99,264 research outputs found
Can AGN and galaxy clusters explain the surface brightness fluctuations of the cosmic X-ray background?
Fluctuations of the surface brightness of cosmic X-ray background (CXB) carry
unique information about faint and low luminosity source populations, which is
inaccessible for conventional large-scale structure (LSS) studies based on
resolved sources. We used Chandra data of the XBOOTES field
() to conduct the most accurate measurement to date of
the power spectrum of fluctuations of the unresolved CXB on the angular scales
of arcsec arcmin. We find that at sub-arcmin angular
scales, the power spectrum is consistent with the AGN shot noise, without much
need for any significant contribution from their one-halo term. This is
consistent with the theoretical expectation that low-luminosity AGN reside
alone in their dark matter halos. However, at larger angular scales we detect a
significant LSS signal above the AGN shot noise. Its power spectrum, obtained
after subtracting the AGN shot noise, follows a power law with the slope of
and its amplitude is much larger than what can be plausibly
explained by the two-halo term of AGN. We demonstrate that the detected LSS
signal is produced by unresolved clusters and groups of galaxies. For the flux
limit of the XBOOTES survey, their flux-weighted mean redshift equals
\left\sim0.3, and the mean temperature of their intracluster medium
(ICM), \left\approx 1.4 keV, corresponds to the mass of . The power spectrum of CXB fluctuations
carries information about the redshift distribution of these objects and the
spatial structure of their ICM on the linear scales of up to Mpc, i.e. of
the order of the virial radius.Comment: 25 pages, 20 figures, submitted to MNRAS, comments welcom
Analysis of Seeing-Induced Polarization Cross-Talk and Modulation Scheme Performance
We analyze the generation of polarization cross-talk in Stokes polarimeters
by atmospheric seeing, and its effects on the noise statistics of
spectropolarimetric measurements for both single-beam and dual-beam
instruments. We investigate the time evolution of seeing-induced correlations
between different states of one modulation cycle, and compare the response to
these correlations of two popular polarization modulation schemes in a
dual-beam system. Extension of the formalism to encompass an arbitrary number
of modulation cycles enables us to compare our results with earlier work. Even
though we discuss examples pertinent to solar physics, the general treatment of
the subject and its fundamental results might be useful to a wider community.Comment: 33 pages, 7 figures; accepted in Astrophys.
Multiscale Analysis of the Gradient of Linear Polarisation
We propose a new multiscale method to calculate the amplitude of the gradient
of the linear polarisation vector using a wavelet-based formalism. We
demonstrate this method using a field of the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey
(CGPS) and show that the filamentary structure typically seen in gradients of
linear polarisation maps depends strongly on the instrumental resolution. Our
analysis reveals that different networks of filaments are present on different
angular scales. The wavelet formalism allows us to calculate the power spectrum
of the fluctuations seen in gradients of linear polarisation maps and to
determine the scaling behaviour of this quantity. The power spectrum is found
to follow a power law with gamma ~ 2.1. We identify a small drop in power
between scales of 80 < l < 300 arcmin, which corresponds well to the overlap in
the u-v plane between the Effelsberg 100-m telescope and the DRAO 26-m
telescope data. We suggest that this drop is due to undersampling present in
the 26-m telescope data. In addition, the wavelet coefficient distributions
show higher skewness on smaller scales than at larger scales. The spatial
distribution of the outliers in the tails of these distributions creates a
coherent subset of filaments correlated across multiple scales, which trace the
sharpest changes in the polarisation vector P within the field. We suggest that
these structures may be associated with highly compressive shocks in the
medium. The power spectrum of the field excluding these outliers shows a
steeper power law with gamma ~ 2.5.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure
The Quasar Pair Q 1634+267 A, B and the Binary QSO vs. Dark Lens Hypotheses
Deep HST/NICMOS H (F160W) band observations of the z=1.96 quasar pair Q
1634+267A,B reveal no signs of a lens galaxy to a 1 sigma threshold of
approximately 22.5 mag. The minimum luminosity for a normal lens galaxy would
be a 6L_* galaxy at z > 0.5, which is 650 times greater than our detection
threshold. Our observation constrains the infrared mass-to-light ratio of any
putative, early-type, lens galaxy to (M/L)_H > 690h_65 (1200h_65) for
Omega_0=0.1 (1.0) and H_0=65h_65 km/s/Mpc. We would expect to detect a galaxy
somewhere in the field because of the very strong Mg II absorption lines at
z=1.1262 in the Q 1634+267 A spectrum, but the HST H-band, I-band (F785LP) and
V-band (F555W) images require that any associated galaxy be very under-luminous
less than 0.1 L^*_H (1.0 L^*_I) if it lies within less than 40 h^{-1} (100
h^{-1}) kpc from Q 1634+267 A,B.
While the large image separation (3.86 arcsec) and the lack of a lens galaxy
strongly favor interpreting Q 1634+267A,B as a binary quasar system, the
spectral similarity remains a puzzle. We estimate that at most 0.06% of
randomly selected quasar pairs would have spectra as similar to each other as
the spectra of Q 1634+267 A and B. Moreover, spectral similarities observed for
the 14 quasar pairs are significantly greater than would be expected for an
equivalent sample of randomly selected field quasars. Depending on how strictly
we define similarity, we estimate that only 0.01--3% of randomly drawn samples
of 14 quasar pairs would have as many similar pairs as the observational
sample.Comment: 24 pages, including 4 figures, LaTex, ApJ accepted, comments from the
editor included, minor editorial change
A new analysis strategy for detection of faint gamma-ray sources with Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes
A new background rejection strategy for gamma-ray astrophysics with
stereoscopic Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT), based on Monte
Carlo (MC) simulations and real background data from the H.E.S.S. [High Energy
Stereoscopic System, see [1].] experiment, is described. The analysis is based
on a multivariate combination of both previously-known and newly-derived
discriminant variables using the physical shower properties, as well as its
multiple images, for a total of eight variables. Two of these new variables are
defined thanks to a new energy evaluation procedure, which is also presented
here. The method allows an enhanced sensitivity with the current generation of
ground-based Cherenkov telescopes to be achieved, and at the same time its main
features of rapidity and flexibility allow an easy generalization to any type
of IACT. The robustness against Night Sky Background (NSB) variations of this
approach is tested with MC simulated events. The overall consistency of the
analysis chain has been checked by comparison of the real gamma-ray signal
obtained from H.E.S.S. observations with MC simulations and through
reconstruction of known source spectra. Finally, the performance has been
evaluated by application to faint H.E.S.S. sources. The gain in sensitivity as
compared to the best standard Hillas analysis ranges approximately from 1.2 to
1.8 depending on the source characteristics, which corresponds to an economy in
observation time of a factor 1.4 to 3.2.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figure
On The Determination of MDI High-Degree Mode Frequencies
The characteristic of the solar acoustic spectrum is such that mode lifetimes
get shorter and spatial leaks get closer in frequency as the degree of a mode
increases for a given order. A direct consequence of this property is that
individual p-modes are only resolved at low and intermediate degrees, and that
at high degrees, individual modes blend into ridges. Once modes have blended
into ridges, the power distribution of the ridge defines the ridge central
frequency and it will mask the true underlying mode frequency. An accurate
model of the amplitude of the peaks that contribute to the ridge power
distribution is needed to recover the underlying mode frequency from fitting
the ridge.
We present the results of fitting high degree power ridges (up to l = 900)
computed from several two to three-month-long time-series of full-disk
observations taken with the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on-board the Solar
and Heliospheric Observatory between 1996 and 1999.
We also present a detailed discussion of the modeling of the ridge power
distribution, and the contribution of the various observational and
instrumental effects on the spatial leakage, in the context of the MDI
instrument. We have constructed a physically motivated model (rather than some
ad hoc correction scheme) resulting in a methodology that can produce an
unbiased determination of high-degree modes, once the instrumental
characteristics are well understood.
Finally, we present changes in high degree mode parameters with epoch and
thus solar activity level and discuss their significance.Comment: 59 pages, 38 figures -- High-resolution version at
http://www-sgk.harvard.edu:1080/~sylvain/preprints/ -- Manuscript submitted
to Ap
On-the-fly Data Assessment for High Throughput X-ray Diffraction Measurement
Investment in brighter sources and larger and faster detectors has
accelerated the speed of data acquisition at national user facilities. The
accelerated data acquisition offers many opportunities for discovery of new
materials, but it also presents a daunting challenge. The rate of data
acquisition far exceeds the current speed of data quality assessment, resulting
in less than optimal data and data coverage, which in extreme cases forces
recollection of data. Herein, we show how this challenge can be addressed
through development of an approach that makes routine data assessment automatic
and instantaneous. Through extracting and visualizing customized attributes in
real time, data quality and coverage, as well as other scientifically relevant
information contained in large datasets is highlighted. Deployment of such an
approach not only improves the quality of data but also helps optimize usage of
expensive characterization resources by prioritizing measurements of highest
scientific impact. We anticipate our approach to become a starting point for a
sophisticated decision-tree that optimizes data quality and maximizes
scientific content in real time through automation. With these efforts to
integrate more automation in data collection and analysis, we can truly take
advantage of the accelerating speed of data acquisition
The Second Swift BAT Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog
We present the second Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) catalog of gamma-ray
bursts (GRBs), which contains 476 bursts detected by the BAT between 2004
December 19 and 2009 December 21. This catalog (hereafter the BAT2 catalog)
presents burst trigger time, location, 90% error radius, duration, fluence,
peak flux, time-averaged spectral parameters and time-resolved spectral
parameters measured by the BAT. In the correlation study of various observed
parameters extracted from the BAT prompt emission data, we distinguish among
long-duration GRBs (L-GRBs), short-duration GRBs (S-GRBs), and short-duration
GRBs with extended emission (S-GRBs with E.E.) to investigate differences in
the prompt emission properties. The fraction of L-GRBs, S-GRBs and S-GRBs with
E.E. in the catalog are 89%, 8% and 2% respectively. We compare the BAT prompt
emission properties with the BATSE, BeppoSAX and HETE-2 GRB samples. We also
correlate the observed prompt emission properties with the redshifts for the
GRBs with known redshift. The BAT T90 and T50 durations peak at 70 s and 30 s,
respectively. We confirm that the spectra of the BAT S-GRBs are generally
harder than those of the L-GRBs. The time-averaged spectra of the BAT S-GRBs
with E.E. are similar to those of the L-GRBs. Whereas, the spectra of the
initial short spikes of the S-GRBs with E.E. are similar to those of the
S-GRBs. We show that the BAT GRB samples are significantly softer than the
BATSE bright GRBs, and that the time-averaged Epeak of the BAT GRBs peaks at 80
keV which is significantly lower energy than those of the BATSE sample which
peak at 320 keV. The time-averaged spectral properties of the BAT GRB sample
are similar to those of the HETE-2 GRB samples. By time-resolved spectral
analysis, we find that only 10% of the BAT observed photon indices are outside
the allowed region of the synchrotron shock model.Comment: 65 pages, 33 figures, 13 tables, Accepted in ApJS, Nine
machine-readable tables are available at
http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/results/bat2_catalog
- …