4,717 research outputs found
Horizontal Branch evolution, metallicity and sdB stars
Context. Abundance anomalies have been observed in field sdB stars and in
nearly all Horizontal Branch (HB) stars of globular clusters with Teff > 11
000K whatever be the cluster metallicity. Aims. The aim is to determine the
abundance variations to be expected in sdB stars and in HB stars of
metallicities Z \geq 0.0001 and what observed abundances teach us about
hydrodynamical processes competing with atomic diffusion. Methods. Complete
stellar evolution models, including the effects of atomic diffusion and
radiative acceleration, have been computed from the zero age main-sequence for
metallicities of Z0 = 0.0001, 0.001, 0.004 and 0.02. On the HB the masses were
selected to cover the Teff interval from 7000 to 37000K. Some 60 evolutionary
HB models were calculated. The calculations of surface abundance anomalies
during the horizontal branch depend on one parameter, the surface mixed mass.
Results. For sdB stars with Teff 11 000K
in all observed clusters, independent of metallicity, it was found that most
observed abundance anomalies (even up to ~ x 200) were compatible, within error
bars, with expected abundances. A mixed mass of ~1.E-7 M\odot was determined by
comparison with observations. Conclusions. Observations of globular cluster HB
stars with Teff > 11 000K and of sdB stars with Teff < 37 000K suggest that
most observed abundance anomalies can be explained by element separation driven
by radiative acceleration occuring at a mass fraction of ~1.E-7 M\odot. Mass
loss or turbulence appear to limit the separation between 1.E-7 M\odot and the
surface.Comment: Accepted for publication by A&
Highly Dispersive Spin Excitations in the Chain Cuprate Li2CuO2
We present an inelastic neutron scattering investigation of Li2CuO2 detecting
the long sought quasi-1D magnetic excitations with a large dispersion along the
CuO2-chains studied up to 25 meV. The total dispersion is governed by a
surprisingly large ferromagnetic (FM) nearest-neighbor exchange integral
J1=-228 K. An anomalous quartic dispersion near the zone center and a
pronounced minimum near (0,0.11,0.5) r.l.u. (corresponding to a spiral
excitation with a pitch angle about 41 degree point to the vicinity of a 3D
FM-spiral critical point. The leading exchange couplings are obtained applying
standard linear spin-wave theory. The 2nd neighbor inter-chain interaction
suppresses a spiral state and drives the FM in-chain ordering below the Ne'el
temperature. The obtained exchange parameters are in agreement with the results
for a realistic five-band extended Hubbard Cu 3d O 2p model and L(S)DA+U
predictions.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Europhys. Let
Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients with Chronic Fibrosing Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias
Background Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a common finding in patients with chronic fibrosing idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIP). Little is known about the response to pulmonary vasodilator therapy in this patient population. COMPERA is an international registry that prospectively captures data from patients with various forms of PH receiving pulmonary vasodilator therapies. Methods We retrieved data from COMPERA to compare patient characteristics, treatment patterns, response to therapy and survival in newly diagnosed patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and PH associated with IIP (PH-IIP). Results Compared to patients with IPAH (n = 798), patients with PH-IIP (n = 151) were older and predominantly males. Patients with PH-IIP were treated predominantly with phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (88% at entry, 87% after 1 year). From baseline to the first follow-up visit, the median improvement in 6MWD was 30 m in patients with IPAH and 24.5 m in patients with PH-IIP (p = 0.457 for the difference between both groups). Improvements in NYHA functional class were observed in 22.4% and 29.5% of these patients, respectively (p = 0.179 for the difference between both groups). Survival rates were significantly worse in PH-IIP than in IPAH (3-year survival 34.0 versus 68.6%; p<0.001). Total lung capacity, NYHA class IV, and mixed-venous oxygen saturation were independent predictors of survival in patients with PH-IIP. Conclusions Patients with PH-IIP have a dismal prognosis. Our results suggest that pulmonary vasodilator therapy may be associated with short-term functional improvement in some of these patients but it is unclear whether this treatment affects survival
Ce-L3-XAS study of the temperature dependence of the 4f occupancy in the Kondo system Ce2Rh3Al9
We have used temperature dependent x-ray absorption at the Ce-L3 edge to
investigate the recently discovered Kondo compound Ce2Rh3Al9. The systematic
changes of the spectral lineshape with decreasing temperature are analyzed and
found to be related to a change in the occupation number, n_f, as the
system undergoes a transition into a Kondo state. The temperature dependence of
indicates a characteristic temperature of 150K, which is clearly related
with the high temperature anomaly observed in the magnetic susceptibility of
the same system. The further anomaly observed in the resistivity of this system
at low temperature (ca. 20K) has no effect on n_f and is thus not of Kondo
origin.Comment: 7 pages, three figures, submitted to PR
Tensor interaction constraints from beta decay recoil spin asymmetry of trapped atoms
We have measured the angular distribution of recoiling daughter nuclei
emitted from the Gamow-Teller decay of spin-polarized Rb. The
asymmetry of this distribution vanishes to lowest order in the Standard Model
(SM) in pure Gamow-Teller decays, producing an observable very sensitive to new
interactions. We measure the non-SM contribution to the asymmetry to be
= 0.015 0.029 (stat) 0.019 (syst), consistent with the SM
prediction. We constrain higher-order SM corrections using the measured
momentum dependence of the asymmetry, and their remaining uncertainty dominates
the systematic error. Future progress in determining the weak magnetism term
theoretically or experimentally would reduce the final errors. We describe the
resulting constraints on fundamental 4-Fermi tensor interactions.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures; v2 published in Phys. Rev. C, with referee
clarifications and figures improved for black-and-whit
Point-contact spectroscopy of the antiferromagnetic superconductor HoNi2B2C in the normal and superconducting state
Point-contact (PC) spectroscopy measurements on antiferromagnetic (AF)
(T_N=5.2K) HoNi2B2C single crystals in the normal and two different
superconducting (SC) states (T_c=8.5K and T_c^*=5.6K<T_c, with 2\Delta/kT_c^*=3.9. The strong coupling
Eliashberg analysis of the low-temperature SC phase with T_c^*=5.6K =T_N,
coexisting with the commensurate AF structure, suggests a sizable value of the
EPI constant \lambda_s=0.93. We also provide strong support for the recently
proposed by us ''Fermi surface (FS) separation'' scenario for the coexistence
of magnetism and superconductivity in magnetic borocarbides, namely, that the
superconductivity in the commensurate AF phase survives at a special (nearly
isotropic) FS sheet without an admixture of Ho 5d states. Above T_c^* the SC
features in the PC characteristics are strongly suppressed pointing to a
specific weakened SC state between T_c* and T_c.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figs, to be published in PRB, Vol.75, Iss.2
Electron-phonon interaction in transition metal diborides TB_2 (T=Zr, Nb, Ta) studied by point-contact spectroscopy
The electron-phonon interaction (EPI) in transition metal diborides TB_2
(T=Zr, Nb, Ta) is investigated by point-contact (PC) spectroscopy. The PC EPI
functions were recovered and the EPI parameters lambda<0.1 were estimated for
all three compounds. Common and distinctive features between the EPI functions
for those diborides are discussed also in connection with the superconductivity
in MgB_2.Comment: V2: minor changes, Ref.[21] added, publ. in PR
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