7,887 research outputs found
Non-perturbative embedding of local defects in crystalline materials
We present a new variational model for computing the electronic first-order
density matrix of a crystalline material in presence of a local defect. A
natural way to obtain variational discretizations of this model is to expand
the difference Q between the density matrix of the defective crystal and the
density matrix of the perfect crystal, in a basis of precomputed maximally
localized Wannier functions of the reference perfect crystal. This approach can
be used within any semi-empirical or Density Functional Theory framework.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
Evaluation of a ln tan integral arising in quantum field theory
We analytically evaluate a dilogarithmic integral that is prototypical of
volumes of ideal tetrahedra in hyperbolic geometry. We additionally obtain new
representations of the Clausen function Cl_2 and the Catalan constant
G=Cl_2(\pi/2), as well as new relations between sine and Clausen function
values.Comment: 24 pages, no figure
Electronic structure and chemical bonding of nc-TiC/a-C nanocomposites
The electronic structure of nanocrystalline (nc-) TiC/amorphous C
nanocomposites has been investigated by soft x-ray absorption and emission
spectroscopy. The measured spectra at the Ti 2p and C 1s thresholds of the
nanocomposites are compared to those of Ti metal and amorphous C. The
corresponding intensities of the electronic states for the valence and
conduction bands in the nanocomposites are shown to strongly depend on the TiC
carbide grain size. An increased charge-transfer between the Ti 3d-eg states
and the C 2p states has been identified as the grain size decreases, causing an
increased ionicity of the TiC nanocrystallites. It is suggested that the
charge-transfer occurs at the interface between the nanocrystalline TiC and the
amorphous C matrix and represents an interface bonding which may be essential
for the understanding of the properties of nc-TiC/amorphous C and similar
nanocomposites.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 1 table;
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.80.23510
Carbon release by selective alloying of transition metal carbides
We have performed first principles density functional theory calculations on
TiC alloyed on the Ti sublattice with 3d transition metals ranging from Sc to
Zn. The theory is accompanied with experimental investigations, both as regards
materials synthesis as well as characterization. Our results show that by
dissolving a metal with a weak ability to form carbides, the stability of the
alloy is lowered and a driving force for the release of carbon from the carbide
is created. During thin film growth of a metal carbide this effect will favor
the formation of a nanocomposite with carbide grains in a carbon matrix. The
choice of alloying elements as well as their concentrations will affect the
relative amount of carbon in the carbide and in the carbon matrix. This can be
used to design the structure of nanocomposites and their physical and chemical
properties. One example of applications is as low-friction coatings. Of the
materials studied, we suggest the late 3d transition metals as the most
promising elements for this phenomenon, at least when alloying with TiC.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
XMM-Newton Spectroscopy of the Accretion-Driven Millisecond X-ray Pulsar XTE J1751-305 in Outburst
We present an analysis of the first high-resolution spectra measured from an
accretion-driven millisecond X-ray pulsar in outburst. We observed XTE
J1751-305 with XMM-Newton on 2002 April 7 for approximately 35 ksec. Using a
simple absorbed blackbody plus power-law model, we measure an unabsorbed flux
of (6.6 +/- 0.1) * 10^(-10) erg/cm^2/s (0.5--10.0 keV). A hard power-law
component (Gamma = 1.44 +/- 0.01) contributes 83% of the unabsorbed flux in the
0.5-10.0 keV band, but a blackbody component (kT = 1.05 +/- 0.01 keV) is
required. We find no clear evidence for narrow or broad emission or absorption
lines in the time-averaged spectra, and the sensitivity of this observation has
allowed us to set constraining upper-limits on the strength of important
features. The lack of line features is at odds with spectra measured from some
other X-ray binaries which share some similarities with XTE J1751-305. We
discuss the implications of these findings on the accretion flow geometry in
XTE J1751-305.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures (2 color). ApJ Letters, accepted. Uses
emulateapj.st
The Burst Spectra of EXO 0748-676 during a Long 2003 XMM-Newton Observation
Gravitationally redshifted absorption lines from highly ionized iron have
been previously identified in the burst spectra of the neutron star in EXO
0748-676. To repeat this detection we obtained a long, nearly 600 ks
observation of the source with XMM-Newton in 2003. The spectral features seen
in the burst spectra from the initial data are not reproduced in the burst
spectra from this new data. In this paper we present the spectra from the 2003
observations and discuss the sensitivity of the absorption structure to changes
in the photospheric conditions.Comment: 18 Pages, 3 Figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
GX 339-4: back to life
We report preliminary results of a RossiXTE campaign on the 2002 outburst of
the black-hole candidate GX 339-4. We show power density spectra of five
observations during the early phase of the outburst. The first four power
spectra show a smooth transition between a Low State and a Very High State. The
fifth power spectrum resembles a High State, but a strong 6 Hz QPO appears
suddenly within 16 seconds.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures; to appear in Proceedings of the 4th Microquasar
Workshop, eds. Ph Durouchoux, Y. Fuchs and J. Rodriguez, published by the
Center for Space Physics: Kolkat
Blow-up profile of rotating 2D focusing Bose gases
We consider the Gross-Pitaevskii equation describing an attractive Bose gas
trapped to a quasi 2D layer by means of a purely harmonic potential, and which
rotates at a fixed speed of rotation . First we study the behavior of
the ground state when the coupling constant approaches , the critical
strength of the cubic nonlinearity for the focusing nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger
equation. We prove that blow-up always happens at the center of the trap, with
the blow-up profile given by the Gagliardo-Nirenberg solution. In particular,
the blow-up scenario is independent of , to leading order. This
generalizes results obtained by Guo and Seiringer (Lett. Math. Phys., 2014,
vol. 104, p. 141--156) in the non-rotating case. In a second part we consider
the many-particle Hamiltonian for bosons, interacting with a potential
rescaled in the mean-field manner w\int\_{\mathbb{R}^2} w(x) dx = 1\beta < 1/2a\_N \to a\_*N \to \infty$
RXTE observations of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 17+2: correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior
We have analyzed ~600 ks of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer data of the neutron
star low-mass X-ray binary and Z source GX 17+2. A study was performed of the
properties of the noise components and quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) as a
function of the spectral properties, with the main goal to study the relation
between the frequencies of the horizontal branch and upper kHz QPOs. It was
found that when the upper kHz QPO frequency is below 1030 Hz these frequencies
correlate, whereas above 1030 Hz they anti-correlate. GX 17+2 is the first
source in which this is observed. We also found that the frequency difference
of the high frequency QPOs was not constant and that the quality factors (Q
values) of the HBO, its second harmonic, and the kHz QPOs are similar, and vary
almost hand in hand by a factor of more than three. Observations of the normal
branch oscillations during two type I X-ray bursts showed that their absolute
amplitude decreased as the flux from the neutron star became stronger. We
discuss these and other findings in terms of models that have been proposed for
these phenomena. We also compare the behavior of GX 17+2 and other Z sources
with that of black hole sources and consider the possibility that the mass
accretion rate might not be driving force behind all spectral and variability
changes.Comment: 35 pages, including 14 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ.
Revised discussion, one new figure, and some minor figure changes with
respect to old versio
Diffuse Gamma-ray Emission from the Galactic Center - A Multiple Energy Injection Model
We suggest that the energy source of the observed diffuse gamma-ray emission
from the direction of the Galactic center is the Galactic black hole Sgr A*,
which becomes active when a star is captured at a rate of
yr^{-1}. Subsequently the star is tidally disrupted and its matter is accreted
into the black hole. During the active phase relativistic protons with a
characteristic energy erg per capture are ejected. Over
90% of these relativistic protons disappear due to proton-proton collisions on
a timescale years in the small central bulge region with
radius pc within Sgr A*, where the density is cm^{-3}. The
gamma-ray intensity, which results from the decay of neutral pions produced by
proton-proton collisions, decreases according to , where t is
the time after last stellar capture. Less than 5% of relativistic protons
escaped from the central bulge region can survive and maintain their energy for
>10^7 years due to much lower gas density outside, where the gas density can
drop to cm. They can diffuse to a pc region before
disappearing due to proton-proton collisions. The observed diffuse GeV
gamma-rays resulting from the decay of neutral pions produced via collision
between these escaped protons and the gas in this region is expected to be
insensitive to time in the multi-injection model with the characteristic
injection rate of 10^{-5} yr^{-1}. Our model calculated GeV and 511 keV
gamma-ray intensities are consistent with the observed results of EGRET and
INTEGRAL, however, our calculated inflight annihilation rate cannot produce
sufficient intensity to explain the COMPTEL data.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted by A&
- …