322 research outputs found
On Instability of Certain Bi-Metric and Massive-Gravity Theories
Stability about cosmological background solutions to the bi-metric
Hassan-Rosen theory is studied. The results of this analysis are presented, and
it is shown that a large class of cosmological backgrounds is classically
unstable. This sets serious doubts on the physical viability of the
Hassan-Rosen theory - and in turn also of the de Rham-Gadabaze-Tolley model, to
which the mentioned theory is parent. A way to overcome this instability by
means of curvature-type deformations is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; v2: minor changes to match PRD versio
Hamiltonian submanifolds of regular polytopes
We investigate polyhedral -manifolds as subcomplexes of the boundary
complex of a regular polytope. We call such a subcomplex {\it -Hamiltonian}
if it contains the full -skeleton of the polytope. Since the case of the
cube is well known and since the case of a simplex was also previously studied
(these are so-called {\it super-neighborly triangulations}) we focus on the
case of the cross polytope and the sporadic regular 4-polytopes. By our results
the existence of 1-Hamiltonian surfaces is now decided for all regular
polytopes.
Furthermore we investigate 2-Hamiltonian 4-manifolds in the -dimensional
cross polytope. These are the "regular cases" satisfying equality in Sparla's
inequality. In particular, we present a new example with 16 vertices which is
highly symmetric with an automorphism group of order 128. Topologically it is
homeomorphic to a connected sum of 7 copies of . By this
example all regular cases of vertices with or, equivalently, all
cases of regular -polytopes with are now decided.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figure
Formation of phase lags at the cyclotron energies in the pulse profiles of magnetized, accreting neutron stars
Context: Accretion-powered X-ray pulsars show highly energy-dependent and
complex pulse-profile morphologies. Significant deviations from the average
pulse profile can appear, in particular close to the cyclotron line energies.
These deviations can be described as energy-dependent phase lags, that is, as
energy-dependent shifts of main features in the pulse profile. Aims: Using a
numerical study we explore the effect of cyclotron resonant scattering on
observable, energy-resolved pulse profiles. Methods: We generated the
observable emission as a function of spin phase, using Monte Carlo simulations
for cyclotron resonant scattering and a numerical ray-tracing routine
accounting for general relativistic light-bending effects on the intrinsic
emission from the accretion columns. Results: We find strong changes in the
pulse profile coincident with the cyclotron line energies. Features in the
pulse profile vary strongly with respect to the average pulse profile with the
observing geometry and shift and smear out in energy additionally when assuming
a non-static plasma. Conclusions: We demonstrate how phase lags at the
cyclotron energies arise as a consequence of the effects of angular
redistribution of X-rays by cyclotron resonance scattering in a strong magnetic
field combined with relativistic effects. We also show that phase lags are
strongly dependent on the accretion geometry. These intrinsic effects will in
principle allow us to constrain a system's accretion geometry.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; updated reference lis
Triangulations and Severi varieties
We consider the problem of constructing triangulations of projective planes
over Hurwitz algebras with minimal numbers of vertices. We observe that the
numbers of faces of each dimension must be equal to the dimensions of certain
representations of the automorphism groups of the corresponding Severi
varieties. We construct a complex involving these representations, which should
be considered as a geometric version of the (putative) triangulations
Critical Behaviour of Non-Equilibrium Phase Transitions to Magnetically Ordered States
We describe non-equilibrium phase transitions in arrays of dynamical systems
with cubic nonlinearity driven by multiplicative Gaussian white noise.
Depending on the sign of the spatial coupling we observe transitions to
ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic ordered states. We discuss the phase
diagram, the order of the transitions, and the critical behaviour. For global
coupling we show analytically that the critical exponent of the magnetization
exhibits a transition from the value 1/2 to a non-universal behaviour depending
on the ratio of noise strength to the magnitude of the spatial coupling.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
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Luminosity dependent accretion state change in GRO J1008-57
In a former publication, we have analyzed the transient neutron star X-ray binary GRO J1008-57 using all available RXTE-, Swift-, and Suzaku-data. As we have found, the source's spectral components, i.e., a power-law with high exponential cutoff and a black-body, are strongly correlated with the hard X-ray flux (15-50 keV). We update the analytical description of these dependence, including a change in the photon index behaviour from a flat to a logarithmic function. The flux, where the change occurs, is consistent with the onset of the black-body emission. Thus, a change of the accretion state always occurs in GRO J1008-57 at a particular flux level
SIMULTANEOUS FITS IN ISIS ON THE EXAMPLE OF GRO J1008–57
Parallel computing and steadily increasing computation speed have led to a new tool for analyzing multiple datasets and datatypes: fitting several datasets simultaneously. With this technique, physically connected parameters of individual data can be treated as a single parameter by implementing this connection directly into the fit. We discuss the terminology, implementation, and possible issues of simultaneous fits based on the Interactive Spectral Interpretation System (ISIS) X-ray data analysis tool. While all data modeling tools in X-ray astronomy in principle allow data to be fitted individually from multiple data sets, the syntax used in these tools is not often well suited for this task. Applying simultaneous fits to the transient X-ray binary GRO J1008–57, we find that the spectral shape is only dependent on X-ray flux. We determine time independent parameters e.g., the folding energy Efold, with unprecedented precision
Mannosylated glycans impair normal T-cell development by reprogramming commitment and repertoire diversity
T-cell development ensures the formation of diverse repertoires of T-cell receptors (TCRs) that recognize a variety of antigens. Glycosylation is a major posttranslational modification present in virtually all cells, including T-lymphocytes, that regulates activity/functions. Although these structures are known to be involved in TCR-selection in DP thymocytes, it is unclear how glycans regulate other thymic development processes and how they influence susceptibility to disease. Here, we discovered stage-specific glycome compositions during T-cell development in human and murine thymocytes, as well as dynamic alterations. After restricting the N-glycosylation profile of thymocytes to high-mannose structures, using specific glycoengineered mice (Rag1CreMgat1fl/fl), we showed remarkable defects in key developmental checkpoints, including ß-selection, regulatory T-cell generation and γδT-cell development, associated with increased susceptibility to colon and kidney inflammation and infection. We further demonstrated that a single N-glycan antenna (modeled in Rag1CreMgat2fl/fl mice) is the sine-qua-non condition to ensure normal development. In conclusion, we revealed that mannosylated thymocytes lead to a dysregulation in T-cell development that is associated with inflammation susceptibility.Funded by the “2022 Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) Lupus Innovation Award”. Institutional funding from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT): projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000029, POCI-01/0145-FEDER-016601, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028772, and PTDC/MEC-REU/28772/2017 (SSP). This study was co-funded by the European Union (ERC Synergy, GlycanSwitch, 101071386). Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. The study was also co-funded by the European Union, GlycanTrigger project, Grant Agreement No: 101093997. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. A grant was received from the Portuguese group of study in autoimmune diseases (NEDAI) to SSP. MMV (PD/BD/135452/2017; COVID/BD/152488/2022) received funding from the FCT
A constant Cyclotron Line Energy in 4U 0115+634
We present a study of RXTE and INTEGRAL spectra of the transient 3.6 s X-ray pulsar 4U 0115+634 taken during a giant outburst in 2008 March/April. The spectra can be almost equally well modeled by two different semi-empirical continuum models, modified by an Fe Kα fluorescence line, interstellar absorption, and cyclotron resonance scattering features (CRSFs) located at ∼10.7, 21.8, 35.5, 46.7, and 59.7 keV. One of these two models, the so called NPEX
model, leads to an anticorrelation between the centroid energy of the fundamental CRSF E_0 and the X-ray flux F_X, in agreement with previous works. The other model, consisting of a simple exponentially cutoff power law modified by a Gaussian emission feature around 10 keV, however, leads to a constant value for E_0 for the observed fluxes and a comparatively narrow line shape. We show that the cyclotron line model component resulting from the NPEX fits rather contribute to the broadband continuum model. We conclude that the previously reported anticorrelation is probably due to an artifact of the particular modeling of the continuum
A Variable-Density Absorption Event in NGC 3227 mapped with Suzaku and Swift
The morphology of the circumnuclear gas accreting onto supermassive black
holes in Seyfert galaxies remains a topic of much debate. As the innermost
regions of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are spatially unresolved, X-ray
spectroscopy, and in particular line-of-sight absorption variability, is a key
diagnostic to map out the distribution of gas. Observations of variable X-ray
absorption in multiple Seyferts and over a wide range of timescales indicate
the presence of clumps/clouds of gas within the circumnuclear material. Eclipse
events by clumps transiting the line of sight allow us to explore the
properties of the clumps over a wide range of radial distances from the
optical/UV Broad Line Region (BLR) to beyond the dust sublimation radius.
Time-resolved absorption events have been extremely rare so far, but suggest a
range of density profiles across Seyferts. We resolve a weeks-long absorption
event in the Seyfert NGC 3227. We examine six Suzaku and twelve Swift
observations from a 2008 campaign spanning 5 weeks. We use a model accounting
for the complex spectral interplay of three differently-ionized absorbers. We
perform time-resolved spectroscopy to discern the absorption variability
behavior. We also examine the IR-to-X-ray spectral energy distribution (SED) to
test for reddening by dust. The 2008 absorption event is due to
moderately-ionized () gas covering 90% of the line of
sight. We resolve the density profile to be highly irregular, in contrast to a
previous symmetric and centrally-peaked event mapped with RXTE in the same
object. The UV data do not show significant reddening, suggesting that the
cloud is dust-free. The 2008 campaign has revealed a transit by a filamentary,
moderately-ionized cloud of variable density that is likely located in the BLR,
and possibly part of a disk wind.Comment: Accepted for publication by A&
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