Large-scale Vortices in Protoplanetary Disks: On the observability of possible early stages of planet formation

We investigate the possibility of mapping large-scale anti-cyclonic vortices, resulting from a global baroclinic instability, as pre-cursors of planet formation in proto-planetary disks with the planned Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). On the basis of three-dimensional radiative transfer simulations, images of a hydrodynamically calculated disk are derived which provide the basis for the simulation of ALMA. We find that ALMA will be able to trace the theoretically predicted large-scale anti-cyclonic vortex and will therefore allow testing of existing models of this very early stage of planet formation in circumstellar disks.Comment: Accepted by ApJ (Letters section). A preprint version with high-quality figures can be downloaded from http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/swolf/homepage/public/preprints/ vortex.ps.g

Test of the gravitational redshift with stable clocks in eccentric orbits: application to Galileo satellites 5 and 6

The Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) is one of the foundations of the theory of General Relativity and several alternative theories of gravitation predict violations of the EEP. Experimental constraints on this fundamental principle of nature are therefore of paramount importance. The EEP can be split in three sub-principles: the Universality of Free Fall (UFF), the Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI) and the Local Position Invariance (LPI). In this paper we propose to use stable clocks in eccentric orbits to perform a test of the gravitational redshift, a consequence of the LPI. The best test to date was performed with the Gravity Probe A (GP-A) experiment in 1976 with an uncertainty of $1.4\times10^{-4}$. Our proposal considers the opportunity of using Galileo satellites 5 and 6 to improve on the GP-A test uncertainty. We show that considering realistic noise and systematic effects, and thanks to a highly eccentric orbit, it is possible to improve on the GP-A limit to an uncertainty around $(3-4)\times 10^{-5}$ after one year of integration of Galileo 5 and 6 data.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted in Classical and Quantum Gravity as a Fast Track Communicatio

Ferrimagnetism of MnV_2O_4 spinel

The spinel MnV_2O_4 is a two-sublattice ferrimagnet, with site A occupied by the Mn^{2+} ion and site B by the V^{3+} ion. The magnon of the system, the transversal fluctuation of the total magnetization, is a complicated mixture of the sublattice A and B transversal magnetic fluctuations. As a result, the magnons' fluctuations suppress in a different way the manganese and vanadium magnetic orders and one obtains two phases. At low temperature (0,T^*) the magnetic orders of the Mn and V ions contribute to the magnetization of the system, while at the high temperature (T^*,T_N), the vanadium magnetic order is suppressed by magnon fluctuations, and only the manganese ions have non-zero spontaneous magnetization. A modified spin-wave theory is developed to describe the two phases and to calculate the magnetization as a function of temperature. The anomalous $M(T)$ curve reproduces the experimentally obtained ZFC magnetization.Comment: 4 pages, one figur

Electronic structure of single-crystalline Mgx_xAl1−x_{1-x}B2_2 probed by x-ray diffraction multipole refinements and polarization-dependent x-ray absorption spectroscopy

X-ray diffraction multipole refinements of single-crystalline Mg$_x$Al$_{1-x}$B$_2$ and polarization-dependent near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure at the B 1$s$ edge reveal a strongly anisotropic electronic structure. Comparing the data for superconducting compounds ($x= 0.8$, 1.0) with those for the non-superconductor ($x=0$) gives direct evidence for a rearrangement of the hybridizations of the boron $p_z$ bonds and underline the importance of holes in the $\sigma$-bonded covalent $sp^2$ states for the superconducting properties of the diborides. The data indicate that Mg is approximately divalent in MgB$_2$ and suggest predominantly ionic bonds between the Mg ions and the two-dimensional B rings. For AlB$_2$ ($x=0$), on the other hand, about 1.5 electrons per Al atom are transferred to the B sheets while the residual 1.5 electrons remain at the Al site which suggests significant covalent bonding between the Al ions and the B sheets. This finding together with the static electron deformation density points to almost equivalent electron counts on B sheets of MgB$_2$ and AlB$_2$\@, yet with a completely different electron/hole distribution between the $\sigma$ and $\pi$ bonds