42,161 research outputs found
Ultraviolet/X-ray variability and the extended X-ray emission of the radio-loud broad absorption line quasar PG 1004+130
We present the results of recent Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Hubble Space
Telescope observations of the radio-loud (RL), broad absorption line (BAL)
quasar PG 1004+130. We compare our new observations to archival X-ray and UV
data, creating the most comprehensive, high signal-to-noise, multi-epoch,
spectral monitoring campaign of a RL BAL quasar to date. We probe for
variability of the X-ray absorption, the UV BAL, and the X-ray jet, on
month-year timescales. The X-ray absorber has a low column density of
cm when it is assumed to be fully
covering the X-ray emitting region, and its properties do not vary
significantly between the 4 observations. This suggests the observed absorption
is not related to the typical "shielding gas" commonly invoked in BAL quasar
models, but is likely due to material further from the central black hole. In
contrast, the CIV BAL shows strong variability. The equivalent width (EW) in
2014 is EW=11.240.56 \AA, showing a fractional increase of =1.160.11 from the 2003 observation, 3183 days earlier
in the rest-frame. This places PG 1004+130 among the most highly variable BAL
quasars. By combining Chandra observations we create an exposure 2.5 times
deeper than studied previously, with which to investigate the nature of the
X-ray jet and extended diffuse X-ray emission. An X-ray knot, likely with a
synchrotron origin, is detected in the radio jet ~8 arcsec (30 kpc) from the
central X-ray source with a spatial extent of ~4 arcsec (15 kpc). No similar
X-ray counterpart to the counterjet is detected. Asymmetric, non-thermal
diffuse X-ray emission, likely due to inverse Compton scattering of Cosmic
Microwave Background photons, is also detected.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap
Parallel Computing on a PC Cluster
The tremendous advance in computer technology in the past decade has made it
possible to achieve the performance of a supercomputer on a very small budget.
We have built a multi-CPU cluster of Pentium PC capable of parallel
computations using the Message Passing Interface (MPI). We will discuss the
configuration, performance, and application of the cluster to our work in
physics.Comment: 3 pages, uses Latex and aipproc.cl
Pattern formation of indirect excitons in coupled quantum wells
Using a nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation including short-range two-body
attraction and three-body repulsion, we investigate the spatial distribution of
indirect excitons in semiconductor coupled quantum wells. The results obtained
can interpret the experimental phenomenon that annular exciton cloud first
contracts then expands when the number of confined excitons is increased in
impurity potential well, as observed by Lai \emph{et al.} [Lai ,
Science \textbf{303}, 503 (2004)]. In particular, the model reconciles the
patterns of exciton rings reported by Butov \emph{et al.} [Butov ,
Nature \textbf{418}, 751 (2002)]. At higher densities, the model predicts much
richer patterns, which could be tested by future experiments.Comment: 5 Revtex4 pages, 3 figure
Photon collection from a trapped ion--cavity system
We present the design and implementation of a trapped ion cavity QED system.
A single ytterbium ion is confined by a micron-scale ion trap inside a 2 mm
optical cavity. The ion is coherently pumped by near resonant laser light while
the cavity output is monitored as a function of pump intensity and cavity
detuning. We observe a Purcell enhancement of scattered light into the solid
angle subtended by the optical cavity, as well as a three-peak structure
arising from strongly driving the atom. This system can be integrated into
existing atom{photon quantum network protocols and is a pathway towards an
efficient atom{photon quantum interface
Optical anisotropic metamaterials: Negative refraction and focusing
We design three-dimensional (3D) metallic nanowire media with different
structures and numerically demonstrate that they can be homogeneous effective
indefinite anisotropic media by showing that their dispersion relations are
hyperbolic. For a finite slab, a nice fitting procedure is exploited to obtain
the dispersion relations from which we retrieve the effective permittivities.
The pseudo focusing for the real 3D wire medium agrees very well with the
homogeneous medium having the effective permittivity tensor of the wire medium.
Studies also show that in the long-wavelength limit, the hyperbolic dispersion
relation of the 3D wire medium can be valid even for evanescent modes.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure
Using Muonic Hydrogen in Optical Spectroscopy Experiment to Detect Extra Dimensions
Considering that gravitational force might deviate from Newton's
inverse-square law (ISL) and become much stronger in small scale, we propose a
kind of optical spectroscopy experiment to detect this possible deviation and
take electronic, muonic and tauonic hydrogen atoms as examples. This experiment
might be used to indirectly detect the deviation of ISL down to nanometer scale
and to explore the possibility of three extra dimensions in ADD's model, while
current direct gravity tests cannot break through micron scale and go beyond
two extra dimensions scenario.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. To appear in IJT
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