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 $0.3<z<1.3$, radio powers between $6.9 \times 10^{26} {\rm WHz^{-1}}<P_{151 {\rm MHz}}<1.3 \times 10^{28} {\rm WHz^{-1}}$ and angular size $\theta \ge 10''$. 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

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 LX−TL_X-T 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 ($\log \rho_0$, $\log R$, and $\log T$) 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 $L_{\rm X} \propto T^3$ 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