Electron-positron energy deposition rate from neutrino pair annihilation on the rotation axis of neutron and quark stars

We investigate the deposition of energy due to the annihilations of neutrinos and antineutrinos on the rotation axis of rotating neutron and quark stars, respectively. The source of the neutrinos is assumed to be a neutrino-cooled accretion disk around the compact object. Under the assumption of the separability of the neutrino null geodesic equation of motion we obtain the general relativistic expression of the energy deposition rate for arbitrary stationary and axisymmetric space-times. The neutrino trajectories are obtained by using a ray tracing algorithm, based on numerically solving the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for neutrinos by reversing the proper time evolution. We obtain the energy deposition rates for several classes of rotating neutron stars, described by different equations of state of the neutron matter, and for quark stars, described by the MIT bag model equation of state and in the CFL (Color-Flavor-Locked) phase, respectively. The electron-positron energy deposition rate on the rotation axis of rotating neutron and quark stars is studied for two accretion disk models (isothermal disk and accretion disk in thermodynamical equilibrium). Rotation and general relativistic effects modify the total annihilation rate of the neutrino-antineutrino pairs on the rotation axis of compact stellar, as measured by an observer at infinity. The differences in the equations of state for neutron and quark matter also have important effects on the spatial distribution of the energy deposition rate by neutrino-antineutrino annihilation.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

GRB afterglows: deep Newtonian phase and its application

Gamma-ray burst afterglows have been observed for months or even years in a few cases. It deserves noting that at such late stages, the remnants should have entered the deep Newtonian phase, during which the majority of shock-accelerated electrons will no longer be highly relativistic. To calculate the afterglows, we must assume that the electrons obey a power-law distribution according to their kinetic energy, not simply the Lorentz factor.Comment: Poster at the 4th workshop "Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Afterglow Era" (Rome, 2004), accepted for publication in the proceedings. 4 pages, with 3 figures inserte

A COMPARISON OF EXTENDED SOURCE-FILTER MODELS FOR MUSICAL SIGNAL RECONSTRUCTION

China Scholarship Council (CSC)/ Queen Mary Joint PhD scholarship; Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowshi

Beaming effects in GRBs and orphan afterglows

The overall dynamical evolution and radiation mechanism of $\gamma$-ray burst jets are briefly introduced. Various interesting topics concerning beaming in $\gamma$-ray bursts are discussed, including jet structures, orphan afterglows and cylindrical jets. The possible connection between $\gamma$-ray bursts and neutron star kicks is also addressed.Comment: 10 Pages, 4 figures, to appear in a special issue of ApSS. Oral report presented at "The Multiwavelength Approach to Unidentified Gamma-Ray Sources" (Hong Kong, June 1 - 4, 2004; Conference organizers: K.S. Cheng and G.E. Romero

Reply to [arXiv:1105.5147] "Are GRB 090423 and Similar Bursts due to Superconducting Cosmic Strings?"

The GRB outflow driven by superconducting cosmic strings is likely to be an arc rather than a usually-considered spherical cap. In such a case, the afterglows of the cosmic string GRBs could be basically consistent with the observation of the high-redshift GRBs.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Constraints on extra-dimensions and variable constants from cosmological gamma ray bursts

The observation of the time delay between the soft emission and the high-energy radiation from cosmological gamma ray bursts can be used as an important observational test of multi-dimensional physical theories. The main source of the time delay is the variation of the electromagnetic coupling, due to dimensional reduction, which induces an energy dependence of the speed of light. For photons with energies around 1 TeV, the time delay could range from a few seconds in the case of Kaluza-Klein models to a few days for models with large extra-dimensions. Based on these results we suggest that the detection of the 18-GeV photon $\sim$4500 s after the keV/MeV burst in GRB 940217 provides a strong evidence for the existence of extra-dimensions. The time delay of photons, if observed by the next generation of high energy detectors, like, for example, the SWIFT and GLAST satellite based detectors, or the VERITAS ground-based TeV gamma-ray instrument, could differentiate between the different models with extra-dimensions.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, contribution to the proceedings of the II Workshop on Unidentified Gamma-Ray Sources, Hong Kong, June 1-4, 200

Structure of the electrospheres of bare strange stars

We consider a thin ($\sim 10^2-10^3$ fm) layer of electrons (the electrosphere) at the quark surface of a bare strange star, taking into account the surface effects at the boundary with the vacuum. The quark surface holds the electron layer by an extremely strong electric field, generated in the electrosphere to prevent the electrons from escaping to infinity by counterbalancing the degeneracy and thermal pressure. Because of the surface tension and depletion of $s$ quarks a very thin (a few fm) charged layer of quarks forms at the surface of the star. The formation of this layer modifies the structure of the electrosphere, by significantly changing the electric field and the density of the electrons, in comparison with the case when the surface effects are ignored. Some consequences of the modification of the electrosphere structure on the properties of strange stars are briefly discussed.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Ap