Search

We analyze the role of sterile neutrinos in the framework of the $\mu\nu$SSM, where the presence of right-handed neutrinos provides a simultaneous solution to $\mu$- and $\nu$-problems in supersymmetry. We adopt a minimalistic approach, reproducing light neutrino masses and mixing angles at tree level using just two right-handed neutrinos as part of the seesaw mechanism. A third right-handed neutrino does not contribute significantly to the mass of the three active ones, behaving as a sterile neutrino with a mass in the range keV$-$MeV. Furthermore, a sterile neutrino of about $10$ keV can be a good candidate for dark matter with a lifetime larger than the age of the Universe. In particular, the three-body decay to active neutrinos gives the dominant contribution to its lifetime. The one-loop decay to gamma and active neutrino is subdominant, but relevant for observations such as astrophysical X-rays. We find regions of the parameter space of the $\mu\nu$SSM, with different values of the sterile neutrino mass, fulfilling not only these constraints but also collider constraints from the Higgs sector., Comment: Version published in Astroparticle Physics. Discussion improved including one figure. 24 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables

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 $\sigma_{[\text{Fe/H}]_1}$=0.06$\pm0.01$, $\sigma_{[\text{Fe/H}]_2}$=0.03$\pm0.01$ and $\sigma_{[\text{Fe/H}]_3}$=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., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures

We discuss the special role of right-handed neutrinos in the $\mu\nu$SSM for solving the $\mu$- and $\nu$-problems, simultaneously avoiding the potential domain wall and tadpole problems, In particular, embedding the $\mu\nu$SSM in the framework of superstrings implies that not all gauge invariant terms are necessarily present in the superpotential, and thus there is more flexibility to allow only those that avoid the domain wall and tadpole problems to be present. These can be non-renormalizable terms of dimension 4 or terms of higher dimensions. In addition, non-perturbative effects can also solve both problems. We discuss another implication of the superstring inspired $\mu\nu$SSM, since the right-handed neutrino is expected to have extra $U(1)$ charges at high energies. In this case, the cubic right-handed neutrino terms in the superpotential, helpful for generating Majorana masses and solving domain wall and tadpole problems, can arise through a variety of stringy mechanisms., Comment: Discussions expanded, 1 table and references added. Version published in Nucl. Phys. B, 24 pages, 2 figures, 1 table

The U$\mu\nu$SSM is a $U(1)'$ extension of the $\mu\nu$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$\mu\nu$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., Comment: Version published in JCAP. Discussions expanded, a new section about exotic quark constraints from cosmology included, references added. 37 pages, 11 figures

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$\mu\nu$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 $3\sigma-4\sigma$ level with Run 2 LHC data., Comment: LaTeX 21 pages. v2: Journal version

Globular Clusters are among the oldest objects in the Galaxy, thus their researchers are key to understanding the processes of evolution and formation that the galaxy has experienced in early stages. Spectroscopic studies allow us to carry out detailed analyzes on the chemical composition of Globular Clusters. The aim of our research is to perform a detailed analysis of chemical abundances to a sample of stars of the Bulge Globular Cluster NGC 6553, in order to determine chemical patterns that allow us to appreciate the phenomenon of Multiple Population in one of the most metal-rich Globular Clusters in the Galaxy. This analysis is being carried out with data obtained by FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectrograph, VVV Survey and DR2 of Gaia Mission. We analyzed 20 Red Horizontal Branch Stars, being the first extensive spectroscopic abundance analysis for this cluster and measured 8 chemical elements (O, Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr and Ni), deriving a mean iron content of $[Fe/H] = -0.10\pm0.01$ and a mean of $[\alpha/Fe] = 0.21\pm0.02$, considering Mg, Si, Ca and Ti (errors on the mean). We found a significant spread in the content of Na but a small or negligible in O. We did not find an intrinsic variation in the content of $\alpha$ and iron-peak elements, showing a good agreement with the trend of the Bulge field stars, suggesting a similar origin and evolution., Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

In the $\mu\nu$SSM, the presence of $R$-parity violating couplings involving right-handed (RH) neutrinos solves simultaneously the $\mu$- and $\nu$-problems. We explore extensions of the $\mu \nu$SSM adding a $U(1)'$ gauge group, which provides the RH neutrinos with a non-vanishing charge. In these models, dubbed U$\mu\nu$SSM, the anomaly cancellation conditions impose the presence of exotic quarks in the spectrum that are vector-like under the standard model (SM) gauge group: either three pairs $SU(2)$ quark singlets, or a pair of quark singlets together with a pair of quark doublets. Several extra singlets under the SM group can also be present, with the $U(1)'$ charges making distinctions among them, and therefore allowing different types of couplings. Some of these singlets dynamically generate Majorana masses for the RH neutrinos, and others can be candidates for dark matter. The useful characteristics of models with $U(1)'$s are also present in U$\mu\nu$SSM models: baryon-number-violating operators as well as explicit Majorana masses and $\mu$ terms are forbidden, and the domain wall problem is avoided. The phenomenology of U$\mu\nu$SSM models is very rich. We analyze the experimental constraints on their parameter space, specially on the mass and mixing of the new $Z'$ boson. In addition to the exotic quarks, which can hadronize inside the detector or decay producing SM particles, the U$\mu\nu$SSM models can also have new signals such as decays of the $Z'$ to sparticle pairs like right sneutrinos, charginos or neutralinos. Besides, $Z'$ and Higgs mediated annihilations and interactions with the visible sector of WIMP dark matter particles, can also be present., Comment: Version published in EPJC. 48 pages, 3 figures, 16 tables, 1 appendix

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

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)., Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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.

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.

Emitters coupled simultaneously to distant positions of a photonic bath, the so-called giant atoms, represent a new paradigm in quantum optics. When coupled to one-dimensional baths, as recently implemented with transmission lines or SAW waveguides, they lead to striking effects such as chiral emission or decoherence-free atomic interactions. Here, we show how to create giant atoms in dynamical state-dependent optical lattices, which offers the possibility of coupling them to structured baths in arbitrary dimensions. This opens up new avenues to a variety of phenomena and opportunities for quantum simulation. In particular, we show how to engineer unconventional radiation patterns, like multi-directional chiral emission, as well as collective interactions that can be used to simulate non-equilibrium many-body dynamics with no analogue in other setups. Besides, the recipes we provide to harness giant atoms in high dimensions can be exported to other platforms where such non-local couplings can be engineered., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Title changed to accommodate to the new focus of the main text. Several typos corrected

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 $\alpha$ and iron-peak elements show good agreement with the halo field star trend. The heavy elements are dominated by the r-process., Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

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), {\alpha}-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 {\alpha} 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., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 12 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables

The $\mu\nu$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 $\mu\nu$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 $\mu\nu$SSM. We calculate the full one-loop corrections to the neutral scalar masses of the $\mu\nu$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 $\mu\nu$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 $\mu\nu$SSM are at the same level of accuracy as in the NMSSM. Finally we show that the $\mu\nu$SSM can accomodate a Higgs boson that could explain an excess of $\gamma\gamma$ events at $\sim 96\, \mathrm{GeV}$ as reported by CMS, as well as the $2\,\sigma$ excess of $b \bar{b}$ events observed at LEP at a similar mass scale., Comment: Version published in EPJC. Numerical analysis improved, numerical results for NMSSM comparison changed accordingly, overall conclusions unchanged. 56 pages, 12 figures

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$0.02 (error on the mean). We confirm the existence of MPs in this GC with an O-Na anti-correlation, and moderate spread in Al abundances. We estimate a mean [$\alpha$/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., Comment: 11 pages, 14 figures and 4 tables; Accepted in MNRAS

We further elaborate on a phase-space picture for a system of $N$ qubits and explore the structures compatible with the notion of unbiasedness. These consist of bundles of discrete curves satisfying certain additional properties and different entanglement properties. We discuss the construction of discrete covariant Wigner functions for these bundles and provide several illuminating examples.

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), $\alpha$-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 $\alpha$-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., Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A

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., Comment: LaTeX 30 pages. References added; journal version

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 $\alpha$, iron-peak, and neutron-capture elements are also explored in a self-consistent way., Comment: 18 pages, 12 Figures, A&A accepted

Context: Trumpler 23 is a moderately populated, intermediate-age open cluster within the solar circle at a Rgc ~6 kpc. It is in a crowded field very close to the Galactic plane and the color-magnitude diagram shows significant field contamination and possible differential reddening; it is a relatively understudied cluster for these reasons, but its location makes it a key object for determining Galactic abundance distributions. Aims: New data from the Gaia-ESO Survey enable the first ever radial velocity and spectroscopic metallicity measurements for this cluster. We aim to use velocities to isolate cluster members, providing more leverage for determining cluster parameters. Methods: Gaia-ESO Survey data for 167 potential members have yielded radial velocity measurements, which were used to determine the systemic velocity of the cluster and membership of individual stars. Atmospheric parameters were also used as a check on membership when available. Literature photometry was used to re-determine cluster parameters based on radial velocity member stars only; theoretical isochrones are fit in the V, V-I diagram. Cluster abundance measurements of ten radial-velocity member stars with high-resolution spectroscopy are presented for 24 elements. These abundances have been compared to local disk stars, and where possible placed within the context of literature gradient studies. Results: We find Trumpler 23 to have an age of 0.80 +/- 0.10 Gyr, significant differential reddening with an estimated mean cluster E(V-I) of 1.02 +0.14/-0.09, and an apparent distance modulus of 14.15 +/- 0.20. We find an average cluster metallicity of [Fe/H] = 0.14 +/- 0.03 dex, a solar [alpha/Fe] abundance, and notably subsolar [s-process/Fe] abundances., Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We present the abundance analysis for a sample of 17 red giant branch stars in the metal-poor globular cluster M28 based on high resolution spectra. This is the first extensive spectroscopic study of this cluster. We derive abundances of O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Ba, La, Ce, and Eu. We find a metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.29+-0.01 and an alpha-enhancement of +0.34+-0.01 (errors on the mean), typical of Halo Globular Clusters in this metallicity regime. A large spread is observed in the abundances of light elements O, Na, and Al. Mg also shows an anticorrelation with Al with a significance of 3 sigma. The cluster shows a Na-O anticorrelation and a Na-Al correlation. This correlation is not linear but "segmented" and that the stars are not distributed continuously, but form at least 3 well separated sub-populations. In this aspect M28 resembles NGC~2808 that was found to host at least 5 sub-populations. The presence of a Mg-Al anticorrelation favor massive AGB stars as the main polluters responsible for the multiple-population phenomenon., Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication on MNRAS. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1605.03408

We study the excitation of a two-level system (2LS) by quantum light, thereby bringing our previous studies~(see part~I. of this series) to a target that is quantum itself. While there is no gain for the quantum state of the target as compared to driving it with classical light, its dynamical features, such as antibunching, can be improved. We propose a chain of two-level systems, i.e., setting the emission of each 2LS as the driving source of the following one, as an arrangement to provide better single-photon sources. At a fundamental level, we discuss the notion of strong-coupling between quantum light from a source and its target, and the several versions of the Mollow triplet that follow from various types of driving light. We discuss the Heitler effect of antibunched photons from the scattered light off a laser., Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures

The nature of the metallicity gradient inside the solar circle (R_GC < 8 kpc) is poorly understood, but studies of Cepheids and a small sample of open clusters suggest that it steepens in the inner disk. We investigate the metallicity gradient of the inner disk using a sample of inner disk open clusters that is three times larger than has previously been studied in the literature to better characterize the gradient in this part of the disk. We used the Gaia-ESO Survey (GES) [Fe/H] values and stellar parameters for stars in 12 open clusters in the inner disk from GES-UVES data. Cluster mean [Fe/H] values were determined based on a membership analysis for each cluster. Where necessary, distances and ages to clusters were determined via comparison to theoretical isochrones. The GES open clusters exhibit a radial metallicity gradient of -0.10+-0.02 dex/kpc, consistent with the gradient measured by other literature studies of field red giant stars and open clusters in the range R_GC ~ 6-12 kpc. We also measure a trend of increasing [Fe/H] with increasing cluster age, as has also been found in the literature. We find no evidence for a steepening of the inner disk metallicity gradient inside the solar circle as earlier studies indicated. The age-metallicity relation shown by the clusters is consistent with that predicted by chemical evolution models that include the effects of radial migration, but a more detailed comparison between cluster observations and models would be premature., Comment: Accepted to A&A; 9 pages, 5 figures; Full Table 2 in source

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.

We discuss the excitation of polaritons---strongly-coupled states of light and matter---by quantum light, instead of the usual laser or thermal excitation. As one illustration of the new horizons thus opened, we introduce Mollow spectroscopy, a theoretical concept for a spectroscopic technique that consists in scanning the output of resonance fluorescence onto an optical target, from which weak nonlinearities can be read with high precision even in strongly dissipative environments., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

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 {\alpha}-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., Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

The Gaia-ESO Survey is obtaining high-quality spectroscopic data for about 10^5 stars using FLAMES at the VLT. UVES high-resolution spectra are being collected for about 5000 FGK-type stars. These UVES spectra are analyzed in parallel by several state-of-the-art methodologies. Our aim is to present how these analyses were implemented, to discuss their results, and to describe how a final recommended parameter scale is defined. We also discuss the precision (method-to-method dispersion) and accuracy (biases with respect to the reference values) of the final parameters. These results are part of the Gaia-ESO 2nd internal release and will be part of its 1st public release of advanced data products. The final parameter scale is tied to the one defined by the Gaia benchmark stars, a set of stars with fundamental atmospheric parameters. A set of open and globular clusters is used to evaluate the physical soundness of the results. Each methodology is judged against the benchmark stars to define weights in three different regions of the parameter space. The final recommended results are the weighted-medians of those from the individual methods. The recommended results successfully reproduce the benchmark stars atmospheric parameters and the expected Teff-log g relation of the calibrating clusters. Atmospheric parameters and abundances have been determined for 1301 FGK-type stars observed with UVES. The median of the method-to-method dispersion of the atmospheric parameters is 55 K for Teff, 0.13 dex for log g, and 0.07 dex for [Fe/H]. Systematic biases are estimated to be between 50-100 K for Teff, 0.10-0.25 dex for log g, and 0.05-0.10 dex for [Fe/H]. Abundances for 24 elements were derived: C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Mo, Ba, Nd, and Eu. The typical method-to-method dispersion of the abundances varies between 0.10 and 0.20 dex., Comment: 39 pages, A&A accepted

The Hanbury Brown--Twiss effect is one of the celebrated phenomenologies of modern physics that accommodates equally well classical (interferences of waves) and quantum (correlations between indistinguishable particles) interpretations. The effect was discovered in the late thirties with a basic observation of Hanbury Brown that radio-pulses from two distinct antennas generate signals on the oscilloscope that wiggle similarly to the naked eye. When Hanbury Brown and his mathematician colleague Twiss took the obvious step to propose bringing the effect in the optical range, they met with considerable opposition as single-photon interferences were deemed impossible. The Hanbury Brown--Twiss effect is nowadays universally accepted and, being so fundamental, embodies many subtleties of our understanding of the wave/particle dual nature of light. Thanks to a novel experimental technique, we report here a generalized version of the Hanbury Brown--Twiss effect to include the frequency of the detected light, or, from the particle point of view, the energy of the detected photons. In addition to the known tendencies of indistinguishable photons to arrive together on the detector, we find that photons of different colors present the opposite characteristic of avoiding each others. We postulate that fermions can be similarly brought to exhibit positive (boson-like) correlations by frequency filtering., Comment: 18 pages, includes supplementary material of the derivations

Open clusters are key tools to study the spatial distribution of abundances in the disk and their evolution with time. Using the first release of stellar parameters and abundances of the Gaia-ESO Survey, we analyse the chemical properties of stars in three old/intermediate-age open clusters, namely NGC 6705, NGC 4815, and Trumpler 20, all located in the inner part of the Galactic disk at Galactocentric radius R$_{GC}\sim$7 kpc, aiming at proving their homogeneity and at comparing them with the field population. We study the abundance ratios of elements belonging to two different nucleosynthetic channels: $\alpha$-elements and iron-peak elements. The main results can be summarised as follows: i) cluster members are chemically homogeneous within 3-$\sigma$ in all analysed elements; ii) the three clusters have comparable [El/Fe] patters within $\sim$1-$\sigma$, but they differ in their global metal content [El/H], with NGC 4815 having the lowest metallicity. Their [El/Fe] ratios show differences and analogies with those of the field population, both in the solar neighbourhood and in the bulge/inner disk; iii) comparing the abundance ratios with the results of two chemical evolution models and with field star abundance distributions, we find that the abundance ratios of Mg, Ni, Ca in NGC 6705 might require an inner birthplace, implying a subsequent variation of its R$_{GC}$ during its lifetime, consistent with previous orbit determination. The full dataset of the Gaia-ESO Survey will be a superlative tool to constrain the chemical evolution of our Galaxy by disentangling different formation and evolution scenarios., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, A&A accepted

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., Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures - Accepted on 9 Dec. 2013 Reference list updated and minor corrections added to the text

All old Galactic Globular Clusters studied in detail to date host at least two generations of stars, where the second is formed from gas polluted by processed material produced by massive stars of the first. This process can happen if the initial mass of the cluster exceeds a threshold above which ejecta are retained and a second generation is formed. A determination of this mass-threshold is mandatory in order to understand how GCs form. We analyzed 9 RGB stars belonging to the cluster Ruprecht 106. Targets were observed with the UVES@VLT2 spectrograph. Spectra cover a wide range and allowed us to measure abundances for light (O,Na,Mg,Al), alpha (Si,Ca,Ti), iron-peak (Sc,V,Cr,Mn,Fe,Co,Ni,Cu,Zn) and neutron-capture (Y,Zr,Ba,La,Ce,Pr,Nd,Sm,Eu,Dy,Pb) elements. Based on these abundances we show that Ruprecht 106 is the first convincing example of a single population GC (i.e. a true simple stellar population), although the sample is relatively small. This result is supported also by an independent photometric test and by the HB morphology and the dynamical state. It is old (~12 Gyrs) and, at odds with other GCs, has no alpha-enhancement. The material it formed from was contaminated by both s- and r- process elements. The abundance pattern points toward an extragalactic origin. Its present day mass (M=10^4.83 Msun) can be assumed as a strong lower limit for the initial mass threshold below which no second generation is formed. Clearly, its initial mass must have been significantly greater but we have no current constraints on the amount of mass loss during its evolution., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication on ApJ

We demonstrate an information transfer mechanism between two dissimilar remote InAs/GaAs quantum dots weakly coupled to a common photonic crystal microcavity. Bichromatic excitation in the s-state of one of the dots leads to the formation of dressed states due to the coherent coupling to the laser field, in resonance with the quantum dot. Information on the resulting dressed structure is read out through the photo-luminescence spectrum of the other quantum dot, as well as the cavity mode. The effect is also observed upon exchange of the excitation and detection quantum dots. This quantum dot inter-talk is interpreted in terms of a cavity-mediated coupling involving acoustic phonons. A master equation for a three level system coherently pumped by the two lasers quantitatively describes the behavior of our system. Our results present an important step towards scalable solid-state quantum networking based on coupled multi-quantum-dot-cavity systems, without the need of using identical quantum emitters., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

We propose a scheme based on the coherent excitation of a two-level system in a cavity to generate an ultrabright CW and focused source of quantum light that comes in groups (bundles) of $N$ photons, for an integer $N$ tunable with the frequency of the exciting laser. We define a new quantity, the \emph{purity} of $N$-photon emission, to describe the percentage of photons emitted in bundles, thus bypassing the limitations of Glauber correlation functions. We focus on the case $1\le N\le3$ and show that close to 100% of two-photon emission and 90% of three-photon emission is within reach of state of the art cavity QED samples. The statistics of the bundles emission shows that various regimes---from $N$-photon lasing to $N$-photon guns---can be realized. This is evidenced through generalized correlation functions that extend the standard definitions to the multi-photon level., Comment: Introduce the n-th order N-photon correlation functions. Reorganized to emphasize the N-photon emitter, now extended to the antibunching regime, rather than only coherent emission as previsouly

NGC3201 is a globular cluster (GC) which shows very peculiar kinematic characteristics including an extreme radial velocity and a highly retrograde orbit, strongly suggesting an extraGalactic origin. Our aims are to study NGC3201 in the context of multiple populations (MPs), hoping to constrain possible candidates for the self-enrichment by studying the chemical abundance pattern, as well as adding insight into the origin of this intriguing cluster. We present a detailed chemical abundance analysis of eight red giant branch (RGB) stars using high resolution spectroscopy. We measured 29 elements and found [Fe/H]=-1.53+/-0.01, we cannot rule out a metallicity spread of ~0.12 dex, and an alpha-enhancement typical of halo GCs. However significant spreads are observed in the abundances of all light elements except for Mg. We confirm the presence of an extended Na-O anticorrelation. n-capture elements generally are dominated by the r-process, in good agreement with the bulk of Galactic GCs. The total (C+N+O) abundance is slightly supersolar and requires a small downward correction to the isochrone age, yielding 11.4 Gyr. Kinematically, NGC3201 appears likely to have had an extraGalactic origin but its chemical evolution is similar to most other, presumably native, Galactic GCs., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We put forward a method of constructing discrete coherent states for n qubits. After establishing appropriate displacement operators, the coherent states appear as displaced versions of a fiducial vector that is fixed by imposing a number of natural symmetry requirements on its Q-function. Using these coherent states we establish a partial order in the discrete phase space, which allows us to picture some n-qubit states as apparent distributions. We also analyze correlations in terms of sums of squared Q-functions., Comment: Published in J. Phys. A. Special issue on Coherent States

The munuSSM is a supersymmetric model that has been proposed to solve the problems generated by other supersymmetric extensions of the standard model of particle physics. Given that R-parity is broken in the munuSSM, the gravitino is a natural candidate for decaying dark matter since its lifetime becomes much longer than the age of the Universe. In this model, gravitino dark matter could be detectable through the emission of a monochromatic gamma ray in a two-body decay. We study the prospects of the Fermi-LAT telescope to detect such monochromatic lines in 5 years of observations of the most massive nearby extragalactic objects. The dark matter halo around the Virgo galaxy cluster is selected as a reference case, since it is associated to a particularly high signal-to-noise ratio and is located in a region scarcely affected by the astrophysical diffuse emission from the galactic plane. The simulation of both signal and background gamma-ray events is carried out with the Fermi Science Tools, and the dark matter distribution around Virgo is taken from a N-body simulation of the nearby extragalactic Universe, with constrained initial conditions provided by the CLUES project. We find that a gravitino with a mass range of 0.6 to 2 GeV, and with a lifetime range of about 3x10^27 to 2x10^28 s would be detectable by the Fermi-LAT with a signal-to-noise ratio larger than 3. We also obtain that gravitino masses larger than about 4 GeV are already excluded in the munuSSM by Fermi-LAT data of the galactic halo, Comment: Final versi\'on to appear in JCAP. Discussion extended, references added. 7 pages. 2 figures

The phase space for a system of $n$ qubits is a discrete grid of $2^{n} \times 2^{n}$ points, whose axes are labeled in terms of the elements of the finite field $\Gal{2^n}$ to endow it with proper geometrical properties. We analyze the representation of graph states in that phase space, showing that these states can be identified with a class of non-singular curves. We provide an algebraic representation of the most relevant quantum operations acting on these states and discuss the advantages of this approach., Comment: 14 pages. 2 figures. Published in Journal of Physics A