23,108 research outputs found
Searching for the Donor Stars of ULX Pulsars
We report on our search for the optical counterparts of two ultraluminous
X-ray pulsars with known orbital periods, M82 X-2 and NGC 5907 X-1, in new and
archival HST observations, in an effort to characterize the donor stars in
these systems. We detect five near-infrared sources consistent with the
position of M82 X-2 that are too bright to be single stars. We also detect
seven sources in the WFC3/UVIS F336W image whose photometry matches that of
10-15 M stars turning off the main sequence. Such stars have densities
consistent with the properties of the donor star of M82 X-2 as inferred from
X-ray timing analysis, although it is also possible that the donor is a lower
mass star below our detection limit or that there is a significant contribution
from the accretion disc to the optical emission. We detect three candidate
counterparts to NGC 5907 X-1 in the near-infrared. All of these are too bright
to be the donor star of the ULX, which based on its orbital period is a red
giant. The high background at the location of NGC 5907 X-1 precludes us from
detecting this expected donor star. The recently discovered NGC 5907 ULX-2 also
falls within the field of view of the near-infrared imaging; we detect four
sources in the error circle, with photometry that matches AGB stars. The star
suggested to be the counterpart of NGC 5907 ULX-2 by Pintore et al. (2018)
falls outside our 2- error circle.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Poincaré maps define topography of Vlasov distribution functions consistent with stochastic dynamics
In a recent paper [A. D. Bailey et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 34, 3124 (1993)], the authors presented direct planar laser induced fluorescence measurements of the oscillatory ion fluid velocity field in the presence of a large amplitude drift-Alfven wave. Surprisingly, the measured speeds were an order of magnitude lower than predicted by standard fluid theory, yet the flow pattern was consistent with the fluid theory. A new model, based on the connection between stochasticity and bulk behavior, is presented which gives insights into the cause of this behavior. It is shown that when particle motion is stochastic, invariant sets of a 'Poincaré map' define a flat-topped particle distribution function consistent with both the electromagnetic field driving the Vlasov equation and the fine-scale single particle dynamics. The approach is described for the general case and explored for a slab model of the observed drift wave
Antiferromagnetic s-d exchange coupling in GaMnAs
Measurements of coherent electron spin dynamics in
Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As/Al(0.4)Ga(0.6)As quantum wells with 0.0006% < x < 0.03% show an
antiferromagnetic (negative) exchange bewteen s-like conduction band electrons
and electrons localized in the d-shell of the Mn2+ impurities. The magnitude of
the s-d exchange parameter, N0 alpha, varies as a function of well width
indicative of a large and negative contribution due to kinetic exchange. In the
limit of no quantum confinement, N0 alpha extrapolates to -0.09 +/- 0.03 eV
indicating that antiferromagnetic s-d exchange is a bulk property of GaMnAs.
Measurements of the polarization-resolved photoluminescence show strong
discrepancy from a simple model of the exchange enhanced Zeeman splitting,
indicative of additional complexity in the exchange split valence band.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures and one action figur
Spectral Changes in the Hyperluminous Pulsar in NGC 5907 as a Function of Super-Orbital Phase
We present broad-band, multi-epoch X-ray spectroscopy of the pulsating
ultra-luminous X-ray source (ULX) in NGC 5907. Simultaneous XMM-Newton and
NuSTAR data from 2014 are best described by a multi-color black-body model with
a temperature gradient as a function of accretion disk radius significantly
flatter than expected for a standard thin accretion disk (T(r) ~ r^{-p}, with
p=0.608^{+0.014}_{-0.012}). Additionally, we detect a hard power-law tail at
energies above 10 keV, which we interpret as being due to Comptonization. We
compare this observation to archival XMM-Newton, Chandra, and NuSTAR data from
2003, 2012, and 2013, and investigate possible spectral changes as a function
of phase over the 78d super-orbital period of this source. We find that
observations taken around phases 0.3-0.4 show very similar temperature
profiles, even though the observed flux varies significantly, while one
observation taken around phase 0 has a significantly steeper profile. We
discuss these findings in light of the recent discovery that the compact object
is a neutron star and show that precession of the accretion disk or the neutron
star can self-consistently explain most observed phenomena.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to ApJ; comments welcom
Broad Iron Emission from Gravitationally Lensed Quasars Observed by Chandra
Recent work has demonstrated the potential of gravitationally lensed quasars
to extend measurements of black hole spin out to high-redshift with the current
generation of X-ray observatories. Here we present an analysis of a large
sample of 27 lensed quasars in the redshift range 1.0<z<4.5 observed with
Chandra, utilizing over 1.6 Ms of total observing time, focusing on the
rest-frame iron K emission from these sources. Although the X-ray
signal-to-noise (S/N) currently available does not permit the detection of iron
emission from the inner accretion disk in individual cases in our sample, we
find significant structure in the stacked residuals. In addition to the narrow
core, seen almost ubiquitously in local AGN, we find evidence for an additional
underlying broad component from the inner accretion disk, with a clear red wing
to the emission profile. Based on simulations, we find the detection of this
broader component to be significant at greater than the 3-sigma level. This
implies that iron emission from the inner disk is relatively common in the
population of lensed quasars, and in turn further demonstrates that, with
additional observations, this population represents an opportunity to
significantly extend the sample of AGN spin measurements out to high-redshift.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The WISE AGN Catalog
We present two large catalogs of AGN candidates identified across ~75% of the
sky from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer's AllWISE Data Release. Both
catalogs, some of the largest such catalogs published to date, are selected
purely on the basis of mid-IR photometry in the WISE W1 and W2 bands. The
catalogs are designed to be appropriate for a broad range of scientific
investigations, with one catalog emphasizing reliability while the other
emphasizes completeness. Specifically, the R90 catalog consists of 4,543,530
AGN candidates with 90% reliability, while the C75 catalog consists of
20,907,127 AGN candidates with 75% completeness. We provide a detailed
discussion of potential artifacts, and excise portions of the sky close to the
Galactic Center, Galactic Plane, nearby galaxies, and other expected
contaminating sources. Our final catalogs cover 30,093 deg^2 of extragalactic
sky. These catalogs are expected to enable a broad range of science, and we
present a few simple illustrative cases. From the R90 sample we identify 45
highly variable AGN lacking radio counterparts in the FIRST survey, implying
they are unlikely to be blazars. One of these sources, WISEA
J142846.71+172353.1, is a mid-IR-identified changing-look quasar at z=0.104. We
characterize our catalogs by comparing them to large, wide-area AGN catalogs in
the literature, specifically UV-to-near-IR quasar selections from SDSS and
XDQSOz, mid-IR selection from Secrest et al. (2015) and X-ray selection from
ROSAT. From the latter work, we identify four ROSAT X-ray sources that each are
matched to three WISE-selected AGN in the R90 sample within 30". Palomar
spectroscopy reveals one of these systems, 2RXS J150158.6+691029, to consist of
a triplet of quasars at z=1.133 +/- 0.004, suggestive of a rich group or
forming galaxy cluster.(Abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplements.
Updated with comments from the referee. 20 pages, 15 figures, 8 tables. The
WISE AGN Catalogs can be made available upon request by writing to
[email protected]
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