On hydrogen bond correlations at high pressures

In situ high pressure neutron diffraction measured lengths of O H and H O pairs in hydrogen bonds in substances are shown to follow the correlation between them established from 0.1 MPa data on different chemical compounds. In particular, the conclusion by Nelmes et al that their high pressure data on ice VIII differ from it is not supported. For compounds in which the O H stretching frequencies red shift under pressure, it is shown that wherever structural data is available, they follow the stretching frequency versus H O (or O O) distance correlation. For compounds displaying blue shifts with pressure an analogy appears to exist with improper hydrogen bonds.Comment: 12 pages,4 figure

Testing the Kerr metric with X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy of Mrk 335 Suzaku data

Einstein's gravity has undergone extensive tests in the weak field gravitational limit, with results in agreement with theoretical predictions. There exist theories beyond general relativity (GR) which modify gravity in the strong field regime but agree with GR in the weak field. Astrophysical black holes are believed to be described by the Kerr metric and serve as suitable candidates to test strong gravity with electromagnetic radiation. We perform such a test by fitting one Suzaku dataset of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy Mrk 335 with X-ray reflection spectroscopy, using the Johannsen metric to model the black hole spacetime and test for deviations from Kerr. We find the data is best modeled with a hybrid model that includes both partial covering absorption and a reflection component. This is the first time such a model has been proposed for a high-flux (low reflection) Mrk 335 dataset. We constrain the Johannsen deformation parameter $\alpha_{13}$ to $-1.50.8$, and the $\alpha_{22}$ parameter to $-0.40.7$, both at the 99% confidence level. Although additional solutions at large deviations from the Kerr metric show statistical similarity with the ones above, further analysis suggests these solutions may be manifestations of uncertainties beyond our control and do not represent the data. Hence, our results are in agreement with the idea that the supermassive compact object at the center of Mrk 335 is described by the Kerr metric.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. v2: refereed versio

Constraints on the Size of Extra Dimensions from the Orbital Evolution of the Black-Hole X-Ray Binary XTE J1118+480

In a universe of the Randall-Sundrum type, black holes are unstable and emit gravitational modes in the extra dimension. This leads to dramatically shortened lifetimes of astrophysical black holes and to an observable change of the orbital period of black-hole binaries. I obtain an upper limit on the rate of change of the orbital period of the binary XTE J1118+480 and constrain the asymptotic curvature radius of the extra dimension to a value that is of the same order as the constraints from other astrophysical sources. A unique property of XTE J1118+480 is that the expected rate of change of the orbital period due to magnetic braking alone is so large that only one additional measurement of the orbital period would lead to the first detection of orbital evolution of a black-hole binary and impose the tightest constraint to date on the size of one extra dimension of the order of 35 microns.Comment: accepted for publication in A&

Constraints on the Size of Extra Dimensions from the Orbital Evolution of the Black-Hole X-Ray Binary XTE J1118+480

In a universe of the Randall-Sundrum type, black holes are unstable and emit gravitational modes in the extra dimension. This leads to dramatically shortened lifetimes of astrophysical black holes and to an observable change of the orbital period of black-hole binaries. I obtain an upper limit on the rate of change of the orbital period of the binary XTE J1118+480 and constrain the asymptotic curvature radius of the extra dimension to a value that is of the same order as the constraints from other astrophysical sources. A unique property of XTE J1118+480 is that the expected rate of change of the orbital period due to magnetic braking alone is so large that only one additional measurement of the orbital period would lead to the first detection of orbital evolution of a black-hole binary and impose the tightest constraint to date on the size of one extra dimension of the order of 35 microns.Comment: accepted for publication in A&