212 research outputs found
A stochastic simulation of the propagation of Galactic cosmic rays reflecting the discreteness of cosmic ray sources. Age and path length distribution
The path length distribution of Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) is the
fundamental ingredient for modeling the propagation process of GCRs based on
the so-called weighted slab method. We try to derive this distribution
numerically by taking into account the discreteness in both space and time of
occurrences of supernova explosions where GCRs are suspected to be born. We
solve numerically the stochastic differential equations equivalent to the
Parker diffusion-convection equation which describes the propagation process of
GCR in the Galaxy. We assume the three-dimensional diffusion is an isotropic
one without any free escape boundaries. We ignore any energy change of GCRs and
the existence of the Galactic wind for simplicity. We also assume axisymmetric
configurations for the density distributions of the interstellar matter and for
the surface density of supernovae. We have calculated age and path length of
GCR protons arriving at the solar system with this stochastic method. The
obtained age is not the escape time of GCRs from the Galaxy as usually assumed,
but the time spent by GCRs during their journey to the solar system from the
supernova remnants where they were born. The derived age and path length show a
distribution spread in a wide range even for GCR protons arriving at the solar
system with the same energy. The distributions show a cut-off at a lower range
in age or path length depending on the energy of GCRs. These cut-offs clearly
come from the discreteness of occurrence of supernovae. The mean age of GeV
particles obtained from the distributions is consistent with the age obtained
by direct observation of radioactive secondary nuclei. The energy dependence of
the B/C ratio estimated with the path length distribution reproduces reliably
the energy dependence of B/C obtained by recent observations in space.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
Emission from Bow Shocks of Beamed Gamma-Ray Bursts
Beamed gamma-ray burst (GRB) sources produce a bow shock in their gaseous
environment. The emitted flux from this bow shock may dominate over the direct
emission from the jet for lines of sight which are outside the angular radius
of the jet emission, theta. The event rate for these lines of sight is
increased by a factor of 260*(theta/5_degrees)^{-2}. For typical GRB
parameters, we find that the bow shock emission from a jet with half-angle of
about 5 degrees is visible out to tens of Mpc in the radio and hundreds of Mpc
in the X-rays. If GRBs are linked to supernovae, studies of peculiar supernovae
in the local universe should reveal this non-thermal bow shock emission for
weeks to months following the explosion.Comment: ApJ, submitted, 15 pages, 3 figure
The multi-band nonthermal emission from the supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946
Nonthermal X-rays and very high-energy (VHE) -rays have been detected
from the supernova remnant (SNR) RX J1713.7-3946, and especially the recent
observations with the \textit{Suzaku} satellite clearly reveal a spectral
cutoff in the X-ray spectrum, which directly relates to the cutoff of the
energy spectrum of the parent electrons. However, whether the origin of the VHE
-rays from the SNR is hadronic or leptonic is still in debate. We
studied the multi-band nonthermal emission from RX J1713.7-3946 based on a
semi-analytical approach to the nonlinear shock acceleration process by
including the contribution of the accelerated electrons to the nonthermal
radiation. The results show that the multi-band observations on RX J1713.7-3946
can be well explained in the model with appropriate parameters and the TeV
-rays have hadronic origin, i.e., they are produced via proton-proton
(p-p) interactions as the relativistic protons accelerated at the shock collide
with the ambient matter.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted by MNRA
Astrophysical Neutrino Event Rates and Sensitivity for Neutrino Telescopes
Spectacular processes in astrophysical sites produce high-energy cosmic rays
which are further accelerated by Fermi-shocks into a power-law spectrum. These,
in passing through radiation fields and matter, produce neutrinos. Neutrino
telescopes are designed with large detection volumes to observe such
astrophysical sources. A large volume is necessary because the fluxes and
cross-sections are small. We estimate various telescopes' sensitivities and
expected event rates from astrophysical sources of high-energy neutrinos. We
find that an ideal detector of km^2 incident area can be sensitive to a flux of
neutrinos integrated over energy from 10^5 and 10^{7} GeV as low as 1.3 *
10^(-8) * E^(-2) (GeV/cm^2 s sr) which is three times smaller than the
Waxman-Bachall conservative upper limit on potential neutrino flux. A real
detector will have degraded performance. Detection from known point sources is
possible but unlikely unless there is prior knowledge of the source location
and neutrino arrival time.Comment: Section added +modification
Application of 2-Deoxy-2-[18F]Fluoro-D-Galactose for Experimental Tumor Study
開始ページ、終了ページ: 冊子体のページ付
Dose ratio proton radiography using the proximal side of the Bragg peak
Purpose: In recent years there has been a movement towards single-detector proton radiography, due to its potential ease of implementation within the clinical environment. One such single-detector technique is the dose ratio method, in which the dose maps from two pristine Bragg peaks are recorded beyond the patient. To date, this has only been investigated on the distal side of the lower energy Bragg peak, due to the sharp fall-off. We investigate the limits and applicability of the dose ratio method on the proximal side of the lower energy Bragg peak, which has the potential to allow a much wider range of water-equivalent thicknesses (WET) to be imaged. Comparisons are made with the use of the distal side of the Bragg peak. Methods: Using the analytical approximation for the Bragg peak we generated theoretical dose ratio curves for a range of energy pairs, and then determined how an uncertainty in the dose ratio would translate to a spread in the WET estimate. By defining this spread as the accuracy one could achieve in the WET estimate, we were able to generate look-up graphs of the range on the proximal side of the Bragg peak that one could reliably use. These were dependent on the energy pair, noise level in the dose ratio image and the required accuracy in the WET. Using these look-up graphs we investigated the applicability of the technique for a range of patient treatment sites. We validated the theoretical approach with experimental measurements using a complementary metal oxide semiconductor active pixel sensor (CMOS APS), by imaging a small sapphire sphere in a high energy proton beam. Results: Provided the noise level in the dose ratio image was 1% or less, a larger spread of WETs could be imaged using the proximal side of the Bragg peak (max 5.31 cm) compared to the distal side (max 2.42 cm). In simulation it was found that, for a pediatric brain, it is possible to use the technique to image a region with a square field equivalent size of 7.6 cm2, for a required accuracy in the WET of 3 mm and a 1% noise level in the dose ratio image. The technique showed limited applicability for other patient sites. The CMOS APS demonstrated a good accuracy, with a root-mean-square-error of 1.6 mm WET. The noise in the measured images was found to be σ =1.2% (standard deviation) and theoretical predictions with a 1.96σ noise level showed good agreement with the measured errors. Conclusions: After validating the theoretical approach with measurements, we have shown that the use of the proximal side of the Bragg peak when performing dose ratio imaging is feasible, and allows for a wider dynamic range than when using the distal side. The dynamic range available increases as the demand on the accuracy of the WET decreases. The technique can only be applied to clinical sites with small maximum WETs such as for pediatric brains
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