Mass and orbit constraints of the gamma-ray binary LS 5039

We present the results of space-based photometric and ground-based spectroscopic observing campaigns on the gamma-ray binary LS 5039. The new orbital and physical parameters of the system are similar to former results, except we found a lower eccentricity. Our MOST-data show that any broad-band optical photometric variability at the orbital period is below the 2 mmag level. Light curve simulations support the lower value of eccentricity and imply that the mass of the compact object is higher than 1.8 solar masses.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure (with 2 panels); to be published in the Proceedings: From Interacting Binaries to Exoplanets: Essential Modeling Tools, IAU Symposium 282 (18-22 July, 2011, Tatranska Lomnica, Slovakia

Nuclear dependence of the coherent eta photoproduction reaction in a relativistic approach

We study the nuclear (or A) dependence of the coherent eta photoproduction reaction in a relativistic impulse approximation approach. We use a standard relativistic parameterization of the elementary amplitude, based on a set of four Lorentz- and gauge-invariant amplitudes, to calculate the coherent production cross section from He-4, C-12, and Ca-40. In contrast to nonrelativistic treatments, our approach maintains the full relativistic structure of the process. The nuclear structure affects the process through the ground-state tensor density. This density is sensitive to relativistic effects and depends on A in a different manner than the vector density used in nonrelativistic approaches. This peculiar dependence results in He-4 having a cross section significantly smaller than that of C-12---in contrast to existent nonrelativistic calculations. Distortion effects are incorporated through an eta-nucleus optical potential that is computed in a simple ``t rho'' approximation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figures. The replace is due to a misspelling in the Authors' lis

Polarization observables in deuteron photodisintegration below 360 MeV

High precision measurements of induced and transferred recoil proton polarization in d((gamma) over right arrow, (p) over right arrow )n have been performed for photon energies of 277-357 MeV and theta(cm) = 20 degrees-120 degrees. The measurements were motivated by a longstanding discrepancy between meson-baryon model calculations and data at higher energies. At the low energies of this experiment, theory continues to fail to reproduce the data, indicating that either something is missing in the calculations and/or there is a problem with the accuracy of the nucleon-nucleon potential being used. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Electroexcitation of the Δ+ (1232) at Low Momentum Transfer

We report on new p(e, e\u27 p)π°. measurements at the Δ+(1232) resonance at the low momentum transfer region, where the mesonic cloud dynamics is predicted to be dominant and rapidly changing, offering a test bed for chiral effective field theory calculations. The new data explore the Q2 dependence of the resonant quadrupole amplitudes and for the first time indicate that the Electric and the Coulomb quadrupole amplitudes converge as Q2 -\u3e 0. The measurements of the Coulomb quadrupole amplitude have been extended to the lowest momentum transfer ever reached, and suggest that more than half of its magnitude is attributed to the mesonic cloud in this region. The new data disagree with predictions of constituent quark models and are in reasonable agreement with dynamical calculations that include pion cloud effects, chiral effective field theory and lattice calculations. The measurements indicate that improvement is required to the theoretical calculations and provide valuable input that will allow their refinements

Photometric Observations of Three High Mass X-Ray Binaries and a Search for Variations Induced by Orbital Motion

We searched for long period variation in V-band, Ic-band and RXTE X-ray light curves of the High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) LS 1698 / RX J1037.5-5647, HD 110432 / 1H 1249-637 and HD 161103 / RX J1744.7-2713 in an attempt to discover orbitally induced variation. Data were obtained primarily from the ASAS database and were supplemented by shorter term observations made with the 24- and 40-inch ANU telescopes and one of the robotic PROMPT telescopes. Fourier periodograms suggested the existence of long period variation in the V-band light curves of all three HMXBs, however folding the data at those periods did not reveal convincing periodic variation. At this point we cannot rule out the existence of long term V-band variation for these three sources and hints of longer term variation may be seen in the higher precision PROMPT data. Long term V-band observations, on the order of several years, taken at a frequency of at least once per week and with a precision of 0.01 mag, therefore still have a chance of revealing long term variation in these three HMXBs.Comment: Accepted, RAA, May, 201

Measurements of the Generalized Electric and Magnetic Polarizabilities of the Proton at Low Q2 Using the VCS Reaction

The mean square polarizability radii of the proton have been measured for the first time in a virtual Compton scattering experiment performed at the MIT-Bates out-of-plane scattering facility. Response functions and polarizabilities obtained from a dispersion analysis of the data at Q2=0.06 GeV2/c2 are in agreement with O(p3) heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. The data support the dominance of mesonic effects in the polarizabilities, and the increase of beta with increasing Q2 is evidence for the cancellation of long-range diamagnetism by short-range paramagnetism from the pion cloud

A Comparison of Polarization Observables in Electron Scattering from the Proton and Deuteron

Recoil proton polarization observables were measured for both the p($\vec {\rm e}$,e$^\prime\vec{\rm p}\,$) and d($\vec {\rm e}$,e$^\prime\vec{\rm p}\,)$n reactions at two values of Q$^2$ using a newly commissioned proton Focal Plane Polarimeter at the M.I.T.-Bates Linear Accelerator Center. The hydrogen and deuterium spin-dependent observables $D_{\ell\ell}$ and $D_{{\ell}t}$, the induced polarization $P_n$ and the form factor ratio $G^p_E/G^p_M$ were measured under identical kinematics. The deuterium and hydrogen results are in good agreement with each other and with the plane-wave impulse approximation (PWIA).Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure; accepted by Phys. Rev. Let