779 research outputs found
1-2-3-flavor color superconductivity in compact stars
We suggest a scenario where the three light quark flavors are sequentially
deconfined under increasing pressure in cold asymmetric nuclear matter, e.g.,
as in neutron stars. The basis for our analysis is a chiral quark matter model
of Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) type with diquark pairing in the spin-1 single
flavor (CSL) and spin-0 two/three flavor (2SC/CFL) channels, and a
Dirac-Brueckner Hartree-Fock (DBHF) approach in the nuclear matter sector. We
find that nucleon dissociation sets in at about the saturation density, n_0,
when the down-quark Fermi sea is populated (d-quark dripline) due to the flavor
asymmetry imposed by beta-equilibrium and charge neutrality. At about 3n_0
u-quarks appear forming a two-flavor color superconducting (2SC) phase, while
the s-quark Fermi sea is populated only at still higher baryon density. The
hybrid star sequence has a maximum mass of 2.1 M_sun. Two- and three-flavor
quark matter phases are found only in gravitationally unstable hybrid star
solutions.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of Quark Matter
2008: 20th International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus Nucleus
Collisions (QM 2008), Jaipur, India, 4-10 Feb 200
Equation of state at high densities and modern compact star observations
Recently, observations of compact stars have provided new data of high
accuracy which put strong constraints on the high-density behaviour of the
equation of state of strongly interacting matter otherwise not accessible in
terrestrial laboratories. The evidence for neutron stars with high mass (M =2.1
+/- 0.2 M_sun for PSR J0751+1807) and large radii (R > 12 km for RX J1856-3754)
rules out soft equations of state and has provoked a debate whether the
occurence of quark matter in compact stars can be excluded as well. In this
contribution it is shown that modern quantum field theoretical approaches to
quark matter including color superconductivity and a vector meanfield allow a
microscopic description of hybrid stars which fulfill the new, strong
constraints. The deconfinement transition in the resulting stiff hybrid
equation of state is weakly first order so that signals of it have to be
expected due to specific changes in transport properties governing the
rotational and cooling evolution caused by the color superconductivity of quark
matter. A similar conclusion holds for the investigation of quark deconfinement
in future generations of nucleus-nucleus collision experiments at low
temperatures and high baryon densities such as CBM @ FAIR.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. G. (Special
Issue
Linear coupling of modes in 2D radially stratified astrophysical discs
We investigate mode coupling in a two dimensional compressible disc with
radial stratification and differential rotation. We employ the global radial
scaling of linear perturbations and study the linear modes in the local
shearing sheet approximation. We employ a three-mode formalism and study the
vorticity (W), entropy (S) and compressional (P) modes and their coupling
properties. The system exhibits asymmetric three-mode coupling: these include
mutual coupling of S and P-modes, S and W-modes, and asymmetric coupling
between the W and P-modes. P-mode perturbations are able to generate potential
vorticity through indirect three-mode coupling. This process indicates that
compressional perturbations can lead to the development of vortical structures
and influence the dynamics of radially stratified hydrodynamic accretion and
protoplanetary discs.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS (accepted
Recent progress constraining the nuclear equation of state from astrophysics and heavy ion reactions
The quest for the nuclear equation of state (EoS) at high densities and/or
extreme isospin is one of the longstanding problems of nuclear physics. Ab
initio calculations for the nuclear many-body problem make predictions for the
density and isospin dependence of the EoS far away from the saturation point of
nuclear matter. On the other hand, in recent years substantial progress has
been mode to constrain the EoS both, from the astrophysical side and from
accelerator based experiments. Heavy ion experiments support a soft EoS at
moderate densities while recent neutron star observations require a ``stiff''
high density behavior. Both constraints are discussed and shown to be in
agreement with the predictions from many-body theory.Comment: Invited talk given at NPA III, Dresden, Germany, March 200
WISER Deliverable D3.3-2: The importance of invertebrate spatial and temporal variation for ecological status classification for European lakes
European lakes are affected by many human induced disturbances. In principle, ecological
theories predict that the structure and functioning of benthic invertebrate assemblage (one of
the Biological Quality Elements following the Water Framework Directive, WFD
terminology) change in response to the level of disturbances, making this biological element
suitable for assessing the status and management of lake ecosystems. In practice, to set up
assessment systems based on invertebrates, we need to distiguish community changes that are
related to human pressures from those that are inherent natural variability. This task is
complicated by the fact that invertebrate communities inhabiting the littoral and the profundal
zones of lakes are constrained by different factors and respond unevenly to distinct human
disturbances. For example it is not clear yet how the invertebrates assemblages respond to
watershed and shoreline alterations, nor the relative importance of spatial and temporal
factors on assemblage dynamics and relative bioindicator values of taxa, the habitat
constraints on species traits and other taxonomic and methodological limitations.
The current lack of knowledge of basic features of invertebrate temporal and spatial variations
is limiting the fulfillment of the EU-wide intercalibration of lake ecological quality
assessment systems in Europe, and thus compromising the basis for setting the environmental
objectives as required by the WFD. The aim of this deliverable is to provide a contribution
towards the understanding of basic sources of spatial and temporal variation of lake
invertebrate assemblages. The report is structured around selected case studies, manly
involving the analysis of existing datasets collated within WISER. The case studies come
from different European lake types in the Northern, Central, Alpine and Mediterranean
regions. All chapters have an obvious applied objective and our aim is to provide to those
dealing with WFD implementation at various levels useful information to consider when
designing monitoring programs and / or invertebrate-based classification systems
Atlantic bluefin tuna : a novel multistock spatial model for asessing population biomass
© The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS One 6 (2011): e27693, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027693.Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is considered to be overfished, but the status of its populations has been debated, partly because of uncertainties regarding the effects of mixing on fishing grounds. A better understanding of spatial structure and mixing may help fisheries managers to successfully rebuild populations to sustainable levels while maximizing catches. We formulate a new seasonally and spatially explicit fisheries model that is fitted to conventional and electronic tag data, historic catch-at-age reconstructions, and otolith microchemistry stock-composition data to improve the capacity to assess past, current, and future population sizes of Atlantic bluefin tuna. We apply the model to estimate spatial and temporal mixing of the eastern (Mediterranean) and western (Gulf of Mexico) populations, and to reconstruct abundances from 1950 to 2008. We show that western and eastern populations have been reduced to 17% and 33%, respectively, of 1950 spawning stock biomass levels. Overfishing to below the biomass that produces maximum sustainable yield occurred in the 1960s and the late 1990s for western and eastern populations, respectively. The model predicts that mixing depends on season, ontogeny, and location, and is highest in the western Atlantic. Assuming that future catches are zero, western and eastern populations are predicted to recover to levels at maximum sustainable yield by 2025 and 2015, respectively. However, the western population will not recover with catches of 1750 and 12,900 tonnes (the “rebuilding quotas”) in the western and eastern Atlantic, respectively, with or without closures in the Gulf of Mexico. If future catches are double the rebuilding quotas, then rebuilding of both populations will be compromised. If fishing were to continue in the eastern Atlantic at the unregulated levels of 2007, both stocks would continue to decline. Since populations mix on North Atlantic foraging grounds, successful rebuilding policies will benefit from trans-Atlantic cooperation.This work was supported by grants from the TAG A Giant Foundation, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation, the Lenfest Ocean Program, Washington, DC, USA, the Canadian Fisheries and Oceans International Governance Strategies Fund and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States
Equation of State of Nuclear Matter at high baryon density
A central issue in the theory of astrophysical compact objects and heavy ion
reactions at intermediate and relativistic energies is the Nuclear Equation of
State (EoS). On one hand, the large and expanding set of experimental and
observational data is expected to constrain the behaviour of the nuclear EoS,
especially at density above saturation, where it is directly linked to
fundamental processes which can occur in dense matter. On the other hand,
theoretical predictions for the EoS at high density can be challenged by the
phenomenological findings. In this topical review paper we present the
many-body theory of nuclear matter as developed along different years and with
different methods. Only nucleonic degrees of freedom are considered. We compare
the different methods at formal level, as well as the final EoS calculated
within each one of the considered many-body schemes. The outcome of this
analysis should help in restricting the uncertainty of the theoretical
predictions for the nuclear EoS.Comment: 51 pages, to appear in J. Phys. G as Topical Revie
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