On the rotation of ONC stars in the Tsallis formalism context

The theoretical distribution function of the projected rotational velocity is derived in the context of the Tsallis formalism. The distribution is used to estimate the average for a stellar sample from the Orion Nebula Cloud (ONC), producing an excellent result when compared with observational data. In addition, the value of the parameter q obtained from the distribution of observed rotations reinforces the idea that there is a relation between this parameter and the age of the cluster.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Physical constraints on interacting dark energy models

Physical limits on the equation-of-state (EoS) parameter of a dark energy component non-minimally coupled with the dark matter field are examined in light of the second law of thermodynamics and the positiveness of entropy. Such constraints are combined with observational data sets of type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations and the angular acoustic scale of the cosmic microwave background to impose restrictions on the behaviour of the dark matter/dark energy interaction. Considering two EoS parameterisations of the type $w = w_0 + w_a\zeta(z)$, we derive a general expression for the evolution of the dark energy density and show that the combination of thermodynamic limits and observational data provide tight bounds on the $w_0 - w_a$ parameter space.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in European Physical Journal

Calibration of longwavelength exotech model 20-C spectroradiometer

A brief description of the Exotech model 20-C field spectroradiometer which measures the spectral radiance of a target in the wavelength ranges 0.37 to 2.5 microns (short wavelength unit), 2.8 to 5.6 microns and 7.0 to 14 microns (long wavelength unit) is given. Wavelength calibration of long wavelength unit was done by knowing the strong, sharp and accurately known absorption bands of polystyrene, atmospheric carbon dioxide and methyl cyclohexane (liquid) in the infrared wavelength region. The spectral radiance calibration was done by recording spectral scans of the hot and the cold blackbodies and assuming that spectral radiance varies linearly with the signal

Magnetic monopole and string excitations in a two-dimensional spin ice

We study the magnetic excitations of a square lattice spin-ice recently produced in an artificial form, as an array of nanoscale magnets. Our analysis, based upon the dipolar interaction between the nanomagnetic islands, correctly reproduces the ground-state observed experimentally. In addition, we find magnetic monopole-like excitations effectively interacting by means of the usual Coulombic plus a linear confining potential, the latter being related to a string-like excitation binding the monopoles pairs, what indicates that the fractionalization of magnetic dipoles may not be so easy in two dimensions. These findings contrast this material with the three-dimensional analogue, where such monopoles experience only the Coulombic interaction. We discuss, however, two entropic effects that affect the monopole interactions: firstly, the string configurational entropy may loose the string tension and then, free magnetic monopoles should also be found in lower dimensional spin ices; secondly, in contrast to the string configurational entropy, an entropically driven Coulomb force, which increases with temperature, has the opposite effect of confining the magnetic defects.Comment: 8 pages. Accepted by Journal of Applied Physics (2009