517 research outputs found
Proper Motions in the Andromeda Subgroup
This article presents results of VLBI observations of regions of H2O maser
activity in the Local Group galaxies M33 and IC10. Since all position
measurements were made relative to extragalactic background sources, the proper
motions of the two galaxies could be measured. For M33, this provides this
galaxy's three dimensional velocity, showing that this galaxy is moving with a
velocity of 190 +/- 59 km\s relative to the Milky Way. For IC10, we obtain a
motion of 215 +/- 42 km/s relative to the Milky Way. These measurements promise
a new handle on dynamical models for the Local Group and the mass and dark
matter halo of Andromeda and the Milky Way.Comment: 4 pages 1 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "Galaxies in the
Local Volume", Astrophysics and Space Science, editors B. Koribalski and H.
Jerjen also available at
http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/staff/abrunthaler/pub.shtm
The energy dependence of the pp->K+ n Sigma+ reaction close to threshold
The production of the Sigma+ hyperon through the pp->K+nSigma+ reaction has
been investigated at four energies close to threshold, 1.826, 1.920, 1.958, and
2.020 GeV. At low energies, correlated K+pi+ pairs can only originate from
Sigma+ production so that their measurement allows the total cross section for
the reaction to be determined. The results obtained are completely consistent
with the values extracted from the study of the K+-proton correlation spectra
obtained in the same experiment. These spectra, as well as the inclusive K+
momentum distributions, also provide conservative upper limits on the Sigma+
production rates. The measurements show a Sigma+ production cross section that
varies roughly like phase space and, in particular, none of the three
experimental approaches used supports the anomalously high near-threshold
pp->K+ nSigma+ total cross section previously reported [T. Rozek et al., Phys.
Lett. B 643, 251 (2006)].Comment: Submitted to PR
Brief Communication: Newly developing rift in Larsen C Ice Shelf presents significant risk to stability
An established rift in the Larsen C Ice Shelf, formerly constrained by a suture zone containing marine ice, grew rapidly during 2014 and is likely in the near future to generate the largest calving event since the 1980s and result in a new minimum area for the ice shelf. Here we investigate the recent development of the rift, quantify the projected calving event and, using a numerical model, assess its likely impact on ice shelf stability. We find that the ice front is at risk of becoming unstable when the anticipated calving event occurs
Measurement of the isospin-filtering dd -> 4He K+ K- reaction at Q=39 MeV
The total cross section for the dd -> 4He K+ K- reaction has been measured at
a beam momentum of 3.7 GeV/c, corresponding to an excess energy of 39 MeV,
which is the maximum possible at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY-J\"{u}lich. A
deuterium cluster-jet target and the ANKE forward magnetic spectrometer, placed
inside the storage ring, have been employed in this investigation. We find a
total cross section of sigma(tot) < 14 pb, which brings into question the
viability of investigating the dd -> 4He a0(980) reaction as a means of
studying isospin violation.Comment: Five pages with three eps figure
New determination of the mass of the eta meson at COSY-ANKE
A value for the mass of the eta meson has been determined at the COSY-ANKE
facility through the measurement of a set of deuteron laboratory beam momenta
and associated 3He center-of-mass momenta in the d+p -> 3He+X reaction. The eta
was then identified by the missing-mass peak and the production threshold
determined. The individual beam momenta were fixed with a relative precision of
3 x 10^-5 for values around 3 GeV/c by using a polarized deuteron beam and
inducing an artificial depolarizing spin resonance, which occurs at a
well-defined frequency. The final-state momenta in the two-body d+p -> 3He+eta
reaction were investigated in detail by studying the size of the 3He momentum
ellipse with the forward detection system of the ANKE spectrometer. Final
alignment of the spectrometer for this high precision experiment was achieved
through a comprehensive study of the 3He final-state momenta as a function of
the center-of-mass angles, taking advantage of the full geometrical acceptance.
The value obtained for the mass, m(eta)=(547.873 +- 0.005(stat) +- 0.027(syst))
MeV/c^2, is consistent and competitive with other recent measurements, in which
the meson was detected through its decay products.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, published versio
Measurement of the analyzing powers in pd elastic and pn quasi-elastic scattering at small angles
The analyzing powers in proton-deuteron elastic and proton-neutron
quasi-elastic scattering have been measured at small angles using a polarized
proton beam at the COSY storage ring incident on an unpolarized deuterium
target. The data were taken at 796MeV and five higher energies from 1600MeV to
2400MeV. The analyzing power in pd elastic scattering was studied by detecting
the low energy recoil deuteron in telescopes placed symmetrically in the COSY
plane to the left and right of the beam whereas for pn quasi-elastic scattering
a low energy proton was registered in one of the telescopes in coincidence with
a fast scattered proton measured in the ANKE magnetic spectrometer. Though the
experiment explores new domains, the results are consistent with the limited
published information.Comment: 10 pages with 8 figure
Kaon Pair Production in Proton--Proton Collisions
The differential and total cross sections for kaon pair production in the
pp->ppK+K- reaction have been measured at three beam energies of 2.65, 2.70,
and 2.83 GeV using the ANKE magnetic spectrometer at the COSY-Juelich
accelerator. These near-threshold data are separated into pairs arising from
the decay of the phi-meson and the remainder. For the non-phi selection, the
ratio of the differential cross sections in terms of the K-p and K+p invariant
masses is strongly peaked towards low masses. This effect can be described
quantitatively by using a simple ansatz for the K-p final state interaction,
where it is seen that the data are sensitive to the magnitude of an effective
K-p scattering length. When allowance is made for a small number of phi events
where the K- rescatters from the proton, the phi region is equally well
described at all three energies. A very similar phenomenon is discovered in the
ratio of the cross sections as functions of the K-pp and K+pp invariant masses
and the identical final state interaction model is also very successful here.
The world data on the energy dependence of the non-phi total cross section is
also reproduced, except possibly for the results closest to threshold.Comment: 12 two-column pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl
Absence of spin dependence in the final state interaction of the d(pol) p --> 3He eta reaction
The deuteron tensor analysing power t_{20} of the d(pol) p --> 3He eta
reaction has been measured at the COSY-ANKE facility in small steps in excess
energy Q up to Q = 11 MeV. Despite the square of the production amplitude
varying by over a factor of five through this range, t_{20} shows little or no
energy dependence. This is evidence that the final state interaction causing
the energy variation is not influenced by the spin configuration in the
entrance channel. The weak angular dependence observed for t_{20} provides
useful insight into the amplitude structure near threshold.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
MG1-688432: A Peculiar Variable System
The short period variable star MG1-688432 has been discovered to exhibit
occasional extremely high energy optical outbursts as high as 10^31 joules.
Outbursts are typically of several hours duration. These events are often
highly structured, resembling sequential associated releases of energy. Twenty
years of time sequence photometry is presented, indicating a basic sinusoidal
light curve of mean period 6.65d, with some phase shifting and long-term
temporal trends in amplitude and mean brightness. Spectroscopy reveals a
peculiar star, best resembling a K3 subgiant that has evolved off the main
sequence moderately red-ward of the giant branch. Spectroscopic and radial
velocity analyses indicate a binary system orbiting its barycenter with an
unseen companion to the K3IV primary. This is not an eclipsing system with the
inclination of the orbit precluding eclipse by the secondary. The system is at
a distance of 1.5kpc and analysis of GAIA observations leads to the conclusion
that the HR diagram position of MG1-688432 is established by an intrinsic
feature of the system, most likely either the stellar evolutionary state of the
observed star or the presence of small (non-gray) dust within the system. Two
mechanisms that might give rise to the system are 1) impacts with tidally
disrupted planetary debris, and 2) magnetically induced chromospheric activity.
An intriguing idea that requires further investigation suggests that the unseen
companion is perhaps a white dwarf star which has encountered a planet and
tidally shredded it to produce a debris and dust veil that modulates the
brightness of the primary.Comment: 74 pages, 36 figures, submitted to Astrophysical Journal Supplemen
The production of K+K- pairs in proton-proton collisions at 2.83 GeV
Differential and total cross sections for the pp -> ppK+K- reaction have been
measured at a proton beam energy of 2.83 GeV using the COSY-ANKE magnetic
spectrometer. Detailed model descriptions fitted to a variety of
one-dimensional distributions permit the separation of the pp -> pp phi cross
section from that of non-phi production. The differential spectra show that
higher partial waves represent the majority of the pp -> pp phi total cross
section at an excess energy of 76 MeV, whose energy dependence would then seem
to require some s-wave phi-p enhancement near threshold. The non-phi data can
be described in terms of the combined effects of two-body final state
interactions using the same effective scattering parameters determined from
lower energy data.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 3 table
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