10,902 research outputs found
X-ray emission from PSR B1800-21, its wind nebula, and similar systems
We detected X-ray emission from PSR B1800-21 and its synchrotron nebula with
the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The pulsar's observed flux is (1.4+/-0.2)
10^{-14} ergs cm^{-2} s^{-1} in the 1-6 keV band. The spectrum can be described
by a two-component PL+BB model, suggesting a mixture of thermal and
magnetospheric emission. For a plausible hydrogen column density n_{H}=1.4
10^{22} cm^{-2}, the PL component has a slope Gamma=1.4+/-0.6 and a luminosity
L_{psr}^{nonth}=4 10^{31}(d/4 kpc)^2 ergs s^{-1}. The properties of the thermal
component (kT=0.1-0.3 keV, L^{bol}=10^{31}-10^{33} ergs s^{-1}) are very poorly
constrained because of the strong interstellar absorption. The compact,
7''\times4'', inner pulsar-wind nebula (PWN), elongated perpendicular to the
pulsar's proper motion, is immersed in a fainter asymmetric emission. The
observed flux of the PWN is (5.5+/-0.6) 10^{-14} ergs cm^{-2} s^{-1} in the 1-8
keV band. The PWN spectrum fits by a PL model with Gamma=1.6+/-0.3, L=1.6
10^{32} (d/4 kpc})^2 ergs s^{-1}. The shape of the inner PWN suggests that the
pulsar moves subsonically and X-ray emission emerges from a torus associated
with the termination shock in the equatorial pulsar wind. The inferred
PWN-pulsar properties (e.g., the PWN X-ray efficiency, L_{pwn}/\dot{E}~10^{-4};
the luminosity ratio, L_{pwn}/L_{psr}^{nonth}=4; the pulsar wind pressure at
the termination shock, p_s=10^{-9} ergs cm^{-3}) are very similar to those of
other subsonically moving Vela-like objects detected with Chandra
(L_{pwn}/\dot{E}=10^{-4.5}-10^{-3.5}, L_{pwn}/L_{psr}^{nonth}~5,
p_s=10^{-10}-10^{-8} ergs cm^{-1}).Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables; submitted to ApJ. Version with the
high-resolution figures is available at
http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/green/B1800/B1800_ApJ.pd
Thermogravimetric analysis of aluminised E-glass fibre reinforced unsaturated polyester composites
Novel aluminised E-glass fibre reinforced unsaturated polyester composites, originally formulated for enhanced thermal and electrical shielding properties were evaluated in terms of their thermal performance. The thermal degradation of these specimens was analysed using a thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). The samples were heated from ambient temperature to 500 °C at a heating rate of 20 °C/min. All specimens were decomposed under dry nitrogen (N2) at a flow rate of 40 ml/min to yield gases and solid char. Aluminised E-glass composites were compared alongside the unmetallised E-glass and unreinforced composite. The major weight loss occurred between 200 and 400 °C. The unreinforced polyester had a maximum weight loss, 1.25%/°C, occurring at 360 °C. For the aluminised and unmetallised E-glass composites, the maximum rate of weight loss was 0.34 and 0.55%/°C, respectively. Experimental results show the degradation of the aluminised E-glass composites obtained from TGA tests is higher compared to those of unmetallised E-glass fibre and unreinforced polyester composite. This improvement is correlated to the aluminium coating.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TXX-4M2WP4H-2/1/bef16e64695f47cabc7a3f55ce5b745
The Distribution of Nearby Stars in Velocity Space Inferred from Hipparcos Data
(abridged) The velocity distribution f(v) of nearby stars is estimated, via a
maximum- likelihood algorithm, from the positions and tangential velocities of
a kinematically unbiased sample of 14369 stars observed by the HIPPARCOS
satellite. f(v) shows rich structure in the radial and azimuthal motions, v_R
and v_phi, but not in the vertical velocity, v_z: there are four prominent and
many smaller maxima, many of which correspond to well known moving groups.
While samples of early-type stars are dominated by these maxima, also up to 25%
of red main-sequence stars are associated with them. These moving groups are
responsible for the vertex deviation measured even for samples of late-type
stars; they appear more frequently for ever redder samples; and as a whole they
follow an asymmetric-drift relation, in the sense that those only present in
red samples predominantly have large |v_R| and lag in v_phi w.r.t. the local
standard of rest (LSR). The question arise, how these old moving groups got on
their eccentric orbits. A plausible mechanism, known from solar system
dynamics, which is able to manage a shift in orbit space involves locking into
an orbital resonance.
Apart from these moving groups, there is a smooth background distribution,
akin to Schwarzschild's ellipsoidal model, with axis ratio of about 1:0.6:0.35
in v_R, v_phi, and v_z. The contours are aligned with the direction, but
not w.r.t. the v_phi and v_z axes: the mean v_z increases for stars rotating
faster than the LSR. This effect can be explained by the stellar warp of the
Galactic disk. If this explanation is correct, the warp's inner edge must not
be within the solar circle, while its pattern rotates with frequency of about
13 km/s/kpc or more retrograde w.r.t. the stellar orbits.Comment: 16 pages LaTeX (aas2pp4.sty), 6 figures, accepted by A
Perturbation theorems for Hele-Shaw flows and their applications
In this work, we give a perturbation theorem for strong polynomial solutions
to the zero surface tension Hele-Shaw equation driven by injection or suction,
so called the Polubarinova-Galin equation. This theorem enables us to explore
properties of solutions with initial functions close to but are not polynomial.
Applications of this theorem are given in the suction or injection case. In the
former case, we show that if the initial domain is close to a disk, most of
fluid will be sucked before the strong solution blows up. In the later case, we
obtain precise large-time rescaling behaviors for large data to Hele-Shaw flows
in terms of invariant Richardson complex moments. This rescaling behavior
result generalizes a recent result regarding large-time rescaling behavior for
small data in terms of moments. As a byproduct of a theorem in this paper, a
short proof of existence and uniqueness of strong solutions to the
Polubarinova-Galin equation is given.Comment: 25 page
Thermodynamic properties of a small superconducting grain
The reduced BCS Hamiltonian for a metallic grain with a finite number of
electrons is considered. The crossover between the ultrasmall regime, in which
the level spacing, , is larger than the bulk superconducting gap, ,
and the small regime, where , is investigated analytically
and numerically. The condensation energy, spin magnetization and tunneling peak
spectrum are calculated analytically in the ultrasmall regime, using an
approximation controlled by as small parameter, where is the
number of interacting electron pairs. The condensation energy in this regime is
perturbative in the coupling constant , and is proportional to . We find that also in a large regime with
, in which pairing correlations are already rather well developed,
the perturbative part of the condensation energy is larger than the singular,
BCS, part. The condition for the condensation energy to be well approximated by
the BCS result is found to be roughly . We show how
the condensation energy can, in principle, be extracted from a measurement of
the spin magnetization curve, and find a re-entrant susceptibility at zero
temperature as a function of magnetic field, which can serve as a sensitive
probe for the existence of superconducting correlations in ultrasmall grains.
Numerical results are presented which suggest that in the large limit the
1/N correction to the BCS result for the condensation energy is larger than
.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev.
A New Approach to Large-Scale Nuclear Structure Calculations
A new approach to large-scale nuclear structure calculations, based on the
Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG), is described. The method is tested
in the context of a problem involving many identical nucleons constrained to
move in a single large-j shell and interacting via a pairing plus quadrupole
interaction. In cases in which exact diagonalization of the hamiltonian is
possible, the method is able to reproduce the exact results for the ground
state energy and the energies of low-lying excited states with extreme
precision. Results are also presented for a model problem in which exact
solution is not feasible.Comment: 6 pages + 1 eps figur
Climate tipping points — too risky to bet against
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordThe growing threat of abrupt and irreversible climate changes must compel political and economic action on emissions.Royal SocietyLeverhulme Trus
The “fossilized” mitochondrial genome of Liriodendron tulipifera: ancestral gene content and order, ancestral editing sites, and extraordinarily low mutation rate
BACKGROUND: The mitochondrial genomes of flowering plants vary greatly in size, gene content, gene order, mutation rate and level of RNA editing. However, the narrow phylogenetic breadth of available genomic data has limited our ability to reconstruct these traits in the ancestral flowering plant and, therefore, to infer subsequent patterns of evolution across angiosperms. RESULTS: We sequenced the mitochondrial genome of Liriodendron tulipifera, the first from outside the monocots or eudicots. This 553,721 bp mitochondrial genome has evolved remarkably slowly in virtually all respects, with an extraordinarily low genome-wide silent substitution rate, retention of genes frequently lost in other angiosperm lineages, and conservation of ancestral gene clusters. The mitochondrial protein genes in Liriodendron are the most heavily edited of any angiosperm characterized to date. Most of these sites are also edited in various other lineages, which allowed us to polarize losses of editing sites in other parts of the angiosperm phylogeny. Finally, we added comprehensive gene sequence data for two other magnoliids, Magnolia stellata and the more distantly related Calycanthus floridus, to measure rates of sequence evolution in Liriodendron with greater accuracy. The Magnolia genome has evolved at an even lower rate, revealing a roughly 5,000-fold range of synonymous-site divergence among angiosperms whose mitochondrial gene space has been comprehensively sequenced. CONCLUSIONS: Using Liriodendron as a guide, we estimate that the ancestral flowering plant mitochondrial genome contained 41 protein genes, 14 tRNA genes of mitochondrial origin, as many as 7 tRNA genes of chloroplast origin, >700 sites of RNA editing, and some 14 colinear gene clusters. Many of these gene clusters, genes and RNA editing sites have been variously lost in different lineages over the course of the ensuing ∽200 million years of angiosperm evolution
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