On the occurrence and detectability of Bose-Einstein condensation in helium white dwarfs

It has been recently proposed that helium white dwarfs may provide promising conditions for the occurrence of the Bose-Einstein condensation. The argument supporting this expectation is that in some conditions attained in the core of these objects, the typical De Broglie wavelength associated with helium nuclei is of the order of the mean distance between neighboring nuclei. In these conditions the system should depart from classical behavior showing quantum effects. As helium nuclei are bosons, they are expected to condense. In order to explore the possibility of detecting the Bose-Einstein condensation in the evolution of helium white dwarfs we have computed a set of models for a variety of stellar masses and values of the condensation temperature. We do not perform a detailed treatment of the condensation process but mimic it by suppressing the nuclei contribution to the equation of state by applying an adequate function. As the cooling of white dwarfs depends on average properties of the whole stellar interior, this procedure should be suitable for exploring the departure of the cooling process from that predicted by the standard treatment. We find that the Bose-Einstein condensation has noticeable, but not dramatic effects on the cooling process only for the most massive white dwarfs compatible with a helium dominated interior (\approx 0.50 M_\odot) and very low luminosities (say, Log(L/L_\odot) < -4.0). These facts lead us to conclude that it seems extremely difficult to find observable signals of the Bose-Einstein condensation. Recently, it has been suggested that the population of helium white dwarfs detected in the globular cluster NGC 6397 is a good candidate for detecting signals of the Bose-Einstein condensation. We find that these stars have masses too low and are too bright to have an already condensed interior.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP

An evolutionary model for the gamma-ray system PSR J1311-3430 and its companion

The most recent member of the millisecond pulsar with very low-mass companions and short orbital periods class, PSR J1311-3430 (Pletsch et al. 2012) is a remarkable object in various senses. Besides being the first discovered in gamma-rays, its measured features include the very low or absent hydrogen content. We show in this Letter that this important piece of information leads to a very restricted range of initial periods for a given donor mass. For that purpose, we calculate in detail the evolution of the binary system self-consistently, including mass transfer and evaporation, finding the features of the new evolutionary path leading to the observed configuration. It is also important to remark that the detailed evolutionary history of the system naturally leads to a high final pulsar mass, as it seems to be demanded by observations.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

The Quasi-Roche lobe overflow state in the evolution of Close Binary Systems containing a radio pulsar

We study the evolution of close binary systems formed by a normal (solar composition), intermediate mass donor star together with a neutron star. We consider models including irradiation feedback and evaporation. These non-standard ingredients deeply modify the mass transfer stages of these binaries. While models that neglect irradiation feedback undergo continuous, long standing mass transfer episodes, models including these effect suffer a number cycles of mass transfer and detachment. During mass transfer the systems should reveal themselves as low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), whereas when detached they behave as a binary radio pulsars. We show that at these stages irradiated models are in a Roche lobe overflow (RLOF) state or in a quasi-RLOF state. Quasi-RLOF stars have a radius slightly smaller than its Roche lobe. Remarkably, these conditions are attained for orbital period and donor mass values in the range corresponding to a family of binary radio pulsars known as "redbacks". Thus, redback companions should be quasi-RLOF stars. We show that the characteristics of the redback system PSR J1723-2837 are accounted for by these models. In each mass transfer cycle these systems should switch from LMXB to binary radio pulsar states with a timescale of \sim million years. However, there is recent and fast growing evidence of systems switching on far shorter, human timescales. This should be related to instabilities in the accretion disc surrounding the neutron star and/or radio ejection, still to be included in the model having the quasi-RLOF state as a general condition.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Scale Invariant Interest Points with Shearlets

Shearlets are a relatively new directional multi-scale framework for signal analysis, which have been shown effective to enhance signal discontinuities such as edges and corners at multiple scales. In this work we address the problem of detecting and describing blob-like features in the shearlets framework. We derive a measure which is very effective for blob detection and closely related to the Laplacian of Gaussian. We demonstrate the measure satisfies the perfect scale invariance property in the continuous case. In the discrete setting, we derive algorithms for blob detection and keypoint description. Finally, we provide qualitative justifications of our findings as well as a quantitative evaluation on benchmark data. We also report an experimental evidence that our method is very suitable to deal with compressed and noisy images, thanks to the sparsity property of shearlets

Positive operator valued measures covariant with respect to an irreducible representation

Given an irreducible representation of a group G, we show that all the covariant positive operator valued measures based on G/Z, where Z is a central subgroup, are described by trace class, trace one positive operators.Comment: 9 pages, Latex2

Microstructure and chemical composition of Roman orichalcum coins emitted after the monetary reform of Augustus (23 B.C.)

A collection of ancient Roman orichalcum coins, i.e., a copper-zinc alloy, minted under the reigns from Caesar to Domitianus, have been characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) and electron microprobe analysis (EMPA). We studied, for the first time, coins emitted by Romans after the reforms of Augustus (23 B.C.) and Nero (63-64 A.D). These coins, consisting of asses, sestertii, dupondii and semisses, were analysed using non- and invasive analyses, aiming to explore microstructure, corrosive process and to acquire quantitative chemical analysis. The results revealed that the coins are characterized by porous external layers, which are affected by dezincification and decuprification processes. As pictured by the X-ray maps, the elemental distribution of Cu and Zn shows patterns of depletion that in some cases penetrate in deep up to 1 mm. The composition of the un-corroded nucleus is a Cu-Zn alloy containing up to 30% of Zn, typical of coins produced via cementation process

The Role of Creditor Protection in Lending and Tax Avoidance

We examine how creditor rights affect the trade-off between non-debt and debt tax shields. Using four bankruptcy reforms and a panel of private and public firms from Italy, we show that laws empowering creditors reduce tax avoidance and increase debt financing, consistent with firms substituting non-debt tax shields with debt tax shields. We corroborate the validity of our findings using a panel of public firms across 33 countries. Additionally, we document that the impact of creditor protection laws is mitigated by tax system characteristics, which significantly reduce the incentives to substitute tax avoidance with debt