39,186 research outputs found
The Contribution of the First Stars to the Cosmic Infrared Background
We calculate the contribution to the cosmic infrared background from very
massive metal-free stars at high redshift. We explore two plausible
star-formation models and two limiting cases for the reprocessing of the
ionizing stellar emission. We find that Population III stars may contribute
significantly to the cosmic near-infrared background if the following
conditions are met: (i) The first stars were massive, with M > ~100 M_sun. (ii)
Molecular hydrogen can cool baryons in low-mass haloes. (iii) Pop III star
formation is ongoing, and not shut off through negative feedback effects. (iv)
Virialized haloes form stars at about 40 per cent efficiency up to the redshift
of reionization, z~7. (v) The escape fraction of the ionizing radiation into
the intergalactic medium is small. (vi) Nearly all of the stars end up in
massive black holes without contributing to the metal enrichment of the
Universe.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, expanded discussion, added mid-IR to Fig 6,
MNRAS in pres
Effects of a CPT-even and Lorentz-violating nonminimal coupling on the electron-positron scattering
We propose a new \emph{CPT}-even and Lorentz-violating nonminimal coupling
between fermions and Abelian gauge fields involving the CPT-even tensor
of the standard model extension. We thus
investigate its effects on the cross section of the electron-positron
scattering by analyzing the process .
Such a study was performed for the parity-odd and parity-even nonbirefringent
components of the Lorentz-violating tensor.
Finally, by using experimental data available in the literature, we have
imposed upper bounds as tight as on the magnitude of the
CPT-even and Lorentz-violating parameters while nonminimally coupled.Comment: LaTeX2e, 06 pages, 01 figure
Radiative generation of the CPT-even gauge term of the SME from a dimension-five nonminimal coupling term
In this letter we show for the first time that the usual CPT-even gauge term
of the standard model extension (SME) can be radiatively generated, in a gauge
invariant level, in the context of a modified QED endowed with a dimension-five
nonminimal coupling term recently proposed in the literature. As a consequence,
the existing upper bounds on the coefficients of the tensor can be
used improve the bounds on the magnitude of the nonminimal coupling,
by the factors or The nonminimal coupling
also generates higher-order derivative contributions to the gauge field
effective action quadratic terms.Comment: Revtex style, two columns, 6 pages, revised final version to be
published in the Physics Letters B (2013
Global Alfven Wave Heating of the Magnetosphere of Young Stars
Excitation of a Global Alfven wave (GAW) is proposed as a viable mechanism to
explain plasma heating in the magnetosphere of young stars. The wave and basic
plasma parameters are compatible with the requirement that the dissipation
length of GAWs be comparable to the distance between the shocked region at the
star's surface and the truncation region in the accretion disk. A two-fluid
magnetohydrodynamic plasma model is used in the analysis. A current carrying
filament along magnetic field lines acts as a waveguide for the GAW. The
current in the filament is driven by plasma waves along the magnetic field
lines and/or by plasma crossing magnetic field lines in the truncated region of
the disk of the accreting plasma. The conversion of a small fraction of the
kinetic energy into GAW energy is sufficient to heat the plasma filament to
observed temperatures.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, aheatf.tex, 2 figure
Dynamical evolution of V-type asteroids in the central main belt
V-type asteroids are associated with basaltic composition, and are supposed
to be fragments of crust of differentiated objects. Most V-type asteroids in
the main belt are found in the inner main belt, and are either current members
of the Vesta dynamical family (Vestoids), or past members that drifted away.
However, several V-type photometric candidates have been recently identified in
the central and outer main belt.
The origin of this large population of V-type objects is not well understood.
Since it seems unlikely that Vestoids crossing the 3J:-1A mean-motion resonance
with Jupiter could account for the whole population of V-type asteroids in the
central and outer main belt, origin from local sources, such as the parent
bodies of the Eunomia, and of the Merxia and Agnia asteroid families, has been
proposed as an alternative mechanism.
In this work we investigated the dynamical evolution of the V-type
photometric candidates in the central main belt, under the effect of
gravitational and non-gravitational forces. Our results show that dynamical
evolution from the parent bodies of the Eunomia and Merxia/Agnia families on
timescales of 2 Byr or more could be responsible for the current orbital
location of most of the low-inclined V-type asteroids.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Dynamical evolution and chronology of the Hygiea asteroid family
The asteroid (10) Hygiea is the fourth largest asteroid of the Main Belt, by
volume and mass, and it is the largest member of its own family. Previous works
investigated the long-term effects of close encounters with (10) Hygiea of
asteroids in the orbital region of the family, and analyzed the taxonomical and
dynamical properties of members of this family. In this paper we apply the
high-quality SDSS-MOC4 taxonomic scheme of DeMeo and Carry (2013) to members of
the Hygiea family core and halo, we obtain an estimate of the minimum time and
number of encounter necessary to obtain a (or 99.7%) compatible
frequency distribution function of changes in proper caused by close
encounters with (10) Hygiea, we study the behavior of asteroids near secular
resonance configurations, in the presence and absence of the Yarkovsky force,
and obtain a first estimate of the age of the family based on orbital diffusion
by the Yarkovsky and YORP effects with two methods.
The Hygiea family is at least 2 Byr old, with an estimated age of Myr and a relatively large initial ejection velocity field,
according to the approach of Vokrouhlick\'{y} et al. (2006a, b). Surprisingly,
we found that the family age can be shortened by 25% if the dynamical
mobility caused by close encounters with (10) Hygiea is also accounted for,
which opens interesting new research lines for the dynamical evolution of
families associated with massive bodies. In our taxonomical analysis of the
Hygiea asteroid family, we also identified a new V-type candidate: the asteroid
(177904) (2005 SV5). If confirmed, this could be the fourth V-type object ever
to be identified in the outer main belt.Comment: 13 page, 15 figures, and 4 table
Natural inflation in 5D warped backgrounds
In light of the five-year data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
(WMAP), we discuss models of inflation based on the pseudo Nambu-Goldstone
potential predicted in five-dimensional gauge theories for different
backgrounds: flat Minkowski, anti-de Sitter, and dilatonic spacetime. In this
framework, the inflaton potential is naturally flat due to shift symmetries and
the mass scales associated with it are related to 5D geometrical quantities.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures; matches version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Experimental analysis of lateral impact on planar brittle material: spatial properties of the cracks
The breakup of glass and alumina plates due to planar impacts on one of their
lateral sides is studied. Particular attention is given to investigating the
spatial location of the cracks within the plates. Analysis based on a
phenomenological model suggests that bifurcations along the cracks' paths are
more likely to take place closer to the impact region than far away from it, i.
e., the bifurcation probability seems to lower as the perpendicular distance
from the impacted lateral in- creases. It is also found that many observables
are not sensitive to the plate material used in this work, as long as the
fragment multiplicities corresponding to the fragmentation of the plates are
similar. This gives support to the universal properties of the fragmentation
process reported in for- mer experiments. However, even under the just
mentioned circumstances, some spatial observables are capable of distinguishing
the material of which the plates are made and, therefore, it suggests that this
universality should be carefully investigated
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