The Field White Dwarf Mass Distribution

We revisit the properties and astrophysical implications of the field white dwarf mass distribution in preparation of Gaia applications. Our study is based on the two samples with the best established completeness and most precise atmospheric parameters, the volume-complete survey within 20 pc and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) magnitude-limited sample. We explore the modelling of the observed mass distributions with Monte Carlo simulations, but find that it is difficult to constrain independently the initial mass function (IMF), the initial-to-final-mass relation (IFMR), the stellar formation history (SFH), the variation of the Galactic disk vertical scale height as a function of stellar age, and binary evolution. Each of these input ingredients has a moderate effect on the predicted mass distributions, and we must also take into account biases owing to unidentified faint objects (20 pc sample), as well as unknown masses for magnetic white dwarfs and spectroscopic calibration issues (SDSS sample). Nevertheless, we find that fixed standard assumptions for the above parameters result in predicted mean masses that are in good qualitative agreement with the observed values. It suggests that derived masses for both studied samples are consistent with our current knowledge of stellar and Galactic evolution. Our simulations overpredict by 40-50% the number of massive white dwarfs (M > 0.75 Msun) for both surveys, although we can not exclude a Salpeter IMF when we account for all biases. Furthermore, we find no evidence of a population of double white dwarf mergers in the observed mass distributions.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Reply to `A comment on `The Cauchy problem of f(R) gravity''

We reply to a comment by Capozziello and Vignolo about the Cauchy problem of Palatini f(R) gravity.Comment: 3 pages, late

Mott physics and first-order transition between two metals in the normal state phase diagram of the two-dimensional Hubbard model

For doped two-dimensional Mott insulators in their normal state, the challenge is to understand the evolution from a conventional metal at high doping to a strongly correlated metal near the Mott insulator at zero doping. To this end, we solve the cellular dynamical mean-field equations for the two-dimensional Hubbard model using a plaquette as the reference quantum impurity model and continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo method as impurity solver. The normal-state phase diagram as a function of interaction strength $U$, temperature $T$, and filling $n$ shows that, upon increasing $n$ towards the Mott insulator, there is a surface of first-order transition between two metals at nonzero doping. That surface ends at a finite temperature critical line originating at the half-filled Mott critical point. Associated with this transition, there is a maximum in scattering rate as well as thermodynamic signatures. These findings suggest a new scenario for the normal-state phase diagram of the high temperature superconductors. The criticality surmised in these systems can originate not from a T=0 quantum critical point, nor from the proximity of a long-range ordered phase, but from a low temperature transition between two types of metals at finite doping. The influence of Mott physics therefore extends well beyond half-filling.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figures, LaTeX, published versio

Theory of spin and charge fluctuations in the Hubbard model

A self-consistent theory of both spin and charge fluctuations in the Hubbard model is presented. It is in quantitative agreement with Monte Carlo data at least up to intermediate coupling $(U\sim 8t)$. It includes both short-wavelength quantum renormalization effects, and long-wavelength thermal fluctuations which can destroy long-range order in two dimensions. This last effect leads to a small energy scale, as often observed in high temperature superconductors. The theory is conserving, satisfies the Pauli principle and includes three-particle correlations necessary to account for the incipient Mott transition.Comment: J1K 2R1 10 pages, Revtex 3.0, 4 uuencoded postscript figures, report# CRPS-93-4

Invariants of Lie Algebras with Fixed Structure of Nilradicals

An algebraic algorithm is developed for computation of invariants ('generalized Casimir operators') of general Lie algebras over the real or complex number field. Its main tools are the Cartan's method of moving frames and the knowledge of the group of inner automorphisms of each Lie algebra. Unlike the first application of the algorithm in [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen., 2006, V.39, 5749; math-ph/0602046], which deals with low-dimensional Lie algebras, here the effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated by its application to computation of invariants of solvable Lie algebras of general dimension $n<\infty$ restricted only by a required structure of the nilradical. Specifically, invariants are calculated here for families of real/complex solvable Lie algebras. These families contain, with only a few exceptions, all the solvable Lie algebras of specific dimensions, for whom the invariants are found in the literature.Comment: LaTeX2e, 19 page