Ideal velocity focusing in a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer

AbstractA single-stage ion mirror in a time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer (MS) can perform first order velocity focusing of ions initially located at a start focal plane while second order velocity focusing can be achieved using a double-stage reflectron. The situation is quite different when an ion source extraction field is taken into account. In this case which is common in any practical matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) TOF-MS a single-stage reflectron, for example, cannot perform velocity focusing at all. In this paper an exact, analytic solution for an electric field inside a one-dimensional reflectron has been found to achieve universal temporal focusing of ions having an initial velocity distribution. The general solution is valid for arbitrary electric field distributions in the upstream (from the ion source to the reflectron) and downstream (from the reflectron to an ion detector) regions and in a decelerating part of the reflectron of a reflectron TOF mass spectrometer. The results obtained are especially useful for designing MALDI reflectron TOF mass spectrometers in which the initial velocity distribution of MALDI ions is the major limiting factor for achieving high mass resolution. Using analytical expressions obtained for an arbitrary case, convenient working formulas are derived for the case of a reflectron TOF-MS with a dual-stage extraction ion source. The special case of a MALDI reflectron TOF-MS with an ion source having a low acceleration voltage (or large extraction region) is considered. The formulas derived correct the effect of the acceleration regions in a MALDI ion source and after the reflectron before detecting ions

Stable accretion from a cold disc in highly magnetized neutron stars

The aim of this paper is to investigate the transition of a strongly magnetized neutron star into the accretion regime with very low accretion rate. For this purpose we monitored the Be-transient X-ray pulsar GRO J1008-57 throughout a full orbital cycle. The current observational campaign was performed with the Swift/XRT telescope in the soft X-ray band (0.5-10 keV) between two subsequent Type I outbursts in January and September 2016. The expected transition to the propeller regime was not observed. However, the transitions between different regimes of accretion were detected. In particular, after an outburst the source entered a stable accretion state characterised by the accretion rate of ~10^14-10^15 g/s. We associate this state with accretion from a cold (low-ionised) disc of temperature below ~6500 K. We argue that a transition to such accretion regime should be observed in all X-ray pulsars with certain combination of the rotation frequency and magnetic field strength. The proposed model of accretion from a cold disc is able to explain several puzzling observational properties of X-ray pulsars.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, accepted by A&

Polarimetry of the Type Ia Supernova SN 1996X

We present broad-band and spectropolarimetry of the Type Ia SN 1996X obtained on April 14, 1996 (UT), and broad-band polarimetry of SN 1996X on May 22,1996, when the supernova was about a week before and 4 weeks after optical maximum, respectively. The Stokes parameters derived from the broad-band polarimetry are consistent with zero polarization. The spectropolarimetry, however, shows broad spectral features which are due intrinsically to an asymmetric SN atmosphere. The spectral features in the flux spectrum and the polarization spectrum show correlations in the wavelength range from 4900 AA up to 5500 AA. The degree of this intrinsic component is low (<0.3 %). Theoretical polarization spectra have been calculated. It is shown that the polarization spectra are governed by line blending. Consequently, for similar geometrical distortions, the residual polarization is smaller by about a factor of 2 to 3 compared to the less blended Type II atmosphere, making it intrinsically harder to detect asphericities in SNIa. Comparison with theoretical model polarization spectra shows a resemblance to the observations. Taken literally, this implies an asphericity of about 11 % in the chemical distribution in the region of partial burning. This may not imperil the use of Type Ia supernovae as standard candles for distance determination, but nontheless poses a source of uncertainty. SN 1996X is the first Type Ia supernova for which spectropolarimetry revealed a polarized component intrinsic to the supernova and the first Type Ia with spectropolarimetry well prior to optical maximum.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, macros 'aas2pp4.sty,psfig.tex'. LaTeX Style. Astrophysical Journal Letters, submitted September 199

Post-Newtonian Theory for Precision Doppler Measurements of Binary Star Orbits

The determination of velocities of stars from precise Doppler measurements is described here using relativistic theory of astronomical reference frames so as to determine the Keplerian and post-Keplerian parameters of binary systems. We apply successive Lorentz transformations and the relativistic equation of light propagation to establish the exact treatment of Doppler effect in binary systems both in special and general relativity theories. As a result, the Doppler shift is a sum of (1) linear in $c^{-1}$ terms, which include the ordinary Doppler effect and its variation due to the secular radial acceleration of the binary with respect to observer; (2) terms proportional to $c^{-2}$, which include the contributions from the quadratic Doppler effect caused by the relative motion of binary star with respect to the Solar system, motion of the particle emitting light and diurnal rotational motion of observer, orbital motion of the star around the binary's barycenter, and orbital motion of the Earth; and (3) terms proportional to $c^{-2}$, which include the contributions from redshifts due to gravitational fields of the star, star's companion, Galaxy, Solar system, and the Earth. After parameterization of the binary's orbit we find that the presence of periodically changing terms in the Doppler schift enables us disentangling different terms and measuring, along with the well known Keplerian parameters of the binary, four additional post-Keplerian parameters, including the inclination angle of the binary's orbit, $i$. We briefly discuss feasibility of practical implementation of these theoretical results, which crucially depends on further progress in the technique of precision Doppler measurements.Comment: Minor changes, 1 Figure included, submitted to Astrophys.

Effects of Gravitational Lensing in the Double Pulsar System J0737-3039

We investigate the effects of gravitational lensing in the binary pulsar system J0737-3039. Current measurement of the orbital inclination allows the millisecond pulsar (A) to pass very close (at R_{min}=4000 km) in projection to the companion pulsar (B), with R_{min} comparable to the Einstein radius (2600 km). For this separation at the conjunction, lensing causes small (about 10%) magnification of the pulsar A signal on a timescale of several seconds, and displaces the pulsar image on the sky plane by about 1200 km. More importantly, lensing introduces a correction (of several microsec) to the conventional Shapiro delay formula used in pulsar timing analysis, and gives rise to a geometric time delay together with the delays associated with the pulsar spin period. These lensing effects can influence the determination of the system parameters by both timing and scintillation studies. Given the current uncertainty in the orbital inclination, more extreme manifestations of lensing (e.g. magnification by a factor of several) are possible. We compare our predictions with the existing observations and discuss the possibility of detecting gravitational lensing signatures in the system. The anomalously high point in A's lightcurve close to superior conjunction might be caused by gravitational lensing.Comment: Minor changes. ApJ Letters, in pres

Suppressed star formation in circumnuclear regions in Seyfert galaxies

Feedback from black hole activity is widely believed to play a key role in regulating star formation and black hole growth. A long-standing issue is the relation between the star formation and fueling the supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We compile a sample of 57 Seyfert galaxies to tackle this issue. We estimate the surface densities of gas and star formation rates in circumnuclear regions (CNRs). Comparing with the well-known Kennicutt-Schmidt (K-S) law, we find that the star formation rates in CNRs of most Seyfert galaxies are suppressed in this sample. Feedback is suggested to explain the suppressed star formation rates.Comment: 1 color figure and 1 table. ApJ Letters in pres

XRBcats: Galactic Low Mass X-ray Binary Catalogue

We present a new catalogue of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) in the Galaxy. The catalogue contains source names, coordinates, source types, fluxes, distances, system parameters, and other characteristic properties of 348 LMXBs, including LMXBs that were newly discovered or re-classified since the latest releases of the catalogues by Liu et al. (2007) and Ritter and Kolb (2003). The aim of this catalogue is to provide a list of all currently known Galactic objects identified as LMXBs with some basic information on each system (including X-ray and optical/IR properties where possible). Literature published before March 2023 has, as far as possible, been taken into account when compiling this information. References for all reported properties as well as object finding charts in several energy bands are provided as part of the catalogue. We plan to update the catalogue regularly, in particular to reflect new objects discovered in the ongoing large scale surveys such as Gaia and eROSITA.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, submitted to A&A. For auxillary files, see http://astro.uni-tuebingen.de/~xrbcat

Profile instabilities of the millisecond pulsar PSR J1022+1001

We present evidence that the integrated profiles of some millisecond pulsars exhibit severe changes that are inconsistent with the moding phenomenon as known from slowly rotating pulsars. We study these profile instabilities in particular for PSR J1022+1001 and show that they occur smoothly, exhibiting longer time constants than those associated with moding. In addition, the profile changes of this pulsar seem to be associated with a relatively narrow-band variation of the pulse shape. Only parts of the integrated profile participate in this process which suggests that the origin of this phenomenon is intrinsic to the pulsar magnetosphere and unrelated to the interstellar medium. A polarization study rules out profile changes due to geometrical effects produced by any sort of precession. However, changes are observed in the circularly polarized radiation component. In total we identify four recycled pulsars which also exhibit instabilities in the total power or polarization profiles due to an unknown phenomenon (PSRs J1022+1001, J1730-2304, B1821-24, J2145-0750). The consequences for high precision pulsar timing are discussed in view of the standard assumption that the integrated profiles of millisecond pulsars are stable. As a result we present a new method to determine pulse times-of-arrival that involves an adjustment of relative component amplitudes of the template profile. Applying this method to PSR J1022+1001, we obtain an improved timing solution with a proper motion measurement of -17 \pm 2 mas/yr in ecliptic longitude. Assuming a distance to the pulsar as inferred from the dispersion measure this corresponds to an one-dimensional space velocity of 50 km/s.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap