2,382 research outputs found
Chandra Observations of the X-Ray Jet of 3C273
We report results from Chandra observations of the X-ray jet of 3C~273 during
the calibration phase in 2000 January. The zeroeth-order images and spectra
from two 40-ks exposures with the HETG and LETG+ACIS-S show a complex X-ray
structure. The brightest optical knots are detected and resolved in the 0.2-8
keV energy band. The X-ray morphology tracks well the optical. However, while
the X-ray brightness decreases along the jet, the outer parts of the jet tend
to be increasingly bright with increasing wavelength. The spectral energy
distributions of four selected regions can best be explained by inverse Compton
scattering of (beamed) cosmic microwave background photons. The model
parameters are compatible with equipartition and a moderate Doppler factor,
which is consistent with the one-sidedness of the jet. Alternative models
either imply implausible physical conditions and energetics (the synchrotron
self-Compton model) or are sufficiently ad hoc to be unconstrained by the
present data (synchrotron radiation from a spatially or temporally distinct
particle population).Comment: 3 figures; Figure 1 in color. Accepted for publication by ApJ Letter
Electronic properties of Fabre charge-transfer salts under various temperature and pressure conditions
Using density functional theory, we determine parameters of tight-binding
Hamiltonians for a variety of Fabre charge transfer salts, focusing in
particular on the effects of temperature and pressure. Besides relying on
previously published crystal structures, we experimentally determine two new
sets of structures; (TMTTF)SbF at different temperatures and
(TMTTF)PF at various pressures. We find that a few trends in the
electronic behavior can be connected to the complex phase diagram shown by
these materials. Decreasing temperature and increasing pressure cause the
systems to become more two-dimensional. We analyze the importance of
correlations by considering an extended Hubbard model parameterized using
Wannier orbital overlaps and show that while charge order is strongly activated
by the inter-site Coulomb interaction, the magnetic order is only weakly
enhanced. Both orders are suppressed when the effective pressure is increased.Comment: 12 pages, 16 figure
Na2V3O7, a frustrated nanotubular system with spin-1/2 diamond rings
Following the recent discussion on the puzzling nature of the interactions in
the nanotubular system Na2V3O7, we present a detailed ab-initio microscopic
analysis of its electronic and magnetic properties. By means of a non-trivial
downfolding study we propose an effective model in terms of tubes of nine-site
rings with the geometry of a spin-diamond necklace with frustrated inter-ring
interactions. We show that this model provides a quantitative account of the
observed magnetic behavior.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. Phys. Rev. Lett. (in press
Proton acceleration beyond 100 EeV by an oblique shock wave in the jet of 3C 273
We estimate the highest energy of proton diffusively accelerated by shock in
knot A1 of the jet in luminous nearby quasar 3C 273. Referring to the recent
polarization measurements using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), we
consider the shock propagation across magnetic field lines, namely,
configuration of the oblique shock. For larger inclination of the field lines,
the effects of particle reflection at the shock front are more pronounced, to
significantly increase acceleration efficiency. The quasiperpendicular shock
turns out to be needed for safely achieving the proton acceleration to the
energy above 100 EeV (10^20 eV) in a parameter domain reflecting conceivable
energy restrictions.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical
Journal Letter
Synthetic Observations of Simulated Radio Galaxies I: Radio and X-ray Analysis
We present an extensive synthetic observational analysis of numerically-
simulated radio galaxies designed to explore the effectiveness of conventional
observational analyses at recovering physical source properties. These are the
first numerical simulations with sufficient physical detail to allow such a
study. The present paper focuses on extraction of magnetic field properties
from nonthermal intensity information. Synchrotron and inverse-Compton
intensities provided meaningful information about distributions and strengths
of magnetic fields, although considerable care was called for. Correlations
between radio and X-ray surface brightness correctly revealed useful dynamical
relationships between particles and fields. Magnetic field strength estimates
derived from the ratio of X-ray to radio intensity were mostly within about a
factor of two of the RMS field strength along a given line of sight. When
emissions along a given line of sight were dominated by regions close to the
minimum energy/equipartition condition, the field strengths derived from the
standard power-law-spectrum minimum energy calculation were also reasonably
close to actual field strengths, except when spectral aging was evident.
Otherwise, biases in the minimum- energy magnetic field estimation mirrored
actual differences from equipartition. The ratio of the inverse-Compton
magnetic field to the minimum-energy magnetic field provided a rough measure of
the actual total energy in particles and fields in most instances, within an
order of magnitude. This may provide a practical limit to the accuracy with
which one may be able to establish the internal energy density or pressure of
optically thin synchrotron sources.Comment: 43 pages, 14 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ, v601 n2
February 1, 200
Molecular Hydrogen Formation on Low Temperature Surfaces in Temperature Programmed Desorption Experiments
The study of the formation of molecular hydrogen on low temperature surfaces
is of interest both because it allows to explore elementary steps in the
heterogeneous catalysis of a simple molecule and because of the applications in
astrochemistry. Here we report results of experiments of molecular hydrogen
formation on amorphous silicate surfaces using temperature-programmed
desorption (TPD). In these experiments beams of H and D atoms are irradiated on
the surface of an amorphous silicate sample. The desorption rate of HD
molecules is monitored using a mass spectrometer during a subsequent TPD run.
The results are analyzed using rate equations and the activation energies of
the processes leading to molecular hydrogen formation are obtained from the TPD
data. We show that a model based on a single isotope provides the correct
results for the activation energies for diffusion and desorption of H atoms.
These results can thus be used to evaluate the formation rate of H_2 on dust
grains under the actual conditions present in interstellar clouds.Comment: 30 pages, 1 table, 6 figures. Published versio
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