3,381 research outputs found
Constraints on cosmic-ray efficiency in the supernova remnant RCW 86 using multi-wavelength observations
Several young supernova remnants (SNRs) have recently been detected in the
high-energy and very-high-energy gamma-ray domains. As exemplified by RX
J1713.7-3946, the nature of this emission has been hotly debated, and direct
evidence for the efficient acceleration of cosmic-ray protons at the SNR shocks
still remains elusive. We analyzed more than 40 months of data acquired by the
Large Area Telescope (LAT) on-board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope in the
HE domain, and gathered all of the relevant multi-wavelength (from radio to VHE
gamma-rays) information about the broadband nonthermal emission from RCW 86.
For this purpose, we re-analyzed the archival X-ray data from the ASCA/Gas
Imaging Spectrometer (GIS), the XMM-Newton/EPIC-MOS, and the RXTE/Proportional
Counter Array (PCA). Beyond the expected Galactic diffuse background, no
significant gamma-ray emission in the direction of RCW 86 is detected in any of
the 0.1-1, 1-10 and 10-100 GeV Fermi-LAT maps. In the hadronic scenario, the
derived HE upper limits together with the HESS measurements in the VHE domain
can only be accommodated by a spectral index Gamma <= 1.8, i.e. a value
in-between the standard (test-particle) index and the asymptotic limit of
theoretical particle spectra in the case of strongly modified shocks. The
interpretation of the gamma-ray emission by inverse Compton scattering of high
energy electrons reproduces the multi-wavelength data using a reasonable value
for the average magnetic field of 15-25 muG. For these two scenarios, we
assessed the level of acceleration efficiency. We discuss these results in the
light of existing estimates of the magnetic field strength, the effective
density and the acceleration efficiency in RCW 86.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A; 10 pages and 4 figure
Fourfold oscillations and anomalous magnetic irreversibility of magnetoresistance in the non-metallic regime of Pr1.85Ce0.15CuO4
Using magnetoresistance measurements as a function of applied magnetic field
and its direction of application, we present sharp angular-dependent
magnetoresistance oscillations for the electron-doped cuprates in their
low-temperature non-metallic regime. The presence of irreversibility in the
magnetoresistance measurements and the related strong anisotropy of the field
dependence for different in-plane magnetic field orientations indicate that
magnetic domains play an important role for the determination of electronic
properties. These domains are likely related to the stripe phase reported
previously in hole-doped cuprates.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Generalized Master Equations for Non-Poisson Dynamics on Networks
The traditional way of studying temporal networks is to aggregate the
dynamics of the edges to create a static weighted network. This implicitly
assumes that the edges are governed by Poisson processes, which is not
typically the case in empirical temporal networks. Consequently, we examine the
effects of non-Poisson inter-event statistics on the dynamics of edges, and we
apply the concept of a generalized master equation to the study of
continuous-time random walks on networks. We show that the equation reduces to
the standard rate equations when the underlying process is Poisson and that the
stationary solution is determined by an effective transition matrix whose
leading eigenvector is easy to calculate. We discuss the implications of our
work for dynamical processes on temporal networks and for the construction of
network diagnostics that take into account their nontrivial stochastic nature
On the nature of the hard X-ray source IGR J2018+4043
We found a very likely counterpart to the recently discovered hard X-ray
source IGR J2018+4043 in the multi-wavelength observations of the source field.
The source, originally discovered in the 20-40 keV band, is now confidently
detected also in the 40-80 keV band, with a flux of (1.4 +/- 0.4) x 10(-11) erg
cm(-2) s(-1). A 5 ks Swift observation of the IGR J2018+4043 field revealed a
hard point-like source with the observed 0.5-10 keV flux of 3.4(+0.7)(-0.8) x
10(-12) erg cm(-2) s(-1) (90% confidence level) at alpha = 20h18m38.55s, delta
= +40d41m00.4s (with a 4.2" uncertainty). The combined Swift-INTEGRAL spectrum
can be described by an absorbed power-law model with photon index gamma = 1.3
+/- 0.2 and N_H = 6.1(+3.2)(-2.2) x 10(22) cm(-2). In archival optical and
infrared data we found a slightly extended and highly absorbed object at the
Swift source position. There is also an extended VLA 1.4 GHz source peaked at a
beam-width distance from the optical and X-ray positions. The observed
morphology and multiwavelength spectra of IGR J2018+4043 are consistent with
those expected for an obscured accreting object, i.e. an AGN or a Galactic
X-ray binary. The identification suggests possible connection of IGR J2018+4043
to the bright gamma-ray source GEV J2020+4023 (3EG J2020+4017) detected by COS
B and CGRO EGRET in the gamma-Cygni SNR field.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, uses emulateapj styl
The Effect of the Environment on alpha-Al_2O_3 (0001) Surface Structures
We report that calculating the Gibbs free energy of the alpha-Al_2O_3 (0001)
surfaces in equilibrium with a realistic environment containing both oxygen and
hydrogen species is essential for obtaining theoretical predictions consistent
with experimental observations. Using density-functional theory we find that
even under conditions of high oxygen partial pressure, the metal terminated
surface is surprisingly stable. An oxygen terminated alpha-Al_2O_3 (0001)
surface becomes stable only if hydrogen is present on the surface. In addition,
including hydrogen on the surface resolves discrepancies between previous
theoretical work and experimental results with respect to the magnitude and
direction of surface relaxations.Comment: 4 pages including 2 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. Related
publications can be found at http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm
The 3rd IBIS/ISGRI soft gamma-ray survey catalog
In this paper we report on the third soft gamma-ray source catalog obtained
with the IBIS/ISGRI gamma-ray imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite. The
scientific dataset is based on more than 40 Ms of high quality observations
performed during the first three and a half years of Core Program and public
IBIS/ISGRI observations. Compared to previous IBIS/ISGRI surveys, this catalog
includes a substantially increased coverage of extragalactic fields, and
comprises more than 400 high-energy sources detected in the energy range 17-100
keV, including both transients and faint persistent objects which can only be
revealed with longer exposure times.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Suppl.; 11 pages; 4 figures Minor
changes to conten
Quantum jumps in hydrogen-like systems
In this paper it is shown that the Lyman- transition of a single
hydrogen-like system driven by a laser exhibits macroscopic dark periods,
provided there exists an additional constant electric field. We describe the
photon-counting process under the condition that the polarization of the laser
coincides with the direction of the constant electric field. The theoretical
results are given for the example of . We show that the emission
behavior depends sensitively on the Lamb shift (W.E. Lamb, R.C. Retherford,
Phys. Rev. 72, 241 (1947)) between the and energy levels.
A possibly realizable measurement of the mean duration of the dark periods
should give quantitative information about the above energy difference by using
the proposed photon-counting process.Comment: 7 pages RevTeX + 2 figures Phys. Rev A accepte
In vivo neurochemical measurements in cerebral tissues using a droplet-based monitoring system.
Direct collection of extracellular fluid (ECF) plays a central role in the monitoring of neurological disorders. Current approaches using microdialysis catheters are however drastically limited in term of temporal resolution. Here we show a functional in vivo validation of a droplet collection system included at the tip of a neural probe. The system comprises an advanced droplet formation mechanism which enables the collection of neurochemicals present in the brain ECF at high-temporal resolution. The probe was implanted in a rat brain and could successfully collect fluid samples organized in a train of droplets. A microfabricated target plate compatible with most of the surface-based detection methods was specifically developed for sample analysis. The time-resolved brain-fluid samples are analyzed using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The results provide a time evolution picture of the cerebral tissues neurochemical composition for selected elements known for their involvement in neurodegenerative diseases
Group theoretical approach to quantum fields in de Sitter space I. The principal series
Using unitary irreducible representations of the de Sitter group, we
construct the Fock space of a massive free scalar field.
In this approach, the vacuum is the unique dS invariant state. The quantum
field is a posteriori defined by an operator subject to covariant
transformations under the dS isometry group. This insures that it obeys
canonical commutation relations, up to an overall factor which should not
vanish as it fixes the value of hbar. However, contrary to what is obtained for
the Poincare group, the covariance condition leaves an arbitrariness in the
definition of the field. This arbitrariness allows to recover the amplitudes
governing spontaneous pair creation processes, as well as the class of alpha
vacua obtained in the usual field theoretical approach. The two approaches can
be formally related by introducing a squeezing operator which acts on the state
in the field theoretical description and on the operator in the present
treatment. The choice of the different dS invariant schemes (different alpha
vacua) is here posed in very simple terms: it is related to a first order
differential equation which is singular on the horizon and whose general
solution is therefore characterized by the amplitude on either side of the
horizon. Our algebraic approach offers a new method to define quantum field
theory on some deformations of dS space.Comment: 35 pages, 2 figures ; Corrected typo, Changed referenc
Observations of SN2011fe with INTEGRAL
SN2011fe was detected by the Palomar Transient Factory on August 24th 2011 in
M101 few hours after the explosion. From the early spectra it was immediately
realized that it was a Type Ia supernova thus making this event the brightest
one discovered in the last twenty years. In this paper the observations
performed with the instruments on board of INTEGRAL (SPI, IBIS/ISGRI, JEM-X and
OMC) before and after the maximum of the optical light as well as the
interpretation in terms of the existing models of --ray emission from
such kind of supernovae are reported. All INTEGRAL high-energy have only been
able to provide upper limits to the expected emission due to the decay of
Ni. These bounds allow to reject explosions involving a massive white
dwarf in the sub--Chandrasekhar scenario. On the other hand, the optical light
curve obtained with the OMC camera suggests that the event was produced by a
delayed detonation of a CO white dwarf that produced M of
Ni. In this particular case, INTEGRAL would have only been able to
detect the early --ray emission if the supernova had occurred at a
distance of 2 -3 Mpc, although the brightest event could be visible up to
distances larger by a factor two.Comment: Proceedings of "An INTEGRAL view of the high-energy sky (the first 10
years)" the 9th INTEGRAL Workshop, October 15-19, 2012, Paris, France, in
Proceedings of Science (INTEGRAL 2012), Eds. A. Goldwurm, F. Lebrun and C.
Winkler, http://pos.sissa.it/cgi-bin/reader/conf.cgi?confid=176, id number
PoS (INTEGRAL 2012) 103 (2013
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