5,368 research outputs found
Separation-dependent localization in a two-impurity spin-boson model
Using a variational approach we investigate the delocalized to localized
crossover in the ground state of an Ohmic two-impurity spin-boson model,
describing two otherwise non-interacting spins coupled to a common bosonic
environment. We show that a competition between an environment-induced Ising
spin interaction and externally applied fields leads to variations in the
system-bath coupling strength, , at which the delocalized-localized
crossover occurs. Specifically, the crossover regime lies between
and depending upon the spin separation and the
strength of the transverse tunneling field. This is in contrast to the
analogous single spin case, for which the crossover occurs (in the scaling
limit) at fixed . We also discuss links between the
two-impurity spin-boson model and a dissipative two-spin transverse Ising
model, showing that the latter possesses the same qualitative features as the
Ising strength is varied. Finally, we show that signatures of the crossover may
be observed in single impurity observables, as well as in the behaviour of the
system-environment entanglement.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures. Published version. Expanded discussion of the
distance dependence between the impurities, and added a related figur
Physico-Chemical and Microbiological Analysis of Fermented Cow Milk (Nono) Consumed Within Kaduna Town, North-Western Nigeria
10 Samples of two different types of fermented cow milk tsala (locally prepared diluted milk) and kindrimo (locally prepared concentrated milk) were collected from different locations around Kaduna metropolis, and analyzed for their physicochemical properties and microbiological quality. The average levels of major chemical components were for: tsala: acidity (0.106%), protein (2.732%), fat (6.54%), total solid (7.68%), ash content (0.638%), and carbohydrate (82.80%); and for kindirmo: acidity (0.122%), protein (3.59%), fat (8.2%), total solid (10.06%), ash content (0.436%) and carbohydrate (77.70%). The average pH values obtained were  (4.09) and (4.42) respectively. The bacteria isolated includes; staphylococcus spp, lactobacillus spp, streptococcus spp, shigella spp, enterobacter, salmonella spp, protein Spp and mirococcus Spp. The fungi isolated included Aspergillus, yest, trichoderma, mucor and cardida. The result of the microbial count revealed that the total aerobic count on tsala ranged between 3 x 103 â 25 x 103 cfu/ml, while for Kindirmo the value ranged between 3 x 103 â 24 x 103 cfu/ml with sample 2E recording too numerous aerobic bacteria count. The coliform count on tsala ranged between 4 x 103 â 10 x 103 while kindirmo recorded a ranged of 1 x 103 â 25 x 103 cfu/ml. The fungi count in tsala ranged between 22 x 103 â 28 x 103 cfu/ml while that of kindirmo ranged between 10 x 103 â 22 x 103 cfu/ml.  The microbiological quality of the two fermented cow milk shows a high level of bacteriological contamination which may pose public health threat and indicates poor hygienic practices and therefore the need for improved hygienic standards. Keywords: microbiological quality, Physico-chemical composition, tsala, kindirmo, Kaduna
Isolating Triggered Star Formation
Galaxy pairs provide a potentially powerful means of studying triggered star
formation from galaxy interactions. We use a large cosmological N-body
simulation coupled with a well-tested semi-analytic substructure model to
demonstrate that the majority of galaxies in close pairs reside within cluster
or group-size halos and therefore represent a biased population, poorly suited
for direct comparison to ``field'' galaxies. Thus, the frequent observation
that some types of galaxies in pairs have redder colors than ``field'' galaxies
is primarily a selection effect. We select galaxy pairs that are isolated in
their dark matter halos with respect to other massive subhalos (N=2 halos) and
a control sample of isolated galaxies (N=1 halos) for comparison. We then apply
these selection criteria to a volume-limited subset of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift
Survey with M_Bj <= -19 and obtain the first clean measure of the typical
fraction of galaxies affected by triggered star formation and the average
elevation in the star formation rate. We find that 24% (30.5%) of these L^\star
and sub-L^{\star} galaxies in isolated 50 (30) kpc/h pairs exhibit star
formation that is boosted by a factor of >~ 5 above their average past value,
while only 10% of isolated galaxies in the control sample show this level of
enhancement. Thus, 14% (20 %) of the galaxies in these close pairs show clear
triggered star formation. The isolation criteria we develop provide a means to
constrain star formation and feedback prescriptions in hydrodynamic simulations
and a very general method of understanding the importance of triggered star
formation in a cosmological context. (Abridged.)Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, emulateapj format, accepted by Ap
Keck Spectroscopy of Candidate Proto-globular Clusters in NGC 1275
Keck spectroscopy of 5 proto-globular cluster candidates in NGC 1275 has been
combined with HST WFPC2 photometry to explore the nature and origin of these
objects and discriminate between merger and cooling flow scenarios for globular
cluster formation. The objects we have studied are not HII regions, but rather
star clusters, yet their integrated spectral properties do not resemble young
or intermediate age Magellanic Cloud clusters or Milky Way open clusters. The
clusters' Balmer absorption appears to be too strong to be consistent with any
of the standard Bruzual & Charlot evolutionary models at any metallicity. If
these models are adopted, an IMF which is skewed to high masses provides a
better fit to the data. A truncated IMF with a mass range of 2-3 Mo reproduces
the observed Balmer equivalent widths and colors at about 450 Myr. Formation in
a continuous cooling flow appears to be ruled out since the age of the clusters
is much larger than the cooling time, the spatial scale of the clusters is much
smaller than the cooling flow radius, and the deduced star formation rate in
the cooling flow favors a steep rather than a flat IMF. A merger would have to
produce clusters only in the central few kpc, presumably from gas in the
merging galaxies which was channeled rapidly to the center. Widespread shocks
in merging galaxies cannot have produced these clusters. If these objects are
confirmed to have a relatively flat, or truncated, IMF it is unclear whether or
not they will evolve into objects we would regard as bona fide globular
clusters.Comment: 30 pages (AAS two column style, including 9 tables and 7 figures) to
appear in the AJ (August issue), also available at
http://www.ucolick.org/~mkissler/Sages/sages.html (with a full resolution
Fig.1) Revised Version: previous posted version was an uncorrect ealier
iteration, parts of the text, tables and figures changed. The overall
conclusions remain unchange
Comparing the mitochondrial genomes of Wolbachia-dependent and independent filarial nematode species
BACKGROUND: Many species of filarial nematodes depend on Wolbachia endobacteria to carry out their life cycle. Other species are naturally Wolbachia-free. The biological mechanisms underpinning Wolbachia-dependence and independence in filarial nematodes are not known. Previous studies have indicated that Wolbachia have an impact on mitochondrial gene expression, which may suggest a role in energy metabolism. If Wolbachia can supplement host energy metabolism, reduced mitochondrial function in infected filarial species may account for Wolbachia-dependence. Wolbachia also have a strong influence on mitochondrial evolution due to vertical co-transmission. This could drive alterations in mitochondrial genome sequence in infected species. Comparisons between the mitochondrial genome sequences of Wolbachia-dependent and independent filarial worms may reveal differences indicative of altered mitochondrial function. RESULTS: The mitochondrial genomes of 5 species of filarial nematodes, Acanthocheilonema viteae, Chandlerella quiscali, Loa loa, Onchocerca flexuosa, and Wuchereria bancrofti, were sequenced, annotated and compared with available mitochondrial genome sequences from Brugia malayi, Dirofilaria immitis, Onchocerca volvulus and Setaria digitata. B. malayi, D. immitis, O. volvulus and W. bancrofti are Wolbachia-dependent while A. viteae, C. quiscali, L. loa, O. flexuosa and S. digitata are Wolbachia-free. The 9 mitochondrial genomes were similar in size and AT content and encoded the same 12 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs and 2 rRNAs. Synteny was perfectly preserved in all species except C. quiscali, which had a different order for 5 tRNA genes. Protein-coding genes were expressed at the RNA level in all examined species. In phylogenetic trees based on mitochondrial protein-coding sequences, species did not cluster according to Wolbachia dependence. CONCLUSIONS: Thus far, no discernable differences were detected between the mitochondrial genome sequences of Wolbachia-dependent and independent species. Additional research will be needed to determine whether mitochondria from Wolbachia-dependent filarial species show reduced function in comparison to the mitochondria of Wolbachia-independent species despite their sequence-level similarities
Gap to Transition Temperature Ratio in Density Wave Ordering: a Dynamical Mean Field Study
We use the dynamical mean-field method to determine the origin of the large
ratio of the zero temperature gap to the transition temperature observed in
most charge density wave materials. The method is useful because it allows an
exact treatment of thermal fluctuations. We establish the relation of the
dynamical mean-field results to conventional diagrammatics and thereby
determine that in the physically relevant regime the origin of the large ratio
is a strong inelastic scattering.Comment: 4 figure
Experimental study of Taylor's hypothesis in a turbulent soap film
An experimental study of Taylor's hypothesis in a quasi-two-dimensional
turbulent soap film is presented. A two probe laser Doppler velocimeter enables
a non-intrusive simultaneous measurement of the velocity at spatially separated
points. The breakdown of Taylor's hypothesis is quantified using the cross
correlation between two points displaced in both space and time; correlation is
better than 90% for scales less than the integral scale. A quantitative study
of the decorrelation beyond the integral scale is presented, including an
analysis of the failure of Taylor's hypothesis using techniques from
predictability studies of turbulent flows. Our results are compared with
similar studies of 3D turbulence.Comment: 27 pages, + 19 figure
The violent past of Cygnus X-2
Cygnus X-2 appears to be the descendant of an intermediate-mass X-ray binary
(IMXB). Using Mazzitelli's (1989) stellar code we compute detailed evolutionary
sequences for the system and find that its prehistory is sensitive to stellar
input parameters, in particular the amount of core overshooting during the
main-sequence phase. With standard assumptions for convective overshooting a
case B mass transfer starting with a 3.5 M_sun donor star is the most likely
evolutionary solution for Cygnus X-2. This makes the currently observed state
rather short-lived, of order 3 Myr, and requires a formation rate > 1e-7 - 1e-6
per yr of such systems in the Galaxy. Our calculations show that neutron star
IMXBs with initially more massive donors (> 4 M_sun) encounter a delayed
dynamical instability; they are unlikely to survive this rapid mass transfer
phase. We determine limits for the age and initial parameters of Cygnus X-2 and
calculate possible dynamical orbits of the system in a realistic Galactic
potential, given its observed radial velocity. We find trajectories which are
consistent with a progenitor binary on a circular orbit in the Galactic plane
inside the solar circle that received a kick velocity < 200 km/s at the birth
of the neutron star. The simulations suggests that about 7% of IMXBs receiving
an arbitrary kick velocity from a standard kick velocity spectrum would end up
in an orbit similar to Cygnus X-2, while about 10% of them reach yet larger
Galactocentric distances.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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