Horizontal Branch Research Articles

An EBG-Based Triple-Band Wearable Antenna for WBAN Applications.

In this article, a triple-band wearable monopole antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide (CPW) with an integrated electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) array is proposed. The monopole antenna consists of an asymmetric inverted U-shaped strip, a horizontal branch, and an L-shaped ground stub, which can generate the 2.45/5.8 GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) band and the 3.5 GHz worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) band. To reduce the influence of antenna radiation on the human body, a triple-band 3 × 3 EBG array has been integrated into the back of the monopole antenna. The EBG unit is composed of two rectangular rings and a circular ring, and the operating frequencies correspond to the triple bands of the monopole antenna. In this paper, the impedance and radiation performances of the stand-alone monopole antenna and the integrated antenna are analyzed, and the safety for the human body is evaluated based on specific absorption rate (SAR) values. The proposed triple-band antenna can be used in wearable devices in wireless body area networks (WBANs).

Rethinking a Reconstructive Technique: A Modified V-Y Flap Suture Technique with Horizontal Branch. Presentation of a Clinical Case

The surgical techniques used to close a primary wound, while sharing common principles and su- ture material, are multiple. With guaranteed aseptic wound conditions, modern requirements focus on achieving optimal aesthetic results. We present a V-Y suture technique that allows you to obtain a low tension suture, levelled with adaptation to the dermo-epidermal interface of the wound. Our technique is particularly suitable for indications in cosmetic plastic surgery, where high distracting forces of the wound in the transition phase between the aesthetic subunits typically occur with the cancer removal of the face in particular of the neck. The designed technique has never been applied to date.

Globular Cluster UVIT Legacy Survey (GlobULeS). III. Omega Centauri in Far-ultraviolet

We present the first comprehensive study of the most massive globular cluster, Omega Centauri, in the far-ultraviolet (FUV), extending from the center to ∼28% of the tidal radius using the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on board AstroSat. A comparison of the FUV-optical color–magnitude diagrams with available canonical models reveals that horizontal branch (HB) stars bluer than the knee (hHBs) and the white dwarfs (WDs) are fainter in the FUV by ∼0.5 mag than model predictions. They are also fainter than their counterparts in M13, another massive cluster. We simulated HB with at least five subpopulations, including three He-rich populations with a substantial He enrichment of Y up to 0.43 dex, to reproduce the observed FUV distribution. We find the He-rich younger subpopulations to be radially more segregated than the He-normal older ones, suggesting an in situ enrichment from older generations. The ω Cen hHBs span the same T eff range as their M13 counterparts, but some have smaller radii and lower luminosities. This may suggest that a fraction of ω Cen hHBs are less massive than those of M13, similar to the result derived from earlier spectroscopic studies of outer extreme HB stars. The WDs in ω Cen and M13 have similar luminosity–radius–T eff parameters, and 0.44–0.46 M ⊙ He-core WD model tracks evolving from progenitors with Y = 0.4 dex are found to fit the majority of these. This study provides constraints on the formation models of ω Cen based on the estimated range in age, [Fe/H], and Y (in particular) for the HB stars.

The Active Chromospheres of Lithium-rich Red Giant Stars* * Based on observations obtained with the Hobby–Eberly Telescope, which is a joint project of the University of Texas at Austin, the Pennsylvania State University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.

We have gathered near-infrared zyJ-band high-resolution spectra of nearly 300 field red giant stars with known lithium abundances in order to survey their He i λ10830 absorption strengths. This transition is an indicator of chromospheric activity and/or mass loss in red giants. The majority of stars in our sample reside in the red clump or red horizontal branch based on their V − J, M V color–magnitude diagram, and Gaia T eff and log(g) values. Most of our target stars are Li-poor in the sense of having normally low Li abundances, defined here as log ϵ(Li) < 1.25. Over 90% of these Li-poor stars have weak λ10830 features. However, more than half of the 83 Li-rich stars (log ϵ(Li) > 1.25) have strong λ10830 absorptions. These large λ10830 lines signal excess chromospheric activity in Li-rich stars; there is almost no indication of significant mass loss. The Li-rich giants may also have a higher binary fraction than Li-poor stars, based on their astrometric data. It appears likely that both residence on the horizontal branch and present or past binary interaction play roles in the significant Li–He connection established in this survey.

The SDSS-Gaia View of the Color–Magnitude Relation for Blue Horizontal-branch Stars

We present an updated sample of blue horizontal-branch (BHB) stars selected from the photometric and spectroscopic data from Sloan Digital Sky Survey and its associated project Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE). With these data, we selected candidates for A-type stars in the color–color space and then a mixture modeling technique was implemented in order to distinguish between BHB and main-sequence/blue-straggler stars based on their surface gravity values () estimated by the SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline. Our robust approach allows us to attribute individual probabilities of each star truly being in the BHB stage. Hence, our method is advantageous in comparison to previous SEGUE BHB selections that adopted simple cuts. We also revisit the color–magnitude relation for these stars and propose two calibrations, based on updated distances for Galactic globular clusters, to estimate absolute magnitudes with (g − r)0 and (u − r)0 colors.

Far ultra-violet insights into NGC 1399’s globular cluster population

ABSTRACT We investigate archival Hubble Space Telescope ACS/SBC F140LP observations of NGC 1399 to search for evidence of multiple stellar populations in extragalactic globular clusters. Enhanced far-ultraviolet (FUV) populations are thought to be indicators of He-enhanced second generation populations in globular clusters, specifically extreme/blue horizontal branch stars. Out of 149 globular clusters in the field of view, 58 have FUV counterparts with magnitudes brighter than 28.5. Six of these FUV-detected globular clusters are also detected in X-rays, including one ultraluminous X-ray source (LX &amp;gt; 1039 erg/s). While optically bright clusters corresponded to brighter FUV counterparts, we observe FUV emission from both metal-rich and metal-poor clusters, which implies that the FUV excess is not dependent on optical colour. We also find no evidence that the cluster size influences the FUV emission. The clusters with X-ray emission are not unusually FUV bright, which suggests that even the ultraluminous X-ray source does not provide significant FUV contributions. NGC 1399 is only the fourth galaxy to have its globular cluster system probed for evidence of FUV-enhanced populations, and we compare these clusters to previous studies of the Milky Way, M31, M87, and the brightest cluster in M81. These sources indicate that many globular clusters likely host extreme HB stars and/or second generation stars, and highlight the need for more complete FUV observations of extragalactic globular cluster systems.

Influence of different opening conditions on explosion consequence in a LPG transmission pipeline

ABSTRACT Explosion accident in gas pipeline brings disastrous consequences because of its complex pipeline network with branches. A novel risk assessment methodology is established to quantitatively analyze the influence of different opening conditions on explosion consequence, including the calculation of dynamic changing explosion pressure as independent variable and the risk calculation of probability unit of personal injury and pipeline damage risk as dependent variable. Taking LPG pipeline as research object, the influence analysis results show that the determinacy of probability unit of pipeline damage decreases significantly once the closed pipeline branches open. The maximum decrease of pipeline damage is 77.39% in horizontal branch, due to its easy accumulation and quick release of explosion pressure. While the determinacy of probability unit of personal injury in the outlet area of vertical branch decreases faster after adding water spray. The maximum decrease of eardrum rupture is 6.66% and the maximum decrease of pulmonary hemorrhage is 4.08%. The risk assessment methodology and application results of different opening conditions on personal injury and pipeline damage could assist the optimal layout of industrial gas pipeline.

A VINDICATION OF THE RR LYRAE FOURIER LIGHT CURVE DECOMPOSITION FOR THE CALCULATION OF METALLICITY AND DISTANCE IN GLOBULAR CLUSTERS

We report the mean metallicity and absolute magnitude of RR Lyrae stars in a sample of 37 globular clusters, calculated via the Fourier decomposition of their light curves and ad hoc semi-empirical calibrations, in an unprecedented homogeneous approach. This enabled a new discussion of the metallicity dependence of the horizontal branch (HB) luminosity, as a fundamental distance indicator. The calibration for the RRab and RRc stars should be treated separately. For the RRab the dispersion is larger and non-linear. For the RRc stars the correlation is less steep, very tight and linear. The relevance of the HB structural parameter L, is highlighted and we offer a non-linear calibration of the form MV ([Fe/H], L). Excellent agreement is found between values of [Fe/H] and MV from the light curve decomposition with spectroscopic values and distances obtained via Gaia-DR3 and HST. The variables census in 35 clusters includes 326 stars found by our program.

Advancing globular cluster constraints on the axion-photon coupling

We improve the current upper bound on the axion-photon coupling derived from stellar evolution using the R 2 parameter, the ratio of stellar populations on the Asymptotic Giant Branch to Horizontal Branch in Globular Clusters. We compare this with data from simulations using the stellar evolution code MESA which include the effects of axion production. Particular attention is given to quantifying in detail the effects of uncertainties on the R and R 2 parameters due to the modelling of convective core boundaries. Using a semiconvective mixing scheme we constrain the axion-photon coupling to be gaγγ < 0.47 × 10-10 GeV-1. This rules out new regions of QCD axion and axion-like particle parameter space. Complementary evidence from asteroseismology suggests that this could improve to as much as gaγγ < 0.34 × 10-10 GeV-1 as the uncertainties surrounding mixing across convective boundaries are better understood.

Hot subdwarfs in close binaries observed from space

Context. About a third of the hot subdwarfs of spectral type B (sdBs), which are mostly core-helium-burning objects on the extreme horizontal branch, are found in close binaries with cool, low-mass stellar, substellar, or white dwarf companions. They can show light variations due to different phenomena. Aims. Many hot subdwarfs now have space-based light curves with a high signal-to-noise ratio available. We used light curves from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and the K2 space mission to look for more sdB binaries. Their light curves can be used to study the hot subdwarf primaries and their companions, and obtained orbital, atmospheric, and absolute parameters for those systems, when combined with other analysis methods. Methods. By classifying the light variations and combining these with the fit of the spectral energy distribution, the distance derived by the parallaxes obtained by Gaia, and the atmospheric parameters, mainly from the literature, we could derive the nature of the primaries and secondaries in 122 (75%) of the known sdB binaries and 82 newly found reflection effect systems. We derived absolute masses, radii, and luminosities for a total of 39 hot subdwarfs with cool, low-mass companions, as well 29 known and newly found sdBs with white dwarf companions. Results. The mass distribution of hot subdwarfs with cool, low-mass stellar and substellar companions, differs from those with white dwarf companions, implying they come from different populations. By comparing the period and minimum companion mass distributions, we find that the reflection effect systems all have M dwarf or brown dwarf companions, and that there seem to be several different populations of hot subdwarfs with white dwarf binaries – one with white dwarf minimum masses around 0.4 M⊙, one with longer periods and minimum companion masses up to 0.6 M⊙, and at the shortest period, another with white dwarf minimum masses around 0.8 M⊙. We also derive the first orbital period distribution for hot subdwarfs with cool, low-mass stellar or substellar systems selected from light variations instead of radial velocity variations. It shows a narrower period distribution, from 1.5 h to 35 h, compared to the distribution of hot subdwarfs with white dwarfs, which ranges from 1 h to 30 days. These period distributions can be used to constrain the previous common-envelope phase.

Effect analysis of branch location on explosion pressure in gas pipeline with T-branch

Gas explosion presents a significant threat to people and equipment in a wide variety of processing industries continuously. In this study, different vertical branches are set up to analyze the effect of branch location on explosion pressure of propane/air mixture in a pipeline with T-branch. Based on experimental test and numerical simulation, the maximum pressure of horizontal branch is higher than that of vertical branch at the monitoring points of same distance from the ignition point, for a typical gas pipeline with horizontal and vertical branches of same length. As the vertical branch moves farther from the ignition point, the maximum pressure of the horizontal branch decreases gradually. The coupling result between the maximum pressure in pipeline and the vertical branch's distance shows a decreasing DoseResp function with Adj. R-Square of 0.95. The maximum slope of the DoseResp function is −0.0875 at point (5.144, 0.264), indicating that the most economic point with biggest reducing speed of explosion pressure locates at 5.144 m away from the potential explosion source. The effect analysis results of branch location on explosion pressure could aid the optimal layout design of gas pipeline, including requirement of high-pressure resistant material, location of vertical branch and reduction of economic cost.

Walter: A Tool for Predicting Resolved Stellar Population Observations with Applications to the Roman Space Telescope

Studies of resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies reveal an amazingly detailed and clear picture of galaxy evolution. Within the Local Group, the ability to probe the stellar populations of small and large galaxies opens up the possibility of exploring key questions such as the nature of dark matter, the detailed formation history of different galaxy components, and the role of accretion in galactic formation. Upcoming wide-field surveys promise to extend this ability to all galaxies within 10 Mpc, drastically increasing our capability to decipher galaxy evolution and enabling statistical studies of galaxies’ stellar populations. To facilitate the optimum use of these upcoming capabilities, we develop a simple formalism to predict the density of resolved stars for an observation of a stellar population at fixed surface brightness and population parameters. We provide an interface to calculate all quantities of interest to this formalism via a public release of the code walter. This code enables calculation of (i) the expected number density of detected stars; (ii) the exposure time needed to reach certain population features, such as the horizontal branch; and (iii) an estimate of the crowding limit, among other features. We provide a limited test of the code and formalism of the paper against existing resolved star observations. These calculations will be very useful for planning surveys with NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman, formerly WFIRST), which we use for example calculations throughout this work.

Thermal power extraction from a deep, closed-loop, multi-level, multi-branch, U-shaped borehole heat exchanger geothermal system

A novel closed-loop, multi-level, multi-branch, U-shaped borehole heat exchanger geothermal system is proposed to achieve a more efficient method to exploit deep geothermal resources. Compared with single U-shaped closed-loop geothermal systems, the new system can reduce the drilling cost and increase the heating length. In this study, first, a three-dimensional unsteady-state flow and heat transfer model was established. Then, the temperature distribution of the working fluid in the tube and a hot dry rock reservoir was analyzed. Third, the key factors that influence heat production were analyzed. The results show that increasing the injection rate blindly does not improve the heat production power; the maximum heat production power can only be obtained by controlling the injection rate to a certain extent. The heat production power has a good linear relationship with reservoir temperature and horizontal well length. Under different reservoir temperatures, the unit power generation price of the proposed geothermal system reaches the lowest value when the horizontal well length is 3000 m and the horizontal well branches number is 4. Overall, this novel design can improve the heat exchange efficiency, reduce the power generation cost and can serve as a reference for the study of exploiting deep geothermal resources.

Experimental investigation on proppant transport and distribution characteristics in coal hydraulic fractures under true triaxial stresses

Fracturing is one of the key technologies for unconventional oil and gas production. However, the closure stress will cause the hydraulic fractures to close, and proppant is often injected into the fracture to maintain the effective conductivity of the fractures for a long time. The proppant distribution in the fractures is one of the key factors affecting the efficient exploitation of unconventional natural gas. However, there are few studies on the proppant transport and distribution characteristics in the real hydraulic fractures. A self-developed high-pressure sand injection triaxial hydraulic fracturing experimental system was used to study the proppant migration and distribution in hydraulic fractures. The results show that the proppant migration process mainly includes four stages: water filling stage, fracture reopening stage, proppant transport stage, and pressure relief stage. The basic characteristics of proppant transport in horizontal fractures is mainly along slope gradient transport or dispersion, and reverse slope gradient or low valley deposition. The sedimentary areas mainly include peak climbing deposition, ring peak deposition, and convection-diffusion deposition. The surface roughness of horizontal fractures is one of the key factors affecting the proppant transport and distribution. The fracture inlet roughness determines the proppant transport direction, and the overall roughness of the fracture surface determines the proppant distribution form. The proppant deposition is the most in the open hole parallel area, followed by the sealed hole parallel area in vertical fractures. The stress concentration at the hole bottom forms horizontal wing branch fractures, and a little proppant is deposited in the fractures. Generally, the stress required for proppant transport in horizontal fractures is smaller than that in vertical fractures. The findings of this study can help us better understand the migration and distribution of proppant in hydraulic fractures, and provide theoretical guidance for the efficient exploitation of unconventional natural gas.

Anticorrelated lags in a neutron star Z source GX 5-1: AstroSat’s View

ABSTRACT We report the cross-correlation function studies of a neutron star low-mass X-ray binary, a Z source GX 5-1, using Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) and Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) energy bands onboard AstroSat. For the first time, we report the lag between soft (0.8–2.0 keV, SXT) and hard X-ray energy bands (10–20 and 16–40 keV, LAXPC) in GX 5-1 and detected lags of the order of a few tens to hundreds of seconds in the horizontal branch. We interpreted them as the readjustment time-scale of the inner region of the accretion disc. We used various two components and three-component spectral models to unfold the spectra and observed the changes in soft and hard component fluxes that were exhibiting horizontal branch oscillation variations. It was observed that the bbody component assumed to be originating from the boundary layer over the NS and was also found to vary along with the HBO variation where lags were detected. We constrained the size of the comptonizing region of the order 15–55 km, assuming that lags were due to variation in the size of the corona. We noticed a similar size of the comptonizing region after employing other models and suggest that the overall size of corona must be of the order of a few tens of km to explain the lags, HBO variation, and respective spectral variations. In a case study, it was noted that the BL size increases as GX 5-1 vary from the top of the HB to the upper vertex.

Distances to Local Group Galaxies via Population II, Stellar Distance Indicators. I. The Sculptor Dwarf Spheroidal* *Based in part on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with program No.

We determine the distance to the Sculptor Dwarf Spheroidal via three Population II stellar distance indicators: (a) the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB), (b) RR Lyrae variables (RRLs), and (c) the ridgeline of the blue horizontal branch (HB). High signal-to-noise, wide-field VI imaging that covers an area and reaches a photometric depth approximately 2 mag fainter than the HB was acquired with the Magellan-Baade 6.5 m telescope. The true modulus derived from Sculptor’s TRGB is found to be mag. Along with periods adopted from the literature, newly acquired RRL phase points are fit with template light curves to determine mag. Finally, the HB distance is found to be mag. Absolute calibrations of each method are anchored by independent geometric zero-points, utilize a different class of stars, and are determined from the same photometric calibration.

Radiative transfer in stars by feebly interacting bosons

Starting from first principles, we study radiative transfer by new feebly-interacting bosons (FIBs) such as axions, axion-like particles (ALPs), dark photons, and others. Our key simplification is to include only boson emission or absorption (including decay), but not scattering between different modes of the radiation field. Based on a given distribution of temperature and FIB absorption rate in a star, we derive explicit volume-integral expressions for the boson luminosity, reaching from the free-streaming to the strong-trapping limit. The latter is seen explicitly to correspond to quasi-thermal emission from a “FIB sphere” according to the Stefan-Boltzmann law. Our results supersede expressions and approximations found in the recent literature on FIB emission from a supernova core and, for radiatively unstable FIBs, provide explicit expressions for the nonlocal (“ballistic”) transfer of energy recently discussed in horizontal-branch stars.

Onset of common envelope evolution during a core helium flash by rapid envelope expansion

ABSTRACT We suggest that the vigorous core convection during core helium flash on the tip of the red giant branch (RGB) of low-mass stars excites waves that carry energy to the envelope and inflate it for few years to increase the number of extreme horizontal branch (EHB; sdB and sdO) stars with masses of $\simeq 0.47 \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ with respect to canonical binary evolution. Using the open-source mesa-binary, we follow the evolution of a number of eccentric binary systems with an initial primary stellar mass of $1.6 \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$. The energy that the waves carry to the envelope leads to envelope expansion at the tip of the RGB. The inflated RGB star engulfs many secondary stars to start a CEE that otherwise would not occur. If the secondary star manages to remove most of the RGB envelope the primary evolves to become an EHB star with a mass of $\simeq 0.47 \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$. However, we expect that in most cases the secondary star does not have time to spiral-in to close orbits. It rather ends at a large orbit and leaves a massive enough envelope for the primary star to later evolve along the asymptotic giant branch and to engulf the secondary star, therefore forming a non-spherical planetary nebula.

Slowly Cooling White Dwarfs in NGC 6752

Recently, a new class of white dwarfs (“slowly cooling WDs”) has been identified in the globular cluster M13. The cooling time of these stars is increased by stable thermonuclear hydrogen burning in their residual envelope. These WDs are thought to be originated by horizontal branch (HB) stars populating the HB blue tail that skipped the asymptotic giant branch phase. To further explore this phenomenon, we took advantage of deep photometric data acquired with the Hubble Space Telescope in the near-ultraviolet and investigate the bright portion of the WD cooling sequence in NGC 6752, another Galactic globular cluster with a metallicity, age, and HB morphology similar to M13. The normalized WD luminosity function derived in NGC 6752 turns out to be impressively similar to that observed in M13, in agreement with the fact that the stellar mass distribution along the HB of these two systems is almost identical. As in the case of M13, the comparison with theoretical predictions is consistent with ∼70% of the investigated WDs evolving at slower rates than standard, purely cooling WDs. Thanks to its relatively short distance from Earth, NGC 6752 photometry reaches a luminosity 1 order of a magnitude fainter than the case of M13, allowing us to sample a regime where the cooling time delay, with respect to standard WD models, reaches ∼300 Myr. The results presented in this paper provide new evidence for the existence of slowly cooling WDs and further support to the scenario proposing a direct causal connection between this phenomenon and the HB morphology of the host stellar cluster.

Pegasus V/Andromeda XXXIV–a newly discovered ultrafaint dwarf galaxy on the outskirts of Andromeda

ABSTRACT We report the discovery of an ultrafaint dwarf in the constellation of Pegasus. Pegasus V (Peg V)/Andromeda XXXIV was initially identified in the public imaging data release of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys and confirmed with deep imaging from Gemini/GMOS-N. The colour–magnitude diagram shows a sparse red giant branch (RGB) population and a strong overdensity of blue horizontal branch stars. We measure a distance to Peg V of $D=692^{+33}_{-31}$ kpc, making it a distant satellite of Andromeda with MV = −6.3 ± 0.2 and a half-light radius of rhalf = 89 ± 41 pc. It is located ∼260 kpc from Andromeda in the outskirts of its halo. The RGB is well fitted by a metal-poor isochrone with [Fe/H] = −3.2, suggesting it is very metal poor. This, combined with its blue horizontal branch, could imply that it is a reionization fossil. This is the first detection of an ultrafaint dwarf outside the deep Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey area, and points to a rich, faint satellite population in the outskirts of our nearest neighbour.