5,163 research outputs found
On Self-Organized Criticality and Synchronization in Lattice Models of Coupled Dynamical Systems
Lattice models of coupled dynamical systems lead to a variety of complex
behaviors. Between the individual motion of independent units and the
collective behavior of members of a population evolving synchronously, there
exist more complicated attractors. In some cases, these states are identified
with self-organized critical phenomena. In other situations, with
clusterization or phase-locking. The conditions leading to such different
behaviors in models of integrate-and-fire oscillators and stick-slip processes
are reviewed.Comment: 41 pages. Plain LaTeX. Style included in main file. To appear as an
invited review in Int. J. Modern Physics B. Needs eps
Relativistic reflection in the average X-ray spectrum of AGN in the V\'eron-Cetty & V\'eron catalogue
The X-ray spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) unveil properties of matter
around the super massive black hole (SMBH). We investigate the X-ray spectra of
AGN focusing on Compton reflection and fluorescence, important processes of
interaction between primary radiation and circum-nuclear material. Unresolved
emission lines (most notably the Fe line) in the X-ray spectra of AGN indicate
that this material is located far away from the SMBH. Contributions from the
inner accretion disk, affected by relativistic effects, have also been detected
in several cases.
We studied the average X-ray spectrum of a sample of 263 X-ray unabsorbed AGN
that yield 419023 counts in the 2-12 keV rest-frame band distributed among 388
XMM-Newton spectra. We fitted the average spectrum using a (basically)
unabsorbed power law (primary radiation). From second model that represents the
interaction of the primary radiation with matter located far away from the
SMBH, we found that it was very significantly detected. Finally, we added a
contribution from interaction with neutral material in the accretion disk close
to the central SMBH, which is therefore smeared by relativistic effects, which
improved the fit at 6 sigma. The reflection factors are 0.65 for the accretion
disk and 0.25 for the torus. Replacing the neutral disk-reflection with
low-ionisation disk reflection, also relativistically smeared, fits the data
equally well, suggesting that we do not find evidence for a significant
ionisation of the accretion disk.
We detect distant neutral reflection in the average spectrum of unabsorbed
AGN with z=0.8. Adding the disk-reflection component associated with a
relativistic Fe line improves the data description at 6 sigma confidence level,
suggesting that both reflection components are present. The disk-reflection
component accounts for about 70 % of the total reflected flux.Comment: Accepted by A&A. 10 pages, 7 figure
Anomalous Transport in Conical Granular Piles
Experiments on 2+1-dimensional piles of elongated particles are performed.
Comparison with previous experiments in 1+1 dimensions shows that the addition
of one extra dimension to the dynamics changes completely the avalanche
properties, appearing a characteristic avalanche size. Nevertheless, the time
single grains need to cross the whole pile varies smoothly between several
orders of magnitude, from a few seconds to more than 100 hours. This behavior
is described by a power-law distribution, signaling the existence of scale
invariance in the transport process.Comment: Accepted in PR
Network of Earthquakes and Recurrences Therein
We quantify the correlation between earthquakes and use the same to
distinguish between relevant causally connected earthquakes. Our correlation
metric is a variation on the one introduced by Baiesi and Paczuski (2004). A
network of earthquakes is constructed, which is time ordered and with links
between the more correlated ones. Data pertaining to the California region has
been used in the study. Recurrences to earthquakes are identified employing
correlation thresholds to demarcate the most meaningful ones in each cluster.
The distribution of recurrence lengths and recurrence times are analyzed
subsequently to extract information about the complex dynamics. We find that
the unimodal feature of recurrence lengths helps to associate typical rupture
lengths with different magnitude earthquakes. The out-degree of the network
shows a hub structure rooted on the large magnitude earthquakes. In-degree
distribution is seen to be dependent on the density of events in the
neighborhood. Power laws are also obtained with recurrence time distribution
agreeing with the Omori law.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Estimating Photometric Redshifts for X-ray sources in the X-ATLAS field, using machine-learning techniques
We present photometric redshifts for 1,031 X-ray sources in the X-ATLAS
field, using the machine learning technique TPZ (Carrasco Kind & Brunner 2013).
X-ATLAS covers 7.1 deg2 observed with the XMM-Newton within the Science
Demonstration Phase (SDP) of the H-ATLAS field, making it one of the largest
contiguous areas of the sky with both XMMNewton and Herschel coverage. All of
the sources have available SDSS photometry while 810 have additionally mid-IR
and/or near-IR photometry. A spectroscopic sample of 5,157 sources primarily in
the XMM/XXL field, but also from several X-ray surveys and the SDSS DR13
redshift catalogue, is used for the training of the algorithm. Our analysis
reveals that the algorithm performs best when the sources are split, based on
their optical morphology, into point-like and extended sources. Optical
photometry alone is not enough for the estimation of accurate photometric
redshifts, but the results greatly improve when, at least, mid-IR photometry is
added in the training process. In particular, our measurements show that the
estimated photometric redshifts for the X-ray sources of the training sample,
have a normalized absolute median deviation, n_mad=0.06, and the percentage of
outliers, eta=10-14 percent, depending on whether the sources are extended or
point-like. Our final catalogue contains photometric redshifts for 933 out of
the 1,031 X-ray sources with a median redshift of 0.9.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, A&A accepte
The XMM spectral catalog of SDSS optically selected Seyfert 2 galaxies
We present an X-ray spectroscopic study of optically selected (SDSS) Seyfert
2 (Sy2) galaxies. The goal is to study the obscuration of Sy2 galaxies beyond
the local universe, using good quality X-ray spectra in combination with high
S/N optical spectra for their robust classification. We analyzed all available
XMM-Newton archival observations of narrow emission line galaxies that meet the
above criteria in the redshift range 0.05<z<0.35. We initially selected narrow
line AGN using the SDSS optical spectra and the BPT classification diagram. We
further modeled and removed the stellar continuum, and we analyzed the residual
emission line spectrum to exclude any possible intermediate-type Seyferts. Our
final catalog comprises 31 Sy2 galaxies with median redshift z~0.1. X-ray
spectroscopy is performed using the available X-ray spectra from the 3XMM and
the XMMFITCAT catalogs. Implementing various indicators of obscuration, we find
seven (~23%) Compton-thick AGN. The X-ray spectroscopic Compton-thick
classification agrees with other commonly used diagnostics, such as the X-ray
to mid-IR luminosity ratio and the X-ray to [OIII] luminosity ratio. Most
importantly, we find four (~13%) unobscured Sy2 galaxies, at odds with the
simplest unification model. Their accretion rates are significantly lower than
the rest of our Sy2 sample, in agreement with previous studies that predict the
absence of the broad line region below a certain Eddington ratio threshold.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Point-occurrence self-similarity in crackling-noise systems and in other complex systems
It has been recently found that a number of systems displaying crackling
noise also show a remarkable behavior regarding the temporal occurrence of
successive events versus their size: a scaling law for the probability
distributions of waiting times as a function of a minimum size is fulfilled,
signaling the existence on those systems of self-similarity in time-size. This
property is also present in some non-crackling systems. Here, the uncommon
character of the scaling law is illustrated with simple marked renewal
processes, built by definition with no correlations. Whereas processes with a
finite mean waiting time do not fulfill a scaling law in general and tend
towards a Poisson process in the limit of very high sizes, processes without a
finite mean tend to another class of distributions, characterized by double
power-law waiting-time densities. This is somehow reminiscent of the
generalized central limit theorem. A model with short-range correlations is not
able to escape from the attraction of those limit distributions. A discussion
on open problems in the modeling of these properties is provided.Comment: Submitted to J. Stat. Mech. for the proceedings of UPON 2008 (Lyon),
topic: crackling nois
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