19,436 research outputs found
A survey of stellar X-ray flares from the XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue: Hipparcos-Tycho cool stars
The X-ray emission from flares on cool (i.e. spectral-type F-M) stars is
indicative of very energetic, transient phenomena, associated with energy
release via magnetic reconnection. We present a uniform, large-scale survey of
X-ray flare emission. The XMM-Newton Serendipitous Source Catalogue and its
associated data products provide an excellent basis for a comprehensive and
sensitive survey of stellar flares - both from targeted active stars and from
those observed serendipitously in the half-degree diameter field-of-view of
each observation. The 2XMM Catalogue and the associated time-series
(`light-curve') data products have been used as the basis for a survey of X-ray
flares from cool stars in the Hipparcos Tycho-2 catalogue. In addition, we have
generated and analysed spectrally-resolved (i.e. hardness-ratio), X-ray
light-curves. Where available, we have compared XMM OM UV/optical data with the
X-ray light-curves. Our sample contains ~130 flares with well-observed
profiles; they originate from ~70 stars. The flares range in duration from ~1e3
to ~1e4 s, have peak X-ray fluxes from ~1e-13 to ~1e-11 erg/cm2/s, peak X-ray
luminosities from ~1e29 to ~1e32 erg/s, and X-ray energy output from ~1e32 to
~1e35 erg. Most of the ~30 serendipitously-observed stars have little
previously reported information. The hardness-ratio plots clearly illustrate
the spectral (and hence inferred temperature) variations characteristic of many
flares, and provide an easily accessible overview of the data. We present flare
frequency distributions from both target and serendipitous observations. The
latter provide an unbiased (with respect to stellar activity) study of flare
energetics; in addition, they allow us to predict numbers of stellar flares
that may be detected in future X-ray wide-field surveys. The serendipitous
sample demonstrates the need for care when calculating flaring rates.Comment: 26 pages, 24 figures. Additional tables and figures available as 4
ancillary files. To be published in Astronomy and Astrophysic
On the t-Term Rank of a Matrix
For t a positive integer, the t-term rank of a (0,1)-matrix A is defined to
be the largest number of 1s in A with at most one 1 in each column and at most
t 1s in each row. Thus the 1-term rank is the ordinary term rank. We generalize
some basic results for the term rank to the t-term rank, including a formula
for the maximum term rank over a nonempty class of (0,1)-matrices with the the
same row sum and column sum vectors. We also show the surprising result that in
such a class there exists a matrix which realizes all of the maximum terms
ranks between 1 and t.Comment: 18 page
Cyclic Matching Sequencibility of Graphs
We define the cyclic matching sequencibility of a graph to be the largest
integer such that there exists a cyclic ordering of its edges so that every
consecutive edges in the cyclic ordering form a matching. We show that the
cyclic matching sequencibility of and equal
Optimized pulse sequences for suppressing unwanted transitions in quantum systems
We investigate the nature of the pulse sequence so that unwanted transitions
in quantum systems can be inhibited optimally. For this purpose we show that
the sequence of pulses proposed by Uhrig [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{98}, 100504
(2007)] in the context of inhibition of environmental dephasing effects is
optimal. We derive exact results for inhibiting the transitions and confirm the
results numerically. We posit a very significant improvement by usage of the
Uhrig sequence over an equidistant sequence in decoupling a quantum system from
unwanted transitions. The physics of inhibition is the destructive interference
between transition amplitudes before and after each pulse.Comment: 5 figure
Feedback in a cavity QED system for control of quantum beats
Conditional measurements on the undriven mode of a two-mode cavity QED system
prepare a coherent superposition of ground states which generate quantum beats.
The continuous system drive induces decoherence through the phase interruptions
from Rayleigh scattering, which manifests as a decrease of the beat amplitude
and an increase of the frequency of oscillation. We report recent experiments
that implement a simple feedback mechanism to protect the quantum beat. We
continuously drive the system until a photon is detected, heralding the
presence of a coherent superposition. We then turn off the drive and let the
superposition evolve in the dark, protecting it against decoherence. At a later
time we reinstate the drive to measure the amplitude, phase, and frequency of
the beats. The amplitude can increase by more than fifty percent, while the
frequency is unchanged by the feedback.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, ICAP 2012 23rd International Conference on
Atomic Physic
Partially Unbiased Entangled Bases
In this contribution we group the operator basis for d^2 dimensional Hilbert
space in a way that enables us to relate bases of entangled states with single
particle mutually unbiased state bases (MUB), each in dimensionality d. We
utilize these sets of operators to show that an arbitrary density matrix for
this d^2 dimensional Hilbert space system is analyzed by via d^2+d+1
measurements, d^2-d of which involve those entangled states that we associate
with MUB of the d-dimensional single particle constituents. The number
lies in the middle of the number of measurements needed for bipartite
state reconstruction with two-particle MUB (d^2+1) and those needed by
single-particle MUB [(d^2+1)^2].Comment: 5 page
Relativistic spherical plasma waves
Tightly focused laser pulses as they diverge or converge in underdense plasma
can generate wake waves, having local structures that are spherical waves. Here
we report on theoretical study of relativistic spherical wake waves and their
properties, including wave breaking. These waves may be suitable as particle
injectors or as flying mirrors that both reflect and focus radiation, enabling
unique X-ray sources and nonlinear QED phenomena.Comment: 6 pages; 4 figure
Magnetic Field Uniformity Across the GF 9-2 YSO, L1082C Dense Core, and GF 9 Filamentary Dark Cloud
The orientation of the magnetic field (B-field) in the filamentary dark cloud
GF 9 was traced from the periphery of the cloud into the L1082C dense core that
contains the low-mass, low-luminosity Class 0 young stellar object (YSO) GF 9-2
(IRAS 20503+6006). This was done using SOFIA HAWC+ dust thermal emission
polarimetry (TEP) at 216 um in combination with Mimir near-infrared background
starlight polarimetry (BSP) conducted at H-band (1.6 um) and K-band (2.2 um).
These observations were augmented with published I-band (0.77 um) BSP and
Planck 850 um TEP to probe B-field orientations with offset from the YSO in a
range spanning 6000 AU to 3 pc. No strong B-field orientation change with
offset was found, indicating remarkable uniformity of the B-field from the
cloud edge to the YSO environs. This finding disagrees with weak-field models
of cloud core and YSO formation. The continuity of inferred B-field
orientations for both TEP and BSP probes is strong evidence that both are
sampling a common B-field that uniformly threads the cloud, core, and YSO
region. Bayesian analysis of Gaia DR2 stars matched to the Mimir BSP stars
finds a distance to GF 9 of 270 +/- 10 pc. No strong wavelength dependence of
B-field orientation angle was found, contrary to previous claims.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures ApJ, accepte
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