578 research outputs found
Precise Timing of the X-ray Pulsar 1E 1207.4-5209: A Steady Neutron Star Weakly Magnetized at Birth
We analyze all X-ray timing data on 1E 1207.4-5209 in supernova remnant PKS
1209-51/52 gathered in 2000-2005, and find a highly stable rotation with
P=424.130451(4) ms and period derivative of (9.6 +/- 9.4)E-17 s/s. This refutes
previous claims of large timing irregularities in these data. In the dipole
spin-down formalism, the 2-sigma upper limit on period derivative implies an
energy loss rate < 1.5E32 ergs/s, surface magnetic field strength B_p < 3.5E11
G, and characteristic age tau > 24 Myr. This tau exceeds the remnant age by 3
orders of magnitude, requiring that the pulsar was born spinning at its present
period. The X-ray luminosity of 1E 1207.4-5209, L(bol) ~= 2E33 ergs/s at 2 kpc,
exceeds its spin-down energy loss, implying that L(bol) derives from residual
cooling, and perhaps partly from accretion of supernova debris. The upper limit
on B_p is small enough to favor the electron cyclotron model for at least one
of the prominent absorption lines in its soft X-ray spectrum. This is the
second demonstrable case of a pulsar born spinning slowly and with a weak
B-field, after PSR J1852+0040 in Kesteven 79.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure, Latex, emulateapj style. Submitted to ApJ Letter
Quantum spin circulator in Y junctions of Heisenberg chains
We show that a quantum spin circulator, a nonreciprocal device that routes
spin currents without any charge transport, can be achieved in Y junctions of
identical spin- Heisenberg chains coupled by a chiral three-spin
interaction. Using bosonization, boundary conformal field theory, and
density-matrix renormalization group simulations, we find that a chiral fixed
point with maximally asymmetric spin conductance arises at a critical point
separating a regime of disconnected chains from a spin-only version of the
three-channel Kondo effect. We argue that networks of spin-chain Y junctions
provide a controllable approach to construct long-sought chiral spin liquid
phases.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
Timing the Nearby Isolated Neutron Star RX J1856.5-3754
RX J1856.5-3754 is the X-ray brightest among the nearby isolated neutron
stars. Its X-ray spectrum is thermal, and is reproduced remarkably well by a
black-body, but its interpretation has remained puzzling. One reason is that
the source did not exhibit pulsations, and hence a magnetic field
strength--vital input to atmosphere models--could not be estimated. Recently,
however, very weak pulsations were discovered. Here, we analyze these in
detail, using all available data from the XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray
observatories. From frequency measurements, we set a 2-sigma upper limit to the
frequency derivative of \dot\nu<1.3e-14 Hz/s. Trying possible phase-connected
timing solutions, we find that one solution is far more likely than the others,
and we infer a most probable value of \dot\nu=(-5.98+/-0.14)e-16 Hz/s. The
inferred magnetic field strength is 1.5e13 G, comparable to what was found for
similar neutron stars. From models, the field seems too strong to be consistent
with the absence of spectral features for non-condensed atmospheres. It is
sufficiently strong, however, that the surface could be condensed, but only if
it is consists of heavy elements like iron. Our measurements imply a
characteristic age of about 4 Myr. This is longer than the cooling and
kinematic ages, as was found for similar objects, but at almost a factor ten,
the discrepancy is more extreme. A puzzle raised by our measurement is that the
implied rotational energy loss rate of about 3e30 erg/s is orders of magnitude
smaller than what was inferred from the H-alpha nebula surrounding the source.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journal (Letters
Phase Coherent Timing of RX J0806.3+1527 with ROSAT and CHANDRA
RX J0806.3+1527 is an ultra-compact, double degenerate binary with the
shortest known orbital period (321.5 s). Hakala et al. (2003) have recently
reported new optical measurements of the orbital frequency of the source which
indicate that the frequency has increased over the ~9 years since the earliest
ROSAT observations. They find two candidate solutions for the long term change
in the frequency; df/dt = 3 or 6 x 10E-16 Hz/s. Here we present the results of
a phase coherent timing study of the archival ROSAT and Chandra data for RX
J0806.3+1527 in the light of these new constraints. We find that the ROSAT --
Chandra timing data are consistent with both of the solutions reported by
Hakala et al., but that the higher df/dt = 6.1 x 10E-16 Hz/s solution is
favored at the ~97 % level. Such a large df/dt can be accomodated by an ~1 Msun
detached double degenerate system powered in the X-ray by electrical energy (Wu
et al. 2002). With such a large df/dt the system provides a unique opportunity
to explore the interaction of gravitational radiation and electromagnetic
torques on the evolution of an ultracompact binary.Comment: AASTeX preprint, 13 pages, 3 Figures. Accepted for Publication in the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
XMM-Newton, Chandra, and CGPS observations of the Supernova Remnants G85.4+0.7 and G85.9-0.6
We present an XMM-Newton detection of two low radio surface brightness SNRs,
G85.4+0.7 and G85.9-0.6, discovered with the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey
(CGPS). High-resolution XMM-Newton images revealing the morphology of the
diffuse emission, as well as discrete point sources, are presented and
correlated with radio and Chandra images. The new data also permit a
spectroscopic analysis of the diffuse emission regions, and a spectroscopic and
timing analysis of the point sources. Distances have been determined from HI
and CO data to be 3.5 +/- 1.0 kpc for SNR G85.4+0.7 and 4.8 +/- 1.6 kpc for SNR
G85.9-0.6. The SNR G85.4+0.7 is found to have a temperature of ~12-13 MK and a
0.5-2.5 keV luminosity of ~1-4 x 10^33 D(3.5)^2 erg/s (where D(3.5) is the
distance in units of 3.5 kpc), with an electron density n_e of
~0.07-0.16(fD(3.5))^-1/2 cm^-3 (where f is the volume filling factor), and a
shock age of ~9-49(fD(3.5))^1/2 kyr. The SNR G85.9-0.6 is found to have a
temperature of ~15-19 MK and a 0.5-2.5 keV luminosity of ~1-4 x 10^34 D(4.8)^2
erg/s (where D(4.8) is the distance in units of 4.8 kpc), with an electron
density n_e of ~0.04-0.10(fD(4.8))^-1/2 cm^-3 and a shock age of
~12-42(fD(4.8))^1/2 kyr. Based on the data presented here, none of the point
sources appears to be the neutron star associated with either SNR.Comment: 30 pages using emulateapj, 16 figures with quality reduced for
astro-ph only. The original version with high-resolution figures can be
downloaded from:
http://www.physics.umanitoba.ca/~samar/astro-ph/G85s-ms09102007.pdf To appear
in ApJ (Jan 20 2008 issue, v673, n1
A Characterization of the Brightness Oscillations During Thermonuclear Bursts From 4U 1636-536
The discovery of nearly coherent brightness oscillations during thermonuclear
X-ray bursts from six neutron-star low-mass X-ray binaries has opened up a new
way to study the propagation of thermonuclear burning, and may ultimately lead
to greater understanding of thermonuclear propagation in other astrophysical
contexts, such as in Type Ia supernovae. Here we report detailed analyses of
the ~580 Hz brightness oscillations during bursts from 4U 1636-536. We
investigate the bursts as a whole and, in more detail, the initial portions of
the bursts. We analyze the ~580 Hz oscillations in the initial 0.75 seconds of
the five bursts that were used in a previous search for a brightness
oscillation at the expected ~290 Hz spin frequency, and find that if the same
frequency model describes all five bursts there is insufficient data to require
more than a constant frequency or, possibly, a frequency plus a frequency
derivative. Therefore, although it is appropriate to use an arbitrarily
complicated model of the ~580 Hz oscillations to generate a candidate waveform
for the ~290 Hz oscillations, models with more than two parameters are not
required by the data. For the bursts as a whole we show that the
characteristics of the brightness oscillations vary greatly from burst to
burst. We find, however, that in at least one of the bursts, and possibly in
three of the four that have strong brightness oscillations throughout the
burst, the oscillation frequency reaches a maximum several seconds into the
burst and then decreases. This behavior has not been reported previously for
burst brightness oscillations, and it poses a challenge to the standard burning
layer expansion explanation for the frequency changes.Comment: 18 pages including three figures, uses aaspp4.sty, submitted to The
Astrophysical Journal on April
Lung tumour markers in oncology practice: a study of TPA and CA125
Several substances mark the course of lung cancer and may reliably help the clinician in decision-making. This is the first clinical study specifically designed to compare tissue polypeptide antigen and CA 125 tumour associated antigen. Three hundred and eighty-four new lung cancer patients (309 males) were studied at their first clinical presentation and then strictly followed-up. Anthropometric, clinical and laboratory data â including tissue polypeptide antigen and CA 125 tumour associated antigen serum levels â were prospectively recorded. A total of 1000 tissue polypeptide antigen and CA 125 tumour associated antigen serum assays (384 pre-treatment and 616 posttreatment assays) were performed. Both tissue polypeptide antigen and CA 125 tumour associated antigen correlated significantly with the T, N and M stage descriptors at diagnosis (Rho: 0.200, 0.203, 0.263 and 0.181, 0.240, 0.276, respectively), and then with the objective response to treatment (Rho: 0.388 and 0.207, respectively). A pleural neoplastic involvement was mainly associated to an increase of CA 125 tumour associated antigen (Rho: 0.397). Both tissue polypeptide antigen and CA 125 tumour associated antigen were strongly predictive of the patients' outcome, as assessed by the univariate analysis of survival (log-rank test: 37.24 and 29.01) and several Cox' proportional hazards regression models. The two marker tests are similarly helpful and appear complementary, given the low inter-marker correlation and their independent prognostic capability
Event Weighted Tests for Detecting Periodicity in Photon Arrival Times
This paper treats the problem of detecting periodicity in a sequence of
photon arrival times, which occurs, for example, in attempting to detect
gamma-ray pulsars. A particular focus is on how auxiliary information,
typically source intensity, background intensity, and incidence angles and
energies associated with each photon arrival should be used to maximize the
detection power. We construct a class of likelihood-based tests, score tests,
which give rise to event weighting in a principled and natural way, and derive
expressions quantifying the power of the tests. These results can be used to
compare the efficacies of different weight functions, including cuts in energy
and incidence angle. The test is targeted toward a template for the periodic
lightcurve, and we quantify how deviation from that template affects the power
of detection
A Coherent Timing Solution for the Nearby Isolated Neutron Star RX J0720.4-3125
We present the results of a dedicated effort to measure the spin-down rate of
the nearby isolated neutron star RX J0720.4-3125. Comparing arrival times of
the 8.39-sec pulsations for data from Chandra we derive an unambiguous timing
solution for RX J0720.4-3125 that is accurate to 5 years.
Adding data from XMM and ROSAT, the final solution yields
Pdot=(6.98+/-0.02)x10^(-14) s/s; for dipole spin-down, this implies a
characteristic age of 2 Myr and a magnetic field strength of 2.4e13 G. The
phase residuals are somewhat larger than those for purely regular spin-down,
but do not show conclusive evidence for higher-order terms or a glitch. From
our timing solution as well as recent X-ray spectroscopy, we concur with recent
suggestions that RX J0720.4-3125 is most likely an off-beam radio pulsar with a
moderately high magnetic field.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in ApJ
A search in the COS-B data base for correlated time variability in regions containing objects of interest
As is well known, association of the gamma-ray sources with celestial objects is, in general, difficult on a pure positional basis, while correlated time variability could obviously provide such proof. This technique can be employed on regions of the gamma-ray sky containing interesting objects of known variability at some wavelength even in the absence of a recognized gamma-ray excess with the aim to extract a weak but predictable signal from the surrounding noise. This technique is applied here on a longer variability time scale, generally of the order of days. Photons coming from the sky regions centered on the various celestial objects considered were selected with energies 100 MeV and with arrival directions within an energy-dependent area of radius of approx 6 deg at 100 MeV. In order to construct a time profile of such photons, their arrival times were grouped in bins of dimensions defined by the available photons number and by the value of the period searched for
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