34,837 research outputs found
X-ray properties of the microquasar GRS 1915+105 during a variability class transition
We present a detailed X-ray study of the microquasar GRS 1915+105 during a
variability class transition observed in 2000 June with the PPCs of the Indian
X-ray Astronomy Experiment. We supplement this observation with data from the
RXTE archives. The source made a transition from a steady low-hard state to a
regular oscillatory behaviour in the light curve known as bursts or class `rho'
(Belloni et al. 2000) between 2000 May 11 and 17 and reverted back to the
low-hard state on 2000 June 27. A gradual change in the burst recurrence time
from about 75 s to about 40 s was observed which then increased to about 120 s
during the ~ 40 days of class `rho'. The regular bursts disappeared from the
X-ray light curves and the class transition was observed to occur within 1.5
hours on 2000 June 27 with the PPCs. A correlation is found between the
observed QPO frequency at 5-8 Hz in the quiescent phase and the average X-ray
intensity of the source during the class `rho'. We notice a strong similarity
between the properties of the source during the class `rho' and those during
the oscillatory phase of the observations of class `alpha'. From the timing and
spectral analysis, it is found that the observed properties of the source over
tens of days during the class `rho' are identical to those over a time scale of
a few hundreds of seconds in the class `alpha'. Examining the light curves from
the beginning of the RXTE/PCA and RXTE/ASM observations, it is found that the
change of state from radio-quiet low-hard state to high state occurs through
the X-ray classes `rho' and `alpha' which appear together during the state
transition. It is further inferred that the source switches from low-hard state
to the class `rho' through the intermediate class `alpha'.Comment: 10 pages with 9 figures, LaTex. To be appeared in MNRA
Electrical and Magnetic behaviour of PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 superconductor
The superconducting and ground state samples of PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 and PrFeAsO
have been synthesised via easy and versatile single step solid state reaction
route. X-ray & Reitveld refine parameters of the synthesised samples are in
good agreement to the earlier reported value of the structure. The ground state
of the pristine compound (PrFeAsO) exhibited a metallic like step in
resistivity below 150K followed by another step at 12K. The former is
associated with the spin density wave (SDW) like ordering of Fe spins and later
to the anomalous magnetic ordering for Pr moments. Both the resistivity
anomalies are absent in case of superconducting PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 sample. Detailed
high field (up to 12Tesla) electrical and magnetization measurements are
carried out for superconducting PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 sample. The PrFeAsO0.8F0.2
exhibited superconducting onset (Tconset) at around 47K with Tc({\rho} =0) at
38K. Though the Tconset remains nearly invariant, the Tc({\rho} =0) is
decreased with applied field, and the same is around 23K under applied field of
12Tesla. The upper critical field (Hc2) is estimated from the Ginzburg Landau
equation (GL) fitting, which is found to be ~ 182Tesla. Critical current
density (Jc) being calculated from high field isothermal magnetization (MH)
loops with the help of Beans critical state model, is found to be of the order
of 103 A/cm2. Summarily, the superconductivity characterization of single step
synthesised PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 superconductor is presented.Comment: 15 Pages Text + Fig
Detection of a Series of X-ray Dips Associated with a Radio Flare in GRS 1915+105
We report the detection of a series of X-ray dips in the Galactic black hole
candidate GRS 1915+105 during 1999 June 6-17 from observations carried out with
the Pointed Proportional Counters of the Indian X-ray Astronomy Experiment on
board the Indian satellite IRS-P3. The observations were made after the source
made a transition from a steady low-hard state to a chaotic state which
occuered within a few hours. Dips of about 20-160 seconds duration are observed
on most of the days. The X-ray emission outside the dips shows a QPO at ~ 4 Hz
which has characteristics similar to the ubiquitous 0.5 - 10 Hz QPO seen during
the low-hard state of the source. During the onset of dips this QPO is absent
and also the energy spectrum is soft and the variability is low compared to the
non-dip periods. These features gradually re-appear as the dip recovers. The
onset of the occurrence of a large number of such dips followed the start of a
huge radio flare of strength 0.48 Jy (at 2.25 GHz). We interpret these dips as
the cause for mass ejection due to the evacuation of matter from an accretion
disk around the black hole. We propose that a super-position of a large number
of such dip events produces a huge radio jet in GRS 1915+105.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
Modelling of Ion Transport in Solids with a General Bond Valence Based Force-Field
Empirical bond length - bond valence relations provide insight into the link between structure of and ion transport in solid electrolytes. Building on our earlier systematic adjustment of bond valence (BV) parameters to the bond softness, here we discuss how the squared BV mismatch can be linked to the absolute energy scale and used as a general Morse-type interaction potential for analyzing low-energy pathways in ion conducting solid or mixed conductors either by an energy landscape approach or by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. For a wide range of Lithium oxides we could thus model ion transport revealing significant differences to an earlier geometric approach. Our novel BV-based force-field has also been applied to investigate a range of mixed conductors, focusing on cathode materials for lithium ion battery (LIB) applications to promote a systematic design of LIB cathodes that combine high energy density with high power density. To demonstrate the versatility of the new BV-based force-field it is applied in exploring various strategies to enhance the power performance of safe low cost LIB materials (LiFePO4, LiVPO4F, LiFeSO4F, etc.).Received: 11 October 2010; Revised: 26 October 2010; Accepted: 28 October 201
Two Modes of Solid State Nucleation - Ferrites, Martensites and Isothermal Transformation Curves
When a crystalline solid such as iron is cooled across a structural
transition, its final microstructure depends sensitively on the cooling rate.
For instance, an adiabatic cooling across the transition results in an
equilibrium `ferrite', while a rapid cooling gives rise to a metastable twinned
`martensite'. There exists no theoretical framework to understand the dynamics
and conditions under which both these microstructures obtain. Existing theories
of martensite dynamics describe this transformation in terms of elastic strain,
without any explanation for the occurence of the ferrite. Here we provide
evidence for the crucial role played by non-elastic variables, {\it viz.},
dynamically generated interfacial defects. A molecular dynamics (MD) simulation
of a model 2-dimensional (2d) solid-state transformation reveals two distinct
modes of nucleation depending on the temperature of quench. At high
temperatures, defects generated at the nucleation front relax quickly giving
rise to an isotropically growing `ferrite'. At low temperatures, the defects
relax extremely slowly, forcing a coordinated motion of atoms along specific
directions. This results in a twinned critical nucleus which grows rapidly at
speeds comparable to that of sound. Based on our MD results, we propose a
solid-state nucleation theory involving the elastic strain and non-elastic
defects, which successfully describes the transformation to both a ferrite and
a martensite. Our work provides useful insights on how to formulate a general
dynamics of solid state transformations.Comment: 3 pages, 4 B/W + 2 color figure
QoS Constrained Optimal Sink and Relay Placement in Planned Wireless Sensor Networks
We are given a set of sensors at given locations, a set of potential
locations for placing base stations (BSs, or sinks), and another set of
potential locations for placing wireless relay nodes. There is a cost for
placing a BS and a cost for placing a relay. The problem we consider is to
select a set of BS locations, a set of relay locations, and an association of
sensor nodes with the selected BS locations, so that number of hops in the path
from each sensor to its BS is bounded by hmax, and among all such feasible
networks, the cost of the selected network is the minimum. The hop count bound
suffices to ensure a certain probability of the data being delivered to the BS
within a given maximum delay under a light traffic model. We observe that the
problem is NP-Hard, and is hard to even approximate within a constant factor.
For this problem, we propose a polynomial time approximation algorithm
(SmartSelect) based on a relay placement algorithm proposed in our earlier
work, along with a modification of the greedy algorithm for weighted set cover.
We have analyzed the worst case approximation guarantee for this algorithm. We
have also proposed a polynomial time heuristic to improve upon the solution
provided by SmartSelect. Our numerical results demonstrate that the algorithms
provide good quality solutions using very little computation time in various
randomly generated network scenarios
- …