The puzzling X-ray continuum of the quasar MR 2251-178

We report on a comprehensive X-ray spectral analysis of the nearby radio-quiet quasar MR 2251-178, based on the long-look (~ 400 ks) XMM-Newton observation carried out in November 2011. As the properties of the multiphase warm absorber (thoroughly discussed in a recent, complementary work) hint at a steep photoionizing continuum, here we investigate into the nature of the intrinsic X-ray emission of MR 2251-178 by testing several physical models. The apparent 2-10 keV flatness as well as the subtle broadband curvature can be ascribed to partial covering of the X-ray source by a cold, clumpy absorption system with column densities ranging from a fraction to several x10^23 cm^-2. As opposed to more complex configurations, only one cloud is required along the line of sight in the presence of a soft X-ray excess, possibly arising as Comptonized disc emission in the accretion disc atmosphere. On statistical grounds, even reflection with standard efficiency off the surface of the inner disc cannot be ruled out, although this tentatively overpredicts the observed ~ 14-150 keV emission. It is thus possible that each of the examined physical processes is relevant to a certain degree, and hence only a combination of high-quality, simultaneous broadband spectral coverage and multi-epoch monitoring of X-ray spectral variability could help disentangling the different contributions. Yet, regardless of the model adopted, we infer for MR 2251-178 a bolometric luminosity of ~ 5-7 x 10^45 erg/s, implying that the central black hole is accreting at ~ 15-25 per cent of the Eddington limit.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

A sensitive survey for 13CO, CN, H2CO and SO in the disks of T Tauri and Herbig Ae stars

We use the IRAM 30-m telescope to perform a sensitive search for CN N=2-1 in 42 T Tauri or Herbig Ae systems located mostly in the Taurus-Auriga region. $^{13}$CO J=2-1 is observed simultaneously to indicate the level of confusion with the surrounding molecular cloud. The bandpass also contains two transitions of ortho-H$_2$CO, one of SO and the C$^{17}$O J=2-1 line which provide complementary information on the nature of the emission. While $^{13}$CO is in general dominated by residual emission from the cloud, CN exhibits a high disk detection rate $> 50$% in our sample. We even report CN detection in stars for which interferometric searches failed to detect $^{12}$CO, presumably because of obscuration by a foreground, optically thick, cloud. Comparison between CN and o-H$_2$CO or SO line profiles and intensities divide the sample in two main categories. Sources with SO emission are bright and have strong H$_2$CO emission, leading in general to [H$_2$CO/CN]$> 0.5$. Furthermore, their line profiles, combined with a priori information on the objects, suggest that the emission is coming from outflows or envelopes rather than from a circumstellar disk. On the other hand, most sources have [H$_2$CO/CN]$< 0.3$, no SO emission, and some of them exhibit clear double-peaked profiles characteristics of rotating disks. In this second category, CN is likely tracing the proto-planetary disks. From the line flux and opacity derived from the hyperfine ratios, we constrain the outer radii of the disks, which range from 300 to 600 AU. The overall gas disk detection rate (including all molecular tracers) is $\sim 68$, and decreases for fainter continuum sources. This study shows that gas disks, like dust disks, are ubiquitous around young PMS stars in regions of isolated star formation, and that a large fraction of them have $R > 300$ AU.Comment: 31 pages (including 59 figures

The X-ray emission from Young Stellar Objects in the rho Ophiuchi cloud core as seen by XMM-Newton

We observed the main core F of the rho Ophiuchi cloud, an active star-forming region located at ~140 pc, using XMM-Newton with an exposure of 33 ks. We detect 87 X-ray sources within the 30' diameter field-of-view of the it EPIC imaging detector array. We cross-correlate the positions of XMM-Newton X-ray sources with previous X-ray and infrared (IR) catalogs: 25 previously unknown X-ray sources are found from our observation; 43 X-ray sources are detected by both XMM-Newton and Chandra; 68 XMM-Newton X-ray sources have 2MASS near-IR counterparts. We show that XMM-Newton and Chandra have comparable sensitivity for point source detection when the exposure time is set to ~30 ks for both. We detect X-ray emission from 7 Class I sources, 26 Class II sources, and 17 Class III sources. The X-ray detection rate of Class I sources is very high (64 %), which is consistent with previous Chandra observations in this area. We propose that 15 X-ray sources are new class III candidates, which doubles the number of known Class III sources, and helps to complete the census of YSOs in this area. We also detect X-ray emission from two young bona fide brown dwarfs, GY310 and GY141, out of three known in the field of view. GY141 appears brighter by nearly two orders of magnitude than in the Chandra observation. We extract X-ray light curves and spectra from these YSOs, and find some of them showed weak X-ray flares. We observed an X-ray flare from the bona fide brown dwarf GY310. We find as in the previous Chandra observation of this region that Class I sources tend to have higher temperatures and heavier X-ray absorptions than Class II and III sources.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables, accepted by A&

On the test of single via related defects in digital VLSI designs

Vias are critical for digital circuit manufacturing, as they represent a common defect location, and a general DfM rule suggests replicating every instance for redundancy. When this is not achievable, a mandatory requirement is that the remaining single vias must be tested. We propose an automated method for generating tests and accurately evaluating test coverage of such defects, ready for use in any digital implementation flow and for integration within EDA tools, and also providing a useful quality metric. A prototype tool implementation and experimental results for an industrial case study are presented

Sensitive survey for 13CO, CN, H2CO, and SO in the disks of T Tauri and Herbig Ae stars II: Stars in ρ\rho Oph and upper Scorpius

We attempt to determine the molecular composition of disks around young low-mass stars in the $\rho$ Oph region and to compare our results with a similar study performed in the Taurus-Auriga region. We used the IRAM 30 m telescope to perform a sensitive search for CN N=2-1 in 29 T Tauri stars located in the $\rho$ Oph and upper Scorpius regions. $^{13}$CO J=2-1 is observed simultaneously to provide an indication of the level of confusion with the surrounding molecular cloud. The bandpass also contains two transitions of ortho-H$_2$CO, one of SO, and the C$^{17}$O J=2-1 line, which provides complementary information on the nature of the emission. Contamination by molecular cloud in $^{13}$CO and even C$^{17}$O is ubiquitous. The CN detection rate appears to be lower than for the Taurus region, with only four sources being detected (three are attributable to disks). H$_2$CO emission is found more frequently, but appears in general to be due to the surrounding cloud. The weaker emission than in Taurus may suggest that the average disk size in the $\rho$ Oph region is smaller than in the Taurus cloud. Chemical modeling shows that the somewhat higher expected disk temperatures in $\rho$ Oph play a direct role in decreasing the CN abundance. Warmer dust temperatures contribute to convert CN into less volatile forms. In such a young region, CN is no longer a simple, sensitive tracer of disks, and observations with other tracers and at high enough resolution with ALMA are required to probe the gas disk population.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Discovery of new embedded Herbig-Haro objects in the rho Ophiuchi dark cloud

We report here the discovery of a 30"-chain of embedded Herbig-Haro (HH) objects in the rho Ophiuchi dark cloud. These HH objects were first detected during a deep K_S-band observation (completeness magnitude for point source~19) made with NTT/SOFI. We confirm their nature with follow-up observations made with H_2 v=1-0 S(1) narrow-band filter. We argue that they belong to two different jets emanating from two Class I protostars: the main component of the recently resolved subarcsecond radio binary YLW15 (also called IRS43), and IRS54. We propose also to identify the [S II] knot HH224NW1 (Gomez et al 1998) as emanating from a counterjet of YLW15. The alignment between these HH objects and the thermal jet candidate found in YLW15 by Girart et al. (2000) implies that this jet is not precessing at least on timescale ~(2-4)x1E4 yr

Multi-Wavelength Study of Sgr A*: The Short Time Scale Variability

To understand the correlation and the radiation mechanism of flare emission in different wavelength bands, we have coordinated a number of telescopes to observe SgrA* simultaneously. We focus only on one aspect of the preliminary results of our multi-wavelength observing campaigns, namely, the short time scale variability of emission from SgrA* in near-IR, X-ray and radio wavelengths. The structure function analysis indicate most of the power spectral density is detected on hourly time scales in all wavelength bands. We also report minute time scale variability at 7 and 13mm placing a strong constraint on the nature of the variable emission. The hourly time scale variability can be explained in the context of a model in which the peak frequency of emission shifts toward lower frequencies as a self-absorbed synchrotron source expands adiabatically near the acceleration site. The short time scale variability, on the other hand, places a strong constraint on the size of the emitting region. Assuming that rapid minute time scale fluctuations of the emission is optically thick in radio wavelength, light travel arguments requires relativistic particle energy, thus suggesting the presence of outflow from SgrA*.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, The Galactic Center: A Window on the Nuclear Environment of Disk Galaxies ASP Conference Series, 2010 eds: M. Morris, D. Q. Wang and F. Yua