High Energy Neutrinos and Photons from Curvature Pions in Magnetars

We discuss the relevance of the curvature radiation of pions in strongly magnetized pulsars or magnetars, and their implications for the production of TeV energy neutrinos detectable by cubic kilometer scale detectors, as well as high energy photons.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, to appear in JCA

Cascade model of gamma-ray bursts: Power-law and annihilation-line components

If, in a neutron star magnetosphere, an electron is accelerated to an energy of 10 to the 11th or 12th power eV by an electric field parallel to the magnetic field, motion of the electron along the curved field line leads to a cascade of gamma rays and electron-positron pairs. This process is believed to occur in radio pulsars and gamma ray burst sources. Results are presented from numerical simulations of the radiation and photon annihilation pair production processes, using a computer code previously developed for the study of radio pulsars. A range of values of initial energy of a primary electron was considered along with initial injection position, and magnetic dipole moment of the neutron star. The resulting spectra was found to exhibit complex forms that are typically power law over a substantial range of photon energy, and typically include a dip in the spectrum near the electron gyro-frequency at the injection point. The results of a number of models are compared with data for the 5 Mar., 1979 gamma ray burst. A good fit was found to the gamma ray part of the spectrum, including the equivalent width of the annihilation line

Self-consistent models for Coulomb heated X-ray pulsar atmospheres

Calculations of accreting magnetized neutron star atmospheres heated by the gradual deceleration of protons via Coulomb collisions are presented. Self consistent determinations of the temperature and density structure for different accretion rates are made by assuming hydrostatic equilibrium and energy balance, coupled with radiative transfer. The full radiative transfer in two polarizations, using magnetic cross sections but with cyclotron resonance effects treated approximately, is carried out in the inhomogeneous atmospheres

Studies on heavy metal toxicity and accumulation in the catchment area of the Derwent Reservoir

A three year long study has been carried out of the distribution of zinc, lead and cadmium within the water, sediments and submerged plants of the Derwent Reservoir and its catchment These studies have been extended to include detailed field investigations of the accumulation of heavy metals by Lemanea fluviatilis, an alga common in the R. Derwent Further field and laboratory investigations have been carried out of the tolerance to zinc of Stxgeoclonxum tenue. Elevated concentrations of zinc, lead and cadmium were shown to be present, in the water and sediments of the R. Derwent at its point of entry to the Derwent Reservoir. These metals were derived mainly from Bolts Burn, a polluted tributary. This latter stream was found to receive inputs of heavy metals from clearly defined sources within an active fluorspar mine. Although old mine workings were present within the catchment, these had a relatively small effect on the composition of water in Bolts Burn and the R. Derwent. Detailed investigations of the composition of stream and river water enabled various aspects of the behaviour of different fractions of metals to be described and compared in polluted and non-polluted reaches. The concentrations of zinc, lead and cadmium within the water, sediments and submerged plants of the Derwent Reservoir were found to be high when compared with data from other published studies. The pollution of the reservoir with these metals may therefore be regarded as serious. Surveys of the distribution of heavy metals in the water column were carried out at different stages in the filling cycle of the reservoir. These, together with surveys of the composition of sediments and submerged plants, enabled several of the major factors influencing the distribution of metals within the reservoir to be determined. Studies of the accumulation of heavy metals by 47 populations of Lemanea fluviatilis indicated that the alga is a potentially useful 'monitor' of pollution by zinc, lead and cadmium in flowing waters. Although the enrichment ratios for these metals were not constant over a range of concentrations in the water, clear linear relationships were apparent between the concentrations of each metal in the water and in filaments of Lemanea. Intensive sampling from a single population in the R. Derwent demonstrated that a proportion of the zinc content of filaments was sensitive to short term fluctuations in the zinc content of the surrounding water. The results of a series of transplant experiments are also reported. Stigeoclonium tenue was found to be abundant in several streams carrying relatively high concentrations of zinc in the water A study of populations isolated from 35 reaches demonstrated that material growing in higher concentrations of zinc in the field had an enhanced tolerance to zinc. This tolerance was stable during long term culturing, and appeared to have a genetic basis. Assays of populations from harder waters suggested that high concentrations of calcium acted to reduce the toxicity of zinc in the field. Further studies performed in the laboratory demonstrated that increases in pH and the concentrations of magnesium, calcium and phosphate all acted to reduce the toxicity of zinc to Stigeoclonium tenue. However, the effects of these factors on toxicity were found to differ between a zinc sensitive population and a zinc tolerant populatio

Nonlinear wave interaction and spin models in the MHD regime

Here we consider the influence on the electron spin in the MHD regime. Recently developed models which include spin-velocity correlations are taken as a starting point. A theoretical argument is presented, suggesting that in the MHD regime a single fluid electron model with spin correlations is equivalent to a model with spin-up and spin-down electrons constituting different fluids, but where the spin-velocity correlations are omitted. Three wave interaction of 2 shear Alfven waves and a compressional Alfven wave is then taken as a model problem to evaluate the asserted equivalence. The theoretical argument turns out to be supported, as the predictions of the two models agree completely. Furthermore, the three wave coupling coefficients obey the Manley-Rowe relations, which give further support to the soundness of the models and the validity of the assumptions made in the derivation. Finally we point out that the proposed two-fluid model can be incorporated in standard Particle-In-Cell schemes with only minor modifications.Comment: 8 page

An iron(ii) spin-crossover metallacycle from a back-to-back bis-[dipyrazolylpyridine]

The syntheses of 4-mercapto-2,6-di(pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine (bppSH) and bis[2,6-di(pyrazol-1-yl)pyrid-4-yl]disulfide (bppSSbpp) are reported. In contrast to previously published “back-to-back” bis-[2,6-di(pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine] derivatives, which form coordination polymers with transition ions that are usually insoluble, bppSSbpp yields soluble oligomeric complexes with iron(II) and zinc(II). Mass spectrometry and DOSY data show that [{Fe(μ-bppSSbpp)}n]2n+ and [{Zn(μ-bppSSbpp)}n]2n+ form tetranuclear metallacycles in nitromethane solution (n = 4), although 1H NMR and conductivity measurements imply the iron compound may undergo more fragmentation than its zinc congener. Both [{Fe(bppSH)2]2+ and [{Fe(μ-bppSSbpp)}n]2n+ exhibit thermal spin-crossover in CD3NO2 solution, with midpoint temperatures near 245 K. The similarity of these equilibria implies there is little cooperativity between the iron centres in the metallacyclic structures

Nanophotonic hybridization of narrow atomic cesium resonances and photonic stop gaps of opaline nanostructures

We study a hybrid system consisting of a narrowband atomic optical resonance and the long-range periodic order of an opaline photonic nanostructure. To this end, we have infiltrated atomic cesium vapor in a thin silica opal photonic crystal. With increasing temperature, the frequencies of the opal's reflectivity peaks shift down by >20% due to chemical reduction of the silica. Simultaneously, the photonic bands and gaps shift relative to the fixed near-infrared cesium D1 transitions. As a result the narrow atomic resonances with high finesse (f/df=8E5) dramatically change shape from a usual dispersive shape at the blue edge of a stop gap, to an inverted dispersion lineshape at the red edge of a stop gap. The lineshape, amplitude, and off-resonance reflectivity are well modeled with a transfer-matrix model that includes the dispersion and absorption of Cs hyperfine transitions and the chemically-reduced opal. An ensemble of atoms in a photonic crystal is an intriguing hybrid system that features narrow defect-like resonances with a strong dispersion, with potential applications in slow light, sensing and optical memory.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Observation of a stronger-than-adiabatic change of light trapped in an ultrafast switched GaAs-AlAs microcavity

We study the time-resolved reflectivity spectrum of a switched planar GaAs-AlAs microcavity. Between 5 and 40 ps after the switching (pump) pulse we observe a strong excess probe reflectivity and a change of the frequency of light trapped in the cavity up to 5 linewidths away from the cavity resonance. This frequency change does not adiabatically follow the fast-changing cavity resonance. The frequency change is attributed to an accumulated phase change due to the time-dependent refractive index. An analytical model predicts dynamics in qualitative agreement with the experiments, and points to crucial parameters that control future applications.Comment: Discussed effect of probe bandwidth. Included functional forms of n(z) and R(z

Light-curve modelling constraints on the obliquities and aspect angles of the young Fermi pulsars

In more than four years of observation the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi satellite has identified pulsed $\gamma$-ray emission from more than 80 young pulsars, providing light curves with high statistics. Fitting the observations with geometrical models can provide estimates of the magnetic obliquity $\alpha$ and aspect angle $\zeta$, yielding estimates of the radiation beaming factor and luminosity. Using $\gamma$-ray emission geometries (Polar Cap, Slot Gap, Outer Gap, One Pole Caustic) and radio emission geometry, we fit $\gamma$-ray light curves for 76 young pulsars and we jointly fit their $\gamma$-ray plus radio light curves when possible. We find that a joint radio plus $\gamma$-ray fit strategy is important to obtain ($\alpha$, $\zeta$) estimates that can explain simultaneous radio and $\gamma$-ray emission. The intermediate-to-high altitude magnetosphere models, Slot Gap, Outer Gap, and One pole Caustic, are favoured in explaining the observations. We find no evolution of $\alpha$ on a time scale of a million years. For all emission geometries our derived $\gamma$-ray beaming factors are generally less than one and do not significantly evolve with the spin-down power. A more pronounced beaming factor vs. spin-down power correlation is observed for Slot Gap model and radio-quiet pulsars and for the Outer Gap model and radio-loud pulsars. For all models, the correlation between $\gamma$-ray luminosity and spin-down power is consistent with a square root dependence. The $\gamma$-ray luminosities obtained by using our beaming factors not exceed the spin-down power. This suggests that assuming a beaming factor of one for all objects, as done in other studies, likely overestimates the real values. The data show a relation between the pulsar spectral characteristics and the width of the accelerator gap that is consistent with the theoretical prediction for the Slot Gap model.Comment: 90 pages, 80 figures (63 in Appendices), accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic