976 research outputs found
Pre-determining the location of electromigrated gaps by nonlinear optical imaging
In this paper we describe a nonlinear imaging method employed to spatially
map the occurrence of constrictions occurring on an electrically-stressed gold
nanowire. The approach consists at measuring the influence of a tightly focused
ultrafast pulsed laser on the electronic transport in the nanowire. We found
that structural defects distributed along the nanowire are efficient nonlinear
optical sources of radiation and that the differential conductance is
significantly decreased when the laser is incident on such electrically-induced
morphological changes. This imaging technique is applied to pre-determined the
location of the electrical failure before it occurs.Comment: 3 figure
Anti-solar differential rotation on the active sub-giant HU Virginis
Measuring surface differential rotation (DR) on different types of stars is
important when characterizing the underlying stellar dynamo. It has been
suggested that anti-solar DR laws can occur when strong meridional flows exist.
We aim to investigate the differential surface rotation on the primary star of
the RS CVn binary HU Vir by tracking its starspot distribution as a function of
time. We also aim to recompute and update the values for several system
parameters of the triple system HU Vir (close and wide orbits). Time-series
high-resolution spectroscopy for four continuous months was obtained with the
1.2-m robotic STELLA telescope. Nine consecutive Doppler images were
reconstructed from these data, using our line-profile inversion code iMap. An
image cross-correlation method was applied to derive the surface
differential-rotation law for HU Vir. New orbital elements for the close and
the wide orbits were computed using our new STELLA radial velocities (RVs)
combined with the RV data available in the literature. Photometric observations
were performed with the Amadeus Automatic Photoelectric Telescope (APT),
providing contemporaneous Johnson-Cousins and data for approximately 20
years. This data was used to determine the stellar rotation period and the
active longitudes. We confirm anti-solar DR with a surface shear parameter
of -0.029 0.005 and -0.026 0.009, using single-term and
double-term differential rotation laws, respectively. The best fit is achieved
assuming a solar-like double-term law with a lap time of 400 d. Our
orbital solutions result in a period of 10.387678 0.000003 days for the
close orbit and 2726 7 d ( 7.5 yr) for the wide orbit. A
Lomb-Scarge (L-S) periodogram of the pre-whitened -band data reveals a
strong single peak providing a rotation period of 10.391 0.008 d.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
A new exactly integrable hypergeometric potential for the Schr\"odinger equation
We introduce a new exactly integrable potential for the Schr\"odinger
equation for which the solution of the problem may be expressed in terms of the
Gauss hypergeometric functions. This is a potential step with variable height
and steepness. We present the general solution of the problem, discuss the
transmission of a quantum particle above the barrier, and derive explicit
expressions for the reflection and transmission coefficients
VLT Spectropolarimetry of the optical transient in NGC300. Evidence for asymmetry in the circumstellar dust
AIMS: The main goal of this work is to study possible signs of asymmetry in
the bright optical transient in NGC300, with the aim of getting independent
information on the explosion mechanism, the progenitor star and its
circumstellar environment.
METHODS: Using VLT-FORS1 we have obtained low-resolution optical linear
spectropolarimetry of NGC300 OT2008-1 on two epochs, 48 and 55 days after the
discovery, covering the spectral range 3600--9330A.
RESULTS: The data show a continuum polarization at a very significant level.
At least two separate components are identified. The first is characterized by
a strong wavelength dependency and a constant position angle (68.6+/-0.3
degrees), which is parallel to the local spiral arm of the host galaxy. The
second shows a completely different position angle (151.3+/-0.4) and displays a
mild but statistically significant evolution between the two epochs. While the
former is identified as arising in the interstellar dust associated with
NGC300, the latter is most likely due to continuum polarization by dust
scattering in the circumstellar environment. No line depolarization is detected
in correspondence of the most intense emission lines, disfavoring electron
scattering as the source of intrinsic polarization. This implies a very small
deviation from symmetry in the continuum-forming region. Given the observed
level of intrinsic polarization, the transient must be surrounded by a
significant amount of dust (>4x10^-5 Msun), asymmetrically distributed within a
few thousand AU. This most likely implies that one or more asymmetric outflow
episodes took place during the past history of the progenitor.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 16 pages, 16
figure
O-MOORE-NICE!: new methodologies and algorithms for design and simulation of analog integrated circuits
No abstract
Supernova 2002ic: the collapse of a stripped-envelope, massive star in a dense medium ?
We revisit the case of SN2002ic that recently revived the debate about the
progenitors of SNeIa after the claim of the unprecedented presence of hydrogen
lines over a diluted SNIa spectrum. As an alternative to the previous
interpretation, we suggest that SN2002ic actually was a type Ic SN, the core
collapse of a massive star which lost its hydrogen and helium envelope. In this
scenario the observed interaction with a dense circumstellar material (CSM) is
the predictable consequence of the intense mass-loss of the progenitor and/or
of the presence of a gas rich environment. With this view we establish a link
between energetic SNeIc and highly interacting SNeIIn and add some credits to
the proposed association of some SNeIIn to GRBs.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJ
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