Degassing cascades in a shear-thinning viscoelastic fluid

International audienceWe report the experimental study of the degassing dynamics through a thin layer of shear-thinning viscoelastic fluid when a constant air flow is imposed at its bottom. The fluid is an aqueous solution of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium salicylate (NaSal). Over a large range of parameters, the air is periodically released through a series of successive bubbles, hereafter named cascades. Each cascade is followed by a continuous degassing, lasting for several seconds, corresponding to an open channel crossing the fluid layer. The periodicity between two cascades does not depend on the injected flow rate. Inside one cascade, the properties of the overpressure signal associated with the successive bubbles vary continuously. The pressure threshold above which the fluid starts flowing, fluid deformation and pressure drop due to degassing through the thin fluid layer can be simply described by a Maxwell model

Path integral Monte Carlo and density functional molecular dynamics simulations of warm dense MgSiO3

In order to provide a comprehensive theoretical description of MgSiO$_3$ at extreme conditions, we combine results from path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) and density functional molecular dynamics simulations (DFT-MD) and generate a consistent equation of state for this material. We consider a wide range of temperature and density conditions from 10$^4$ to 10$^8$ K and from 0.321 to 64.2 g$\,$cm$^{-3}$ (0.1- to 20-fold the ambient density). We study how the L and K shell electrons are ionized with increasing temperature and pressure. We derive the shock Hugoniot curve and compare with experimental results. Our Hugoniot curve is in good agreement with the experiments, and we predict a broad compression maximum that is dominated by the K shell ionization of all three nuclei while the peak compression ratio of 4.70 is obtained when the Si and Mg nuclei are ionized. Finally we analyze the heat capacity and structural properties of the liquid.Comment: 14 pages, 14 color figures, Physical Review B (accepted, Dec. 2019

The NLTE Barium Abundance in Dwarf Stars in the Metallicity Range of -1 < [Fe/H] < +0.3

We present the results of determination of the barium abundance considering the non-LTE (NLTE) effects in 172 dwarf stars in the metallicity range of -1< [Fe/H] <+0.3, assigned to different Galactic substructures by kinematic criteria. We used a model of the Ba atom with 31 levels of Ba I and 101 levels of Ba II. The atmosphere models for the investigated stars were computed using the ATLAS9 code modified by new opacity distribution functions. The NLTE profiles of the unblended Ba II (4554 A, 5853 A, 6496 A) were computed and then compared to those observed. The line 6141 A was also used, but with an allowance for its correlation with the iron line. The average barium abundances in the thin and thick discs are 0.01 +/- 0.08 and -0.03 +/- 0.07, respectively. The comparison to the calculations of the Galactic chemical evolution by Serminato et al. (2009) was conducted. The trend obtained for the Ba abundance versus [Fe/H] suggests a complex barium production process in the thin and thick discs

SPADES: a Stellar PArameters DEtermination Software

With the large amounts of spectroscopic data available today and the very large surveys to come (e.g. Gaia), the need for automatic data analysis software is unquestionable. We thus developed an automatic spectra analysis program for the determination of stellar parameters: radial velocity, effective temperature, surface gravity, micro-turbulence, metallicity and the elemental abundances of the elements present in the spectral range. Target stars for this software should include all types of stars. The analysis method relies on a line by line comparison of the spectrum of a target star to a library of synthetic spectra. The idea is built on the experience acquired in developing the TGMET (Katz et al. 1998 and Soubiran et al. 2003) ETOILE (Katz 2001) and Abbo (Bonifacio & Caffau 2003) softwares. The method is presented and the performances are illustrated with GIRAFFE-like simulated spectra with high resolution (R = 25000), with high and low signal to noise ratios (down to SNR= 30). These spectra should be close to what could be targeted by the Gaia-ESO Survey (GCDS).Comment: 5 pages, SF2A 2011 Poster Proceeding

GYES, a multifibre spectrograph for the CFHT

We have chosen the name of GYES, one of the mythological giants with one hundred arms, offspring of Gaia and Uranus, for our instrument study of a multifibre spectrograph for the prime focus of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Such an instrument could provide an excellent ground-based complement for the Gaia mission and a northern complement to the HERMES project on the AAT. The CFHT is well known for providing a stable prime focus environment, with a large field of view, which has hosted several imaging instruments, but has never hosted a multifibre spectrograph. Building upon the experience gained at GEPI with FLAMES-Giraffe and X-Shooter, we are investigating the feasibility of a high multiplex spectrograph (about 500 fibres) over a field of view 1 degree in diameter. We are investigating an instrument with resolution in the range 15000 to 30000, which should provide accurate chemical abundances for stars down to 16th magnitude and radial velocities, accurate to 1 km/s for fainter stars. The study is led by GEPI-Observatoire de Paris with a contribution from Oxford for the study of the positioner. The financing for the study comes from INSU CSAA and Observatoire de Paris. The conceptual study will be delivered to CFHT for review by October 1st 2010.Comment: Contributed talk at the Gaia ELSA conference 2010, S\`evres 7-11 June 2010, to be published on the EAS Series, Editors: C. Turon, F. Arenou & F. Meynadie