1,935 research outputs found
Crystal truncation rods in kinematical and dynamical x-ray diffraction theories
Crystal truncation rods calculated in the kinematical approximation are shown
to quantitatively agree with the sum of the diffracted waves obtained in the
two-beam dynamical calculations for different reflections along the rod. The
choice and the number of these reflections are specified. The agreement extends
down to at least of the peak intensity. For lower intensities,
the accuracy of dynamical calculations is limited by truncation of the electron
density at a mathematically planar surface, arising from the Fourier series
expansion of the crystal polarizability
High-pressure versus isoelectronic doping effect on the honeycomb iridate NaIrO
We study the effect of isoelectronic doping and external pressure in tuning
the ground state of the honeycomb iridate NaIrO by combining optical
spectroscopy with synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements on single
crystals. The obtained optical conductivity of NaIrO is discussed in
terms of a Mott insulating picture versus the formation of quasimolecular
orbitals and in terms of Kitaev-interactions. With increasing Li content ,
(NaLi)IrO moves deeper into the Mott insulating regime and
there are indications that up to a doping level of 24\% the compound comes
closer to the Kitaev-limit. The optical conductivity spectrum of single
crystalline -LiIrO does not follow the trends observed for the
series up to . There are strong indications that -LiIrO
is less close to the Kitaev-limit compared to NaIrO and closer to the
quasimolecular orbital picture. Except for the pressure-induced hardening of
the phonon modes, the optical properties of NaIrO seem to be robust
against external pressure. Possible explanations of the unexpected evolution of
the optical conductivity with isolectronic doping and the drastic change
between and are given by comparing the pressure-induced changes
of lattice parameters and the optical conductivity with the corresponding
changes induced by doping.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Starburst in the Intragroup Medium of Stephan's Quintet
Based on new ISO mid-infrared observations and ground based and
near-infrared observations, we report the detection of a bright starburst in
the intragroup medium (IGM) of the famous compact group of galaxies Stephan's
Quintet (Source A in Fig.1). We demonstrate that this starburst is caused by a
collision between a high velocity (V 1000 km/sec) intruder galaxy
(NGC7318b) and the IGM of the group. While this is the only starburst known
today that is induced by a galaxy/cold-intergalactic-medium collision, it
provides new constraints to the theory for interaction-induced starbursts, and
may hint at a new mechanism for the star formation excess seen in more distant
clusters.Comment: 17 pages, 2 PS figures. Accepted by Ap
Ferromagnetism or slow paramagnetic relaxation in Fe-doped LiN?
We report on isothermal magnetization, M\"ossbauer spectroscopy, and
magnetostriction as well as temperature-dependent alternating-current (ac)
susceptibility, specific heat, and thermal expansion of single crystalline and
polycrstalline Li(LiFe)N with and .
Magnetic hysteresis emerges at temperatures below K with
coercivity fields of up to T at K and magnetic
anisotropy energies of K (meV). The ac susceptibility is strongly
frequency dependent (--Hz) and reveals an effective energy
barrier for spin reversal of K. The relaxation times
follow Arrhenius behavior for K. For K, however, the
relaxation times of s are only weakly
temperature-dependent indicating the relevance of a quantum tunneling process
instead of thermal excitations. The magnetic entropy amounts to more than
J molK which significantly exceeds ln2, the
value expected for the entropy of a ground state doublet. Thermal expansion and
magnetostriction indicate a weak magneto-elastic coupling in accordance with
slow relaxation of the magnetization. The classification of
Li(LiFe)N as ferromagnet is stressed and contrasted with highly
anisotropic and slowly relaxing paramagnetic behavior.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
Persistent detwinning of iron pnictides by small magnetic fields
Our comprehensive study on EuFeAs reveals a dramatic reduction of
magnetic detwinning fields compared to other AFeAs (A = Ba, Sr, Ca)
iron pnictides by indirect magneto-elastic coupling of the Eu ions. We
find that only 0.1T are sufficient for persistent detwinning below the local
Eu ordering; above = 19K, higher fields are necessary.
Even after the field is switched off, a significant imbalance of twin domains
remains constant up to the structural and electronic phase transition (190K).
This persistent detwinning provides the unique possibility to study the low
temperature electronic in-plane anisotropy of iron pnictides without applying
any symmetrybreaking external force.Comment: accepted by Physical Review Letter
A 100ks XMM-Newton view of the Seyfert 1.8 ESO113-G010. I. Discovery of large X-ray variability and study of the FeKalpha line complex
(Abridged) We present here a long (100ks) XMM-Newton follow-up of the Seyfert
1.8 galaxy ESO113-G010 performed in November 2005, in order to study over a
longer time-scale its main X-ray properties. The source was found in a
higher/softer time-averaged flux state, and timing analysis of this source
reveals strong, rapid variability. The Power Spectral Density (PSD) analysis
indicates (at 95% c.l.) a break at 3.7 x 10^-4 Hz. This cut-off frequency is
comparable to those measured in some other rapidly-variable Seyferts, such as
MCG-6-30-15 and NGC4051. From the mass-luminosity-time-scale, we infer that
M_BH ranges from 4 x 10^6 - 10^7 M_odot and the source is accreting at or close
to the Eddington rate (or even higher). The existing data cannot distinguish
between spectral pivoting of the continuum and a two-component origin for the
spectral softening, primarily because the data do not span a broad enough flux
range. In the case of the two-component model, the fractional offsets measured
in the flux-flux plots increase significantly toward higher energies (similar
to what is observed in MCG-6-30-15) as expected if there exists a constant
reflection component. Contrary to May 2001, no significant highly redshifted
emission line is observed (which might be related to the source flux level),
while two narrow emission lines at about 6.5keV and 7keV are observed. The S/N
is not high enough to establish if the lines are variable or constant. As
already suggested by the 2001 observation, no significant constant narrow
6.4keV FeK line (EW~32eV) is observed, hence excluding any dominant emission
from distant cold matter such as a torus in this Seyfert type 1.8 galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 10 pages, 11 figures, 2 table
New Observations of Extra-Disk Molecular Gas in Interacting Galaxy Systems, Including a Two-Component System in Stephan's Quintet
We present new CO (1 - 0) observations of eleven extragalactic tails and
bridges in nine interacting galaxy systems, almost doubling the number of such
features with sensitive CO measurements. Eight of these eleven features were
undetected in CO to very low CO/HI limits, with the most extreme case being the
NGC 7714/5 bridge. This bridge contains luminous H II regions and has a very
high HI column density (1.6 X 10^21 cm^-2 in the 55" CO beam), yet was
undetected in CO to rms T(R)* = 2.4 mK. The HI column density is higher than
standard H2 and CO self-shielding limits for solar-metallicity gas, suggesting
that the gas in this bridge is metal-poor and has an enhanced N(H2)/I(CO) ratio
compared to the Galactic value. Only one of the eleven features in our sample
was unambiguously detected in CO, a luminous HI-rich star formation region near
an optical tail in the compact group Stephan's Quintet. We detect CO at two
widely separated velocities in this feature, at ~6000 km/s and ~6700 km/s. Both
of these components have HI and H-alpha counterparts. These velocities
correspond to those of galaxies in the group, suggesting that this gas is
material that has been removed from two galaxies in the group. The
CO/HI/H-alpha ratios for both components are similar to global values for
spiral galaxies.Comment: 39 pages, Latex, 15 figures, Astronomical Journal, in pres
Changes in the long term intensity variations in Cyg X-2 and LMC X-3
We report the detection of changes in the long-term intensity variations in
two X-ray binaries, Cyg X-2 and LMC X-3. In this work, we have used the
long-term light curves obtained with the All-Sky Monitors (ASMs) of the Rossi
X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), Ginga, Ariel 5, and Vela 5B and the scanning
modulation collimator of HEAO 1. It is found that in the light curves of both
the sources, obtained with these instruments at various times over the last 30
years, more than one periodic or quasi-periodic component is always present.
The multiple prominent peaks in the periodograms have frequencies unrelated to
each other. In Cyg X-2, RXTE-ASM data show strong peaks at 40.4 and 68.8 days,
and Ginga-ASM data show strong peaks at 53.7 and 61.3 days. Multiple peaks are
also observed in LMC X-3. The various strong peaks in the periodograms of LMC
X-3 appear at 104, 169, and 216 days (observed with RXTE-ASM) and 105, 214, and
328 days (observed with Ginga-ASM). The present results, when compared with the
earlier observations of periodicities in these two systems, demonstrate the
absence of any stable long period. The 78 day periodicity detected earlier in
Cyg X-2 was probably due to the short time base in the RXTE data that were
used, and the periodicity of 198 days in LMC X-3 was due to a relatively short
duration of observation with HEAO 1.Comment: 11 pages, 7 postscript figures include
A deep X-ray observation of NGC 4258 and its surrounding field
We present a deep X-ray observation of the low-luminosity active galactic
nucleus in NGC4258 (M106) using ASCA. The soft X-ray spectrum <2keV is
dominated by thermal emission from optically-thin plasma with kT~0.5keV. The
hard X-ray emission is clearly due to a power-law component with photon index
Gamma=1.8 absorbed by a column density of N_H=8x10^22/cm^2. The power-law is
readily identified with primary X-ray emission from the AGN central engine. We
also clearly detect a narrow iron K-alpha emission line at 6.4keV. No broad
component is detected. We suggest that the bulk of this narrow line comes from
the accretion disk and, furthermore, that the power-law X-ray source which
excites this line emission (which is typically identified with a disk corona)
must be at least 100GM/c^2 in extent. This is in stark contrast to many
higher-luminosity Seyfert galaxies which display a broad iron line indicating a
small 10 GM/c^2 X-ray emitting region. It must be stressed that this study
constrains the size of the X-ray emitting corona rather than the
presence/absence of a radiatively efficient accretion disk in the innermost
regions. If, instead, a substantial fraction of the observed narrow line
originates from material not associated with the accretion disk, limits can be
placed on the parameter space of possible allowed relativistically broad iron
lines. By comparing our data with previous ASCA observations, we find marginal
evidence for a change in absorbing column density through to the central
engine, and good evidence for a change in the AGN flux.Comment: 11 pages, 9 postscript figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
A remarkable recurrent nova in M 31: The X-ray observations
Context. Another outburst of the recurrent M 31 nova M31N 2008-12a was announced in late November 2013. Optical data suggest an unprecedentedly short recurrence time of approximately one year.
Aims. In this Letter we address the X-ray properties of M31N 2008-12a.
Methods. We requested Swift monitoring observations shortly after the optical discovery. We estimated source count rates and extracted X-ray spectra from the resulting data. The corresponding ultraviolet (UV) data was also analysed.
Results. M31N 2008-12a was clearly detected as a bright supersoft X-ray source (SSS) only six days after the well-constrained optical discovery. It displayed a short SSS phase of two weeks duration and an exceptionally hot X-ray spectrum with an effective blackbody temperature of ∼ 97 eV. During the SSS phase the X-ray light curve displayed significant variability that might have been
accompanied by spectral variations. The very early X-ray variability was found to be anti-correlated with simultaneous variations in the UV flux.
Conclusions. The X-ray properties of M31N 2008-12a coherently point towards a high-mass white dwarf in the nova system. This object might be a promising Type Ia supernova progenitor. We re-discovered additional X-ray detections of M31N 2008-12a that are consistent with our data and increase the number of known nova outbursts to seven. This nova is an exceptional object that merits further attention in the future
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