1,058 research outputs found
Clustering environment of BL Lac object RGB 1745+398
The BL Lac object RGB 1745+398 lies in an environment that makes it possible
to study the cluster around it more deeply than the environments of other BL
Lac objects. The cluster centered on the BL Lac works as a strong gravitational
lens, forming a large arc around itself. The aim of this paper is to study the
environment and characteristics of this object more accurately than the
environments of other BL Lac objects have been before.We measured the redshifts
of galaxies in the cluster from the absorption lines in their spectra. The
velocity dispersion was then obtained from the redshifts. The gravitational
lensing was used for measuring the mass at the center of the cluster. The mass
of the whole cluster could then be estimated using the softened isothermal
sphere mass distribution. Finally, the richness of the cluster was determined
by counting the number of galaxies near the BL Lac object and obtaining the
galaxy-BL Lac spatial covariance function, . The redshifts of nine
galaxies in the field were measured to be near the redshift of the BL Lac
object, confirming the presence of a cluster. The average redshift of the
cluster is 0.268, and the velocity dispersion km
s. The mass of the cluster is M_{500}=(4^{+3}_{-2})\times10^{14}
M_{\sun} which implies a rather massive cluster. The richness measurement also
suggests that this is a rich cluster: the result for covariance function is
Mpc, which corresponds to Abell richness class 1
and which is consistent with the mass and velocity dispersion of the cluster.Comment: 5 pages, accepted to A&
The Sedentary Survey of Extreme High Energy Peaked BL Lacs III. Results from Optical Spectroscopy
The multi-frequency Sedentary Survey is a flux limited, statistically
well-defined sample of highly X-ray dominated BL Lacertae objects (HBLs) which
includes 150 sources. In this paper, the third of the series, we report the
results of a dedicated optical spectroscopy campaign that, together with
results from other independent optical follow up programs, led to the
spectroscopic identification of all sources in the sample. We carried out a
systematic spectroscopic campaign for the observation of all unidentified
objects of the sample using the ESO 3.6m, the KPNO 4m, and the TNG optical
telescopes. We present new identifications and optical spectra for 76 sources,
50 of which are new BL Lac objects, 18 are sources previously referred as BL
Lacs but for which no redshift information was available, and 8 are broad
emission lines AGNs. We find that the multi-frequency selection technique used
to build the survey is highly efficient (about 90%) in selecting BL Lacs
objects. We present positional and spectroscopic information for all confirmed
BL Lac objects. Our data allowed us to determined 36 redshifts out of the 50
new BL Lacs and 5 new redshifts for the previously known objects. The redshift
distribution of the complete sample is presented and compared with that of
other BL Lacs samples. For 26 sources without recognizable absorption features,
we calculated lower limits to the redshift using a method based on simulated
optical spectra with different ratios between jet and galaxy emission. For a
subsample of 38 object with high-quality spectra, we find a correlation between
the optical spectral slope, the 1.4 GHz radio luminosity, and the Ca H&K break
value, indicating that for powerful/beamed sources the optical light is
dominated by the non-thermal emission from the jet.Comment: 23 pages, accepted by A&
Experimental investigation of the edge states structure at fractional filling factors
We experimentally study electron transport between edge states in the
fractional quantum Hall effect regime. We find an anomalous increase of the
transport across the 2/3 incompressible fractional stripe in comparison with
theoretical predictions for the smooth edge potential profile. We interpret our
results as a first experimental demonstration of the intrinsic structure of the
incompressible stripes arising at the sample edge in the fractional quantum
Hall effect regime.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures included. Submitted to JETP Letter
Concave Plasmonic Particles: Broad-Band Geometrical Tunability in the Near Infra-Red
Optical resonances spanning the Near and Short Infra-Red spectral regime were
exhibited experimentally by arrays of plasmonic nano-particles with concave
cross-section. The concavity of the particle was shown to be the key ingredient
for enabling the broad band tunability of the resonance frequency, even for
particles with dimensional aspect ratios of order unity. The atypical
flexibility of setting the resonance wavelength is shown to stem from a unique
interplay of local geometry with surface charge distributions
A Very Intense Neutrino Super Beam Experiment for Leptonic CP Violation Discovery based on the European Spallation Source Linac: A Snowmass 2013 White Paper
Very intense neutrino beams and large neutrino detectors will be needed in
order to enable the discovery of CP violation in the leptonic sector. We
propose to use the proton linac of the European Spallation Source currently
under construction in Lund, Sweden to deliver, in parallel with the spallation
neutron production, a very intense, cost effective and high performance
neutrino beam. The baseline program for the European Spallation Source linac is
that it will be fully operational at 5 MW average power by 2022, producing 2
GeV 2.86 ms long proton pulses at a rate of 14 Hz. Our proposal is to upgrade
the linac to 10 MW average power and 28 Hz, producing 14 pulses/s for neutron
production and 14 pulses/s for neutrino production. Furthermore, because of the
high current required in the pulsed neutrino horn, the length of the pulses
used for neutrino production needs to be compressed to a few s with the
aid of an accumulator ring. A long baseline experiment using this Super Beam
and a megaton underground Water Cherenkov detector located in existing mines
300-600 km from Lund will make it possible to discover leptonic CP violation at
5 significance level in up to 50% of the leptonic Dirac CP-violating
phase range. This experiment could also determine the neutrino mass hierarchy
at a significance level of more than 3 if this issue will not already
have been settled by other experiments by then. The mass hierarchy performance
could be increased by combining the neutrino beam results with those obtained
from atmospheric neutrinos detected by the same large volume detector. This
detector will also be used to measure the proton lifetime, detect cosmological
neutrinos and neutrinos from supernova explosions. Results on the sensitivity
to leptonic CP violation and the neutrino mass hierarchy are presented.Comment: 28 page
Metabolic biomarker profiling for identification of susceptibility to severe pneumonia and COVID-19 in the general population
Biomarkers of low-grade inflammation have been associated with susceptibility to a severe infectious disease course, even when measured prior to disease onset. We investigated whether metabolic biomarkers measured by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy could be associated with susceptibility to severe pneumonia (2507 hospitalised or fatal cases) and severe COVID-19 (652 hospitalised cases) in 105,146 generally healthy individuals from UK Biobank, with blood samples collected 2007-2010. The overall signature of metabolic biomarker associations was similar for the risk of severe pneumonia and severe COVID-19. A multi-biomarker score, comprised of 25 proteins, fatty acids, amino acids, and lipids, was associated equally strongly with enhanced susceptibility to severe COVID-19 (odds ratio 2.9 [95%CI 2.1-3.8] for highest vs lowest quintile) and severe pneumonia events occurring 7-11 years after blood sampling (2.6 [1.7-3.9]). However, the risk for severe pneumonia occurring during the first 2 years after blood sampling for people with elevated levels of the multi-biomarker score was over four times higher than for long-term risk (8.0 [4.1-15.6]). If these hypothesis generating findings on increased susceptibility to severe pneumonia during the first few years after blood sampling extend to severe COVID-19, metabolic biomarker profiling could potentially complement existing tools for identifying individuals at high risk. These results provide novel molecular understanding on how metabolic biomarkers reflect the susceptibility to severe COVID-19 and other infections in the general population.Molecular Epidemiolog
The OPERA experiment Target Tracker
The main task of the Target Tracker detector of the long baseline neutrino
oscillation OPERA experiment is to locate in which of the target elementary
constituents, the lead/emulsion bricks, the neutrino interactions have occurred
and also to give calorimetric information about each event. The technology used
consists in walls of two planes of plastic scintillator strips, one per
transverse direction. Wavelength shifting fibres collect the light signal
emitted by the scintillator strips and guide it to both ends where it is read
by multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. All the elements used in the construction
of this detector and its main characteristics are described.Comment: 25 pages, submitted to Nuclear Instrument and Method
The BL Lac objects OQ 530 and S5 0716+714. Simultaneous observations in the X-rays, radio, optical and TeV bands
We present the results of the BeppoSAX observations of two BL Lacs, OQ 530
and S5 0716+714, as part of a ToO program for the simultaneous observation at
radio, optical, X-ray and TeV energies. Both sources are detected in the LECS
and MECS, with S5 0716+714 visible also in the PDS band, up to about 60 keV.
The X-ray spectra of both sources are better fitted by a double power-law
model, with a steep soft X-ray component flattening at harder energies, with
breaks at 0.3 and 1.5 keV, respectively. The concave shape of the spectra in
both objects is consistent with soft X-rays being produced by the synchrotron
and harder X-rays by the inverse Compton processes. Also the X-ray variability
properties confirm this scenario, in particular for S5 0716+714 our observation
shows variations by about a factor 3 over one hour below 3 keV and no
variability above. Their simultaneous broad band energy spectral distributions
can be successfully interpreted within the frame of a homogeneous synchrotron
and inverse Compton model, including a possible contribution from an external
source of seed photons with the different spectral states of S5 0716+714 being
reproduced by changing the injected power. The resulting parameters are fully
consistent with the two sources being intermediate objects within the
"sequence" scenario proposed for blazars.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted by A&
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