716 research outputs found
Sunspot areas and tilt angles for solar cycles 7-10
Extending the knowledge about the properties of solar cycles into the past is
essential for understanding the solar dynamo. This paper aims at estimating
areas of sunspots observed by Schwabe in 1825-1867 and at calculating the tilt
angles of sunspot groups. The sunspot sizes in Schwabe's drawings are not to
scale and need to be converted into physical sunspot areas. We employed a
statistical approach assuming that the area distribution of sunspots was the
same in the 19th century as it was in the 20th century. Umbral areas for about
130,000 sunspots observed by Schwabe were obtained, as well as the tilt angles
of sunspot groups assuming them to be bipolar. There is, of course, no polarity
information in the observations. The annually averaged sunspot areas correlate
reasonably with sunspot number. We derived an average tilt angle by attempting
to exclude unipolar groups with a minimum separation of the two alleged
polarities and an outlier rejection method which follows the evolution of each
group and detects the moment it turns unipolar at its decay. As a result, the
tilt angles, although displaying considerable scatter, place the leading
polarity on average 5.85+-0.25 closer to the equator, in good agreement with
tilt angles obtained from 20th-century data sets. Sources of uncertainties in
the tilt angle determination are discussed and need to be addressed whenever
different data sets are combined. The sunspot area and tilt angle data are
provided online.Comment: accepted for publication in Astron. & Astrophy
Ellipticine and benzo(a)pyrene increase their own metabolic activation via modulation of expression and enzymatic activity of cytochromes P450 1A1 and 1A2
Two compounds known to covalently bind to DNA after their activation with cytochromes P450 (CYPs), carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and an antineoplastic agent ellipticine, were investigated for their potential to induce CYP and NADPH:CYP reductase (POR) enzymes in rodent livers, the main target organ for DNA adduct formation. Two animal models were used in the study: (i) rats as animals mimicking the fate of ellipticine in humans and (ii) mice, especially wild-type (WT) and hepatic POR null (HRN™) mouse lines. Ellipticine and BaP induce expression of CYP1A enzymes in livers of experimental models, which leads to increase in their enzymatic activity. In addition, both compounds are capable of generating DNA adducts, predominantly in livers of studied organisms. As determined by 32P postlabelling analysis, levels of ellipticine-derived DNA adducts formed in vivo in the livers of HRN™ mice were reduced (by up to 65%) relative to levels in WT mice, indicating that POR mediated CYP enzyme activity is important for the activation of ellipticine. In contrast to these results, 6.4 fold higher DNA binding of BaP was observed in the livers of HRN™ mice than in WT mice. This finding suggests a detoxication role of CYP1A in BaP metabolism in vivo. In in vitro experiments, DNA adduct formation in calf thymus DNA was up to 25 fold higher in incubations of ellipticine or BaP with microsomes from pretreated animals than with controls. This stimulation effect was attributed to induction of CYP1A1/2 enzymes, which are responsible for oxidative activation of both compounds to the metabolites generating major DNA adducts in vitro. Taken together, these results demonstrate that by inducing CYP1A1/2, ellipticine and BaP modulate their own enzymatic metabolic activation and detoxication, thereby modulating their either pharmacological (ellipticine) and/or genotoxic potential (both compounds)
Doppler images and the underlying dynamo. The case of AF Leporis
The (Zeeman-)Doppler imaging studies of solar-type stars very often reveal
large high-latitude spots. This also includes F stars that possess relatively
shallow convection zones, indicating that the dynamo operating in these stars
differs from the solar dynamo. We aim to determine whether mean-field dynamo
models of late-F type dwarf stars can reproduce the surface features recovered
in Doppler maps. In particular, we wish to test whether the models can
reproduce the high-latitude spots observed on some F dwarfs. The photometric
inversions and the surface temperature maps of AF Lep were obtained using the
Occamian-approach inversion technique. Low signal-to-noise spectroscopic data
were improved by applying the least-squares deconvolution method. The locations
of strong magnetic flux in the stellar tachocline as well as the surface fields
obtained from mean-field dynamo solutions were compared with the observed
surface temperature maps. The photometric record of AF Lep reveals both long-
and short-term variability. However, the current data set is too short for
cycle-length estimates. From the photometry, we have determined the rotation
period of the star to be 0.9660+-0.0023 days. The surface temperature maps show
a dominant, but evolving, high-latitude (around +65 degrees) spot. Detailed
study of the photometry reveals that sometimes the spot coverage varies only
marginally over a long time, and at other times it varies rapidly. Of a suite
of dynamo models, the model with a radiative interior rotating as fast as the
convection zone at the equator delivered the highest compatibility with the
obtained Doppler images.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Width of Sunspot Generating Zone and Reconstruction of Butterfly Diagram
Based on the extended Greenwich-NOAA/USAF catalogue of sunspot groups it is
demonstrated that the parameters describing the latitudinal width of the
sunspot generating zone (SGZ) are closely related to the current level of solar
activity, and the growth of the activity leads to the expansion of SGZ. The
ratio of the sunspot number to the width of SGZ shows saturation at a certain
level of the sunspot number, and above this level the increase of the activity
takes place mostly due to the expansion of SGZ. It is shown that the mean
latitudes of sunspots can be reconstructed from the amplitudes of solar
activity. Using the obtained relations and the group sunspot numbers by Hoyt
and Schatten (1998), the latitude distribution of sunspot groups ("the Maunder
butterfly diagram") for the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries is
reconstructed and compared with historical sunspot observations.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures; accepted by Solar Physics; the final
publication will be available at www.springerlink.co
Phase Fluctuations in Bose-Einstein Condensates
We demonstrate the existence of phase fluctuations in elongated Bose-Einstein
Condensates (BECs) and study the dependence of those fluctuations on the system
parameters. A strong dependence on temperature, atom number, and trapping
geometry is observed. Phase fluctuations directly affect the coherence
properties of BECs. In particular, we observe instances where the phase
coherence length is significantly smaller than the condensate size. Our method
of detecting phase fluctuations is based on their transformation into density
modulations after ballistic expansion. An analytic theory describing this
transformation is developed.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
Space-charge mechanism of aging in ferroelectrics: an exactly solvable two-dimensional model
A mechanism of point defect migration triggered by local depolarization
fields is shown to explain some still inexplicable features of aging in
acceptor doped ferroelectrics. A drift-diffusion model of the coupled charged
defect transport and electrostatic field relaxation within a two-dimensional
domain configuration is treated numerically and analytically. Numerical results
are given for the emerging internal bias field of about 1 kV/mm which levels
off at dopant concentrations well below 1 mol%; the fact, long ago known
experimentally but still not explained. For higher defect concentrations a
closed solution of the model equations in the drift approximation as well as an
explicit formula for the internal bias field is derived revealing the plausible
time, temperature and concentration dependencies of aging. The results are
compared to those due to the mechanism of orientational reordering of defect
dipoles.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. accepted to Physical Review
Atomic micromotion and geometric forces in a triaxial magnetic trap
Non-adiabatic motion of Bose-Einstein condensates of rubidium atoms arising
from the dynamical nature of a time-orbiting-potential (TOP) trap was observed
experimentally. The orbital micromotion of the condensate in velocity space at
the frequency of the rotating bias field of the TOP was detected by a
time-of-flight method. A dependence of the equilibrium position of the atoms on
the sense of rotation of the bias field was observed. We have compared our
experimental findings with numerical simulations. The nonadiabatic following of
the atomic spin in the trap rotating magnetic field produces geometric forces
acting on the trapped atoms.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Optical dipole traps and atomic waveguides based on Bessel light beams
We theoretically investigate the use of Bessel light beams generated using
axicons for creating optical dipole traps for cold atoms and atomic
waveguiding. Zeroth-order Bessel beams can be used to produce highly elongated
dipole traps allowing for the study of one-dimensional trapped gases and
realization of a Tonks gas of impentrable bosons. First-order Bessel beams are
shown to be able to produce tight confined atomic waveguides over centimeter
distances.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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