Search

We empirically assess estimates from v3.0 of the JWST NIRCam Exposure Time Calculator (ETC) using observations of resolved stars in Local Group targets taken as part of the Resolved Stellar Populations Early Release Science (ERS) Program. For bright stars, we find that: (i) purely Poissonian estimates of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are in good agreement between the ETC and observations, but non-ideal effects (e.g., flat field uncertainties) are the current limiting factor in the photometric precision that can be achieved; (ii) source position offsets, relative to the detector pixels, have a large impact on the ETC saturation predictions and introducing sub-pixel dithers in the observation design can improve the saturation limits by up to ~1 mag. For faint stars, for which the sky dominates the error budget, we find that the choice in ETC extraction strategy (e.g., aperture size relative to point spread function size) can affect the exposure time estimates by up to a factor of 5. We provide guidelines for configuring the ETC aperture photometry to produce SNR predictions in line with the ERS data. Finally, we quantify the effects of crowding on the SNRs over a large dynamic range in stellar density and provide guidelines for approximating the effects of crowding on SNRs predicted by the ETC., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 18 pages, 9 Figures, 2 Tables

We study ferroelectricity in the classic perovskite ferroelectric PbTiO$_3$ to high pressures with density functional theory (DFT) and experimental diamond-anvil techniques. We use second harmonic generation (SHG) spectroscopy to detect lack of inversion symmetry, if present. Consistent with early understanding and experiments, we find that ferroelectricity disappears at moderate pressures. However, the DFT calculations show that the disappearance arises from the overtaking of zone boundary instabilities, and not from the squeezing out of the off-centering ferroelectric displacements with pressure, as previously thought. We find a new dense centrosymmetric post-perovskite phase with P$2_1/m$ symmetry that becomes stable at about 70 GPa. Our computations predict a dramatic reentrance of ferroelectricity 90 GPa in the distorted R3c structure, but this phase is metastable relative to the post-perovskite phase.

Germanates are often used as structural analogs of planetary silicates. We have explored the high-pressure phase relations in Mg$_2$GeO$_4$ using diamond anvil cell experiments combined with synchrotron x-ray diffraction and computations based on density functional theory. Upon room temperature compression, forsterite-type Mg$_2$GeO$_4$ remains stable up to 30 GPa. At higher pressures, a phase transition to a forsterite-III type (Cmc21) structure was observed, which remained stable to the peak pressure of 105 GPa. Using a 3rd order Birch Murnaghan fit to the experimental data, we obtained V0 = 305.1 (3) {\AA}3, K0 = 124.6 (14) GPa and K0' = 3.86 (fixed) for forsterite- and V0 = 263.5 (15) {\AA}3, K0 = 175 (7) GPa and K0' = 4.2 (fixed) for the forsterite-III type phase. The forsterite-III type structure was found to be metastable when compared to the stable assemblage of perovskite/post-perovskite + MgO, as observed during laser-heating experiments. Understanding the phase relations and physical properties of metastable phases is crucial for studying the mineralogy of impact sites, understanding metastable wedges in subducting slabs and interpreting the results of shock compression experiments.

We clarify the nature of hafnia as a proper ferroelectric and show that there is a shallow double well involving a single soft polar mode as in well-known classic ferroelectrics. Using symmetry analysis, density-functional theory (DFT) structural optimizations with and without epitaxial strain, and density functional perturbation theory (DFPT), we examine several important possible hafnia structures derived ultimately from the cubic fluorite structure, including baddeleyite ($P2_{1}/c$) tetragonal antiferroelectric $P4_{2}nmc$, $Pbca$ (nonpolar and brookite), ferroelectric rhombohedral ($R3m$ and $R3$), $Pmn2_{1}$, and $Pca2_{1}$ structures. The latter is considered to be the most likely ferroelectric phase seen experimentally, and has an antiferroelectric parent with space group $Pbcn$, with a single unstable polar mode and a shallow double well with a well depth of 24 meV/atom. Strain is not required for switching or other ferroelectric properties, nor is coupling of the soft-mode with any other modes within the ferroelectric $Pca2_{1}$, $Pmn2_{1}$, $R3m$ or $R3$ phases.

We performed density functional theory (DFT) calculations on epitaxially strained hafnia. We demonstrate the stabilization of the ferroelectric ($Pca2_{1}$) phase from the antiferroelectric ($Pbcn$) in bulk hafnia in the presence of electric field. We found that the polar ($Pca2_{1}$) phase can be efficiently stabilized with an adequate choice of film orientation. We show that for a (010)-oriented Pbcn, the ferroelectric $Pca2_{1}$ phase can be reached with a relatively small electric field ($\mid\varepsilon\mid\geq 150$ KV/m). We thus provide a simple explanation to the experimental observation of polarization enhancement through electric field cycling, or wake-up effect, as a ferroelectric phase transition driven by electric field. We find, in contrast, that stress free pure hafnia does not become ferroelectric for any reasonable electric field. So we explain the wake up effect and stabilization of ferroelectric pure hafnia as coming from a combination of epitaxial strain under applied electric field perpendicular to the film. We find that strain (or doping) primarily destabilizes the baddeleyite structure, so that the antiferroelectric Pbcn and ferroelectric phases can form.

(Mg, Fe)SiO$_3$ post-perovskite is the highest pressure silicate mineral phase in the Earth's interior. The extreme pressure and temperature conditions inside large extrasolar planets will likely lead to phase transitions beyond pPv. In this work we have explored the high-pressure phase relations in Mg$_2$SiO$_4$ using computations based on density functional theory. We find that a partially disordered I-42d type structure would be stable in the interiors of these super-Earth planets. The discovery of a structure where two very dissimilar cations, Mg$^{2+}$ and Si$^{4+}$ occupy the same crystallographic site opens up a domain of interesting crystal chemistry and provides a foundation for other silicates and oxides with mixed occupancy. We have explored the mechanism of the phase transition from the ordered ground state and the effect of the disordering on electronic properties of the silicate phase.

The thermal equation of states for fcc iridium (Ir) is obtained from first-principles molecular dynamics up to 3000 K and 540 GPa. The equation of state (EoS) is globally fitted to a simplified free energy model and various parameters are derived. The theoretical principal Hugoniot is compared with shockwave experiments, where discrepancy suggests formation of new Ir phases. A few representative EoS parameters, such as bulk modulus $K_T$, thermal expansivity $\alpha$, Gr\"uneisen parameter $\gamma$, and constant pressure capacity $C_P$, Debye temperature, $\Theta_D$ are computed to compare with experimental data, Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures

Globular clusters (GCs) are excellent tracers of the formation and early evolution of the Milky Way. The bulge GCs (BGCs) are particularly important because they can reveal vital information about the oldest, in-situ component of the Milky Way. We aim at deriving mean metallicities and radial velocities for 13 GCs that lie towards the bulge and are generally associated with this component. We use near infrared low resolution spectroscopy with the FORS2 instrument on the VLT to measure the wavelengths and equivalent widths of the CaII triplet (CaT) lines for a number of stars per cluster. We derive radial velocities, ascertain membership and apply known calibrations to determine metallicities for cluster members, for a mean of 11 members per cluster. We derive mean cluster RV values to 3 km/s, and mean metallicities to 0.05 dex. Our sample has metallicities lying between -0.21 and -1.64 and is distributed between the traditional metal-rich BGC peak near [Fe/H] aprox. -0.5 and a more metal-poor peak around [Fe/H] aprox. -1.1, which has recently been identified. These latter are candidates for the oldest GCs in the Galaxy, if blue horizontal branches are present, and include BH 261, NGC 6401, NGC 6540, NGC 6642, and Terzan 9. Finally, Terzan 10 is even more metal-poor. However, dynamically, Terzan 10 is likely an intruder from the halo, possibly associated with the Gaia-Enceladus or Kraken accretion events. Terzan 10 is also confirmed as an Oosterhotype II GC based on our results. The lone halo intruder in our sample, Terzan 10, is conspicuous for also having by far the lowest metallicity, and casts doubt on the possibility of any bonafide BGCs at metallicities below about aprox. -1.5., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication on Astronomy & Astrophysics

Using density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) we computed the phonon frequencies, Raman and IR activities of hafnia polymorphs (P4$_{2}$nmc, Pca2$_{1}$, Pmn2$_{1}$, Pbca OI, brookite, and baddeleyite) for phase identification. We investigated the evolution of Raman and IR activities with respect to epitaxial strain and provide plots of frequency differences as a function of strain for experimental calibration and identification of the strain state of the sample. We found Raman signatures of different hafnia polymorphs: $\omega(A_{1g})=300$ cm$^{-1}$ for P4$_{2}$nmc, $\omega(A_{1})=343$ cm$^{-1}$ for Pca2$_{1}$, $\omega(B_{2})=693$ cm$^{-1}$ for Pmn2$_{1}$, $\omega(A_{g})=513$ cm$^{-1}$ for Pbca (OI), $\omega(A_{g})=384$ cm$^{-1}$ for brookite, and $\omega (A_{g}) = 496$ cm$^{-1}$ for baddeleyite. We also identified the Raman $B_{1g}$ mode, an anti-phase vibration of dipole moments, ( $\omega(B_{1g}) = 758$ cm$^{-1}$ for OI, $\omega (B_{1g})= 784$ cm$^{-1}$ for brookite) as the Raman signature of antipolar Pbca structures. We calculated a large splitting between longitudinal optical (LO) and transverse optical (TO) modes ($\Delta{\omega_{\text{LO-TO}}(A^{z}_{1})}=255$ cm$^{-1}$ in Pca2$_{1}$, and $\Delta{\omega_{\text{LO-TO}}(A_{1})}=263$ cm$^{-1}$ in Pmn2$_{1}$) to the same order as those observed in perovskite ferroelectrics, and related them to the anomalously large Born effective charges of Hf atoms ($Z^{*}(\text{Hf}) = 5.54$).

Ferroelectric hafnia is being explored for next generation electronics due to its robust ferroelectricity in nanoscale samples and its compatibility with silicon. However, its ferroelectricity is not understood. Other ferroelectrics usually lose their ferroelectricity for nanoscopic samples and thin films, and the hafnia ground state is non-polar baddeleyite. Here we study hafnia with density functional theory (DFT) under epitaxial strain, and find that strain not only stabilizes the ferroelectric phases, but also leads to unstable modes and a downhill path in energy from the high temperature tetragonal structure. We find that for tensile epitaxial strains corresponding to a square substrate of lattice constant $a_{epi} \geqslant 5.38$ \AA~the ferroelectric \oI is most stable, even more stable than baddeleyite. Furthermore, we find that under tensile epitaxial strain $\eta$ the tetragonal phase will distort to one of the two ferroelectric phases: for $\eta > 1.5$\%, the $\Gamma^{-}_{5}$ mode is unstable and leads to \oII , and at $\eta > 3.75$\% coupling between this mode and the zone boundary M1 mode leads to \oI., Comment: After further scrutiny of our results on Fig.2 we found that the Pca21 transitions to a Pbcn structure

The second phase of the APOGEE survey is providing near-infrared, high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra of stars in the halo, disk, bar and bulge of the Milky Way. The near-infrared spectral window is especially important in the study of the Galactic bulge, where stars are obscured by the dust and gas of the disk in its line-of-sight. We present a chemical characterisation of the globular cluster NGC 6544 with high-resolution spectroscopy. The characterisation of the cluster chemical fingerprint, given its status of "interloper" towards the Galactic bulge and clear signatures of tidal disruption in its core is crucial for future chemical tagging efforts. Cluster members were selected from the DR16 of the APOGEE survey, using chemo-dynamical criteria of individual stars. A sample of 23 members of the cluster was selected. An analysis considering the intra-cluster abundance variations, known anticorrelations is given. According to the RGB content of the cluster, the iron content and $\alpha$-enhancement are [Fe/H] $= -1.44 \pm 0.04$ dex and [$\alpha$/Fe] $= 0.20 \pm 0.04$ dex, respectively. Cluster members show a significant spread in [Fe/H] and [Al/Fe] that is larger than expected based on measurement errors. An [Al/Fe] spread, signal of an Mg-Al anticorrelation is observed and used to constraint the cluster mass budget, along with C, N, Mg, Si, K, Ca, and Ce element variations are discussed. Across all the analysed evolutionary stages (RGB and AGB), about $\sim2/3$ (14 out of 23) show distinct chemical patterns, possibly associated with second-generation stars., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, MNRAS accepted

Recent studies show that the inner Galactic regions host genuine bulge globular clusters, but also halo intruders, complex remnants of primordial building blocks, and objects likely accreted during major merging events. In this study we focus on the properties of M 28, a very old and massive cluster currently located in the Galactic bulge. We analysed wide-field infrared photometry collected by the VVV survey, VVV proper motions, and intermediate-resolution spectra in the calcium triplet range for 113 targets in the cluster area. Our results in general confirm previous estimates of the cluster properties available in the literature. We find no evidence of differences in metallicity between cluster stars, setting an upper limit of Delta[Fe/H]<0.08 dex to any internal inhomogeneity. We confirm that M 28 is one of the oldest objects in the Galactic bulge (13-14 Gyr). From this result and the literature data, we find evidence of a weak age-metallicity relation among bulge globular clusters that suggests formation and chemical enrichment. In addition, wide-field density maps show that M 28 is tidally stressed and that it is losing mass into the general bulge field. Our study indicates that M 28 is a genuine bulge globular cluster, but its very old age and its mass loss suggest that this cluster could be the remnant of a larger structure, possibly a primeval bulge building block., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We investigate energetically favorable structures of ABO$_2$N oxynitrides as functions of pressure and strain via swarm-intelligence-based structure prediction methods, DFT lattice dynamics and first-principles molecular dynamics. We predict several thermodynamically stable polar oxynitride perovskites under high pressures. In addition, we find that ferroelectric polar phases of perovskite-structured oxynitrides can be thermodynamically stable and synthesized at high pressure on appropriate substrates. The dynamical stability of the ferroelectric oxynitrides under epitaxial strain at ambient pressure also imply the possibility to synthesize them using pulsed laser deposition or other atomic layer deposition methods. Our results have broad implications for further exploration of other oxynitride materials as well. We performed first-principles molecular dynamics and find that the polar perovskite of YSiO$_2$N is metastable up to at least 600 K under compressive epitaxial strain before converting to the stable wollastonite-like structures. YSiO$_2$N is stabilized under pressure with extensional epitaxial strain. We predict that LaSi$_2$N, LaGeO$_2$N, BiSiO$_2$N, and BiGeO$_2$N are metastable as ferroelectric perovskites at zero pressure even without epitaxial strain., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We use data of $\sim$13,000 stars from the SDSS/APOGEE survey to study the shape of the bulge MDF within the region $|\ell|\leq11^\circ$ and $|b|\leq13^\circ$, and spatially constrained to ${\rm R_{GC}\leq3.5}$ kpc. We apply Gaussian Mixture Modeling and Non-negative Matrix Factorization decomposition techniques to identify the optimal number and the properties of MDF components. We find the shape and spatial variations of the MDF (at ${\rm [Fe/H]\geq-1}$ dex) are well represented as a smoothly varying contribution of three overlapping components located at [Fe/H]=+$0.32$, $-0.17$ and $-0.66$ dex. The bimodal MDF found in previous studies is in agreement with our trimodal assessment once the limitations in sample size and individual measurement errors are taken into account. The shape of the MDF and its correlations with kinematics reveal different spatial distributions and kinematical structure for the three components co-existing in the bulge region. We confirm the consensus physical interpretation of metal-rich stars as associated with the secularly evolved disk into a boxy/peanut X-shape bar. On the other hand, metal-intermediate stars could be the product of in-situ formation at high redshift in a gas-rich environment characterized by violent and fast star formation. This interpretation would help to link a present-day structure with those observed in formation in the center of high redshift galaxies. Finally, metal-poor stars may correspond to the metal-rich tail of the population sampled at lower metallicity from the study of RR Lyrae stars. Conversely, they could be associated with the metal-poor tail of the early thick disc., Comment: This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. 21 pages, 19 Figures

We investigate the inner regions of the Milky Way with a sample of unprecedented size and coverage thanks to APOGEE DR16 and Gaia EDR3 data. Our inner Galactic sample has more than 26,000 stars within $|X_{\rm Gal}| <5$ kpc, $|Y_{\rm Gal}| <3.5$ kpc, $|Z_{\rm Gal}| <1$ kpc, and we also make the analysis for a foreground-cleaned sub-sample of 8,000 stars more representative of the bulge-bar populations. The inner Galaxy shows a clear chemical discontinuity in key abundance ratios [$\alpha$/Fe], [C/N], and [Mn/O], probing different enrichment timescales, which suggests a star formation gap (quenching) between the high- and low-$\alpha$ populations. For the first time, we are able to fully characterize the different populations co-existing in the innermost regions of the Galaxy via joint analysis of the distributions of rotational velocities, metallicities, orbital parameters and chemical abundances. The chemo-kinematic analysis reveals the presence of the bar; of an inner thin disk; of a thick disk, and of a broad metallicity population, with a large velocity dispersion, indicative of a pressure supported component. We find and characterize chemically and kinematically a group of counter-rotating stars, which could be the result of a gas-rich merger event or just the result of clumpy star formation during the earliest phases of the early disk, which migrated into the bulge. Finally, based on the 6D information we assign stars a probability value of being on a bar orbit and find that most of the stars with large bar orbit probabilities come from the innermost 3 kpcs. Even stars with a high probability of belonging to the bar show the chemical bimodality in the [$\alpha$/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] diagram. This suggests bar trapping to be an efficient mechanism, explaining why stars on bar orbits do not show a significant distinct chemical abundance ratio signature., Comment: 25 pages, 25 figures, Accepted for publication on A&A, in press

The amount of heat transport from the core, which constrains the dynamics and thermal evolution of the region, depends on the transport properties of iron. Ohta et al.(2016) and Konopkova et al.(2016) measured electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity of iron, respectively, in laser-heated diamond anvil cells (DACs) at relevant Earth's core pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions, and obtained dramatically contradictory results. Here we measure the electrical resistivity of hcp-iron up to ~170 GPa and ~3,000 K using a four-probe van der Pauw method coupled with homogeneous flat-top laser-heating in a DAC. We also compute its electrical and thermal conductivity by first-principles methods including electron-phonon and electron-electron scattering. We find that the measured resistivity of hcp-iron increases almost linearly with increasing temperature, and is consistent with current first-principles computations. The proportionality coefficient between resistivity and thermal conductivity (the Lorenz number) in hcp-iron differs from the ideal value (2.44*10^-8 W Omega K^-2), so a non-ideal Lorenz number of ~(2.0-2.1)*10^-8 W Omega K^-2 is used to convert the experimental resistivity to the thermal conductivity of hcp-Fe at high P-T. The results constrain the resistivity and thermal conductivity of hcp-iron to ~80(5) u Omega cm and ~100(10) W/mK, respectively, at conditions near core-mantle boundary. Our results indicate an adiabatic heat flow of ~10(1) TW through the core-mantle boundary for a liquid Fe alloy outer core, supporting a present-day geodynamo driven by thermal convection through the core's secular cooling and by compositional convection through the latent heat and gravitational energy during the inner core's solidification., Comment: 39 pages, 14 figures

Using first-principles calculations, we predict a lightweight room-temperature ferroelectric carbon-boron framework in a host/guest clathrate structure. This ferroelectric clathrate, with composition ScB$_3$C$_3$, exhibits high polarization density and low mass density compared with widely used commercial ferroelectrics. Molecular dynamics simulations show spontaneous polarization with a moderate above-room-temperature T$_c$ of $\sim$370 K, which implies large susceptibility and possibly large electrocaloric and piezoelectric constants at room temperature. Our findings open the possibility for a new class of ferroelectric materials with potential across a broad range of applications., Comment: 5 pages 4 figures

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 prediction of reaction pathways for solid-solid transformations remains a key challenge. Here, we develop a pathway sampling method via swarm intelligence and graph theory, and demonstrate that our PALLAS method is an effective tool to help understand phase transformations in solid-state systems. The method is capable of finding low-energy transition pathways between two minima without having to specify any details of transition mechanism a priori. We benchmarked our PALLAS method against known phase transitions in cadmium selenide (CdSe) and silicon (Si). PALLAS readily identifies previously-reported, low-energy phase transition pathways for the wurtzite to rock-salt transition in CdSe and reveals a novel lower-energy pathway that has not yet been observed. In addition, PALLAS provides detailed information that explains the complex phase transition sequence observed during the decompression of Si from high pressure. Given the efficiency to identify low-barrier-energy reaction pathways, the PALLAS methodology represents a promising tool for materials by design with valuable insights for novel synthesis., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

The Galactic bulge has a bimodal metallicity distribution function: different kinematic, spatial, and, potentially, age distributions characterize the metal-poor and metal-rich components. Despite this observed dichotomy, which argues for different formation channels for those stars, the distribution of bulge stars in the $\alpha$-abundance versus metallicity plane has been found so far to be a rather smooth single sequence. We use data from the fourteenth data release of the APOGEE spectroscopic survey (DR14) to investigate the distribution in the Mg abundance (as tracer of the $\alpha$-elements)-versus-metallicity plane of a sample of stars selected to be in the inner region of the bulge. A clean sample has been selected from the DR14 using a set of data- and pipeline-flags to ensure the quality of their fundamental parameters and elemental abundances. An additional selection made use of computed spectro-photometric distances to select a sample of likely bulge stars as those with ${\rm R_{GC}\leq 3.5~kpc}$. We adopt magnesium abundance as an $\alpha$-abundance proxy for our clean sample as it has been proven to be the most accurate $\alpha$-element as determined by ASPCAP, the pipeline for data products from APOGEE spectra. From the distribution of our bulge sample in the [Mg/Fe]-versus-[Fe/H] plane, we found that the sequence is bimodal. This bimodality is given by the presence of a low-Mg sequence of stars parallel to the main high-Mg sequence over a range of $\sim 0.5$~dex around solar metallicity. The two sequences merge above ${\rm [Fe/H]\sim0.15~ dex}$ into a single sequence whose dispersion in [Mg/Fe] is larger than either of the two sequences visible at lower metallicity. This result is confirmed when we consider stars in our sample that are inside the bulge region according to trustworthy Gaia DR2 distances., Comment: accepted for publication in A&A. 11 pages, 8 figures

Molecular dynamics simulations predict a giant electrocaloric effect at the ferroelectric-antiferroelectric phase boundary in PZT (PbTiO$_3$-PbZrO$_3$). These large-scale simulations also give insights into the atomistic mechanisms of the electrocaloric effect in PZT materials. Studying a range of ferroelectric (FE) and antiferroelectric (AFE) PZT materials we found positive electrocaloric effect in FE composites, but AFE ones exhibit a positive-to-negative crossover. At the AFE-FE phase boundary we find complex domain patterns. We demonstrate that the origin of giant electrocaloric change of temperature is related to the easy structural response of the dipolar system to external stimuli the transition region., Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures

We used high-resolution optical HST/WFC3 and multi-conjugate adaptive optics assisted GEMINI GeMS/GSAOI observations in the near-infrared to investigate the physical properties of the globular cluster NGC 6569 in the Galactic bulge. We have obtained the deepest purely NIR color-magnitude diagram published so far for this cluster using ground-based observations, reaching $K_{s}$ $\approx$ 21.0 mag (two magnitudes below the main-sequence turn-off point). By combining the two datasets secured at two different epochs, we determined relative proper motions for a large sample of individual stars in the center of NGC 6569, allowing a robust selection of cluster member stars. Our proper motion analysis solidly demonstrates that, despite its relatively high metal content, NGC 6569 hosts some blue horizontal branch stars. A differential reddening map has been derived in the direction of the system, revealing a maximum color excess variation of about $\delta E(B-V)$ $\sim$ 0.12 mag in the available field of view. The absolute age of NGC 6569 has been determined for the first time. In agreement with the other few bulge globular clusters with available age estimates, NGC 6569 turns out to be old, with an age of about 12.8 Gyr, and a typical uncertainty of 0.8-1.0 Gyr., Comment: 25 pages, 16 Figures, 1 Table. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We analyze a large sample of 885 GCs giants from the APOGEE survey. We used the Cannon results to separate the red giant branch and the asymptotic giant branch stars, not only allowing for a refinement of surface gravity from isochrones, but also providing an independent H-band spectroscopic method to distinguish stellar evolutionary status in clusters. We then use the BACCHUS code to derive metallicity, microturbulence, acroturbulence and many light-element abundances as well as the neutron-capture elements Nd and Ce for the first time from the APOGEE GCs data. Our independent analysis helped us to diagnose issues regarding the standard analysis of the APOGEE DR14 for low-metallicity GC stars. Furthermore, while we confirm most of the known correlations and anti-correlation trends (Na-O, Mg-Al,C-N), we discover that some stars within our most metal-poor clusters show an extreme Mg depletion and some Si enhancement but at the same time show some relative Al depletion, displaying a turnover in the Mg-Al diagram. These stars suggest that Al has been partially depleted in their progenitors by very hot proton-capture nucleosynthetic processes. Furthermore, we attempted to quantitatively correlate the spread of Al abundances with the global properties of GCs. We find an anti-correlation of the Al spread against clusters metallicity and luminosity, but the data do not allow to find clear evidence of a dependence of N against metallicity in the more metal-poor clusters. Large and homogeneously analyzed samples from on-going spectroscopic surveys unveil unseen chemical details for many clusters, including a turnover in the Mg-Al anti-correlation, thus yielding new constrains for GCs formation evolution models., Comment: 17 pages, 23 figures, accepted in A&A

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