12,236 research outputs found
Evidence for an intermediate mass black hole and a multi-zone warm absorber in NGC 4395
We report on the results of an analysis in the X-ray band of a recent long
ASCA observation of NGC 4395, the most variable low-luminosity AGN known. A
relativistically-broadened iron line at ~6.4 keV is clearly resolved in the
time-averaged spectrum, with an equivalent width of 310^{+70}_{-90} eV.
Time-resolved spectral analysis of the heavily absorbed soft X-ray band
confirms the existence of a variable, multi-zone warm absorber in this source,
as proposed in a previous analysis of a shorter ASCA observation. The light
curve of the source is wildly variable on timescales of hours or less, and a
factor of nearly 10 change in count-rate was recorded in a period of less than
2000 s. The long observation and variability of the source allowed the power
density spectrum (PDS) to be constructed to an unprecedented level of detail.
There is evidence for a break in the PDS from a slope of \alpha~1 to \alpha~1.8
at a frequency of around 3 \times 10^{-4} Hz. The central black hole mass of
NGC 4395 is estimated to be approximately 10^4-10^5 solar masses using the
break in the PDS, a result consistent with previous analyses using optical and
kinematical techniques.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Exact Black Hole Degeneracies and the Topological String
Motivated by the recent conjecture of Ooguri, Strominger and Vafa, we compute
the semi-canonical partition function of BPS black holes in N=4 and N=8 string
theories, to all orders in perturbation theory. Not only are the black hole
partition functions surprisingly simple; they capture the full topological
string amplitudes, as expected from the OSV conjecture. The agreement is not
perfect, however, as there are differences between the black hole and
topological string partition functions even at the perturbative level. We
propose a minimal modification of the OSV conjecture, in which these
differences are understood as a nontrivial measure factor for the topological
string.Comment: 24 page
The Unpredictability of the Most Energetic Solar Events
Observations over the past two solar cycles show a highly irregular pattern
of occurrence for major solar flares, gamma-ray events, and solar energetic
particle (SEP) fluences. Such phenomena do not appear to follow the direct
indices of solar magnetic activity, such as the sunspot number. I show that
this results from the non-Poisson occurrence for the most energetic events.
This Letter also points out a particularly striking example of this
irregularity in a comparison between the declining phases of the recent two
solar cycles (1993-1995 and 2004-2006, respectively) and traces it through the
radiated energies of the flares, the associated SEP fluences, and the sunspot
areas. These factors suggest that processes in the solar interior involved with
the supply of magnetic flux up to the surface of the Sun have strong
correlations in space and time, leading to a complex occurrence pattern that is
presently unpredictable on timescales longer than active region lifetimes
(weeks) and not correlated well with the solar cycle itself.Comment: 4 page
Design and Experimental Analysis of Ventilated Walls and "Ice House" Roofs Applications in Warm Climates
This paper contains the findings of experimental research conducted to determine the effectiveness of ventilated walls and "ice house" roof applications in hot-humid climates. Ventilated wall and "ice house" roof is the type of construction which consists of interposing an additional wall or roof skin between the standard building envelope and the exterior environment. The new skin is separated from the building envelope by an air space, which is usually vented to the ambient environment. The primary objective of such construction is to eliminate or drastically reduce the effects of solar loading on the building envelope. The information presented in this paper can enable the designer to have a better understanding of how buildings might function at various times of the day and the season. Recommendations on applications of new buildings and retrofit of existing structures are presented here as well
A unified approach to realize universal quantum gates in a coupled two-qubit system with fixed always-on coupling
We demonstrate that in a coupled two-qubit system any single-qubit gate can
be decomposed into two conditional two-qubit gates and that any conditional
two-qubit gate can be implemented by a manipulation analogous to that used for
a controlled two-qubit gate. Based on this we present a unified approach to
implement universal single-qubit and two-qubit gates in a coupled two-qubit
system with fixed always-on coupling. This approach requires neither
supplementary circuit or additional physical qubits to control the coupling nor
extra hardware to adjust the energy level structure. The feasibility of this
approach is demonstrated by numerical simulation of single-qubit gates and
creation of two-qubit Bell states in rf-driven inductively coupled two SQUID
flux qubits with realistic device parameters and constant always-on coupling.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Determination of anisotropic dipole moments in self-assembled quantum dots using Rabi oscillations
By investigating the polarization-dependent Rabi oscillations using
photoluminescence spectroscopy, we determined the respective transition dipole
moments of the two excited excitonic states |Ex> and |Ey> of a single
self-assembled quantum dot that are nondegenerate due to shape anisotropy. We
find that the ratio of the two dipole moments is close to the physical
elongation ratio of the quantum dot.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, MS Word generated PDF fil
Pseudomoduli Dark Matter
We point out that pseudomoduli -- tree-level flat directions that often
accompany dynamical supersymmetry breaking -- can be natural candidates for
TeV-scale dark matter in models of gauge mediation. The idea is general and can
be applied to different dark matter scenarios, including (but not limited to)
those of potential relevance to recent cosmic ray anomalies. We describe the
requirements for a viable model of pseudomoduli dark matter, and we analyze two
example models to illustrate the general mechanism -- one where the
pseudomoduli carry Higgsino-like quantum numbers, and another where they are SM
singlets but are charged under a hidden-sector gauge group.Comment: 20 pages, refs adde
Global Energetics of Thirty-Eight Large Solar Eruptive Events
We have evaluated the energetics of 38 solar eruptive events observed by a
variety of spacecraft instruments between February 2002 and December 2006, as
accurately as the observations allow. The measured energetic components
include: (1) the radiated energy in the GOES 1 - 8 A band; (2) the total energy
radiated from the soft X-ray (SXR) emitting plasma; (3) the peak energy in the
SXR-emitting plasma; (4) the bolometric radiated energy over the full duration
of the event; (5) the energy in flare-accelerated electrons above 20 keV and in
flare-accelerated ions above 1 MeV; (6) the kinetic and potential energies of
the coronal mass ejection (CME); (7) the energy in solar energetic particles
(SEPs) observed in interplanetary space; and (8) the amount of free
(nonpotential) magnetic energy estimated to be available in the pertinent
active region. Major conclusions include: (1) the energy radiated by the
SXR-emitting plasma exceeds, by about half an order of magnitude, the peak
energy content of the thermal plasma that produces this radiation; (2) the
energy content in flare-accelerated electrons and ions is sufficient to supply
the bolometric energy radiated across all wavelengths throughout the event; (3)
the energy contents of flare-accelerated electrons and ions are comparable; (4)
the energy in SEPs is typically a few percent of the CME kinetic energy
(measured in the rest frame of the solar wind); and (5) the available magnetic
energy is sufficient to power the CME, the flare-accelerated particles, and the
hot thermal plasma
Supersymmetry Breaking, R-Symmetry Breaking and Metastable Vacua
Models of spontaneous supersymmetry breaking generically have an R-symmetry,
which is problematic for obtaining gaugino masses and avoiding light R-axions.
The situation is improved in models of metastable supersymmetry breaking, which
generically have only an approximate R-symmetry. Based on this we argue, with
mild assumptions, that metastable supersymmetry breaking is inevitable. We also
illustrate various general issues regarding spontaneous and explicit R-symmetry
breaking, using simple toy models of supersymmetry breaking.Comment: 23 page
Observations and Interpretations of Energetic Neutral Hydrogen Atoms from the December 5, 2006 Solar Event
We discuss recently reported observations of energetic neutral hydrogen atoms (ENAs) from an X9 solar flare/coronal mass ejection event on 5 December 2006, located at E79. The observations were made by the Low Energy Telescopes (LETs) on STEREO A and B. Prior to the arrival of the main solar energetic particle (SEP) event at Earth, both LETs observed a sudden burst of 1.6 to 15 MeV energetic neutral hydrogen atoms produced by either flare or shock-accelerated protons. RHESSI measurements of the 2.2-MeV γ-ray line provide an estimate of the number of interacting flare-accelerated protons in this event, which leads to an improved estimate of ENA production by flare-accelerated protons. Taking into account ENA losses, we find that the observed ENAs must have been produced in the high corona at heliocentric distances ≥ 2 solar radii. Although there are no CME images from this event, it is shown that CME-shock-accelerated protons can, in principle, produce a time-history consistent with the observations
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