal-poor objects with published spectra, using both Kurucz and OSMARCS model
photospheres, and taking into account consistently the NLTE effects on the line
formation. We have also re-assessed all published boron abundances of old disk
and halo unevolved stars. Our analysis shows that the combination of high
effective temperature (Teff > 6000 K, for which boron is mainly ionized) and
low metallicity ([Fe/H]<-1) makes it difficult to obtain accurate estimates of
boron abundances from the B I 2497 A line. This is the case of HD 84937 and
three other published objects (including two stars with [Fe/H] ~ -3), for which
only upper limits can be established. BD +23 3130, with [Fe/H] ~ -2.9 and
logN(B)_NLTE=0.05+/-0.30, appears then as the most metal-poor star for which a
firm measurement of the boron abundance presently exists. The evolution of the
boron abundance with metallicity that emerges from the seven remaining stars
with Teff < 6000 K and [Fe/H]<-1, for which beryllium abundances were derived
using the same stellar parameters, shows a linear increase with a slope ~ 1.
Furthermore, the B/Be ratio found is constant at a value ~ 20 for stars in the
range -3<[Fe/H]<-1. These results point to spallation reactions of ambient
protons and alpha particles with energetic particles enriched in CNO as the
origin of boron and beryllium in halo stars.Comment: 38 pages, 11 Encapsulated Postscript figures (included), uses
aaspp4.sty. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. The
preprint is also available at: http://www.iac.es/publicaciones/preprints.htm
Modeling the spectrum of V4334 Sgr (Sakurai's Object)
Theoretical spectral energy distributions were computed for a grid of
hydrogen-deficient and carbon-rich model atmospheres of T(eff) in the range of
5000-6250 K and log g = 1.0 - 0.0 by the technique of opacity sampling, taking
into account continuous, molecular band and atomic line absorption. These
energy distributions were compared with the spectrum of V4334 Sgr (Sakurai's
object) of April, 1997 in the wavelength interval 300-1000 nm. We show that (1)
the shape of the theoretical spectra depends strongly on T(eff) but only very
weakly on the hydrogen abundance; (2) the comparison of the observed and
computed spectra permits to estimate T(eff) approximately 5500 K for V4334 Sgr
in April, 1997, and its interstellar reddening (plus a possible circumstellar
contribution) E(B-V) approximately 0.70.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, LaTeX, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic
Quasiquarks in two stream system
We study the collective quark excitations in an extremely anisotropic system
of two interpenetrating streams of the quark-gluon plasma. In contrast to the
gluon modes, all quark ones appear to be stable in such a system. Even more,
the quark modes in the two-stream system are very similar to those in the
isotropic plasma.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, minor corrections, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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