7,223 research outputs found
An extended scheme for fitting X-ray data with accretion disk spectra in the strong gravity regime
Accreting black holes are believed to emit X-rays which then mediate
information about strong gravity in the vicinity of the emission region. We
report on a set of new routines for the Xspec package for analysing X-ray
spectra of black-hole accretion disks. The new computational tool significantly
extends the capabilities of the currently available fitting procedures that
include the effects of strong gravity, and allows one to systematically explore
the constraints on more model parameters than previously possible (for example
black-hole angular momentum). Moreover, axial symmetry of the disk intrinsic
emissivity is not assumed, although it can be imposed to speed up the
computations. The new routines can be used also as a stand-alone and flexible
code with the capability of handling time-resolved spectra in the regime of
strong gravity. We have used the new code to analyse the mean X-ray spectrum
from the long XMM--Newton 2001 campaign of the Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG--6-30-15.
Consistent with previous findings, we obtained a good fit to the broad Fe K
line profile for a radial line intrinsic emissivity law in the disk which is
not a simple power law, and for near maximal value of black hole angular
momentum. However, equally good fits can be obtained also for small values of
the black hole angular momentum. The code has been developed with the aim of
allowing precise modelling of relativistic effects. Although we find that
current data cannot constrain the parameters of black-hole/accretion disk
system well, the approach allows, for a given source or situation, detailed
investigations of what features of the data future studies should be focused on
in order to achieve the goal of uniquely isolating the parameters of such
systems.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ S
Raman Response of Magnetic Excitations in Cuprate Ladders and Planes
An unified picture for the Raman response of magnetic excitations in cuprate
spin-ladder compounds is obtained by comparing calculated two-triplon Raman
line-shapes with those of the prototypical compounds SrCu2O3 (Sr123),
Sr14Cu24O41 (Sr14), and La6Ca8Cu24O41 (La6Ca8). The theoretical model for the
two-leg ladder contains Heisenberg exchange couplings J_parallel and J_perp
plus an additional four-spin interaction J_cyc. Within this model Sr123 and
Sr14 can be described by x:=J_parallel/J_perp=1.5, x_cyc:=J_cyc/J_perp=0.2,
J_perp^Sr123=1130 cm^-1 and J_perp^Sr14=1080 cm^-1. The couplings found for
La6Ca8 are x=1.2, x_cyc=0.2, and J_perp^La6Ca8=1130 cm^-1. The unexpected sharp
two-triplon peak in the ladder materials compared to the undoped
two-dimensional cuprates can be traced back to the anisotropy of the magnetic
exchange in rung and leg direction. With the results obtained for the isotropic
ladder we calculate the Raman line-shape of a two-dimensional square lattice
using a toy model consisting of a vertical and a horizontal ladder. A direct
comparison of these results with Raman experiments for the two-dimensional
cuprates R2CuO4 (R=La,Nd), Sr2CuO2Cl2, and YBa2Cu3O(6+delta) yields a good
agreement for the dominating two-triplon peak. We conclude that short range
quantum fluctuations are dominating the magnetic Raman response in both,
ladders and planes. We discuss possible scenarios responsible for the
high-energy spectral weight of the Raman line-shape, i.e. phonons, the
triple-resonance and multi-particle contributions.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
On the effect of heterovalent substitutions in ruthenocuprates
We discuss the properties of superconducting derivatives of the RuSr2GdCu2O8
(1212-type) ruthenocuprate, for which heterovalent doping has been achieved
through partial substitution of Cu ions into the RuO2 planes
(Ru1-xSr2GdCu2+xO8-d, 0<x<0.75, Tcmax=72 K for x=0.3-0.4) and Ce ions into the
Gd sites (RuSr2Gd1-yCeyCu2O8, 0<y<0.1). The measurements of XANES, thermopower,
and magnetization under external pressure reveal an underdoped character of all
compounds. Muon spin rotation experiments indicate the presence of magnetic
order at low temperatures (Tm=14-2 K for x=0.1-0.4). Properties of these two
series lead us to the qualitative phase diagram for differently doped 1212-type
ruthenocuprates. The difference in temperature of magnetic ordering found for
superconducting and non-superconducting RuSr2GdCu2O8 is discussed in the
context of the properties of substituted compounds. The high pressure oxygen
conditions required for synthesis of Ru1-xSr2RECu2+xO8-d, have been extended to
synthesis of a Ru1-xSr2Eu2-yCeyCu2+xO10-d series. The Cu->Ru doping achieved in
these phases is found to decrease the temperature for magnetic ordering as well
the volume fraction of the magnetic phase.Comment: Proceedings of the 3rd Polish-US Workshop on Magnetism and
Superconductivity of Advanced Materials, July 14-19, 2002, Ladek Zdroj
(Poland) to appear in Physica
SCTA - A Rad-Hard BiCMOS Analogue Readout ASIC for the ATLAS Semiconductor Tracker
Two prototype chips for the analogue readout of silicon strip detectors in the ATLAS Semiconductor Tracker (SCT) have been designed and manufactured, in 32 channels and 128 channel versions, using the radiation hard BiCMOS DMILL process. The SCTA chip comprises three basic blocks: front-end amplifier, analogue pipeline and output multiplexer. The front-end circuit is a fast transresistance amplifier followed by an integrator, providing fast shaping with a peaking time of 25 ns, and an output buffer. The front end output values are sampled at 40 MHz rate and stored in a 112-cell deep analogue pipeline. The delay between the write pointer and trigger pointer is tunable between 2 ms and 2.5 ms. The chip has been tested successfully and subsequently irradiated up to 10 Mrad. Full functionality of all blocks of the chip has been achieved at a clock frequency of 40 MHz both before and after irradiation. Noise figures of ENC = 720 e- + 33 e-/pF before irradiation and 840 e- + 33 e-/pF after irradiation have been obtained
Highly site-specific H2 adsorption on vicinal Si(001) surfaces
Experimental and theoretical results for the dissociative adsorption of H_2
on vicinal Si(001) surfaces are presented. Using optical second-harmonic
generation, sticking probabilities at the step sites are found to exceed those
on the terraces by up to six orders of magnitude. Density functional theory
calculations indicate the presence of direct adsorption pathways for
monohydride formation but with a dramatically lowered barrier for step
adsorption due to an efficient rehybridization of dangling orbitals.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. (1998). Other
related publications can be found at
http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm
Hyperon-nucleon scattering and hyperon masses in the nuclear medium
We analyze low-energy hyperon-nucleon scattering using an effective field
theory in next-to-leading order. By fitting experimental cross sections for
laboratory hyperon momenta below 200 MeV/c and using information from the
hypertriton we determine twelve contact-interaction coefficients. Based on
these we discuss the low-density expansion of hyperon mass shifts in the
nuclear medium.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
Development of a selftriggered high counting rate ASIC for readout of 2D gas microstrip neutron detectors
In the frame of the DETNI project a 32-channel ASIC suitable for readout of a novel 2D thermal neutron detector based on a hybrid low-pressure Micro-Strip Gas Chamber with solid 157Gd converter has been developed. Each channel delivers position information, a fast time stamp of 2 ns resolution and the signal amplitude (called energy below). The time stamp is used for correlating the signals from X and Y strips while the amplitude is used for finding the center of gravity of a cluster of strips. The timing and energy information are stored in derandomizing buffers and read out via token ring architecture
Dynamic exchange-correlation potentials for the electron gas in dimensionality D=3 and D=2
Recent progress in the formulation of a fully dynamical local approximation
to time-dependent Density Functional Theory appeals to the longitudinal and
transverse components of the exchange and correlation kernel in the linear
current-density response of the homogeneous fluid at long wavelength. Both
components are evaluated for the electron gas in dimensionality D=3 and D=2 by
an approximate decoupling in the equation of motion for the current density,
which accounts for processes of excitation of two electron-hole pairs. Each
pair is treated in the random phase approximation, but the role of exchange and
correlation is also examined; in addition, final-state exchange processes are
included phenomenologically so as to satisfy the exactly known high-frequency
behaviours of the kernel. The transverse and longitudinal spectra involve the
same decay channels and are similar in shape. A two-plasmon threshold in the
spectrum for two-pair excitations in D=3 leads to a sharp minimum in the real
part of the exchange and correlation kernel at twice the plasma frequency. In
D=2 the same mechanism leads to a broad spectral peak and to a broad minimum in
the real part of the kernel, as a consequence of the dispersion law of the
plasmon vanishing at long wavelength. The numerical results have been fitted to
simple analytic functions.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures included. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Vacuum Polarization in an Anti-de Sitter Space as an Origin for a Cosmological Constant in a Brane World
In this Letter we show that the vacuum polarization of quantum fields in an
anti-de Sitter space naturally gives rise to a small but nonzero cosmological
constant in a brane world living in it. To explain the extremely small ratio of
mass density in the cosmological constant to the Planck mass density in our
universe (\approx 10^{-123}) as suggested by cosmological observations, all we
need is a four-dimensional brane world (our universe) living in a
five-dimensional anti-de Sitter space with a curvature radius r_0 \sim
10^{-3}cm and a fundamental Planck energy M_P \sim 10^9 GeV, and a scalar field
with a mass m \sim r_0^{-1}\sim 10^{-2}eV. Probing gravity down to a scale \sim
10^{-3}cm, which is attainable in the near future, will provide a test of the
model.Comment: 10 pages, including 1 figur
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