27,195 research outputs found
Dark Energy in vector-tensor theories of gravity
We consider a general class of vector-tensor theories of gravity and show
that solutions with accelerated expansion and a future type III singularity are
a common feature in these models. We also show that there are only six
vector-tensor theories with the same small scales behavior as General
Relativity and, in addition, only two of them can be made completely free from
instabilities. Finally, two particular models as candidates for dark energy are
proposed: on one hand, a cosmic vector that allows to alleviate the usual
naturalness and coincidence problems and, on the other hand, the
electromagnetic field is shown to give rise to an effective cosmological
constant on large scales whose value can be explained in terms of inflation at
the electroweak scale.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table. Contribution to the proceedings of Spanish
Relativity Meeting 2009, Bilbao, Spain, 7-11 September 200
Cosmic magnetic fields and dark energy in extended electromagnetism
We discuss an extended version of electromagnetism in which the usual gauge
fixing term is promoted into a physical contribution that introduces a new
scalar state in the theory. This new state can be generated from vacuum quantum
fluctuations during an inflationary era and, on super-Hubble scales, gives rise
to an effective cosmological constant. The value of such a cosmological
constant coincides with the one inferred from observations as long as inflation
took place at the electroweak scale. On the other hand, the new state also
generates an effective electric charge density on sub-Hubble scales that
produces both vorticity and magnetic fields with coherent lengths as large as
the present Hubble horizon.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of Spanish
Relativity Meeting 2010, Granada, Spain, 6-10 September 201
Strangeness on the nucleon
Observables from parity violation in elastic electron-nucleon scattering and
neutral current quasi-elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering are employed as tools
to improve the current knowledge on the strangeness content in the nucleon.Comment: Proceedings of International Scientific Meeting on Nuclear Physics,
9-13th September 2012. La R\'abida, Huelva, Spai
The magnetic precursor of L1448-mm: Excitation differences between ion and neutral fluids
Shock modelling predicts an electron density enhancement within the magnetic
precursor of C-shocks. Previous observations of SiO, H13CO+, HN13C and H13CN
toward the young L1448-mm outflow showed an over-excitation of the ion fluid
that was attributed to an electron density enhancement in the precursor. We
re-visit this interpretation and test if it still holds when we consider
different source morphologies and kinetic temperatures for the observed
molecules, and also give some insight on the spatial extent of the electron
density enhancement around L1448-mm.
We estimate the opacities of H13CO+ and HN13C by observing the J=3\to2 lines
of rarer isotopologues to confirm that the emission is optically thin. To model
the excitation of the molecules, we use the large velocity gradient (LVG)
approximation with updated collisional coefficients to i) re- analyse the
observations toward the positions where the over-excitation of H13CO+ has
previously been observed [i.e. toward L1448- mm at offsets (0,0) and (0,-10)],
and ii) to investigate if the electron density enhancement is still required
for the cases of extended and compact emission, and for kinetic temperatures of
up to 400 K. We also report several lines of SiO, HN13C and H13CO+ toward new
positions around this outflow, to investigate the spatial extent of the
over-excitation of the ions in L1448-mm. From the isotopologue observations, we
find that the emission of H13CO+ and HN13C from the precursor is optically thin
if this emission is extended. Using the new collisional coefficients, an
electron density enhancement is still needed to explain the excitation of
H13CO+ for extended emission and for gas temperatures of\le 400 K toward
L1448-mm (0,-10), and possibly also toward L1448-mm (0,0). For compact emission
the data cannot be fitted. We do not find any evidence for the over-excitation
of the ion fluid toward the newly observed positions around L1448-mm.
The observed line emission of SiO, H13CO+ and HN13C toward L1448-mm (0,0) and
(0,-10) is consistent with an electron density enhancement in the precursor
component, if this emission is spatially extended. This is also true for the
case of high gas temperatures (\le400 K) toward the (0,-10) offset. The
electron density enhancement seems to be restricted to the southern, redshifted
lobe of the L1448-mm outflow. Interferometric images of the line emission of
these molecules are needed to confirm the spatial extent of the over-excitation
of the ions and thus, of the electron density enhancement in the magnetic
precursor of L1448-mm.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A; 9 pages, 3 figure
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