780 research outputs found
Observed and Physical Properties of Core-Collapse Supernovae
I use photometry and spectroscopy data for 24 Type II plateau supernovae to
examine their observed and physical properties. This dataset shows that these
objects encompass a wide range of ~5 mag in their plateau luminosities, their
expansion velocities vary by x5, and the nickel masses produced in these
explosions go from 0.0016 to 0.26 Mo. From a subset of 16 objects I find that
the explosion energies vary between 0.6x and 5.5x10^51 ergs, the ejected masses
encompass the range 14-56 Mo, and the progenitors' radii go from 80 to 600 Ro.
Despite this great diversity several regularities emerge, which reveal that
there is a continuum in the properties of these objects from the faint,
low-energy, nickel-poor SNe 1997D and 1999br, to the bright, high-energy,
nickel-rich SN 1992am. This study provides evidence that more massive
progenitors produce more energetic explosions, thus suggesting that the outcome
of the core collapse is somewhat determined by the envelope mass. I find also
that supernovae with greater energies produce more nickel. Similar
relationships appear to hold for Type Ib/c supernovae, which suggests that both
Type II and Type Ib/c supernovae share the same core physics. When the whole
sample of core collapse objects is considered, there is a continous
distribution of energies below 8x10^51 ergs. Far above in energy scale and
nickel production lies the extreme hypernova 1998bw, the only supernova firmly
associated to a GRB.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, accepted for Part 1 of Astrophysical Journa
`Pure' Supernovae and Accelerated Expansion of the Universe
A special class of type Ia supernovae that is not subject to ordinary and
additional intragalactic gray absorption and chemical evolution has been
identified. Analysis of the Hubble diagrams constructed for these supernovae
confirms the accelerated expansion of the Universe irrespective of the chemical
evolution and possible gray absorption in galaxies.Comment: 2 figures, 1 tabl
Magnetic field of an in-plane vortex outside a layered superconductor
We present the solution to London's equations for the magnetic fields of a
vortex oriented parallel to the plane, and normal to a crystal face, of a
layered superconductor. These expressions account for flux spreading at the
superconducting surface, which can change the apparent size of the vortex along
the planes by as much as 30%. We compare these expressions with experimental
results.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
A Study of Lyman-Alpha Quasar Absorbers in the Nearby Universe
Spectroscopy of ten quasars obtained with the Goddard High Resolution
Spectrograph (GHRS) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is presented. A
clustering analysis reveals an excess of nearest neighbor line pairs on
velocity scales of 250-750 km/s at a 95-98% confidence level. The hypothesis
that the absorbers are randomly distributed in velocity space can be ruled out
at the 99.8% confidence level. No two-point correlation power is detected (xi <
1 with 95% confidence). Lyman-alpha absorbers have correlation amplitudes on
scales of 250-500 km/s at least 4-5 times smaller than the correlation
amplitude of bright galaxies. A detailed comparison between absorbers in nearby
galaxies is carried out on a limited subset of 11 Lyman- alpha absorbers where
the galaxy sample in a large contiguous volume is complete to M_B = -16.
Absorbers lie preferentially in regions of intermediate galaxy density but it
is often not possible to uniquely assign a galaxy counterpart to an absorber.
This sample provides no explicit support for the hypothesis that absorbers are
preferentially associated with the halos of luminous galaxies. We have made a
preliminary comparison of the absorption line properties and environments with
the results of hydrodynamic simulations. The results suggest that the
Lyman-alpha absorbers represent diffuse or shocked gas in the IGM that traces
the cosmic web of large scale structure. (abridged)Comment: 36 pages of text, 15 figures, 4 tables, 36 file
Systematics of c-axis Phonons in the Thallium and Bismuth Based Cuprate Superconductors
We present grazing incidence reflectivity measurements in the far infrared
region at temperatures above and below Tc for a series of thallium (Tl2Ba2CuO6,
Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8) and bismuth (Bi2Sr2CuO6, Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8, and
Bi(2-x)Pb(x)Sr2CaCu2O8) based cuprate superconductors. From the spectra, which
are dominated by the c-axis phonons, longitudinal frequencies (LO) are directly
obtained. The reflectivity curves are well fitted by a series of Lorentz
oscillators. In this way the transverse (TO) phonon frequencies were accurately
determined. On the basis of the comparative study of the Bi and Tl based
cuprates with different number of CuO2 layers per unit cell, we suggest
modifications of the assignment of the main oxygen modes. We compare the LO
frequencies in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 and Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 obtained from intrinsic
Josephson junction characteristics with our measurements, and explain the
discrepancy in LO frequencies obtained by the two different methods.Comment: 8 pages Revtex, 6 eps figures, 3 tables, to appear in Phys. Rev.
The Environments of Supernovae in Post-Refurbishment Hubble Space Telescope Images
The locations of supernovae in the local stellar and gaseous environment in
galaxies contain important clues to their progenitor stars. Access to this
information, however, has been hampered by the limited resolution achieved by
ground-based observations. High spatial resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
images of galaxy fields in which supernovae had been observed can improve the
situation considerably. We have examined the immediate environments of a few
dozen supernovae using archival post-refurbishment HST images. Although our
analysis is limited due to signal-to-noise ratio and filter bandpass
considerations, the images allow us for the first time to resolve individual
stars in, and to derive detailed color-magnitude diagrams for, several
environments. We are able to place more rigorous constraints on the masses of
these supernovae. A search was made for late-time emission from supernovae in
the archival images, and for the progenitor stars in presupernova images of the
host galaxies. We have detected SN 1986J in NGC 891 and, possibly, SN 1981K in
NGC 4258. We have also identified the progenitor of the Type IIn SN 1997bs in
NGC 3627. By removing younger resolved stars in the environments of SNe Ia, we
can measure the colors of the unresolved stellar background and attribute these
colors generally to an older, redder population. HST images ``accidentally''
caught the Type Ia SN 1994D in NGC 4526 shortly after its outburst; we measure
its brightness. Finally, we add to the statistical inferences that can be made
from studying the association of SNe with recent star-forming regions.Comment: 20 pages, 29 figures, to appear in A
Astrometric and Timing Effects of Gravitational Waves from Localized Sources
A consistent approach for an exhaustive solution of the problem of
propagation of light rays in the field of gravitational waves emitted by a
localized source of gravitational radiation is developed in the first
post-Minkowskian and quadrupole approximation of General Relativity. We
demonstrate that the equations of light propagation in the retarded
gravitational field of an arbitrary localized source emitting quadrupolar
gravitational waves can be integrated exactly. The influence of the
gravitational field on the light propagation is examined not only in the wave
zone but also in cases when light passes through the intermediate and near
zones of the source. Explicit analytic expressions for light deflection and
integrated time delay (Shapiro effect) are obtained accounting for all possible
retardation effects and arbitrary relative locations of the source of
gravitational waves, that of light rays, and the observer. It is shown that the
ADM and harmonic gauge conditions can both be satisfied simultaneously outside
the source of gravitational waves. Their use drastically simplifies the
integration of light propagation equations and those for the motion of light
source and observer in the field of the source of gravitational waves, leading
to the unique interpretation of observable effects. The two limiting cases of
small and large values of impact parameter are elaborated in more detail.
Explicit expressions for Shapiro effect and deflection angle are obtained in
terms of the transverse-traceless part of the space-space components of the
metric tensor. We also discuss the relevance of the developed formalism for
interpretation of radio interferometric and timing observations, as well as for
data processing algorithms for future gravitational wave detectors.Comment: 43 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses revtex.sty, accepted to Phys.
Rev. D, minor corrections in formulae regarding algebraic sign
In-plane optical response of Bi2Sr2CuO6
We report on infrared reflectivity measurements of the -plane response of
superconducting BiSrCuO single crystals. The frequency dependent
conductivity has a maximum near 700 cm at room temperature, which shifts
to lower frequency and merges with a Drude-peak below 100 K. We attribute the
unusual behaviour of the mid-infrared conductivity to low frequency transitions
between electronic bands of mainly BiO character near the point.
The linear temperature dependence of the low-frequency resistivity can be
followed down to approximately 40 K where it saturates.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, 4 postscript figures, Phys. Rev. B, in pres
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