Sources of Relativistic Jets in the Galaxy

Black holes of stellar mass and neutron stars in binary systems are first detected as hard X-ray sources using high-energy space telescopes. Relativistic jets in some of these compact sources are found by means of multiwavelength observations with ground-based telescopes. The X-ray emission probes the inner accretion disk and immediate surroundings of the compact object, whereas the synchrotron emission from the jets is observed in the radio and infrared bands, and in the future could be detected at even shorter wavelengths. Black-hole X-ray binaries with relativistic jets mimic, on a much smaller scale, many of the phenomena seen in quasars and are thus called microquasars. Because of their proximity, their study opens the way for a better understanding of the relativistic jets seen elsewhere in the Universe. From the observation of two-sided moving jets it is inferred that the ejecta in microquasars move with relativistic speeds similar to those believed to be present in quasars. The simultaneous multiwavelength approach to microquasars reveals in short timescales the close connection between instabilities in the accretion disk seen in the X-rays, and the ejection of relativistic clouds of plasma observed as synchrotron emission at longer wavelengths. Besides contributing to a deeper comprehension of accretion disks and jets, microquasars may serve in the future to determine the distances of jet sources using constraints from special relativity, and the spin of black holes using general relativity.Comment: 39 pages, Tex, 8 figures, to appear in vol. 37 (1999) of Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysic

ALMA Long Baseline Campaigns: Phase Characteristics of Atmosphere at Long Baselines in the Millimeter and Submillimeter Wavelengths

We present millimeter- and submillimeter-wave phase characteristics measured between 2012 and 2014 of Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array long baseline campaigns. This paper presents the first detailed investigation of the characteristics of phase fluctuation and phase correction methods obtained with baseline lengths up to ~15 km. The basic phase fluctuation characteristics can be expressed with the spatial structure function (SSF). Most of the SSFs show that the phase fluctuation increases as a function of baseline length, with a power-law slope of ~0.6. In many cases, we find that the slope becomes shallower (average of ~0.2–0.3) at baseline lengths longer than ~1 km, namely showing a turn-over in SSF. These power law slopes do not change with the amount of precipitable water vapor (PWV), but the fitted constants have a weak correlation with PWV, so that the phase fluctuation at a baseline length of 10 km also increases as a function of PWV. The phase correction method using water vapor radiometers (WVRs) works well, especially for the cases where PWV > 1mm, which reduces the degree of phase fluctuations by a factor of two in many cases. However, phase fluctuations still remain after the WVR phase correction, suggesting the existence of other turbulent constituent that cause the phase fluctuation. This is supported by occasional SSFs that do not exhibit any turn-over; these are only seen when the PWV is low (i.e., when the WVR phase correction works less effectively) or after WVR phase correction. This means that the phase fluctuation caused by this turbulent constituent is inherently smaller than that caused by water vapor. Since in these rare cases there is no turn-over in the SSF up to the maximum baseline length of ~15 km, this turbulent constituent must have scale height of 10 km or more, and thus cannot be water vapor, whose scale height is around 1 km. Based on the characteristics, this large scale height turbulent constituent is likely to be water ice or a dry component. Excess path length fluctuation after the WVR phase correction at a baseline length of 10 km is large ($\gtrsim$200 μm), which is significant for high frequency (>450 GHz or <700 μm) observations. These results suggest the need for an additional phase correction method to reduce the degree of phase fluctuation, such as fast switching, in addition to the WVR phase correction. We simulated the fast switching phase correction method using observations of single quasars, and the result suggests that it works well, with shorter cycle times linearly improving the coherence

Atmospheric phase characteristics of the ALMA long baseline

© 2016 SPIE.Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Arraj (ALMA) is the world's largest millimeter / submilliineter (mm / submm) interferometer. Along with science observations, ALMA has performed several long baseline campaigns in the last ft years to characterize and optimize its long baseline capabilities, lo achieve full long baseline capability of ALMA, it is important to understand the characteristics of atmospheric phase fluctuation at long baselines, since it is believed to be the main cause of miii/siibiiiui image degradation. For the first time, we present detailed properties of atmospheric phase fluctuation at miii/subiiiiii wavelength from baselines up to 15 km in length. Atmospheric phase fluctuation increases as a function of baseline length with a power-law slope close to 0.6, and many of the data display a shallower slope (0.2 - 0.3) at baseline length greater than about 1 km. Some of the data, on the other hand, show a single slope up to the maximum baseline length of around 15 km. l he phase correction method based on water vapor radiometers (WV Rs) works well, especially for cases with preci pi table water vapor (PWV) greater than 1 mm. typicalh yielding a 50% decrease or more in the degree of phase fluctuation. However, significant amount of atmospheric phase fluctuation still remains after the WVH phase correction; about 200 micron in rnis excess path length (rms phase fluctuation iu unit of length) even at PWV less than 1 nun. This result suggests the existence of other non-water-vapor sources of phase fluctuation, and emphasizes the need for additional phase correction methods, such as band-To-band and/or fast switching

Atmospheric phase characteristics of the ALMA long baseline

© 2016 SPIE.Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Arraj (ALMA) is the world's largest millimeter / submilliineter (mm / submm) interferometer. Along with science observations, ALMA has performed several long baseline campaigns in the last ft years to characterize and optimize its long baseline capabilities, lo achieve full long baseline capability of ALMA, it is important to understand the characteristics of atmospheric phase fluctuation at long baselines, since it is believed to be the main cause of miii/siibiiiui image degradation. For the first time, we present detailed properties of atmospheric phase fluctuation at miii/subiiiiii wavelength from baselines up to 15 km in length. Atmospheric phase fluctuation increases as a function of baseline length with a power-law slope close to 0.6, and many of the data display a shallower slope (0.2 - 0.3) at baseline length greater than about 1 km. Some of the data, on the other hand, show a single slope up to the maximum baseline length of around 15 km. l he phase correction method based on water vapor radiometers (WV Rs) works well, especially for cases with preci pi table water vapor (PWV) greater than 1 mm. typicalh yielding a 50% decrease or more in the degree of phase fluctuation. However, significant amount of atmospheric phase fluctuation still remains after the WVH phase correction; about 200 micron in rnis excess path length (rms phase fluctuation iu unit of length) even at PWV less than 1 nun. This result suggests the existence of other non-water-vapor sources of phase fluctuation, and emphasizes the need for additional phase correction methods, such as band-To-band and/or fast switching

ALMA long baseline phase calibration using phase referencing

© 2016 SPIE.The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is the world's largest millimeter/submillimeter telescope and provides unprecedented sensitivities and spatial resolutions. To achieve the highest imaging capa- bilities, interferometric phase calibration for the long baselines is one of the most important subjects: The longer the baselines, the worse the phase stability becomes because of turbulent motions of the Earth's atmosphere, es- pecially, the water vapor in the troposphere. To overcome this subject, ALMA adopts a phase correction scheme using a Water Vapor Radiometer (WVR) to estimate the amount of water vapor content along the antenna line of sight. An additional technique is phase referencing, in which a science target and a nearby calibrator are observed by turn by quickly changing the antenna pointing. We conducted feasibility studies of the hybrid technique with the WVR phase correction and the antenna Fast Switching (FS) phase referencing (WVR+FS phase correction) for the ALMA 16 km longest baselines in cases that (1) the same observing frequency both for a target and calibrator is used, and (2) higher and lower frequencies for a target and calibrator, respectively, with a typical switching cycle time of 20 s. It was found that the phase correction performance of the hybrid technique is promising where a nearby calibrator is located within roughly 3? from a science target, and that the phase correction with 20 s switching cycle time significantly improves the performance with the above separation angle criterion comparing to the 120 s switching cycle time. The currently trial phase calibration method shows the same performance independent of the observing frequencies. This result is especially important for the higher frequency observations because it becomes difficult to find a bright calibrator close to an arbitrary sky position. In the series of our experiments, it is also found that phase errors affecting the image quality come from not only the water vapor content in the lower troposphere but also a large structure of the atmosphere with a typical cell scale of a few tens of kilometers

ALMA long baseline phase calibration using phase referencing

© 2016 SPIE.The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is the world's largest millimeter/submillimeter telescope and provides unprecedented sensitivities and spatial resolutions. To achieve the highest imaging capa- bilities, interferometric phase calibration for the long baselines is one of the most important subjects: The longer the baselines, the worse the phase stability becomes because of turbulent motions of the Earth's atmosphere, es- pecially, the water vapor in the troposphere. To overcome this subject, ALMA adopts a phase correction scheme using a Water Vapor Radiometer (WVR) to estimate the amount of water vapor content along the antenna line of sight. An additional technique is phase referencing, in which a science target and a nearby calibrator are observed by turn by quickly changing the antenna pointing. We conducted feasibility studies of the hybrid technique with the WVR phase correction and the antenna Fast Switching (FS) phase referencing (WVR+FS phase correction) for the ALMA 16 km longest baselines in cases that (1) the same observing frequency both for a target and calibrator is used, and (2) higher and lower frequencies for a target and calibrator, respectively, with a typical switching cycle time of 20 s. It was found that the phase correction performance of the hybrid technique is promising where a nearby calibrator is located within roughly 3? from a science target, and that the phase correction with 20 s switching cycle time significantly improves the performance with the above separation angle criterion comparing to the 120 s switching cycle time. The currently trial phase calibration method shows the same performance independent of the observing frequencies. This result is especially important for the higher frequency observations because it becomes difficult to find a bright calibrator close to an arbitrary sky position. In the series of our experiments, it is also found that phase errors affecting the image quality come from not only the water vapor content in the lower troposphere but also a large structure of the atmosphere with a typical cell scale of a few tens of kilometers

High energy emission from microquasars

The microquasar phenomenon is associated with the production of jets by X-ray binaries and, as such, may be associated with the majority of such systems. In this chapter we briefly outline the associations, definite, probable, possible, and speculative, between such jets and X-ray, gamma-ray and particle emission.Comment: Contributing chapter to the book Cosmic Gamma-Ray Sources, K.S. Cheng and G.E. Romero (eds.), to be published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2004. (19 pages

Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium

We review the properties and applications of binary and millisecond pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1300. There are now 56 binary and millisecond pulsars in the Galactic disk and a further 47 in globular clusters. This review is concerned primarily with the results and spin-offs from these surveys which are of particular interest to the relativity community.Comment: 59 pages, 26 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Living Reviews in Relativity (http://www.livingreviews.org

The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment

The status of experimental tests of general relativity and of theoretical frameworks for analysing them is reviewed. Einstein's equivalence principle (EEP) is well supported by experiments such as the Eotvos experiment, tests of special relativity, and the gravitational redshift experiment. Future tests of EEP and of the inverse square law are searching for new interactions arising from unification or quantum gravity. Tests of general relativity at the post-Newtonian level have reached high precision, including the light deflection, the Shapiro time delay, the perihelion advance of Mercury, and the Nordtvedt effect in lunar motion. Gravitational-wave damping has been detected in an amount that agrees with general relativity to better than half a percent using the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar, and other binary pulsar systems have yielded other tests, especially of strong-field effects. When direct observation of gravitational radiation from astrophysical sources begins, new tests of general relativity will be possible.Comment: 89 pages, 8 figures; an update of the Living Review article originally published in 2001; final published version incorporating referees' suggestion

Binary and Millisecond Pulsars

We review the main properties, demographics and applications of binary and millisecond radio pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1700. There are now 80 binary and millisecond pulsars associated with the disk of our Galaxy, and a further 103 pulsars in 24 of the Galactic globular clusters. Recent highlights have been the discovery of the first ever double pulsar system and a recent flurry of discoveries in globular clusters, in particular Terzan 5.Comment: 77 pages, 30 figures, available on-line at http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2005-