325 research outputs found
Luminosity Function of High-Mass X-ray Binaries and Anisotropy in the Distribution of Active Galactic Nuclei toward the Large Magellanic Cloud
In 2003-2012, the INTEGRAL observatory has performed long-term observations
of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). At present, this is one of the deepest
hard X-ray (20-60 keV) surveys of extragalactic fields in which more than 20
sources of different natures have been detected. We present the results of a
statistical analysis of the population of high-mass X-ray binaries in the LMC
and active galactic nuclei (AGNs) observed in its direction. The hard X-ray
luminosity function of high-mass X-ray binaries is shown to be described by a
power law with a slope alpha~1.8, that in agreement with the luminosity
function measurements both in the LMC itself, but made in the soft X-ray energy
band, and in other galaxies. At the same time, the number of detected AGNs
toward the LMC turns out to be considerably smaller than the number of AGNs
registered in other directions, in particular, toward the source 3C 273. The
latter confirms the previously made assumption that the distribution of matter
in the local Universe is nonuniform.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, will be published in Astronomy Letters, 2012,
Vol. 38, No. 8, p. 492--49
X-ray line formation in the spectrum of SS 433
The mechanisms for the formation of X-ray lines in the spectrum of SS 433 are
investigated by taking into account the radiative transfer inside the jets. The
results of Monte Carlo numerical simulations are presented. The effect of a
decrease in line intensity due to scattering inside the jet turns out to be
pronounced, but it does not exceed 60% in magnitude on the entire grid of
parameters. The line broadening due to scattering, nutational motion, and the
contribution of satellites can lead to overestimates of the jet opening angle
from the line widths in Chandra X-ray observations. The fine structure
of the lines turns out to be very sensitive to the scattering effects. This
makes its investigation by planned X-ray observatories equipped with
high-resolution spectrometers (primarily Astro-H) a powerful tool for
diagnosing the parameters of the jets in SS 433.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, to be published in Astronomy Letters, v. 38, n.
7, p. 443 (2012
Phase diagram of Eu magnetic ordering in Sn-flux-grown Eu(FeCo)As single crystals
The magnetic ground state of the Eu moments in a series of
Eu(FeCo)As single crystals grown from the Sn flux has
been investigated in detail by neutron diffraction measurements. Combined with
the results from the macroscopic properties (resistivity, magnetic
susceptibility and specific heat) measurements, a phase diagram describing how
the Eu magnetic order evolves with Co doping in
Eu(FeCo)As is established. The ground-state magnetic
structure of the Eu spins is found to develop from the A-type
antiferromagnetic (AFM) order in the parent compound, via the A-type canted AFM
structure with some net ferromagnetic (FM) moment component along the
crystallographic direction at intermediate Co doping levels,
finally to the pure FM order at relatively high Co doping levels. The ordering
temperature of Eu declines linearly at first, reaches the minimum value of
16.5(2) K around = 0.100(4), and then reverses upwards with
further Co doping. The doping-induced modification of the indirect
Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction between the Eu moments,
which is mediated by the conduction electrons on the (Fe,Co)As
layers, as well as the change of the strength of the direct interaction between
the Eu and Fe moments, might be responsible for the change of the
magnetic ground state and the ordering temperature of the Eu sublattice. In
addition, for Eu(FeCo)As single crystals with 0.10
0.18, strong ferromagnetism from the Eu
sublattice is well developed in the superconducting state, where a spontaneous
vortex state is expected to account for the compromise between the two
competing phenomena.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Relaxation of a qubit measured by a driven Duffing oscillator
We investigate the relaxation of a superconducting qubit for the case when
its detector, the Josephson bifurcation amplifier, remains latched in one of
its two (meta)stable states of forced vibrations. The qubit relaxation rates
are different in different states. They can display strong dependence on the
qubit frequency and resonant enhancement, which is due to quasienergy
resonances. Coupling to the driven oscillator changes the effective temperature
of the qubit.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. A (2010
Волновые структуры в ледяном поле и их влияние на прочность солёного льда
The heterogeneity of the strength of the ice field of the dynamic type of formation with an area of 800 m2 was investigated in time and space. It is shown that stationary periodic wave structures are formed in a closed volume of an ice field lying on the surface of a liquid in a rectangular basin. In a case of absence of any external influences, the dominant source of elastic waves in the ice is the coherent radiation of them on freezing of water, i.e. the ice field itself. Another wave structures, i.e. standing waves, form secondary ice textures in the ice field with diminished strength. Local hardness of ice was chosen as the criterion of strength. The recurrence of local hardness values as a function of coordinates of the measurement points in the longitudinal and transverse profiles of the ice field was determined. The hardness values vary from 40 to 60% with an axial force measurement error of 5%. The experimental relations are approximated by periodic curves, in which the maxima and minima of local hardness correlate with the nodes and antinodes of standing waves, respectively. The decrease in local ice hardness in the secondary textures is explained by high-frequency dynamic metamorphism. The wavelengths corresponding to bending-gravitational and longitudinal waves are identified, with the interference of which stationary periodic wave structures are formed. A similar regularity of changes in local hardness was revealed also in a river ice. The results obtained allow us to consider nonlinear wave phenomena as one of the factors controlling the spatial-temporal variability of the ice strength characteristics.Установлено, что в ледяном поле динамического типа формирования под действием стоячих волн образуются стационарные периодические волновые структуры. Определены масштабы таких структур. Изменение локальной твёрдости объясняется высокочастотным динамическим метаморфизмом льда в зонах пучностей стоячих волн. Показано, что источником упругих колебаний может быть когерентное излучение упругих волн при замораживании воды. Формирование аналогичных волновых структур в природном льде подтверждено полевыми измерениями твёрдости в речном ледяном покрове. Нелинейные волновые явления рассматриваются как один из факторов пространственно-временнóй изменчивости прочностных характеристик льда
The importance of the merging activity for the kinetic polarization of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal from galaxy clusters
The polarization sensitivity of the upcoming millimetric observatories will
open new possibilities for studying the properties of galaxy clusters and for
using them as powerful cosmological probes. For this reason it is necessary to
investigate in detail the characteristics of the polarization signals produced
by their highly ionized intra-cluster medium (ICM). This work is focussed on
the polarization effect induced by the ICM bulk motions, the so-called kpSZ
signal, which has an amplitude proportional to the optical depth and to the
square of the tangential velocity. In particular we study how this polarization
signal is affected by the internal dynamics of galaxy clusters and what is its
dependence on the physical modelling adopted to describe the baryonic
component. This is done by producing realistic kpSZ maps starting from the
outputs of two different sets of high-resolution hydrodynamical N-body
simulations. The first set (17 objects) follows only non-radiative
hydrodynamics, while for each of 9 objects of the second set we implement four
different kinds of physical processes. Our results shows that the kpSZ signal
turns out to be a very sensitive probe of the dynamical status of galaxy
clusters. We find that major merger events can amplify the signal up to one
order of magnitude with respect to relaxed clusters, reaching amplitude up to
about 100 nuK. This result implies that the internal ICM dynamics must be taken
into account when evaluating this signal because simplicistic models, based on
spherical rigid bodies, may provide wrong estimates. Finally we find that the
dependence on the physical modelling of the baryonic component is relevant only
in the very inner regions of clusters.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, submitted to A&
Optical Multicolor WBVR-Observations of the X-Ray Star V1341 Cyg = Cyg X-2 in 1986-1992
We present the results of observations of the low-mass X-ray binary
V1341 X--2. Our observations include a total of
2375 individual measurements in four bands on 478 nights in 1986-1992. We tied
the comparison and check stars used for the binary to the catalog using
their magnitudes. The uncertainty of this procedure was 3 in the
and bands and 8%-10% for the and bands. In quiescence, the
amplitude of the periodic component in the binary's brightness variations
is within ( in ); this is due
to the ellipsoidal shape of the optical component, which is distorted with
gravitational forces from the X-ray component. Some of the system's active
states (long flares) may be due to instabilities in the accretion disk, and
possibly to instabilities of gas flows and other accretion structures. The
binary possesses a low-luminosity accretion disk. The light curves reveal no
indications of an eclipse near the phases of the upper and lower conjunctions
in quiescence or in active states during the observed intervals. We conclude
that the optical star in the close binary V1341
X-2 is a red giant rather than a blue straggler. We studied the long-term
variability of the binary during the seven years covered by our observations.
The optical observations presented in this study are compared to X-ray data
from the Ginga observatory for the same time intervals.Comment: 35 pages, 8 figure
Modeling of the Interaction of GRB Prompt Emission with the Circumburst Medium
We present methodology and results of numerical modeling of the interaction
of GRB prompt emission with the circumburst medium using a modified version of
the multi-group radiation hydrocode STELLA. The modification includes the
nonstationary photoionization, the photoionization heating and the Compton
heating along with the hydrodynamics and radiation transfer. The lightcurves
and spectra of the outcoming gamma-ray, X-ray and optical emission are
calculated for a set of models (shells) of the circumburst environment, which
differ in dimensions, density, density profile, composition, temperature. In
some cases total bolometric and optical luminosities can reach 10^47 and 10^43
erg/s respectively. These effects can be responsible for irregularities which
are seen on lightcurves of some GRB's X-ray and optical afterglows.Comment: 27 pages, 16 colour figures, this version is translated by authors,
so it differs from that, which is published in Astronomy Letter
Determining the Cosmic Distance Scale from Interferometric Measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect
We determine the distances to 18 galaxy clusters with redshifts ranging from
z~0.14 to z~0.78 from a maximum likelihood joint analysis of 30 GHz
interferometric Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) and X-ray observations. We
model the intracluster medium (ICM) using a spherical isothermal beta model. We
quantify the statistical and systematic uncertainties inherent to these direct
distance measurements, and we determine constraints on the Hubble parameter for
three different cosmologies. These distances imply a Hubble constant of 60 (+4,
-4) (+13, -18) km s-1 Mpc-1 for an Omega_M = 0.3, Omega_Lambda = 0.7 cosmology,
where the uncertainties correspond to statistical followed by systematic at 68%
confidence. With a sample of 18 clusters, systematic uncertainties clearly
dominate. The systematics are observationally approachable and will be
addressed in the coming years through the current generation of X-ray
satellites (Chandra & XMM-Newton) and radio observatories (OVRO, BIMA, & VLA).
Analysis of high redshift clusters detected in future SZE and X-ray surveys
will allow a determination of the geometry of the universe from SZE determined
distances.Comment: ApJ Submitted; 40 pages, 9 figures (fig 3 B&W for size constraint),
13 tables, uses emulateapj5 styl
SIGMA Observations of the Bursting Pulsar GRO J1744-28
We present the results of the GRANAT/SIGMA hard X-/soft gamma-ray long-term
monitoring of the Galactic Center (GC) region concerning the source GRO
J1744-28, discovered on 1995 Dec. 2 by CGRO/BATSE. SIGMA observed the region
containing the source in 14 opportunities between 1990 and 1997. In two of
these observing sessions, corresponding to March 1996 and March 1997, GRO
J1744-28 was detected with a confidence level greater than 5(sigma) in the
35-75 keV energy band without detection in the 75-150 keV energy band. For the
other sessions, upper limits of the flux are indicated. The particular imaging
capabilities of the SIGMA telescope allow us to identify, specifically, the
source position in the very crowded GC region, giving us a mean flux of (73.1
+/- 5.5)E-11 and (44.7 +/- 6.4)E-11 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 in the 35-75 keV energy
band, for the March 1996 and March 1997 observing sessions, respectively.
Combining the March 1997 SIGMA and BATSE observations, we found evidence
pointing to the type-II nature of the source bursts for this period. For the
same observing campaigns, spectra were obtained in the 35 to 150 keV energy
band. The best fit corresponds to an optically thin thermal Bremsstrahlung with
F(50 keV)=(3.6 +/- 0.6)E-4 phot cm^-2 s^-1 keV^-1 and kT(Bremss)=28 +/- 7 keV,
for the first campaign, and F(50 keV)=(2.3 +/- 0.7)E-4 phot cm^-2 s^-1 keV^-1
and kT(Bremss)=18 (+12/-7) keV, for the second. This kind of soft spectrum is
typical of binary sources containing a neutron star as the compact object, in
contrast to the harder spectra typical of systems containing a black hole
candidateComment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, 4 pages, 4
figure
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