275 research outputs found
X-Ray and Optical Properties of Black Widows and Redbacks
Black widows and redbacks are binary systems consisting of a millisecond
pulsar in a close binary with a companion having matter driven off of its
surface by the pulsar wind. X-rays due to an intra-binary shock have been
observed from many of these systems, as well as orbital variations in the
optical emission from the companion due to heating and tidal distortion. We
have been systematically studying these systems in radio, optical and X-rays.
Here we will present an overview of X-ray and optical studies of these systems,
including new XMM-Newton and NuStar data obtained from several of them, along
with new optical photometry.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings of IAU Symposium 337 "Pulsar
Astrophysics - The Next 50 Years" held in Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK Sept.
4-8 201
The Effects of Pathological Gaming on Aggressive Behavior
Studies have shown that pathological involvement with computer or video games is related to excessive gaming binges and aggressive behavior. Our aims for this study were to longitudinally examine if pathological gaming leads to increasingly excessive gaming habits, and how pathological gaming may cause an increase in physical aggression. For this purpose, we conducted a two-wave panel study among 851 Dutch adolescents (49% female) of which 540 played games (30% female). Our analyses indicated that higher levels of pathological gaming predicted an increase in time spent playing games 6 months later. Time spent playing violent games specifically, and not just games per se, increased physical aggression. Furthermore, higher levels of pathological gaming, regardless of violent content, predicted an increase in physical aggression among boys. That this effect only applies to boys does not diminish its importance, because adolescent boys are generally the heaviest players of violent games and most susceptible to pathological involvement
Cosmological Simulations with Self-Interacting Dark Matter I: Constant Density Cores and Substructure
We use cosmological simulations to study the effects of self-interacting dark
matter (SIDM) on the density profiles and substructure counts of dark matter
halos from the scales of spiral galaxies to galaxy clusters, focusing
explicitly on models with cross sections over dark matter particle mass
\sigma/m = 1 and 0.1 cm^2/g. Our simulations rely on a new SIDM N-body
algorithm that is derived self-consistently from the Boltzmann equation and
that reproduces analytic expectations in controlled numerical experiments. We
find that well-resolved SIDM halos have constant-density cores, with
significantly lower central densities than their CDM counterparts. In contrast,
the subhalo content of SIDM halos is only modestly reduced compared to CDM,
with the suppression greatest for large hosts and small halo-centric distances.
Moreover, the large-scale clustering and halo circular velocity functions in
SIDM are effectively identical to CDM, meaning that all of the large-scale
successes of CDM are equally well matched by SIDM. From our largest cross
section runs we are able to extract scaling relations for core sizes and
central densities over a range of halo sizes and find a strong correlation
between the core radius of an SIDM halo and the NFW scale radius of its CDM
counterpart. We construct a simple analytic model, based on CDM scaling
relations, that captures all aspects of the scaling relations for SIDM halos.
Our results show that halo core densities in \sigma/m = 1 cm^2/g models are too
low to match observations of galaxy clusters, low surface brightness spirals
(LSBs), and dwarf spheroidal galaxies. However, SIDM with \sigma/m ~ 0.1 cm^2/g
appears capable of reproducing reported core sizes and central densities of
dwarfs, LSBs, and galaxy clusters without the need for velocity dependence.
(abridged)Comment: 26 pages, 16 figures, all figures include colors, submitted for
publication in MNRA
Understanding Dwarf Galaxies in order to Understand Dark Matter
Much progress has been made in recent years by the galaxy simulation
community in making realistic galaxies, mostly by more accurately capturing the
effects of baryons on the structural evolution of dark matter halos at high
resolutions. This progress has altered theoretical expectations for galaxy
evolution within a Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model, reconciling many earlier
discrepancies between theory and observations. Despite this reconciliation, CDM
may not be an accurate model for our Universe. Much more work must be done to
understand the predictions for galaxy formation within alternative dark matter
models.Comment: Refereed contribution to the Proceedings of the Simons Symposium on
Illuminating Dark Matter, to be published by Springe
Multi-Messenger Gravitational Wave Searches with Pulsar Timing Arrays: Application to 3C66B Using the NANOGrav 11-year Data Set
When galaxies merge, the supermassive black holes in their centers may form
binaries and, during the process of merger, emit low-frequency gravitational
radiation in the process. In this paper we consider the galaxy 3C66B, which was
used as the target of the first multi-messenger search for gravitational waves.
Due to the observed periodicities present in the photometric and astrometric
data of the source of the source, it has been theorized to contain a
supermassive black hole binary. Its apparent 1.05-year orbital period would
place the gravitational wave emission directly in the pulsar timing band. Since
the first pulsar timing array study of 3C66B, revised models of the source have
been published, and timing array sensitivities and techniques have improved
dramatically. With these advances, we further constrain the chirp mass of the
potential supermassive black hole binary in 3C66B to less than using data from the NANOGrav 11-year data set. This
upper limit provides a factor of 1.6 improvement over previous limits, and a
factor of 4.3 over the first search done. Nevertheless, the most recent orbital
model for the source is still consistent with our limit from pulsar timing
array data. In addition, we are able to quantify the improvement made by the
inclusion of source properties gleaned from electromagnetic data to `blind'
pulsar timing array searches. With these methods, it is apparent that it is not
necessary to obtain exact a priori knowledge of the period of a binary to gain
meaningful astrophysical inferences.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Accepted by Ap
Atomic Resonance and Scattering
Contains reports on six research projects.National Science Foundation (PHY83-06273)Joint Services Electronics Program (DAAL03-86-K-0002)National Science Foundation (PHY84-11483)U.S. Navy-Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-79-C-0183)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-83-K-0003)National Science Foundation (Grant PHY83-07172-A01)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-83-K-0695)National Science Foundation (Grant CHE84-21392
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