46,479 research outputs found
A New General Method to Generate Random Modal Formulae for Testing Decision Procedures
The recent emergence of heavily-optimized modal decision procedures has
highlighted the key role of empirical testing in this domain. Unfortunately,
the introduction of extensive empirical tests for modal logics is recent, and
so far none of the proposed test generators is very satisfactory. To cope with
this fact, we present a new random generation method that provides benefits
over previous methods for generating empirical tests. It fixes and much
generalizes one of the best-known methods, the random CNF_[]m test, allowing
for generating a much wider variety of problems, covering in principle the
whole input space. Our new method produces much more suitable test sets for the
current generation of modal decision procedures. We analyze the features of the
new method by means of an extensive collection of empirical tests
Spectroscopic investigations of plasma properties quarterly summary report no. 2, 11 aug. - 10 nov. 1964
Performance of plasma source operated with helium - intensity and temperature profiles of source electronic instrumentation for detecting weak spectrum line
Experimental probing of the anisotropy of the empty p states near the Fermi level in MgB2
We have studied the Boron K-edge in the superconductor MgB2 by electron
energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and experimentally resolved the empty p states
at the Fermi level that have previously been observed within an energy window
of 0.8eV by soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Using angular resolved EELS, we
find that these states at the immediate edge onset have pxy character in
agreement with predictions from first-principle electronic structure
calculations.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Evolution of Mass Functions of Coeval Stars through Wind Mass Loss and Binary Interactions
Accurate determinations of stellar mass functions and ages of stellar
populations are crucial to much of astrophysics. We analyse the evolution of
stellar mass functions of coeval main sequence stars including all relevant
aspects of single- and binary-star evolution. We show that the slope of the
upper part of the mass function in a stellar cluster can be quite different to
the slope of the initial mass function. Wind mass loss from massive stars leads
to an accumulation of stars which is visible as a peak at the high mass end of
mass functions, thereby flattening the mass function slope. Mass accretion and
mergers in close binary systems create a tail of rejuvenated binary products.
These blue straggler stars extend the single star mass function by up to a
factor of two in mass and can appear up to ten times younger than their parent
stellar cluster. Cluster ages derived from their most massive stars that are
close to the turn-off may thus be significantly biased. To overcome such
difficulties, we propose the use of the binary tail of stellar mass functions
as an unambiguous clock to derive the cluster age because the location of the
onset of the binary tail identifies the cluster turn-off mass. It is indicated
by a pronounced jump in the mass function of old stellar populations and by the
wind mass loss peak in young stellar populations. We further characterise the
binary induced blue straggler population in star clusters in terms of their
frequency, binary fraction and apparent age.Comment: 21 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy of phycobilisomes, phycocyanin and allophycocyanin from Mastigocladus laminosus
Dust from AGBs: relevant factors and modelling uncertainties
The dust formation process in the winds of Asymptotic Giant Branch stars is
discussed, based on full evolutionary models of stars with mass in the range
MMM, and metallicities .
Dust grains are assumed to form in an isotropically expanding wind, by growth
of pre--existing seed nuclei. Convection, for what concerns the treatment of
convective borders and the efficiency of the schematization adopted, turns out
to be the physical ingredient used to calculate the evolutionary sequences with
the highest impact on the results obtained. Low--mass stars with MM produce carbon type dust with also traces of silicon carbide. The
mass of solid carbon formed, fairly independently of metallicity, ranges from a
few M, for stars of initial mass M, to
M for MM; the size of dust
particles is in the range mm. On the contrary,
the production of silicon carbide (SiC) depends on metallicity. For the size of SiC grains varies in the range m, while the mass of SiC formed is
. Models of
higher mass experience Hot Bottom Burning, which prevents the formation of
carbon stars, and favours the formation of silicates and corundum. In this case
the results scale with metallicity, owing to the larger silicon and aluminium
contained in higher--Z models. At Z= we find that the most
massive stars produce dust masses M, whereas models of
smaller mass produce a dust mass ten times smaller. The main component of dust
are silicates, although corundum is also formed, in not negligible quantities
().Comment: Paper accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Society Main Journal (2014 January 4
Effects of dark matter annihilation on the first stars
We study the evolution of the first stars in the universe (Population III)
from the early pre-Main Sequence until the end of helium burning in the
presence of WIMP dark matter annihilation inside the stellar structure. The two
different mechanisms that can provide this energy source are the contemporary
contraction of baryons and dark matter, and the capture of WIMPs by scattering
off the gas with subsequent accumulation inside the star. We find that the
first mechanism can generate an equilibrium phase, previously known as a "dark
star", which is transient and present in the very early stages of pre-MS
evolution. The mechanism of scattering and capture acts later, and can support
the star virtually forever, depending on environmental characteristic of the
dark matter halo and on the specific WIMP model.Comment: Proceedings of the IAU Symposium 255, "Low-Metallicity Star
Formation: From the First Stars to Dwarf Galaxies"; L.K. Hunt, S. Madden and
R. Schneider ed
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