609 research outputs found
Ca II Triplet Spectroscopy of Small Magellanic Cloud Red Giants. I. Abundances and Velocities for a Sample of Clusters
We have obtained near-infrared spectra covering the Ca II triplet lines for a
number of stars associated with 16 SMC clusters using the VLT + FORS2. These
data compose the largest available sample of SMC clusters with
spectroscopically derived abundances and velocities. Our clusters span a wide
range of ages and provide good areal coverage of the galaxy. Cluster members
are selected using a combination of their positions relative to the cluster
center as well as their abundances and radial velocities. We determine mean
cluster velocities to typically 2.7 km/s and metallicities to 0.05 dex (random
errors), from an average of 6.4 members per cluster. (continued in paper)Comment: 68 pages, 15 figures, Accepted to AJ Reason for the replacement:
section 7 and fig. 9 have been modified according referee suggestion
Radiatively Induced Neutrino Masses and Large Higgs-Neutrino Couplings in the Standard Model with Majorana Fields
The Higgs sector of the Standard Model with one right-handed neutrino per
family is systematically analyzed. In a model with intergenerational
independent mixings between families, we can account for very light neutrinos
acquiring Majorana masses radiatively at the first electroweak loop level. We
also find that in such a scenario the Higgs coupling to the light-heavy
neutrinos and to the heavy-heavy ones may be remarkably enhanced with
significant implications for the production of these heavy neutrinos at high
energy colliders.Comment: Making the text of an old paper electronically availabl
Complete mitochondrial DNA sequences provide new insights into the Polynesian motif and the peopling of Madagascar
More than a decade of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies have given the 'Polynesian motif' renowned status as a marker for tracing the late-Holocene expansion of Austronesian speaking populations. Despite considerable research on the Polynesian motif in Oceania, there has been little equivalent work on the western edge of its expansion - leaving major issues unresolved regarding the motif's evolutionary history. This has also led to considerable uncertainty regarding the settlement of Madagascar. In this study, we assess mtDNA variation in 266 individuals from three Malagasy ethnic groups: the Mikea, Vezo, and Merina. Complete mtDNA genome sequencing reveals a new variant of the Polynesian motif in Madagascar; two coding region mutations define a Malagasy-specific sub-branch. This newly defined 'Malagasy motif' occurs at high frequency in all three ethnic groups (13-50%), and its phylogenetic position, geographic distribution, and estimated age all support a recent origin, but without conclusively identifying a specific source region. Nevertheless, the haplotype's limited diversity, similar to those of other mtDNA haplogroups found in our Malagasy groups, best supports a small number of initial settlers arriving to Madagascar through the same migratory process. Finally, the discovery of this lineage provides a set of new polymorphic positions to help localize the Austronesian ancestors of the Malagasy, as well as uncover the origin and evolution of the Polynesian motif itself
Structural Parameters of Seven SMC Intermediate-Age and Old Star Clusters
We present structural parameters for the seven intermediate-age and old star
clusters NGC121, Lindsay 1, Kron 3, NGC339, NGC416, Lindsay 38, and NGC419 in
the Small Magellanic Cloud. We fit King profiles and Elson, Fall, and Freeman
profiles to both surface-brightness and star count data taken with the Advanced
Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. Clusters older than 1 Gyr
show a spread in cluster core radii that increases with age, while the youngest
clusters have relatively compact cores. No evidence for post core collapse
clusters was found. We find no correlation between core radius and distance
from the SMC center, although consistent with other studies of dwarf galaxies,
some relatively old and massive clusters have low densities. The oldest SMC
star cluster, the only globular NGC121, is the most elliptical object of the
studied clusters. No correlation is seen between ellipticity and distance from
the SMC center. The structures of these massive intermediate-age (1-8 Gyr) SMC
star clusters thus appear to primarily result from internal evolutionary
processes.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figure
Resolving the ancestry of Austronesian-speaking populations
There are two very different interpretations of the prehistory of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), with genetic evidence invoked in support of both. The “out-of-Taiwan” model proposes a major Late Holocene expansion of Neolithic Austronesian speakers from Taiwan. An alternative, proposing that Late Glacial/postglacial sea-level rises triggered largely autochthonous dispersals, accounts for some otherwise enigmatic genetic patterns, but fails to explain the Austronesian language dispersal. Combining mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome and genome-wide data, we performed the most comprehensive analysis of the region to date, obtaining highly consistent results across all three systems and allowing us to reconcile the models. We infer a primarily common ancestry for Taiwan/ISEA populations established before the Neolithic, but also detected clear signals of two minor Late Holocene migrations, probably representing Neolithic input from both Mainland Southeast Asia and South China, via Taiwan. This latter may therefore have mediated the Austronesian language dispersal, implying small-scale migration and language shift rather than large-scale expansion
A Complete Set of Solutions For Caustic-Crossing Binary Microlensing Events
We present a method to analyze binary-lens microlensing light curves with one
well-sampled fold caustic crossing. In general, the surface of chi^2 shows
extremely complicated behavior over the 9-parameter space that characterizes
binary lenses. This makes it difficult to systematically search the space and
verify that a given local minimum is a global minimum. We show that for events
with well-monitored caustics, the caustic-crossing region can be isolated from
the rest of the light curve and easily fit to a 5-parameter function. Four of
these caustic-crossing parameters can then be used to constrain the search in
the larger 9-parameter space. This allows a systematic search for all solutions
and thus identification of all local minima. We illustrate this technique using
the PLANET data for MACHO 98-SMC-1, an excellent and publicly available
caustic-crossing data set. We show that a very broad range of parameter
combinations are compatible with the PLANET data set, demonstrating that
observations of binary-lens lightcurves with sampling of only one caustic
crossing do not yield unique solutions. The corollary to this is that the time
of the second caustic crossing cannot be reliably predicted on the basis of
early data including the first caustic crossing alone. We investigate the
requirements for determination of a unique solution and find that occasional
observations of the first caustic crossing may be sufficient to derive a
complete solution.Comment: 31 pages + 8 figures + 2 table
Lepton flavor violation decays in the topcolor-assisted technicolor model and the littlest Higgs model with parity
The new particles predicted by the topcolor-assisted technicolor ()
model and the littlest Higgs model with T-parity (called model) can
induce the lepton flavor violation () couplings at tree level or one loop
level, which might generate large contributions to some processes. Taking
into account the constraints of the experimental data on the relevant free
parameters, we calculate the branching ratios of the decay processes
with = , and
in the context of these two kinds of new physics models. We find
that the model and the model can indeed produce significant
contributions to some of these decay processes.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figure
Calibration of the distance scale from galactic Cepheids: I Calibration based on the GFG sample
New estimates of the distances of 36 nearby galaxies are presented based on
accurate distances of galactic Cepheids obtained by Gieren, Fouque and Gomez
(1998) from the geometrical Barnes-Evans method.
The concept of 'sosie' is applied to extend the distance determination to
extragalactic Cepheids without assuming the linearity of the PL relation. Doing
so, the distance moduli are obtained in a straightforward way.
The correction for extinction is made using two photometric bands (V and I)
according to the principles introduced by Freedman and Madore (1990). Finally,
the statistical bias due to the incompleteness of the sample is corrected
according to the precepts introduced by Teerikorpi (1987) without introducing
any free parameters (except the distance modulus itself in an iterative
scheme).
The final distance moduli depend on the adopted extinction ratio {R_V}/{R_I}
and on the limiting apparent magnitude of the sample. A comparison with the
distance moduli recently published by the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project
(HSTKP) team reveals a fair agreement when the same ratio {R_V}/{R_I} is used
but shows a small discrepancy at large distance.
In order to bypass the uncertainty due to the metallicity effect it is
suggested to consider only galaxies having nearly the same metallicity as the
calibrating Cepheids (i.e. Solar metallicity). The internal uncertainty of the
distances is about 0.1 magnitude but the total uncertainty may reach 0.3
magnitude.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, access to a database of extragalactic Cepheids.
Astronomy & Astrophysics (in press) 200
Physics at a Neutrino Factory
In response to the growing interest in building a Neutrino Factory to produce
high intensity beams of electron- and muon-neutrinos and antineutrinos, in
October 1999 the Fermilab Directorate initiated two six-month studies. The
first study, organized by N. Holtkamp and D. Finley, was to investigate the
technical feasibility of an intense neutrino source based on a muon storage
ring. This design study has produced a report in which the basic conclusion is
that a Neutrino Factory is technically feasible, although it requires an
aggressive R&D program. The second study, which is the subject of this report,
was to explore the physics potential of a Neutrino Factory as a function of the
muon beam energy and intensity, and for oscillation physics, the potential as a
function of baseline.Comment: 133 pages, 64 figures. Report to the Fermilab Directorate. Available
from http://www.fnal.gov/projects/muon_collider/ This version fixes some
printing problem
The two metallicity groups of the globular cluster M22: a chemical perspective
We present a detailed chemical composition analysis of 35 red giant stars in
the globular cluster M22. High resolution spectra for this study were obtained
at five observatories, and analyzed in a uniform manner. We have determined
abundances of representative light proton-capture, alpha, Fe-peak and
neutron-capture element groups. Our aim is to better understand the peculiar
chemical enrichment history of this cluster, in which two stellar groups are
characterized by a different content in iron, neutron capture elements Y, Zr
and Ba, and alpha element Ca. The principal results of this study are: (i)
substantial star-to-star metallicity scatter (-2.0<[Fe/H]<-1.6); (ii)
enhancement of s-process/r-process neutron-capture abundance ratios in a
fraction of giants, positively correlated with metallicity; (iii) sharp
separation between the s-process rich and s-process poor groups by [La/Eu]
ratio; (iv) possible increase of [Cu/Fe] ratios with increasing [Fe/H],
suggesting that this element also has a significant s-process component; and
(v) presence of Na-O and C-N anticorrelations in both the stellar groups.Comment: 26 pages, 19 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
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