Forming first-ranked early-type galaxies through hierarchical dissipationless merging

We have developed a computationally competitive N-body model of a previrialized aggregation of galaxies in a flat LambdaCDM universe to assess the role of the multiple mergers that take place during the formation stage of such systems in the configuration of the remnants assembled at their centres. An analysis of a suite of 48 simulations of low-mass forming groups (of about 1E13 solar masses) demonstrates that the gravitational dynamics involved in their hierarchical collapse is capable of creating realistic first-ranked galaxies without the aid of dissipative processes. Our simulations indicate that the brightest group galaxies (BGGs) constitute a distinct population from other group members, sketching a scenario in which the assembly path of these objects is dictated largely by the formation of their host system. We detect significant differences in the distribution of Sersic indices and total magnitudes, as well as a luminosity gap between BGGs and the next brightest galaxy that is positively correlated with the total luminosity of the parent group. Such gaps arise from both the grow of BGGs at the expense of lesser companions and the decrease in the relevance of second-ranked objects in equal measure. This results in a dearth of intermediate-mass galaxies which explains the characteristic central dip detected in their luminosity functions in dynamically young galaxy aggregations. The fact that the basic global properties of our BGGs define a thin mass fundamental plane strikingly similar to that followed giant early-type galaxies in the local universe reinforces confidence in the results obtained.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables. Accepted to MNRA

Maximum distance separable 2D convolutional codes

Maximum distance separable (MDS) block codes and MDS 1D convolutional codes are the most robust codes for error correction within the class of block codes of a fixed rate and 1D convolutional codes of a certain rate and degree, respectively. In this paper, we generalize this concept to the class of 2D convolutional codes. For that, we introduce a natural bound on the distance of a 2D convolutional code of rate $k/n$ and degree $delta$ , which generalizes the Singleton bound for block codes and the generalized Singleton bound for 1D convolutional codes. Then, we prove the existence of 2D convolutional codes of rate $k/n$ and degree $delta$ that reach such bound when $n geq k (({(lfloor ({delta }/{k}) rfloor + 2)(lfloor ({delta }/{k}) rfloor + 3)})/{2})$ if $k {nmid } delta$ , or $n geq k (({(({delta }/{k}) + 1)(({delta }/{k}) + 2)})/{2})$ if $k mid delta$ , by presenting a concrete constructive procedure

Using adult mosquitoes to transfer insecticides to Aedes aegypti larval habitats.

Vector control is a key means of combating mosquito-borne diseases and the only tool available for tackling the transmission of dengue, a disease for which no vaccine, prophylaxis, or therapeutant currently exists. The most effective mosquito control methods include a variety of insecticidal tools that target adults or juveniles. Their successful implementation depends on impacting the largest proportion of the vector population possible. We demonstrate a control strategy that dramatically improves the efficiency with which high coverage of aquatic mosquito habitats can be achieved. The method exploits adult mosquitoes as vehicles of insecticide transfer by harnessing their fundamental behaviors to disseminate a juvenile hormone analogue (JHA) between resting and oviposition sites. A series of field trials undertaken in an Amazon city (Iquitos, Peru) showed that the placement of JHA dissemination stations in just 3-5% of the available resting area resulted in almost complete coverage of sentinel aquatic habitats. More than control mortality occurred in 95-100% of the larval cohorts of Aedes aegypti developing at those sites. Overall reductions in adult emergence of 42-98% were achieved during the trials. A deterministic simulation model predicts amplifications in coverage consistent with our observations and highlights the importance of the residual activity of the insecticide for this technique

Polarization entanglement visibility of photon pairs emitted by a quantum dot embedded in a microcavity

We study the photon emission from a quantum dot embedded in a microcavity. Incoherent pumping of its excitons and biexciton provokes the emission of leaky and cavity modes. By solving a master equation we obtain the correlation functions required to compute the spectrum and the relative efficiency among the emission of pairs and single photons. A quantum regime appears for low pumping and large rate of emission. By means of a post-selection process, a two beams experiment with different linear polarizations could be performed producing a large polarization entanglement visibility precisely in the quantum regime.Comment: 13 pages and 6 figure

Dynamics of the excitations of a quantum dot in a microcavity

We study the dynamics of a quantum dot embedded in a three-dimensional microcavity in the strong coupling regime in which the quantum dot exciton has an energy close to the frequency of a confined cavity mode. Under the continuous pumping of the system, confined electron and hole can recombine either by spontaneous emission through a leaky mode or by stimulated emission of a cavity mode that can escape from the cavity. The numerical integration of a master equation including all these effects gives the dynamics of the density matrix. By using the quantum regression theorem, we compute the first and second order coherence functions required to calculate the photon statistics and the spectrum of the emitted light. Our main result is the determination of a range of parameters in which a state of cavity modes with poissonian or sub-poissonian (non-classical) statistics can be built up within the microcavity. Depending on the relative values of pumping and rate of stimulated emission, either one or two peaks close to the excitation energy of the dot and/or to the natural frequency of the cavity are observed in the emission spectrum. The physics behind these results is discussed

The night-sky at the Calar Alto Observatory II: The sky at the near infrared

We present here the characterization of the night sky-brightness at the near-infrared, the telescope seeing, and the fraction of useful time at the Calar Alto observatory. For this study we have collected a large dataset comprising 7311 near-infrared images taken regularly along the last four years for the ALHAMBRA survey (J, H and Ks-bands), together with a more reduced dataset of additional near-infrared images taken for the current study. In addition we collected the information derived by the meteorological station at the observatory during the last 10 years, together with the results from the cloud sensor for the last ~2 years. We analyze the dependency of the near-infrared night sky-brightness with the airmass and the seasons, studying its origins and proposing a zenithal correction. A strong correlation is found between the night sky-brightness in the Ks-band and the air temperature, with a gradient of ~ -0.08 mag per 1 C degree. The typical (darkest) night sky-brightness in the J, H and Ks-band are 15.95 mag (16.95 mag), 13.99 mag (14.98 mag) and 12.39 mag (13.55 mag), respectively. These values show that Calar Alto is as dark in the near-infrared as most of the other astronomical astronomical sites in the world that we could compare with. Only Mauna Kea is clearly darker in the Ks-band. The typical telescope seeing at the 3.5m is ~1.0" when converted to the V-band, being only slightly larger than the atmospheric seeing measured at the same time by the seeing monitor, ~0.9". Finally we estimate the fraction of useful time based on the relative humidity, gust wind speed and presence of clouds. This fraction, ~72%, is very similar to the one derived in Paper I, based on the fraction of time when the extinction monitor is working.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, accepted to be published in PAS

Resonance Excitations in Be 7 (d,p) Be∗ 8 to Address the Cosmological Lithium Problem

6 pags., 5 figs., 3 tabs.The anomaly in lithium abundance is a well-known unresolved problem in nuclear astrophysics. A recent revisit to the problem tried the avenue of resonance enhancement to account for the primordial Li7 abundance in standard big-bang nucleosynthesis. Prior measurements of the Be7(d,p)Be∗8 reaction could not account for the individual contributions of the different excited states involved, particularly at higher energies close to the Q value of the reaction. We carried out an experiment at HIE-ISOLDE, CERN to study this reaction at Ec.m.=7.8 MeV, populating excitations up to 22 MeV in Be8 for the first time. The angular distributions of the several excited states have been measured and the contributions of the higher excited states in the total cross section at the relevant big-bang energies were obtained by extrapolation to the Gamow window using the talys code. The results show that by including the contribution of the 16.63 MeV state, the maximum value of the total S factor inside the Gamow window comes out to be 167 MeV b as compared to earlier estimate of 100 MeV b. However, this still does not account for the lithium discrepancy.D. G. acknowledges research funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 654002 (ENSAR2) and ISRO, Government of India under Grant No. ISRO/RES/2/378/ 15–16. O. T. would like to acknowledge the support by the Spanish Funding Agency (AEI/FEDER, EU) under the project PID2019–104390GB-I00. I. M. would like to acknowledge the support by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (Grant No. PGC2018-095640-B-I00). J. C. acknowledges grants from the Swedish Research Council (VR) under Contracts No. VR-2017-00637 and No. VR-2017-03986 as well as grants from the Royal Physiographical Society. J. P. would like to acknowledge the support by Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R031-D1). S. S. acknowledges support by the Academy of Finland (Grant No. 307685)