KPD 0422+5421: A New Short Period Subdwarf B/White Dwarf Binary

The sdB star KPD 0422+5421 was discovered to be a single-lined spectroscopic binary with a period of P=0.0901795 +/- (3\times 10^{-7}) days (2 hours, 10 minutes). The U and B light curves display an ellipsoidal modulation with amplitudes of about 0.02 magnitudes. The sdB star contributes nearly all of the observed flux. This and the absence of any reflection effect suggest that the unseen companion star is small (i.e. R_comp ~ 0.01 solar radii) and therefore degenerate. We modeled the U and B light curves and derived i = 78.05 +/- 0.50 degrees and a mass ratio of q = M_comp/M_sdB = 0.87 +/- 0.15. The sdB star fills 69% of its Roche lobe. These quantities may be combined with the mass function of the companion (f(M) = 0.126 +/- 0.028 solar masses) to derive M_sdB = 0.72 +/- 0.26 solar masses and M_comp = 0.62 +/- 0.18 solar masses. We used model spectra to derive the effective temperature, surface gravity, and helium abundance of the sdB star. We found T_eff = 25,000 +/- 1500K, log g = 5.4 +/- 0.1, and [He/H] = -1.0. With a period of 2 hours and 10 minutes, KPD 0422+5421 has one of the shortest known orbital periods of a detached binary. This system is also one of only a few known binaries which contain a subdwarf B star and a white dwarf. Thus KPD 0422+5421 represents a relatively unobserved, and short-lived, stage of binary star evolution.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, to appear in MNRAS, LaTeX, uses mn.st

One- and two-atom states in a rotating ring lattice

We study the states of one and two atoms in a rotating ring lattice in a Hubbard type tight-binding model. The model is developed carefully from basic principles in order to properly identify the physical observables. The one-particle ground state may be degenerate and represent a finite flow velocity depending on the parity of the number of lattice sites, the sign of the tunneling matrix element, and the rotation speed of the lattice. Variation of the rotation speed may be used to control one-atom states, and leads to peculiar behaviors such as wildly different phase and group velocities for an atom. Adiabatic variation of the rotation speed of the lattice may also be used to control the state of a two-atom lattice dimer. For instance, at a suitably chosen rotation speed both atoms are confined to the same lattice site.Comment: Very close to the submitted versio

A Renormalization group approach for highly anisotropic 2D Fermion systems: application to coupled Hubbard chains

I apply a two-step density-matrix renormalization group method to the anisotropic two-dimensional Hubbard model. As a prelude to this study, I compare the numerical results to the exact one for the tight-binding model. I find a ground-state energy which agrees with the exact value up to four digits for systems as large as $24 \times 25$. I then apply the method to the interacting case. I find that for strong Hubbard interaction, the ground-state is dominated by magnetic correlations. These correlations are robust even in the presence of strong frustration. Interchain pair tunneling is negligible in the singlet and triplet channels and it is not enhanced by frustration. For weak Hubbard couplings, interchain non-local singlet pair tunneling is enhanced and magnetic correlations are strongly reduced. This suggests a possible superconductive ground state.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, expanded version of cond-mat/060856

Fast High Resolution Echelle Spectroscopy Of A Laboratory Plasma

An echelle diffraction grating and a multianode photomultiplier tube are paired to construct a high resolution (R=lambda/delta lambda approximate to 2.5x10(4)) spectrograph with fast time response for use from the UV through the visible. This instrument has analyzed the line shape of C III impurity ion emission at 229.687 nm over the lifetime (approximate to 100 mu s) of the hydrogen plasmas produced at SSX. The ion temperature and line of sight average velocity are inferred from the observed thermal broadening and Doppler shift of the line. The time resolution of these measurements is about 1 mu s, sufficient to observe the fastest magnetohydrodynamic activity