8,672 research outputs found
Spectral analysis and abundances of the post-HB star HD 76431
HD76431 is a slow rotating post-HB star that shows an underabundance of
helium by 0.5 dex relative to the solar value. These observational facts
suggest that atomic diffusion could be active in its atmosphere. We have used
the MMT and Bok spectra to estimate the atmospheric parameters of the target
star using the model atmospheres and synthetic spectra calculated with TLUSTY
and SYNSPEC. The derived values of the effective temperature, surface gravity,
helium abundance are consistent with those obtained by Ramspeck et al. (2001b).
It appears that NLTE effect are not important for HD76431. We have used Stokes
I spectra from ESPaDOnS at CFHT to perform an abundance analysis and a search
for observational evidence of vertical stratification of the abundance of
certain elements. The results of our abundance analysis are in good agreement
with previously published data with respect to average abundances. Our
numerical simulations show that carbon and nitrogen reveal signatures of
vertical abundance stratification in the atmosphere of HD76431. It appears that
the carbon abundance increases toward the deeper atmospheric layers. Nitrogen
also shows a similar behaviour, but in deeper atmospheric layers we obtain a
significant dispersion for the estimates of its abundance. To our knowledge,
this is the first demonstration of vertical abundance stratification of metals
in a post-HB star and up to now it is the hottest star to show such
stratification features. We also report the detection of two SiIII and one
TiIII emission lines in the spectra of HD76431 that were not detected in
previous studies.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Conversion of terahertz wave polarization at the boundary of a layered superconductor due to the resonance excitation of oblique surface waves
We predict a complete TM-TE transformation of the polarization of terahertz
electromagnetic waves reflected from a strongly anisotropic boundary of a
layered superconductor. We consider the case when the wave is incident on the
superconductor from a dielectric prism separated from the sample by a thin
vacuum gap. The physical origin of the predicted phenomenon is similar to the
Wood anomalies known in optics, and is related to the resonance excitation of
the oblique surface waves. We also discuss the dispersion relation for these
waves, propagating along the boundary of the superconductor at some angle with
respect to the anisotropy axis, as well as their excitation by the
attenuated-total-reflection method.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Probing the braneworld hypothesis with a neutron-shining-through-a-wall experiment
The possibility for our visible world to be a 3-brane embedded in a
multidimensional bulk is at the heart of many theoretical edifices in
high-energy physics. Probing the braneworld hypothesis is thus a major
experimental challenge. Following recent theoretical works showing that matter
swapping between braneworlds can occur, we propose a
neutron-shining-through-a-wall experiment. We first show that an intense
neutron source such as a nuclear reactor core can induce a hidden neutron flux
in an adjacent hidden braneworld. We then describe how a low-background
detector can detect neutrons arising from the hidden world and quantify the
expected sensitivity to the swapping probability. As a proof of concept, a
constraint is derived from previous experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, final version published in Physical Review
A polarity reversal in the large-scale magnetic field of the rapidly rotating Sun HD 190771
Aims. We investigate the long-term evolution of the large-scale photospheric
magnetic field geometry of the solar-type star HD 190771. With fundamental
parameters very close to those of the Sun except for a shorter rotation period
of 8.8 d, HD 190771 provides us with a first insight into the specific impact
of the rotation rate in the dynamo generation of magnetic fields in 1
stars.
Methods. We use circularly polarized, high-resolution spectra obtained with
the NARVAL spectropolarimeter (Observatoire du Pic du Midi, France) and compute
cross-correlation line profiles with high signal-to-noise ratio to detect
polarized Zeeman signatures. From three phase-resolved data sets collected
during the summers of 2007, 2008, and 2009, we model the large-scale
photospheric magnetic field of the star by means of Zeeman-Doppler imaging and
follow its temporal evolution.
Results. The comparison of the magnetic maps shows that a polarity reversal
of the axisymmetric component of the large-scale magnetic field occurred
between 2007 and 2008, this evolution being observed in both the poloidal and
toroidal magnetic components. Between 2008 and 2009, another type of global
evolution occured, characterized by a sharp decrease of the fraction of
magnetic energy stored in the toroidal component. These changes were not
accompanied by significant evolution in the total photospheric magnetic energy.
Using our spectra to perform radial velocity measurements, we also detect a
very low-mass stellar companion to HD 190771.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics (Letter to the Editor
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