20,205 research outputs found
Modified fast frequency acquisition via adaptive least squares algorithm
A method and the associated apparatus for estimating the amplitude, frequency, and phase of a signal of interest are presented. The method comprises the following steps: (1) inputting the signal of interest; (2) generating a reference signal with adjustable amplitude, frequency and phase at an output thereof; (3) mixing the signal of interest with the reference signal and a signal 90 deg out of phase with the reference signal to provide a pair of quadrature sample signals comprising respectively a difference between the signal of interest and the reference signal and a difference between the signal of interest and the signal 90 deg out of phase with the reference signal; (4) using the pair of quadrature sample signals to compute estimates of the amplitude, frequency, and phase of an error signal comprising the difference between the signal of interest and the reference signal employing a least squares estimation; (5) adjusting the amplitude, frequency, and phase of the reference signal from the numerically controlled oscillator in a manner which drives the error signal towards zero; and (6) outputting the estimates of the amplitude, frequency, and phase of the error signal in combination with the reference signal to produce a best estimate of the amplitude, frequency, and phase of the signal of interest. The preferred method includes the step of providing the error signal as a real time confidence measure as to the accuracy of the estimates wherein the closer the error signal is to zero, the higher the probability that the estimates are accurate. A matrix in the estimation algorithm provides an estimate of the variance of the estimation error
Scale invariant jets: from blazars to microquasars
Black holes, anywhere in the stellar-mass to supermassive range, are often
associated with relativistic jets. Models suggest that jet production may be a
universal process common in all black hole systems regardless of their mass.
Although in many cases observations support such hypotheses for microquasars
and Seyfert galaxies, little is known on whether boosted blazar jets also
comply with such universal scaling laws. We use uniquely rich multiwavelength
radio light curves from the F-GAMMA program and the most accurate Doppler
factors available to date to probe blazar jets in their emission rest frame
with unprecedented accuracy. We identify for the first time a strong
correlation between the blazar intrinsic broad-band radio luminosity and black
hole mass, which extends over 9 orders of magnitude down to microquasars
scales. Our results reveal the presence of a universal scaling law that bridges
the observing and emission rest frames in beamed sources and allows us to
effectively constrain jet models. They consequently provide an independent
method for estimating the Doppler factor, and for predicting expected radio
luminosities of boosted jets operating in systems of intermediate or
tens-of-solar mass black holes, immediately applicable to cases as those
recently observed by LIGO.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in AP
Photospheric Electric Fields and Energy Fluxes in the Eruptive Active Region NOAA 11158
How much electromagnetic energy crosses the photosphere in evolving solar
active regions? With the advent of high-cadence vector magnetic field
observations, addressing this fundamental question has become tractable. In
this paper, we apply the "PTD-Doppler-FLCT-Ideal" (PDFI) electric field
inversion technique of Kazachenko et al. (2014) to a 6-day HMI/SDO vector
magnetogram and Doppler velocity sequence, to find the electric field and
Poynting flux evolution in active region NOAA 11158, which produced an X2.2
flare early on 2011 February 15. We find photospheric electric fields ranging
up to V/cm. The Poynting fluxes range from to
ergscms, mostly positive, with the largest contribution to
the energy budget in the range of -
ergscms. Integrating the instantaneous energy flux over
space and time, we find that the total magnetic energy accumulated above the
photosphere from the initial emergence to the moment before the X2.2 flare to
be ergs, which is partitioned as and
ergs, respectively, between free and potential energies.
Those estimates are consistent with estimates from preflare non-linear
force-free field (NLFFF) extrapolations and the Minimum Current Corona
estimates (MCC), in spite of our very different approach. This study of
photospheric electric fields demonstrates the potential of the PDFI approach
for estimating Poynting fluxes and opens the door to more quantitative studies
of the solar photosphere and more realistic data-driven simulations of coronal
magnetic field evolution.Comment: 51 pages, 10 figures, accepted by ApJ on August 11, 201
Constraining the limiting brightness temperature and Doppler factors for the largest sample of radio bright blazars
Relativistic effects dominate the emission of blazar jets complicating our
understanding of their intrinsic properties. Although many methods have been
proposed to account for them, the variability Doppler factor method has been
shown to describe the blazar populations best. We use a Bayesian hierarchical
code called {\it Magnetron} to model the light curves of 1029 sources observed
by the Owens Valley Radio Observatory's 40-m telescope as a series of flares
with an exponential rise and decay, and estimate their variability brightness
temperature. Our analysis allows us to place the most stringent constraints on
the equipartition brightness temperature i.e., the maximum achieved intrinsic
brightness temperature in beamed sources which we found to be . Using our findings we estimated the
variability Doppler factor for the largest sample of blazars increasing the
number of available estimates in the literature by almost an order of
magnitude. Our results clearly show that -ray loud sources have faster
and higher amplitude flares than -ray quiet sources. As a consequence
they show higher variability brightness temperatures and thus are more
relativistically beamed, with all of the above suggesting a strong connection
between the radio flaring properties of the jet and -ray emission.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in AP
Central Masses and Broad-Line Region Sizes of Active Galactic Nuclei: I. Comparing the Photoionization and Reverberation Techniques
The masses and emission-line region sizes of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs)
can be measured by ``reverberation-mapping'' (measuring the lag of the
emission-line luminosity after changes in the continuum). We use tis technique
to calibrate similar size and mass estimates made by photoionization models of
the AGN line-emitting regions. We compile a sample of 19 AGNs with reliable
reverberation and spectroscopy data, twice the number available previously. The
data provide strong evidence that the BLR size and the emission-line width
measure directly the central mass. Two methods are used to estimate the
distance of the broad emission-line region (BLR) from the ionizing source: the
photoionization method (available for many AGNs but has large intrinsic
uncertainties), and the reverberation method (gives very reliable distances,
but available for only a few objects). The distance estimate is combined with
the velocity dispersion, derived from the broad Hb line profile, to estimate
the virial mass. Comparing the central masses calculated with the reverberation
method to those calculated using a photoionization model, we find a highly
significant, nearly linear correlation. This provides a calibration of the
photoionization method on the objects with presently available reverberation
data, which should enable mass estimates for all AGNs with measured Hb line
width. Comparing the BLR sizes given by the two methods also enables us to
estimate the ionizing EUV luminosity which is directly unobservable. We find it
to be typically ten times the visible (monochromatic luminosity at 5100A). The
inferred Eddington ratio of the individual objects in our sample are 0.001-0.03
(visible luminosity) and 0.01-0.3 (ionizing luminosity).Comment: 27 pages Latex, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
Twenty Years of Timing SS433
We present observations of the optical ``moving lines'' in spectra of the
Galactic relativistic jet source SS433 spread over a twenty year baseline from
1979 to 1999. The red/blue-shifts of the lines reveal the apparent precession
of the jet axis in SS433, and we present a new determination of the precession
parameters based on these data. We investigate the amplitude and nature of
time- and phase-dependent deviations from the kinematic model for the jet
precession, including an upper limit on any precessional period derivative of
. We also dicuss the implications of these results
for the origins of the relativistic jets in SS433.Comment: 21 pages, including 9 figures. To appear in the Astrophysical Journa
Why should we correct reported pulsation frequencies for stellar line-of-sight Doppler velocity shifts?
In the age of Kepler and Corot, extended observations have provided estimates
of stellar pulsation frequencies that have achieved new levels of precision,
regularly exceeding fractional levels of a few parts in . These high
levels of precision now in principle exceed the point where one can ignore the
Doppler shift of pulsation frequencies caused by the motion of a star relative
to the observer. We present a correction for these Doppler shifts and use
previously published pulsation frequencies to demonstrate the significance of
the effect. We suggest that reported pulsation frequencies should be routinely
corrected for stellar line-of-sight velocity Doppler shifts, or if a
line-of-sight velocity estimate is not available, the frame of reference in
which the frequencies are reported should be clearly stated.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter
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