4,088 research outputs found
On the Nature of MeV-blazars
Broad-band spectra of the FSRQ (flat-spectrum-radio quasars) detected in the
high energy gamma-ray band imply that there may be two types of such objects:
those with steep gamma-ray spectra, hereafter called MeV-blazars, and those
with flat gamma-ray spectra, GeV-blazars. We demonstrate that this difference
can be explained in the context of the ERC (external-radiation-Compton) model
using the same electron injection function. A satisfactory unification is
reachable, provided that: (a) spectra of GeV-blazars are produced by internal
shocks formed at the distances where cooling of relativistic electrons in a jet
is dominated by Comptonization of broad emission lines, whereas spectra of
MeV-blazars are produced at the distances where cooling of relativistic
electrons is dominated by Comptonization of near-IR radiation from hot dust;
(b) electrons are accelerated via a two step process and their injection
function takes the form of a double power-law, with the break corresponding to
the threshold energy for the diffusive shock acceleration. Direct predictions
of our model are that, on average, variability time scales of the MeV-blazars
should be longer than variability time scales of the GeV-blazars, and that both
types of the blazar phenomenon can appear in the same object.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
On the variation in crack-opening stresses at different locations in a three-dimensional body
Crack propagation and closure behavior of thin, and thick middle crack tension specimens under constant amplitude loading were investigated using a three dimensional elastic plastic finite element analysis of fatigue crack propagation and closure. In the thin specimens the crack front closed first on the exterior (free) surface and closed last in the interior during the unloading portion of cyclic loading; a load reduced displacement technique was used to determine crack opening stresses at specified locations in the plate from the displacements calculated after the seven cycle. All the locations were on the plate external surface and were located near the crack tip, behind the crack tip, at the centerline of the crack. With this technique, the opening stresses at the specified points were found to be 0.52, 0.42, and 0.39 times the maximum applied stress
Exact solution of the Zeeman effect in single-electron systems
Contrary to popular belief, the Zeeman effect can be treated exactly in
single-electron systems, for arbitrary magnetic field strengths, as long as the
term quadratic in the magnetic field can be ignored. These formulas were
actually derived already around 1927 by Darwin, using the classical picture of
angular momentum, and presented in their proper quantum-mechanical form in 1933
by Bethe, although without any proof. The expressions have since been more or
less lost from the literature; instead, the conventional treatment nowadays is
to present only the approximations for weak and strong fields, respectively.
However, in fusion research and other plasma physics applications, the magnetic
fields applied to control the shape and position of the plasma span the entire
region from weak to strong fields, and there is a need for a unified treatment.
In this paper we present the detailed quantum-mechanical derivation of the
exact eigenenergies and eigenstates of hydrogen-like atoms and ions in a static
magnetic field. Notably, these formulas are not much more complicated than the
better-known approximations. Moreover, the derivation allows the value of the
electron spin gyromagnetic ratio to be different from 2. For
completeness, we then review the details of dipole transitions between two
hydrogenic levels, and calculate the corresponding Zeeman spectrum. The various
approximations made in the derivation are also discussed in details.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Physica Script
Does the Blazar Gamma-Ray Spectrum Harden with Increasing Flux? Analysis of 9 Years of EGRET Data
The Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma-Ray
Observatory (CGRO) discovered gamma-ray emission from more than 67 blazars
during its 9 yr lifetime. We conducted an exhaustive search of the EGRET
archives and selected all the blazars that were observed multiple times and
were bright enough to enable a spectral analysis using standard power-law
models. The sample consists of 18 flat-spectrum radio quasars(FSRQs), 6
low-frequency peaked BL Lac objects (LBLs) and 2 high-frequency peaked BL Lac
objects (HBLs). We do not detect any clear pattern in the variation of spectral
index with flux. Some of the blazars do not show any statistical evidence for
spectral variability. The spectrum hardens with increasing flux in a few cases.
There is also evidence for a flux-hardness anticorrelation at low fluxes in
five blazars. The well-observed blazars (3C 279, 3C 273, PKS 0528+134, PKS
1622-297 PKS 0208-512) do not show any overall trend in the long-term spectral
dependence on flux, but the sample shows a mixture of hard and soft states. We
observed a previously unreported spectral hysteresis at weekly timescales in
all three FSRQs for which data from flares lasting for ~(3-4) weeks were
available. All three sources show a counterclockwise rotation, despite the
widely different flux profiles. We analyze the observed spectral behavior in
the context of various inverse Compton mechanisms believed to be responsible
for emission in the EGRET energy range. Our analysis uses the EGRET skymaps
that were regenerated to include the changes in performance during the mission
COMPTEL Observations of AGN at MeV-Energies
The COMPTEL experiment aboard CGRO, exploring the previously unknown sky at
MeV-energies, has so far detected 10 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN): 9 blazars
and the radio galaxy Centaurus A. No Seyfert galaxy has been found yet. With
these results COMPTEL has opened the field of extragalactic Gamma-ray astronomy
in the MeV-band.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures including 1 color plot, to appear in the
Proceedings of the 3rd INTEGRAL Workshop "The Extreme Universe", held in
Taormina, Italy, 14-18 September 199
Spaceborne radar observations: A guide for Magellan radar-image analysis
Geologic analyses of spaceborne radar images of Earth are reviewed and summarized with respect to detecting, mapping, and interpreting impact craters, volcanic landforms, eolian and subsurface features, and tectonic landforms. Interpretations are illustrated mostly with Seasat synthetic aperture radar and shuttle-imaging-radar images. Analogies are drawn for the potential interpretation of radar images of Venus, with emphasis on the effects of variation in Magellan look angle with Venusian latitude. In each landform category, differences in feature perception and interpretive capability are related to variations in imaging geometry, spatial resolution, and wavelength of the imaging radar systems. Impact craters and other radially symmetrical features may show apparent bilateral symmetry parallel to the illumination vector at low look angles. The styles of eruption and the emplacement of major and minor volcanic constructs can be interpreted from morphological features observed in images. Radar responses that are governed by small-scale surface roughness may serve to distinguish flow types, but do not provide unambiguous information. Imaging of sand dunes is rigorously constrained by specific angular relations between the illumination vector and the orientation and angle of repose of the dune faces, but is independent of radar wavelength. With a single look angle, conditions that enable shallow subsurface imaging to occur do not provide the information necessary to determine whether the radar has recorded surface or subsurface features. The topographic linearity of many tectonic landforms is enhanced on images at regional and local scales, but the detection of structural detail is a strong function of illumination direction. Nontopographic tectonic lineaments may appear in response to contrasts in small-surface roughness or dielectric constant. The breakpoint for rough surfaces will vary by about 25 percent through the Magellan viewing geometries from low to high Venusian latitudes. Examples of anomalies and system artifacts that can affect image interpretation are described
COMPTEL observations of the quasar PKS 0528+134 during the first 3.5 years of the CGRO mission
The COMPTEL observations of the blazar-type quasar PKS 0528+134 in the energy
range 0.75 MeV to 30 MeV carried out between April 1991 and September 1994 have
been analyzed. During the first two years PKS 0528+134 was most significantly
detected at energies above 3 MeV. During the last year there is only evidence
for the quasar at energies below 3 MeV indicating a spectral change. The
time-averaged COMPTEL energy spectrum between 0.75 MeV and 30 MeV is well
represented by a power-law shape. Spectra collected from different
observational periods reveal different power-law shapes: a hard state during
flaring observations reported by EGRET, and a soft state otherwise. The
combined simultaneous EGRET and COMPTEL spectra indicate these two spectral
states as well. During low intensisty gamma-ray phases no spectral break is
obvious from the combined COMPTEL and EGRET measurements. For the gamma-ray
flaring phases however, the combined COMPTEL and EGRET data require a spectral
bending at MeV-energies. By fitting broken power-law functions the best-fit
values for the break in photon index range between 0.6 and 1.7, and for the
break energy between ~5 MeV and ~20 MeV. Because the flux values measured by
COMPTEL below 3 MeV in both states are roughly equal, the observations would be
consistent with an additional spectral component showing up during gamma-ray
flaring phases of PKS 0528+134. Such a component could be introduced by e.g. a
high-energy electron-positron population with a low-energy cutoff in their bulk
Lorentz factor distribution. The multiwavelength spectrum of PKS 0528+134 for
gamma-ray flaring phases shows that the major energy release across the entire
electro-magnetic spectrum is measured at MeV-energies.Comment: 10 pages, 8 postscript figures, latex, to appear in: A&A 328, 33
(1997
Model selection in High-Dimensions: A Quadratic-risk based approach
In this article we propose a general class of risk measures which can be used
for data based evaluation of parametric models. The loss function is defined as
generalized quadratic distance between the true density and the proposed model.
These distances are characterized by a simple quadratic form structure that is
adaptable through the choice of a nonnegative definite kernel and a bandwidth
parameter. Using asymptotic results for the quadratic distances we build a
quick-to-compute approximation for the risk function. Its derivation is
analogous to the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), but unlike AIC, the
quadratic risk is a global comparison tool. The method does not require
resampling, a great advantage when point estimators are expensive to compute.
The method is illustrated using the problem of selecting the number of
components in a mixture model, where it is shown that, by using an appropriate
kernel, the method is computationally straightforward in arbitrarily high data
dimensions. In this same context it is shown that the method has some clear
advantages over AIC and BIC.Comment: Updated with reviewer suggestion
Quantum and random walks as universal generators of probability distributions
Quantum walks and random walks bear similarities and divergences. One of the
most remarkable disparities affects the probability of finding the particle at
a given location: typically, almost a flat function in the first case and a
bell-shaped one in the second case. Here I show how one can impose any desired
stochastic behavior (compatible with the continuity equation for the
probability function) on both systems by the appropriate choice of time- and
site-dependent coins. This implies, in particular, that one can devise quantum
walks that show diffusive spreading without loosing coherence, as well as
random walks that exhibit the characteristic fast propagation of a quantum
particle driven by a Hadamard coin.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures; revised and enlarged versio
Diffuse Gamma-Ray Emission from Starburst Galaxies and M31
We present a search for high energy gamma-ray emission from 9 nearby
starburst galaxies and M31 with the EGRET instrument aboard CGRO. Though the
diffuse gamma-ray emission from starburst galaxies was suspected to be
detectable, we find no emission from NGC 253, M82 nor from the average of all 9
galaxies. The 2 sigma upper limit for the EGRET flux above 100 MeV for the
averaged survey observations is 1.8 x 10-8 ph cm-2 s-1. From a model of the
expected radio and gamma-ray emission, we find that the magnetic field in the
nuclei of these galaxies is > 25 micro Gauss, and the ratio of proton and
electron densities is < 400. The EGRET limits indicate that the rate of massive
star formation in the survey galaxies is only about an order of magnitude
higher than in the Milky Way. The upper limit to the gamma-ray flux above 100
MeV for M31 is 1.6 x 10-8 ph cm-2 s-1. At the distance of M31, the Milky Way
flux would be over twice this value, indicating higher gamma-ray emissivities
in our Galaxy. Therefore, since the supernova rate of the Milky Way is higher
than in M31, our null detection of M31 supports the theory of the supernova
origin of cosmic rays in galaxies.Comment: 17 pages, plus 1 Postscript figure, AAS Latex macros v4.0, accepted
for publication in ApJ Main Journa
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