ARES+MOOG - a practical overview of an EW method to derive stellar parameters

The goal of this document is to describe the important practical aspects in the use of an Equivalent Width (EW) method for the derivation of spectroscopic stellar parameters. A general description of the fundamental steps composing any EW method is given, together with possible differences that may be found in different methods used in the literature. Then ARES+MOOG is then used as an example where each step of the method is described in detail. A special focus is given for the specific steps of this method, namely the use of a differential analysis to define the atomic data for the adopted line list, the automatic EW determinations, and the way to find the best parameters at the end of the procedure. Finally, a practical tutorial is given, where we focus on simple exercises useful to illustrate and explain the dependence of the abundances with the assumed stellar parameters. The interdependences are described and a clear procedure is given to find the "final" stellar parameters.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication as a chapter in "Determination of Atmospheric Parameters of B, A, F and G Type Stars", Springer (2014), eds. E. Niemczura, B. Smalley, W. Pyc

Energy in an Expanding Universe in the Teleparallel Geometry

The main purpose of this paper is to explicitly verify the consistency of the energy-momentum and angular momentum tensor of the gravitational field established in the Hamiltonian structure of the Teleparallel Equivalent of General Relativity (TEGR). In order to reach these objectives, we obtained the total energy and angular momentum (matter plus gravitational field) of the closed universe of the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW). The result is compared with those obtained from the pseudotensors of Einstein and Landau-Lifshitz. We also applied the field equations (TEGR) in an expanding FLRW universe. Considering the stress energy-momentum tensor for a perfect fluid, we found a teleparallel equivalent of Friedmann equations of General Relativity (GR).Comment: 19 pages, no figures. Revised in view of Referee's comments. Version to appear in the Brazilian Journal of Physic

Space-time Torsion and Neutrino Oscillations in Vacuum

The objective of this study is to verify the consistency of the prescription of alternative minimum coupling (connection) proposed by the Teleparallel Equivalent to General Relativity (TEGR) for the Dirac equation. With this aim, we studied the problem of neutrino oscillations in Weitzenbock space-time in the Schwarzschild metric. In particular, we calculate the phase dynamics of neutrinos. The relation of spin of the neutrino with the space-time torsion is clarified through the determination of the phase differences between spin eigenstates of the neutrinos.Comment: 07 pages, no figure

Angular Momentum of the BTZ Black Hole in the Teleparallel Geometry

We carry out the Hamiltonian formulation of the three- dimensional gravitational teleparallelism without imposing the time gauge condition, by rigorously performing the Legendre transform. Definition of the gravitational angular momentum arises by suitably interpreting the integral form of the constraint equation Gama^ik=0 as an angular momentum equation. The gravitational angular momentum is evaluated for the gravitational field of a rotating BTZ black hole.Comment: 17 pages, no figures, v2: some misprints corrected, Ref.s added, Eq.s revised, submitted to General Relativity and Gravitatio

Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) of ornamental plants from Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo, Brazil

A list of 35 scale insects collected from 72 ornamental plant species in Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo, Brazil is provided. Regarding host specificity, 30 scale insects were polyphagous, 4 oligophagous, and 1 monophagous. A total of 102 coccoid/plant associations are recorded, 29 of which are new host records for the species; 60 are new host records for the species in Brazil. Pulvinaria urbicola Cockerell, 1893 (Coccidae), Phenacoccus similis Granara de Willink, 1983 (Pseudococcidae), and Orthezia molinarii (Morrison, 1952) (Ortheziidae) are recorded for the first time in Brazil. In addition, we describe the injury caused by scale insects on ornamental plants