Age spreads in clusters and associations: the lithium test

We report the evidence that several low-mass stars (<~0.4 Msun) of the Orion and Upper Scorpius clusters have lithium abundances well below the interstellar value. Due to time-dependent depletion, our result implies stellar ages greater than ~5 Myr, suggesting that star formation has been proceeding for a long time in these systems.Comment: to appear in IMF@50: The Initial Mass Function 50 years later, eds. E. Corbelli et al. (Kluwer Acad. Press), 2004, in pres

NGC 3603 - a Local Template for Massive Young Clusters

We present a study of the star cluster associated with the massive Galactic HII region NGC3603 based on near-IR broad-- and narrowband observations taken with ISAAC/VLT under excellent seeing conditions (<0.4''). We discuss color-color diagrams and address the impact of the high UV flux on the disk evolution of the low-mass stars.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium 207 "Extragalactic Star Clusters", eds. E. Grebel, D. Geisler and D. Minitt

SUSY sine-Gordon theory as a perturbed conformal field theory and finite size effects

We consider SUSY sine-Gordon theory in the framework of perturbed conformal field theory. Using an argument from Zamolodchikov, we obtain the vacuum structure and the kink adjacency diagram of the theory, which is cross-checked against the exact S-matrix prediction, first-order perturbed conformal field theory (PCFT), the NLIE method and truncated conformal space approach. We provide evidence for consistency between the usual Lagrangian description and PCFT on the one hand, and between PCFT, NLIE and a massgap formula conjectured by Baseilhac and Fateev, on the other. In addition, we extend the NLIE description to all the vacua of the theory. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Study of BsB_{s} oscillations

This document contains two ALEPH Reports on three different analyses of $B_{s}$ oscillations, based on the statistics collected by the ALEPH experiment during 1991-1995. $B_{s}$ mesons are fully reconstructed in several hadronic decay channels, yielding a small sample of candidates with excellent decay length and momentum reconstruction. Semileptonic decays with a fully recontructed $D_{s}$ meson yield larger statistics with equally high $B_{s}$ purity, but somewhat degraded momentum resolution. Inclusive semileptonic decays of b hadrons yield the highest sensitivity to $B_{s}$ oscillations, due to the much higher statistics. The combination of the above three with the other ALEPH analyses gives a limit of $\Delta m_{s} > 10.7$ ps$^{-1}$ at 95% C.L. with a sensitivity equal to $13.1$ ps$^{-1}$

Kepler observations of A-F pre-main sequence stars in Upper Scorpius: Discovery of six new δ\delta~Scuti and one γ\gamma~Doradus stars

We present light curves and periodograms for 27 stars in the young Upper Scorpius association (age=$11 \pm 1$\,Myr) obtained with the Kepler spacecraft. This association is only the second stellar grouping to host several pulsating pre-main sequence (PMS) stars which have been observed from space. From an analysis of the periodograms, we identify six $\delta$~Scuti variables and one $\gamma$~Doradus star. These are most likely PMS stars or else very close to the zero-age main sequence. Four of the $\delta$~Scuti variables were observed in short-cadence mode, which allows us to resolve the entire frequency spectrum. For these four stars, we are able to infer some qualitative information concerning their ages. For the remaining two $\delta$~Scuti stars, only long-cadence data are available, which means that some of the frequencies are likely to be aliases. One of the stars appears to be a rotational variable in a hierarchical triple system. This is a particularly important object, as it allows the possibility of an accurate mass determination when radial velocity observations become available. We also report on new high-resolution echelle spectra obtained for some of the stars of our sample.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication on MNRA

Response to “Comment on ‘Elasticity of flexible and semiflexible polymers with extensible bonds in the Gibbs and Helmholtz ensembles”’ [J. Chem. Phys. 138, 157101 (2013)]

No abstract: this is a "response" to a Comment

Monte Carlo simulations of single polymer force-extension relations

We present Monte Carlo simulations for studying the statistical mechanics of arbitrarily long single molecules under stretching. In many cases in which the thermodynamic limit is not satisfied, different statistical ensembles yield different macroscopic force-displacement curves. In this work we provide a description of the Monte Carlo simulations and discuss in details the assumptions adopted

An assessment of Li abundances in weak-lined and classical T Tauri stars of the Taurus-Auriga association

Accurate measurements of lithium abundances in young low-mass stars provide an independent and reliable age diagnostics. Previous studies of nearby star forming regions have identified significant numbers of Li-depleted stars,often at levels inconsistent with the ages indicated by their luminosity. We aim at a new and accurate analysis of Li abundances in a sample of ~100 pre-main sequence stars in Taurus-Auriga using a homogeneous and updated set of stellar parameters and model atmospheres appropriate for the spectral types of the sample stars.We compute Li abundances using published values of the equivalent widths of the Li 6708 A doublet obtained from medium/high resolution spectra. We find that the number of significantly Li-depleted stars in Taurus-Auriga is greatly reduced with respect to earlier results. Only 13 stars have abundances lower than the interstellar value by a factor of 5 or greater. All of them are weak-lined T Tauri stars drawn from X-ray surveys; with the exception of four stars located near the L1551 and L1489 dark clouds, all the Li-depleted stars belong to the class of dispersed low-mass stars, distributed around the main sites of current star formation. If located at the distance of Taurus-Auriga, the stellar ages implied by the derived Li abundances are in the range 3-30 Myr, greater than the bulk of the Li-rich population with implication on the star formation history of the region. In order to derive firm conclusions about the fraction of Li-depleted stars of Taurus-Auriga, Li measurements of the remaining members of the association should be obtained, in particular of the group of stars that fall in the Li-burning region of the HR diagram.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 20 pages, 5 figure