113 research outputs found
Long term flux variations in Cen X-3: clues from flux dependent orbital modulation and pulsed fraction
We have investigated the long term flux variation in Cen X-3 using orbital
modulation and pulsed fraction in different flux states using observations made
with the All Sky Monitor and the Proportional Counter Array on board the Rossi
X-ray Timing Explorer. In the high state, the eclipse ingress and egress are
found to be sharp whereas in the intermediate state the transitions are more
gradual. In the low state, instead of eclipse ingress and egress, the
lightcurve shows a smooth flux variation with orbital phase. The orbital
modulation of the X-ray lightcurve in the low state shows that the X-ray
emission observed in this state is from an extended object. The flux dependent
orbital modulations indicate that the different flux states of Cen X-3 are
primarily due to varying degree of obscuration. Measurement of the pulsed
fraction in different flux states is consistent with the X-ray emission of Cen
X-3 having one highly varying component with a constant pulsed fraction and an
unpulsed component and in the low state, the unpulsed component becomes
dominant. The observed X-ray emission in the low state is likely to be due to
scattering of X-rays from the stellar wind of the companion star. Though we can
not ascertain the origin and nature of the obscuring material that causes the
aperiodic long term flux variation, we point out that a precessing accretion
disk driven by radiative forces is a distinct possibility.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Paper accepted for publication in MNRA
On the tilting of protostellar disks by resonant tidal effects
We consider the dynamics of a protostellar disk surrounding a star in a
circular-orbit binary system. Our aim is to determine whether, if the disk is
initially tilted with respect to the plane of the binary orbit, the inclination
of the system will increase or decrease with time. The problem is formulated in
the binary frame in which the tidal potential of the companion star is static.
We consider a steady, flat disk that is aligned with the binary plane and
investigate its linear stability with respect to tilting or warping
perturbations. The dynamics is controlled by the competing effects of the m=0
and m=2 azimuthal Fourier components of the tidal potential. In the presence of
dissipation, the m=0 component causes alignment of the system, while the m=2
component has the opposite tendency. We find that disks that are sufficiently
large, in particular those that extend to their tidal truncation radii, are
generally stable and will therefore tend to alignment with the binary plane on
a time-scale comparable to that found in previous studies. However, the effect
of the m=2 component is enhanced in the vicinity of resonances where the outer
radius of the disk is such that the natural frequency of a global bending mode
of the disk is equal to twice the binary orbital frequency. Under such
circumstances, the disk can be unstable to tilting and acquire a warped shape,
even in the absence of dissipation. The outer radius corresponding to the
primary resonance is always smaller than the tidal truncation radius. For disks
smaller than the primary resonance, the m=2 component may be able to cause a
very slow growth of inclination through the effect of a near resonance that
occurs close to the disk center. We discuss these results in the light of
recent observations of protostellar disks in binary systems.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, to be published in the Astrophysical Journa
Changes in the long term intensity variations in Cyg X-2 and LMC X-3
We report the detection of changes in the long-term intensity variations in
two X-ray binaries, Cyg X-2 and LMC X-3. In this work, we have used the
long-term light curves obtained with the All-Sky Monitors (ASMs) of the Rossi
X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), Ginga, Ariel 5, and Vela 5B and the scanning
modulation collimator of HEAO 1. It is found that in the light curves of both
the sources, obtained with these instruments at various times over the last 30
years, more than one periodic or quasi-periodic component is always present.
The multiple prominent peaks in the periodograms have frequencies unrelated to
each other. In Cyg X-2, RXTE-ASM data show strong peaks at 40.4 and 68.8 days,
and Ginga-ASM data show strong peaks at 53.7 and 61.3 days. Multiple peaks are
also observed in LMC X-3. The various strong peaks in the periodograms of LMC
X-3 appear at 104, 169, and 216 days (observed with RXTE-ASM) and 105, 214, and
328 days (observed with Ginga-ASM). The present results, when compared with the
earlier observations of periodicities in these two systems, demonstrate the
absence of any stable long period. The 78 day periodicity detected earlier in
Cyg X-2 was probably due to the short time base in the RXTE data that were
used, and the periodicity of 198 days in LMC X-3 was due to a relatively short
duration of observation with HEAO 1.Comment: 11 pages, 7 postscript figures include
A new clue to the transition mechanism between optical high and low states of the supersoft X-ray source RX J0513.9-6951, implied from the recurrent nova CI Aquilae 2000 outburst model
We have found a new clue to the transition mechanism between optical
high/X-ray off and optical low/X-ray on states of the LMC supersoft X-ray
source RX J0513.9-6951. A sharp ~1 mag drop is common to the CI Aql 2000
outburst. These drops are naturally attributed to cessation of optically thick
winds on white dwarfs. A detailed light-curve analysis of CI Aql indicates that
the size of a disk drastically shrinks when the wind stops. This causes ~1-2
mag drop in the optical light curve. In RX J0513.9-6951, the same mechanism
reproduces sharp ~1 mag drop from optical high to low states. We predict this
mechanism also works on the transition from low to high states. Interaction
between the wind and the companion star attenuates the mass transfer and drives
full cycles of low and high states.Comment: 9 pages including 5 figures, to appear in the Astrophysical Journa
Six supersoft X-ray binaries: system parameters and twin-jet outflows
A comparison is made between the properties of CAL 83, CAL 87, RX
J0513.9-6951, 1E 0035.4-7230 (SMC 13), RX J0019.8+2156, and RX J0925.7-4758,
all supersoft X-ray binaries. Spectra with the same resolution and wavelength
coverage of these systems are compared and contrasted. Some new photometry is
also presented. The equivalent widths of the principal emission lines of H and
He II differ by more than an order of magnitude among these sources, although
those of the highest ionization lines (e.g. O VI) are very similar. In
individual systems, the velocity curves derived from various ions often differ
in phasing and amplitude, but those whose phasing is consistent with the light
curves (implying the lines are formed near the compact star) give masses of
and for the degenerate and mass-losing
stars, respectively. This finding is in conflict with currently prevailing
theoretical models for supersoft binaries. The three highest luminosity sources
show evidence of "jet" outflows, with velocities of .
In CAL 83 the shape of the He II 4686\AA profile continues to show evidence
that these jets may precess with a period of days.Comment: 27 pages including 5 tables, plus 6 figures. To appear in Ap
Col-Graph: Towards Writable and Scalable Linked Open Data
International audienceLinked Open Data faces severe issues of scalability, availability and data quality. these issues are observed by data consumers performing federated queries; SPARQL endpoints do not respond and results can be wrong or out-of-date. If a data consumer finds an error, how can she fix it? This raises the issue of the writability of Linked Data. In this paper, we devise aan extension of the federation of Linked Data to data consumers. A data consumer can make partial copies of different datasets and make them available through a SPARQL endpoint. A data consumer can update her local copy and share updates with data providers and consumers. Update sharing improves general data quality, and replicated data creates opportunities for federated query engines to improve availability. However, when updates occur in an uncontrolled way, consistency issues arise. In this paper, we define fragments as SPARQL CONSTRUCT queries and propose a correction criterion to maintain these fragments incrementally without reevaluating the query. We define a coordination free protocol based on the counting of triples derivations and provenance. We analyze the theoretical complexity of the protocol in time, space and traffic. Experimental results suggest the scalability of our approach
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