Synthetic Stellar Clusters for Pop III

We present preliminary results of an incoming theoretical work concerning the integrated properties of the Population III clusters of stars. On the basis of synthetic Color-Magnitude Diagrams, we provide a grid of optical and near-IR colors of Simple Stellar Populations with very low metallicity (Z=10$^{-10}$ and Z=10$^{-6}$) and age which spans from 10 Myr to 15 Gyr. A comparison with higher metallicities up to 0.006 is also shown, disclosing sizable differences in the CMD morphology, integrated colors and Spectral Energy Distribution (SED).Comment: 2 pages, incl. 2 figures, "The First Stars", Proceedings of the second MPA/ESO workshop, Eds.: Weiss, Abel, Hill, Springer, Heidelberg, 200

Geometric phase and gauge theory structure in quantum computing

We discuss the presence of a geometrical phase in the evolution of a qubit state and its gauge structure. The time evolution operator is found to be the free energy operator, rather than the Hamiltonian operator.Comment: 5 pages, presented at Fifth International Workshop DICE2010: Space-Time-Matter - current issues in quantum mechanics and beyond, Castiglioncello (Tuscany), September 13-17, 201

On the observational properties of He-burning stars: some clues on the tilt of the HB in metal rich clusters

We investigate the predicted Color-Magnitude distribution of metal-rich Horizontal Branch (HB) stars, discussing selected theoretical models computed under various assumptions about the star metallicity and the efficiency of super-adiabatic convection. We find that canonical Zero Age Horizontal Branches with metallicity larger or of the order of Z=0.002 should be all affected by a tilt, by an amount which increases when the metallicity is increased and/or the mixing length is decreased, reaching a tilt of $\Delta V \sim$0.2 mag in the case of solar metallicity when a mixing length value $\alpha$=1.6 is assumed ($\Delta V$ is the magnitude difference between the top of the blue HB and the fainter magnitude reached by the red HB). Uncertainties in the luminosity of the red HB due to uncertainty in the mixing length value are discussed. We finally discuss the much larger tilt observed in the clusters NGC 6441 and NGC 6388, reporting additional evidence against suggested non-canonical evolutionary scenarios. Numerical experiments show that differential reddening could produce such sloped HBs. Further, HST-PC imaging of NGC 6441 gives clear indications about the occurrence of differential reddening across the cluster. However, the same imaging shows that the observed slope of the red HB {\em is not} an artifact of differential reddening. We finally show that sloping red HBs in metal rich clusters are a common occurrence not necessarily correlated with the appearance of extended blue HB.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Ap

Taxonomic remarks and distribution of Smyrnium dimartinoi (Apiaceae)

Smyrnium L., an Eurasian genus of the family Apiaceae, includes about 20 taxa of which only 7 are accepted at specific rank; among these, 5 are native to Europe (Tutin & al. 1968; Gomez 2003). In the Italian flora, the genus is represented by 3 taxa also occurring in Sicily (Pignatti 1982; Giardina & al. 2007); these are Smyrnium olusatrum L., S. perfoliatum L. and S. rotundifolium Mill. The last one has also been treated at the rank of subspecies under S. perfoliatum [S. perfoliatum subsp. rotundifolium (Mill.) Hartvig] (Strid 1986; Conti & al. 2005), or as a variety [S. perfoliatum var. rotundifolium (Mill.)Fiori (Fiori 1925)]. In Sicily, same populations related to S. perfoliatum differ from this taxon for both morphological and ecological characteristics, especially on the Madonie Mountains and the Mountains around Palermo. The study of the morphological characteristics \u2013 namely of the root, stem, and leaf \u2013 allowed to clearly distinguish these populations that, therefore, represented a taxonomically and perhaps even chorologically critical case, since similar plants occurring in Greece were described as S. rotundifolium var. ovatifolium Hal\ue1csy (Hal\ue1csy 1901). In Sicily the same population was finally described as a new species named Smyrnium dimartinoi (Raimondo et al., 2015) to commemorate Andrea Di Martino (1926-2009), professor of botany and director of the Botanical Garden and Herbarium Mediterraneum in the Palermo University. The occurrence of the new taxon related to S. perfoliatum \u2013 ascertained only in Central-Western Sicily and in Crete \u2013 has also been supposed in other countries of the Mediterranean Europe; this, owing to some critical specimens observed in PAL and PAL-Gr. In this contribution, the analytical key of S. perfoliatum group is presented. Furthermore, the geographical distribution of S. dimartinoi is specified after the study of selected exsiccata from other Italian and foreign herbaria. The results found in this research show that S. dimartinoi belongs to the Eurimediterranean element, spread in various countries of the Southern Europe, from Greece to Italy and Spain

Genetic variation patterns in some groups of Centaurea (Asteraceae) in Italy

In the current work the data of the isozyme analysis of all the twenty studied Italian Centaurea taxa were compared. They belong to Centaurea parlatoris, C. cineraria, C. tenorei and C. jacea groups. The following parameters of the genetic variability were considered: the total number of the alleles, the mean number of alleles per locus (A), the mean percentage of polymorphic loci (P95), the expected heterozygosity (He) that is a measure of the intra-population diversity, the Wright’s fixation index (F) and inbreeding coefficient (FIS) that are measures for the deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The present study contributes to insight some aspects of the genetic diversity related to the distribution range (endemics or widespread taxa) of the studied Centaurea species. The mean proportion of polymorphic loci and the mean number of alleles per locus (A) in the endemic species are comparable with the widespread ones, while the intra-population diversity (He) results about 40% higher in the populations of the widespread taxa than the endemics. The loci with a major role for the processes of differentiation and evolution of the genus Centaurea in South Italy and Sicily are: Mdh-1, Pgi-2 and Idh-1. Italian Centaurea species with the highest genetic diversity usually inhabit extreme habitats (rocky, sandy places, etc.) and localities with significant human impact or the borderline of their area of distribution. Sicily could be considered a centre of differentiation of the endemic groups of C. cineraria and C. parlatoris which show relatively high intra-population variability

The LHC string2 supervision system

This paper describes the implementation of the supervision system for the LHC Prototype Full-Cell also known as String 2. The supervision application is based on a commercial package targeted to industrial controls, but because of the complexity and the specifics of such a system, integration with custom components is necessary in order to merge the industrial requirements with the specificity of the accelerator controls