6,003 research outputs found
Confinement of two-dimensional excitons in a non-homogeneous magnetic field
The effective Hamiltonian describing the motion of an exciton in an external
non-homogeneous magnetic field is derived. The magnetic field plays the role of
an effective potential for the exciton motion, results into an increment of the
exciton mass and modifies the exciton kinetic energy operator. In contrast to
the homogeneous field case, the exciton in a non-homogeneous magnetic field can
also be trapped in the low field region and the field gradient increases the
exciton confinement. The trapping energy and wave function of the exciton in a
GaAs two-dimensional electron gas for specific circular magnetic field
configurations are calculated. The results show than excitons can be trapped by
non-homogeneous magnetic fields, and that the trapping energy is strongly
correlated with the shape and strength of the non-homogeneous magnetic field
profile.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figure
Exciton trapping in magnetic wire structures
The lateral magnetic confinement of quasi two-dimensional excitons into wire
like structures is studied. Spin effects are take into account and two
different magnetic field profiles are considered, which experimentally can be
created by the deposition of a ferromagnetic stripe on a semiconductor quantum
well with magnetization parallel or perpendicular to the grown direction of the
well. We find that it is possible to confine excitons into one-dimensional (1D)
traps. We show that the dependence of the confinement energy on the exciton
wave vector, which is related to its free direction of motion along the wire
direction, is very small. Through the application of a background magnetic
field it is possible to move the position of the trapping region towards the
edge of the ferromagnetic stripe or even underneath the stripe. The exact
position of this 1D exciton channel depends on the strength of the background
magnetic field and on the magnetic polarisation direction of the ferromagnetic
film.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, to be published in J. Phys: Condens. Matte
Pulsar J0453+1559: A Double Neutron Star System with a Large Mass Asymmetry
To understand the nature of supernovae and neutron star (NS) formation, as
well as binary stellar evolution and their interactions, it is important to
probe the distribution of NS masses. Until now, all double NS (DNS) systems
have been measured to have a mass ratio close to unity (q 0.91). Here we
report the measurement of the individual masses of the 4.07-day binary pulsar
J0453+1559 from measurements of the rate of advance of periastron and Shapiro
delay: The mass of the pulsar is 1.559(5) and that of its companion
is 1.174(4) ; q = 0.75. If this companion is also a neutron star
(NS), as indicated by the orbital eccentricity of the system (e=0.11), then its
mass is the smallest precisely measured for any such object. The pulsar has a
spin period of 45.7 ms and a spin derivative of 1.8616(7) x; from these
we derive a characteristic age of ~ 4.1 x years and a magnetic field of
~ 2.9 x G,i.e, this pulsar was mildly recycled by accretion of matter
from the progenitor of the companion star. This suggests that it was formed
with (very approximately) its current mass. Thus NSs form with a wide range of
masses, which is important for understanding their formation in supernovae. It
is also important for the search for gravitational waves released during a
NS-NS merger: it is now evident that we should not assume all DNS systems are
symmetric
Pulsar J1411+2551: A Low Mass New Double Neutron Star System
In this work, we report the discovery and characterization of PSR J1411+2551,
a new binary pulsar discovered in the Arecibo 327 MHz Drift Pulsar Survey. Our
timing observations of the radio pulsar in the system span a period of about
2.5 years. This timing campaign allowed a precise measurement of its spin
period (62.4 ms) and its derivative (9.6 0.7) ; from these, we derive a characteristic age of Gyr and a
surface magnetic field strength of 2.5 G. These numbers
indicate that this pulsar was mildly recycled by accretion of matter from the
progenitor of the companion star. The system has an eccentric ()
2.61 day orbit. This eccentricity allows a highly significant measurement of
the rate of advance of periastron, . Assuming general relativity accurately models the
orbital motion, this implies a total system mass M = . The minimum companion mass is and the maximum
pulsar mass is . The large companion mass and the orbital
eccentricity suggest that PSR J1411+2551 is a double neutron star system; the
lightest known to date including the DNS merger GW 170817. Furthermore, the
relatively low orbital eccentricity and small proper motion limits suggest that
the second supernova had a relatively small associated kick; this and the low
system mass suggest that it was an ultra-stripped supernova.Comment: Accepted for publication in APJ letter
Constraining the relative inclinations of the planets B and C of the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12
We investigate on the relative inclination of the planets B and C orbiting
the pulsar PSR B1257+12 in connection with potential violations of the
equivalence principle (Abridged).Comment: LaTex2e, 10 pages, 1 table, 3 figures, 17 references. Small stylistic
changes. Version to appear in Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy (JAA
Goals, Strategies and First Discoveries of AO327, the Arecibo All-Sky 327 MHz Drift Pulsar Survey
We report initial results from AO327, a drift survey for pulsars with the
Arecibo telescope at 327 MHz. The first phase of AO327 will cover the sky at
declinations of -1 to 28 degrees, excluding the region within 5 degrees of the
Galactic plane, where high scattering and dispersion make low-frequency surveys
sub-optimal. We record data from a 57 MHz bandwidth with 1024 channels and 125
us sampling time. The 60 s transit time through the AO327 beam means that the
survey is sensitive to very tight relativistic binaries even with no
acceleration searches. To date we have detected 44 known pulsars with periods
ranging from 3 ms to 2.21 s and discovered 24 new pulsars. The new discoveries
include three millisecond pulsars, three objects with periods of a few tens of
milliseconds typical of young as well as mildly recycled pulsars, a nuller, and
a rotating radio transient. Five of the new discoveries are in binary systems.
The second phase of AO327 will cover the sky at declinations of 28 to 38
degrees. We compare the sensitivity and search volume of AO327 to the Green
Bank North Celestial Cap survey and the GBT350 drift survey, both of which
operate at 350 MHz.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
A spectroscopic survey of the youngest field stars in the solar neighbourhood. I. The optically bright sample
We present the first results of a ground-based programme conducted on 1-4m
class telescopes. Our sample consists of 1097 active and presumably young
stars, all of them being optical counterparts of RASS X-ray sources in the
northern hemisphere. We concentrate on the 704 optically brightest
(V_Ticho<=9.5 mag) candidates. We acquired high-res spectroscopy in the
Halpha/Li spectral regions for 426 of such stars without relevant literature
data. We describe the sample and the observations and we start to discuss its
physical properties. We used a cross-correlation technique and other tools to
derive accurate radial/rotational velocities and to perform a spectral
classification for both single and SB2 stars. The spectral subtraction
technique was used to derive chromospheric activity levels and Li abundances.
We estimated the fraction of young single stars and multiple systems in stellar
soft X-ray surveys and the contamination by more evolved systems, like RS
CVn's. We classified stars on the basis of Li abundance and give a glimpse of
their sky distribution. The sample appears to be a mixture of young
Pleiades-/Hyades- like stars plus an older Li-poor population (~1-2 Gyr). 7
stars with Li abundance compatible with the age of IC 2602 (~30 Myr) or younger
were detected as well, although 2 appear to be Li-rich giants. The discovery of
a large number of Li-rich giants is another outcome of this survey. The
contamination of soft X-ray surveys by old systems in which the activity level
is enhanced by tidal synchronisation is not negligible, especially for K-type
stars. 5 stars with Li content close to the primordial abundance are probably
associated with known moving groups in the solar neighbourhood. Some of them
are PTTS candidates according to their positions in the HR diagram.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables; 2 figures and 2 tables in electronic
form only. Paper accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic
The Strange Prospects for Astrophysics
The implications of the formation of strange quark matter in neutron stars
and in core-collapse supernovae is discussed with special emphasis on the
possibility of having a strong first order QCD phase transition at high baryon
densities. If strange quark matter is formed in core-collapse supernovae
shortly after the bounce, it causes the launch of a second outgoing shock which
is energetic enough to lead to a explosion. A signal for the formation of
strange quark matter can be read off from the neutrino spectrum, as a second
peak in antineutrinos is released when the second shock runs over the
neutrinosphere.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, invited talk given at the international
conference on strangeness in quark matter (SQM2008), Beijing, October 6-10,
Beijing, China, version to appear in J. Phys.
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