11,322 research outputs found
The Extent and Cause of the Pre-White Dwarf Instability Strip
One of the least understood aspects of white dwarf evolution is the process
by which they are formed. We are aided, however, by the fact that many H- and
He-deficient pre-white dwarfs (PWDs) are multiperiodic g-mode pulsators.
Pulsations in PWDs provide a unique opportunity to probe their interiors, which
are otherwise inaccesible to direct observation. Until now, however, the nature
of the pulsation mechanism, the precise boundaries of the instability strip,
and the mass distribution of the PWDs were complete mysteries. These problems
must be addressed before we can apply knowledge of pulsating PWDs to improve
understanding of white dwarf formation. This paper lays the groundwork for
future theoretical investigations of these stars. In recent years, Whole Earth
Telescope observations led to determination of mass and luminosity for the
majority of the (non-central star) PWD pulsators. With these observations, we
identify the common properties and trends PWDs exhibit as a class. We find that
pulsators of low mass have higher luminosity, suggesting the range of
instability is highly mass-dependent. The observed trend of decreasing periods
with decreasing luminosity matches a decrease in the maximum (standing-wave)
g-mode period across the instability strip. We show that the red edge can be
caused by the lengthening of the driving timescale beyond the maximum
sustainable period. This result is general for ionization-based driving
mechanisms, and it explains the mass-dependence of the red edge. The observed
form of the mass-dependence provides a vital starting point for future
theoretical investigations of the driving mechanism. We also show that the blue
edge probably remains undetected because of selection effects arising from
rapid evolution.Comment: 40 pages, 6 figures, accepted by ApJ Oct 27, 199
Dynamics of the Lyman alpha and C IV emitting gas in 3C 273
In this paper we study the variability properties of the Lyman alpha and C IV
emission lines in 3C273 using archival IUE observations. Our data show for the
first time the existence of variability on time scales of several years. We
study the spatial distribution and the velocity field of the emitting gas by
performing detailed analyses on the line variability using correlations, 1D and
2D response functions, and principal component analysis. In both lines we find
evidence for two components, one which has the dynamic properties of gas in
Keplerian motion around a black hole with a mass of the order of 10^9 Mo, and
one which is characterized by high, blue-shifted velocities at large lag. There
is no indication of the presence of optically thick emission medium neither in
the Lya, nor in the Civ response functions. The component characterized by
blue-shifted velocities, which is comparatively much stronger in Civ than in
Lya, is more or less compatible with being the result of gas falling towards
the central black hole with free-fall acceleration. We propose however that the
line emission at high, blue-shifted velocities is better explained in terms of
entrainment of gas clouds by the jet. This gas is therefore probably
collisionally excited as a result of heating due to the intense infrared
radiation from the jet, which would explain the strength of this component in
Civ relative to Lya. This phenomenon might be a signature of disk-jet
interaction.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Uses aaste
Antiphase dynamics in a multimode semiconductor laser with optical injection
A detailed experimental study of antiphase dynamics in a two-mode
semiconductor laser with optical injection is presented. The device is a
specially designed Fabry-Perot laser that supports two primary modes with a THz
frequency spacing. Injection in one of the primary modes of the device leads to
a rich variety of single and two-mode dynamical scenarios, which are reproduced
with remarkable accuracy by a four dimensional rate equation model. Numerical
bifurcation analysis reveals the importance of torus bifurcations in mediating
transitions to antiphase dynamics and of saddle-node of limit cycle
bifurcations in switching of the dynamics between single and two-mode regimes.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure
Spectral Properties From Lyman-alpha to H-alpha For An Essentially Complete Sample of Quasars I: Data
We have obtained quasi-simultaneous ultraviolet-optical spectra for 22 out of
23 quasars in the complete PG-X-ray sample with redshift, z<0.4, and M_B<-23.
The spectra cover rest-frame wavelengths from at least Lyman-alpha to H-alpha.
Here we provide a detailed description of the data, including careful
spectrophotometry and redshift determination. We also present direct
measurements of the continua, strong emission lines and features, including
Lyman-alpha, SiIV+OIV], CIV, CIII], SiIII], MgII, H-beta, [OIII],
He5876+NaI5890,5896, H-alpha, and blended iron emission in the UV and optical.
The widths, asymmetries and velocity shifts of profiles of strong emission
lines show that CIV and Lyman-alpha are very different from H-beta and H-alpha.
This suggests that the motion of the broad line region is related to the
ionization structure, but the data appears not agree with the radially
stratified ionization structure supported by reverberation mapping studies, and
therefore suggest that outflows contribute additional velocity components to
the broad emission line profiles.Comment: 42 pages, 10 figures, 13 tables. Accepted by AJ. Supplemental figures
not included. Full version available at
http://physics.uwyo.edu/~shang/pgxpaper/ShangPaper.pd
Swift observations of the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi: I. Early X-ray emission from the shocked ejecta and red giant wind
RS Ophiuchi began its latest outburst on 2006 February 12. Previous outbursts
have indicated that high velocity ejecta interact with a pre-existing red giant
wind, setting up shock systems analogous to those seen in Supernova Remnants.
However, in the previous outburst in 1985, X-ray observations did not commence
until 55 days after the initial explosion. Here we report on Swift observations
covering the first month of the 2006 outburst with the Burst Alert (BAT) and
X-ray Telescope (XRT) instruments. RS Oph was clearly detected in the BAT 14-25
keV band from t=0 to days. XRT observationsfrom 0.3-10 keV, started at
3.17 days after outburst. The rapidly evolving XRT spectra clearly show the
presence of both line and continuum emission which can be fitted by thermal
emission from hot gas whose characteristic temperature, overlying absorbing
column, , and resulting unabsorbed total flux decline monotonically
after the first few days. Derived shock velocities are in good agreement with
those found from observations at other wavelengths. Similarly, is in
accord with that expected from the red giant wind ahead of the forward shock.
We confirm the basic models of the 1985 outburst and conclude that standard
Phase I remnant evolution terminated by days and the remnant then
rapidly evolved to display behaviour characteristic of Phase III. Around t=26
days however, a new, luminous and highly variable soft X-ray source began to
appear whose origin will be explored in a subsequent paper.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures (2 updated), accepted by Ap
Fallback accretion on to a newborn magnetar : long GRBs with giant X-ray flares
Flares in the X-ray afterglow of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) share more characteristics with the prompt emission than the afterglow, such as pulse profile and contained fluence. As a result, they are believed to originate from late-time activity of the central engine and can be used to constrain the overall energy budget. In this paper, we collect a sample of 19 long GRBs observed by Swift-XRT that contain giant flares in their X-ray afterglows. We fit this sample with a version of the magnetar propeller model, modified to include fallback accretion. This model has already successfully reproduced extended emission in short GRBs. Our best fits provide a reasonable morphological match to the light curves. However, 16 out of 19 of the fits require efficiencies for the propeller mechanism that approach 100%. The high efficiency parameters are a direct result of the high energy contained in the flares and the extreme duration of the dipole component, which forces either slow spin periods or low magnetic fields. We find that even with the inclusion of significant fallback accretion, in all but a few cases it is energetically challenging to produce prompt emission, afterglow and giant flares within the constraints of the rotational energy budget of a magnetar
A simple scheme for expanding photonic cluster states for quantum information
We show how an entangled cluster state encoded in the polarization of single
photons can be straightforwardly expanded by deterministically entangling
additional qubits encoded in the path degree of freedom of the constituent
photons. This can be achieved using a polarization--path controlled-phase gate.
We experimentally demonstrate a practical and stable realization of this
approach by using a Sagnac interferometer to entangle a path qubit and
polarization qubit on a single photon. We demonstrate precise control over
phase of the path qubit to change the measurement basis and experimentally
demonstrate properties of measurement-based quantum computing using a 2 photon,
3 qubit cluster state
Optimal search strategies for hidden targets
What is the fastest way of finding a randomly hidden target? This question of
general relevance is of vital importance for foraging animals. Experimental
observations reveal that the search behaviour of foragers is generally
intermittent: active search phases randomly alternate with phases of fast
ballistic motion. In this letter, we study the efficiency of this type of two
states search strategies, by calculating analytically the mean first passage
time at the target. We model the perception mecanism involved in the active
search phase by a diffusive process. In this framework, we show that the search
strategy is optimal when the average duration of "motion phases" varies like
the power either 3/5 or 2/3 of the average duration of "search phases",
depending on the regime. This scaling accounts for experimental data over a
wide range of species, which suggests that the kinetics of search trajectories
is a determining factor optimized by foragers and that the perception activity
is adequately described by a diffusion process.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Geochronological constraints from zircon on the evolution of Himalayan UHP rocks
Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013
A
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