2,069 research outputs found
The X-ray Properties of the Most-Luminous Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Utilizing 21 new Chandra observations as well as archival Chandra, ROSAT, and
XMM-Newton data, we study the X-ray properties of a representative sample of 59
of the most optically luminous quasars in the Universe (M_i~~-29.3 to -30.2)
spanning a redshift range of z~~1.5-4.5. Our full sample consists of 32 quasars
from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 3 (DR3) quasar catalog,
two additional objects in the DR3 area that were missed by the SDSS selection
criteria, and 25 comparably luminous quasars at z>~4. This is the largest X-ray
study of such luminous quasars to date. By jointly fitting the X-ray spectra of
our sample quasars, excluding radio-loud and broad absorption line (BAL)
objects, we find a mean X-ray power-law photon index of
Gamma=1.92^{+0.09}_{-0.08} and constrain any neutral intrinsic absorbing
material to have a mean column density of N_H<~2x10^{21} cm^{-2}. We find,
consistent with other studies, that Gamma does not change with redshift, and we
constrain the amount of allowed Gamma evolution for the most-luminous quasars.
Our sample, excluding radio-loud and BAL quasars, has a mean X-ray-to-optical
spectral slope of a_ox=-1.80+/-0.02, as well as no significant evolution of
a_ox with redshift. We also comment upon the X-ray properties of a number of
notable quasars, including an X-ray weak quasar with several strong narrow
absorption-line systems, a mildly radio-loud BAL quasar, and a well-studied
gravitationally lensed quasar.Comment: 18 pages (emulateapj), 11 figures. Accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Time--delay autosynchronization of the spatio-temporal dynamics in resonant tunneling diodes
The double barrier resonant tunneling diode exhibits complex spatio-temporal
patterns including low-dimensional chaos when operated in an active external
circuit. We demonstrate how autosynchronization by time--delayed feedback
control can be used to select and stabilize specific current density patterns
in a noninvasive way. We compare the efficiency of different control schemes
involving feedback in either local spatial or global degrees of freedom. The
numerically obtained Floquet exponents are explained by analytical results from
linear stability analysis.Comment: 10 pages, 16 figure
Dalbavancin Comparative Activity Tested Against Gram-positive Species in German Medical Centers: Results from the DECIDE Program
Discovery of a stellar companion to the nearby solar-analogue HD 104304
Sun-like stars are promising candidates to host exoplanets and are often
included in exoplanet surveys by radial velocity (RV) and direct imaging. In
this paper we report on the detection of a stellar companion to the nearby
solar-analogue star HD 104304, which previously was considered to host a
planetary mass or brown dwarf companion. We searched for close stellar and
substellar companions around extrasolar planet host stars with high angular
resolution imaging to characterize planet formation environments. The detection
of the stellar companion was achieved by high angular resolution measurements,
using the "Lucky Imaging" technique at the ESO NTT 3.5m with the AstraLux Sur
instrument. We combined the results with VLT/NACO archive data, where the
companion could also be detected. The results were compared to precise RV
measurements of HD 104304, obtained at the Lick and Keck observatories from
2001-2010.
We confirmed common proper motion of the binary system. A spectral type of
M4V of the companion and a mass of 0.21 M_Sun was derived. Due to comparison of
the data with RV measurements of the unconfirmed planet candidate listed in the
Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia, we suggest that the discovered companion is
the origin of the RV trend and that the inclination of the orbit of
approximately 35 degrees explains the relatively small RV signal.Comment: 4 pages, 4 PNG figures, use aa.cls, accepted for publication in
Astronomy & Astrophysic
On the nature of continuous physical quantities in classical and quantum mechanics
Within the traditional Hilbert space formalism of quantum mechanics, it is
not possible to describe a particle as possessing, simultaneously, a sharp
position value and a sharp momentum value. Is it possible, though, to describe
a particle as possessing just a sharp position value (or just a sharp momentum
value)? Some, such as Teller (Journal of Philosophy, 1979), have thought that
the answer to this question is No -- that the status of individual continuous
quantities is very different in quantum mechanics than in classical mechanics.
On the contrary, I shall show that the same subtle issues arise with respect to
continuous quantities in classical and quantum mechanics; and that it is, after
all, possible to describe a particle as possessing a sharp position value
without altering the standard formalism of quantum mechanics.Comment: 26 pages, LaTe
Synchronous Evolution of Galaxies in Groups: NGC 524 Group
By means of panoramic spectroscopy at the SAO RAS BTA telescope, we
investigated the properties of stellar populations in the central regions of
five early-type galaxies -- the NGC 524 group members. The evolution of the
central regions of galaxies looks synchronized: the average age of stars in the
bulges of all the five galaxies lies in the range of 3--6 Gyr. Four of the five
galaxies revealed synchronized bursts of star formation in the nuclei 1--2 Gyr
ago. The only galaxy, in which the ages of stellar population in the nucleus
and in the bulge coincide (i.e. the nuclear burst of star formation did not
take place) is NGC 502, the farthest from the center of the group of all the
galaxies studied.Comment: Slightly edited version of the paper to appear in the Astrophysical
Bulletin, 67(3); 24 pages including 8 figure
The natural science of cosmology
The network of cosmological tests is tight enough now to show that the
relativistic Big Bang cosmology is a good approximation to what happened as the
universe expanded and cooled through light element production and evolved to
the present. I explain why I reach this conclusion, comment on the varieties of
philosophies informing searches for a still better cosmology, and offer an
example for further study, the curious tendency of some classes of galaxies to
behave as island universes.Comment: Keynote lecture at the seventh International Conference on
Gravitation and Cosmology, Goa India, December 201
Top quark physics in hadron collisions
The top quark is the heaviest elementary particle observed to date. Its large
mass makes the top quark an ideal laboratory to test predictions of
perturbation theory concerning heavy quark production at hadron colliders. The
top quark is also a powerful probe for new phenomena beyond the Standard Model
of particle physics. In addition, the top quark mass is a crucial parameter for
scrutinizing the Standard Model in electroweak precision tests and for
predicting the mass of the yet unobserved Higgs boson. Ten years after the
discovery of the top quark at the Fermilab Tevatron top quark physics has
entered an era where detailed measurements of top quark properties are
undertaken. In this review article an introduction to the phenomenology of top
quark production in hadron collisions is given, the lessons learned in Tevatron
Run I are summarized, and first Run II results are discussed. A brief outlook
to the possibilities of top quark research a the Large Hadron Collider,
currently under construction at CERN, is included.Comment: 84 pages, 32 figures, accepted for publication by Reports on Progress
in Physic
Brownian motion with dry friction: Fokker-Planck approach
We solve a Langevin equation, first studied by de Gennes, in which there is a
solid-solid or dry friction force acting on a Brownian particle in addition to
the viscous friction usually considered in the study of Brownian motion. We
obtain both the time-dependent propagator of this equation and the velocity
correlation function by solving the associated time-dependent Fokker-Planck
equation. Exact results are found for the case where only dry friction acts on
the particle. For the case where both dry and viscous friction forces are
present, series representations of the propagator and correlation function are
obtained in terms of parabolic cylinder functions. Similar series
representations are also obtained for the case where an external constant force
is added to the Langevin equation.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures (in color
- âŠ