412 research outputs found
The role of General Relativity in the evolution of Low Mass X-ray Binaries
We study the evolution of Low Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXBs) and of millisecond
binary radio pulsars (MSPs), with numerical simulations that keep into account
the evolution of the companion, of the binary system and of the neutron star.
According to general relativity, when energy is released, the system loses
gravitational mass. Moreover, the neutron star can collapse to a black hole if
its mass exceeds a critical limit, that depends on the equation of state. These
facts have some interesting consequences: 1) In a MSP the mass-energy is lost
with a specific angular momentum that is smaller than the one of the system,
resulting in a positive contribution to the orbital period derivative. If this
contribution is dominant and can be measured, we can extract information about
the moment of inertia of the neutron star, since the energy loss rate depends
on it. Such a measurement can therefore help to put constraints on the equation
of state of ultradense matter. 2) In LMXBs below the bifurcation period (\sim
18 h), the neutron star survives the period gap only if its mass is smaller
than the maximum non-rotating mass when the companion becomes fully convective
and accretion pauses. Therefore short period (P < 2h) millisecond X-ray pulsar
like SAX J1808.4-3658 can be formed only if either a large part of the
accreting matter has been ejected from the system, or the equation of state of
ultradense matter is very stiff. 3) In Low Mass X-ray binaries above the
bifurcation period, the mass-energy loss lowers the mass transfer rate. As side
effect, the inner core of the companion star becomes 1% bigger than in a system
with a non-collapsed primary. Due to this difference, the final orbital period
of the system becomes 20% larger than what is obtained if the mass-energy loss
effect is not taken into account.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted by the MNRA
Optimal charging of electric vehicles in microgrids through discrete event optimization
In this paper, a discrete event approach is proposed for the optimal charging of electrical vehicles in microgrids. In particular, the considered system is characterized by renewable energy sources (RES), non-renewable energy sources, electrical storage, a connection to the external grid and a charging station for electric vehicles (EVs). The decision variables are relevant to the schedule of production plants, storage systems and EVs' charging. The objective function to be minimized is related to the cost of purchasing energy from the external grid, the use of nonrenewable energy sources and tardiness of customer's service. The proposed approach is applied to a real case study and it is shown that it allows to considerably reduce the dimension of the problem (and thus the computational time required) as compared to a discrete-time approach
Resolving the Fe xxv Triplet with Chandra in Cen X-3
We present the results of a 45 ks Chandra observation of the high-mass X-ray
binary Cen X--3 at orbital phases between 0.13 and 0.40 (in the eclipse
post-egress phases). Here we concentrate on the study of discrete features in
the energy spectrum at energies between 6 and 7 keV, i.e. on the iron
K line region, using the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer
on board the Chandra satellite. We clearly see a K neutral iron line
at keV and were able to distinguish the three lines of the
\ion{Fe}{25} triplet at 6.61 keV, 6.67 keV, and 6.72 keV, with an equivalent
width of 6 eV, 9 eV, and 5 eV, respectively. The equivalent width of the
K neutral iron line is 13 eV, an order of magnitude lower than
previous measures. We discuss the possibility that the small equivalent width
is due to a decrease of the solid angle subtended by the reflector.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, To appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letter
Nonextensive thermodynamic functions in the Schr\"odinger-Gibbs ensemble
Schr\"odinger suggested that thermodynamical functions cannot be based on the
gratuitous allegation that quantum-mechanical levels (typically the orthogonal
eigenstates of the Hamiltonian operator) are the only allowed states for a
quantum system [E. Schr\"odinger, Statistical Thermodynamics (Courier Dover,
Mineola, 1967)]. Different authors have interpreted this statement by
introducing density distributions on the space of quantum pure states with
weights obtained as functions of the expectation value of the Hamiltonian of
the system.
In this work we focus on one of the best known of these distributions, and we
prove that, when considered in composite quantum systems, it defines partition
functions that do not factorize as products of partition functions of the
noninteracting subsystems, even in the thermodynamical regime. This implies
that it is not possible to define extensive thermodynamical magnitudes such as
the free energy, the internal energy or the thermodynamic entropy by using
these models. Therefore, we conclude that this distribution inspired by
Schr\"odinger's idea can not be used to construct an appropriate quantum
equilibrium thermodynamics.Comment: 32 pages, revtex 4.1 preprint style, 5 figures. Published version
with several changes with respect to v2 in text and reference
Testing Rate Dependent corrections on timing mode EPIC-pn spectra of the accreting Neutron Star GX 13+1
When the EPIC-pn instrument on board XMM-Newton is operated in Timing mode,
high count rates (>100 cts/s) of bright sources may affect the calibration of
the energy scale, resulting in a modification of the real spectral shape. The
corrections related to this effect are then strongly important in the study of
the spectral properties. Tests of these calibrations are more suitable in
sources which spectra are characterised by a large number of discrete features.
Therefore, in this work, we carried out a spectral analysis of the accreting
Neutron Star GX 13+1, which is a dipping source with several narrow absorption
lines and a broad emission line in its spectrum. We tested two different
correction approaches on an XMM-Newton EPIC-pn observation taken in Timing
mode: the standard Rate Dependent CTI (RDCTI or epfast) and the new, Rate
Dependent Pulse Height Amplitude (RDPHA) corrections. We found that, in
general, the two corrections marginally affect the properties of the overall
broadband continuum, while hints of differences in the broad emission line
spectral shape are seen. On the other hand, they are dramatically important for
the centroid energy of the absorption lines. In particular, the RDPHA
corrections provide a better estimate of the spectral properties of these
features than the RDCTI corrections. Indeed the discrete features observed in
the data, applying the former method, are physically more consistent with those
already found in other Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of GX 13+1.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 10 pages, 8 figure
An XMM-Newton study of the 401 Hz accreting pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 in quiescence
SAX J1808.4-3658 is a unique source being the first Low Mass X-ray Binary
showing coherent pulsations at a spin period comparable to that of millisecond
radio pulsars. Here we present an XMM-Newton observation of SAX J1808.4-3658 in
quiescence, the first which assessed its quiescent luminosity and spectrum with
good signal to noise. XMM-Newton did not reveal other sources in the vicinity
of SAX J1808.4-3658 likely indicating that the source was also detected by
previous BeppoSAX and ASCA observations, even if with large positional and flux
uncertainties. We derive a 0.5-10 keV unabsorbed luminosity of L_X=5x10^{31}
erg/s, a relatively low value compared with other neutron star soft X-ray
transient sources. At variance with other soft X-ray transients, the quiescent
spectrum of SAX J1808.4-3658 was dominated by a hard (Gamma~1.5) power law with
only a minor contribution (<10%) from a soft black body component. If the power
law originates in the shock between the wind of a turned-on radio pulsar and
matter outflowing from the companion, then a spin-down to X-ray luminosity
conversion efficiency of eta~10^{-3} is derived; this is in line with the value
estimated from the eclipsing radio pulsar PSR J1740-5340. Within the deep
crustal heating model, the faintness of the blackbody-like component indicates
that SAX J1808.4-3658 likely hosts a massive neutronstar (M>1.7 solar masses).Comment: Paper accepted for publication in ApJ
The near-IR counterpart of IGR J17480-2446 in Terzan 5
Some globular clusters in our Galaxy are noticeably rich in low-mass X-ray
binaries. Terzan 5 has the richest population among globular clusters of X- and
radio-pulsars and low-mass X-ray binaries. The detection and study of
optical/IR counterparts of low-mass X-ray binaries is fundamental to
characterizing both the low-mass donor in the binary system and investigating
the mechanisms of the formation and evolution of this class of objects. We aim
at identifying the near-IR counterpart of the 11 Hz pulsar IGRJ17480-2446
discovered in Terzan 5. Adaptive optics (AO) systems represent the only
possibility for studying the very dense environment of GC cores from the
ground. We carried out observations of the core of Terzan 5 in the near-IR
bands with the ESO-VLT NAOS-CONICA instrument. We present the discovery of the
likely counterpart in the Ks band and discuss its properties both in outburst
and in quiescence. Archival HST observations are used to extend our discussion
to the optical bands. The source is located at the blue edge of the turn-off
area in the color-magnitude diagram of the cluster. Its luminosity increase
from quiescence to outburst, by a factor 2.5, allows us to discuss the nature
of the donor star in the context of the double stellar generation population of
Terzan 5 by using recent stellar evolution models.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
A possible cyclotron resonance scattering feature near 0.7 keV in X1822-371
We analyse all available X-ray observations of X1822-371 made with
XMM-Newton, Chandra, Suzaku and INTEGRAL satellites. The observations were not
simultaneous. The Suzaku and INTEGRAL broad band energy coverage allows us to
constrain the spectral shape of the continuum emission well. We use the model
already proposed for this source, consisting of a Comptonised component
absorbed by interstellar matter and partially absorbed by local neutral matter,
and we added a Gaussian feature in absorption at keV. This addition
significantly improves the fit and flattens the residuals between 0.6 and 0.8
keV. We interpret the Gaussian feature in absorption as a cyclotron resonant
scattering feature (CRSF) produced close to the neutron star surface and derive
the magnetic field strength at the surface of the neutron star, G for a radius of 10 km. We derive the pulse period in the
EPIC-pn data to be 0.5928850(6) s and estimate that the spin period derivative
of X1822-371 is s/s using all available
pulse period measurements. Assuming that the intrinsic luminosity of
X1822-371is at the Eddington limit and using the values of spin period and spin
period derivative of the source, we constrain the neutron star and companion
star masses. We find the neutron star and the companion star masses to be M and M, respectively, for a
neutron star radius of 10 km.In a self-consistent scenario in which X1822-371
is spinning-up and accretes at the Eddington limit, we estimate that the
magnetic field of the neutron star is G for a
neutron star radius of 10 km. If our interpretation is correct, the Gaussian
absorption feature near 0.7 keV is the very first detection of a CRSF below 1
keV in a LMXB. (abridged)Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Timing an Accreting Millisecond Pulsar: Measuring the Accretion Torque in IGR J00291+5934
We present here a timing analysis of the fastest accreting millisecond pulsar
IGR J00291+5934 using RXTE data taken during the outburst of December 2004. We
corrected the arrival times of all the events for the orbital (Doppler) effects
and performed a timing analysis of the resulting phase delays. In this way we
find a clear parabolic trend of the pulse phase delays showing that the pulsar
is spinning up as a consequence of accretion torques during the X-ray outburst.
The accretion torque gives us for the first time an independent estimate of the
mass accretion rate onto the neutron star, which can be compared with the
observed X-ray luminosity. We also report a revised value of the spin period of
the pulsar.Comment: Proceedings of the Frascati Workshop 2005: Multifrequency Behaviour
of High Energy Cosmic Sources, Vulcano, May 23-28. 7 pages including 1 figur
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