Spectral formation in a radiative shock: application to anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma-ray repeaters

In the fallback disk model for the persistent emission of Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs), the hard X-ray emission arises from bulk- and thermal Comptonization of bremsstrahlung photons, which are generated in the accretion column. The relatively low X-ray luminosity of these sources implies a moderate transverse optical depth to electron scattering, with photons executing a small number of shock crossings before escaping sideways. We explore the range of spectral shapes that can be obtained with this model and characterize the most important parameter dependencies. We use a Monte Carlo code to study the crisscrossing of photons in a radiative shock in an accretion column and compute the resulting spectrum. As expected, high-energy power-law X-ray spectra are produced in radiative shocks with photon-number spectral index larger than or about 0.5. We find that the required transverse optical depth is between 1 and 7. Such spectra are observed in low-luminosity X-ray pulsars. We demonstrate here with a simple model that Compton upscattering in the radiative shock in the accretion column can produce hard X-ray spectra similar to those seen in the persistent and transient emission of AXPs and SGRs. In particular, one can obtain a high-energy power-law spectrum, with photon-number spectral index ~ 1 and a cutoff at 100 - 200 keV, with a transverse Thomson optical depth of ~ 5, which is shown to be typical in AXPs/SGRs.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Solution of Massless Spin One Wave Equation in Robertson-Walker Space-time

We generalize the quantum spinor wave equation for photon into the curved space-time and discuss the solutions of this equation in Robertson-Walker space-time and compare them with the solution of the Maxwell equations in the same space-time.Comment: 16 Pages, Latex, no figures, An expanded version of paper published in International Journal of Modern Physics A, 17 (2002) 113

Genetic diversity and population structure of Turkish native cattle breeds

Cattle are an important livestock species for human life, but certain breeds are at risk of extinction. Maintaining genetic diversity plays an important role in sustainable breeding and conservation programmes in farm animals. The aim of this study was to determine genetic diversity among five Turkish native cattle breeds. A total of 199 Turkish native cattle of the Native Southern Yellow (n = 40), South Anatolian Red (n = 40), Anatolian Grey Cattle (n = 40), Native Black Cattle (n = 39) and East Anatolian Red (n = 40) breeds were investigated using 22 autosomal microsatellite markers. The analysis revealed considerable genetic variation among these breeds. All loci were polymorphic, and a total of 545 alleles were found. Among these loci, only INRA032 was at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Thirty-four private alleles with frequencies greater than 5% were found. Expected heterozygosity and polymorphic information content indexes were 0.87 and 0.88, respectively. Native Southern Yellow, South Anatolian Red and Native Black Cattle breeds were closely related.Keywords: animal genetic resources, microsatellite, genetic relationship, genetic conservatio

Image Analysis for Cystic Fibrosis: Computer-Assisted Airway Wall and Vessel Measurements from Low-Dose, Limited Scan Lung CT Images

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-limiting genetic disease that affects approximately 30,000 Americans. When compared to those of normal children, airways of infants and young children with CF have thicker walls and are more dilated in high-resolution computed tomographic (CT) imaging. In this study, we develop computer-assisted methods for assessment of airway and vessel dimensions from axial, limited scan CT lung images acquired at low pediatric radiation doses. Two methods (threshold- and model-based) were developed to automatically measure airway and vessel sizes for pairs identified by a user. These methods were evaluated on chest CT images from 16 pediatric patients (eight infants and eight children) with different stages of mild CF related lung disease. Results of threshold-based, corrected with regression analysis, and model-based approaches correlated well with both electronic caliper measurements made by experienced observers and spirometric measurements of lung function. While the model-based approach results correlated slightly better with the human measurements than those of the threshold method, a hybrid method, combining these two methods, resulted in the best results

Work function of a quasicrystal surface: Icosahedral Al–Pd–Mn

The work function of a surface is one of its most basic and influential features. It has long been recognized that work function controls thermionic and field emission. The work function of a solid surface affects charge transfer to or from an adsorbate. It influences the electron tunneling probability between surfaces. It plays a role in quantization of electron states parallel to the surface in metal-supported metallic nanoislands. There is also evidence linking the work function of a metal surface to its friction coefficient

Exact Solution of Photon Equation in Stationary G\"{o}del-type and G\"{o}del Space-Times

In this work the photon equation (massless Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau equation) is written expilicitly for general type of stationary G\"{o}del space-times and is solved exactly for G\"{o}del-type and G\"{o}del space-times. Harmonic oscillator behaviour of the solutions is discussed and energy spectrum of photon is obtained.Comment: 9 pages,RevTeX, no figure, revised for publicatio

The Effect of the Pairing Interaction on the Energies of Isobar Analog Resonances in 112−124^{112-124}Sb and Isospin Admixture in 100−124^{100-124}Sn Isotopes

In the present study, the effect of the pairing interaction and the isovector correlation between nucleons on the properties of the isobar analog resonances (IAR) in $^{112-124}$Sb isotopes and the isospin admixture in $^{100-124}$Sn isotopes is investigated within the framework of the quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA). The form of the interaction strength parameter is related to the shell model potential by restoring the isotopic invariance of the nuclear part of the total Hamiltonian. In this respect, the isospin admixtures in the $^{100-124}$Sn isotopes are calculated, and the dependence of the differential cross section and the volume integral $J_{F}$ for the Sn($^{3}$He,t)Sb reactions at E($^{3}$He)$=200$ MeV occurring by the excitation of IAR on mass number A is examined. Our results show that the calculated value for the isospin mixing in the $^{100}$Sn isotope is in good agreement with Colo et al.'s estimates $(4-5$, and the obtained values for the volume integral change within the error range of the value reported by Fujiwara et al. (53$\pm$5 MeV fm$^{3}$). Moreover, it is concluded that although the differential cross section of the isobar analog resonance for the ($^{3}$He,t) reactions is not sensitive to pairing correlations between nucleons, a considerable effect on the isospin admixtures in $N\approx Z$ isotopes can be seen with the presence of these correlations.Comment: 16 pages, 5 EPS figures and 2 tables, Late

Periodic step arrays on the aperiodic i-Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystal surface at high temperature

We have observed the configuration and motion of surface steps on the aperiodic icosahedral (i-) Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystal using low-energy electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. As the quasicrystal is cooled from high temperature, bulk vacancies migrate to the surface causing the surface to be etched. Surprisingly, this etching occurs by two types of steps with different heights moving in different directions with different velocities. The steady-state surface morphology is a uniformly spaced rhomboidal step network. This network requires that the layer stacking near the surface deviates from the bulk quasicrystal stacking

About curvature, conformal metrics and warped products

We consider the curvature of a family of warped products of two pseduo-Riemannian manifolds $(B,g_B)$ and $(F,g_F)$ furnished with metrics of the form $c^{2}g_B \oplus w^2 g_F$ and, in particular, of the type $w^{2 \mu}g_B \oplus w^2 g_F$, where $c, w \colon B \to (0,\infty)$ are smooth functions and $\mu$ is a real parameter. We obtain suitable expressions for the Ricci tensor and scalar curvature of such products that allow us to establish results about the existence of Einstein or constant scalar curvature structures in these categories. If $(B,g_B)$ is Riemannian, the latter question involves nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations with concave-convex nonlinearities and singular partial differential equations of the Lichnerowicz-York type among others.Comment: 32 pages, 3 figure