Time-dependent density-functional theory for open systems

By introducing the self-energy density functionals for the dissipative interactions between the reduced system and its environment, we develop a time-dependent density-functional theory formalism based on an equation of motion for the Kohn-Sham reduced single-electron density matrix of the reduced system. Two approximate schemes are proposed for the self-energy density functionals, the complete second order approximation and the wide-band limit approximation. A numerical method based on the wide-band limit approximation is subsequently developed and implemented to simulate the steady and transient current through various realistic molecular devices. Simulation results are presented and discussed.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure

Identification of the Red Supergiant Progenitor of Supernova 2005cs: Do the Progenitors of Type II-P Supernovae Have Low Mass?

The stars that end their lives as supernovae (SNe) have been directly observed in only a handful of cases, due mainly to the extreme difficulty in identifying them in images obtained prior to the SN explosions. Here we report the identification of the progenitor for the recent Type II-plateau (core-collapse) SN 2005cs in pre-explosion archival images of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). From high-quality ground-based images of the SN from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, we precisely determine the position of the SN and are able to isolate the SN progenitor to within 0".04 in the HST/ACS optical images. We further pinpoint the SN location to within 0".005 from HST/ACS ultraviolet images of the SN, confirming our progenitor identification. From photometry of the SN progenitor obtained with the pre-SN ACS images, and also limits to its brightness in pre-SN HST/NICMOS images, we infer that the progenitor is a red supergiant star of spectral type K0--M3, with initial mass 7--9 Msun. We also discuss the implications of the SN 2005cs progenitor identification and its mass estimate. There is an emerging trend that the most common Type II-plateau SNe originate from low-mass supergiants 8--15 Msun.Comment: Submitted to ApJ. A high resolution version can be found at http://astron.berkeley.edu/~weidong/sn05cs.p

SDSS J124602.54+011318.8: A Highly Variable AGN, Not an Orphan GRB Afterglow

The optically variable source SDSS J124602.54+011318.8 first appears in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data as a bright point source with nonstellar colors. Subsequent SDSS imaging and spectroscopy showed that the point source declined or disappeared, revealing an underlying host galaxy at redshift 0.385. Based on these properties, the source was suggested to be a candidate ``orphan afterglow'': a moderately beamed optical transient, associated with a gamma-ray burst (GRB) whose highly beamed radiation cone does not include our line of sight. We present new imaging and spectroscopic observations of this source. When combined with a careful re-analysis of archival optical and radio data, the observations prove that SDSS J124602.54+011318.8 is in fact an unusual radio-loud AGN, probably in the BL Lac class. The object displays strong photometric variability on time scales of weeks to years, including several bright flares, similar to the one initially reported. The SDSS observations are therefore almost certainly not related to a GRB. The optical spectrum of this object dramatically changes in correlation with its optical brightness. At the bright phase, weak, narrow oxygen emission lines and probably a broader H$\alpha$ line are superposed on a blue continuum. As the flux decreases, the spectrum becomes dominated by the host galaxy light, with emerging stellar absorption lines, while both the narrow and broad emission lines have larger equivalent widths. We briefly discuss the implications of this discovery on the study of AGNs and other optically variable or transient phenomena.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, AASTEX 5.0.2, slight modifications following referee's report, PASP, in pres

The Red Supergiant Progenitor of Supernova 2012aw (PTF12bvh) in Messier 95

We report on the direct detection and characterization of the probable red supergiant (RSG) progenitor of the intermediate-luminosity Type II-Plateau (II-P) supernova (SN) 2012aw in the nearby (10.0 Mpc) spiral galaxy Messier 95 (M95; NGC 3351). We have identified the star in both Hubble Space Telescope images of the host galaxy, obtained 17-18 yr prior to the explosion, and near-infrared ground-based images, obtained 6-12 yr prior to the SN. The luminous supergiant showed evidence for substantial circumstellar dust, manifested as excess line-of-sight extinction. The effective total-to-selective ratio of extinction to the star was R'_V ≈ 4.35, which is significantly different from that of diffuse interstellar dust (i.e., R_V = 3.1), and the total extinction to the star was therefore, on average, A_V ≈ 3.1 mag. We find that the observed spectral energy distribution for the progenitor star is consistent with an effective temperature of 3600 K (spectral type M3), and that the star therefore had a bolometric magnitude of –8.29. Through comparison with recent theoretical massive-star evolutionary tracks we can infer that the RSG progenitor had an initial mass 15 ≲ M_(ini)(M_☉) < 20. Interpolating by eye between the available tracks, we surmise that the star had initial mass ~17-18 M_☉. The circumstellar dust around the progenitor must have been destroyed in the explosion, as the visual extinction to the SN is found to be low (AV = 0.24 mag with R_V = 3.1)

The origin of intergalactic thermonuclear supernovae

The population synthesis method is used to study the possibility of explaining the appreciable fraction (20^+12_15%) of the intergalactic (no-host) type Ia supernovae observed in galaxy clusters (Gal-Yam ete al. 2003) by binary whote dwarf merginngs in the cores of globular clusters. In a typical globular cluster, the number of merging double white dwarfs is fount to be smaller than 10^{-13} per year per average cluster star during the entire evolution of the cluster, which is a factor of 3 higher than in a Milky-Way-type galaxy. From 5 to 30% of the merging white dwarfs are dynamically expelled from the cluster with barycenter velocities up to 150 km/s. SN Ia explosions during the mergers of binary white dwarfs in dense star clusters may account for \sim 1% of the total rate of SN Ia in the central parts of galaxy clusters if the baryon mass fraction in such star clusters is \sim 0.3%.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figs. Astronomy Letters (in press

Conceptualization of the Casimir effect

The origins and physical significance of the Casimir effect are reviewed, linking the zero-point energy of the vacuum in quantum electrodynamics with a force between conducting plates. It is shown how, by the use of dimensional and other simple physical arguments, the major features of the phenomenon can be derived

Evidence for Exotic J^{PC}=1^{-+} Meson Production in the Reaction pi- p --> eta pi- p at 18 GeV/c

Details of the analysis of the eta pi- system studied in the reaction pi^{-} p --> eta pi^{-} p at 18 GeV/c are given. Separate analyses for the 2 gamma and pi+ pi- pi0 decay modes of the eta are presented. An amplitude analysis of the data indicates the presence of interference between the a(2)(1320)- and a J^{PC}=1^{-+} wave between 1.2 and 1.6 GeV/c^2. The phase difference between these waves shows phase motion not attributable solely to the a(2)(1320)-. The data can be fitted by interference between the a(2)(1320)- and an exotic 1^{-+} resonance with M = 1370 +-16 +50 -30} MeV/c^2 and Gamma = 385 +- 40 +65 -105 MeV/c^2. Our results are compared with those of other experiments.Comment: 50 pages of text and 34 figure

A partial wave analysis of the π0π0\pi ^0\pi ^0 system produced in π−p\pi ^-p charge exchange collisions

A partial wave analysis of the of the $\pi ^0\pi ^0$ system produced in the charge exchange reaction: $\pi ^-p\to \pi ^0\pi ^0n$ at an incident momentum of $18.3 GeV/c$ is presented as a function of ${\pi ^0\pi ^0}$ invariant mass, $m_{\pi^0\pi^0}$, and momentum transfer squared, $| {t} |$, from the incident $\pi^-$ to the outgoing ${\pi ^0\pi ^0}$ system.Comment: 24 pages total,8 pages text, 14 figures, 1 table. Submitted to Phys Rev