5,389 research outputs found
Studying the evolution of AGB stars in the Gaia epoch
We present asymptotic giant branch (AGB) models of solar metallicity, to
allow the interpretation of observations of Galactic AGB stars, whose distances
should be soon available after the first release of the Gaia catalogue. We find
an abrupt change in the AGB physical and chemical properties, occurring at the
threshold mass to ignite hot bottom burning,i.e. . Stars with
mass below reach the C-star stage and eject into the
interstellar medium gas enriched in carbon , nitrogen and . The higher
mass counterparts evolve at large luminosities, between and . The mass expelled from the massive AGB stars
shows the imprinting of proton-capture nucleosynthesis, with considerable
production of nitrogen and sodium and destruction of and . The
comparison with the most recent results from other research groups are
discussed, to evaluate the robustness of the present findings. Finally, we
compare the models with recent observations of galactic AGB stars, outlining
the possibility offered by Gaia to shed new light on the evolution properties
of this class of objects.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS
(2016 July 11
Vortices on demand in multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates
We present a simple mechanism to produce vortices at any desired spatial
locations in harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) with
multicomponent spin states coupled to external transverse and axial magnetic
fields. The vortices appear at the spatial points where the spin-transverse
field interaction vanishes and, depending on the multipolar magnetic field
order, the vortices can acquire different predictable topological charges. We
explicitly demonstrate our findings, both numerically and analytically, by
analyzing a 2D BEC via the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for atomic systems with
either two or three internal states. We further show that, by an spontaneous
symmetry breaking mechanism, vortices can appear in any spin component, unless
symmetry is externally broken at the outset by an axial field. We suggest that
this scenario may be tested using an ultracold gas of Rb occupying all
three states in an optical trap.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, (Accepted in PRA
Clear evidence for the presence of second-generation asymptotic giant branch stars in metal-poor Galactic globular clusters
Galactic globular clusters (GCs) are known to host multiple stellar
populations: a first generation with a chemical pattern typical of halo field
stars and a second generation (SG) enriched in Na and Al and depleted in O and
Mg. Both stellar generations are found at different evolutionary stages (e.g.,
the main-sequence turnoff, the subgiant branch, and the red giant branch). The
non detection of SG asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in several metal-poor
([Fe/H] < -1) GCs suggests that not all SG stars ascend the AGB phase, and that
failed AGB stars may be very common in metal-poor GCs. This observation
represents a serious problem for stellar evolution and GC formation/evolution
theories. We report fourteen SG-AGB stars in four metal-poor GCs (M 13, M 5, M
3, and M 2) with different observational properties: horizontal branch (HB)
morphology, metallicity, and age. By combining the H-band Al abundances
obtained by the APOGEE survey with ground-based optical photometry, we identify
SG Al-rich AGB stars in these four GCs and show that Al-rich RGB/AGB GC stars
should be Na-rich. Our observations provide strong support for present,
standard stellar models, i.e., without including a strong mass-loss efficiency,
for low-mass HB stars. In fact, current empirical evidence is in agreement with
the predicted distribution of FG and and SG stars during the He-burning stages
based on these standard stellar models.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters (16
pages, 4 figures, and 1 table
New rhenopyrgid edrioasteroids (Echinodermata) and their implications for taxonomy, functional morphology, and paleoecology
Rhenopyrgids are rare, turreted edrioasterid edrioasteroids from the lower Paleozoic with a distinctive and apparently conservative morphology. However, new, well-preserved rhenopyrgid edrioasteroid material from Canada, along with a review of described taxa, has revealed broader structural diversity in the oral surface and enabled a re-evaluation of rhenopyrgid functional morphology and paleoecology. The floor plates in Rhenopyrgus viviani n. sp., R. coronaeformis Rievers, 1961 and, R. flos Klug et al., 2008 are well fused to each other and the interradial oral plate and lack obvious sutures, thereby forming a single compound interradial plate. This differs from other rhenopyrgids where sutures are more apparent. Such fused oral surface construction is only otherwise seen in some derived edrioblastoids and in the cyathocystids, suggesting homoplasy. Our analysis further suggests that the suboral constriction could contract but the flexible pyrgate zone could not. Thus, specimens apparently lacking a sub-oral constriction should not necessarily be placed in separate genera within the Rhenopyrgidae. It also supports rhenopyrgids as epifaunal mud-stickers with only the bulbous, textured, entire holdfasts (coriaceous sacs) anchored within the substrate rather than as burrow dwellers or encrusters. Rhenopyrgus viviani n. sp. is described from the Telychian (lower Silurian) Jupiter Formation of Anticosti Island, Québec, Canada and is differentiated by a high degree of morphological variability of pedunculate plates, broader oral plates, and narrower distal ambulacral zones. Specimens lacking or with obscured diagnostic plates from the Ordovician of Montagne Noire, France, and the Ordovician and Silurian of Girvan, Scotland are also described
Displasia glenoidea bilateral dolorosa asociada a inestabilidad
La hipoplasia glenoidea es una alteraciĂłn relativamente infrecuente, de la que han sido descritos menos de 100 casos. Se comunica un caso de una enferma de 17 años de edad con clĂnica de dolor e inestabilidad en ambos hombros y hallazgo de displasia bilateral de cavidad glenoidea. Se realizĂł tratamiento conservador mediante pauta de refuerzo muscular con bandas elásticas de resistencia creciente con un resultado excelente calificado segĂşn puntuaciĂłn de tabla de Rowe y cols. Desapareciendo la sensaciĂłn de inestabilidad y habiendo cedido la clĂnica álgica.The glenoid hypoplasia is an uncommon condition. Less than 100 cases have been reported. We present the case of a 17 year old girl complaining of pain and instability in both shoulders and radiological findings of bilateral dysplasia of the glenoid. A non-operative treatment has been followed with an exercise program to strengthen the shoulder. This has been achieved with a progressive resistance rubber bands program. The final result has been excellent according to the appraisal table by Rowe et al., disappearing the instability sensation as well as the pain
Positive adjacency effects mediated by seed disperser birds in pine plantations
This study examines the consequences of adjacent elements for a given patch, through their effects on zoochorous dispersion by frugivorous birds. The case study consists of pine plantations (the focal patch) adjacent to other patches of native vegetation (mixed patches of native forest and shrublands), and/or pine plantations. Our hypothesis is that input of native woody species propagules generated by frugivorous birds within plantations strongly depends on the nature of the surrounding vegetation. To test this hypothesis, we studied frugivorous-bird abundance, seed dispersion, and seedling establishment in nine pine plantation plots in contact with patches of native vegetation. To quantify adjacency arrangement effects, we used the percentage of common border between a patch and each of its adjacent elements. Frugivorous bird occurrence in pine plantations is influenced by the adjacent vegetation: the greater the contact with native vegetation patches, the more abundant were the frugivorous birds within pine plantations. Furthermore, frugivorous birds introduce into plantations the seeds of a large sample of native fleshy-fruited species. The results confirm the hypothesis that zoochorous seed rain is strongly determined by the kind of vegetation surrounding a given plantation. This finding underlines the importance of the composition of the mosaic surrounding plantations and the availability of mobile link species as key landscape features conditioning passive restoration processes
Hot bottom burning and s-process nucleosynthesis in massive AGB stars at the beginning of the thermally-pulsing phase
We report the first spectroscopic identification of massive Galactic
asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars at the beginning of the thermal pulse (TP)
phase. These stars are the most Li-rich massive AGBs found to date, super
Li-rich AGBs with logE(Li)~3-4. The high Li overabundances are accompanied by
weak or no s-process element (i.e. Rb and Zr) enhancements. A comparison of our
observations with the most recent hot bottom burning (HBB) and s-process
nucleosynthesis models confirms that HBB is strongly activated during the first
TPs but the 22Ne neutron source needs many more TP and third dredge-up episodes
to produce enough Rb at the stellar surface. We also show that the short-lived
element Tc, usually used as an indicator of AGB genuineness, is not detected in
massive AGBs which is in agreement with the theoretical predictions when the
22Ne neutron source dominates the s-process nucleosynthesis.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters (7
pages, 5 figures and 1 table); final version (language corrected
One loop anomalies and Wess-Zumino terms for general gauge theories
One loop anomalies and their dependence on antifields for general gauge theories are investigated within a Pauli-Villars regularization scheme. For on-shell theories {\it i.e.}, with open algebras or on-shell reducible theories, the antifield dependence is cohomologically non trivial. The associated Wess-Zumino term depends also on antifields. In the classical basis the antifield independent part of the WZ term is expressed in terms of the anomaly and finite gauge transformations by introducing gauge degrees of freedom as the extra dynamical variables. The complete WZ term is reconstructed from the antifield independent part
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