31,848 research outputs found
Conformal mapping of ultrasonic crystals: confining ultrasound and cochlear-like wave guiding
Conformal mapping of a slab of a two-dimensional ultrasonic crystal generate
a closed geometrical arrangement of ultrasonic scatterers with appealing
acoustic properties. This acoustic shell is able to confine ultrasonic modes.
Some of these internal resonances can be induced from an external wave source.
The mapping of a linear defect produces a wave-guide that exhibits a
spatial-frequency selection analogous to that characteristic of a synthetic
"cochlea". Both, experimental and theoretical results are reported here.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Revisiting the luminosity function of single halo white dwarfs
White dwarfs are the fossils left by the evolution of low-and
intermediate-mass stars, and have very long evolutionary timescales. This
allows us to use them to explore the properties of old populations, like the
Galactic halo. We present a population synthesis study of the luminosity
function of halo white dwarfs, aimed at investigating which information can be
derived from the currently available observed data. We employ an up-to-date
population synthesis code based on Monte Carlo techniques, that incorporates
the most recent and reliable cooling sequences for metal poor progenitors as
well as an accurate modeling of the observational biases. We find that because
the observed sample of halo white dwarfs is restricted to the brightest stars
only the hot branch of the white dwarf luminosity function can be used for such
purposes, and that its shape function is almost insensitive to the most
relevant inputs, like the adopted cooling sequences, the initial mass function,
the density profile of the stellar spheroid, or the adopted fraction of
unresolved binaries. Moreover, since the cut-off of the observed luminosity has
not been yet determined only lower limits to the age of the halo population can
be placed. We conclude that the current observed sample of the halo white dwarf
population is still too small to obtain definite conclusions about the
properties of the stellar halo, and the recently computed white dwarf cooling
sequences which incorporate residual hydrogen burning should be assessed using
metal-poor globular clusters.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Generalized Euler-Lagrange equations for variational problems with scale derivatives
We obtain several Euler-Lagrange equations for variational functionals
defined on a set of H\"older curves. The cases when the Lagrangian contains
multiple scale derivatives, depends on a parameter, or contains higher-order
scale derivatives are considered.Comment: Submitted on 03-Aug-2009; accepted for publication 16-March-2010; in
"Letters in Mathematical Physics"
The Gould's Belt distance survey
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations can provide the
position of compact radio sources with an accuracy of order 50
micro-arcseconds. This is sufficient to measure the trigonometric parallax and
proper motions of any object within 500 pc of the Sun to better than a few
percent. Because they are magnetically active, young stars are often associated
with compact radio emission detectable using VLBI techniques. Here we will show
how VLBI observations have already constrained the distance to the most often
studied nearby regions of star-formation (Taurus, Ophiuchus, Orion, etc.) and
have started to provide information on their internal structure and kinematics.
We will then briefly describe a large project (called The Gould's Belt Distance
Survey) designed to provide a detailed view of star-formation in the Solar
neighborhood using VLBI observations.Comment: To be published in the Revista Mexicana de Astronomia y Astrofisica
(Serie de Conferencias
How to generate pentagonal symmetry using Turing systems
We explore numerically the formation of Turing patterns in a confined circular domain with small aspect ratio. Our results show that stable fivefold patterns are formed over a well defined range of disk sizes, offering a possible mechanism for inducing the fivefold symmetry observed in early development of regular echinoids. Using this pattern as a seed, more complex biological structures can be mimicked, such as the pigmentation pattern of sea urchins and the plate arrangements of the calyxes of primitive camerate crinoids
Relating breakup and incomplete fusion of weakly-bound nuclei through a classical trajectory model with stochastic breakup
A classical dynamical model that treats break-up stochastically is presented
for low energy reactions of weakly-bound nuclei. The three-dimensional model
allows a consistent calculation of breakup, incomplete and complete fusion
cross sections. The model is assessed by comparing the breakup observables with
CDCC quantum mechanical predictions, which are found to be in reasonable
agreement. Through the model, it is demonstrated that the breakup probability
of the projectile as a function of its distance from the target is of primary
importance for understanding complete and incomplete fusion at energies near
the Coulomb barrier.Comment: Accepted in Physical Review Letter
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