On the consistency of neutron-star radius measurements from thermonuclear bursts

The radius of neutron stars can in principle be measured via the normalisation of a blackbody fitted to the X-ray spectrum during thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray bursts, although few previous studies have addressed the reliability of such measurements. Here we examine the apparent radius in a homogeneous sample of long, mixed H/He bursts from the low-mass X-ray binaries GS 1826-24 and KS 1731-26. The measured blackbody normalisation (proportional to the emitting area) in these bursts is constant over a period of up to 60s in the burst tail, even though the flux (blackbody temperature) decreased by a factor of 60-75% (30-40%). The typical rms variation in the mean normalisation from burst to burst was 3-5%, although a variation of 17% was found between bursts observed from GS 1826-24 in two epochs. A comparison of the time-resolved spectroscopic measurements during bursts from the two epochs shows that the normalisation evolves consistently through the burst rise and peak, but subsequently increases further in the earlier epoch bursts. The elevated normalisation values may arise from a change in the anisotropy of the burst emission, or alternatively variations in the spectral correction factor, f_c, of order 10%. Since burst samples observed from systems other than GS 1826-24 are more heterogeneous, we expect that systematic uncertainties of at least 10% are likely to apply generally to measurements of neutron-star radii, unless the effects described here can be corrected for.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures; accepted by Ap

Finite element simulation of high speed micro milling in the presence of tool run-out with experimental validations

Micro milling process of CuZn37 brass is considered important due to applications in tool production for micro moulding and micro replication technology. The variations in material properties, work material adhesion to tool surfaces, burr formation, and tool wear result in loss of productivity. The deformed chip shapes together with localized temperature, plastic strain, and cutting forces during micro milling process can be predicted using finite element (FE) modeling and simulation. However, toolworkpiece engagement suffers from tool run-out affecting process performance in surface generation. This work provides experimental investigations on effects of tool run-out as well as process insight obtained from simulation of chip flow, with and without considering tool run-out. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation of the 3D chip shapes demonstrates ductile deformed surfaces together with localized serration behavior. FE simulations are utilized to investigate the effects of micro milling operation, cutting speed, and feed rate on forces, chip flow, and shapes. Predicted cutting forces and chip flow results from simulations are compared with force measurements, tool run-out, and chip morphology revealing reasonable agreements

Models of hydrostatic magnetar atmospheres at high luminosities

We investigate the possibility of Photospheric Radius Expansion (PRE) during magnetar bursts. Identification of PRE would enable a determination of the magnetic Eddington limit (which depends on field strength and neutron star mass and radius), and shed light on the burst mechanism. To do this we model hydrostatic atmospheres in a strong radial magnetic field, determining both their maximum extent and photospheric temperatures. We find that spatially-extended atmospheres cannot exist in such a field configuration: typical maximum extent for magnetar-strength fields is ~10 m (as compared to 200 km in the non-magnetic case). Achieving balance of gravitational and radiative forces over a large range of radii, which is critical to the existence of extended atmospheres, is rendered impossible in strong fields due to the dependence of opacities on temperature and field strength. We conclude that high luminosity bursts in magnetars do not lead to expansion and cooling of the photosphere, as in the non-magnetic case. We also find the maximum luminosity that can propagate through a hydrostatic magnetar atmosphere to be lower than previous estimates. The proximity and small extent of the photospheres associated with the two different polarization modes also calls into question the interpretation of two blackbody fits to magnetar burst spectra as being due to extended photospheres.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 14 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Chandra and RXTE Observations of 1E 1547.0-5408: Comparing the 2008 and 2009 Outbursts

We present results from observations of the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 (SGR J1550-5418) taken with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) following the source's outbursts in 2008 October and 2009 January. During the time span of the Chandra observations, which covers days 4 through 23 and days 2 through 16 after the 2008 and 2009 events, respectively, the source spectral shape remained stable, while the pulsar's spin-down rate in the same span in 2008 increased by a factor of 2.2 as measured by RXTE. The lack of spectral variation suggests decoupling between magnetar spin-down and radiative changes, hence between the spin-down-inferred magnetic field strength and that inferred spectrally. We also found a strong anti-correlation between the phase-averaged flux and the pulsed fraction in the 2008 and 2009 Chandra data, but not in the pre-2008 measurements. We discuss these results in the context of the magnetar model.Comment: 4 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Process simulations for 3D turning using uniform and variable microgeometry PCBN tools

In this paper, uniform and variable edge microgeometry design inserts are utilised and tested for 3D turning process. In 3D tool engagement with workpiece, thickness of the chip varies from a maximum equal to the feed rate (at primary cutting edge) to a minimum on the tool's corner radius (at trailing cutting edge). The ideal tool edge preparation should posses a variable configuration which has larger edge radius at the primary cutting edge than at the trailing cutting edge. Here the key parameter is the ratio of uncut chip thickness to edge radius. If a proper ratio is chosen for given cutting conditions, a variable cutting edge along the corner radius can be designed or 'engineered'. In this study, Finite Element Modelling (FEM)-based 3D process simulations are utilised to predict forces and temperatures on various uniform and variable edge microgeometry tools. Predicted forces are compared with experiments. The temperature distributions on the tool demonstrate the advantages of variable edge microgeometry design. © 2008, Inderscience Publishers

Current clinician perspective on non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant use in challenging clinical cases.

OBJECTIVE: The evolution of non-vitamin K antagonist anticoagulants (NOACs) has changed the horizon of stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (SPAF). All 4 NOACs have been tested against dose-adjusted warfarin in well-designed, pivotal, phase III, randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) and were approved by regulatory authorities for an SPAF indication. However, as traditional RCTs, these trials have important weaknesses, largely related to their complex structure and patient participation, which was limited by strict inclusion and extensive exclusion criteria. In the real world, however, clinicians are often faced with complex, multimorbid patients who are underrepresented in these RCTs. This article is based on a meeting report authored by 12 scientists studying atrial fibrillation (AF) in diverse ways who discussed the management of challenging AF cases that are underrepresented in pivotal NOAC trials. METHODS: An advisory board panel was convened to confer on management strategies for challenging AF cases. The article is derived from a summary of case presentations and the collaborative discussions at the meeting. CONCLUSION: This expert consensus of cardiologists aimed to define management strategies for challenging cases with patients who underrepresented in pivotal trials using case examples from their routine practice. Although strong evidence is lacking, exploratory subgroup analysis of phase III pivotal trials partially informs the management of these patients. Clinical trials with higher external validity are needed to clarify areas of uncertainty. The lack of clear evidence about complex AF cases has pushed clinicians to manage patients based on clinical experience, including rare situations of off-label prescriptions

Constraining Parity Violation in Gravity with Measurements of Neutron-Star Moments of Inertia

Neutron stars are sensitive laboratories for testing general relativity, especially when considering deviations where velocities are relativistic and gravitational fields are strong. One such deviation is described by dynamical, Chern-Simons modified gravity, where the Einstein-Hilbert action is modified through the addition of the gravitational parity-violating Pontryagin density coupled to a field. This four-dimensional effective theory arises naturally both in perturbative and non-perturbative string theory, loop quantum gravity, and generic effective field theory expansions. We calculate here Chern-Simons modifications to the properties and gravitational fields of slowly spinning neutron stars. We find that the Chern-Simons correction affects only the gravitomagnetic sector of the metric to leading order, thus introducing modifications to the moment of inertia but not to the mass-radius relation. We show that an observational determination of the moment of inertia to an accuracy of 10%, as is expected from near-future observations of the double pulsar, will place a constraint on the Chern-Simons coupling constant of \xi^{1/4} < 5 km, which is at least three-orders of magnitude stronger than the previous strongest bound.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, replaced with version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Electromagnetic extraction of energy from black hole-neutron star binaries

The coalescence of black hole-neutron star binaries is expected to be a principal source of gravitational waves for the next generation of detectors, Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. Ideally, these and other gravitational wave sources would have a distinct electromagnetic counterpart, as significantly more information could be gained through two separate channels. In addition, since these detectors will probe distances with non-negligible redshift, a coincident observation of an electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave signal would facilitate a novel measurement of dark energy [1]. For black hole masses not much larger than the neutron star mass, the tidal disruption and subsequent accretion of the neutron star by the black hole provides one avenue for generating an electromagnetic counterpart [2]. However, in this work, we demonstrate that, for all black hole-neutron star binaries observable by Advanced LIGO/Virgo, the interaction of the black hole with the magnetic field of the neutron star will drive a Poynting flux. This Poynting flux generates synchrotron/curvature radiation as the electron-positron plasma in the neutron star magnetosphere is accel- erated, and thermal radiation as the plasma is focused onto the neutron star magnetic poles, creating a "hot spot" on the neutron star surface. This novel effect will gener- ate copious luminosity, comparable to supernovae and active galactic nuclei, so that black hole-neutron star coalescences detectable with gravitational waves by Advanced LIGO/Virgo could also potentially be detectable electromagnetically.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Natur

Absorption features in the spectra of X-ray bursting neutron stars

The discovery of photospheric absorption lines in XMM-Newton spectra of the X-ray bursting neutron star in EXO0748-676 by Cottam and collaborators allows us to constrain the neutron star mass-radius ratio from the measured gravitational redshift. A radius of R=9-12km for a plausible mass range of M=1.4-1.8Msun was derived by these authors. It has been claimed that the absorption features stem from gravitationally redshifted (z=0.35) n=2-3 lines of H- and He-like iron. We investigate this identification and search for alternatives. We compute LTE and non-LTE neutron-star model atmospheres and detailed synthetic spectra for a wide range of effective temperatures (effective temperatures of 1 - 20MK) and different chemical compositions. We are unable to confirm the identification of the absorption features in the X-ray spectrum of EXO0748-676 as n=2-3 lines of H- and He-like iron (Fe XXVI and Fe XXV). These are subordinate lines that are predicted by our models to be too weak at any effective temperature. It is more likely that the strongest feature is from the n=2-3 resonance transition in Fe XXIV with a redshift of z=0.24. Adopting this value yields a larger neutron star radius, namely R=12-15km for the mass range M=1.4-1.8Msun, favoring a stiff equation-of-state and excluding mass-radius relations based on exotic matter. Combined with an estimate of the stellar radius R>12.5km from the work of Oezel and collaborators, the z=0.24 value provides a minimum neutron-star mass of M>1.48Msun, instead of M>1.9Msun, when assuming z=0.35.Comment: 8 pages, 17 figure

Quark matter in compact stars?

Ozel, in a recent reanalysis of EXO 0748-676 observational data (astro-ph/0605106), concluded that quark matter probably does not exist in the center of compact stars. We show that the data is actually consistent with the presence of quark matter in compact stars.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX; New title and overall rewrite to reflect version published in Nature. Conclusions unchange