111,943 research outputs found
Detecting gravitational waves from highly eccentric compact binaries
In dense stellar regions, highly eccentric binaries of black holes and
neutron stars can form through various n-body interactions. Such a binary could
emit a significant fraction of its binding energy in a sequence of largely
isolated gravitational wave bursts prior to merger. Given expected black hole
and neutron star masses, many such systems will emit these repeated bursts at
frequencies within the sensitive band of contemporary ground-based
gravitational wave detectors. Unfortunately, existing gravitational wave
searches are ill-suited to detect these signals. In this work, we adapt a
"power stacking" method to the detection of gravitational wave signals from
highly eccentric binaries. We implement this method as an extension of the
Q-transform, a projection onto a multiresolution basis of windowed complex
exponentials that has previously been used to analyze data from the network of
LIGO/Virgo detectors. Our method searches for excess power over an ensemble of
time-frequency tiles. We characterize the performance of our method using Monte
Carlo experiments with signals injected in simulated detector noise. Our
results indicate that the power stacking method achieves substantially better
sensitivity to eccentric binary signals than existing localized burst searches.Comment: 17 pages, 20 figure
Ultraluminous X-ray Sources Powered by Radiatively Efficient Two-Phased Super-Eddington Accretion onto Stellar Mass Black holes
The radiation spectra of many of the brightest ultraluminous X-ray sources
(ULXs) are dominated by a hard power law component, likely powered by a hot,
optically thin corona that Comptonizes soft seed photons emitted from a cool,
optically thick black hole accretion disk. Before its dissipation and
subsequent conversion into coronal photon power, the randomized gravitational
binding energy responsible for powering ULX phenomena must separate from the
mass of its origin by a means other than, and quicker than, electron
scattering-mediated radiative diffusion. Therefore, the release of accretion
power in ULXs is not necessarily subject to Eddington-limited photon trapping,
as long as it occurs in a corona. Motivated by these basic considerations, we
present a model of ULXs powered by geometrically thin accretion onto stellar
mass black holes. We argue that the radiative efficiency of the flow remains
high if the corona is magnetized or optically thin and the majority of the
accretion power escapes in the form of radiation rather than an outflow. Within
the context of the current black hole X-ray binary paradigm, our ULX model may
be viewed as an extension of the very high state observed in Galactic sources.
(abridged)Comment: 11 page
Theoretical Black Hole Mass Distributions
We derive the theoretical distribution function of black hole masses by
studying the formation processes of black holes. We use the results of recent
2D simulations of core-collapse to obtain the relation between remnant and
progenitor masses and fold it with an initial mass function for the
progenitors. We examine how the calculated black-hole mass distributions are
modified by (i) strong wind mass loss at different evolutionary stages of the
progenitors, and (ii) the presence of close binary companions to the black-hole
progenitors. Thus, we are able to derive the binary black hole mass
distribution. The compact remnant distribution is dominated by neutron stars in
the mass range 1.2-1.6Msun and falls off exponentially at higher remnant
masses. Our results are most sensitive to mass loss from winds which is even
more important in close binaries. Wind mass-loss causes the black hole
distribution to become flatter and limits the maximum possible black-hole mass
(<10-15Msun). We also study the effects of the uncertainties in the explosion
and unbinding energies for different progenitors. The distributions are
continuous and extend over a broad range. We find no evidence for a gap at low
values (3-5Msun) or for a peak at higher values (~7Msun) of black hole masses,
but we argue that our black hole mass distribution for binaries is consistent
with the current sample of measured black-hole masses in X-ray transients. We
discuss possible biases against the detection or formation of X-ray transients
with low-mass black holes. We also comment on the possibility of black-hole
kicks and their effect on binaries.Comment: 22 pages, submitted to Ap
Differences Between Hole and Electron Doping of a Two-Leg CuO Ladder
Here we report results of a density-matrix-renormalization-group (DMRG)
calculation of the charge, spin, and pairing properties of a two-leg CuO
Hubbard ladder. The outer oxygen atoms as well as the rung and leg oxygen atoms
are included along with near-neighbor and oxygen-hopping matrix elements. This
system allows us to study the effects of hole and electron doping on a system
which is a charge transfer insulator at a filling of one hole per Cu and
exhibits power law, d-wave-like pairing correlations when doped. In particular,
we focus on the differences between doping with holes or electrons.Comment: REVTEX 4, 10 pages, 13 figure
Tunnelling current and emission spectrum of a single electron transistor under optical pumping
Theoretical studies of the tunnelling current and emission spectrum of a
single electron transistor (SET) under optical pumping are presented. The
calculation is performed via Keldysh Green's function method within the
Anderson model with two energy levels. It is found that holes in the quantum
dot (QD) created by optical pumping lead to new channels for the electron
tunnelling from emitter to collector. As a consequence, an electron can tunnel
through the QD via additional channels, characterized by the exciton, trion and
biexciton states. It is found that the tunnelling current as a function of the
gate voltage displays a series of sharp peaks and the spacing between these
peaks can be used to determine the exciton binding energy as well as the
electron-electron Coulomb repulsion energy. In addition, we show that the
single-photon emission associated with the electron-hole recombination in the
exciton complexes formed in the QD can be controlled both electrically and
optically.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figure
Structural and electronic properties of Pb1-xCdxTe and Pb1-xMnxTe ternary alloys
A systematic theoretical study of two PbTe-based ternary alloys, Pb1-xCdxTe
and Pb1-xMnxTe, is reported. First, using ab initio methods we study the
stability of the crystal structure of CdTe - PbTe solid solutions, to predict
the composition for which rock-salt structure of PbTe changes into zinc-blende
structure of CdTe. The dependence of the lattice parameter on Cd (Mn) content x
in the mixed crystals is studied by the same methods. The obtained decrease of
the lattice constant with x agrees with what is observed in both alloys. The
band structures of PbTe-based ternary compounds are calculated within a
tight-binding approach. To describe correctly the constituent materials new
tight-binding parameterizations for PbTe and MnTe bulk crystals as well as a
tight-binding description of rock-salt CdTe are proposed. For both studied
ternary alloys, the calculated band gap in the L point increases with x, in
qualitative agreement with photoluminescence measurements in the infrared. The
results show also that in p-type Pb1-xCdxTe and Pb1-xMnxTe mixed crystals an
enhancement of thermoelectrical power can be expected.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Physical Review
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