1,124 research outputs found
Spectral evolution of the microquasar XTE J1550-564 over its entire 2000 outburst
We report on RXTE observations of the microquasar XTE J1550-564 during a ~70
day outburst in April-June 2000. We study the evolution of the PCA+HEXTE
spectra over the outburst. The source transited from an initial Low Hard State
(LS), to an Intermediate State (IS), and then back to the LS. The source shows
an hysteresis effect similar to what is observed in other sources, favoring a
common origin for the state transitions in soft X-ray transients. The first
transition occurs at a ~ constant 2-200 keV flux, which probably indicates a
change in the relative importance of the emitting media. The second transition
is more likely driven by a drop in the mass accretion rate.
In both LS, the spectra are characterized by the presence of a strong
power-law tail (Compton corona) with a variable high energy cut-off. During the
IS, the spectra show the presence of a ~0.8 keV thermal component (accretion
disk). We discuss the apparently independent evolution of the two media, and
show that right after the X-ray maximum on MJD 51662, the decrease of the
source luminosity is due to a decrease of the power-law luminosity, at a
constant disk luminosity. This, together with the detection of radio emission
(with a spectrum typical of optically thin synchrotron emission), may suggest
that the corona is ejected and further detected as a discrete radio ejection.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 9 pages, 4 figures, abstract
abridge
Spin-Wave Spectrum in `Single-Domain' Magnetic Ground State of Triangular Lattice Antiferromagnet CuFeO2
By means of neutron scattering measurements, we have investigated spin-wave
excitation in a collinear four-sublattice (4SL) magnetic ground state of a
triangular lattice antiferromagnet CuFeO2, which has been of recent interest as
a strongly frustrated magnet, a spin-lattice coupled system and a multiferroic.
To avoid mixing of spin-wave spectrum from magnetic domains having three
different orientations reflecting trigonal symmetry of the crystal structure,
we have applied uniaxial pressure on [1-10] direction of a single crystal
CuFeO2. By elastic neutron scattering measurements, we have found that only 10
MPa of the uniaxial pressure results in almost 'single domain' state in the 4SL
phase. We have thus performed inelastic neutron scattering measurements using
the single domain sample, and have identified two distinct spin- wave branches.
The dispersion relation of the upper spin-wave branch cannot be explained by
the previous theoretical model [R. S. Fishman: J. Appl. Phys. 103 (2008)
07B109]. This implies the importance of the lattice degree of freedom in the
spin-wave excitation in this system, because the previous calculation neglected
the effect of the spin-driven lattice distortion in the 4SL phase. We have also
discussed relationship between the present results and the recently discovered
"electromagnon" excitation.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Electromagnetic radiation due to naked singularity formation in self-similar gravitational collapse
Dynamical evolution of test fields in background geometry with a naked
singularity is an important problem relevant to the Cauchy horizon instability
and the observational signatures different from black hole formation. In this
paper we study electromagnetic perturbations generated by a given current
distribution in collapsing matter under a spherically symmetric self-similar
background. Using the Green's function method, we construct the formula to
evaluate the outgoing energy flux observed at the future null infinity. The
contributions from "quasi-normal" modes of the self-similar system as well as
"high-frequency" waves are clarified. We find a characteristic power-law time
evolution of the outgoing energy flux which appears just before naked
singularity formation, and give the criteria as to whether or not the outgoing
energy flux diverges at the future Cauchy horizon.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, references added to match the published versio
An Ultraluminous Supersoft X-ray Source in M81: An Intermediate-Mass Black Hole?
Ultraluminous supersoft X-ray sources (ULSSS) exhibit supersoft spectra with
blackbody temperatures of 50-100 eV and bolometric luminosities above
erg s, and are possibly intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) of
or massive white dwarfs that are progenitors of type Ia
supernovae. In this letter we report our optical studies of such a source in
M81, M81-ULS1, with HST archive observations. M81-ULS1 is identified with a
point-like object, the spectral energy distribution of which reveals a blue
component in addition to the companion of an AGB star. The blue component is
consistent with the power-law as expected from the geometrically-thin accretion
disk around an IMBH accretor, but inconsistent with the power-law as expected
from the X-ray irradiated flared accretion disk around a white dwarf accretor.
This result is strong evidence that M81-ULS1 is an IMBH instead of a white
dwarf.Comment: 12 pages, 1 table, 3 figure
High Magnetic Field Behaviour of the Triangular Lattice Antiferromagnet, CuFeO_2
The high magnetic field behaviour of the triangular lattice antiferromagnet
CuFeO_2 is studied using single crystal neutron diffraction measurements in a
field of up to 14.5 T and also by magnetisation measurements in a field of up
to 12 T. At low temperature, two well-defined first order magnetic phase
transitions are found in this range of applied magnetic field (H // c): at
H_c1=7.6(3)/7.1(3) T and H_c2=13.2(1)/12.7(1) T when ramping the field up/down.
In a field above H_c2 the magnetic Bragg peaks show unusual history dependence.
In zero field T_N1=14.2(1) K separates a high temperature paramagnetic and an
intermediate incommensurate structure, while T_N2=11.1(3) K divides an
incommensurate phase from the low-temperature 4-sublattice ground state. The
ordering temperature T_N1 is found to be almost field independent, while T_N2
decreases noticeably in applied field. The magnetic phase diagram is discussed
in terms of the interactions between an applied magnetic field and the highly
frustrated magnetic structure of CuFeO_2Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures in ReVTeX. To appear in PR
Kilohertz QPO Frequency and Flux Decrease in AQL X-1 and Effect of Soft X-ray Spectral Components
We report on an RXTE/PCA observation of Aql X-1 during its outburst in March
1997 in which, immediately following a Type-I burst, the broad-band 2-10 keV
flux decreased by about 10% and the kilohertz QPO frequency decreased from
813+-3 Hz to 776+-4 Hz. This change in kHz QPO frequency is much larger than
expected from a simple extrapolation of a frequency-flux correlation
established using data before the burst. Meanwhile a very low frequency noise
(VLFN) component in the broad-band FFT power spectra with a fractional
root-mean-square (rms) amplitude of 1.2% before the burst ceased to exist after
the burst. All these changes were accompanied by a change in the energy
spectral shape. If we characterize the energy spectra with a model composed of
two blackbody (BB) components and a power law component, almost all the
decrease in flux was in the two BB components. We attribute the two BB
components to the contributions from a region very near the neutron star or
even the neutron star itself and from the accretion disk, respectively.Comment: 12 pages with 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters,
typos corrected and references update
XMM-Newton observations of the spiral galaxy M74 (NGC 628)
The face-on spiral galaxy M74 (NGC 628) was observed by XMM on 2002 February
2. In total, 21 sources are found in the inner 5' from the nucleus (after
rejection of a few sources associated to foreground stars). Hardness ratios
suggest that about half of them belong to the galaxy. The higher-luminosity end
of the luminosity function is fitted by a power-law of slope -0.8. This can be
interpreted as evidence of ongoing star formation, in analogy with the
distributions found in disks of other late-type galaxies. A comparison with
previous Chandra observations reveals a new ultraluminous X-ray transient (L_x
\~ 1.5 x 10^39 erg/s in the 0.3--8 keV band) about 4' North of the nucleus. We
find another transient black-hole candidate (L_x ~ 5 x 10^38 erg/s) about 5'
North-West of the nucleus. The UV and X-ray counterparts of SN 2002ap are also
found in this XMM observation.Comment: submitted to ApJL. Based on publicly available data, see
http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/external/xmm_news/items/sn_2002_ap/index.shtm
Electric Polarization Induced by a Proper Helical Magnetic Ordering in a Delafossite Multiferroic CuFe1-xAlxO2
Multiferroic CuFe1-xAlxO2 (x=0.02) exhibits a ferroelectric ordering
accompanied by a proper helical magnetic ordering below T=7K under zero
magnetic field. By polarized neutron diffraction and pyroelectric measurements,
we have revealed a one-to-one correspondence between the spin helicity and the
direction of the spontaneous electric polarization. This result indicates that
the spin helicity of the proper helical magnetic ordering is essential for the
ferroelectricity in CuFe1-xAlxO2. The induction of the electric polarization by
the proper helical magnetic ordering is, however, cannot be explained by the
Katsura-Nagaosa-Balatsky model, which successfully explains the
ferroelectricity in the recently explored ferroelectric helimagnets, such as
TbMnO3. We thus conclude that CuFe1-xAlxO2 is a new class of magnetic
ferroelectrics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
The 1996 Soft State Transitions of Cygnus X-1
We report continuous monitoring of Cygnus X-1 in the 1.3 to 200 keV band
using ASM/RXTE and BATSE/CGRO for about 200 days from 1996 February 21 to 1996
early September. During this period Cygnus X-1 experienced a hard-to-soft and
then a soft-to-hard state transition. The low-energy X-ray (1.3-12 keV) and
high-energy X-ray (20-200 keV) fluxes are strongly anti-correlated during this
period. During the state transitions flux variations of about a factor of 5 and
15 were seen in the 1.3-3.0 keV and 100-200 keV bands, respectively, while the
average 4.8-12 keV flux remains almost unchanged. The net effect of this
pivoting is that the total 1.3-200 keV luminosity remained unchanged to within
about 15%. The bolometric luminosity in the soft state may be as high as 50-70%
above the hard state luminosity, after color corrections for the luminosity
below 1.3 keV. The blackbody component flux and temperature increase in the
soft state is probably caused by a combination of the optically thick disk mass
accretion rate increase and a decrease of the inner disk radius.Comment: 18 pages, 1 PostScript figure. Accepted for ApJ
A Comparison of Intermediate Mass Black Hole Candidate ULXs and Stellar-Mass Black Holes
Cool thermal emission components have recently been revealed in the X-ray
spectra of a small number of ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) sources with L_X > 1
E+40 erg/s in nearby galaxies. These components can be well fitted with
accretion disk models, with temperatures approximately 5-10 times lower than
disk temperatures measured in stellar-mass Galactic black holes when observed
in their brightest states. Because disk temperature is expected to fall with
increasing black hole mass, and because the X-ray luminosity of these sources
exceeds the Eddington limit for 10 Msun black holes (L_Edd = 1.3 E+39 erg/s),
these sources are extremely promising intermediate-mass black hole candidates
(IMBHCs). In this Letter, we directly compare the inferred disk temperatures
and luminosities of these ULXs, with the disk temperatures and luminosities of
a number of Galactic black holes. The sample of stellar-mass black holes was
selected to include different orbital periods, companion types, inclinations,
and column densities. These ULXs and stellar-mass black holes occupy distinct
regions of a L_X -- kT diagram, suggesting these ULXs may harbor IMBHs. We
briefly discuss the important strengths and weaknesses of this interpretation.Comment: 4 pages, 2 color figures, uses emulateapj.sty and apjfonts.sty, subm.
to ApJ
- …