43,594 research outputs found
Probing the Effects of Lorentz-Symmetry Violating Chern-Simons and Ricci-Cotton Terms in Higher Derivative Gravity
The combined effects of the Lorentz-symmetry violating Chern-Simons and
Ricci-Cotton actions are investigated for the Einstein-Hilbert gravity in the
second order formalism modified by higher derivative terms, and their
consequences on the spectrum of excitations are analyzed. We follow the lines
of previous works and build up an orthonormal basis of operators that splits
the fundamental fields according to their individual degrees of freedom. With
this new basis, the attainment of the propagators is remarkably simplified and
the identification of the physical and unphysical modes gets a new insight. Our
conclusion is that the only tachyon- and ghost-free model is the
Einstein-Hilbert action added up by the Chern-Simons term with a time-like
vector of the type . Spectral consistency imposes taht
the Ricci-Cotton term must be switched off. We then infer that gravity with
Lorentz-symmetry violation imposes a drastically different constraint on the
background if compared to usual gauge theories whenever conditions for
suppression of tachyons and ghosts are required.Comment: 15 pages. It coincides with the version published in Phys. Rev.
Resonant tunneling through protected quantum dots at phosphorene edges
We theoretically investigate phosphorene zigzag nanorribons as a platform for
constriction engineering. In the presence of a constriction at the upper edge,
quantum confinement of edge protected states reveals resonant tunnelling
Breit-Wigner transmission peaks, if the upper edge is uncoupled to the lower
edge. Coupling between edges in thin constrictions gives rise to Fano-like and
anti-resonances in the transmission spectrum of the system.Comment: 8 pages,7 figure
Chemical analysis of giant stars in the young open cluster NGC 3114
Context: Open clusters are very useful targets for examining possible trends
in galactocentric distance and age, especially when young and old open clusters
are compared. Aims: We carried out a detailed spectroscopic analysis to derive
the chemical composition of seven red giants in the young open cluster NGC
3114. Abundances of C, N, O, Li, Na, Mg, Al, Ca, Si, Ti, Ni, Cr, Y, Zr, La, Ce,
and Nd were obtained, as well as the carbon isotopic ratio. Methods: The
atmospheric parameters of the studied stars and their chemical abundances were
determined using high-resolution optical spectroscopy. We employed the
local-thermodynamic-equilibrium model atmospheres of Kurucz and the spectral
analysis code MOOG. The abundances of the light elements were derived using the
spectral synthesis technique. Results: We found that NGC 3114 has a mean
metallicity of [Fe/H] = -0.01+/-0.03. The isochrone fit yielded a turn-off mass
of 4.2 Msun. The [N/C] ratio is in good agreement with the models predicted by
first dredge-up. We found that two stars, HD 87479 and HD 304864, have high
rotational velocities of 15.0 km/s and 11.0 km/s; HD 87526 is a halo star and
is not a member of NGC 3114. Conclusions: The carbon and nitrogen abundance in
NGC 3114 agree with the field and cluster giants. The oxygen abundance in NGC
3114 is lower compared to the field giants. The [O/Fe] ratio is similar to the
giants in young clusters. We detected sodium enrichment in the analyzed cluster
giants. As far as the other elements are concerned, their [X/Fe] ratios follow
the same trend seen in giants with the same metallicity.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, 10 tables; accepted for publication in A&
Quantized fields and gravitational particle creation in f(R) expanding universes
The problem of cosmological particle creation for a spatially flat,
homogeneous and isotropic Universes is discussed in the context of f(R)
theories of gravity. Different from cosmological models based on general
relativity theory, it is found that a conformal invariant metric does not
forbid the creation of massless particles during the early stages (radiation
era) of the Universe.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure
Phantom Accretion by Black Holes and the Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics
The accretion of a phantom fluid with non-zero chemical potential by black
holes is discussed with basis on the Generalized Second Law of thermodynamics.
For phantom fluids with positive temperature and negative chemical potential we
demonstrate that the accretion process is possible, and that the condition
guaranteeing the positiveness of the phantom fluid entropy coincides with the
one required by Generalized Second Law. In particular, this result provides a
complementary confirmation that cosmological phantom fluids do not need to have
negative temperatures
Boussinesq Solitary-Wave as a Multiple-Time Solution of the Korteweg-de Vries Hierarchy
We study the Boussinesq equation from the point of view of a multiple-time
reductive perturbation method. As a consequence of the elimination of the
secular producing terms through the use of the Korteweg--de Vries hierarchy, we
show that the solitary--wave of the Boussinesq equation is a solitary--wave
satisfying simultaneously all equations of the Korteweg--de Vries hierarchy,
each one in an appropriate slow time variable.Comment: 12 pages, RevTex (to appear in J. Math Phys.
Detection of new eruptions in the Magellanic Clouds LBVs R 40 and R 110
We performed a spectroscopic and photometric analysis to study new eruptions
in two luminous blue variables (LBVs) in the Magellanic Clouds. We detected a
strong new eruption in the LBV R40 that reached in 2016, which is
around mag brighter than the minimum registered in 1985. During this new
eruption, the star changed from an A-type to a late F-type spectrum. Based on
photometric and spectroscopic empirical calibrations and synthetic spectral
modeling, we determine that R\,40 reached ~K
during this new eruption. This object is thereby probably one of the coolest
identified LBVs. We could also identify an enrichment of nitrogen and r- and
s-process elements. We detected a weak eruption in the LBV R 110 with a maximum
of mag in 2011, that is, around mag brighter than in the
quiescent phase. On the other hand, this new eruption is about mag
fainter than the first eruption detected in 1990, but the temperature did not
decrease below 8500 K. Spitzer spectra show indications of cool dust in the
circumstellar environment of both stars, but no hot or warm dust was present,
except by the probable presence of PAHs in R\,110. We also discuss a possible
post-red supergiant nature for both stars
Teleparallel Theories of Gravity: Illuminating a Fully Invariant Approach
Teleparallel gravity and its popular generalization gravity can be
formulated as fully invariant (under both coordinate transformations and local
Lorentz transformations) theories of gravity. Several misconceptions about
teleparallel gravity and its generalizations can be found in the literature,
especially regarding their local Lorentz invariance. We describe how these
misunderstandings may have arisen and attempt to clarify the situation. In
particular, the central point of confusion in the literature appears to be
related to the inertial spin connection in teleparallel gravity models. While
inertial spin connections are commonplace in special relativity, and not
something inherent to teleparallel gravity, the role of the inertial spin
connection in removing the spurious inertial effects within a given frame of
reference is emphasized here. The careful consideration of the inertial spin
connection leads to the construction of a fully invariant theory of
teleparallel gravity and its generalizations. Indeed, it is the nature of the
spin connection that differentiates the relationship between what have been
called good tetrads and bad tetrads and clearly shows that, in principle, any
tetrad can be utilized. The field equations for the fully invariant formulation
of teleparallel gravity and its generalizations are presented and a number of
examples using different assumptions on the frame and spin connection are
displayed to illustrate the covariant procedure. Various modified teleparallel
gravity models are also briefly reviewed.Comment: v2: 72 pages, revised version, references added, matches published
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