Gravitational wave recoils in non-axisymmetric Robinson-Trautman spacetimes

We examine the gravitational wave recoil waves and the associated net kick velocities in non-axisymmetric Robinson-Trautman spacetimes. We use characteristic initial data for the dynamics corresponding to non-head-on collisions of black holes. We make a parameter study of the kick distributions, corresponding to an extended range of the incidence angle $\rho_0$ in the initial data. For the range of $\rho_0$ examined ($3^{\circ} \leq \rho_0 \leq 110^{\circ}$) the kick distributions as a function of the symmetric mass parameter $\eta$ satisfy a law obtained from an empirical modification of the Fitchett law, with a parameter $C$ that accounts for the non-zero net gravitational momentum wave fluxes for the equal mass case. The law fits accurately the kick distributions for the range of $\rho_0$ examined, with a rms normalized error of the order of $5 \%$. For the equal mass case the nonzero net gravitational wave momentum flux increases as $\rho_0$ increases, up to $\rho_0 \simeq 55^{\circ}$ beyond which it decreases. The maximum net kick velocity is about $190 {\rm km/s}$ for for the boost parameter considered. For $\rho_0 \geq 50^{\circ}$ the distribution is a monotonous function of $\eta$. The angular patterns of the gravitational waves emitted are examined. Our analysis includes the two polarization modes present in wave zone curvature.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1403.4581, arXiv:1202.1271, arXiv:1111.122

Anisotropy and percolation threshold in a multifractal support

Recently a multifractal object, $Q_{mf}$, was proposed to study percolation properties in a multifractal support. The area and the number of neighbors of the blocks of $Q_{mf}$ show a non-trivial behavior. The value of the probability of occupation at the percolation threshold, $p_{c}$, is a function of $\rho$, a parameter of $Q_{mf}$ which is related to its anisotropy. We investigate the relation between $p_{c}$ and the average number of neighbors of the blocks as well as the anisotropy of $Q_{mf}$

Origin and spectroscopic determination of trigonal anisotropy in a heteronuclear single-molecule magnet

W-band ({\nu} ca. 94 GHz) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used for a single-crystal study of a star-shaped Fe3Cr single-molecule magnet (SMM) with crystallographically imposed trigonal symmetry. The high resolution and sensitivity accessible with W-band EPR allowed us to determine accurately the axial zero-field splitting terms for the ground (S =6) and first two excited states (S =5 and S =4). Furthermore, spectra recorded by applying the magnetic field perpendicular to the trigonal axis showed a pi/6 angular modulation. This behavior is a signature of the presence of trigonal transverse magnetic anisotropy terms whose values had not been spectroscopically determined in any SMM prior to this work. Such in-plane anisotropy could only be justified by dropping the so-called 'giant spin approach' and by considering a complete multispin approach. From a detailed analysis of experimental data with the two models, it emerged that the observed trigonal anisotropy directly reflects the structural features of the cluster, i.e., the relative orientation of single-ion anisotropy tensors and the angular modulation of single-ion anisotropy components in the hard plane of the cluster. Finally, since high-order transverse anisotropy is pivotal in determining the spin dynamics in the quantum tunneling regime, we have compared the angular dependence of the tunnel splitting predicted by the two models upon application of a transverse field (Berry-phase interference).Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

Extension of Tycho catalog for low-extinction windows in the galactic bulge

We present in this work secondary catalogs up to $m_{Val} \sim 13$ based on the Tycho reference frame (ESA, 1997) for 12 selected low-extinction fields towards the galactic bulge. The observations have been performed with the Askania-Zeiss Meridian Circle equiped with a CCD camera, located at the Abrah\~ao de Moraes Observatory (Valinhos, Brazil) and operated by the Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, S\~ao Paulo University. The presented catalog, though not complete, has been designed to help in intensive search programmes (e.g. microlensing and variable searches) and therefore the selected standards have a high astrometric and photometric ($V$ band, approximately) quality. The mean precisions obtained were $0.0018^{s}$ in $\alpha$, 0.013'' in $\delta$, 0.030 for the standard deviation in magnitude and 0.0042 for the magnitude when weighted with the error bars in each night (in the mean, 42 stars for the catalog of each window). Tables B.1 to B.12 are also available in eletronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, A&A Latex style. Published in A&A

Stellar variability in low-extinction regions towards the Galactic Bulge

Intensive monitoring of low-extinction windows towards the galactic bulge has provided in the last years valuable information for studies about the dynamics, kinematics and formation history of this part of the galaxy, mainly by characterizing the bulge stellar populations (Paczy\'nski, 1996). Since 1997, we have been conducting an intensive photometric-astrometric survey of the galactic bulge, with the monitoring of about 120000 stars in 12 windows uniformly distributed in galactic latitude and longitude (Blanco & Terndrup, 1989 e Blanco, 1988) never before submitted to this kind of survey. For this purpose, we have used the IAG/USP CCD Meridian Circle of the Abrah\~ao de Moraes Observatory. The main objective of this work is the identification and classification of variable objects. In this work we present the set up and development of the necessary tools for a project like this and the posterior analysis of our data. We briefly describe the construction of a program to organize and detect variables among the observed stars, including real time alerts (for variations greater than 0.3 magnitudes). The preliminary analysis after the processing of 76 nights of observation yielded 479 variable stars, from which 96.7 % of them are new. We discuss the preliminary classification of this variables, based on: a) the observed amplitude of variation; b) the shape of light curve; c) the expected variable classes among our data and d) the calculated periods, whenever possible. Finally, we discuss the future perspectives for the project and for the applications and analysis of the discovered variable stars.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures. Accepted by A&A

Nonclassical correlation in NMR quadrupolar systems

The existence of quantum correlation (as revealed by quantum discord), other than entanglement and its role in quantum-information processing (QIP), is a current subject for discussion. In particular, it has been suggested that this nonclassical correlation may provide computational speedup for some quantum algorithms. In this regard, bulk nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been successfully used as a test bench for many QIP implementations, although it has also been continuously criticized for not presenting entanglement in most of the systems used so far. In this paper, we report a theoretical and experimental study on the dynamics of quantum and classical correlations in an NMR quadrupolar system. We present a method for computing the correlations from experimental NMR deviation-density matrices and show that, given the action of the nuclear-spin environment, the relaxation produces a monotonic time decay in the correlations. Although the experimental realizations were performed in a specific quadrupolar system, the main results presented here can be applied to whichever system uses a deviation-density matrix formalism.Comment: Published versio