Reverberation Mapping and the Disk Wind Model of the Broad Line Region

Using the disk wind model of Murray et al. (1995), we calculate line profiles and frequency-resolved response functions for broad line emission from the surface of an accretion disk in an AGN in the presence of a radiatively driven wind. We find that the combined effects of the shears in the wind and in the disk itself produce anisotropic line emission which solves several well-known problems connected with disk models of the broad line region. In particular, the broadening of resonance lines such as \Civ, \Lya, and \Nv\/ can be attributed to orbital motion of the disk gas at radii as close as $\sim 10^{16}$~cm in Seyferts without requiring unrealistically large emission regions in order to produce single-peaked profiles. Furthermore, the anisotropy of the line emission results in frequency-dependent response functions which are no longer red-blue symmetric so that the time delays inferred for the various red and blue components of the line agree qualitatively with recent reverberation mapping observations of NGC~5548.Comment: 17 pages text, 8 postscript figure

The Family SU(2)_l x SU(2)_h x U(1) Model

We consider extension of the standard model $SU(2)_l \times SU(2)_h \times U(1)$ where the first two families of quarks and leptons transform according to the $SU(2)_l$ group and the third family according to the $SU(2)_h$ group. In this approach, the largeness of top-quark mass is associated with the large vacuum expectation value of the corresponding Higgs field. The model predicts almost degenerate heavy $W'$ and $Z'$ bosons with non-universal couplings, and extra Higgs bosons. We present in detail the symmetry breaking mechanism, and carry out the subsequent phenomenology of the gauge sector. We compare the model with electroweak precision data, and conclude that the extra gauge bosons and the Higgs bosons whose masses lie in the TeV range, can be discovered at the LHC.Comment: Latex 18 pages. No figure. Some references added. Version appeared in PR

Testing Gaussian random hypothesis with the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies in the three-year WMAP data

We test the hypothesis that the temperature of the cosmic microwave background is consistent with a Gaussian random field defined on the celestial sphere, using de-biased internal linear combination (DILC) map produced from the 3-year WMAP data. We test the phases for spherical harmonic modes with l <= 10 (which should be the cleanest) for their uniformity, randomness, and correlation with those of the foreground templates. The phases themselves are consistent with a uniform distribution, but not for l <= 5, and the differences between phases are not consistent with uniformity. For l=3 and l=6, the phases of the CMB maps cross-correlate with the foregrounds, suggestion the presence of residual contamination in the DLC map even on these large scales. We also use a one-dimensional Fourier representation to assemble a_lm into the \Delta T_l(\phi) for each l mode, and test the positions of the resulting maxima and minima for consistency with uniformity randomness on the unit circle. The results show significant departures at the 0.5% level, with the one-dimensional peaks being concentrated around \phi=180 degs. This strongly significant alignment with the Galactic meridian, together with the cross-correlation of DILC phases with the foreground maps, strongly suggests that even the lowest spherical harmonic modes in the map are significantly contaminated with foreground radiation.Comment: submitted to ApJL, one paragraph is added in Section 3 and some more in the Referenc

Shifts of the nuclear resonance in the vortex lattice in YBa2_2Cu3_3O7_7

The NMR and NQR spectra of $^{63}$Cu in the CuO$_2$ plane of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ in the superconducting state are discussed in terms of the phenomenological theory of Ginzburg-Landau type extended to lower temperatures. We show that the observed spectra, Kumagai {\em et al.}, PRB {\bf 63}, 144502 (2001), can be explained by a standard theory of the Bernoulli potential with the charge transfer between CuO$_2$ planes and CuO chains assumed.Comment: 11 pages 7 figure

The Origin of the Young Stars in the Nucleus of M31

The triple nucleus of M31 consists of a population of old red stars in an eccentric disk (P1 and P2) and another population of younger A stars in a circular disk (P3) around M31's central supermassive black hole (SMBH). We argue that P1 and P2 determine the maximal radial extent of the younger A star population and provide the gas that fueled the starburst that generated P3. The eccentric stellar disk creates an $m=1$ non-axisymmetric perturbation to the potential. This perturbed potential drives gas into the inner parsec around the SMBH, if the pattern speed of the eccentric stellar disk is $\Omega_p \lesssim 3-10 {\rm km s^{-1} pc^{-1}}$. We show that stellar mass loss from P1 and P2 is sufficient to create a gravitationally unstable gaseous disk of \sim 10^5\Msun every $0.1-1$ Gyrs, consistent with the 200 Myr age of P3. Similar processes may act in other systems to produce very compact nuclear starbursts.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted by ApJ, changes made from referee suggestion

Long-Distance Contributions to D^0-D^0bar Mixing Parameters

Long-distance contributions to the $D^0$-$\bar D^0$ mixing parameters $x$ and $y$ are evaluated using latest data on hadronic $D^0$ decays. In particular, we take on two-body $D \to PP$ and $VP$ decays to evaluate the contributions of two-body intermediate states because they account for $\sim 50$ of hadronic $D^0$ decays. Use of the diagrammatic approach has been made to estimate yet-observed decay modes. We find that $y$ is of order a few $\times 10^{-3}$ and $x$ of order $10^{-3}$ from hadronic $PP$ and $VP$ modes. These are in good agreement with the latest direct measurement of $D^0$-$\bar D^0$ mixing parameters using the $D^0 \to K_S \pi^+\pi^-$ and $K_S K^+ K^-$ decays by BaBar. We estimate the contribution to $y$ from the $VV$ modes using the factorization model and comment on the single-particle resonance effects and contributions from other two-body modes involving even-parity states.Comment: 18 pages and 1 figure; footnotes and references added; to appear in Phys. Rev.

On the Antenna Beam Shape Reconstruction Using Planet Transit

The calibration of the in-flight antenna beam shape and possible beamdegradation is one of the most crucial tasks for the upcoming Planck mission. We examine several effects which could significantly influence the in-flight main beam calibration using planet transit: the problems of the variability of the Jupiter's flux, the antenna temperature and passing of the planets through the main beam. We estimate these effects on the antenna beam shape calibration and calculate the limits on the main beam and far sidelobe measurements, using observations of Jupiter and Saturn. We also discuss possible effects of degradation of the mirror surfaces and specify corresponding parameters which can help us to determine these effects.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure