989 research outputs found
Leptonic secondary emission in a hadronic microquasar model
Context: It has been proposed that the origin of the very high-energy photons
emitted from high-mass X-ray binaries with jet-like features, so-called
microquasars (MQs), is related to hadronic interactions between relativistic
protons in the jet and cold protons of the stellar wind. Leptonic secondary
emission should be calculated in a complete hadronic model that include the
effects of pairs from charged pion decays inside the jets and the emission from
pairs generated by gamma-ray absorption in the photosphere of the system. Aims:
We aim at predicting the broadband spectrum from a general hadronic microquasar
model, taking into account the emission from secondaries created by charged
pion decay inside the jet. Methods: The particle energy distribution for
secondary leptons injected along the jets is consistently derived taking the
energy losses into account. We also compute the spectral energy distribution
resulting from these leptons is calculated after assuming different values of
the magnetic field inside the jets. The spectrum of the gamma-rays produced by
neutral pion-decay and processed by electromagnetic cascades under the stellar
photon field. Results: We show that the secondary emission can dominate the
spectral energy distribution at low energies (~1 MeV). At high energies, the
production spectrum can be significantly distorted by the effect of
electromagnetic cascades. These effects are phase-dependent, and some
variability modulated by the orbital period is predicted.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Very high energy emission from the hard spectrum sources HESS J1641-463, HESS J1741-302 and HESS J1826-130
A recent study of the diffuse -ray emission in the Central Molecular
Zone using very high energy (VHE, E 0.1 TeV) H.E.S.S. data suggests that
the Galactic Center (GC) is the most plausible supplier of Galactic
ultra-relativistic cosmic-rays (CRs) up to the knee at about 10 eV
(PeV). However, the GC might not be the only source capable to accelerate CRs
up to PeV energies in the Galaxy. Here we present H.E.S.S. data analysis
results and interpretation of three H.E.S.S. sources, with spectra extending
beyond 10 TeV and relatively hard spectral indices compared with the average
spectral index of H.E.S.S. sources, namely HESS J1641-463, HESS J1741-302 and
HESS J1826-130. Although the nature of these VHE -ray sources is still
open, their spectra suggest that the astrophysical objects producing such
emission must be capable of accelerating the parental particle population up to
energies of at least several hundreds of TeV. Assuming a hadronic scenario,
dense gas regions can provide rich target material for accelerated particles to
produce VHE -ray emission via proton-proton interactions followed by a
subsequent decay. Thus, detailed investigations of the interstellar
medium along the line of sight to all of these sources have been performed by
using data from available atomic and molecular hydrogen surveys. The results
point out the existence of dense interstellar gas structures coincident with
the best fit positions of these sources. One can find possible hadronic models
with CRs being accelerated close to the PeV energies to explain the
-ray emission from all of these sources, which opens up the possibility
that a population of PeV CR accelerators might be active in the Galaxy.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, in Proceedings of 35th ICRC, Busan (Korea) 201
HESS J1826130: A Very Hard -Ray Spectrum Source in the Galactic Plane
HESS J1826130 is an unidentified hard spectrum source discovered by
H.E.S.S. along the Galactic plane, the spectral index being = 1.6 with
an exponential cut-off at about 12 TeV. While the source does not have a clear
counterpart at longer wavelengths, the very hard spectrum emission at TeV
energies implies that electrons or protons accelerated up to several hundreds
of TeV are responsible for the emission. In the hadronic case, the VHE emission
can be produced by runaway cosmic-rays colliding with the dense molecular
clouds spatially coincident with the H.E.S.S. source.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on
High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy (Gamma2016), Heidelberg, German
Robotically Steered Needles: A Survey of Neurosurgical Applications and Technical Innovations
This paper surveys both the clinical applications and main technical innovations related to steered needles, with an emphasis on neurosurgery. Technical innovations generally center on curvilinear robots that can adopt a complex path that circumvents critical structures and eloquent brain tissue. These advances include several needle-steering approaches, which consist of tip-based, lengthwise, base motion-driven, and tissue-centered steering strategies. This paper also describes foundational mathematical models for steering, where potential fields, nonholonomic bicycle-like models, spring models, and stochastic approaches are cited. In addition, practical path planning systems are also addressed, where we cite uncertainty modeling in path planning, intraoperative soft tissue shift estimation through imaging scans acquired during the procedure, and simulation-based prediction. Neurosurgical scenarios tend to emphasize straight needles so far, and span deep-brain stimulation (DBS), stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG), intracerebral drug delivery (IDD), stereotactic brain biopsy (SBB), stereotactic needle aspiration for hematoma, cysts and abscesses, and brachytherapy as well as thermal ablation of brain tumors and seizure-generating regions. We emphasize therapeutic considerations and complications that have been documented in conjunction with these applications
Nitsche’s method for two and three dimensional NURBS patch coupling
We present a Nitche’s method to couple non-conforming two and three-dimensional NURBS (Non Uniform Rational B-splines) patches in the context of isogeometric analysis (IGA). We present results for linear elastostatics in two and and three-dimensions. The method can deal with surface-surface or volume-volume coupling, and we show how it can be used to handle heterogeneities such as inclusions. We also present preliminary results on modal analysis. This simple coupling method has the potential to increase the applicability of NURBS-based isogeometric analysis for practical applications
Isogeometric boundary element methods for three dimensional static fracture and fatigue crack growth
We present a novel numerical method to simulate crack growth in 3D, directly from the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) geometry of the component, without any mesh generation. The method is an isogeometric boundary element method (IGABEM) based on non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS). NURBS basis functions are used for the domain and crack representation as well as to approximate the physical quantities involved in the simulations. A stable quadrature scheme for singular integration is proposed to enhance the robustness of the method in dealing with highly distorted elements. Convergence studies in the crack opening displacement is performed for a penny-shaped crack and an elliptical crack. Two approaches to extract stress intensity factors (SIFs): the contour M integral and the virtual crack closure integral are compared using dual integral equations. The results show remarkable accuracy in the computed SIFs, leading to smooth crack paths and reliable fatigue lives, without requiring the generation of any mesh from the CAD model of the component under consideration
Resolving the Crab pulsar wind nebula at teraelectronvolt energies
The Crab nebula is one of the most-studied cosmic particle accelerators, shining brightly across the entire electromagnetic spectrum up to very-high-energy gamma rays1,2. It is known from observations in the radio to gamma-ray part of the spectrum that the nebula is powered by a pulsar, which converts most of its rotational energy losses into a highly relativistic outflow. This outflow powers a pulsar wind nebula, a region of up to ten light-years across, filled with relativistic electrons and positrons. These particles emit synchrotron photons in the ambient magnetic field and produce very-high-energy gamma rays by Compton up-scattering of ambient low-energy photons. Although the synchrotron morphology of the nebula is well established, it has not been known from which region the very-high-energy gamma rays are emitted3,4,5,6,7,8. Here we report that the Crab nebula has an angular extension at gamma-ray energies of 52 arcseconds (assuming a Gaussian source width), much larger than at X-ray energies. This result closes a gap in the multi-wavelength coverage of the nebula, revealing the emission region of the highest-energy gamma rays. These gamma rays enable us to probe a previously inaccessible electron and positron energy range. We find that simulations of the electromagnetic emission reproduce our measurement, pro
Discovery of the VHE gamma-ray source HESS J1641-463
A new TeV source, HESS J1641-463, has been serendipitously discovered in the
Galactic plane by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) at a
significance level of 8.6 standard deviations. The observations of HESS
J1641-463 were performed between 2004 and 2011 and the source has a moderate
flux level of 1.7% of the Crab Nebula flux at E > 1 TeV. HESS J1641-463 has a
rather hard photon index of 1.99 +- 0.13_stat +- 0.20_sys. HESS J1641-463 is
positionally coincident with the radio supernova remnant SNR G338.5+0.1, but no
clear X-ray counterpart has been found in archival Chandra observations of the
region. Different possible VHE production scenarios will be discussed in this
contribution.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 2012 Fermi Symposium proceedings - eConf C12102
- …