4,332 research outputs found
The discovery of 2.78 hour periodic modulation of the X-ray flux from globular cluster source Bo 158 in M31
We report the discovery of periodic intensity dips in the X-ray source XMMU
J004314.1+410724, in the globular cluster Bo158 in M31. The X-ray flux was
modulated by ~83% at a period of 2.78 hr (10017 s) in an XMM-Newton observation
taken 2002 Jan 6-7. The X-ray intensity dips show no energy dependence. We
detected weaker dips with the same period in observations taken 2000 June 25
(XMM-Newton) and 1991 June 26 (ROSAT/PSPC). The amplitude of the modulation has
been found to be anticorrelated with source X-ray flux: it becomes lower when
the source intensity rises. The energy spectrum of Bo158 was stable from
observation to observation, with a characteristic cutoff at ~4-6 keV. The
photo-electric absorption was consistent with the Galactic foreground value. No
significant spectral changes were seen in the course of the dips. If the 2.78
hr cycle is the binary period of Bo158 the system is highly compact, with a
binary separation of ~10e11 cm. The association of the source with a globular
cluster, together with spectral parameters consistent with Galactic neutron
star sources, suggests that X-rays are emitted by an accreting neutron star.
The properties of Bo 158 are somewhat reminiscent of the Galactic X-ray sources
exhibiting a dip-like modulations. We discuss two possible mechanisms
explaining the energy-independent modulation observed in Bo 158: i) the
obscuration of the central source by highly ionized material that scatters
X-rays out of the line of sight; ii) partial covering of an extended source by
an opaque absorber which occults varying fractions of the source.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, ApJ, submitted, uses emulateapj styl
Complexity of Strong Implementability
We consider the question of implementability of a social choice function in a
classical setting where the preferences of finitely many selfish individuals
with private information have to be aggregated towards a social choice. This is
one of the central questions in mechanism design. If the concept of weak
implementation is considered, the Revelation Principle states that one can
restrict attention to truthful implementations and direct revelation
mechanisms, which implies that implementability of a social choice function is
easy to check. For the concept of strong implementation, however, the
Revelation Principle becomes invalid, and the complexity of deciding whether a
given social choice function is strongly implementable has been open so far. In
this paper, we show by using methods from polyhedral theory that strong
implementability of a social choice function can be decided in polynomial space
and that each of the payments needed for strong implementation can always be
chosen to be of polynomial encoding length. Moreover, we show that strong
implementability of a social choice function involving only a single selfish
individual can be decided in polynomial time via linear programming
Early multi-wavelength emission from Gamma-ray Bursts: from Gamma-ray to X-ray
The study of the early high-energy emission from both long and short
Gamma-ray bursts has been revolutionized by the Swift mission. The rapid
response of Swift shows that the non-thermal X-ray emission transitions
smoothly from the prompt phase into a decaying phase whatever the details of
the light curve. The decay is often categorized by a steep-to-shallow
transition suggesting that the prompt emission and the afterglow are two
distinct emission components. In those GRBs with an initially steeply-decaying
X-ray light curve we are probably seeing off-axis emission due to termination
of intense central engine activity. This phase is usually followed, within the
first hour, by a shallow decay, giving the appearance of a late emission hump.
The late emission hump can last for up to a day, and hence, although faint, is
energetically very significant. The energy emitted during the late emission
hump is very likely due to the forward shock being constantly refreshed by
either late central engine activity or less relativistic material emitted
during the prompt phase. In other GRBs the early X-ray emission decays
gradually following the prompt emission with no evidence for early temporal
breaks, and in these bursts the emission may be dominated by classical
afterglow emission from the external shock as the relativistic jet is slowed by
interaction with the surrounding circum-burst medium. At least half of the GRBs
observed by Swift also show erratic X-ray flaring behaviour, usually within the
first few hours. The properties of the X-ray flares suggest that they are due
to central engine activity. Overall, the observed wide variety of early
high-energy phenomena pose a major challenge to GRB models.Comment: Accepted for publication in the New Journal of Physics focus issue on
Gamma Ray Burst
Testing the standard fireball model of GRBs using late X-ray afterglows measured by Swift
We show that all X-ray decay curves of GRBs measured by Swift can be fitted
using one or two components both of which have exactly the same functional form
comprised of an early falling exponential phase followed by a power law decay.
The 1st component contains the prompt gamma-ray emission and the initial X-ray
decay. The 2nd component appears later, has a much longer duration and is
present for ~80% of GRBs. It most likely arises from the external shock which
eventually develops into the X-ray afterglow. In the remaining ~20% of GRBs the
initial X-ray decay of the 1st component fades more slowly than the 2nd and
dominates at late times to form an afterglow but it is not clear what the
origin of this emission is.
The temporal decay parameters and gamma/X-ray spectral indices derived for
107 GRBs are compared to the expectations of the standard fireball model
including a search for possible "jet breaks". For ~50% of GRBs the observed
afterglow is in accord with the model but for the rest the temporal and
spectral indices do not conform to the expected closure relations and are
suggestive of continued, late, energy injection. We identify a few possible jet
breaks but there are many examples where such breaks are predicted but are
absent.
The time, T_a, at which the exponential phase of the 2nd component changes to
a final powerlaw decay afterglow is correlated with the peak of the gamma-ray
spectrum, E_peak. This is analogous to the Ghirlanda relation, indicating that
this time is in some way related to optically observed break times measured for
pre-Swift bursts.Comment: submitted to Ap
Entanglement study of the 1D Ising model with Added Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction
We have studied occurrence of quantum phase transition in the one-dimensional
spin-1/2 Ising model with added Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya (DM) interaction from bi-
partite and multi-partite entanglement point of view. Using exact numerical
solutions, we are able to study such systems up to 24 qubits. The minimum of
the entanglement ratio R \tau 2/\tau 1 < 1, as a novel estimator of
QPT, has been used to detect QPT and our calculations have shown that its
minimum took place at the critical point. We have also shown both the
global-entanglement (GE) and multipartite entanglement (ME) are maximal at the
critical point for the Ising chain with added DM interaction. Using matrix
product state approach, we have calculated the tangle and concurrence of the
model and it is able to capture and confirm our numerical experiment result.
Lack of inversion symmetry in the presence of DM interaction stimulated us to
study entanglement of three qubits in symmetric and antisymmetric way which
brings some surprising results.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, submitte
Fermionic concurrence in the extended Hubbard dimer
In this paper, we introduce and study the fermionic concurrence in a two-site
extended Hubbard model. Its behaviors both at the ground state and finite
temperatures as function of Coulomb interaction (on-site) and
(nearest-neighbor) are obtained analytically and numerically. We also
investigate the change of the concurrence under a nonuniform field, including
local potential and magnetic field, and find that the concurrence can be
modulated by these fields.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure
The effects of daily cold-water recovery and postexercise hot-water immersion on training-load tolerance during 5 days of heat-based training
PURPOSE: To examine the effects of daily cold- and hot-water recovery on training load (TL) during 5 days of heat-based training. METHODS: Eight men completed 5 days of cycle training for 60 minutes (50% peak power output) in 4 different conditions in a block counter-balanced-order design. Three conditions were completed in the heat (35°C) and 1 in a thermoneutral environment (24°C; CON). Each day after cycling, participants completed 20 minutes of seated rest (CON and heat training [HT]) or cold- (14°C; HTCWI) or hot-water (39°C; HTHWI) immersion. Heart rate, rectal temperature, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were collected during cycling. Session-RPE was collected 10 minutes after recovery for the determination of session-RPE TL. Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression in a Bayesian framework; Cohen d was calculated, and for session-RPE TL, the probability that d > 0.5 was also computed. RESULTS: There was evidence that session-RPE TL was increased in HTCWI (d = 2.90) and HTHWI (d = 2.38) compared with HT. The probabilities that d > 0.5 were .99 and .96, respectively. The higher session-RPE TL observed in HTCWI coincided with a greater cardiovascular (d = 2.29) and thermoregulatory (d = 2.68) response during cycling than in HT. This result was not observed for HTHWI. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that cold-water recovery may negatively affect TL during 5 days of heat-based training, hot-water recovery could increase session-RPE TL, and the session-RPE method can detect environmental temperature-mediated increases in TL in the context of this study.</p
The in-flight spectroscopic performance of the Swift XRT CCD camera during 2006-2007
The Swift X-ray Telescope focal plane camera is a front-illuminated MOS CCD,
providing a spectral response kernel of 135 eV FWHM at 5.9 keV as measured
before launch. We describe the CCD calibration program based on celestial and
on-board calibration sources, relevant in-flight experiences, and developments
in the CCD response model. We illustrate how the revised response model
describes the calibration sources well. Comparison of observed spectra with
models folded through the instrument response produces negative residuals
around and below the Oxygen edge. We discuss several possible causes for such
residuals. Traps created by proton damage on the CCD increase the charge
transfer inefficiency (CTI) over time. We describe the evolution of the CTI
since the launch and its effect on the CCD spectral resolution and the gain.Comment: 8 pages, 5 colour figures, submitted to SPI
Late-Time X-ray Flares during GRB Afterglows: Extended Internal Engine Activity
Observations of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) with Swift produced the initially
surprising result that many bursts have large X-ray flares superimposed on the
underlying afterglow. These flares were sometimes intense, rapid, and late
relative to the nominal prompt phase. The most intense of these flares was
observed by XRT with a flux >500 the afterglow. This burst then surprised
observers by flaring again after >10000 s. The intense flare can be most easily
understood within the context of the standard fireball model, if the internal
engine that powers the prompt GRB emission is still active at late times.
Recent observations indicate that X-ray flares are detected in ~1/3 of XRT
detected afterglows. By studying the properties of the varieties of flares
(such as rise/fall time, onset time, spectral variability, etc.) and relating
them to overall burst properties, models of flare production and the GRB
internal engine can be constrained.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 16th Annual October Astrophysics
Conference in Maryland "Gamma Ray Bursts in the Swift Era
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