18,148 research outputs found
The cosomological evolution of the environments of powerful radio galaxies
We present the results from the analysis of 26 extragalactic radio sources of
type FRII which were observed with the VLA at 5 GHz and around the 1.4 GHz
band. The sources were selected to have redshifts in the range ,
radio powers between and angular size . We found
that the depolarisation and the rms variations in the rotation measure
increased with redshift. The flux values obtained from the observations were
used to derive by means of analytical modelling the jet--power, density of the
central environment, age of the source and its lobe pressure and the results
were then compared with the observations. We find no significant correlations
with the density parameter suggesting that the depolarisation and the rms
variations in the rotation measure are indicative of the environment becoming
more disordered rather than denser. The age and size of a source are correlated
and both were found to be independent of redshift and radio--power. Jet--power
strongly correlated with the radio--power. The lobe pressure was found to be
anti--correlated with size which could explain why there are no sources beyond
a few Mpc in size. We found no significant correlation between size and density
which demonstrates that the sample is a fair representation of the population.Comment: 2 pages, Cozumel AGN 2003 conference proceeding
Ion-retarding lens improves the abundance sensitivity of tandem mass spectrometers
Ion-retarding lens which increases the abundance sensitivity of tandem magnetic-analyzer mass spectrometers measures isotopes of low abundance in mass positions adjacent to isotopes of high abundance. The lens increases the abundance sensitivity for isotopes lying farther from high abundance isotopes than the energy cutoff of the lens
Three episodes of jet activity in the FRII radio galaxy B0925+420
We present Very Large Array images of a "Double-Double Radio Galaxy", a class
of objects in which two pairs of lobes are aligned either side of the nucleus.
In this object, B0925+420, we discover a third pair of lobes, close to the core
and again in alignment with the other lobes. This first-known "Triple-Double"
object strongly increases the likelihood that these lobes represent mutiple
episodes of jet activity, as opposed to knots in an underlying jet. We model
the lobes in terms of their dynamical evolution. We find that the inner pair of
lobes is consistent with the outer pair having been displaced buoyantly by the
ambient medium. The middle pair of lobes is more problematic - to the extent
where an alternative model interpreting the middle and inner "lobes" as
additional bow shocks within the outer lobes may be more appropriate - and we
discuss the implications of this on our understanding of the density of the
ambient medium.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Figure 2 is best viewed in colou
Double-double radio galaxies: further insights into the formation of the radio structures
Double-double radio galaxies (DDRGs) offer a unique opportunity for us to
study multiple episodes of jet activity in large-scale radio sources. We use
radio data from the Very Large Array and the literature to model two DDRGs,
B1450+333 and B1834+620, in terms of their dynamical evolution. We find that
the standard Fanaroff-Riley II model is able to explain the properties of the
two outer lobes of each source, whereby the lobes are formed by ram-pressure
balance of a shock at the end of the jet with the surrounding medium. The inner
pairs of lobes, however, are not well-described by the standard model. Instead
we interpret the inner lobes as arising from the emission of relativistic
electrons within the outer lobes, which are compressed and re-accelerated by
the bow-shock in front of the restarted jets and within the outer lobes. The
predicted rapid progression of the inner lobes through the outer lobes requires
the eventual development of a hotspot at the edge of the outer lobe, causing
the DDRG ultimately to resemble a standard Fanaroff-Riley II radio galaxy. This
may suggest that DDRGs are a brief, yet normal, phase of the evolution of
large-scale radio galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 17 pages; 15 figures, 2 of which
are in colou
A picosecond Raman technique with resolution four times better than obtained by spontaneos Raman spectroscopy
From Point Defects in Graphene to Two-Dimensional Amorphous Carbon
While crystalline two-dimensional materials have become an experimental
reality during the past few years, an amorphous 2-D material has not been
reported before. Here, using electron irradiation we create an sp2-hybridized
one-atom-thick flat carbon membrane with a random arrangement of polygons,
including four-membered carbon rings. We show how the transformation occurs
step-by-step by nucleation and growth of low-energy multi-vacancy structures
constructed of rotated hexagons and other polygons. Our observations, along
with first-principles calculations, provide new insights to the bonding
behavior of carbon and dynamics of defects in graphene. The created domains
possess a band gap, which may open new possibilities for engineering
graphene-based electronic devices.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures including supplementary informatio
The Galaxy Cluster Luminosity-Temperature Relationship and Iron Abundances - A Measure of Formation History ?
Both the X-ray luminosity-temperature (L-T) relationship and the iron
abundance distribution of galaxy clusters show intrinsic dispersion. Using a
large set of galaxy clusters with measured iron abundances we find a
correlation between abundance and the relative deviation of a cluster from the
mean L-T relationship. We argue that these observations can be explained by
taking into account the range of cluster formation epochs expected within a
hierarchical universe. The known relationship of cooling flow mass deposition
rate to luminosity and temperature is also consistent with this explanation.
From the observed cluster population we estimate that the oldest clusters
formed at z>~2. We propose that the iron abundance of a galaxy cluster can
provide a parameterization of its age and dynamical history.Comment: 13 pages Latex, 2 figures, postscript. Accepted for publication in
ApJ Letter
The X-ray Fundamental Plane and Relation of Clusters of Galaxies
We analyze the relations among central gas density, core radius, and
temperature of X-ray clusters by plotting the observational data in the
three-dimensional (, , and ) space and find that
the data lie on a 'fundamental plane'. Its existence implies that the clusters
form a two-parameter family. The data on the plane still has a correlation and
form a band on the plane. The observed relation turns
out to be the cross section of the band perpendicular to the major axis, while
the major axis is found to describe the virial density. We discuss implications
of this two-parameter family nature of X-ray clusters.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. To be published in ApJ Letter
Light transport in cold atoms and thermal decoherence
By using the coherent backscattering interference effect, we investigate
experimentally and theoretically how coherent transport of light inside a cold
atomic vapour is affected by the residual motion of atomic scatterers. As the
temperature of the atomic cloud increases, the interference contrast
dramatically decreases emphazising the role of motion-induced decoherence for
resonant scatterers even in the sub-Doppler regime of temperature. We derive
analytical expressions for the corresponding coherence time.Comment: 4 pages - submitted to Physical Review Letter
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