648 research outputs found
On the Use of Multipole Expansion in Time Evolution of Non-linear Dynamical Systems and Some Surprises Related to Superradiance
A new numerical method is introduced to study the problem of time evolution
of generic non-linear dynamical systems in four-dimensional spacetimes. It is
assumed that the time level surfaces are foliated by a one-parameter family of
codimension two compact surfaces with no boundary and which are conformal to a
Riemannian manifold C. The method is based on the use of a multipole expansion
determined uniquely by the induced metric structure on C. The approach is fully
spectral in the angular directions. The dynamics in the complementary 1+1
Lorentzian spacetime is followed by making use of a fourth order finite
differencing scheme with adaptive mesh refinement.
In checking the reliability of the introduced new method the evolution of a
massless scalar field on a fixed Kerr spacetime is investigated. In particular,
the angular distribution of the evolving field in to be superradiant scattering
is studied. The primary aim was to check the validity of some of the recent
arguments claiming that the Penrose process, or its field theoretical
correspondence---superradiance---does play crucial role in jet formation in
black hole spacetimes while matter accretes onto the central object. Our
findings appear to be on contrary to these claims as the angular dependence of
a to be superradiant scattering of a massless scalar field does not show any
preference of the axis of rotation. In addition, the process of superradiance,
in case of a massless scalar field, was also investigated. On contrary to the
general expectations no energy extraction from black hole was found even though
the incident wave packets was fine tuned to be maximally superradiant. Instead
of energy extraction the to be superradiant part of the incident wave packet
fails to reach the ergoregion rather it suffers a total reflection which
appears to be a new phenomenon.Comment: 49 pages, 11 figure
Variability survey in the CoRoT SRa01 field: Implications of eclipsing binary distribution on cluster formation in NGC 2264
Time-series photometry of the CoRoT field SRa01 was carried out with the
Berlin Exoplanet Search Telescope II (BEST II) in 2008/2009. A total of 1,161
variable stars were detected, of which 241 were previously known and 920 are
newly found. Several new, variable young stellar objects have been discovered.
The study of the spatial distribution of eclipsing binaries revealed the higher
relative frequency of Algols toward the center of the young open cluster NGC
2264. In general Algol frequency obeys an isotropic distribution of their
angular momentum vectors, except inside the cluster, where a specific
orientation of the inclinations is the case. We suggest that we see the orbital
plane of the binaries almost edge-on.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The Berlin Exoplanet Search Telescope II. Catalog of Variable Stars. I. Characterization of Three Southern Target Fields
A photometric survey of three Southern target fields with BEST II yielded the
detection of 2,406 previously unknown variable stars and an additional 617
stars with suspected variability. This study presents a catalog including their
coordinates, magnitudes, light curves, ephemerides, amplitudes, and type of
variability. In addition, the variability of 17 known objects is confirmed,
thus validating the results. The catalog contains a number of known and new
variables that are of interest for further astrophysical investigations, in
order to, e.g., search for additional bodies in eclipsing binary systems, or to
test stellar interior models.
Altogether, 209,070 stars were monitored with BEST II during a total of 128
nights in 2009/2010. The overall variability fraction of 1.2-1.5% in these
target fields is well comparable to similar ground-based photometric surveys.
Within the main magnitude range of , we identify
0.67(3)% of all stars to be eclipsing binaries, which indicates a completeness
of about one third for this particular type in comparison to space surveys.Comment: accepted to A
Simple analytic solution of fireball hydrodynamics
A new family of simple analytic solutions of hydrodynamics is found for
non-relativistic, rotationally symmetric fireballs assuming an ideal gas
equation of state. The solution features linear flow profile and a non-trivial
transverse temperature profile. The radial temperature gradient vanishes only
in the collisionless gas limit. The Zimanyi-Bondorf-Garpman solution and the
Buda-Lund parameterization of expanding hydrodynamical sources are recovered as
special cases. The results are applied to predict new features of proton-proton
correlations and spectra data at 1.93 AGeV Ni + Ni reactions.Comment: Latex, Revte
Periodic variable stars in CoRoT field LRa02 observed with BEST II
The Berlin Exoplanet Search Telescope II (BEST II) is a small wide
field-of-view photometric survey telescope system located at the Observatorio
Cerro Armazones, Chile. The high duty cycle combined with excellent observing
conditions and millimagnitude photometric precision makes this instrument
suitable for ground based support observations for the CoRoT space mission.
Photometric data of the CoRoT LRa02 target field collected between November
2008 and March 2009 were analysed for stellar variability. The presented
results will help in the future analysis of the CoRoT data, particularly in
additional science programs related to variable stars. BEST II observes
selected CoRoT target fields ahead of the space mission. The photometric data
acquired are searched for stellar variability, periodic variable stars are
identified with time series analysis of the obtained stellar light curves. We
obtained the light curves of 104335 stars in the CoRoT LRa02 field over 41
nights. Variability was detected in light curves of 3726 stars of which 350
showed a regular period. These stars are, with the exception of 5 previously
known variable stars, new discoveries.Comment: The figures with light curves can be find in the A&A journal as
online onl
Broad-band spectrophotometry of the hot Jupiter HAT-P-12b from the near-UV to the near-IR
The detection of trends or gradients in the transmission spectrum of
extrasolar planets is possible with observations at very low spectral
resolution. Transit measurements of sufficient accuracy using selected
broad-band filters allow for an initial characterization of the atmosphere of
the planet. We obtained time series photometry of 20 transit events and
analyzed them homogeneously, along with eight light curves obtained from the
literature. In total, the light curves span a range from 0.35 to 1.25 microns.
During two observing seasons over four months each, we monitored the host star
to constrain the potential influence of starspots on the derived transit
parameters. We rule out the presence of a Rayleigh slope extending over the
entire optical wavelength range, a flat spectrum is favored for HAT-P-12b with
respect to a cloud-free atmosphere model spectrum. A potential cause of such
gray absorption is the presence of a cloud layer at the probed latitudes.
Furthermore, in this work we refine the transit parameters, the ephemeris and
perform a TTV analysis in which we found no indication for an unseen companion.
The host star showed a mild non-periodic variability of up to 1%. However, no
stellar rotation period could be detected to high confidence.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in A&
The Young, Massive, Star Cluster Sandage-96 After the Explosion of SN 2004dj in NGC 2403
The bright Type II-plateau supernova (SN) 2004dj occurred within the young,
massive stellar cluster Sandage-96 in a spiral arm of NGC 2403. New
multi-wavelength observations obtained with several ground-based and
space-based telescopes are combined to study the radiation from Sandage-96
after SN 2004dj faded away. Sandage-96 started to dominate the flux in the
optical bands starting September 2006 (~800 d after explosion). The optical
fluxes are equal to the pre-explosion ones within the observational
uncertainties. An optical Keck spectrum obtained ~900 d after explosion shows
the dominant blue continuum from the cluster stars shortward of 6000 \AA as
well as strong SN nebular emission lines redward. The integrated spectral
energy distribution (SED) of the cluster has been extended into the ultraviolet
region by archival XMM-Newton and new Swift observations, and compared with
theoretical models. The outer parts of the cluster have been resolved by the
Hubble Space Telescope, allowing the construction of a color-magnitude diagram.
The fitting of the cluster SED with theoretical isochrones results in cluster
ages between 10--40 Myr, depending on metallicity and the model family. The
isochrone fitting indicates that the resolved part of the cluster has a bimodal
age distribution: a younger population at ~10--16 Myr, and an older one at
~32--100 Myr which is similar to the age distribution of the nearby field
stars. These stars may have been captured from the field during the cluster
formation. The young age of Sandage-96 suggest 12 < M_prog < 20 M_\odot as the
most probable mass range for the progenitor of SN 2004dj. This is consistent
with, but perhaps slightly higher than, most of the other Type II-plateau SN
progenitor masses determined so far.Comment: accepted in Ap
Open and Hidden Charm Production in Heavy Ion Collisions at Ultrarelativistic Energies
We consider the production of the open charm and J/psi mesons in heavy ion
collisions at BNL RHIC. We discuss several recently developed pictures for
J/psi production and argue that a measurement at RHIC energies is crucial for
disentangling these different descriptions.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 5 PS-figures. v3: Fig.6 is adde
Pre-discovery observations of CoRoT-1b and CoRoT-2b with the BEST survey
The BEST wide-angle telescope installed at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence
and operated in remote control from Berlin by the Institut fuer
Planetenforschung, DLR, has observed the CoRoT target fields prior to the
mission. The resulting archive of stellar photometric lightcurves is used to
search for deep transit events announced during CoRoT's alarm-mode to aid in
fast photometric confirmation of these events. The "initial run" field of CoRoT
(IRa01) has been observed with BEST in November and December 2006 for 12
nights. The first "long run" field (LRc01) was observed from June to September
2005 for 35 nights. After standard CCD data reduction, aperture photometry has
been performed using the ISIS image subtraction method. About 30,000
lightcurves were obtained in each field. Transits of the first detected planets
by the CoRoT mission, CoRoT-1b and CoRoT-2b, were found in archived data of the
BEST survey and their lightcurves are presented here. Such detections provide
useful information at the early stage of the organization of follow-up
observations of satellite alarm-mode planet candidates. In addition, no period
change was found over ~4 years between the first BEST observation and last
available transit observations.Comment: AJ, accepte
The Orbit of Warm Jupiter WASP-106 b is aligned with its Star
Understanding orbital obliquities, or the misalignment angles between a
star's rotation axis and the orbital axis of its planets, is crucial for
unraveling the mechanisms of planetary formation and migration. In this study,
we present an analysis of Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) observations of the warm
Jupiter exoplanet WASP-106 b. The high-precision radial velocity measurements
were made with HARPS and HARPS-N during the transit of this planet. We aim to
constrain the orientation of the planet's orbit relative to its host star's
rotation axis. The RM observations are analyzed using a code which models the
RM anomaly together with the Keplerian orbit given several parameters in
combination with a Markov chain Monte Carlo implementation. We measure the
projected stellar obliquity in the WASP-106 system for the first time and find
, supporting the theory of quiescent migration
through the disk.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, submitted to AA
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