9,212 research outputs found
Luminous X-ray Flares from Low Mass X-ray Binary Candidates in the Early-Type Galaxy NGC 4697
We report results of the first search specifically targeting short-timescale
X-ray flares from low-mass X-ray binaries in an early-type galaxy. A new method
for flare detection is presented. In NGC 4697, the nearest, optically luminous,
X-ray faint elliptical galaxy, 3 out of 157 sources are found to display flares
at >99.95% probability, and all show more than one flare. Two sources are
coincident with globular clusters and show flare durations and luminosities
similar to (but larger than) Type-I X-ray superbursts found in Galactic neutron
star (NS) X-ray binaries (XRBs). The third source shows more extreme flares.
Its flare luminosity (~6E39 erg/s) is very super-Eddington for an NS and is
similar to the peak luminosities of the brightest Galactic black hole (BH)
XRBs. However, the flare duration (~70 s) is much shorter than are typically
seen for outbursts reaching those luminosities in Galactic BH sources.
Alternative models for the flares are considered.Comment: Astrophysical Journal Letters, accepted: 4 page
Thermodynamic properties of Pb determined from pressure-dependent critical-field measurements
We have carried out extensive low-temperature (1.5 to 10 K) measurements of
the critical field, , for the element Pb up to a pressure of GPa.
From this data the electronic entropy, specific heat, thermal expansion
coefficient and compressibility is calculated as a function of temperature,
pressure and magnetic field. The zero-field data is consistent with direct
thermodynamic measurements and the -dependence of and specific heat
coefficient, allows the determination of the -dependence of
the pairing interaction.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, in press Phys. Rev.
Are stealth scalar fields stable?
Non-gravitating (stealth) scalar fields associated with Minkowski space in
scalar-tensor gravity are examined. Analytical solutions for both non-minimally
coupled scalar field theory and for Brans-Dicke gravity are studied and their
stability with respect to tensor perturbations is assessed using a covariant
and gauge-invariant formalism developed for alternative gravity. For
Brans-Dicke solutions, the stability with respect to homogeneous perturbations
is also studied. There are regions of parameter space corresponding to
stability and other regions corresponding to instability.Comment: 10 pages, 1 table, no figures, to appear in Phys. Rev,
Extending invariant complex structures
We study the problem of extending a complex structure to a given Lie algebra
g, which is firstly defined on an ideal h of g. We consider the next
situations: h is either complex or it is totally real. The next question is to
equip g with an additional structure, such as a (non)-definite metric or a
symplectic structure and to ask either h is non-degenerate, isotropic, etc.
with respect to this structure, by imposing a compatibility assumption. We show
that this implies certain constraints on the algebraic structure of g.
Constructive examples illustrating this situation are shown, in particular
computations in dimension six are given.Comment: 22 pages, plus an Addendu
Strong covalent bonding between two graphene layers
We show that two graphene layers stacked directly on top of each other (AA
stacking) form strong chemical bonds when the distance between planes is 0.156
nm. Simultaneously, C-C in-plane bonds are considerably weakened from partial
double-bond (0.141 nm) to single bond (0.154 nm). This polymorphic form of
graphene bilayer is meta-stable w.r.t. the one bound by van der Waals forces at
a larger separation (0.335 nm) with an activation energy of 0.16 eV/cell.
Similarly to the structure found in hexaprismane, C forms four single bonds in
a geometry mixing 90^{0} and 120^{0} angles. Intermediate separations between
layers can be stabilized under external anisotropic stresses showing a rich
electronic structure changing from semimetal at van der Waals distance, to
metal when compressed, to wide gap semiconductor at the meta-stable minimum.Comment: tar gzip latex 4 pages 4 figure
Ab-initio molecular dynamics simulation of hydrogen diffusion in -iron
First-principles atomistic molecular dynamics simulation in the
micro-canonical and canonical ensembles has been used to study the diffusion of
interstitial hydrogen in -iron. Hydrogen to Iron ratios between
2 \times 2 \times 2$ supercell. We find that
the average optimum absorption site and the barrier for diffusion depend on the
concentration of interestitials. Iron Debye temperature decreases monotonically
for increasing concentration of interstitial hydrogen, proving that iron-iron
interatomic potential is significantly weakened in the presence of a large
number of diffusing hydrogen atoms
Shuttle Mechanism for Charge Transfer in Coulomb Blockade Nanostructures
Room-temperature Coulomb blockade of charge transport through composite
nanostructures containing organic inter-links has recently been observed. A
pronounced charging effect in combination with the softness of the molecular
links implies that charge transfer gives rise to a significant deformation of
these structures. For a simple model system containing one nanoscale metallic
cluster connected by molecular links to two bulk metallic electrodes we show
that self-excitation of periodic cluster oscillations in conjunction with
sequential processes of cluster charging and decharging appears for a
sufficiently large bias voltage. This new `electron shuttle' mechanism of
discrete charge transfer gives rise to a current through the nanostructure,
which is proportional to the cluster vibration frequency.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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