X-ray spectral state evolution in IGR J17091-3624 and comparison of its heartbeat oscillation properties with those of GRS 1915+105

In this work, we study the X-ray timing and spectral evolution of the transient low mass X-ray binary IGR J17091-3624 during first 66 days of its 2011 outburst. We present results obtained from observations with two instruments, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE)/Proportional Counter Array (PCA) and SWIFT/X-ray telescope (XRT), between 09 February, 2011 and 15 April, 2011. Using quasi-periodic oscillation classifications, power density spectrum characteristics, time-lag behavior and energy spectral properties, we determine source states and their transitions at different times of the outburst. During the first part of the evolution, the source followed trends usually observed from transient black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs). Interestingly, a gradual transition is observed in IGR J17091-3624 from the low-variability SIMS, commonly seen in BHXBs, to a high-variability state with regular, repetitive and structured pulsations, seen only from GRS 1915+105 (also known as 'rho' class variability/'heartbeat' oscillations). We study the time evolution of characteristic time-scale, quality factor and rms amplitude of heartbeat oscillations in IGR J17091-3624. We also present a detailed comparison of the timing and spectral properties of heartbeat oscillations and their evolution in IGR J17091-3624 and GRS 1915+105.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in the Ap

Fluctons

From the perspective of topological field theory we explore the physics beyond instantons. We propose the fluctons as nonperturbative topological fluctuations of vacuum, from which the self-dual domain of instantons is attained as a particular case. Invoking the Atiyah-Singer index theorem, we determine the dimension of the corresponding flucton moduli space, which gives the number of degrees of freedom of the fluctons. An important consequence of these results is that the topological phases of vacuum in non-Abelian gauge theories are not necessarily associated with self-dual fields, but only with smooth fields. Fluctons in different scenarios are considered, the basic aspects of the quantum mechanical amplitude for fluctons are discussed, and the case of gravity is discussed briefly

Forward Flux Sampling for rare event simulations

Rare events are ubiquitous in many different fields, yet they are notoriously difficult to simulate because few, if any, events are observed in a conventiona l simulation run. Over the past several decades, specialised simulation methods have been developed to overcome this problem. We review one recently-developed class of such methods, known as Forward Flux Sampling. Forward Flux Sampling uses a series of interfaces between the initial and final states to calculate rate constants and generate transition paths, for rare events in equilibrium or nonequilibrium systems with stochastic dynamics. This review draws together a number of recent advances, summarizes several applications of the method and highlights challenges that remain to be overcome.Comment: minor typos in the manuscript. J.Phys.:Condensed Matter (accepted for publication

Low-frequency QPO from the 11 Hz accreting pulsar in Terzan 5: not frame dragging

We report on 6 RXTE observations taken during the 2010 outburst of the 11 Hz accreting pulsar IGR J17480-2446 located in the globular cluster Terzan 5. During these observations we find power spectra which resemble those seen in Z-type high-luminosity neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries, with a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the 35-50 Hz range simultaneous with a kHz QPO and broad band noise. Using well known frequency-frequency correlations, we identify the 35-50 Hz QPOs as the horizontal branch oscillations (HBO), which were previously suggested to be due to Lense-Thirring precession. As IGR J17480-2446 spins more than an order of magnitude more slowly than any of the other neutron stars where these QPOs were found, this QPO can not be explained by frame dragging. By extension, this casts doubt on the Lense-Thirring precession model for other low-frequency QPOs in neutron-star and perhaps even black-hole systems.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ

An X-ray view of the very faint black hole X-ray transient Swift J1357.2-0933 during its 2011 outburst

We report on the X-ray spectral (using XMM-Newton data) and timing behavior (using XMM-Newton and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer [RXTE] data) of the very faint X-ray transient and black hole system Swift J1357.2-0933 during its 2011 outburst. The XMM-Newton X-ray spectrum of this source can be adequately fitted with a soft thermal component with a temperature of ~0.22 keV (using a disc model) and a hard, non-thermal component with a photon index of ~1.6 when using a simple power-law model. In addition, an edge at ~ 0.73 keV is needed likely due to interstellar absorption. During the first RXTE observation we find a 6 mHz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) which is not present during any of the later RXTE observations or during the XMM-Newton observation which was taken 3 days after the first RXTE observation. The nature of this QPO is not clear but it could be related to a similar QPO seen in the black hole system H 1743-322 and to the so-called 1 Hz QPO seen in the dipping neutron-star X-ray binaries (although this later identification is quite speculative). The observed QPO has similar frequencies as the optical dips seen previously in this source during its 2011 outburst but we cannot conclusively determine that they are due to the same underlying physical mechanism. Besides the QPO, we detect strong band-limited noise in the power-density spectra of the source (as calculated from both the RXTE and the XMM-Newton data) with characteristic frequencies and strengths very similar to other black hole X-ray transients when they are at low X-ray luminosities. We discuss the spectral and timing properties of the source in the context of the proposed very high inclination of this source. We conclude that all the phenomena seen from the source cannot, as yet, be straightforwardly explained neither by an edge-on configuration nor by any other inclination configuration of the orbit.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRA

The identification of MAXI J1659-152 as a black hole candidate

We report on the analysis of all 65 pointed Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observations of the recently discovered soft X-ray transient MAXI J1659-152 (initially referred to as GRB 100925A). The source was studied in terms of its evolution through the hardness-intensity diagram (HID) as well as its X-ray variability properties. MAXI J1659-152 traced out an anti-clockwise loop in the HID, which is commonly seen in transient low-mass X-ray binaries. The variability properties of the source, in particular the detection of type-B and type-C low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations, and the way they evolve along the HID track, indicate that MAXI J1659-152 is a black hole candidate. The spectral and variability properties of MAXI J1659-152 imply that the source was observed in the hard and soft intermediate states during the RXTE observations, with several transitions between these two states.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Robust and Scalable Bayesian Online Changepoint Detection

This paper proposes an online, provably robust, and scalable Bayesian approach for changepoint detection. The resulting algorithm has key advantages over previous work: it provides provable robustness by leveraging the generalised Bayesian perspective, and also addresses the scalability issues of previous attempts. Specifically, the proposed generalised Bayesian formalism leads to conjugate posteriors whose parameters are available in closed form by leveraging diffusion score matching. The resulting algorithm is exact, can be updated through simple algebra, and is more than 10 times faster than its closest competitor

Thermal performance and comfort of naturally ventilated earth housing in dry-summer climate

This paper presents a study of the thermal performance and occupant satisfaction of naturally ventilated earth houses during a hot summer period. An earth house community located in Santiago, Chile, was chosen as a case study. Building Use Studies (BUS) survey was used to understand the general satisfaction and thermal comfort of users living in earth buildings. In parallel, two occupied houses constructed with wattle and daub techniques were monitored. Occupants highly rated most aspect of the house, yet thermal related variables are less satisfactory. The monitored results showed that indoor diurnal temperatures in both houses have differences between 15-20°C compared with outdoor temperatures. The indoor temperature of adobe bedroom showed a more drastic deviation when the outdoor temperature was lower than 20°C. This study has verified the thermal comfort potential of earthen constructions, notably contributing to indoor temperatures in summer