10,887 research outputs found
A radio continuum survey of the southern sky at 1420 MHz. Observations and data reduction
We describe the equipment, observational method and reduction procedure of an
absolutely calibrated radio continuum survey of the South Celestial Hemisphere
at a frequency of 1420 MHz. These observations cover the area 0h < R.A. < 24h
for declinations less than -10 degree. The sensitivity is about 50 mK T_B (full
beam brightness) and the angular resolution (HPBW) is 35.4', which matches the
existing northern sky survey at the same frequency.Comment: 9 pages with 9 figures, A&A, in pres
G55.0+0.3: A Highly Evolved Supernova Remnant
Multi-frequency analysis has revealed the presence of a new supernova
remnant, G55.0+0.3, in the Galactic plane. A kinematic distance of 14 kpc has
been measured from HI spectral line data. The faint, clumpy half-shell is
non-thermal and has a physical radius of 70 pc. Using an evolutionary model,
the age of the remnant is estimated to be on the order of one million years,
which exceeds conventional limits by a factor of five. The remnant may be
associated with the nearby pulsar J1932+2020, which has a spin-down age of 1.1
million years. This work implies that the radiative lifetimes of remnants could
be much longer than previously suggested.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures in 9 files (figures 1 and 2 require 2 files
each), Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal (Jan. 20, 1998
volume
Exciton binding energies in carbon nanotubes from two-photon photoluminescence
One- and two-photon luminescence excitation spectroscopy showed a series of
distinct excitonic states in single-walled carbon nanotubes. The energy
splitting between one- and two-photon-active exciton states of different
wavefunction symmetry is the fingerprint of excitonic interactions in carbon
nanotubes. We determine exciton binding energies of 0.3-0.4 eV for different
nanotubes with diameters between 0.7 and 0.9 nm. Our results, which are
supported by ab-initio calculations of the linear and non-linear optical
spectra, prove that the elementary optical excitations of carbon nanotubes are
strongly Coulomb-correlated, quasi-one dimensionally confined electron-hole
pairs, stable even at room temperature. This alters our microscopic
understanding of both the electronic structure and the Coulomb interactions in
carbon nanotubes, and has direct impact on the optical and transport properties
of novel nanotube devices.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
The phonon dispersion of graphite by inelastic x-ray scattering
We present the full in-plane phonon dispersion of graphite obtained from
inelastic x-ray scattering, including the optical and acoustic branches, as
well as the mid-frequency range between the and points in the Brillouin
zone, where experimental data have been unavailable so far. The existence of a
Kohn anomaly at the point is further supported. We fit a fifth-nearest
neighbour force-constants model to the experimental data, making improved
force-constants calculations of the phonon dispersion in both graphite and
carbon nanotubes available.Comment: 7 pages; submitted to Phys. Rev.
Extragalactic Radio Sources and the WMAP Cold Spot
We detect a dip of 20-45% in the surface brightness and number counts of NVSS
sources smoothed to a few degrees at the location of the WMAP cold spot. The
dip has structure on scales of approximately 1-10 degrees. Together with
independent all-sky wavelet analyses, our results suggest that the dip in
extragalactic brightness and number counts and the WMAP cold spot are
physically related, i.e., that the coincidence is neither a statistical anomaly
nor a WMAP foreground correction problem. If the cold spot does originate from
structures at modest redshifts, as we suggest, then there is no remaining need
for non-Gaussian processes at the last scattering surface of the CMB to explain
the cold spot. The late integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, already seen
statistically for NVSS source counts, can now be seen to operate on a single
region. To create the magnitude and angular size of the WMAP cold spot requires
a ~140 Mpc radius completely empty void at z<=1 along this line of sight. This
is far outside the current expectations of the concordance cosmology, and adds
to the anomalies seen in the CMB.Comment: revised version, ApJ, in pres
Spectrum of Electrons in Graphene as an Alternant Macromolecule and Its Specific Features in Quantum Conductance
An exact description of electrons based on the tight-binding model of
graphene as an alternant, plane macromolecule is presented. The model molecule
can contain an arbitrary number of benzene rings and has armchair- and
zigzag-shaped edges. This suggests an instructive alternative to the most
commonly used approach, where the reference is made to the honeycomb lattice
periodic in its A and B sublattices. Several advantages of the macromolecule
model are demonstrated. The newly derived analytical relations detail our
understanding of electron nature in achiral graphene ribbons and carbon
tubes and classify these structures as quantum wires.Comment: 13 pages 8 figures, revised in line with referee's comment
Radio and gamma-ray constraints on dark matter annihilation in the Galactic center
We determine upper limits on the dark matter (DM) self-annihilation cross
section for scenarios in which annihilation leads to the production of
electron--positron pairs. In the Galactic centre (GC), relativistic electrons
and positrons produce a radio flux via synchroton emission, and a gamma ray
flux via bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton scattering. On the basis of
archival, interferometric and single-dish radio data, we have determined the
radio spectrum of an elliptical region around the Galactic centre of extent 3
degrees semi-major axis (along the Galactic plane) and 1 degree semi-minor axis
and a second, rectangular region, also centered on the GC, of extent 1.6
degrees x 0.6 degrees. The radio spectra of both regions are non-thermal over
the range of frequencies for which we have data: 74 MHz -- 10 GHz. We also
consider gamma-ray data covering the same region from the EGRET instrument
(about GeV) and from HESS (around TeV). We show how the combination of these
data can be used to place robust constraints on DM annihilation scenarios, in a
way which is relatively insensitive to assumptions about the magnetic field
amplitude in this region. Our results are approximately an order of magnitude
more constraining than existing Galactic centre radio and gamma ray limits. For
a DM mass of m_\chi =10 GeV, and an NFW profile, we find that the
velocity-averaged cross-section must be less than a few times 10^-25 cm^3 s^-1.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. Version accepted for publication in PRD.
Reference section updated/extended
Tuning the electron-phonon coupling in multilayer graphene with magnetic fields
Magneto Raman scattering study of the E optical phonons in multi-layer
epitaxial graphene grown on a carbon face of SiC are presented. At 4.2K in
magnetic field up to 33 T, we observe a series of well pronounced avoided
crossings each time the optically active inter Landau level transition is tuned
in resonance with the E phonon excitation (at 196 meV). The width of the
phonon Raman scattering response also shows pronounced variations and is
enhanced in conditions of resonance. The experimental results are well
reproduced by a model that gives directly the strength of the electron-phonon
interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
An upper limit on anomalous dust emission at 31 GHz in the diffuse cloud [LPH96]201.663+1.643
[LPH96]201.663+1.643, a diffuse H{\sc ii} region, has been reported to be a
candidate for emission from rapidly spinning dust grains. Here we present
Cosmic Background Imager (CBI) observations at 26-36 GHz that show no evidence
for significant anomalous emission. The spectral index within the CBI band, and
between CBI and Effelsberg data at 1.4/2.7 GHz, is consistent with optically
thin free-free emission. The best-fitting temperature spectral index from 2.7
to 31 GHz, , is close to the theoretical value,
for K. We place an upper limit of 24% ~ (2\sigma)
for excess emission at 31 GHz as seen in a 6\arcmin FWHM beam. Current
spinning dust models are not a good fit to the spectrum of LPH96. No polarized
emission is detected in the CBI data with an upper limit of 2% on the
polarization fraction.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ
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