Effects of the background radiation on radio pulsar and supernova remnant searches and the birth rates of these objects

In different directions of the Galaxy the Galactic background radio radiation and radiation of complex star formation regions which include large number of OB associations have different influences on radio pulsar (PSR) and supernova remnant (SNR) searches. In this work we analyse the effects of these background radiations on the observations of PSRs at 1400 MHz and SNRs at 1000 MHz. In the interval l=0$^o$$\pm60^o$ the PSRs with flux F$_{1400}$$>$0.2 mJy and the SNRs with surface brightness $\Sigma$$>10^{-21}$ Wm$^{-2}$Hz$^{-1}$sr$^{-1}$ are observable for all values of l and b. All the SNRs with $\Sigma$$>3\times10^{-22}$ Wm$^{-2}$Hz$^{-1}$sr$^{-1}$ can be observed in the interval 60$^o$$<$l$<300^o$. We have examined samples of PSRs and SNRs to estimate the birth rates of these objects in the region up to 3.2 kpc from the Sun and also in the Galaxy. The birth rate of PSRs is about one in 200 years and the birth rate of SNRs is about one in 65 years in our galaxy.Comment: revised versio

An Alternative Interpretation of Recent ARPES Measurements on TiSe2

Recently there has been a renewed interest in the charge density wave transition of TiSe2, fuelled by the possibility that this transition may be driven by the formation of an excitonic insulator or even an excitonic condensate. We show here that the recent ARPES measurements on TiSe2 can also be interpreted in terms of an alternative scenario, in which the transition is due to a combination of Jahn-Teller effects and exciton formation. The hybrid exciton-phonons which cause the CDW formation interpolate between a purely structural and a purely electronic type of transition. Above the transition temperature, the electron-phonon coupling becomes ineffective but a finite mean-field density of excitons remains and gives rise to the observed diffuse ARPES signals.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Scattering Theory for Jacobi Operators with Steplike Quasi-Periodic Background

We develop direct and inverse scattering theory for Jacobi operators with steplike quasi-periodic finite-gap background in the same isospectral class. We derive the corresponding Gel'fand-Levitan-Marchenko equation and find minimal scattering data which determine the perturbed operator uniquely. In addition, we show how the transmission coefficients can be reconstructed from the eigenvalues and one of the reflection coefficients.Comment: 14 page

Mimicking diffuse supernova antineutrinos with the Sun as a source

Measuring the electron antineutrino component of the cosmic diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB) is the next ambitious goal for low-energy neutrino astronomy. The largest flux is expected in the lowest accessible energy bin. However, for E < 15 MeV a possible signal can be mimicked by a solar electron antineutrino flux that originates from the usual 8B neutrinos by spin-flavor oscillations. We show that such an interpretation is possible within the allowed range of neutrino electromagnetic transition moments and solar turbulent field strengths and distributions. Therefore, an unambiguous detection of the DSNB requires a significant number of events at E > 15 MeV.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Neutrino Spectrum from SN 1987A and from Cosmic Supernovae

The detection of neutrinos from SN 1987A by the Kamiokande-II and Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven detectors provided the first glimpse of core collapse in a supernova, complementing the optical observations and confirming our basic understanding of the mechanism behind the explosion. One long-standing puzzle is that, when fitted with thermal spectra, the two independent detections do not seem to agree with either each other or typical theoretical expectations. We assess the compatibility of the two data sets in a model-independent way and show that they can be reconciled if one avoids any bias on the neutrino spectrum stemming from theoretical conjecture. We reconstruct the neutrino spectrum from SN 1987A directly from the data through non-parametric inferential statistical methods and present predictions for the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background based on SN 1987A data. We show that this prediction cannot be too small (especially in the 10-18 MeV range), since the majority of the detected events from SN 1987 were above 18 MeV (including 6 events above 35 MeV), suggesting an imminent detection in operational and planned detectors.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; Matches version published in Phys. Rev.

One blind and three targeted searches for (sub)millisecond pulsars

We conducted one blind and three targeted searches for millisecond and submillisecond pulsars. The blind search was conducted within 3deg of the Galactic plane and at longitudes between 20 and 110deg. It takes 22073 pointings to cover this region, and 5487 different positions in the sky. The first targeted search was aimed at Galactic globular clusters, the second one at 24 bright polarized and pointlike radiosources with steep spectra, and the third at 65 faint polarized and pointlike radiosources. The observations were conducted at the large radiotelescope of Nancay Observatory, at a frequency near 1400 MHz. Two successive backends were used, first a VLBI S2 system, second a digital acquisition board and a PC with large storage capacity sampling the signal at 50 Mb/s on one bit, over a 24-MHz band and in one polarization. The bandwidth of acquisition of the second backend was later increased to 48 MHz and the sampling rate to 100 Mb/s. The survey used the three successive setups, with respective sensitivities of 3.5, 2.2, and 1.7 mJy. The targeted-search data were obtained with the third setup and reduced with a method based on the Hough transform, yielding a sensitivity of 0.9 mJy. The processing of the data was done in slightly differed time by soft-correlation in all cases. No new short-period millisecond pulsars were discovered in the different searches. To better understand the null result of the blind survey, we estimate the probability of detecting one or more short-period pulsars among a given Galactic population of synthetic pulsars with our setup: 25% for the actual incomplete survey and 79% if we had completed the whole survey with a uniform nominal sensitivity of 1.7 mJy. The alternative of surveying a smaller, presumably more densely populated, region with a higher sensitivity would have a low return and would be impractical at a transit instrument. (abridged)Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Models of coherent exciton condensation

That excitons in solids might condense into a phase-coherent ground state was proposed about 40 years ago, and has been attracting experimental and theoretical attention ever since. Although experimental confirmation has been hard to come by, the concepts released by this phenomenon have been widely influential. This tutorial review discusses general aspects of the theory of exciton and polariton condensates, focussing on the reasons for coherence in the ground state wavefunction, the BCS to Bose crossover(s) for excitons and for polaritons, and the relationship of the coherent condensates to standard lasers.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures. Submitted for a special issue of J. Phys. Cond. Matt. associated with the EU network "Photon-mediated phenomena in semiconductor nanostructures

The Relation Between the Surface Brightness and the Diameter for Galactic Supernova Remnants

In this work, we have constructed a relation between the surface brightness ($\Sigma$) and diameter (D) of Galactic C- and S-type supernova remnants (SNRs). In order to calibrate the $\Sigma$-D dependence, we have carefully examined some intrinsic (e.g. explosion energy) and extrinsic (e.g. density of the ambient medium) properties of the remnants and, taking into account also the distance values given in the literature, we have adopted distances for some of the SNRs which have relatively more reliable distance values. These calibrator SNRs are all C- and S-type SNRs, i.e. F-type SNRs (and S-type SNR Cas A which has an exceptionally high surface brightness) are excluded. The Sigma-D relation has 2 slopes with a turning point at D=36.5 pc: $\Sigma$(at 1 GHz)=8.4$^{+19.5}_{-6.3}$$\times10^{-12}$ D$^{{-5.99}^{+0.38}_{-0.33}}$ Wm$^{-2}$Hz$^{-1}$ster$^{-1}$ (for $\Sigma$$\le3.7\times10^{-21}$ Wm$^{-2}$Hz$^{-1}$ster$^{-1}$ and D$\ge$36.5 pc) and $\Sigma$(at 1 GHz)=2.7$^{+2.1}_{-1.4}$$\times$ 10$^{-17}$ D$^{{-2.47}^{+0.20}_{-0.16}}$ Wm$^{-2}$Hz$^{-1}$ster$^{-1}$ (for $\Sigma$$>3.7\times10^{-21}$ Wm$^{-2}$Hz$^{-1}$ster$^{-1}$ and D$<$36.5 pc). We discussed the theoretical basis for the $\Sigma$-D dependence and particularly the reasons for the change in slope of the relation were stated. Added to this, we have shown the dependence between the radio luminosity and the diameter which seems to have a slope close to zero up to about D=36.5 pc. We have also adopted distance and diameter values for all of the observed Galactic SNRs by examining all the available distance values presented in the literature together with the distances found from our $\Sigma$-D relation.Comment: 45 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomical and Astrophysical Transaction

Electronic properties and phase transitions in low-dimensional semiconductors

We present the first review of the current state of the literature on electronic properties and phase transitions in TlX and TlMX2 (M = Ga, In; X = Se, S, Te) compounds. These chalcogenides belong to a family of the low-dimensional semiconductors possessing chain or layered structure. They are of significant interest because of their highly anisotropic properties, semi- and photoconductivity, non-linear effects in their I-V characteristics (including a region of negative differential resistance), switching and memory effects, second harmonic optical generation, relaxor behavior and potential applications for optoelectronic devices. We review the crystal structure of TlX and TlMX2 compounds, their transport properties under ambient conditions, experimental and theoretical studies of the electronic structure, transport properties and semiconductor-metal phase transitions under high pressure, and sequences of temperature-induced structural phase transitions with intermediate incommensurate states. Electronic nature of the ferroelectric phase transitions in the above-mentioned compounds, as well as relaxor behavior, nanodomains and possible occurrence of quantum dots in doped and irradiated crystals is discussed.Comment: 70 pages, 38 figure