10,124 research outputs found
Gamma-ray emission from globular clusters
Over the last few years, the data obtained using the Large Area Telescope
(LAT) aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has provided new insights on
high-energy processes in globular clusters, particularly those involving
compact objects such as Millisecond Pulsars (MSPs). Gamma-ray emission in the
100 MeV to 10 GeV range has been detected from more than a dozen globular
clusters in our galaxy, including 47 Tucanae and Terzan 5. Based on a sample of
known gamma-ray globular clusters, the empirical relations between gamma-ray
luminosity and properties of globular clusters such as their stellar encounter
rate, metallicity, and possible optical and infrared photon energy densities,
have been derived. The measured gamma-ray spectra are generally described by a
power law with a cut-off at a few gigaelectronvolts. Together with the
detection of pulsed gamma-rays from two MSPs in two different globular
clusters, such spectral signature lends support to the hypothesis that
gamma-rays from globular clusters represent collective curvature emission from
magnetospheres of MSPs in the clusters. Alternative models, involving
Inverse-Compton (IC) emission of relativistic electrons that are accelerated
close to MSPs or pulsar wind nebula shocks, have also been suggested.
Observations at >100 GeV by using Fermi/LAT and atmospheric Cherenkov
telescopes such as H.E.S.S.-II, MAGIC-II, VERITAS, and CTA will help to settle
some questions unanswered by current data.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, J. Astron. Space Sci., in pres
A Typical Medium Dynamical Cluster Approximation for the Study of Anderson Localization in Three Dimensions
We develop a systematic typical medium dynamical cluster approximation that
provides a proper description of the Anderson localization transition in three
dimensions (3D). Our method successfully captures the localization phenomenon
both in the low and large disorder regimes, and allows us to study the
localization in different momenta cells, which renders the discovery that the
Anderson localization transition occurs in a cell-selective fashion. As a
function of cluster size, our method systematically recovers the re-entrance
behavior of the mobility edge and obtains the correct critical disorder
strength for Anderson localization in 3D.Comment: 5 Pages, 4 Figures and Supplementary Material include
Gamma-ray emission from the globular clusters Liller 1, M80, NGC 6139, NGC 6541, NGC 6624, and NGC 6752
Globular clusters (GCs) are emerging as a new class of gamma-ray emitters,
thanks to the data obtained from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. By now,
eight GCs are known to emit gamma-rays at energies >100~MeV. Based on the
stellar encounter rate of the GCs, we identify potential gamma-ray emitting GCs
out of all known GCs that have not been studied in details before. In this
paper, we report the discovery of a number of new gamma-ray GCs: Liller 1, NGC
6624, and NGC 6752, and evidence for gamma-ray emission from M80, NGC 6139, and
NGC 6541, in which gamma-rays were found within the GC tidal radius. With one
of the highest metallicity among all GCs in the Milky Way, the gamma-ray
luminosity of Liller 1 is found to be the highest of all known gamma-ray GCs.
In addition, we confirm a previous report of significant gamma-ray emitting
region next to NGC 6441. We briefly discuss the observed offset of gamma-rays
from some GC cores. The increasing number of known gamma-ray GCs at distances
out to ~10 kpc is important for us to understand the gamma-ray emitting
mechanism and provides an alternative probe to the underlying millisecond
pulsar populations of the GCs.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables; ApJ, in pres
A NuSTAR Observation of the Gamma-ray Emitting Millisecond Pulsar PSR J1723-2837
We report on the first NuSTAR observation of the gamma-ray emitting
millisecond pulsar binary PSR J1723-2837. X-ray radiation up to 79 keV is
clearly detected and the simultaneous NuSTAR and Swift spectrum is well
described by an absorbed power-law with a photon index of ~1.3. We also find
X-ray modulations in the 3-10 keV, 10-20 keV, 20-79 keV, and 3-79 keV bands at
the 14.8-hr binary orbital period. All these are entirely consistent with
previous X-ray observations below 10 keV. This new hard X-ray observation of
PSR J1723-2837 provides strong evidence that the X-rays are from the
intrabinary shock via an interaction between the pulsar wind and the outflow
from the companion star. We discuss how the NuSTAR observation constrains the
physical parameters of the intrabinary shock model.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 5 pages, 3 figure
Optimal design of nonuniform FIR transmultiplexer using semi-infinite programming
This paper considers an optimum nonuniform FIR transmultiplexer design problem subject to specifications in the frequency domain. Our objective is to minimize the sum of the ripple energy for all the individual filters, subject to the specifications on amplitude and aliasing distortions, and to the passband and stopband specifications for the individual filters. This optimum nonuniform transmultiplexer design problem can be formulated as a quadratic semi-infinite programming problem. The dual parametrization algorithm is extended to this nonuniform transmultiplexer design problem. If the lengths of the filters are sufficiently long and the set of decimation integers is compatible, then a solution exists. Since the problem is formulated as a convex problem, if a solution exists, then the solution obtained is unique and the local solution is a global minimum
Discovery of an unidentified Fermi object as a black widow-like millisecond pulsar
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has revolutionized our knowledge of the
gamma-ray pulsar population, leading to the discovery of almost 100 gamma-ray
pulsars and dozens of gamma-ray millisecond pulsars (MSPs). Although the
outer-gap model predicts different sites of emission for the radio and
gamma-ray pulsars, until now all of the known gamma-ray MSPs have been visible
in the radio. Here we report the discovery of a "radio-quiet" gamma-ray
emitting MSP candidate by using Fermi, Chandra, Swift, and optical
observations. The X-ray and gamma-ray properties of the source are consistent
with known gamma-ray pulsars. We also found a 4.63-hr orbital period in optical
and X-ray data. We suggest that the source is a black widow-like MSP with a
~0.1 solar-mass late-type companion star. Based on the profile of the optical
and X-ray light-curves, the companion star is believed to be heated by the
pulsar while the X-ray emissions originate from pulsar magnetosphere and/or
from intra-binary shock. No radio detection of the source has been reported yet
and although no gamma-ray/radio pulsation has been found, we estimated that the
spin period of the MSP is ~3-5 ms based on the inferred gamma-ray luminosity.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ
The Fundamental Plane of Gamma-ray Globular Clusters
We have investigated the properties of a group of -ray emitting
globular clusters (GCs) which have recently been uncovered in our Galaxy. By
correlating the observed -ray luminosities with various
cluster properties, we probe the origin of the high energy photons from these
GCs. We report is positively correlated with the encounter rate
and the metalicity which place an
intimate link between the gamma-ray emission and the millisecond pulsar
population. We also find a tendency that increase with the energy
densities of the soft photon at the cluster location. Furthermore, the
two-dimensional regression analysis suggests that , soft photon
densities, and / possibly span fundamental
planes which potentially provide better predictions for the -ray
properties of GCs.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, published in Ap
Swift, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR observations of PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213
We report our recent Swift, NuSTAR, and XMM-Newton X-ray and Lijiang optical
observations on PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213, the gamma-ray binary candidate with a
period of 45-50 years. The coming periastron of the system was predicted to be
in November 2017, around which high-energy flares from keV to TeV are expected.
Recent studies with Chandra and Swift X-ray observations taken in 2015/16
showed that its X-ray emission has been brighter by a factors of ~10 than that
before 2013, probably revealing some on-going activities between the pulsar
wind and the stellar wind. Our new Swift/XRT lightcurve shows no strong
evidence of a single vigorous brightening trend, but rather several strong
X-ray flares on weekly to monthly timescales with a slowly brightening
baseline, namely the low state. The NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations taken
during the flaring and the low states, respectively, show a denser environment
and a softer power-law index during the flaring state, implying that the pulsar
wind interacted with stronger stellar winds of the companion to produce the
flares. These precursors would be crucial in studying the predicted giant
outburst from this extreme gamma-ray binary during the periastron passage in
late 2017.Comment: 6 pages, including 3 figures and 2 tables. Accepted for publication
in Ap
High-Energy emissions from the Pulsar/Be binary system PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213
PSR J2032+4127 is a radio-loud gamma-ray-emitting pulsar; it is orbiting
around a high-mass Be type star with a very long orbital period of 25-50years,
and is approaching periastron, which will occur in late 2017/early 2018. This
system comprises with a young pulsar and a Be type star, which is similar to
the so-called gamma-ray binary PSR~B1259-63/LS2883. It is expected therefore
that PSR J2032+4127 shows an enhancement of high-energy emission caused by the
interaction between the pulsar wind and Be wind/disk around periastron. Ho et
al. recently reported a rapid increase in the X-ray flux from this system. In
this paper, we also confirm a rapid increase in the X-ray flux along the orbit,
while the GeV flux shows no significant change. We discuss the high-energy
emissions from the shock caused by the pulsar wind and stellar wind interaction
and examine the properties of the pulsar wind in this binary system. We argue
that the rate of increase of the X-ray flux observed by Swift indicates (1) a
variation of the momentum ratio of the two-wind interaction region along the
orbit, or (2) an evolution of the magnetization parameter of the pulsar wind
with the radial distance from the pulsar. We also discuss the pulsar wind/Be
disk interaction at the periastron passage, and propose the possibility of
formation of an accretion disk around the pulsar. We model high-energy
emissions through the inverse-Compton scattering process of the
cold-relativistic pulsar wind off soft photons from the accretion disk.Comment: 18 pages, 23 figures, 1 Table, accepted for publication in Ap
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