399 research outputs found
Epidemics and percolation in small-world networks
We study some simple models of disease transmission on small-world networks,
in which either the probability of infection by a disease or the probability of
its transmission is varied, or both. The resulting models display epidemic
behavior when the infection or transmission probability rises above the
threshold for site or bond percolation on the network, and we give exact
solutions for the position of this threshold in a variety of cases. We confirm
our analytic results by numerical simulation.Comment: 6 pages, including 3 postscript figure
Discovery of a Peculiar Dip from GX 301-2
We present temporal and spectral properties of a unique X-ray dip in GX 301-2
as seen with Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer in May 2010. The X-ray pulsation from
the source gradually declined prior to the dip, disappears for one spin cycle
during the dip and is abruptly restored in the spin cycle immediately after the
dip. Moreover, the phase-integrated spectrum of the source becomes softer
before and during the dip and it quickly hardens again following the dip. Our
findings indicate the fact that the mechanism for pulsations gradually turned
off briefly and underlying dim and softer emission likely from the accretion
column became observable in the brief absence of high level emission due to
wind accretion.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letter
Study of the cyclotron feature in MXB 0656-072
We have monitored a type II outburst of the Be/X-ray binary MXB 0656−072 in a series of pointed RXTE observations during October through December 2003. The source spectrum shows a cyclotron resonance scattering feature at 32.8 +0.5
−0.4 keV, corresponding to a magnetic field strength of 3.67
+0.06 −0.04 × 10 12 G and is stable through the outburst and over the pulsar spin phase. The pulsar, with an average pulse period of 160.4 ± 0.4s,shows a spin-up of 0.45 s over the duration of the outburst. From optical data, the source distance is estimated to be 3.9 ± 0.1 kpc and this is used to estimate the X-ray luminosity and a theoretical prediction of the pulsar spin-up during the outburst
INTEGRAL-RXTE observations of Cygnus X-1
We present first results from contemporaneous observations of Cygnus X-1 with
INTEGRAL and RXTE, made during INTEGRAL's performance verification phase in
2002 November and December. Consistent with earlier results, the 3-250 keV data
are well described by Comptonization spectra from a Compton corona with a
temperature of kT~50-90 keV and an optical depth of tau~1.0-1.3 plus reflection
from a cold or mildly ionized slab with a covering factor of Omega/2pi~0.2-0.3.
A soft excess below 10 keV, interpreted as emission from the accretion disk, is
seen to decrease during the 1.5 months spanned by our observations. Our results
indicate a remarkable consistency among the independently calibrated detectors,
with the remaining issues being mainly related to the flux calibration of
INTEGRAL.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Figs. 2 and 3 are best viewed in color. Accepted
for publication in the INTEGRAL special edition of A&A
The accretion environment in Vela X-1 during a flaring period using XMM-Newton
We present analysis of 100 ks contiguous XMM-Newton data of the prototypical
wind accretor Vela X-1. The observation covered eclipse egress between orbital
phases 0.134 and 0.265, during which a giant flare took place, enabling us to
study the spectral properties both outside and during the flare. This giant
flare with a peak luminosity of erg
s allows estimates of the physical parameters of the accreted structure
with a mass of g.
We have been able to model several contributions to the observed spectrum
with a phenomenological model formed by three absorbed power laws plus three
emission lines. After analysing the variations with orbital phase of the column
density of each component, as well as those in the Fe and Ni fluorescence
lines, we provide a physical interpretation for each spectral component.
Meanwhile, the first two components are two aspects of the principal accretion
component from the surface of the neutron star, and the third component seems
to be the \textit{X-ray light echo} formed in the stellar wind of the
companion.Comment: Accepted. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 201
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
Multifrequency Observations of the Gamma-Ray Blazar 3C 279 in Low-State during Integral AO-1
We report first results of a multifrequency campaign from radio to hard X-ray
energies of the prominent gamma-ray blazar 3C 279 during the first year of the
INTEGRAL mission. The variable blazar was found at a low activity level, but
was detected by all participating instruments. Subsequently a multifrequency
spectrum could be compiled. The individual measurements as well as the compiled
multifrequency spectrum are presented. In addition, this 2003 broadband
spectrum is compared to one measured in 1999 during a high activity period of
3C 279.Comment: 4 pages including 6 figures, to appear in: 'Proc. of the 5th INTEGRAL
Workshop', ESA SP-552, in pres
Energy-Dependent Harmonic Ratios of the Cyclotron Features of X0331+53 in the 2004-2005 Outburst
We report on changes of the cyclotron resonance energies of the recurrent
transient pulsar, X0331+53 (V0332+53). The whole RXTE data acquired in the
2004-2005 outburst were utilized. The 3-80 keV source luminosity varied between
1.7x10^36 and 3.5x10^38 ers/s, assuming a distance of 7 kpc. We confirmed that
the fundamental cyclotron resonance energy changed from ~22 to ~27 keV in a
clear anti-correlation to the source luminosity, and without any hysteresis
effects between the rising and declining phases of the outburst. In contrast,
the second harmonic energy changed from ~49 to ~54 keV, implying a weaker
fractional change as a function of the luminosity. As a result, the observed
resonance energy ratio between the second harmonic and the fundamental was ~2.2
when the source was most luminous, whereas the ratio decreased to the nominal
value of 2.0 at the least luminous state. Although the significance of this
effect is model dependent, these results suggest that the fundamental and
second harmonic resonances represent different heights in the accretion column,
depending on the mass accretion rate.Comment: 39 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journa
INTEGRAL observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud region
We present the preliminary results of the INTEGRAL survey of the Large
Magellanic Cloud. The observations have been carried out in January 2003 (about
10^6 s) and January 2004 (about 4x10^5 s). Here we concentrate on the bright
sources LMC X-1, LMC X-2, LMC X-3 located in our satellite galaxy, and on the
serendipitous detections of the Galactic Low Mass X-ray Binary EXO 0748-676 and
of the Seyfert 2 galaxy IRAS 04575-7537.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures. To be published in the Proceedings of the 5th
INTEGRAL Workshop: "The INTEGRAL Universe", February 16-20, 2004, Munic
- …