3,911 research outputs found
Ultrafast dephasing of coherent optical phonons in atomically controlled GeTe/SbTe superlattices
Femtosecond dynamics of coherent optical phonons in GeTe/SbTe
superlattices (SLs), a new class of semiconductor SLs with three different
states, have been investigated by using a reflection-type pump-probe technique
at various lattice temperatures. The time-resolved transient reflectivity (TR)
obtained in as-grown SLs exhibits the coherent A optical modes at 5.10
THz and 3.78 THz, while only the single A mode at 3.68 THz is observed in
annealed SLs. The decay rate of the A mode in annealed SLs is strongly
temperature dependent, while that in as-grown SLs is not temperature dependent.
This result indicates that the damping of the coherent A phonons in
amorphous SLs is governed by the phonon-defect (vacancy) scattering rather than
the anharmonic phonon-phonon coupling.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Nucleosynthesis in Core-Collapse Supernovae and GRB--Metal-Poor Star Connection
We review the nucleosynthesis yields of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) for
various stellar masses, explosion energies, and metallicities. Comparison with
the abundance patterns of metal-poor stars provides excellent opportunities to
test the explosion models and their nucleosynthesis. We show that the abundance
patterns of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars, e.g., the excess of C, Co, Zn
relative to Fe, are in better agreement with the yields of hyper-energetic
explosions (Hypernovae, HNe) rather than normal supernovae.
We note that the variation of the abundance patterns of EMP stars are related
to the diversity of the Supernova-GRB connection. We summarize the diverse
properties of (1) GRB-SNe, (2) Non-GRB HNe/SNe, (3) XRF-SN, and (4) Non-SN GRB.
In particular, the Non-SN GRBs (dark hypernovae) have been predicted in order
to explain the origin of C-rich EMP stars. We show that these variations and
the connection can be modeled in a unified manner with the explosions induced
by relativistic jets. Finally, we examine whether the most luminous supernova
2006gy can be consistently explained with the pair-instability supernova model.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. To appear in "Supernova 1987A: 20 Years After:
Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursters", eds. S. Immler, K. Weiler, & R. McCray
(American Institute of Physics) (2007
The Connection between Gamma-Ray Bursts and Extremely Metal-Poor Stars as Nucleosynthetic Probes of the Early Universe
The connection between the long GRBs and Type Ic Supernovae (SNe) has
revealed the interesting diversity: (i) GRB-SNe, (ii) Non-GRB Hypernovae (HNe),
(iii) X-Ray Flash (XRF)-SNe, and (iv) Non-SN GRBs (or dark HNe). We show that
nucleosynthetic properties found in the above diversity are connected to the
variation of the abundance patterns of extremely-metal-poor (EMP) stars, such
as the excess of C, Co, Zn relative to Fe. We explain such a connection in a
unified manner as nucleosynthesis of hyper-aspherical (jet-induced) explosions
Pop III core-collapse SNe. We show that (1) the explosions with large energy
deposition rate, , are observed as GRB-HNe and their yields
can explain the abundances of normal EMP stars, and (2) the explosions with
small are observed as GRBs without bright SNe and can be
responsible for the formation of the C-rich EMP (CEMP) and the hyper metal-poor
(HMP) stars. We thus propose that GRB-HNe and the Non-SN GRBs (dark HNe) belong
to a continuous series of BH-forming stellar deaths with the relativistic jets
of different .Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. To appear in "Massive Stars as Cosmic Engines",
Proceedings of IAU Symposium 250 (December 2007, Kauai), eds. F. Bresolin,
P.A. Crowther, & J. Puls (Cambridge Univ. Press
First Detection of Ar-K Line Emission from the Cygnus Loop
We observed the Cygnus Loop with XMM-Newton (9 pointings) and Suzaku (32
pointings) between 2002 and 2008. The total effective exposure time is 670.2
ks. By using all of the available data, we intended to improve a
signal-to-noise ratio of the spectrum. Accordingly, the accumulated spectra
obtained by the XIS and the EPIC show some line features around 3 keV that are
attributed to the S He and Ar He lines, respectively. Since the
Cygnus Loop is an evolved (10,000 yr) supernova remnant whose temperature
is relatively low (1 keV) compared with other young remnants, its spectrum
is generally faint above 3.0 keV, no emission lines, such as the Ar-K line have
ever been detected. The detection of the Ar-K line is the first time and we
found that its abundance is significantly higher than that of the solar value;
9.0 and 8.4 (in units of solar), estimated from
the XIS and the EPIC spectra, respectively. We conclude that the Ar-K line
originated from the ejecta of the Cygnus Loop. Follow-up X-ray observations to
tightly constrain the abundances of Ar-rich ejecta will be useful to accurately
estimate the progenitor's mass.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
The Unique Type Ib Supernova 2005bf at Nebular Phases: A Possible Birth Event of A Strongly Magnetized Neutron Star
Late phase nebular spectra and photometry of Type Ib Supernova (SN) 2005bf
taken by the Subaru telescope at ~ 270 and ~ 310 days since the explosion are
presented. Emission lines ([OI]6300, 6363, [CaII]7291, 7324, [FeII]7155) show
the blueshift of ~ 1,500 - 2,000 km s-1. The [OI] doublet shows a doubly-peaked
profile. The line luminosities can be interpreted as coming from a blob or jet
containing only ~ 0.1 - 0.4 Msun, in which ~ 0.02 - 0.06 Msun is 56Ni
synthesized at the explosion. To explain the blueshift, the blob should either
be of unipolar moving at the center-of-mass velocity v ~ 2,000 - 5,000 km s-1,
or suffer from self-absorption within the ejecta as seen in SN 1990I. In both
interpretations, the low-mass blob component dominates the optical output both
at the first peak (~ 20 days) and at the late phase (~ 300 days). The low
luminosity at the late phase (the absolute R magnitude M_R ~ -10.2 mag at ~ 270
days) sets the upper limit for the mass of 56Ni < ~ 0.08 Msun, which is in
contradiction to the value necessary to explain the second, main peak
luminosity (M_R ~ -18.3 mag at ~ 40 days). Encountered by this difficulty in
the 56Ni heating model, we suggest an alternative scenario in which the heating
source is a newly born, strongly magnetized neutron star (a magnetar) with the
surface magnetic field Bmag ~ 10^{14-15} gauss and the initial spin period P0 ~
10 ms. Then, SN 2005bf could be a link between normal SNe Ib/c and an X-Ray
Flash associated SN 2006aj, connected in terms of Bmag and/or P0.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures. Accepted by the Astrophysical Journa
Spin-orbit coupling inactivity of Co ion in geometrically frustrated magnet GeCoO
We report single-crystal neutron diffraction studies on a spinel
antiferromagnet GeCoO, which exhibits magnetic order with a trigonal
propagation vector and tetragonal lattice expansion () below
K. For this inconsistency between spin and lattice in symmetry,
magnetic Bragg reflections with a tetragonal propagation vector were discovered
below . We discuss spin and orbital states of Co ion
underlying the new magnetic component.Comment: 3 pages 2 figures, submitted to ICFCM proceeding (Journal of Physics:
Conference Series, 2011
Loss of the chromatin regulator MRG15 limits neural stem/progenitor cell proliferation via increased expression of the p21 Cdk inhibitor
AbstractChromatin regulation is crucial for many biological processes such as transcriptional regulation, DNA replication, and DNA damage repair. We have found that it is also important for neural stem/progenitor cell (NSC) function and neurogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 is specifically up-regulated in Mrg15 deficient NSCs. Knockdown of p21 expression by p21 shRNA results in restoration of cell proliferation. This indicates that p21 is directly involved in the growth defects observed in Mrg15 deficient NSCs. Activated p53 accumulates in Mrg15 deficient NSCs and this most likely accounts for the up-regulation of p21 expression in the cells. We observed decreased p53 and p21 levels and a concomitant increase in the percentage of BrdU positive cells in Mrg15 null cultures following expression of p53 shRNA. DNA damage foci, as indicated by immunostaining for γH2AX and 53BP1, are detectable in a sub-population of Mrg15 deficient NSC cultures under normal growing conditions and the majority of p21-positive cells are also positive for 53BP1 foci. Furthermore, Mrg15 deficient NSCs exhibit severe defects in DNA damage response following ionizing radiation. Our observations highlight the importance of chromatin regulation and DNA damage response in NSC function and maintenance
Mitochondrial Genome Polymorphism in Lolium perenne
The restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) were investigated to elucidate the genetic relatedness among the 128 cultivars including diploid and tetraploid. Many patterns of RFLPs were observed and allowed assigning of the cultivars into the main eight haplotypes of mitochondrial genome relatedness. The American cultivars were classified into haplotype I and VIII which were remote at the mitochondrial genome from each other, the European ones were distributed to all haplotypes and the tetraploid ones were mostly assigned into the haplotype V. The assessment of mtDNA RFLPs may be a valuable method in analyzing a cytoplasmic differentiation among the perennial ryegrass cultivars. Further investigations are required to elucidate mtDNA diversity in relation with the maternal effects on the agronomic traits of perennial ryegrass
- …