455 research outputs found
A trio of month-long flares in the nova-like variable V704 And
We present the discovery of an unusual set of flares in the nova-like variable V704 And. Using data from AAVSO, ASAS-SN, and ZTF for the nova-like variable V704 And, we discovered a trio of brightening events that occurred during the high state. These events elevate the optical brightness of the source from âŒ13.5 to âŒ12.5 mag. The events last for roughly a month, and exhibit the unusual shape of a slow rise and faster decay. Immediately after the third event, we obtained data from regular monitoring with Swift, although by this time the flares had ceased and the source returned to its pre-flare level of activity in the high state. The Swift observations confirm that during the high state, the source is detectable in the X-rays, and provide simultaneous UV and optical fluxes. As the source is already in the high state prior to the flares, and therefore the disc is expected to already be in the high-viscosity state, we conclude that the driver of the variations must be changes in the mass transfer rate from the companion star and we discuss mechanisms that could lead to such short-timescale mass-transfer variations
Relational EPR
We study the EPR-type correlations from the perspective of the relational
interpretation of quantum mechanics. We argue that these correlations do not
entail any form of 'non-locality', when viewed in the context of this
interpretation. The abandonment of strict Einstein realism implied by the
relational stance permits to reconcile quantum mechanics, completeness,
(operationally defined) separability, and locality.Comment: Revised, published versio
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Physical Properties of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Clusters on the Celestial Equator
We present the optical and X-ray properties of 68 galaxy clusters selected
via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect at 148 GHz by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope
(ACT). Our sample, from an area of 504 square degrees centered on the celestial
equator, is divided into two regions. The main region uses 270 square degrees
of the ACT survey that overlaps with the co-added ugriz imaging from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) over Stripe 82 plus additional near-infrared pointed
observations with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5-meter telescope. We confirm
a total of 49 clusters to z~1.3, of which 22 (all at z>0.55) are new
discoveries. For the second region the regular-depth SDSS imaging allows us to
confirm 19 more clusters up to z~0.7, of which 10 systems are new. We present
the optical richness, photometric redshifts, and separation between the SZ
position and the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). We find no significant offset
between the cluster SZ centroid and BCG location and a weak correlation between
optical richness and SZ-derived mass. We also present X-ray fluxes and
luminosities from the ROSAT All Sky Survey which confirm that this is a massive
sample. One of the newly discovered clusters, ACT-CL J0044.4+0113 at z=1.1
(photometric), has an integrated XMM-Newton X-ray temperature of kT_x=7.9+/-1.0
keV and combined mass of M_200a=8.2(-2.5,+3.3)x10^14 M_sun/h70 placing it among
the most massive and X-ray-hot clusters known at redshifts beyond z=1. We also
highlight the optically-rich cluster ACT-CL J2327.4-0204 (RCS2 2327) at z=0.705
(spectroscopic) as the most significant detection of the whole equatorial
sample with a Chandra-derived mass of M_200a=1.9(-0.4,+0.6)x10^15 M_sun/h70,
comparable to some of the most massive known clusters like "El Gordo" and the
Bullet Cluster.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures. Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal. New
version includes minor changes in the accepted pape
Theoretical description of deformed proton emitters: nonadiabatic coupled-channel method
The newly developed nonadiabatic method based on the coupled-channel
Schroedinger equation with Gamow states is used to study the phenomenon of
proton radioactivity. The new method, adopting the weak coupling regime of the
particle-plus-rotor model, allows for the inclusion of excitations in the
daughter nucleus. This can lead to rather different predictions for lifetimes
and branching ratios as compared to the standard adiabatic approximation
corresponding to the strong coupling scheme. Calculations are performed for
several experimentally seen, non-spherical nuclei beyond the proton dripline.
By comparing theory and experiment, we are able to characterize the angular
momentum content of the observed narrow resonance.Comment: 12 pages including 10 figure
Neutrino Emission from Goldstone Modes in Dense Quark Matter
We calculate neutrino emissivities from the decay and scattering of Goldstone
bosons in the color-flavor-locked (CFL) phase of quarks at high baryon density.
Interactions in the CFL phase are described by an effective low-energy theory.
For temperatures in the tens of keV range, relevant to the long-term cooling of
neutron stars, the emissivities involving Goldstone bosons dominate over those
involving quarks, because gaps in the CFL phase are MeV while the
masses of Goldstone modes are on the order of 10 MeV. For the same reason, the
specific heat of the CFL phase is also dominated by the Goldstone modes.
Notwithstanding this, both the emissivity and the specific heat from the
massive modes remain rather small, because of their extremely small number
densities. The values of the emissivity and the specific heat imply that the
timescale for the cooling of the CFL core in isolation is y,
which makes the CFL phase invisible as the exterior layers of normal matter
surrounding the core will continue to cool through significantly more rapid
processes. If the CFL phase appears during the evolution of a proto-neutron
star, neutrino interactions with Goldstone bosons are expected to be
significantly more important since temperatures are high enough (
MeV) to admit large number densities of Goldstone modes.Comment: 29 pages, no figures. slightly modified text, one new eqn. and new
refs. adde
Strong Decays of Strange Quarkonia
In this paper we evaluate strong decay amplitudes and partial widths of
strange mesons (strangeonia and kaonia) in the 3P0 decay model. We give
numerical results for all energetically allowed open-flavor two-body decay
modes of all nsbar and ssbar strange mesons in the 1S, 2S, 3S, 1P, 2P, 1D and
1F multiplets, comprising strong decays of a total of 43 resonances into 525
two-body modes, with 891 numerically evaluated amplitudes. This set of
resonances includes all strange qqbar states with allowed strong decays
expected in the quark model up to ca. 2.2 GeV. We use standard nonrelativistic
quark model SHO wavefunctions to evaluate these amplitudes, and quote numerical
results for all amplitudes present in each decay mode. We also discuss the
status of the associated experimental candidates, and note which states and
decay modes would be especially interesting for future experimental study at
hadronic, e+e- and photoproduction facilities. These results should also be
useful in distinguishing conventional quark model mesons from exotica such as
glueballs and hybrids through their strong decays.Comment: 69 pages, 5 figures, 39 table
Evidence for a narrow dip structure at 1.9 GeV/c in diffractive photoproduction
A narrow dip structure has been observed at 1.9 GeV/c in a study of
diffractive photoproduction of the final state performed by the
Fermilab experiment E687.Comment: The data of Figure 6 can be obtained by downloading the raw data file
e687_6pi.txt. v5 (2nov2018): added Fig. 7, the 6 pion energy distribution as
requested by a reade
Charge exchange photoproduction and implications for searches of exotic meson
We analyze the process at low momentum
transfer focusing on a possibility of production of an exotic
meson state. In particular we discuss polarization observables and conclude
that linear photon polarization is instrumental for separating of the exotic
wave.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure
Black Hole Spin via Continuum Fitting and the Role of Spin in Powering Transient Jets
The spins of ten stellar black holes have been measured using the
continuum-fitting method. These black holes are located in two distinct classes
of X-ray binary systems, one that is persistently X-ray bright and another that
is transient. Both the persistent and transient black holes remain for long
periods in a state where their spectra are dominated by a thermal accretion
disk component. The spin of a black hole of known mass and distance can be
measured by fitting this thermal continuum spectrum to the thin-disk model of
Novikov and Thorne; the key fit parameter is the radius of the inner edge of
the black hole's accretion disk. Strong observational and theoretical evidence
links the inner-disk radius to the radius of the innermost stable circular
orbit, which is trivially related to the dimensionless spin parameter a_* of
the black hole (|a_*| < 1). The ten spins that have so far been measured by
this continuum-fitting method range widely from a_* \approx 0 to a_* > 0.95.
The robustness of the method is demonstrated by the dozens or hundreds of
independent and consistent measurements of spin that have been obtained for
several black holes, and through careful consideration of many sources of
systematic error. Among the results discussed is a dichotomy between the
transient and persistent black holes; the latter have higher spins and larger
masses. Also discussed is recently discovered evidence in the transient sources
for a correlation between the power of ballistic jets and black hole spin.Comment: 30 pages. Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Also to
appear in hard cover in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI "The Physics of
Accretion onto Black Holes" (Springer Publisher). Changes to Sections 5.2,
6.1 and 7.4. Section 7.4 responds to Russell et al. 2013 (MNRAS, 431, 405)
who find no evidence for a correlation between the power of ballistic jets
and black hole spi
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