4,751 research outputs found
Scaling anisotropy of the power in parallel and perpendicular components of the solar wind magnetic field
Power spectra of the components of the magnetic field parallel (Pzz) and perpendicular (Pzz+Pyy) to the local mean magnetic field direction were determined by wavelet methods from Ulysses’ MAG instrument data during eighteen 10-day segments of its first North Polar pass at high latitude at solar minimum in 1995. The power depends on frequency f and the angle θ between the solar wind direction and the local mean field, and with distance from the Sun. This data includes the solar wind whose total power (Pxx + Pyy + Pzz) in magnetic fluctuations we previously reported depends on f and the angle θ nearly as predicted by the GS95 critical balance model of strong incompressible MHD turbulence. Results at much wider range of frequencies during six evenly-spaced 10-day periods are presented here to illustrate the variability and evolution with distance from the Sun. Here we investigate the aniso tropic scaling of Pzz(f,θ) in particular because it is a reduced form of the Poloidal (pseudo-Alfvenic) component of the (incompressible) fluctuations. We also report the much larger Pxx(f,θ)+Pyy(f,θ) which is (mostly) reduced from the Toroidal (Alfvenic, i.e., perpendicular to both B and k) fluctuations, and comprises most of the total power. These different components of the total power evolve and scale differently in the inertial range. We compare these elements of the magnetic power spectral tensor with “critical balance” model predictions
X-ray Over-Luminous Elliptical Galaxies: A New Class of Mass Concentrations in the Universe?
We detect four isolated, X-ray over-luminous (Lx>2e43 [h/0.5]**-2 erg/s)
elliptical galaxies (OLEGs) in our 160 square degree ROSAT PSPC survey. The
extent of their X-ray emission, total X-ray luminosity, total mass, and mass of
the hot gas in these systems correspond to poor clusters, and the optical
luminosity of the central galaxies (M_R<-22.5 + 5 lg h) is comparable to that
of cluster cDs. However, there are no detectable fainter galaxy concentrations
around the central elliptical. The mass-to-light ratio within the radius of
detectable X-ray emission is in the range 250-450 Msun/Lsun, which is 2-3 times
higher than typically found in clusters or groups. These objects can be the
result of galaxy merging within a group. However, their high M/L values are
difficult to explain in this scenario. OLEGs must have been undisturbed for a
very long time, which makes them the ultimate examples of systmes in
hydrostatic equilibrium. The number density of OLEGs is n=2.4(+3.1-1.2}x10**-7
(h/0.5)**-3 Mpc**-3 at the 90% confidence. They comprise 20% of all clusters
and groups of comparable X-ray luminosity, and nearly all galaxies brighter
than M_R=-22.5. The estimated contirubution of OLEGs to the total mass density
in the Universe is close to that of T>7 keV clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, uses emulateapj.sty, submitted to ApJ Letter
Images, structural properties and metal abundances of galaxy clusters observed with Chandra ACIS-I at 0.1<z<1.3
We have assembled a sample of 115 galaxy clusters at 0.1<z<1.3 with archived
Chandra ACIS-I observations. We present X-ray images of the clusters and make
available region files containing contours of the smoothed X-ray emission. The
structural properties of the clusters were investigated and we found a
significant absence of relaxed clusters (as determined by centroid shift
measurements) at z>0.5. The slope of the surface brightness profiles at large
radii were steeper on average by 15% than the slope obtained by fitting a
simple beta-model to the emission. This slope was also found to be correlated
with cluster temperature, with some indication that the correlation is weaker
for the clusters at z>0.5. We measured the mean metal abundance of the cluster
gas as a function of redshift and found significant evolution, with the
abundances dropping by 50% between z=0.1 and z~1. This evolution was still
present (although less significant) when the cluster cores were excluded from
the abundance measurements, indicating that the evolution is not solely due to
the disappearance of relaxed, cool core clusters (which are known to have
enhanced core metal abundances) from the population at z>0.5.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJS. Updated to
match published version. Redshifts of two clusters (RXJ1701 and CL0848)
corrected and two observations of MACSJ0744.8 have been combined into one.
Conclusions unchanged. A version with images of all of the clusters is
available at http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~bmaughan/clusters.htm
The acceleration and propagation of solar flare energetic particles
Observations and theories of particle acceleration in solar flares are reviewed. The most direct signatures of particle acceleration in flares are gamma rays, X-rays and radio emissions produced by the energetic particles in the solar atmosphere and energetic particles detected in interplanetary space and in the Earth's atmosphere. The implication of these observations are discussed. Stochastic and shock acceleration as well as acceleration in direct electric fields are considered. Interplanetary particle propagation is discussed and an overview of the highlights of both current and promising future research is presented
Hot Gas Structure in the Elliptical Galaxy NGC 4472
We present X-ray spectroscopic and morphological analyses using Chandra ACIS
and ROSAT observations of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 4472 in the Virgo
cluster. We discuss previously unobserved X-ray structures within the extended
galactic corona. In the inner 2' of the galaxy, we find X-ray holes or cavities
with radii of ~2 kpc, corresponding to the position of radio lobes. These holes
were produced during a period of nuclear activity that began 1.2 x 10^7 years
ago and may be ongoing. We also find an asymmetrical edge in the galaxy X-ray
emission 3' (14 kpc) northeast of the core and an ~8' tail (36 kpc) extending
southwest of the galaxy. These two features probably result from the
interaction of NGC 4472 gas with the Virgo gas, which produces compression in
the direction of NGC 4472's infall and an extended tail from ram pressure
stripping. Assuming the tail is in pressure equilibrium with the surrounding
gas, we compute its angle to our line of sight and estimate that its true
extent exceeds 100 kpc. Finally, in addition to emission from the nucleus
(first detected by Soldatenkov, Vikhlinin & Pavlinsky), we detect two small
extended sources within 10'' of the nucleus of the galaxy, both of which have
luminosities of ~7 x 10^38 erg/s.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, accepted by Ap
The Semiclassical Limit for and Gauge Theory on the Torus
We prove that for and quantum gauge theory on a torus,
holonomy expectation values with respect to the Yang-Mills measure d\mu_T(\o)
=N_T^{-1}e^{-S_{YM}(\o)/T}[{\cal D}\o] converge, as , to
integrals with respect to a symplectic volume measure on the moduli
space of flat connections on the bundle. These moduli spaces and the symplectic
structures are described explicitly.Comment: 18 page
Dynamics of Triangulations
We study a few problems related to Markov processes of flipping
triangulations of the sphere. We show that these processes are ergodic and
mixing, but find a natural example which does not satisfy detailed balance. In
this example, the expected distribution of the degrees of the nodes seems to
follow the power law
High-Energy sources before INTEGRAL -- INTEGRAL reference catalog --
We describe the INTEGRAL reference catalog which classifies previously known
bright X-ray and gamma-ray sources before the launch of INTEGRAL. These sources
are, or have been at least once, brighter than ~1 mCrab above 3 keV, and are
expected to be detected by INTEGRAL. This catalog is being used in the INTEGRAL
Quick Look Analysis to discover new sources or significantly variable sources.
We compiled several published X-ray and gamma-ray catalogs, and surveyed recent
publications for new sources. Consequently, there are 1122 sources in our
INTEGRAL reference catalog. In addition to the source positions, we show an
approximate spectral model and expected flux for each source, based on which we
derive expected INTEGRAL counting rates. Assuming the default instrument
performances and at least ~10^5 sec exposure time for any part of the sky, we
expect that INTEGRAL will detect at least ~700 sources below 10 keV and ~400
sources above 20 keV over the mission life.Comment: Accepted to A&A Letter INTEGRAL special issu
Optimal topological simplification of discrete functions on surfaces
We solve the problem of minimizing the number of critical points among all
functions on a surface within a prescribed distance {\delta} from a given input
function. The result is achieved by establishing a connection between discrete
Morse theory and persistent homology. Our method completely removes homological
noise with persistence less than 2{\delta}, constructively proving the
tightness of a lower bound on the number of critical points given by the
stability theorem of persistent homology in dimension two for any input
function. We also show that an optimal solution can be computed in linear time
after persistence pairs have been computed.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figure
- …