Direct observation of the effective bending moduli of a fluid membrane: Free-energy cost due to the reference-plane deformations

Effective bending moduli of a fluid membrane are investigated by means of the transfer-matrix method developed in our preceding paper. This method allows us to survey various statistical measures for the partition sum. The role of the statistical measures is arousing much attention, since Pinnow and Helfrich claimed that under a suitable statistical measure, that is, the local mean curvature, the fluid membranes are stiffened, rather than softened, by thermal undulations. In this paper, we propose an efficient method to observe the effective bending moduli directly: We subjected a fluid membrane to a curved reference plane, and from the free-energy cost due to the reference-plane deformations, we read off the effective bending moduli. Accepting the mean-curvature measure, we found that the effective bending rigidity gains even in the case of very flexible membrane (small bare rigidity); it has been rather controversial that for such non-perturbative regime, the analytical prediction does apply. We also incorporate the Gaussian-curvature modulus, and calculated its effective rigidity. Thereby, we found that the effective Gaussian-curvature modulus stays almost scale-invariant. All these features are contrasted with the results under the normal-displacement measure

Unitary representations of nilpotent super Lie groups

We show that irreducible unitary representations of nilpotent super Lie groups can be obtained by induction from a distinguished class of sub super Lie groups. These sub super Lie groups are natural analogues of polarizing subgroups that appear in classical Kirillov theory. We obtain a concrete geometric parametrization of irreducible unitary representations by nonnegative definite coadjoint orbits. As an application, we prove an analytic generalization of the Stone-von Neumann theorem for Heisenberg-Clifford super Lie groups

A Cluster of Class I/f/II YSOs Discovered Near the Cepheid SU Cas

Preliminary constraints are placed on a cluster of YSOs (J2000 02:54:31.4 +69:20:32.5) discovered in the field of the classical Cepheid SU Cas. WISE 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 um images reveal that the cluster deviates from spherical symmetry and exhibits an apparent diameter of 3x6'. SEDs constructed using 2MASS Ks (2.2 um) and WISE photometry indicate that 19 (36%) class I, 21 (40%) class f, and 13 (25%) class II objects lie r<3' from the cluster center. Conversely, 11 (18%) class I, 13 (21%) class f, and 37 (61%) class II objects were detected for r>3'. Approximately 50% of the class I sources within r<3' were classified solely using WISE photometry owing to the absence of detections by 2MASS.Comment: Accepted for Publication (MNRAS

Electronic structure of the muonium center as a shallow donor in ZnO

The electronic structure and the location of muonium centers (Mu) in single-crystalline ZnO were determined for the first time. Two species of Mu centers with extremely small hyperfine parameters have been observed below 40 K. Both Mu centers have an axial-symmetric hyperfine structure along with a [0001] axis, indicating that they are located at the AB_{O,//} and BC_{//} sites. It is inferred from their small ionization energy (~6 meV and 50 meV) and hyperfine parameters (~10^{-4} times the vacuum value) that these centers behave as shallow donors, strongly suggesting that hydrogen is one of the primary origins of n type conductivity in as-grown ZnO.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Deep K_s-near-infrared Surface Photometry of 80 Dwarf Irregular Galaxies in the Local Volume

We present deep near-infrared (K_s) images and surface photometry for 80 dwarf irregular galaxies (dIs) within ~5 Mpc of the Milky Way. The galaxy images were obtained at five different facilities between 2004 and 2006. The image reductions and surface photometry have been performed using methods specifically designed for isolating faint galaxies from the high and varying near-infrared sky level. Fifty-four of the 80 dIs have surface brightness profiles which could be fit to a hyperbolic-secant (sech) function, while the remaining profiles could be fit to the sum of a sech and a Gaussian function. From these fits, we have measured central surface brightnesses, scale lengths, and integrated magnitudes. This survey is part of a larger study of the connection between large-scale structure and the global properties of dIs, the hypothesized building-blocks of more massive galaxies

Topological order in Josephson junction ladders with Mobius boundary conditions

We propose a CFT description for a closed one-dimensional fully frustrated ladder of quantum Josephson junctions with Mobius boundary conditions, in particular we show how such a system can develop topological order. Such a property is crucial for its implementation as a "protected" solid state qubit.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, to appear in JSTA

Pressure-induced amorphization, crystal-crystal transformations and the memory glass effect in interacting particles in two dimensions

We study a model of interacting particles in two dimensions to address the relation between crystal-crystal transformations and pressure-induced amorphization. On increasing pressure at very low temperature, our model undergoes a martensitic crystal-crystal transformation. The characteristics of the resulting polycrystalline structure depend on defect density, compression rate, and nucleation and growth barriers. We find two different limiting cases. In one of them the martensite crystals, once nucleated, grow easily perpendicularly to the invariant interface, and the final structure contains large crystals of the different martensite variants. Upon decompression almost every atom returns to its original position, and the original crystal is fully recovered. In the second limiting case, after nucleation the growth of martensite crystals is inhibited by energetic barriers. The final morphology in this case is that of a polycrystal with a very small crystal size. This may be taken to be amorphous if we have only access (as experimentally may be the case) to the angularly averaged structure factor. However, this `X-ray amorphous' material is anisotropic, and this shows up upon decompression, when it recovers the original crystalline structure with an orientation correlated with the one it had prior to compression. The memory effect of this X-ray amorphous material is a natural consequence of the memory effect associated to the underlying martensitic transformation. We suggest that this kind of mechanism is present in many of the experimental observations of the memory glass effect, in which a crystal with the original orientation is recovered from an apparently amorphous sample when pressure is released.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Lifting the Dusty Veil II: A Large-Scale Study of the Galactic Infrared Extinction Law

We combine near-infrared (2MASS) and mid-infrared (Spitzer-IRAC) photometry to characterize the IR extinction law (1.2-8 microns) over nearly 150 degrees of contiguous Milky Way midplane longitude. The relative extinctions in 5 passbands across these wavelength and longitude ranges are derived by calculating color excess ratios for G and K giant red clump stars in contiguous midplane regions and deriving the wavelength dependence of extinction in each one. Strong, monotonic variations in the extinction law shape are found as a function of angle from the Galactic center, symmetric on either side of it. These longitudinal variations persist even when dense interstellar regions, known a priori to have a shallower extinction curve, are removed. The increasingly steep extinction curves towards the outer Galaxy indicate a steady decrease in the absolute-to-selective extinction ratio (R_V) and in the mean dust grain size at greater Galactocentric angles. We note an increasing strength of the 8 micron extinction inflection at high Galactocentric angles and, using theoretical dust models, show that this behavior is consistent with the trend in R_V. Along several lines of sight where the solution is most feasible, A_lambda/A_Ks as a function of Galactic radius is estimated and shown to have a Galactic radial dependence. Our analyses suggest that the observed relationship between extinction curve shape and Galactic longitude is due to an intrinsic dependence of the extinction law on Galactocentric radius.Comment: Accepted to Ap

Supersoft X-rays reveal a classical nova in the M 31 globular cluster Bol 126

[Abridged] Classical novae (CNe) represent the main class of supersoft X-ray sources (SSSs) in the central region of our neighbouring galaxy M 31. Only three confirmed novae and three SSSs have been discovered in globular clusters (GCs) of any galaxy so far, of which one nova and two SSSs (including the nova) were found in M 31 GCs. To study the SSS state of CNe we carried out a high-cadence X-ray monitoring of the M 31 central area with XMM-Newton and Chandra. We analysed X-ray and optical data of a new transient X-ray source in the M 31 GC Bol 126, discovered serendipitously in Swift observations. Our optical data set was based on regular M 31 monitoring programmes from five different small telescopes. Additionally, we made use of Pan-STARRS 1 data obtained during the PAndromeda survey. Our observations reveal that the X-ray source in Bol 126 is the third SSS in an M 31 GC and can be confirmed as the second CN in the M 31 GC system. This nova is named M31N 2010-10f. Its properties in the X-ray and optical regimes agree with a massive white dwarf (M_WD >~ 1.3 M_sun) in the binary system. Incorporating the data on previously found (suspected) novae in M 31 GCs we used our high-cadence X-ray monitoring observations to estimate a tentative nova rate in the M 31 GC system of 0.05 /yr/GC. An optical estimate, based on the recent 10.5-year WeCAPP survey, gives a lower nova rate, which is compatible with the X-ray rate on the 95% confidence level. There is growing evidence that the nova rate in GCs is higher than expected from primordial binary formation and under conditions as in the field. Dynamical binary formation and/or additional accretion from the intracluster medium are possible scenarios for an increased nova rate, but observational confirmation for this enhancement has been absent, so far. Regular X-ray monitoring observations of M 31 provide a promising strategy to find these novae.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables; accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic