598 research outputs found
Differential interferometry of QSO broad line regions I: improving the reverberation mapping model fits and black hole mass estimates
Reverberation mapping estimates the size and kinematics of broad line regions
(BLR) in Quasars and type I AGNs. It yields size-luminosity relation, to make
QSOs standard cosmological candles, and mass-luminosity relation to study the
evolution of black holes and galaxies. The accuracy of these relations is
limited by the unknown geometry of the BLR clouds distribution and velocities.
We analyze the independent BLR structure constraints given by super-resolving
differential interferometry. We developed a three-dimensional BLR model to
compute all differential interferometry and reverberation mapping signals. We
extrapolate realistic noises from our successful observations of the QSO 3C273
with AMBER on the VLTI. These signals and noises quantify the differential
interferometry capacity to discriminate and measure BLR parameters including
angular size, thickness, spatial distribution of clouds, local-to-global and
radial-to-rotation velocity ratios, and finally central black hole mass and BLR
distance. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo model-fit, of data simulated for various
VLTI instruments, gives mass accuracies between 0.06 and 0.13 dex, to be
compared to 0.44 dex for reverberation mapping mass-luminosity fits. We
evaluate the number of QSOs accessible to measures with current (AMBER),
upcoming (GRAVITY) and possible (OASIS with new generation fringe trackers)
VLTI instruments. With available technology, the VLTI could resolve more than
60 BLRs, with a luminosity range larger than four decades, sufficient for a
good calibration of RM mass-luminosity laws, from an analysis of the variation
of BLR parameters with luminosity.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, accepted by MNRAS on December 5, 201
The Lamb shift contribution of very light millicharged particles
The leading order vacuum polarization contribution of very light millicharged
fermions and scalar (spin-0) particles with charge \epsilon e and mass \mu to
the Lamb shift of the hydrogen atom is shown to imply universal, i.e.
\mu-independent, upper bounds on \epsilon: \epsilon \lsim 10^{-4} for \mu \lsim
1 keV in the case of fermions, and for scalars this bound is increased by a
factor of 2. This is in contrast to expectations based on the commonly used
approximation to the Uehling potential relevant only for conventionally large
fermion (and scalar) masses.Comment: 10 pages including 3 figures, version to appear in Physical Review D
(Rapid Communications
Effect of Thermal Annealing on Boron Diffusion, Micro-structural, Electrical and Magnetic properties of Laser Ablated CoFeB Thin Films
We report on Boron diffusion and subsequent crystallization of
CoFeB (CoFeB) thin films on SiO/Si(001) substrate
using pulsed laser deposition. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy reveals Boron
diffusion at the interface in both amorphous and crystalline phase of CoFeB.
High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals a small fraction of
nano-crystallites embedded in the amorphous matrix of CoFeB. However, annealing
at 400C results in crystallization of CoFe with \textit{bcc} structure
along (110) orientation. As-deposited films are non-metallic in nature with the
coercivity (H) of 5Oe while the films annealed at 400C are metallic
with a H of 135Oe.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure
Inhomogeneous vortex-state-driven enhancement of superconductivity in nanoengineered ferromagnet-superconductor heterostructures
Thin film heterostructures provide a powerful means to study the antagonism
between superconductivity (SC) and ferromagnetism (FM). One interesting issue
in FM-SC hybrids which defies the notion of antagonistic orders is the
observation of magnetic field induced superconductivity (FIS). Here we show
that in systems where the FM domains/islands produce spatial inhomogeneities of
the SC order parameter, the FIS can derive significant contribution from
different mobilities of the magnetic flux identified by two distinct critical
states in the inhomogeneous superconductor. Our experiments on nanoengineered
bilayers of ferromagnetic CoPt and superconducting NbN where CoPt/NbN islands
are separated by a granular NbN, lend support to this alternative explanation
of FIS in certain class of FM-SC hybrids.Comment: 5 figure
Theoretical study of isolated dangling bonds, dangling bond wires and dangling bond clusters on H:Si(100)-(21) surface
We theoretically study the electronic band structure of isolated unpaired and
paired dangling bonds (DB), DB wires and DB clusters on H:Si(100)-(21)
surface using Extended H\"uckel Theory (EHT) and report their effect on the Si
band gap. An isolated unpaired DB introduces a near-midgap state, whereas a
paired DB leads to and states, similar to those introduced by an
unpassivated asymmetric dimer (AD) Si(100)-(21) surface. Such induced
states have very small dispersion due to their isolation from the other states,
which reside in conduction and valence band. On the other hand, the surface
state induced due to an unpaired DB wire in the direction along the dimer row
(referred to as ), has large dispersion due to the strong coupling
between the adjacent DBs, being 3.84 apart. However, in the direction
perpendicular to the dimer row (referred to as [110]), due to the reduced
coupling between the DBs being 7.68 apart, the dispersion in the surface
state is similar to that of an isolated unpaired DB. Apart from this, a paired
DB wire in direction introduces and states similar
to those of an AD surface and a paired DB wire in [110] direction exhibits
surface states similar to those of an isolated paired DB, as expected. Besides
this, we report the electronic structure of different DB clusters, which
exhibit states inside the band gap that can be interpreted as superpositions of
states due to unpaired and paired DBs.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure, 1 tabl
8 GHz Tunable Gunn Oscillator in WR-137 Waveguide
The conventional technique of realising waveguide resonators for Gunn diode oscillators to operate at the band edge of the waveguide fails owing to the excitation of a coaxial mode resonance formed by the post and the side walls of the waveguide. One of the solutions to the problem is to mount the diode in a ridged waveguide resonator. This has been demonstrated by constructing an 8 GHz Gunn oscillator using a single ridge in WR-137 waveguide.The steps in designing the oscillator system are also presented
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