5,353 research outputs found
Linearly and Circularly Polarized Emission in Sagittarius A*
We perform general relativistic ray-tracing calculations of the transfer of
polarized synchrotron radiation through the relativistic accretion flow in
Sagittarius (Sgr) A*. Based on a two-temperature magneto-rotational-instability
(MRI) induced accretion mode, the birefringence effects are treated
self-consistently. By fitting the spectrum and polarization of Sgr A* from
millimeter to near-infrared bands, we are able to not only constrain the basic
parameters related to the MRI and the electron heating rate, but also limit the
orientation of the accretion torus. These constraints lead to unique
polarimetric images, which may be compared with future millimeter and
sub-millimeter VLBI observations. In combination with general relativistic MHD
simulations, the model has the potential to test the MRI with observations of
Sgr A*.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, ApJL accepte
Effects of Spatially Nonuniform Gain on Lasing Modes in Weakly Scattering Random Systems
A study on the effects of optical gain nonuniformly distributed in
one-dimensional random systems is presented. It is demonstrated numerically
that even without gain saturation and mode competition, the spatial
nonuniformity of gain can cause dramatic and complicated changes to lasing
modes. Lasing modes are decomposed in terms of the quasi modes of the passive
system to monitor the changes. As the gain distribution changes gradually from
uniform to nonuniform, the amount of mode mixing increases. Furthermore, we
investigate new lasing modes created by nonuniform gain distributions. We find
that new lasing modes may disappear together with existing lasing modes,
thereby causing fluctuations in the local density of lasing states.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures (quality reduced for arXiv
Discovery of an optical counterpart to the hyperluminous X-ray source in ESO 243-49
The existence of black holes of masses ~ 10^2-10^5 Msun has important
implications for the formation and evolution of star clusters and supermassive
black holes. One of the strongest candidates to date is the hyperluminous X-ray
source HLX1, possibly located in the S0-a galaxy ESO243-49, but the lack of an
identifiable optical counterpart had hampered its interpretation. Using the
Magellan telescope, we have discovered an unresolved optical source with R =
(23.80 +/- 0.25) mag and V = (24.5 +/- 0.3) mag within HLX1's positional error
circle. This implies an average X-ray/optical flux ratio ~ 500. Taking the same
distance as ESO243-49, we obtain an intrinsic brightness M_R = (-11.0 +/- 0.3)
mag, comparable to that of a massive globular cluster. Alternatively, the
optical source is consistent with a main-sequence M star in the Galactic halo
(for example an M4.4 star at ~ 2.5 kpc). We also examined the properties of
ESO243-49 by combining Swift/UVOT observations with stellar population
modelling. We found that the overall emission is dominated by a ~5 Gyr old
stellar population, but the UV emission at ~2000 Ang is mostly due to ongoing
star-formation at a rate of ~ 0.03 Msun/yr. The UV emission is more intense (at
least a 9-sigma enhancement above the mean) North East of the nucleus, in the
same quadrant as HLX1. With the combined optical and X-ray measurements, we put
constraints on the nature of HLX1. We rule out a foreground star and a
background AGN. Two alternative scenarios are still viable. HLX1 could be an
accreting intermediate-mass black hole in a star cluster, which may itself be
the stripped nucleus of a dwarf galaxy that passed through ESO243-49, an event
which might have caused the current episode of star formation. Or, it could be
a neutron star in the Galactic halo, accreting from an M4-M5 donor star.Comment: 7 pages, accepted by MNRAS. Several improvements from Oct 7 version:
stronger evidence of the optical counterpart; more accurate estimate of its
brightness (a factor of 2 brighter than previously estimated); use of a
larger set of Swift/UVOT data to measure the recent star formation rate in
ESO243-49; improved discussion and comparison of the competing scenario
On the low-temperature lattice thermal transport in nanowires
We propose a theory of low temperature thermal transport in nano-wires in the
regime where a competition between phonon and flexural modes governs the
relaxation processes. Starting with the standard kinetic equations for two
different types of quasiparticles we derive a general expression for the
coefficient of thermal conductivity. The underlying physics of thermal
conductance is completely determined by the corresponding relaxation times,
which can be calculated directly for any dispersion of quasiparticles depending
on the size of a system. We show that if the considered relaxation mechanism is
dominant, then at small wire diameters the temperature dependence of thermal
conductivity experiences a crossover from to -dependence.
Quantitative analysis shows reasonable agreement with resent experimental
results.Comment: 12 pages, 3 eps figure
Oscillatory behavior of the in-medium interparticle potential in hot gauge system with scalar bound states
We investigate the in-medium interparticle potential of hot gauge system with
bound states by employing the QED and scalar QED coupling. At finite
temperature an oscillatory behavior of the potential has been found as well as
its variation in terms of different free parameters. We expect the competition
among the parameters will lead to an appropriate interparticle potential which
could be extended to discuss the fluid properties of QGP with scalar bound
states
A family of thermostable fungal cellulases created by structure-guided recombination
SCHEMA structure-guided recombination of 3 fungal class II cellobiohydrolases (CBH II cellulases) has yielded a collection of highly thermostable CBH II chimeras. Twenty-three of 48 genes sampled from the 6,561 possible chimeric sequences were secreted by the Saccharomyces cerevisiae heterologous host in catalytically active form. Five of these chimeras have half-lives of thermal inactivation at 63°C that are greater than the most stable parent, CBH II enzyme from the thermophilic fungus Humicola insolens, which suggests that this chimera collection contains hundreds of highly stable cellulases. Twenty-five new sequences were designed based on mathematical modeling of the thermostabilities for the first set of chimeras. Ten of these sequences were expressed in active form; all 10 retained more activity than H. insolens CBH II after incubation at 63°C. The total of 15 validated thermostable CBH II enzymes have high sequence diversity, differing from their closest natural homologs at up to 63 amino acid positions. Selected purified thermostable chimeras hydrolyzed phosphoric acid swollen cellulose at temperatures 7 to 15°C higher than the parent enzymes. These chimeras also hydrolyzed as much or more cellulose than the parent CBH II enzymes in long-time cellulose hydrolysis assays and had pH/activity profiles as broad, or broader than, the parent enzymes. Generating this group of diverse, thermostable fungal CBH II chimeras is the first step in building an inventory of stable cellulases from which optimized enzyme mixtures for biomass conversion can be formulated
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