Effective temperature determinations of late-type stars based on 3D non-LTE Balmer line formation

Hydrogen Balmer lines are commonly used as spectroscopic effective temperature diagnostics of late-type stars. However, the absolute accuracy of classical methods that are based on one-dimensional (1D) hydrostatic model atmospheres and local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) is still unclear. To investigate this, we carry out 3D non-LTE calculations for the Balmer lines, performed, for the first time, over an extensive grid of 3D hydrodynamic STAGGER model atmospheres. For H$\alpha$, H$\beta$, and H$\gamma$, we find significant 1D non-LTE versus 3D non-LTE differences (3D effects): the outer wings tend to be stronger in 3D models, particularly for H$\gamma$, while the inner wings can be weaker in 3D models, particularly for H$\alpha$. For H$\alpha$, we also find significant 3D LTE versus 3D non-LTE differences (non-LTE effects): in warmer stars ($T_{\text{eff}}\approx6500$K) the inner wings tend to be weaker in non-LTE models, while at lower effective temperatures ($T_{\text{eff}}\approx4500$K) the inner wings can be stronger in non-LTE models; the non-LTE effects are more severe at lower metallicities. We test our 3D non-LTE models against observations of well-studied benchmark stars. For the Sun, we infer concordant effective temperatures from H$\alpha$, H$\beta$, and H$\gamma$; however the value is too low by around 50K which could signal residual modelling shortcomings. For other benchmark stars, our 3D non-LTE models generally reproduce the effective temperatures to within $1\sigma$ uncertainties. For H$\alpha$, the absolute 3D effects and non-LTE effects can separately reach around 100K, in terms of inferred effective temperatures. For metal-poor turn-off stars, 1D LTE models of H$\alpha$ can underestimate effective temperatures by around 150K. Our 3D non-LTE model spectra are publicly available, and can be used for more reliable spectroscopic effective temperature determinations.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, abstract abridged; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Mechanisms for Lasing with Cold Atoms as the Gain Medium

We realize a laser with a cloud of cold rubidium atoms as gain medium, placed in a low-finesse cavity. Three different regimes of laser emission are observed corresponding respectively to Mollow, Raman and Four Wave Mixing mechanisms. We measure an output power of up to 300 $\mu$W and present the main properties of these different lasers in each regime

Determination of the influence of the driving speed on the application parameters of orchard sprayers

Orchard sprayers with air transported fine droplets need an exact adjustment of the airflow and the spray nozzles in order to reduce the drift of pesticides. The adjustment is made on one hand side by the manufacturer and on the other hand side by the farmer in the orchard by choosing the tractor speed, the PTO shaft rotation speed and the pump pressure. For testing two test beds have been in charge in the region of Styria since almost 2 decades. One of them is able to measure the flow field in a vertical plane representing the tree row in a distance of approx. 1.5 m from the middle of the track. The second measures the water distribution in the same vertical plane. Both are stationary so that the influence of the driving speed can hardly be assessed. High driving speeds up to 12 km/h and the increasing height of the orchards impose additional uncertainties. This was the reason for the present research project, which was intended to investigate the influence of the driving speed. A new air flow measurement test bed has been build, which is able to measure the flow field also during tractor movement in the described vertical plane up to 5 m above ground. Four different sprayers have been investigated in an orchard with and without leaves by visual method for four different speeds to determine the optimal application parameters. The same sprayers have been tested with the moveable flow field test bed. Results show a reasonable correlation between the measurements for all investigated speeds. The differences between the sprayers are evident, nevertheless a method has been found to deduce the correlation between the stationary measurement and the optimal parameters for the orchard. So the stationary flow test bed can be directly used to develop sprayers

Spreading gossip in social networks

We study a simple model of information propagation in social networks, where two quantities are introduced: the spread factor, which measures the average maximal fraction of neighbors of a given node that interchange information among each other, and the spreading time needed for the information to reach such fraction of nodes. When the information refers to a particular node at which both quantities are measured, the model can be taken as a model for gossip propagation. In this context, we apply the model to real empirical networks of social acquaintances and compare the underlying spreading dynamics with different types of scale-free and small-world networks. We find that the number of friendship connections strongly influences the probability of being gossiped. Finally, we discuss how the spread factor is able to be applied to other situations.Comment: 10 pages, 16 figures, Revtex; Virt.J. of Biol. Phys., Oct.1 200

Gossip on Weighted Networks

We investigate how suitable a weighted network is for gossip spreading. The proposed model is based on the gossip spreading model introduced by Lind et.al. on unweighted networks. Weight represents "friendship." Potential spreader prefers not to spread if the victim of gossip is a "close friend". Gossip spreading is related to the triangles and cascades of triangles. It gives more insight about the structure of a network. We analyze gossip spreading on real weighted networks of human interactions. 6 co-occurrence and 7 social pattern networks are investigated. Gossip propagation is found to be a good parameter to distinguish co-occurrence and social pattern networks. As a comparison some miscellaneous networks and computer generated networks based on ER, BA, WS models are also investigated. They are found to be quite different than the human interaction networks.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

The influence of electron collisions on non-LTE Li line formation in stellar atmospheres

The influence of the uncertainties in the rate coefficient data for electron-impact excitation and ionization on non-LTE Li line formation in cool stellar atmospheres is investigated. We examine the electron collision data used in previous non-LTE calculations and compare them to recent calculations that use convergent close-coupling (CCC) techniques and to our own calculations using the R-matrix with pseudostates (RMPS) method. We find excellent agreement between rate coefficients from the CCC and RMPS calculations, and reasonable agreement between these data and the semi-empirical data used in non-LTE calculations up to now. The results of non-LTE calculations using the old and new data sets are compared and only small differences found: about 0.01 dex (~ 2%) or less in the abundance corrections. We therefore conclude that the influence on non-LTE calculations of uncertainties in the electron collision data is negligible. Indeed, together with the collision data for the charge exchange process Li(3s) + H Li^+ + H^- now available, and barring the existence of an unknown important collisional process, the collisional data in general is not a source of significant uncertainty in non-LTE Li line formation calculations.Comment: 8 pages, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics; Replaced with minor corrections following proof

New approaches to model and study social networks

We describe and develop three recent novelties in network research which are particularly useful for studying social systems. The first one concerns the discovery of some basic dynamical laws that enable the emergence of the fundamental features observed in social networks, namely the nontrivial clustering properties, the existence of positive degree correlations and the subdivision into communities. To reproduce all these features we describe a simple model of mobile colliding agents, whose collisions define the connections between the agents which are the nodes in the underlying network, and develop some analytical considerations. The second point addresses the particular feature of clustering and its relationship with global network measures, namely with the distribution of the size of cycles in the network. Since in social bipartite networks it is not possible to measure the clustering from standard procedures, we propose an alternative clustering coefficient that can be used to extract an improved normalized cycle distribution in any network. Finally, the third point addresses dynamical processes occurring on networks, namely when studying the propagation of information in them. In particular, we focus on the particular features of gossip propagation which impose some restrictions in the propagation rules. To this end we introduce a quantity, the spread factor, which measures the average maximal fraction of nearest neighbors which get in contact with the gossip, and find the striking result that there is an optimal non-trivial number of friends for which the spread factor is minimized, decreasing the danger of being gossiped.Comment: 16 Pages, 9 figure

Fe I Oscillator Strengths for the Gaia-ESO Survey

The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey (GES) is conducting a large-scale study of multi-element chemical abundances of some 100 000 stars in the Milky Way with the ultimate aim of quantifying the formation history and evolution of young, mature and ancient Galactic populations. However, in preparing for the analysis of GES spectra, it has been noted that atomic oscillator strengths of important Fe I lines required to correctly model stellar line intensities are missing from the atomic database. Here, we present new experimental oscillator strengths derived from branching fractions and level lifetimes, for 142 transitions of Fe I between 3526 {\AA} and 10864 {\AA}, of which at least 38 are urgently needed by GES. We also assess the impact of these new data on solar spectral synthesis and demonstrate that for 36 lines that appear unblended in the Sun, Fe abundance measurements yield a small line-by-line scatter (0.08 dex) with a mean abundance of 7.44 dex in good agreement with recent publications.Comment: Accepted for publication in Mon. Not. R. Astron. So

Dynamical and quasistatic structural relaxation paths in Pd_(40)Ni_(40)P_(20) glass

By sequential heat treatment of a Pd_(40)Ni_(40)P_(20) metallic glass at temperatures and durations for which α-relaxation is not possible, dynamic, and quasistatic relaxation paths below the glass transition are identified via ex situ ultrasonic measurements following each heat treatment. The dynamic relaxation paths are associated with hopping between nonequilibrium potential energy states of the glass, while the quasistatic relaxation path is associated with reversible β-relaxation events toward quasiequilibrium states. These quasiequilibrium states are identified with secondary potential energy minima that exist within the inherent energy minimum of the glass, thereby supporting the concept of the sub-basin/metabasin organization of the potential-energy landscape

Precision wave-length measurements of the 1.1- and 1.3-Mev lines of CO60 with the two-meter focusing curved-crystal spectrometer

Recent improvements in the two-meter focusing curved-crystal gamma-ray spectrometer are described which have extended its quantum energy range well above 1 Mev and have also yielded much better luminosity and resolving power than were obtained initially. The improved components are (1) the crystal holder whose aperture and resolving power have been nearly doubled and (2) the collimator the new model of which can now discriminate between the reflected and transmitted beams when these differ in direction by only 8 minutes of arc, a threefold improvement over our first model. Our plans for further possible improvements and the factors governing these are also discussed. Wavelengths of two gamma-rays emitted following β-decay of Co60 have been measured with this new equipment using a source of about 50 mc strength and found to have values of (9.308±0.005)×10-11 cm and (10.580±0.005)×10-11 cm corresponding to quantum energies of 1.3316±0.0010 Mev and 1.1715±0.0010 Mev, respectively. The lines appear to have equal intensities. The integrated reflection coefficient of the (310) planes of the curved-quartz crystal still appears to follow a λ2-dependence on wave-length down to 9 x.u. the shortest so far observed