17,874 research outputs found
Anisotropy and percolation threshold in a multifractal support
Recently a multifractal object, , was proposed to study percolation
properties in a multifractal support. The area and the number of neighbors of
the blocks of show a non-trivial behavior. The value of the
probability of occupation at the percolation threshold, , is a function
of , a parameter of which is related to its anisotropy. We
investigate the relation between and the average number of neighbors of
the blocks as well as the anisotropy of
Combining exclusive semi-leptonic and hadronic B decays to measure |V_ub|
The Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element |V_ub| can be extracted from the
rate for the semi-leptonic decay B -> pi + l + antineutrino_l, with little
theoretical uncertainty, provided the hadronic form factor for the B -> pi
transition can be measured from some other B decay. In here, we suggest using
the decay B -> pi J\psi. This is a color suppressed decay, and it cannot be
properly described within the usual factorization approximation; we use instead
a simple and very general phenomenological model for the b d J\psi vertex. In
order to relate the hadronic form factors in the B -> pi J\psi and B -> pi + l
+ antineutrino_l decays, we use form factor relations that hold for
heavy-to-light transitions at large recoil.Comment: Latex, 7 pages, no figure
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 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 ( band, approximately)
quality. The mean precisions obtained were in , 0.013'' in
, 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
Observational Characterization of the Downward Atmospheric Longwave Radiation at the Surface in the City of São Paulo
This work describes the seasonal and diurnal variations of downward longwave atmospheric irradiance (LW) at the surface in São Paulo, Brazil, using 5-min-averaged values of LW, air temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation observed continuously and simultaneously from 1997 to 2006 on a micrometeorological platform, located at the top of a 4-story building. An objective procedure, including 2-step filtering and dome emission effect correction, was used to evaluate the quality of the 9-yr-long LW dataset. The comparison between LW values observed and yielded by the Surface Radiation Budget project shows spatial and temporal agreement, indicating that monthly and annual average values of LW observed in one point of São Paulo can be used as representative of the entire metropolitan region of São Paulo. The maximum monthly averaged value of the LW is observed during summer (389 ± 14 W m-2; January), and the minimum is observed during winter (332 ± 12 W m-2; July). The effective emissivity follows the LW and shows a maximum in summer (0.907 ± 0.032; January) and a minimum in winter (0.818 ± 0.029; June). The mean cloud effect, identified objectively by comparing the monthly averaged values of the LW during clear-sky days and all-sky conditions, intensified the monthly average LW by about 32.0 ± 3.5 W m-2 and the atmospheric effective emissivity by about 0.088 ± 0.024. In August, the driest month of the year in São Paulo, the diurnal evolution of the LW shows a minimum (325 ± 11 W m-2) at 0900 LT and a maximum (345 ± 12 W m-2) at 1800 LT, which lags behind (by 4 h) the maximum diurnal variation of the screen temperature. The diurnal evolution of effective emissivity shows a minimum (0.781 ± 0.027) during daytime and a maximum (0.842 ± 0.030) during nighttime. The diurnal evolution of all-sky condition and clear-sky day differences in the effective emissivity remain relatively constant (7% ± 1%), indicating that clouds do not change the emissivity diurnal pattern. The relationship between effective emissivity and screen air temperature and between effective emissivity and water vapor is complex. During the night, when the planetary boundary layer is shallower, the effective emissivity can be estimated by screen parameters. During the day, the relationship between effective emissivity and screen parameters varies from place to place and depends on the planetary boundary layer process. Because the empirical expressions do not contain enough information about the diurnal variation of the vertical stratification of air temperature and moisture in São Paulo, they are likely to fail in reproducing the diurnal variation of the surface emissivity. The most accurate way to estimate the LW for clear-sky conditions in São Paulo is to use an expression derived from a purely empirical approach
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
Stress concentration factors in FRP-reinforced tubular DKT joints under axial loads
The stress concentration factors (SCFs) in uniplanar fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) DKT joints are calculated under five axial loading conditions to determine the maximum SCFs. To this end, 108 finite element models of reinforced DKT joints with different FRPs and geometrical parameters are analysed. Available experimental data and formulas are used to validate the finite element models. The validated finite element models are utilized to investigate the effects of the FRP parameters along with different geometrical parameters on the stress concentration factors in uniplanar DKT joints. The simulations show a reduction of the maximum SCF by around 40% compared to unreinforced DKT joints. The reduction effect increases significantly with increasing the FRP thickness and the number of layers. Despite the notable efficacy of the FRP sheets on the drop of the SCFs in the X-connections, there is not any study or equation on the X-joints with FRP. Therefore, a precise equation is proposed for quantifying the SCFs in X-connections with FRP and is checked against the UK DoE acceptance standard
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