5,378 research outputs found
Optimal Masks for Low-Degree Solar Acoustic Modes
We suggest a solution to an important problem of observational
helioseismology of the separation of lines of solar acoustic (p) modes of low
angular degree in oscillation power spectra by constructing optimal masks for
Doppler images of the Sun. Accurate measurements of oscillation frequencies of
low-degree modes are essential for the determination of the structure and
rotation of the solar core. However, these measurements for a particular mode
are often affected by leakage of other p modes arising when the Doppler images
are projected on to spherical-harmonics masks. The leakage results in
overlaping peaks corresponding to different oscillation modes in the power
spectra. In this paper we present a method for calculating optimal masks for a
given (target) mode by minimizing the signals of other modes appearing in its
vicinity. We apply this method to time series of 2 years obtained from
Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument on board SOHO space mission and
demonstrate its ability to reduce efficiently the mode leakage.Comment: to be published in Astrophys.J. Letter
Prospects for Measuring Differential Rotation in White Dwarfs Through Asteroseismology
We examine the potential of asteroseismology for exploring the internal
rotation of white dwarf stars. Data from global observing campaigns have
revealed a wealth of frequencies, some of which show the signature of
rotational splitting. Tools developed for helioseismology to use many solar
p-mode frequencies for inversion of the rotation rate with depth are adapted to
the case of more limited numbers of modes of low degree. We find that the small
number of available modes in white dwarfs, coupled with the similarity between
the rotational-splitting kernels of the modes, renders direct inversion
unstable. Accordingly, we adopt what we consider to be plausible functional
forms for the differential rotation profile; this is sufficiently restrictive
to enable us to carry out a useful calibration. We show examples of this
technique for PG 1159 stars and pulsating DB white dwarfs. Published frequency
splittings for white dwarfs are currently not accurate enough for meaningful
inversions; reanalysis of existing data can provide splittings of sufficient
accuracy when the frequencies of individual peaks are extracted via
least-squares fitting or multipeak decompositions. We find that when mode
trapping is evident in the period spacing of g modes, the measured splittings
can constrain dOmega/dr.Comment: 26 pages, 20 postscript figures. Accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Thermonuclear Burning on the Accreting X-Ray Pulsar GRO J1744-28
We investigate the thermal stability of nuclear burning on the accreting
X-ray pulsar GRO J1744-28. The neutron star's dipolar magnetic field is
<3\times 10^{11} G if persistent spin-up implies that the magnetospheric radius
is less than the co-rotation radius. After inferring the properties of the
neutron star, we study the thermal stability of hydrogen/helium burning and
show that thermonuclear instabilities are unlikely causes of the hourly bursts
seen at very high accretion rates. We then discuss how the stability of the
thermonuclear burning depends on both the global accretion rate and the neutron
star's magnetic field strength. We emphasize that the appearance of the
instability (i.e., whether it looks like a Type I X-ray burst or a flare
lasting a few minutes) will yield crucial information on the neutron star's
surface magnetic field and the role of magnetic fields in convection. We
suggest that a thermal instability in the accretion disk is the origin of the
long (~300 days) outburst and that the recurrence time of these outbursts is
>50 years. We also discuss the nature of the binary and point out that a
velocity measurement of the stellar companion (most likely a Roche-lobe filling
giant with m_K>17) will constrain the neutron star mass.Comment: 19 pages, 3 PostScript figures, uses aaspp4.sty and epsfig.sty, to
appear in the Astrophysical Journa
Asteroseismic Theory of Rapidly Oscillating Ap Stars
This paper reviews some of the important advances made over the last decade
concerning theory of roAp stars.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
Contemplations on Dirac's equation in quaternionic coordinates
A formulation of Dirac's equation using complex-quaternionic coordinates
appears to yield an enormous gain in formal elegance, as there is no longer any
need to invoke Dirac matrices. This formulation, however, entails several
peculiarities, which we investigate and attempt to interpret
Heterogeneous uptake of the C1 to C4 organic acids on a swelling clay mineral
Mineral aerosol is of interest due to its physiochemical impacts on the Earth's atmosphere. However, adsorbed organics could influence the chemical and physical properties of atmospheric mineral particles and alter their impact on the biosphere and climate. In this work, the heterogeneous uptake of a series of small organic acids on the swelling clay, Na-montmorillonite, was studied at 212 K as a function of relative humidity (RH), organic acid pressure and clay mass. A high vacuum chamber equipped with a quadrupole mass spectrometer and a transmission Fourier transform infrared spectrometer was used to detect the gas and condensed phases, respectively. Our results show that while the initial uptake efficiency was found to be independent of organic acid pressure, it increased linearly with increasing clay mass. Thus, the small masses studied allow access to the entire surface area of the clay sample with minimal effects due to surface saturation. Additionally, results from this study show that the initial uptake efficiency for butanoic (butyric) acid on the clay increases by an order of magnitude as the RH is raised from 0% to 45% RH at 212 K while the initial uptake efficiency of formic, acetic and propanoic (propionic) acids increases only slightly at higher humidities. However, the initial uptake efficiency decreases significantly in a short amount of time due to surface saturation effects. Thus, although the initial uptake efficiencies are appropriate for initial times, the fact that the uptake efficiency will decrease over time as the surface saturates should be considered in atmospheric models. Surface saturation results in sub-monolayer coverage of organic acid on montmorillonite under dry conditions and relevant organic acid pressures that increases with increasing humidity for all organic acids studied. Additionally, the presence of large organic acids may slightly enhance the water content of the clay above 45% RH. Our results indicate that heterogeneous uptake of organic acids on swelling clay minerals provides an important irreversible heterogeneous sink for these species
Medipix3 Demonstration and understanding of near ideal detector performance for 60 & 80 keV electrons
In our article we report first quantitative measurements of imaging
performance for the current generation of hybrid pixel detector, Medipix3, as
direct electron detector. Utilising beam energies of 60 & 80 keV, measurements
of modulation transfer function (MTF) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE)
have revealed that, in single pixel mode (SPM), energy threshold values can be
chosen to maximize either the MTF or DQE, obtaining values near to, or even
exceeding, those for an ideal detector. We have demonstrated that the Medipix3
charge summing mode (CSM) can deliver simultaneous, near ideal values of both
MTF and DQE. To understand direct detection performance further we have
characterized the detector response to single electron events, building an
empirical model which can predict detector MTF and DQE performance based on
energy threshold. Exemplifying our findings we demonstrate the Medipix3 imaging
performance, recording a fully exposed electron diffraction pattern at 24-bit
depth and images in SPM and CSM modes. Taken together our findings highlight
that for transmission electron microscopy performed at low energies (energies
<100 keV) thick hybrid pixel detectors provide an advantageous and alternative
architecture for direct electron imagin
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