9,868 research outputs found
Collapse of the ESR fine structure throughout the coherent temperature of the Gd-doped Kondo Semiconductor
Experiments on the Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) in the filled
skutterudite (), at temperatures
where the host resistivity manifests a smooth insulator-metal crossover,
provides evidence of the underlying Kondo physics associated with this system.
At low temperatures (below ), behaves
as a Kondo-insulator with a relatively large hybridization gap, and the
ESR spectra displays a fine structure with lorentzian line shape,
typical of insulating media. The electronic gap is attributed to the large
hybridization present in the coherent regime of a Kondo lattice, when Ce
4f-electrons cooperate with band properties at half-filling. Mean-field
calculations suggest that the electron-phonon interaction is fundamental at
explaining the strong 4f-electron hybridization in this filled skutterudite.
The resulting electronic structure is strongly temperature dependent, and at
about the system undergoes an insulator-to-metal
transition induced by the withdrawal of 4f-electrons from the Fermi volume, the
system becoming metallic and non-magnetic. The ESR fine structure
coalesces into a single dysonian resonance, as in metals. Still, our
simulations suggest that exchange-narrowing via the usual Korringa mechanism,
alone, is not capable of describing the thermal behavior of the ESR spectra in
the entire temperature region ( - K). We propose that temperature
activated fluctuating-valence of the Ce ions is the missing ingredient that,
added to the usual exchange-narrowing mechanism, fully describes this unique
temperature dependence of the ESR fine structure observed in
.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure
Stars and brown dwarfs in the sigma Orionis cluster. III. OSIRIS/GTC low-resolution spectroscopy of variable sources
Context. Although many studies have been performed so far, there are still
dozens of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in the young sigma Orionis open
cluster without detailed spectroscopic characterisation. Aims. We look for
unknown strong accretors and disc hosts that were undetected in previous
surveys. Methods. We collected low-resolution spectroscopy (R ~ 700) of ten
low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in sigma Orionis with OSIRIS at the Gran
Telescopio Canarias under very poor weather conditions. These objects display
variability in the optical, infrared, Halpha, and/or X-rays on time scales of
hours to years. We complemented our spectra with optical and near-/mid-infrared
photometry. Results. For seven targets, we detected lithium in absorption,
identified Halpha, the calcium doublet, and forbidden lines in emission, and/or
determined spectral types for the first time. We characterise in detail a
faint, T Tauri-like brown dwarf with an 18 h-period variability in the optical
and a large Halpha equivalent width of -125+/-15 AA, as well as two M1-type,
X-ray-flaring, low-mass stars, one with a warm disc and forbidden emission
lines, the other with a previously unknown cold disc with a large inner hole.
Conclusions. New unrevealed strong accretors and disc hosts, even below the
substellar limit, await discovery among the list of known sigma Orionis stars
and brown dwarfs that are variable in the optical and have no detailed
spectroscopic characterisation yet.Comment: A&A, in press (accepted for publication in section 14. Catalogs and
data of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Strange and charm mesons at FAIR
We study the properties of strange and charm mesons in hot and dense matter
within a self-consistent coupled-channel approach for the experimental
conditions of density and temperature expected for the CBM experiment at
FAIR/GSI. The in-medium solution at finite temperature accounts for Pauli
blocking effects, mean-field binding of all the baryons involved, and meson
self-energies. We analyze the behaviour in this hot and dense environment of
dynamically-generated baryonic resonances together with the evolution with
density and temperature of the strange and open-charm meson spectral functions.
We test the spectral functions for strange mesons using energy-weighted sum
rules and finally discuss the implications of the properties of charm mesons on
the D_{s0}(2317) and the predicted X(3700) scalar resonances.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, invited talk at XXXI Mazurian Lakes Conference
on Physics: Nuclear Physics and the Road to FAIR, August 30-September 6,
2009, Piaski, Polan
Eu2+ spin dynamics in the filled skutterudites EuM4Sb12 (M = Fe, Ru, Os)
We report evidence for a close relation between the thermal activation of the
rattling motion of the filler guest atoms, and inhomogeneous spin dynamics of
the Eu2+ spins. The spin dynamics is probed directly by means of Eu2+ electron
spin resonance (ESR), performed in both X-band (9.4 GHz) and Q-band (34 GHz)
frequencies in the temperature interval 4.2 < T < 300 K. A comparative study
with ESR measurements on the Beta-Eu8Ga16Ge30 clathrate compound is presented.
Our results point to a correlation between the rattling motion and the spin
dynamics which may be relevant for the general understanding of the dynamics of
cage systems.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Chiral dynamics of hadrons in nuclei
In this talk I report on selected topics of hadron modification in the
nuclear medium using the chiral unitary approach to describe the dynamics of
the problems. I shall mention how antikaons, , and are modified in
the medium and will report upon different experiments done or planned to
measure the width in the medium.Comment: 10 pgs, 3 figs. Invited talk in the Workshop on in Medium Hadron
Physics, Giessen, Nov 200
Selection for longer-lived sperm within ejaculate reduces reproductive ageing in offspring
Males produce numerous sperm in a single ejaculate that greatly outnumber their potential egg targets. Recent studies found that phenotypic and genotypic variation among sperm in a single ejaculate of a male affects the fitness and performance of the resulting offspring. Specifically, within-ejaculate sperm selection for sperm longevity increased the performance of the resulting offspring in several key life-history traits in early-life. Because increased early-life reproductive performance often correlates with rapid ageing, it is possible that within-ejaculate sperm selection increases early-life fitness at the cost of accelerated senescence. Alternatively, within-ejaculate sperm selection could improve offspring quality throughout the life cycle, including reduced age-specific deterioration. We tested the two alternative hypotheses in an experimental setup using zebrafish Danio rerio. We found that within-ejaculate sperm selection for sperm longevity reduced age-specific deterioration of fecundity and offspring survival but had no effect on fertilization success in males. Remarkably, we found an opposing effect of within-ejaculate sperm selection on female fecundity, where selection for sperm longevity resulted in increased early-life performance followed by a slow decline, while females sired by unselected sperm started low but increased their fecundity with age. Intriguingly, within-ejaculate sperm selection also reduced the age-specific decline in fertilization success in females, suggesting that selection for sperm longevity improves at least some aspects of female reproductive ageing. These results demonstrate that within-ejaculate variation in sperm phenotype contributes to individual variation in animal life histories in the two sexes and may have important implications for assisted fertilization programs in livestock and humans
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