Critical behavior of the Widom-Rowlinson mixture: coexistence diameter and order parameter

The critical behavior of the Widom-Rowlinson mixture [J. Chem. Phys. 52, 1670 (1970)] is studied in d=3 dimensions by means of grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The finite size scaling approach of Kim, Fisher, and Luijten [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 065701 (2003)] is used to extract the order parameter and the coexistence diameter. It is demonstrated that the critical behavior of the diameter is dominated by a singular term proportional to t^(1-alpha), with t the relative distance from the critical point, and alpha the critical exponent of the specific heat. No sign of a term proportional to t^(2beta) could be detected, with beta the critical exponent of the order parameter, indicating that pressure-mixing in this model is small. The critical density is measured to be rho*sigma^3 = 0.7486 +/- 0.0002, with sigma the particle diameter. The critical exponents alpha and beta, as well as the correlation length exponent nu, are also measured and shown to comply with d=3 Ising criticality

Massive star evolution : rotation, winds, and overshooting vectors in the Mass-Luminosity plane I. A calibrated grid of rotating single star models

We aim to constrain massive star evolution models using the unique testbed eclipsing binary HD166734 with new grids of MESA stellar evolution models, adopting calibrated prescriptions of overshooting, mass loss, and rotation. We introduce a novel tool: the "mass-luminosity plane" or "M-L plane", as an equivalent to the traditional HR diagram, utilising it to reproduce the testbed binary HD166734 with newly calibrated MESA stellar evolution models for single stars. We can only reproduce the Galactic binary system with an enhanced amount of core overshooting (alpha = 0.5), mass loss, and rotational mixing. We can utilise the gradient in the M-L plane to constrain the amount of mass loss to 0.5 - 1.5 times the standard Vink et al. 2001 prescriptions, and we can exclude extreme reduction or multiplication factors. The extent of the vectors in the M-L plane leads us to conclude that the amount of core overshooting is larger than is normally adopted in contemporary massive star evolution models. We furthermore conclude that rotational mixing is mandatory to get the nitrogen abundance ratios between the primary and secondary components to be correct (3:1) in our testbed binary system. Our calibrated grid of models, alongside our new M-L plane approach, present the possibility of a widened main sequence due to an increased demand for core overshooting. The increased amount of core overshooting is not only needed to explain the extended main sequence, but the enhanced overshooting is also needed to explain the location of the upper-luminosity limit of the red supergiants. Finally, the increased amount of core overshooting has -- via the compactness parameter -- implications for supernova explodibility.Comment: Revised version, 14 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication by Astronomy & Astrophysic

Simulation and theory of fluid demixing and interfacial tension of mixtures of colloids and non-ideal polymers

An extension of the Asakura-Oosawa-Vrij model of hard sphere colloids and non-adsorbing polymers, that takes polymer non-ideality into account through a repulsive stepfunction pair potential between polymers, is studied with grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations and density functional theory. Simulation results validate previous theoretical findings for the shift of the bulk fluid demixing binodal upon increasing strength of polymer-polymer repulsion, promoting the tendency to mix. For increasing strength of the polymer-polymer repulsion, simulation and theory consistently predict the interfacial tension of the free colloidal liquid-gas interface to decrease significantly for fixed colloid density difference in the coexisting phases, and to increase for fixed polymer reservoir packing fraction.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Domain formation in membranes with quenched protein obstacles: Lateral heterogeneity and the connection to universality classes

We show that lateral fluidity in membranes containing quenched protein obstacles belongs to the universality class of the two-dimensional random-field Ising model. The main feature of this class is the absence of a phase transition: there is no critical point, and macroscopic domain formation does not occur. Instead, there is only one phase. This phase is highly heterogeneous, with a structure consisting of micro-domains. The presence of quenched protein obstacles thus provides a mechanism to stabilize lipid rafts in equilibrium. Crucial for two-dimensional random-field Ising universality is that the obstacles are randomly distributed, and have a preferred affinity to one of the lipid species. When these conditions are not met, standard Ising or diluted Ising universality apply. In these cases, a critical point does exist, marking the onset toward macroscopic demixing.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure

The Kinematic and Plasma Properties of X-ray Knots in Cassiopeia A from the Chandra HETGS

We present high-resolution X-ray spectra from the young supernova remnant Cas A using a 70-ks observation taken by the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS). Line emission, dominated by Si and S ions, is used for high-resolution spectral analysis of many bright, narrow regions of Cas A to examine their kinematics and plasma state. These data allow a 3D reconstruction using the unprecedented X-ray kinematic results: we derive unambiguous Doppler shifts for these selected regions, with values ranging between -2500 and +4000 km/s. Plasma diagnostics of these regions, derived from line ratios of resolved He-like triplet lines and H-like lines of Si, indicate temperatures largely around 1 keV, which we model as O-rich reverse-shocked ejecta. The ionization age also does not vary considerably over these regions of the remnant. The gratings analysis was complemented by the non-dispersed spectra from the same dataset, which provided information on emission measure and elemental abundances for the selected Cas A regions. The derived electron density of X-ray emitting ejecta varies from 20 to 200 cm^{-3}. The measured abundances of Mg, Si, S and Ca are consistent with O being the dominant element in the Cas A plasma. With a diameter of 5 arcmin, Cas A is the largest source observed with the HETGS to date. We, therefore, describe the technique we use and some of the challenges we face in the HETGS data reduction from such an extended, complex object.Comment: 26 pages, 16 figures, evised version (minor changes), accepted for publication in ApJ (Oct 20 2006