arXiv subjects

A. Hart

Publications and source records attributed to A. Hart.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2013

Spitzer observations of a circumstellar nebula around the candidate Luminous Blue Variable MWC 930

MWC 930 is a star just ~2{\deg} above the Galactic plane whose nature is not clear and that has not been studied in detail so far. While a post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) classification was proposed in the past, studies of its optical spectrum and photometry pointed toward strong variability, therefore the object was reclassified as a Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) candidate. LBVs typically undergo phases of strong mass loss in the form of eruptions that can create shells of ejecta around the star. Our goal is to search for the presence of such a circumstellar nebula in MWC 930 and investigate its properties. To do so, we make use of space-based infrared data from our Spitzer campaign performed with the InfraRed Array Camera (IRAC) and the InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS) as well as data from optical and infrared (IR) surveys. In our Spitzer images, we clearly detect an extended shell around MWC 930 at wavelengths longer than 5 um. The mid-infrared spectrum is dominated by the central star and mostly shows forbidden lines of [FeII], with an underlying continuum that decreases with wavelength up to ~15 um and then inverts its slope, displaying a second peak around 60 um, evidence for cold dust grains formed in a past eruption. By modeling the SED, we identify two central components, besides the star and the outer shell. These extra sources of radiation are interpreted as material close to the central star, maybe due to a recent ejection. Features of C-bearing molecules or grains are not detected.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

Identification of three new proto-Planetary Nebulae exhibiting the unidentified feature at 21 um

Among its great findings, the IRAS mission showed the existence of an unidentified mid-IR feature around 21 um. Since its discovery, this feature has been detected in all C-rich proto-PNe of intermediate spectral type (A-G) and - weakly - in a few PNe and AGB stars, but the nature of its carriers remains unknown. In this paper, we show the detection of this feature in the spectra of three new stars transiting from the AGB to the PN stage obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Following a recent suggestion, we try to model the SEDs of our targets with amorphous carbon and FeO, which might be responsible for the unidentified feature. The fit thus obtained is not completely satisfactory, since the shape of the feature is not well matched. In the attempt to relate the unidentified feature to other dust features, we retrieved mid-IR spectra of all the 21-um sources currently known from ISO and Spitzer on-line archives and noticed a correlation between the flux emitted in the 21-um feature and that emitted at 7 and 11 um (PAH bands and HAC broad emission). Such a correlation may point to a common nature of the carriers.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

Renormalization of heavy-light currents in moving NRQCD

Heavy-light decays such as $B \to \pi \ell \nu$, $B \to K^{*} \gamma$ and $B \to K^{(*)} \ell \ell$ can be used to constrain the parameters of the Standard Model and in indirect searches for new physics. While the precision of experimental results has improved over the last years this has still to be matched by equally precise theoretical predictions. The calculation of heavy-light form factors is currently carried out in lattice QCD. Due to its small Compton wavelength we discretize the heavy quark in an effective non-relativistic theory. By formulating the theory in a moving frame of reference discretization errors in the final state are reduced at large recoil. Over the last years the formalism has been improved and tested extensively. Systematic uncertainties are reduced by renormalizing the m(oving)NRQCD action and heavy-light decay operators. The theory differs from QCD only for large loop momenta at the order of the lattice cutoff and the calculation can be carried out in perturbation theory as an expansion in the strong coupling constant. In this paper we calculate the one loop corrections to the heavy-light vector and tensor operator. Due to the complexity of the action the generation of lattice Feynman rules is automated and loop integrals are solved by the adaptive Monte Carlo integrator VEGAS. We discuss the infrared and ultraviolet divergences in the loop integrals both in the continuum and on the lattice. The light quarks are discretized in the ASQTad and highly improved staggered quark (HISQ) action; the formalism is easily extended to other quark actions.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2009

Moving NRQCD for heavy-to-light form factors on the lattice

We formulate Non-Relativistic Quantum Chromodynamics (NRQCD) on a lattice which is boosted relative to the usual discretization frame. Moving NRQCD (mNRQCD) allows us to treat the momentum for the heavy quark arising from the frame choice exactly. We derive mNRQCD through O(1/m^2,v^4), as accurate as the NRQCD action in present use, both in the continuum and on the lattice with O(a^4) improvements. We have carried out extensive tests of the formalism through calculations of two-point correlators for both heavy-heavy (bottomonium) and heavy-light (B_s) mesons in 2+1 flavor lattice QCD and obtained nonperturbative determinations of energy shift and external momentum renormalization. Comparison to perturbation theory at O(α_s) is also made. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of mNRQCD. In particular we show that the decay constants of heavy-light and heavy-heavy mesons can be calculated with small systematic errors up to much larger momenta than with standard NRQCD.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2009

Automated generation of lattice QCD Feynman rules

The derivation of the Feynman rules for lattice perturbation theory from actions and operators is complicated, especially for highly improved actions such as HISQ. This task is, however, both important and particularly suitable for automation. We describe a suite of software to generate and evaluate Feynman rules for a wide range of lattice field theories with gluons and (relativistic and/or heavy) quarks. Our programs are capable of dealing with actions as complicated as (m)NRQCD and HISQ. Automated differentiation methods are used to calculate also the derivatives of Feynman diagrams.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2009

Radiative corrections to the lattice gluon action for highly improved staggered quarks (HISQ) and the effect of such corrections on the static potential

We perform a perturbative calculation of the influence of dynamical HISQ fermions on the perturbative improvement of the gluonic action in the same way as we have previously done for asqtad fermions. We find the fermionic contributions to the radiative corrections in the Luescher-Weisz gauge action to be somewhat larger for HISQ fermions than for asqtad. Using one-loop perturbation theory as a test, we estimate that omission of the fermion-induced radiative corrections in dynamical asqtad simulations will give a measurable effect. The one-loop result gives a systematic shift of about -0.6% in (r_1/a) on the coarsest asqtad improved staggered ensembles. This is the correct sign and magnitude to explain the scaling violations seen in Phi_B on dynamical lattice ensembles.

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arXiv2008

Supergiant Temperatures and Linear Radii from Near-Infrared Interferometry

We present angular diameters for 42 luminosity class I stars and 32 luminosity class II stars that have been interferometrically determined with the Palomar Testbed Interferometer. Derived values of radius and effective temperature are established for these objects, and an empirical calibration of these parameters for supergiants will be presented as a functions of spectral type and colors. For the effective temperature versus $(V-K)_0$ color, we find an empirical calibration with a median deviation of $\Delta T = 70$K in the range of $0.7 < (V-K)_0 < 5.1$ for LC I stars; for LC II, the median deviation is $\Delta T = 120$K from $0.4 < (V-K)_0 < 4.3$. Effective temperature as a function of spectral type is also calibrated from these data, but shows significantly more scatter than the $T_{\rm EFF}$ versus $(V-K)_0$ relationship. No deviation of $T_{\rm EFF}$ versus spectral type is seen for these high luminosity objects relative to luminosity class II giants. Directly determined diameters range up to $400 R_\odot$, though are limited by poor distance determinations, which dominate the error estimates. These temperature and radii measures reflect a direct calibration of these parameters for supergiants from empirical means.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Interferometric Studies of the extreme binary, $ε$ Aurigae: Pre-eclipse Observations

We report new and archival K-band interferometric uniform disk diameters obtained with the Palomar Testbed Interferometer for the eclipsing binary star $ε$ Aurigae, in advance of the start of its eclipse in 2009. The observations were inteded to test whether low amplitude variations in the system are connected with the F supergiant star (primary), or with the intersystem material connecting the star with the enormous dark disk (secondary) inferred to cause the eclipses. Cepheid-like radial pulsations of the F star are not detected, nor do we find evidence for proposed 6% per decade shrinkage of the F star. The measured 2.27 +/- 0.11 milli-arcsecond K band diameter is consistent with a 300 times solar radius F supergiant star at the Hipparcos distance of 625 pc. These results provide an improved context for observations during the 2009-2011 eclipse.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Perturbative calculations for the HISQ action: the gluon action at $O(N_fα_sa^2)$

We present a new (and general) algorithm for deriving lattice Feynman rules which is capable of handling actions as complex as the Highly Improved Staggered Quark (HISQ) action. This enables us to perform a perturbative calculation of the influence of dynamical HISQ fermions on the perturbative improvement of the gluonic action in the same way as we have previously done for asqtad fermions. We find the fermionic contributions to the radiative corrections in the Lüscher-Weisz gauge action to be somewhat larger for HISQ fermions than for asqtad.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2008

Physical Results from 2+1 Flavor Domain Wall QCD and SU(2) Chiral Perturbation Theory

We have simulated QCD using 2+1 flavors of domain wall quarks on a $(2.74 {\rm fm})^3$ volume with an inverse lattice scale of $a^{-1} = 1.729(28)$ GeV. The up and down (light) quarks are degenerate in our calculations and we have used four values for the ratio of light quark masses to the strange (heavy) quark mass in our simulations: 0.217, 0.350, 0.617 and 0.884. We have measured pseudoscalar meson masses and decay constants, the kaon bag parameter $B_K$ and vector meson couplings. We have used SU(2) chiral perturbation theory, which assumes only the up and down quark masses are small, and SU(3) chiral perturbation theory to extrapolate to the physical values for the light quark masses. While next-to-leading order formulae from both approaches fit our data for light quarks, we find the higher order corrections for SU(3) very large, making such fits unreliable. We also find that SU(3) does not fit our data when the quark masses are near the physical strange quark mass. Thus, we rely on SU(2) chiral perturbation theory for accurate results. We use the masses of the $\Omega$ baryon, and the $\pi$ and $K$ mesons to set the lattice scale and determine the quark masses. We then find $f_\pi = 124.1(3.6)_{\rm stat}(6.9)_{\rm syst} {\rm MeV}$, $f_K = 149.6(3.6)_{\rm stat}(6.3)_{\rm syst} {\rm MeV}$ and $f_K/f_\pi = 1.205(0.018)_{\rm stat}(0.062)_{\rm syst}$. Using non-perturbative renormalization to relate lattice regularized quark masses to RI-MOM masses, and perturbation theory to relate these to $\bar{\rm MS}$ we find $ m_{ud}^{\bar{\rm MS}}(2 {\rm GeV}) = 3.72(0.16)_{\rm stat}(0.33)_{\rm ren}(0.18)_{\rm syst} {\rm MeV}$ and $m_{s}^{\bar{\rm MS}}(2 {\rm GeV}) = 107.3(4.4)_{\rm stat}(9.7)_{\rm ren}(4.9)_{\rm syst} {\rm MeV}$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

2+1 flavor domain wall QCD on a (2 fm)^3 lattice: light meson spectroscopy with Ls = 16

We present results for light meson masses and pseudoscalar decay constants from the first of a series of lattice calculations with 2+1 dynamical flavors of domain wall fermions and the Iwasaki gauge action. The work reported here was done at a fixed lattice spacing of about 0.12 fm on a 16^3\times32 lattice, which amounts to a spatial volume of (2 fm)^3 in physical units. The number of sites in the fifth dimension is 16, which gives m_{res} = 0.00308(4) in these simulations. Three values of input light sea quark masses, m_l^{sea} \approx 0.85 m_s, 0.59 m_s and 0.33 m_s were used to allow for extrapolations to the physical light quark limit, whilst the heavier sea quark mass was fixed to approximately the physical strange quark mass m_s. The exact rational hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm was used to evaluate the fractional powers of the fermion determinants in the ensemble generation. We have found that f_π= 127(4) MeV, f_K = 157(5) MeV and f_K/f_π= 1.24(2), where the errors are statistical only, which are in good agreement with the experimental values.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

Leptonic widths of heavy quarkonia: S-Wave QCD/NRQCD matching coefficients for the electromagnetic vector annihilation current at O(alpha_s v^2)

We construct the S-wave part of the electromagnetic vector annihilation current to O(alpha_s v^2)$ on the lattice for heavy quarks whose dynamics are described by the NRQCD action, where v is the non-relativistic quark velocity. The lattice vector current for QQbar annihilation is expressed as a linear combination of lattice operators with quantum numbers L=0, J^P=1^-, and the coefficients are determined by matching this lattice current to the corresponding continuum current in QCD to O(v^2) to one-loop. The annihilation channel gives a complex amplitude and a proper choice for the contours of integration is needed; a simple Wick rotation is not possible. In this way, and with a careful choice of subtraction functions in the numerical integration, the Coulomb-exchange and infrared singularities appearing in the amplitudes are successfully treated. The matching coefficients are given as a function of the heavy quark mass Ma in lattice units. An automated vertex generation program written in Python is employed, allowing us to use a realistic NRQCD action and an improved gluon lattice action. A change in the definition of either action is easily accommodated in this procedure. The final result is applicable to the electromagnetic decays of heavy quarkonia, notably the Upsilon meson.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2006

First results from 2+1-Flavor Domain Wall QCD: Mass Spectrum, Topology Change and Chiral Symmetry with $L_s=8$

We present results for the static interquark potential, light meson and baryon masses, and light pseudoscalar meson decay constants obtained from simulations of domain wall QCD with one dynamical flavour approximating the $s$ quark, and two degenerate dynamical flavours with input bare masses ranging from $m_s$ to $m_s/4$ approximating the $u$ and $d$ quarks. We compare these quantities obtained using the Iwasaki and DBW2 improved gauge actions, and actions with larger rectangle coefficients, on $16^3\times32$ lattices. We seek parameter values at which both the chiral symmetry breaking residual mass due to the finite lattice extent in the fifth dimension and the Monte Carlo time history for topological charge are acceptable for this set of quark masses at lattice spacings above 0.1 fm. We find that the Iwasaki gauge action is best, demonstrating the feasibility of using QCDOC to generate ensembles which are good representations of the QCD path integral on lattices of up to 3 fm in spatial extent with lattice spacings in the range 0.09-0.13 fm. Despite large residual masses and a limited number of sea quark mass values with which to perform chiral extrapolations, our results for light hadronic physics scale and agree with experimental measurements within our statistical uncertainties.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2006

Leptonic widths of heavy quarkonia: QCD/NRQCD matching for the electromagnetic current at O(α_s v^2)

We construct the S-wave part of the electromagnetic vector annihilation current to $O(α_s v^2)$, where $v$ is the non-relativistic quark velocity, for heavy quarks whose dynamics are described by the NRQCD action on the lattice. The NRQCD vector current for $Q\bar{Q}$ annihilation is expressed as a linear combination of lattice operators with quantum numbers L=0, $J^P=1^-$, and the coefficients are determined by matching to the corresponding continuum current in QCD to$O(v^2)$ at one-loop. The annihilation channel gives a complex amplitude with Coulomb-exchange and infrared singularities, making a careful choice for the contours of integration and infrared subtraction functions in the numerical integration necessary. An automated vertex generation program written in Python is employed, allowing us to use a realistic NRQCD action and an improved gluon lattice action; a change in the definition of either action is easily accommodated in this procedure. The final result is applicable to simulations of electromagnetic decays of heavy quarkonia, notably the $Υ$ meson.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2006

A lattice study of the masses of singlet 0++ mesons

We compute the masses of the flavour singlet 0++ mesons using (n_f=2) unquenched lattice QCD with the Iwasaki and Wilson gauge actions. Both fermionic and glueball interpolating operators are used to create the states. The mass of the lightest 0++ meson is suppressed relative to the mass of the 0++ glueball in quenched QCD at an equivalent lattice spacing. We discuss two possible physical reasons for this.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

The Index Theorem and Random Matrix Theory for Improved Staggered Quarks

We study various improved staggered quark Dirac operators on quenched gluon backgrounds in lattice QCD. We find a clear separation of the spectrum of eigenvalues into high chirality, would-be zero modes and others, in accordance with the Index Theorem. We find the expected clustering of the non-zero modes into quartets as we approach the continuum limit. The predictions of random matrix theory for the epsilon regime are well reproduced. We conclude that improved staggered quarks near the continuum limit respond correctly to QCD topology.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

The Low-Lying Dirac Spectrum of Staggered Quarks

We investigate and clarify the role of topology and the issues surrounding the epsilon regime for staggered quarks. We study unimproved and improved staggered quark Dirac operators on quenched lattice QCD gluon backgrounds generated using a Symanzik-improved gluon action. For the improved Dirac operators we find a clear separation of the spectrum into would-be zero modes and others. The number of would-be zero modes depends on the topological charge as predicted by the continuum Index Theorem, and the expectation values of their chirality are large for the most improved actions (approx 0.7). The remaining modes have low chirality and show clear signs of clustering into quartets that become degenerate in the continuum limit. We demonstrate that the lattice spacing and volume dependence of the eigenvalues follow expectations. Furthermore, the non-zero modes follow the random matrix theory predictions for all topological charge sectors. The values of the chiral condensate extracted from fits to the theoretical distributions are consistent with each other, and with the results obtained from the total density of eigenvalues using the Banks-Casher relation. We conclude that staggered quarks respond correctly to QCD topology when both fermion and gauge actions are improved.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Automatically generating Feynman rules for improved lattice field theories

Deriving the Feynman rules for lattice perturbation theory from actions and operators is complicated, especially when improvement terms are present. This physically important task is, however, suitable for automation. We describe a flexible algorithm for generating Feynman rules for a wide range of lattice field theories including gluons, relativistic fermions and heavy quarks. We also present an efficient implementation of this in a freely available, multi-platform programming language (\python), optimised to deal with a wide class of lattice field theories.

hep-lat↗