arXiv subjects

C. Muñoz

Publications and source records attributed to C. Muñoz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Infrared photometry and CaT spectroscopy of the most metal-poor in-situ globular cluster VVV-CL001

Globular clusters in the Galactic bulge are difficult to study due to high extinction and severe crowding. VVV-CL001 is an old, metal-poor, and fast cluster in the inner bulge, whose extreme properties make it a key probe of the early chemical and dynamical evolution of the Milky Way. We derive its fundamental parameters by combining spectroscopy, astrometry, and near-infrared photometry. Metallicity and radial velocity were measured from medium-resolution FORS2/VLT spectra; proper motions from Gaia DR3; and FourStar/Magellan photometry was used to refine the cluster centre, derive its structure, and estimate age, distance, and reddening. VVV-CL001 is confirmed to be an old ($12.1^{+1.0}_{-1.2}$ Gyr), metal-poor ($[\text{Fe}/\text{H}] = -2.25 \pm 0.05$) cluster at a heliocentric distance of $7.1^{+1.3}_{-1.1}$ kpc, with reddening $E(J-K_s) = 1.40^{+0.01}_{-0.02}$. Its mean proper motions are $\mu_\alpha^* = -3.68 \pm 0.09$ and $\mu_\delta = -1.76 \pm 0.10$ mas yr$^{-1}$, and its radial velocity is $-334 \pm 4$ km s$^{-1}$. The orbit is eccentric ($e = 0.76^{+0.10}_{-0.14}$), confined to the inner Galaxy ($|Z|_{\max} \approx 1$ kpc) and within the bar's influence ($R < 5$ kpc), with pericentre $0.6^{+0.3}_{-0.2}$ kpc and apocentre $4.5^{+2.5}_{-1.2}$ kpc. Its old age, low metallicity, and orbital properties support an in-situ origin, identifying VVV-CL001 as one of the most metal-poor inner-Galaxy clusters formed in the early Milky Way. It likely belongs to the primordial disk cluster population later trapped by the bar, making it a fossil remnant of the earliest phases of Galactic assembly.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Investigating a predicted metallicity [Fe/H] variation in the Type II Globular Cluster NGC 362

NGC 362 is a non-common Type II Galactic globular cluster, showing a complex pseudo two-color diagram or 'chromosome map'. The clear separation of its stellar populations in the color-magnitude diagram and the distribution of the giant stars in the chromosome map strongly suggests that NGC 362 could host stars with both cluster-nominal as well as enhanced heavy-element abundances, and one of them could be iron. However, despite previous spectroscopic observations of NGC 362, no such iron variation has been detected. Our main goal is to confirm or disprove this result by searching for any internal variation of [Fe/H] which would give us insight into the formation and evolution of this interesting globular cluster. In this paper, we present the abundance analysis for a sample of 11 red giant branch members based on high-resolution and high S/N spectra obtained with the MIKE echelle spectrograph mounted at the Magellan-Clay telescope. HST and GAIA photometry and astrometry has been used to determine atmospheric parameters and membership. We obtained T$_{\text{eff}}$, log(g) and v$_{\text{t}}$ for our target stars and measured the mean iron content of the sample and its dispersion with three different methods, which lead to [Fe/H]$_1$=-1.10$\pm0.02$, [Fe/H]$_2$=-1.09$\pm0.01$ and [Fe/H]$_3$=-1.10$\pm0.01$, while the internal dispersion turned out to be $σ_{[\text{Fe/H}]_1}$=0.06$\pm0.01$, $σ_{[\text{Fe/H}]_2}$=0.03$\pm0.01$ and $σ_{[\text{Fe/H}]_3}$=0.05$\pm0.01$ respectively. The error analysis gives an internal dispersion due to observational error of 0.05 dex. Comparing the observed dispersion with the internal errors, we conclude that NGC 362 does not show any trace of an internal iron spread.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

WIMP Dark Matter in the U$μν$SSM

The U$μν$SSM is a $U(1)'$ extension of the $μν$SSM supersymmetric model, where baryon-number-violating operators as well as explicit mass terms are forbidden, and the potential domain wall problem is avoided. The gauge anomaly-cancellation conditions impose the presence of exotic quark superfields in the spectrum of U$μν$SSM models, and allow the presence of several singlet superfields under the standard model gauge group, in addition to the right-handed neutrino superfields. The gauge structure implies an additional discrete $Z_2$ symmetry in the superpotential, ensuring the stability of a singlet which behaves as WIMP dark matter without invoking $R$-parity. We analyze this novel possibility in detail, using the fermionic component of the singlet as the dark matter candidate. In particular, we compute its amount of relic density via $Z'$, Higgs-right sneutrino and dark matter mediated annihilations, and its potential signals in dark matter direct detection experiments. The constraints on the parameter space due to $Z'$ direct searches at the LHC are imposed in the analysis, as well as those from the hadronization inside the detector of the exotic quarks. Large regions of the parameter space turn out to be in the reach of the upcoming Darwin experiment.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Exotic diboson $Z'$ decays in the U$μν$SSM

Searches for new leptophobic resonances at high energy colliders usually target their decay modes into pairs of light quarks, top quarks, or standard model bosons. Additional decay modes may also be present, producing signatures to which current searches are not sensitive. We investigate the performance of generic searches that look for resonances decaying into two large-radius jets. As benchmark for our analysis we use a supersymmetric $\text{U}(1)'$ extension of the Standard Model, the so-called U$μν$SSM, where all the SM decay modes of the $Z'$ boson take place, plus additional (cascade) decays into new scalars. The generic searches use a generic multi-pronged jet tagger and take advantage of the presence of $b$ quarks in the large-radius jets, and are sensitive to all these $Z'$ decay modes (except into light quarks) at once. For couplings that are well below current experimental constraints, these generic searches are sensitive at the $3σ-4σ$ level with Run 2 LHC data.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Macroscopic approach to N-qudit systems

We develop a general scheme for an analysis of macroscopic qudit systems: a) introduce a set of collective observables, which characterizes the macroscopic properties of qudits in an optimal way; b) construct projected $\tilde{Q}$-functions for $N$ qudit systems, containing full macroscopic information; c) propose a collective tomographic protocol both for a general and symmetric $N$-qudit states. The example of $N$-qutrit is analyzed in details and compared to $N$-qubit case

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

The vertical Na-O relation in the bulge globular cluster NGC 6553

In this article, we present a detailed chemical analysis of seven red giant members of NGC 6553 using high-resolution spectroscopy from VLT FLAMES. We obtained the stellar parameters (Teff, Log(g), vt, [Fe/H]) of these stars from the spectra, and we measured the chemical abundance for 20 elements, including light elements, iron-peak elements, alpha-elements and neutron-capture elements. The metallicities in our sample stars are consistent with a homogeneous distribution. We found a mean of [Fe/H]=-0.14+/-0.07 dex, in agreement with other studies. Using the alpha-elements Mg, Si, Ca and Ti we obtain the mean of [alpha/Fe]=0.11+/-0.05. We found a vertical relation between Na and O, characterized by a significant spread in Na and an almost non-existent spread in O. In fact, Na and Al are the only two light elements with a large intrinsic spread, which demonstrates the presence of Multiple Populations (MPs). An intrinsic spread in Mg is not detected in this study. The alpha, iron-peak and neutron capture elements show good agreement with the trend of the bulge field stars, indicating similar origin and evolution, in concordance with our previous studies for two other bulge GCs (NGC 6440 and NGC 6528).

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2019

Manipulation of Multimode Squeezing in a Coupled Waveguide Array

We present a scheme for generating and manipulating three-mode squeezed states with genuine tripartite entanglement by injecting single-mode squeezed light into an array of coupled optical waveguides. We explore the possibility to selectively generate single-mode squeezing or multimode squeezing at the output of an elliptical waveguides array, determined solely by the input light polarization. We study the effect of losses in the waveguides array and show that quantum correlations and squeezing are preserved for realistic parameters. Our results show that arrays of optical waveguides are suitable platforms for generating multimode quantum light, which could lead to novel applications in quantum metrology.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Neutron DVCS Measurements with BONuS12 in CLAS12

The three-dimensional picture of quarks and gluons in the nucleon is set to be revealed through deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS). With the absence of a free neutron target, the deuterium target represents the simplest nucleus to be used to probe the internal 3D partonic structure of the neutron. We propose here to measure the beam spin asymmetry (BSA) in incoherent neutron DVCS together with the approved E12-06-113 experiment (BONuS12) within the run group F, using the same beam time, simply with addition of beam polarization. The DVCS BSA on the quasi-free neutron will be measured in a wide range of kinematics by tagging the scattered electron and the real photon final state with the spectator proton. We will also measure BSA with all final state particles detected including the struck neutron. The proposed measurements is complementary to the approved CLAS12 experiment E12-11-003, which will also measure the quasi-free neutron DVCS by detecting the scattered neutron, but not the spectator proton. Indeed, besides providing more data for neutron DVCS, this experiment will allow a comparison of the measurement of the BSA of neutron DVCS from the approved E12-11-003 with the measurements using the two methods proposed herein. This comparison will help to understand the impact of nuclear effects, such as the final state interactions (FSI) and Fermi motion on the measurement of the neutron DVCS.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2018

Chemical evolution of the metal poor Globular Cluster NGC 6809

We present the abundances analysis for a sample of 11 red giant branch stars in the metal-poor globular cluster NGC 6809 based on high-resolution spectra. Our main goals are to characterize its chemical composition and analyze this cluster's behavior associated with the Multiple Population (MPs) phenomenon. In our work we obtained the stellar parameters and chemical abundances of 24 elements (O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Sc, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Ba, La, Ce, Eu, Nd and Dy). We found a radial velocity of 174.7 $\pm$ 3.2 km $s^{-1}$ and a mean iron content of [Fe/H]=-2.01 $\pm$ 0.02 in good agreement with other studies. Moreover, we found a large spread in the abundances of the light elements O, Na and Al confirming the presence of a Na-O anti-correlation a Na-Al correlation. The Mg-Al anti-correlation is also present in our cluster. The $α$ and iron-peak elements show good agreement with the halo field star trend. The heavy elements are dominated by the r-process.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Chemical analysis of NGC 6528: one of the most metal-rich bulge globular cluster

The Bulge Globular Clusters (GCs) are key tracers of this central ancient component of our Galaxy. It is essential to understand their formation and evolution to study that of the bulge, as well as their relationship with the other Galactic GC systems (halo and disk GCs). Our main goals are to obtain detailed abundances for a sample of seven red giant members of NGC 6528 in order to characterize its chemical composition and study the relationship of this GC with the bulge, and with other bulge, halo and disk GCs. Moreover, we analyze this cluster$'$s behavior associated with the Multiple Populations (MPs) phenomenon. We obtained the stellar parameters and chemical abundances of light elements (Na, Al), iron-peak elements (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu), α-elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti) and heavy elements (Zr, Ba, Eu) in seven red giant members of NGC 6528 using high resolution spectroscopy from FLAMES-UVES. We obtained in six stars of our sample a mean iron content of [Fe/H]=-0.14+/-0.03 dex, in good agreement with other studies. We found no significant internal iron spread. We detected one candidate variable star, which was excluded from the mean in iron content, we derived a metallicity in this star of [Fe/H]=-0.55+/-0.04 dex. Moreover, we found no extended O-Na anticorrelation but instead only an intrinsic Na spread. In addition, NGC 6528 does not exhibit a Mg-Al anticorrelation, and no significant spread in either Mg or Al. The α and iron-peak elements show good agreement with the bulge field star trend. The heavy elements are slightly dominated by the r-process. The chemical analysis suggests an origin and evolution similar to that of typical old Bulge field stars. Finally, we find remarkable agreement in the chemical patterns of NGC 6528 and another bulge GC, NGC 6553, suggesting a similar origin and evolution.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Precise prediction for the Higgs-Boson Masses in the $μν$SSM

The $μν$SSM is a simple supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (SM) capable of predicting neutrino physics in agreement with experiment. In this paper we perform the complete one-loop renormalization of the neutral scalar sector of the $μν$SSM with one generation of right-handed neutrinos in a mixed on-shell/$\overline{\mathrm{DR}}$ scheme. The renormalization procedure is discussed in detail, emphasizing conceptual differences to the minimal (MSSM) and next-to-minimal (NMSSM) supersymmetric standard model regarding the field renormalization and the treatment of non-flavor-diagonal soft mass parameters, which have their origin in the breaking of $R$-parity in the $μν$SSM. We calculate the full one-loop corrections to the neutral scalar masses of the $μν$SSM. The one-loop contributions are supplemented by available MSSM higher-order corrections. We obtain numerical results for a SM-like Higgs boson mass consistent with experimental bounds. We compare our results to predictions in the NMSSM to obtain a measure for the significance of genuine $μν$SSM-like contributions. We only find minor corrections due to the smallness of the neutrino Yukawa couplings, indicating that the Higgs boson mass calculations in the $μν$SSM are at the same level of accuracy as in the NMSSM. Finally we show that the $μν$SSM can accomodate a Higgs boson that could explain an excess of $γγ$ events at $\sim 96\, \mathrm{GeV}$ as reported by CMS, as well as the $2\,σ$ excess of $b \bar{b}$ events observed at LEP at a similar mass scale.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Chemical Study of the Metal-rich Globular Cluster NGC 5927

Globular Clusters (GCs) are natural laboratories where stellar and chemical evolution can be studied in detail. In addition, their chemical patterns and kinematics can tell us wich Galactic structure (Disk, Bulge, Halo or extragalactic) the cluster belongs to. NGC 5927 is one of most metal-rich GCs in the Galaxy and its kinematics links it to the Thick Disk. We present abundance analysis based on high resolution spectra of 7 giant stars. The data were obtained using FLAMES/UVES spectrograph mounted on UT2 telescope of the European Southern Observatory. The principal motivation of this work is to perform a wide and detailed chemical abundance analysis of the cluster and look for possible Multiple Populations (MPs). We determined stellar parameters and measured 22 elements corresponding to light (Na, Al), alpha (O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti), iron-peak (Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) and heavy elements (Y, Zr, Ba, Ce, Nd, Eu). We found a mean iron content of [Fe/H]=-0.47 $\pm$0.02 (error on the mean). We confirm the existence of MPs in this GC with an O-Na anti-correlation, and moderate spread in Al abundances. We estimate a mean [$α$/Fe]=0.25 $\pm$0.08. Iron-peak elements shows no significant spread. The [Ba/Eu] ratios indicate a predominant contribution from SNeII for the formation of the cluster.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Novel signatures for vector-like quarks

We consider supersymmetric extensions of the standard model with a vector-like doublet $(T \, B)$ of quarks with charge $2/3$ and $-1/3$, respectively. Compared to non-supersymmetric models, there is a variety of new decay modes for the vector-like quarks, involving the extra scalars present in supersymmetry. The importance of these new modes, yielding multi-top, multi-bottom and also multi-Higgs signals, is highlighted by the analysis of several benchmark scenarios. We show how the triangles commonly used to represent the branching ratios of the `standard' decay modes of the vector-like quarks involving $W$, $Z$ or Higgs bosons can be generalised to include additional channels. We give an example by recasting the limits of a recent heavy quark search for this more general case.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

The peculiar Na-O anticorrelation of the bulge globular cluster NGC 6440

Context. Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs) are essential tools to understand the earliest epoch of the Milky Way, since they are among the oldest objects in the Universe and can be used to trace its formation and evolution. Current studies using high resolution spectroscopy for many stars in each of a large sample of GCs allow us to develop a detailed observational picture about their formation and their relation with the Galaxy. However, it is necessary to complete this picture by including GCs that belong to all major Galactic components, including the Bulge. Aims. Our aim is to perform a detailed chemical analyses of the bulge GC NGC 6440 in order to determine if this object has Multiple Populations (MPs) and investigate its relation with the Bulge of the Milky Way and with the other Galactic GCs, especially those associated with the Bulge, which are largely poorly studied. Methods. We determined the stellar parameters and the chemical abundances of light elements (Na, Al), iron-peak elements (Fe, Sc, Mn, Co, Ni), $α$-elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti) and heavy elements (Ba, Eu) in seven red giant members of NGC 6440 using high resolution spectroscopy from FLAMES@UVES. Results. We found a mean iron content of [Fe/H]=-0.50$\pm$0.03 dex in agreement with other studies. We found no internal iron spread. On the other hand, Na and Al show a significant intrinsic spread, but the cluster has no significant O-Na anticorrelation nor exhibits a Mg-Al anticorrelation. The $α$-elements show good agreement with the Bulge field star trend, although they are at the high alpha end and are also higher than those of other GCs of comparable metallicity. The heavy elements are dominated by the r-process, indicating a strong contribution by SNeII. The chemical analysis suggests an origin similar to that of the Bulge field stars.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

The $Gaia$-ESO Survey: the inner disk intermediate-age open cluster NGC 6802

Milky Way open clusters are very diverse in terms of age, chemical composition, and kinematic properties. Intermediate-age and old open clusters are less common, and it is even harder to find them inside the solar Galactocentric radius, due to the high mortality rate and strong extinction inside this region. NGC 6802 is one of the inner disk open clusters (IOCs) observed by the $Gaia$-ESO survey (GES). This cluster is an important target for calibrating the abundances derived in the survey due to the kinematic and chemical homogeneity of the members in open clusters. Using the measurements from $Gaia$-ESO internal data release 4 (iDR4), we identify 95 main-sequence dwarfs as cluster members from the GIRAFFE target list, and eight giants as cluster members from the UVES target list. The dwarf cluster members have a median radial velocity of $13.6\pm1.9$ km s$^{-1}$, while the giant cluster members have a median radial velocity of $12.0\pm0.9$ km s$^{-1}$ and a median [Fe/H] of $0.10\pm0.02$ dex. The color-magnitude diagram of these cluster members suggests an age of $0.9\pm0.1$ Gyr, with $(m-M)_0=11.4$ and $E(B-V)=0.86$. We perform the first detailed chemical abundance analysis of NGC 6802, including 27 elemental species. To gain a more general picture about IOCs, the measurements of NGC 6802 are compared with those of other IOCs previously studied by GES, that is, NGC 4815, Trumpler 20, NGC 6705, and Berkeley 81. NGC 6802 shows similar C, N, Na, and Al abundances as other IOCs. These elements are compared with nucleosynthetic models as a function of cluster turn-off mass. The $α$, iron-peak, and neutron-capture elements are also explored in a self-consistent way.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Discrete phase-space mappings, tomographic condition and permutation invariance

We analyze different families of discrete maps\ in the N-qubit systems in the context of the permutation invariance. We prove that the tomographic condition imposed on the self-dual (Wigner) map is incompatible with the requirement of the invariance under particle permutations, which makes it impossible to project the Wootters-like Wigner function into the space of symmetric measurements. We also provide several \textit{explicit} forms of the self-dual mappings: a) tomographic and b) permutation invariant \ and analyze the symmetric projection in the latter case.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

The Gaia-ESO Survey: Detailed Abundances in the Metal-poor Globular Cluster NGC 4372

We present the abundance analysis for a sample of 7 red giant branch stars in the metal-poor globular cluster NGC 4372 based on UVES spectra acquired as part of the Gaia-ESO Survey. This is the first extensive study of this cluster from high resolution spectroscopy. We derive abundances of O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Fe, Cr, Ni, Y, Ba, and La. We find a metallicity of [Fe/H] = -2.19 $\pm$ 0.03 and find no evidence for a metallicity spread. This metallicity makes NGC 4372 one of the most metal-poor galactic globular clusters. We also find an α-enhancement typical of halo globular clusters at this metallicity. Significant spreads are observed in the abundances of light elements. In particular we find a Na-O anti-correlation. Abundances of O are relatively high compared with other globular clusters. This could indicate that NGC 4372 was formed in an environment with high O for its metallicity. A Mg-Al spread is also present which spans a range of more than 0.5 dex in Al abundances. Na is correlated with Al and Mg abundances at a lower significance level. This pattern suggests that the Mg-Al burning cycle is active. This behavior can also be seen in giant stars of other massive, metal-poor clusters. A relation between light and heavy s-process elements has been identified.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

The Gaia-ESO Survey: Reevaluation of the parameters of the open cluster Trumpler 20 using photometry and spectroscopy

Trumpler 20 is an old open cluster (OC) located toward the Galactic centre, at about 3 kpc from the Sun and $\sim$7 kpc from the Galactic centre. Its position makes this cluster particularly interesting in the framework of the chemical properties of the Galactic disc because very few old OCs reside in the inner part of the disc. For this reason it has been selected as a cluster target of the Gaia-ESO Survey, and spectra of many stars in the main sequence and red clump phases are now available. Moreover, although it has been studied by several authors in the past, no consensus on the evolutionary status of Tr 20 has been reached. The heavy contamination of field stars (the line of sight of Tr 20 crosses the Carina spiral arm) complicates a correct interpretation. Another interesting aspect of the cluster is that it shows a broadened main-sequence turn-off and a prominent and extended red-clump, characteristics that are not easily explained by classical evolutionary models. Exploiting both spectroscopic information from the Gaia-ESO Survey (and the ESO archive) and literature photometry, we obtain a detailed and accurate analysis of the properties of the cluster. We make use of the first accurate metallicity measurement ever obtained from several spectra of red clump stars, and of cluster membership determination using radial velocities. According to the evolutionary models adopted, we find that Tr 20 has an age in the range 1.35-1.66 Gyr, an average reddening $E(B-V)$ in the range 0.31-0.35 mag, and a distance modulus $(m-M)_0$ between 12.64 and 12.72 mag. The spectroscopic metallicity is [Fe/H]=+0.17 dex. We discuss the structural properties of the object and constrain possible hypotheses for its broadened upper main sequence by estimating the effect of differential reddening and its extended red clump.

astro-ph.SR↗