20,901 research outputs found
Origin of the transient unpulsed radio emission from the PSR B1259-63 binary system
We discuss the interpretation of transient, unpulsed radio emission detected
from the unique pulsar/Be-star binary system PSR B1259-63. Extensive monitoring
of the 1994 and 1997 periastron passages has shown that the source flares over
a 100-day interval around periastron, varying on time-scales as short as a day
and peaking at 60 mJy (~100 times the apastron flux density) at 1.4 GHz.
Interpreting the emission as synchrotron radiation, we show that (i) the
observed variations in flux density are too large to be caused by the shock
interaction between the pulsar wind and an isotropic, radiatively driven,
Be-star wind, and (ii) the radio emitting electrons do not originate from the
pulsar wind. We argue instead that the radio electrons originate from the
circumstellar disk of the Be star and are accelerated at two epochs, one before
and one after periastron, when the pulsar passes through the disk. A simple
model incorporating two epochs of impulsive acceleration followed by
synchrotron cooling reproduces the essential features of the radio light curve
and spectrum and is consistent with the system geometry inferred from pulsed
radio data.Comment: To be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters 7 pages, 1
postscript figur
Theory of high-energy emission from the pulsar/Be-star system PSR 125963 I: radiation mechanisms and interaction geometry
We study the physical processes of the PSR B1259-63 system containing a 47 ms
pulsar orbiting around a Be star in a highly eccentric orbit. Motivated by the
results of a multiwavelength campaign during the January 1994 periastron
passage of PSR B1259-63, we discuss several issues regarding the mechanism of
high-energy emission. Unpulsed power law emission from the this system was
detected near periastron in the energy range 1-200 keV. We find that the
observed high energy emission from the PSR B1259-63 system is not compatible
with accretion or propeller-powered emission. Shock-powered high-energy
emission produced by the pulsar/outflow interaction is consistent with all high
energy observations. By studying the evolution of the pulsar cavity we
constrain the magnitude and geometry of the mass outflow outflow of the Be
star. The pulsar/outflow interaction is most likely mediated by a collisionless
shock at the internal boundary of the pulsar cavity. The system shows all the
characteristics of a {\it binary plerion} being {\it diffuse} and {\it compact}
near apastron and periastron, respectively. The PSR B1259-63 cavity is subject
to different radiative regimes depending on whether synchrotron or inverse
Compton (IC) cooling dominates the radiation of electron/positron pairs
advected away from the inner boundary of the pulsar cavity. The highly
non-thermal nature of the observed X-ray/gamma-ray emission near periastron
establishes the existence of an efficient particle acceleration mechanism
within a timescale shown to be less than s. A synchrotron/IC
model of emission of e\pm-pairs accelerated at the inner shock front of the
pulsar cavity and adiabatically expanding in the MHD flow provides an excellent
explanation of the observed time variableX-ray flux and spectrum from the PSRComment: 68 pages, accepted for publication in the Astrophys. J. on Aug. 26,
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Data management study, volume 5. Appendix A - Contractor data package technical description and system engineering /SE/ Final report
Technical description and systems engineering contractor data package for Voyager spacecraf
Charge trapping in polymer transistors probed by terahertz spectroscopy and scanning probe potentiometry
Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and scanning probe potentiometry were used
to investigate charge trapping in polymer field-effect transistors fabricated
on a silicon gate. The hole density in the transistor channel was determined
from the reduction in the transmitted terahertz radiation under an applied gate
voltage. Prolonged device operation creates an exponential decay in the
differential terahertz transmission, compatible with an increase in the density
of trapped holes in the polymer channel. Taken in combination with scanning
probe potentionmetry measurements, these results indicate that device
degradation is largely a consequence of hole trapping, rather than of changes
to the mobility of free holes in the polymer.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Gamma-rays from binary system with energetic pulsar and Be star with aspherical wind: PSR B1259-63/SS2883
At least one massive binary system containing an energetic pulsar, PSR
B1259-63/SS2883, has been recently detected in the TeV gamma-rays by the HESS
telescopes. These gamma-rays are likely produced by particles accelerated in
the vicinity of the pulsar and/or at the pulsar wind shock, in comptonization
of soft radiation from the massive star. However, the process of gamma-ray
production in such systems can be quite complicated due to the anisotropy of
the radiation field, complex structure of the pulsar wind termination shock and
possible absorption of produced gamma-rays which might initiate leptonic
cascades. In this paper we consider in detail all these effects. We calculate
the gamma-ray light curves and spectra for different geometries of the binary
system PSR B1259-63/SS2883 and compare them with the TeV gamma-ray
observations. We conclude that the leptonic IC model, which takes into account
the complex structure of the pulsar wind shock due to the aspherical wind of
the massive star, can explain the details of the observed gamma-ray light
curve.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Experimental investigation of the origin of the cross-over temperature in the cuprates
We investigate the cross-over temperature T* as a function of doping in
(Ca_{x}La_{1-x})(Ba_{1.75-x}La_{0.25+x})Cu_3O_{y}, where the maximum Tc
(Tc^max) varies continuously by 30% between families (x) with minimal
structural changes. T* is determined by DC-susceptibility measurements. We find
that T* scales with the maximum Neel temperature TN^max of each family. This
result strongly supports a magnetic origin of T*, and indicates that three
dimensional interactions play a role in its magnitude.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Thermodynamic curvature measures interactions
Thermodynamic fluctuation theory originated with Einstein who inverted the
relation to express the number of states in terms of entropy:
. The theory's Gaussian approximation is discussed in most
statistical mechanics texts. I review work showing how to go beyond the
Gaussian approximation by adding covariance, conservation, and consistency.
This generalization leads to a fundamentally new object: the thermodynamic
Riemannian curvature scalar , a thermodynamic invariant. I argue that
is related to the correlation length and suggest that the sign of
corresponds to whether the interparticle interactions are effectively
attractive or repulsive.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures (added reference 27
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