Spectropolarimetry of PKS 0040-005 and the Orientation of Broad Absorption Line Quasars

We have used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to obtain spectropolarimetry of the radio-loud, double-lobed broad absorption line (BAL) quasar PKS 0040-005. We find that the optical continuum of PKS 0040-005 is intrinsically polarized at 0.7% with an electric vector position angle nearly parallel to that of the large-scale radio axis. This result is naturally explained in terms of an equatorial scattering region seen at a small inclination, building a strong case that the BAL outflow is not equatorial. In conjunction with other recent results concerning radio-loud BAL quasars, the era of simply characterizing these sources as ``edge-on'' is over.Comment: 5 Pages, including 2 PostScript figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS letter

Susceptibilities near the QCD (tri)critical point

Based on the proper-time renormalization group approach, the scalar and the quark number susceptibilities in the vicinity of possible critical end points of the hadronic phase diagram are investigated in the two-flavor quark-meson model. After discussing the quark-mass dependence of the location of such points, the critical behavior of the in-medium meson masses and quark number density are calculated. The universality classes of the end points are determined by calculating the critical exponents of the susceptibilities. In order to numerically estimate the influence of fluctuations we compare all quantities with results from a mean-field approximation. It is concluded that the region in the phase diagram where the susceptibilities are enhanced is more compressed around the critical end point if fluctuations are included.Comment: 14 pages, 19 figures; v3 typos and minor changes, references adde

Coupled Cluster Externally Corrected by Adaptive Configuration Interaction

An externally corrected coupled cluster (CC) method, where an adaptive configuration interaction (ACI) wave function provides the external cluster amplitudes, named ACI-CC, is presented. By exploiting the connection between configuration interaction and coupled cluster through cluster analysis, the higher-order T3 and T4 terms obtained from ACI are used to augment the T1 and T2 amplitude equations from traditional coupled cluster. These higher-order contributions are kept frozen during the coupled cluster iterations and do not contribute to an increased cost with respect to CCSD. We have benchmarked this method on three closed-shell systems: beryllium dimer, carbonyl oxide, and cyclobutadiene, with good results compared to other corrected coupled cluster methods. In all cases, the inclusion of these external corrections improved upon the "gold standard" CCSD(T) results, indicating that ACI-CCSD(T) can be used to assess strong correlation effects in a system and as an inexpensive starting point for more complex external corrections

Lattice QCD without topology barriers

As the continuum limit is approached, lattice QCD simulations tend to get trapped in the topological charge sectors of field space and may consequently give biased results in practice. We propose to bypass this problem by imposing open (Neumann) boundary conditions on the gauge field in the time direction. The topological charge can then flow in and out of the lattice, while many properties of the theory (the hadron spectrum, for example) are not affected. Extensive simulations of the SU(3) gauge theory, using the HMC and the closely related SMD algorithm, confirm the absence of topology barriers if these boundary conditions are chosen. Moreover, the calculated autocorrelation times are found to scale approximately like the square of the inverse lattice spacing, thus supporting the conjecture that the HMC algorithm is in the universality class of the Langevin equation.Comment: Plain TeX source, 26 pages, 4 figures include

Non-renormalizability of the HMC algorithm

In lattice field theory, renormalizable simulation algorithms are attractive, because their scaling behaviour as a function of the lattice spacing is predictable. Algorithms implementing the Langevin equation, for example, are known to be renormalizable if the simulated theory is. In this paper we show that the situation is different in the case of the molecular-dynamics evolution on which the HMC algorithm is based. More precisely, studying the phi^4 theory, we find that the hyperbolic character of the molecular-dynamics equations leads to non-local (and thus non-removable) ultraviolet singularities already at one-loop order of perturbation theory.Comment: Plain TeX source, 23 pages, 3 figures included; v2: typos corrected, agrees with published versio

The Mid-Infrared Emission of M87

We discuss Subaru and Spitzer Space Telescope imaging and spectroscopy of M87 in the mid-infrared from 5-35 um. These observations allow us to investigate mid-IR emission mechanisms in the core of M87 and to establish that the flaring, variable jet component HST-1 is not a major contributor to the mid-IR flux. The Spitzer data include a high signal-to-noise 15-35 $\mu$m spectrum of the knot A/B complex in the jet, which is consistent with synchrotron emission. However, a synchrotron model cannot account for the observed {\it nuclear} spectrum, even when contributions from the jet, necessary due to the degrading of resolution with wavelength, are included. The Spitzer data show a clear excess in the spectrum of the nucleus at wavelengths longer than 25 um, which we model as thermal emission from cool dust at a characteristic temperature of 55 \pm 10 K, with an IR luminosity \sim 10^{39} {\rm ~erg ~s^{-1}}. Given Spitzer's few-arcsecond angular resolution, the dust seen in the nuclear spectrum could be located anywhere within ~5'' (390 pc) of the nucleus. In any case, the ratio of AGN thermal to bolometric luminosity indicates that M87 does not contain the IR-bright torus that classical unified AGN schemes invoke. However, this result is consistent with theoretical predictions for low-luminosity AGNsComment: 9 pages, 7 figures, ApJ, in pres

On the Convergence of the Expansion of Renormalization Group Flow Equation

We compare and discuss the dependence of a polynomial truncation of the effective potential used to solve exact renormalization group flow equation for a model with fermionic interaction (linear sigma model) with a grid solution. The sensitivity of the results on the underlying cutoff function is discussed. We explore the validity of the expansion method for second and first-order phase transitions.Comment: 12 pages with 10 EPS figures included; revised versio

XMM-Newton Detection of the Rare FR II BAL Quasar FIRST J101614.3+520916

We have detected FIRST J101614.3+520916 with the XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory. FIRST J101614.3+520916, one of the most extreme radio-loud, broad absorption line (BAL) quasars so far discovered, is also a Fanaroff-Riley type II (FR II) radio source. We find that, compared to its estimated intrinsic X-ray flux, the observed X-rays are likely suppressed, and that the observed hardness ratio indicates significant soft X-ray photons. This is inconsistent with the simplest model, a normal quasar spectrum absorbed by a large neutral HI column density, which would primarily absorb the softer photons. More complex models, involving partial covering, an ionized absorber, ionized mirror reflection, or jet contributions need to be invoked to explain this source. The suppressed but soft X-ray emission in this radio-loud BAL quasar is consistent with the behavior displayed by other BAL quasars, both radio-loud and radio-quiet.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Accepted in AJ. (Typos corrected.

XMM-Newton detection of the rare Fanaroff-Riley type II broad absorption line quasar first J101614.3+520916

We have detected FIRST J101614.3+520916 with the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory. FIRST J101614.3+520916, one of the most extreme radio-loud, broad absorption line (BAL) quasars so far discovered, is also a Fanaroff-Riley type II radio source. We find that, compared to its estimated intrinsic X-ray flux, the observed X-rays are likely suppressed and that the observed hardness ratio indicates significant soft X-ray photons. This is inconsistent with the simplest model, a normal quasar spectrum absorbed by a large neutral H I column density, which would primarily absorb the softer photons. More complex models, involving partial covering, an ionized absorber, ionized mirror reflection, or jet contributions need to be invoked to explain this source. The suppressed but soft X-ray emission in this radio-loud BAL quasar is consistent with the behavior displayed by other BAL quasars, both radio-loud and radio-quiet