A BeppoSAX observation of the supersoft source 1E 0035.4-7230

Results from a 37,000 s BeppoSAX Low-Energy Concentrator Spectrometer (LECS) observation of the supersoft source SMC 13 (=1E 0035.4-7230) in the Small Magellanic Cloud are reported. The BeppoSAX spectrum is fitted either with a blackbody spectrum with an effective temperature kT = 26-58 eV, an LTE white dwarf atmosphere spectrum with kT = 35-50 eV, or a non-LTE white dwarf atmosphere spectrum with kT = 25-32 eV. The bolometric luminosity is < 8 10^37 erg s-1 and < 3 10^37 erg s^-1 for the LTE and the non-LTE spectrum. We also applied a spectral fit to combined spectra obtained with BeppoSAX LECS and with ROSAT PSPC. The kT derived for the non-LTE spectrum is 27-29 eV, the bolometric luminosity is 1.1-1.2 10^37 erg s^-1. We can exclude any spectrally hard component with a luminosity > 2 10^35 erg s^-1 (for a bremmstrahlung with a temperature of 0.5 keV) at a distance of 60 kpc. The LTE temperature is therefore in the range 5.5+/-0.2 10^5 K and the non-LTE temperature in the range 3.25+/-0.16 10^5 K. Assuming the source is on the stability line for atmospheric nuclear burning, we constrain the white dwarf mass from the LTE and the non-LTE fit to ~1.1 M-solar and ~0.9 M-solar respectively. However, the temperature and luminosity derived with the non-LTE model for 1E 0035.4-7230 is consistent with a lower mass M~0.6-0.7 M-solar white dwarf as predicted by Sion and Starrfield (1994). At the moment, neither of these two alternatives for the white dwarf mass can be excluded.Comment: 6 pages, accepted by A&A March 30th 199

Luminous supersoft X-ray emission from the recurrent nova U Scorpii

BeppoSAX detected luminous 0.2-2.0 keV supersoft X-ray emission from the recurrent nova U Sco ~19-20 days after the peak of the optical outburst in February 1999. U Sco is the first recurrent nova to be observed during a luminous supersoft X-ray phase. Non-LTE white dwarf atmosphere spectral models (together with a ~0.5 keV optically thin thermal component) were fitted to the BeppoSAX spectrum. We find that the fit is acceptable assuming enriched He and an enhanced N/C ratio. This implies that the CNO cycle was active during the outburst, in agreement with a thermonuclear runaway scenario. The best-fit temperature is ~9 10^5 K and the bolometric luminosity those predicted for steady nuclear burning on a WD close to the Chandrasekhar mass. The fact that U~Sco was detected as a supersoft X-ray source is consistent with steady nuclear burning continuing for at least one month after the outburst. This means that only a fraction of the previously accreted H and He was ejected during the outburst and that the WD can grow in mass, ultimately reaching the Chandrasekhar limit. This makes U~Sco a candidate type Ia supernova progenitor.Comment: 4 pages, accepted by A&A Letters 15 June 199

Steady state entanglement in open and noisy quantum systems at high temperature

We show that quantum mechanical entanglement can prevail even in noisy open quantum systems at high temperature and far from thermodynamical equilibrium, despite the deteriorating effect of decoherence. The system consists of a number N of interacting quantum particles, and it can interact and exchange particles with some environment. The effect of decoherence is counteracted by a simple mechanism, where system particles are randomly reset to some standard initial state, e.g. by replacing them with particles from the environment. We present a master equation that describes this process, which we can solve analytically for small N. If we vary the interaction strength and the reset against decoherence rate, we find a threshold below which the equilibrium state is classically correlated, and above which there is a parameter region with genuine entanglement.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Domain-Wall Energies and Magnetization of the Two-Dimensional Random-Bond Ising Model

We study ground-state properties of the two-dimensional random-bond Ising model with couplings having a concentration $p\in[0,1]$ of antiferromagnetic and $(1-p)$ of ferromagnetic bonds. We apply an exact matching algorithm which enables us the study of systems with linear dimension $L$ up to 700. We study the behavior of the domain-wall energies and of the magnetization. We find that the paramagnet-ferromagnet transition occurs at $p_c \sim 0.103$ compared to the concentration $p_n\sim 0.109$ at the Nishimory point, which means that the phase diagram of the model exhibits a reentrance. Furthermore, we find no indications for an (intermediate) spin-glass ordering at finite temperature.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figures, revTe

Phase transitions in diluted negative-weight percolation models

We investigate the geometric properties of loops on two-dimensional lattice graphs, where edge weights are drawn from a distribution that allows for positive and negative weights. We are interested in the appearance of spanning loops of total negative weight. The resulting percolation problem is fundamentally different from conventional percolation, as we have seen in a previous study of this model for the undiluted case. Here, we investigate how the percolation transition is affected by additional dilution. We consider two types of dilution: either a certain fraction of edges exhibit zero weight, or a fraction of edges is even absent. We study these systems numerically using exact combinatorial optimization techniques based on suitable transformations of the graphs and applying matching algorithms. We perform a finite-size scaling analysis to obtain the phase diagram and determine the critical properties of the phase boundary. We find that the first type of dilution does not change the universality class compared to the undiluted case whereas the second type of dilution leads to a change of the universality class.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Entanglement and its dynamics in open, dissipative systems

Quantum mechanical entanglement can exist in noisy open quantum systems at high temperature. A simple mechanism, where system particles are randomly reset to some standard initial state, can counteract the deteriorating effect of decoherence, resulting in an entangled steady state far from thermodynamical equilibrium. We present models for both gas-type systems and for strongly coupled systems. We point out in which way the entanglement resulting from such a reset mechanism is different from the entanglement that one can find in thermal states. We develop master equations to describe the system and its interaction with an environment, study toy models with two particles (qubits), where the master equation can often be solved analytically, and finally examine larger systems with possibly fluctuating particle numbers. We find that in gas-type systems, the reset mechanism can produce an entangled steady state for an arbitrary temperature of the environment, while this is not true in strongly coupled systems. But even then, the temperature range where one can find entangled steady states is typically much higher with the reset mechanism.Comment: 30 pages, 15 figure

Spin gases as microscopic models for non-Markovian decoherence

We analyze a microscopic decoherence model in which the total system is described as a spin gas. A spin gas consists of N classically moving particles with additional, interacting quantum degrees of freedom (e.g. spins). For various multipartite entangled probe states, we analyze the decoherence induced by interactions between the probe- and environmental spins in such spin gases. We can treat mesoscopic environments (10^5 particles). We present results for a lattice gas, which could be realized by neutral atoms hopping in an optical lattice, and show the effects of non-Markovian and correlated noise, as well as finite size effects.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure