1,665 research outputs found
Acceleration of cosmic rays and gamma-ray emission from supernova remnants in the Galaxy
Galactic cosmic rays are believed to be accelerated at supernova remnant
shocks. Though very popular and robust, this conjecture still needs a
conclusive proof. The strongest support to this idea is probably the fact that
supernova remnants are observed in gamma-rays, which are indeed expected as the
result of the hadronic interactions between the cosmic rays accelerated at the
shock and the ambient gas. However, also leptonic processes can, in most cases,
explain the observed gamma-ray emission. This implies that the detections in
gamma rays do not necessarily mean that supernova remnants accelerate cosmic
ray protons. To overcome this degeneracy, the multi-wavelength emission (from
radio to gamma rays) from individual supernova remnants has been studied and in
a few cases it has been possible to ascribe the gamma-ray emission to one of
the two processes (hadronic or leptonic). Here we adopt a different approach
and, instead of a case-by-case study we aim for a population study and we
compute the number of supernova remnants which are expected to be seen in TeV
gamma rays above a given flux under the assumption that these objects indeed
are the sources of cosmic rays. The predictions found here match well with
current observational results, thus providing a novel consistency check for the
supernova remnant paradigm for the origin of galactic cosmic rays. Moreover,
hints are presented for the fact that particle spectra significantly steeper
than E^-2 are produced at supernova remnants. Finally, we expect that several
of the supernova remnants detected by H.E.S.S. in the survey of the galactic
plane should exhibit a gamma-ray emission dominated by hadronic processes (i.e.
neutral pion decay). The fraction of the detected remnants for which the
leptonic emission dominates over the hadronic one depends on the assumed values
of the physical parameters and can be as high as roughly a half.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, submitted to MNRA
The origin of the 6.4 keV line emission and H ionization in the diffuse molecular gas of the Galactic center region
We investigate the origin of the diffuse 6.4 keV line emission recently
detected by Suzaku and the source of H_2ionization in the diffuse molecular gas
of the Galactic Center (GC) region. We show that Fe atoms and H_2 molecules in
the diffuse interstellar medium of the GC are not ionized by the same
particles. The Fe atoms are most likely ionized by X-ray photons emitted by Sgr
A* during a previous period of flaring activity of the supermassive black hole.
The measured longitudinal intensity distribution of the diffuse 6.4 keV line
emission is best explained if the past activity of Sgr A$* lasted at least
several hundred years and released a mean 2-100 keV luminosity > 10^38} erg
s^{-1}. The H_2 molecules of the diffuse gas can not be ionized by photons from
Sgr A*, because soft photons are strongly absorbed in the interstellar gas
around the central black hole. The molecular hydrogen in the GC region is most
likely ionized by low-energy cosmic rays, probably protons rather than
electrons, whose contribution into the diffuse 6.4 keV line emission is
negligible.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figues, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal Letter
Echoes of multiple outbursts of Sagittarius A* revealed by Chandra
The relatively rapid spatial and temporal variability of the X-ray radiation
from some molecular clouds near the Galactic center shows that this emission
component is due to the reflection of X-rays generated by a source that was
luminous in the past, most likely the central supermassive black hole,
Sagittarius A*. Studying the evolution of the molecular cloud reflection
features is therefore a key element to reconstruct Sgr A*'s past activity. The
aim of the present work is to study this emission on small angular scales in
order to characterize the source outburst on short time scales. We use Chandra
high-resolution data collected from 1999 to 2011 to study the most rapid
variations detected so far, those of clouds between 5' and 20' from Sgr A*
towards positive longitudes. Our systematic spectral-imaging analysis of the
reflection emission, notably of the Fe Kalpha line at 6.4 keV and its
associated 4-8 keV continuum, allows us to characterize the variations down to
15" angular scale and 1-year time scale. We reveal for the first time abrupt
variations of few years only and in particular a short peaked emission, with a
factor of 10 increase followed by a comparable decrease, that propagates along
the dense filaments of the Bridge cloud. This 2-year peaked feature contrasts
with the slower 10-year linear variations we reveal in all the other molecular
structures of the region. Based on column density constraints, we argue that
these two different behaviors are unlikely to be due to the same illuminating
event. The variations are likely due to a highly variable active phase of Sgr
A* sometime within the past few hundred years, characterized by at least two
luminous outbursts of a few-year time scale and during which the Sgr A*
luminosity went up to at least 10^39 erg/s.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
L-Convex Polyominoes are Recognizable in Real Time by 2D Cellular Automata
A polyomino is said to be L-convex if any two of its cells are connected by a
4-connected inner path that changes direction at most once. The 2-dimensional
language representing such polyominoes has been recently proved to be
recognizable by tiling systems by S. Brocchi, A. Frosini, R. Pinzani and S.
Rinaldi. In an attempt to compare recognition power of tiling systems and
cellular automata, we have proved that this language can be recognized by
2-dimensional cellular automata working on the von Neumann neighborhood in real
time.
Although the construction uses a characterization of L-convex polyominoes
that is similar to the one used for tiling systems, the real time constraint
which has no equivalent in terms of tilings requires the use of techniques that
are specific to cellular automata
Hydrogen Peroxide Head Preparation: Enabling Cuttings and Anatomic Studies of Skull Base Dura Mater and Arachnoid Without Use of Drilling
INTRODUCTION: Anatomic pieces that are preserved using formaldehyde allow us to undertake high-quality skull base studies. However, extensive drilling is often necessary, which can lead to damages to the dura mater and thus arachnoid. Formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide can soften the bone, which, in turn, can be easily cut with a scalpel or removed with a curette. After having discovered this technique by chance, our aim was to establish a study protocol of the skull base dura mater without the use of the drill.
METHODS: Ten heads were set with a 10% formalin solution and then injected with colored latex. Five heads were then subsequently bleached with 20% hydrogen peroxide solution (HPS). The following were studied weekly: 1) macroscopic modification of the bone, dura mater, arachnoid and brain; 2) histology; 3) computed tomography scans; and 4) calcium concentration screenings were studied weekly.
RESULTS: After several weeks (mean 6.1, range 5-8 weeks), all HPS specimens were flexible, similar to rubber in consistence. Geometrical bone cuts could be made while preserving all the surrounding anatomic structure (cranial nerves, dura mater, and vascular elements). Histologically, the dural and bone structure are preserved. The HPS cadavers appear to be radiologically demineralized. We note a significant calcium concentration augmentation in HPS solution after 1 month, 6 weeks, and 2 months compared with day 0.
CONCLUSIONS: The softening of the bone, probably caused by decalcification from the use of corrosive chemicals present in hydrogen peroxide solution, can ease the cutting of the skull base geometrically, which is useful for anatomic and workshop studies
Variation of the X-ray non-thermal emission in the Arches cloud
The origin of the iron fluorescent line at 6.4 keV from an extended region
surrounding the Arches cluster is debated and the non-variability of this
emission up to 2009 has favored the low-energy cosmic-ray origin over a
possible irradiation by hard X-rays. By probing the variability of the Arches
cloud non-thermal emission in the most recent years, including a deep
observation in 2012, we intend to discriminate between the two competing
scenarios. We perform a spectral fit of XMM-Newton observations collected from
2000 to 2013 in order to build the Arches cloud lightcurve corresponding to
both the neutral Fe Kalpha line and the X-ray continuum emissions. We reveal a
30% flux drop in 2012, detected with more than 4 sigma significance for both
components. This implies that a large fraction of the studied non-thermal
emission is due to the reflection of an X-ray transient source.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter
Current-induced two-level fluctuations in pseudo spin-valves (Co/Cu/Co) nanostructures
Two-level fluctuations of the magnetization state of pseudo spin-valve
pillars Co(10 nm)/Cu(10 nm)/Co(30 nm) embedded in electrodeposited nanowires
(~40 nm in diameter, 6000 nm in length) are triggered by spin-polarized
currents of 10^7 A/cm^2 at room temperature. The statistical properties of the
residence times in the parallel and antiparallel magnetization states reveal
two effects with qualitatively different dependences on current intensity. The
current appears to have the effect of a field determined as the bias field
required to equalize these times. The bias field changes sign when the current
polarity is reversed. At this field, the effect of a current density of 10^7
A/cm^2 is to lower the mean time for switching down to the microsecond range.
This effect is independent of the sign of the current and is interpreted in
terms of an effective temperature for the magnetization.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, revised version, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Let
Detection of very-high-energy gamma-ray emission from the vicinity of PSR B1706-44 with H.E.S.S
The energetic pulsar PSR B1706-44 and the adjacent supernova remnant (SNR)
candidate G 343.1-2.3 were observed by H.E.S.S. during a dedicated
observational campaign in 2007. A new source of very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100
GeV) gamma-ray emission, HESS J1708-443, was discovered with its centroid at
RA(J2000) = 17h08m10s and Dec(J2000) = -44d21', with a statistical error of 3
arcmin on each axis. The VHE gamma-ray source is significantly more extended
than the H.E.S.S. point-spread function, with an intrinsic Gaussian width of
0.29 +/- 0.04 deg. Its energy spectrum can be described by a power law with a
photon index Gamma = 2.0 +/- 0.1 (stat) +/- 0.2 (sys). The integral flux
measured between 1-10 TeV is ~17% of the Crab Nebula flux in the same energy
range. The possible associations with PSR B1706-44 and SNR G343.1-2.3 are
discussed.Comment: 4+ pages, 2 figures; v1 submitted to ICRC Proceedings on 15 May 2009;
v2 has additional references and minor change
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