Using the X-ray Emission Lines of Seyfert 2 AGN to Measure Abundance Ratios

We measure the metal abundance ratios in the X-ray photoionized gas located near the narrow line region of a sample of Seyfert 2 AGN. The high-resolution X-ray spectra observed with the Chandra high- and low-energy transmission grating spectrometers are compared with models of the resonant scattering and recombination emission from a plasma in thermal balance, and with multiple temperature zones. The abundance ratios in the sample are close to the Solar values, with slight over-abundances of N in NGC 1068, and of Ne in NGC 4151. Our X-ray spectral models use fewer degrees of freedom than previous works.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the proceedings of the conference "Multiwavelenth AGN Surveys", held in Cozumel, Mexico, December 200

Theory of Weak Localization in Ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As

We study quantum interference corrections to the conductivity in (Ga,Mn)As ferromagnetic semiconductors using a model with disordered valence band holes coupled to localized Mn moments through a p-d kinetic-exchange interaction. We find that at Mn concentrations above 1% quantum interference corrections lead to negative magnetoresistance, i.e. to weak localization (WL) rather than weak antilocalization (WAL). Our work highlights key qualitative differences between (Ga,Mn)As and previously studied toy model systems, and pinpoints the mechanism by which exchange splitting in the ferromagnetic state converts valence band WAL into WL. We comment on recent experimental studies and theoretical analyses of low-temperature magnetoresistance in (Ga,Mn)As which have been variously interpreted as implying both WL and WAL and as requiring an impurity-band interpretation of transport in metallic (Ga,Mn)As.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

Kondo Temperature in Multilevel Quantum Dots

We develop a general method to evaluate the Kondo temperature in a multilevel quantum dot that is weakly coupled to conducting leads. Our theory reveals that the Kondo temperature is strongly enhanced when the intradot energy-level spacing is comparable to or smaller than the charging energy. We propose an experiment to test our result, which consists of measuring the size-dependence of the Kondo temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure and supplementary material. Revised and improved version, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Atomic X-Ray Spectra of Accretion Disk Atmospheres in the Kerr Metric

We calculate the atmospheric structure of an accretion disk around a Kerr black hole and obtain its X-ray spectrum, which exhibits prominent atomic transitions under certain circumstances. The gravitational and Doppler (red)shifts of the C V, C VI, O VII, O VIII, and Fe I-XXVI emission lines are observable in active galaxies. We quantify the line emissivities as a function of radius, to identify the effects of atmospheric structure, and to determine the usefulness of these lines for probing the disk energetics. The line emissivities do not always scale linearly with the incident radiative energy, as in the case of Fe XXV and Fe XXVI. Our model incorporates photoionization and thermal balance for the plasma, the hydrostatic approximation perpendicular to the plane of the disk, and general relativistic tidal forces. We include radiative recombination rates, fluorescence yields, Compton scattering, and photoelectric opacities for the most abundant elements.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the Proc. of the 10th Marcel Grossmann Meeting on General Relativity, World Scientific, Rio de Janeiro, July 20-26, 200

Non-Adiabatic Spin Transfer Torque in Real Materials

The motion of simple domain walls and of more complex magnetic textures in the presence of a transport current is described by the Landau-Lifshitz-Slonczewski (LLS) equations. Predictions of the LLS equations depend sensitively on the ratio between the dimensionless material parameter $\beta$ which characterizes non-adiabatic spin-transfer torques and the Gilbert damping parameter $\alpha$. This ratio has been variously estimated to be close to 0, close to 1, and large compared to 1. By identifying $\beta$ as the influence of a transport current on $\alpha$, we derive a concise, explicit and relatively simple expression which relates $\beta$ to the band structure and Bloch state lifetimes of a magnetic metal. Using this expression we demonstrate that intrinsic spin-orbit interactions lead to intra-band contributions to $\beta$ which are often dominant and can be (i) estimated with some confidence and (ii) interpreted using the "breathing Fermi surface" model.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

Resonant Scattering and Recombination in CAL 87

The eclipsing supersoft X-ray binary CAL 87 has been observed with Chandra on August 13/14, 2001 for nearly 100 ksec, covering two full orbital cycles and three eclipses. The shape of the eclipse light curve derived from the zeroth-order photons indicates that the size of the X-ray emission region is about 1.5 solar radii. The ACIS/LETG spectrum is completely dominated by emission lines without any noticeable continuum. The brightest emission lines are significantly redshifted and double-peaked, suggestive of emanating in a 2000 km/s wind. We model the X-ray spectrum by a mixture of recombination and resonant scattering. This allows us to deduce the temperature and luminosity of the ionizing source to be kT = 50-100 eV and L_X = 5E37 erg/s.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of IAU Coll. 194 "Compact binaries in the Galaxy and beyond" (Rev. Mex. A&A Conf. Series), eds. G. Tovmassian and E. Sio

Reprocessing of Soft X-ray Emission Lines in Black Hole Accretion Disks

By means of a Monte Carlo code that accounts for Compton scattering and photoabsorption followed by recombination, we have investigated the radiation transfer of Ly alpha, He alpha, and recombination continua photons of H- and He-like C, N, O, and Ne produced in the photoionized atmosphere of a relativistic black hole accretion disk. We find that photoelectric opacity causes significant attenuation of photons with energies above the O VIII K-edge; that the conversion efficiencies of these photons into lower-energy lines and recombination continua are high; and that accounting for this reprocessing significantly (by factors of 21% to 105%) increases the flux of the Ly alpha and He alpha emission lines of H- and He-like C and O escaping the disk atmosphere.Comment: 4 pages including 4 encapsulated postscript figures; LaTeX format, uses aastex.cls and emulateapj5.sty; accepted on 2004 January 13 for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Soliton Solutions with Real Poles in the Alekseev formulation of the Inverse-Scattering method

A new approach to the inverse-scattering technique of Alekseev is presented which permits real-pole soliton solutions of the Ernst equations to be considered. This is achieved by adopting distinct real poles in the scattering matrix and its inverse. For the case in which the electromagnetic field vanishes, some explicit solutions are given using a Minkowski seed metric. The relation with the corresponding soliton solutions that can be constructed using the Belinskii-Zakharov inverse-scattering technique is determined.Comment: 8 pages, LaTe