925818
Topological order parameters for interacting topological insulators.
We propose a topological order parameter for interacting topological insulators, expressed in terms of the full Green's functions of the interacting system. We show that it is exactly quantized for a time-reversal invariant topological insulator, and it can be experimentally measured through the topological magneto-electric effect. This topological order parameter can be applied to both interacting and disordered systems, and used for determining their phase diagrams.
119270278
Strongly correlated topological superconductors and topological phase transitions via Green's function
We propose several topological order parameters expressed in terms of Green's function at zero frequency for topological superconductors, which generalizes the previous work for interacting insulators. The coefficient in topological field theory is expressed in terms of zero frequency Green's function. We also study topological phase transition beyond noninteracting limit in this zero frequency Green's function approach.
5667549
Large Misalignment between Stellar and Dust Bars in NGC 3488 Revealed by Spitzer and SDSS
A large position angle misalignment between the stellar and dust bars in the late-type barred spiral NGC 3488 was discovered, using mid-infrared images from the Spitzer Space Telescope and optical images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The angle between the two distinctive bar patterns was measured to be 25±2, larger than most of the misalignments found previously in barred systems based on Hα or H ii/CO observations. The stellar bar is bright at optical and 3.6μm, while the dust bar is more prominent in the 8μm band but also shows up in the SDSS u and g-band images, suggesting a rich interstellar medium environment harboring ongoing star formation. The angular misalignment between the two bars in NGC 3488 is unlikely to have been caused by spontaneous bar formation. We suggest that the two bars have different formation histories, and that the large misalignment was triggered by a tidal interaction with a small companion. A statistical analysis of a large sample of nearby galaxies with archival Spitzer data indicates that bar structure such as that seen in NGC 3488 is quite rare in the local Universe. Subject headings: galaxies: individual(NGC 3488) — galaxies: spiral — galaxies: structure — infrared: galaxies National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, P. R. China; caochen@bao.ac.cn, hwu@bao.ac.cn Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 College of Physical Sciences, Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 3908, 100039 Beijing, China
17728532
The Off-Nuclear Starbursts in NGC 4038/4039 (The Antennae Galaxies)
Imaging of the Antennae galaxies (NGC 4038/4039) with the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope reveals large concentrations of star-forming activity away from both nuclei of the two merging galaxies. These images confirm earlier findings based on Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) data with lower angular resolution. The short-wavelength emission shows numerous compact sources identified as stellar clusters. At the longer wavelengths, bright, more amorphous and filamentary features correlate well with the known distributions of denser gas, warm dust, and H II regions. There are also fainter, more diffuse components at all wavelengths that permeate the entire region and extend into the two tidal tails. Nonstellar dust emission dominates the 5.8 and 8.0 μm images, accounting for as much as 79% of the light at 5.8 μm and 95% at 8 μm, averaged over the entire galaxy. Assuming that the nonstellar emission traces star formation, the IRAC data provide a view into the total underlying star-forming activities unaffected by obscuration. Using the flux ratio of nonstellar to stellar emission as a guide, we map the local star formation rate in the Antennae and compare that to similar measurements in both normal and infrared-luminous galaxies. This rate in the active regions is found to be as high as those seen in starburst and some ultraluminous infrared galaxies on a "per unit mass" basis. The two galactic centers actually have lower star-forming rates than the off-nuclear regions despite the presence of abundant dense gas and dust, suggesting that the latter is a necessary but not sufficient condition for ongoing star formation.
279557
Topological quantum phase transitions and edge states in spin-orbital coupled Fermi gases
We study superconducting states in the presence of spin-orbital coupling and Zeeman field. It is found that a phase transition from a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state to the topological superconducting state occurs upon increasing the spin-orbital coupling. The nature of this topological phase transition and its critical property are investigated numerically. Physical properties of the topological superconducting phase are also explored. Moreover, the local density of states is calculated, through which the topological feature may be tested experimentally.
118555545
Analysis of the Light-Flavor Scalar and Axial-Vector Diquark States with QCD Sum Rules
In this article, we study the light-flavor scalar and axial-vector diquark states in the vacuum and in the nuclear matter using the QCD sum rules in a systematic way, and make reasonable predictions for their masses in the vacuum and in the nuclear matter.
119266949
MULTIBAND STUDIES OF THE OPTICAL PERIODIC MODULATION IN THE X-RAY BINARY SAX J1808.4–3658 DURING ITS QUIESCENCE AND 2008 OUTBURST
We report on time-resolved optical imaging of the X-ray binary SAX J1808.4-3658 during its quiescent state and 2008 outburst. The binary, containing an accretion-powered millisecond pulsar, has a large sinusoidal-like modulation in its quiescent optical emission. We employ a Markov chain Monte Carlo technique to fit our multi-band light curve data in quiescence with an irradiated star model, and derive a tight constraint of 50(-5)(+6) deg on the inclination angle i of the binary system. The pulsar and its companion are constrained to have masses of 0.97(-0.22)(+0.31) M-circle dot and 0.04(-0.01)(+0.02) M-circle dot (both 1 sigma ranges), respectively. The dependence of these results on the measurements of the companion's projected radial velocity is discussed. We also find that the accretion disk had nearly constant optical fluxes over a similar to 500 day period in the quiescent state our data covered, but started brightening 1.5 months before the 2008 outburst. Variations in modulation during the outburst were detected in our four observations made 7-12 days after the start of the outburst, and a sinusoidal-like modulation with 0.2 mag amplitude changed to have a smaller amplitude of 0.1 mag. The modulation variations are discussed. We estimate the albedo of the companion during its quiescence and the outburst, which was approximately 0 and 0.8 (for isotropic emission), respectively. This large difference probably provides additional evidence that the neutron star in the binary turns on as a radio pulsar in quiescence.
53385594
An intrinsic connection between topological stabilities of Fermi surfaces and topological insulators/superconductors
A topology-intrinsic connection between the stabilities of Fermi surfaces (FSs) and topological insulators/superconductors (TIs/TSCs) is revealed. In particular, a one-to-one relation between the topological types of FSs and TIs/TSCs is rigorously derived; combining it with a well-established topological theory of FSs, we produce a complete table illustrating precisely topological types of all TIs/TSCs, while a valid part of it was postulated before. Moreover, we propose and prove a general index theorem that relates the topological charge of FSs on the natural boundary of a strong TI/TSC to its bulk topological number. Implications of the general index theorem on the boundary quasi-particles are also addressed.
11569124
Spitzer Mid-Infrared Imaging of Nearby Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies
We have observed 14 nearby (z < 0.16) Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) with Spitzer at 3.6-24μm. The underlying host galaxies are well-detected, in addition to the luminous nuclear cores. While the spatial resolution of Spitzer is poor, the great sensitivity of the data reveals the underlying galaxy merger remnant, and provides the first look at off-nuclear mid-infrared activity.