2,835 research outputs found
X-ray and optical periodicities in X-ray binaries. I.A0535+26
A homogeneous set of UBV photometry (354 data points obtained between 1983
and 1998) for the Be/X-ray binary A0535+26 = V725Tau is analysed, aiming to
look for possible periodic component(s). After subtraction of the long-term
variation it was found that only a 103-day periodic component remains in the
power spectra in both the V and B colour bands. The probability of chance
occurrence of such a peak is less than 0.1%. There are no signs of optical
variability at the X-ray period (111 d). We discuss possible reasons for a
103-day modulation and suggest that it corresponds to a beat frequency of the
orbital period of the neutron star and the precession period (~1400 d) either
of an accretion disc around the neutron star or a warped decretion disc around
the Be star.Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages, 5 figures, uses psfig.st
Chapter 11: Vulnerability of benthic invertebrates of the Great Barrier Reef to climate change
This chapter deals with benthic invertebrates inhabiting the extensive inter-reef soft bottom habitats
and those occurring on the reef, excluding corals. For the remainder of the chapter, the term ‘benthic
invertebrate’ refers to all invertebrates excluding corals. An assessment of the impacts of climate
change on non-coral benthic invertebrates poses particular challenges: i) benthic invertebrates
include an extraordinary diversity of marine organisms, including many microscopic, infaunal,
boring or ephemeral species that can be difficult to sample and are poorly known taxonomically; ii)
benthic invertebrates employ a diversity of reproductive strategies, broadly including planktotrophy
(development through feeding larvae), lecithotrophy (development through non-feeding larvae) and
direct development (release of post-metamorphic juveniles), as well as asexual reproduction, making
broad generalisations of dispersal capabilities difficult; iii) factors determining species distributions are
poorly known for most species; iv) benthic invertebrates exhibit a tremendous variety of lifestyles and
forms, including colonial, sedentary and errant species; v) many species include either a pelagic larval
or adult stage, so effects of climate change may vary during their lives (see McKinnon et al. chapter 6
for comments on planktonic forms); and, vi) research on the biogeography of benthic invertebrates
on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is strongly biased towards commercial or destructive species.This is Chapter 11 of Climate change and the Great Barrier Reef: a vulnerability assessment. The entire book can be found at http://hdl.handle.net/11017/13
Thermodynamic Density Matrix renormalization Group Study of the Magnetic Susceptibility of Half-integer Quantum Spin Chains
It is shown that White's density matrix renormalization group technique can
be adapted to obtain thermodynamic quantities. As an illustration, the magnetic
susceptibility of Heisenberg S=1/2 and S=3/2 spin chains are computed. A
careful finite size analysis is made to determine the range of temperatures
where the results are reliable. For the S=1/2 chain, the comparison with the
exact Bethe ansatz curve shows an agreement within 1% down to T=0.05J.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. To be published in PR
FUSE Observations of Intrinsic Absorption in the Seyfert 1 Galaxy Mrk 509
We present far-ultraviolet spectra of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 509 obtained
in 1999 November with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). Our
data span the observed wavelength range 915-1185 A at a resolution of ~20 km/s.
The spectrum shows a blue continuum, broad OVI 1032,1038 emission, and a broad
CIII 977 emission line. Superposed on these emission components, we resolve
associated absorption lines of OVI 1032,1038, CIII 977, and Lyman lines through
Lzeta. Seven distinct kinematic components are present, spanning a velocity
range of -440 to +170 km/s relative to the systemic velocity. The absorption is
clustered in two groups, one centered at -370m km/s and another at the systemic
velocity. The blue-shifted cluster may be associated with the extended line
emission visible in deep images of Mrk 509 obtained by Phillips et al. Although
several components appear to be saturated, they are not black at their centers.
Partial covering or scattering permits ~7% of the broad-line or continuum flux
to be unaffected by absorption. Of the multiple components, only one has the
same ionization state and column density as highly ionized gas that produces
the OVII and OVIII ionization edges in X-ray spectra of Mrk 509.
This paper will appear in a special issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters
devoted to the first scientific results from the FUSE mission.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal (Letters). 4 pages, 3 color
PostScript figures. Figures are best viewed and printed in color. Added
acknowledgment that this is one of many papers to be published in a special
issue of ApJL devoted to the first scientific results from the FUSE missio
A Hydrodynamic Study of Benzyl Alcohol Oxidation in a Micro-Packed Bed Reactor
The various flow regimes prevalent during gold-palladium catalyzed benzyl alcohol oxidation in a
micro-packed bed reactor and their influence on reaction performance are identified. The reaction is studied
in a 300μm deep x 600μm wide silicon-glass micro-structured reactor packed with 65μm catalyst particles at
a temperature of 120°C, pressure of 1 bar (g), using pure oxygen and neat benzyl alcohol as the feed.
Significant improvement in the conversion and selectivity to the main product, benzaldehyde, is observed
with increasing gas flowrate and decreasing liquid flowrate, which coincides with a change in the flow
pattern from “liquid-dominated slug” (segregated regions of liquid and gas slugs) to “gas-continuous trickle”
(thin film coated catalyst particles with gas flowing through the voids). The latter flow regime results in
enhanced external mass transfer due to an increase in the available interfacial area and shorter diffusional
distances. Results show selectivity up to 81% at a catalyst space time of 76 gcatgalc
-1.s, outperforming a
conventional batch laboratory reactor
Crystal Field, Magnetic Anisotropy and Excitations in Rare-Earth Hexaborides
We clarify the role of crystalline electric field (CEF) induced magnetic
anisotropy in the ground state and spin-wave spectrum of cubic rare-earth
materials with dominating isotropic magnetic exchange interactions. In
particular we study the hexaboride NdB_6 which is shown to exhibit strong
spin-quadrupolar coupling. The CEF scheme is analyzed and a non-collinear
magnetization response is found. The spin orientation in the
antiferromagnetically ordered ground-state is identified. Moreover, the spin
excitations are evaluated and in agreement with inelastic neutron scattering a
suppression of one of the two magnetic modes in the strong-coupling regime is
predicted.Comment: 4 pages, 1 eps-figur
Probing the Kinematics of the Narrow-Line Region in Seyfert Galaxies with Slitless Spectroscopy: Observational Results
We present slitless spectra of 10 Seyfert galaxies observed with the Space
Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. The spectra cover
the [OIII] 4959, 5007 emission lines at a spectral resolving power of ~9000 and
a spatial resolution of 0.1". We compare the slitless spectra with previous HST
narrow-band images to determine the velocity shifts and dispersions of the
bright emission-line knots in the narrow-line regions (NLRs) of these Seyferts.
Many knots are spatially resolved with sizes of tenths of arcsecs,
corresponding to tens of pcs, and yet they appear to move coherently with
radial velocities between zero and +/- 1200 km/s with respect to the systemic
velocities of their hostgalaxies. The knots also show a broad range in velocity
dispersion, ranging from ~30 km/s (the velocity resolution) to ~1000 km/s FWHM.
Most of the Seyfert galaxies in this sample show an organized flow pattern,
with radial velocities near zero at the nucleus (defined by the optical
continuum peak) and increasing to maximum blueshifts and redshifts within ~1''
of the nucleus, followed by a decline to the systemic velocity. The
emission-line knots also follow a general trend of decreasing velocity
dispersion with increasing distance. In the Seyfert 2 galaxies, the presence of
blueshifts and redshifts on either side of the nucleus indicates that rotation
alone cannot explain the observed radial velocities, and that radial outflow
plays an important role. Each of the Seyfert galaxies in this sample (with the
exception of Mrk 3) shows a bright, compact (FWHM < 0.5") [O III] knot at the
position of its optical nucleus. These nuclear emission-line knots have
radial-velocity centroids near zero, but they typically have the highest
velocity dispersions.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures (on 9 pages), accepted for A
A comparative HST imaging study of the host galaxies of radio-quiet quasars, radio-loud quasars and radio galaxies: Paper I
We present the first results from a major HST WFPC2 imaging study aimed at
providing the first statistically meaningful comparison of the morphologies,
luminosities, scalelengths and colours of the host galaxies of radio-quiet
quasars, radio-loud quasars, and radio galaxies. We describe the design of this
study and present the images which have been obtained for the first half of our
33-source sample. We find that the hosts of all three classes of luminous AGN
are massive elliptical galaxies, with scalelengths ~=10 kpc, and R-K colours
consistent with mature stellar populations. Most importantly this is the the
first unambiguous evidence that, just like radio-loud quasars, essentially all
radio-quiet quasars brighter than M_R = -24 reside in massive ellipticals. This
result removes the possibility that radio `loudness' is directly linked to host
galaxy morphology, but is however in excellent accord with the
black-hole/spheroid mass correlation recently highlighted by Magorrian et al.
(1998). We apply the relations given by Magorrian et al. to infer the expected
Eddington luminosity of the putative black hole at the centre of each of the
spheroidal host galaxies we have uncovered. Comparison with the actual nuclear
R-band luminosities suggests that the black holes in most of these galaxies are
radiating at a few percent of the Eddington luminosity; the brightest host
galaxies in our low-z sample are capable of hosting quasars with M_R = -28,
comparable to the most luminous quasars at z = 3. Finally we discuss our
host-derived black-hole masses in the context of the
radio-luminosity:black-hole mass correlation recently uncovered for nearby
galaxies by Franceschini et al. (1998), and the resulting implications for the
physical origin of radio loudness.Comment: Submitted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, 55 pages of
latex, plus 12 postscript figures (Figures 1a-1s (greyscales of images and
model fits, and Figures 2a-2g (luminosity profiles and model fits) can be
downloaded from http://www.roe.ac.uk/astronomy/html/rjm1.shtml
- …