485 research outputs found
Chandra Observation of PSR B1823-13 and its Pulsar Wind Nebula
We report on an observation of the Vela-like pulsar B1823-13 and its
synchrotron nebula with Chandra.The pulsar's spectrum fits a power-law model
with a photon index Gamma_PSR=2.4 for the plausible hydrogen column density
n_H=10^{22} cm^{-2}, corresponding to the luminosity L_PSR=8*10^{31} ergs
s^{-1} in the 0.5-8 keV band, at a distance of 4 kpc. The pulsar radiation
likely includes magnetospheric and thermal components, but they cannot be
reliably separated because of the small number of counts detected and strong
interstellar absorption. The pulsar is surrounded by a compact, 25''x 10'',
pulsar wind nebula (PWN) elongated in the east-west direction, which includes a
brighter inner component, 7''x 3'', elongated in the northeast-southwest
direction. The slope of the compact PWN spectrum is Gamma_comp=1.3, and the
0.5-8 keV luminosity is L_comp~3*10^{32} ergs s^{-1}. The compact PWN is
surrounded by asymmetric diffuse emission (extended PWN) seen up to at least
2.4' south of the pulsar, with a softer spectrum (Gamma_ext=1.9), and the 0.5-8
keV luminosity L_ext~10^{33}-10^{34} ergs s^{-1}. We also measured the pulsar's
proper motion using archival VLA data: \mu_\alpha=23.0+/-2.5 mas yr^{-1},
\mu_\delta=-3.9+/-3.3 mas yr^{-1}, which corresponds to the transverse
velocity v_perp=440 km s^{-1}. The direction of the proper motion is
approximately parallel to the elongation of the compact PWN, but it is nearly
perpendicular to that of the extended PWN and to the direction towards the
center of the bright VHE gamma-ray source HESS J1825-137, which is likely
powered by PSR B1823-13.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures and 3 tables; submitted to Ap
X-ray emission from PSR J1809-1917 and its pulsar wind nebula, possibly associated with the TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1809-193
We detected X-ray emission from the 50-kyr-old pulsar J1809-1917 and resolved
its pulsar wind nebula (PWN) with Chandra. The pulsar spectrum fits PL+BB model
with the photon index of 1.2 and the BB temperature of 2 MK for n_{H}=0.7\times
10^{22} cm^{-2}. The luminosities are(4\pm 1)\times 10^{31} ergs s^{-1} for the
PL component (in the 0.5-8 keV band) and ~1\times 10^{32} ergs s^{-1} for the
BB component (bolometric) at a plausible distance of 3.5 kpc. The bright inner
PWN component of a 3''\times12'' size is elongated in the north-south
direction, with the pulsar close to its south end. This component is immersed
in a larger (20''\times40''), similarly elongated outer PWN component of lower
surface brightness. The elongated shape of the compact PWN can be explained by
the ram pressure confinement of the pulsar wind due to the supersonic motion of
the pulsar. The PWN spectrum fits a PL model with photon index of 1.4\pm0.1 and
0.5-8 keV luminosity of 4\times10^{32} ergs s^{-1}. The compact PWN appears to
be inside a large-scale (~4'\times4') emission more extended to the south of
the pulsar, i.e. in the direction of the alleged pulsar motion. To explain the
extended X-ray emission ahead of the moving pulsar, one has to invoke strong
intrinsic anisotropy of the pulsar wind or assume that this emission comes from
a relic PWN swept by the asymmetrical reverse SNR shock. The pulsar and its PWN
are located within the extent of the unidentified TeV source HESS J1809-193
whose brightest part is offset by ~8' to the south of the pulsar, i.e. in the
same direction as the large-scale X-ray emission. Although the association
between J1809-1917 and HESS J1809-193 is plausible, an alternative source of
relativistic electrons powering HESS J1809-193 might be the serendipitously
discovered X-ray source CXOU J180940.7-192544.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures and 3 tables, submitted to ApJ. Version with the
high-resolution figures is available at
http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/green/J1809/ms_astroph.pd
X-ray emission from PSR B1800-21, its wind nebula, and similar systems
We detected X-ray emission from PSR B1800-21 and its synchrotron nebula with
the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The pulsar's observed flux is (1.4+/-0.2)
10^{-14} ergs cm^{-2} s^{-1} in the 1-6 keV band. The spectrum can be described
by a two-component PL+BB model, suggesting a mixture of thermal and
magnetospheric emission. For a plausible hydrogen column density n_{H}=1.4
10^{22} cm^{-2}, the PL component has a slope Gamma=1.4+/-0.6 and a luminosity
L_{psr}^{nonth}=4 10^{31}(d/4 kpc)^2 ergs s^{-1}. The properties of the thermal
component (kT=0.1-0.3 keV, L^{bol}=10^{31}-10^{33} ergs s^{-1}) are very poorly
constrained because of the strong interstellar absorption. The compact,
7''\times4'', inner pulsar-wind nebula (PWN), elongated perpendicular to the
pulsar's proper motion, is immersed in a fainter asymmetric emission. The
observed flux of the PWN is (5.5+/-0.6) 10^{-14} ergs cm^{-2} s^{-1} in the 1-8
keV band. The PWN spectrum fits by a PL model with Gamma=1.6+/-0.3, L=1.6
10^{32} (d/4 kpc})^2 ergs s^{-1}. The shape of the inner PWN suggests that the
pulsar moves subsonically and X-ray emission emerges from a torus associated
with the termination shock in the equatorial pulsar wind. The inferred
PWN-pulsar properties (e.g., the PWN X-ray efficiency, L_{pwn}/\dot{E}~10^{-4};
the luminosity ratio, L_{pwn}/L_{psr}^{nonth}=4; the pulsar wind pressure at
the termination shock, p_s=10^{-9} ergs cm^{-3}) are very similar to those of
other subsonically moving Vela-like objects detected with Chandra
(L_{pwn}/\dot{E}=10^{-4.5}-10^{-3.5}, L_{pwn}/L_{psr}^{nonth}~5,
p_s=10^{-10}-10^{-8} ergs cm^{-1}).Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables; submitted to ApJ. Version with the
high-resolution figures is available at
http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/green/B1800/B1800_ApJ.pd
Structure and Stability of Si(114)-(2x1)
We describe a recently discovered stable planar surface of silicon, Si(114).
This high-index surface, oriented 19.5 degrees away from (001) toward (111),
undergoes a 2x1 reconstruction. We propose a complete model for the
reconstructed surface based on scanning tunneling microscopy images and
first-principles total-energy calculations. The structure and stability of
Si(114)-(2x1) arises from a balance between surface dangling bond reduction and
surface stress relief, and provides a key to understanding the morphology of a
family of surfaces oriented between (001) and (114).Comment: REVTeX, 4 pages + 3 figures. A preprint with high-resolution figures
is available at http://cst-www.nrl.navy.mil/papers/si114.ps . To be published
in Phys. Rev. Let
Compressibility and structural stability of ultra-incompressible bimetallic interstitial carbides and nitrides
We have investigated by means of high-pressure x-ray diffraction the
structural stability of Pd2Mo3N, Ni2Mo3C0.52N0.48, Co3Mo3C0.62N0.38, and
Fe3Mo3C. We have found that they remain stable in their ambient-pressure cubic
phase at least up to 48 GPa. All of them have a bulk modulus larger than 330
GPa, being the least compressible material Fe3Mo3C, B0 = 374(3) GPa. In
addition, apparently a reduction of compressibility is detected as the carbon
content increased. The equation of state for each material is determined. A
comparison with other refractory materials indicates that interstitial nitrides
and carbides behave as ultra-incompressible materials.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Confronting Neutron Star Cooling Theories with New Observations
With the successful launch of Chandra and XMM/Newton X-ray space missions
combined with the lower-energy band observations, we are in the position where
careful comparison of neutron star cooling theories with observations will make
it possible to distinguish among various competing theories. For instance, the
latest theoretical and observational developments already exclude both nucleon
and kaon direct URCA cooling. In this way we can now have realistic hope for
determining various important properties, such as the composition, degree of
superfluidity, the equation of state and steller radius. These developments
should help us obtain better insight into the properties of dense matter.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur
Separable Dual Space Gaussian Pseudo-potentials
We present pseudo-potential coefficients for the first two rows of the
periodic table. The pseudo potential is of a novel analytic form, that gives
optimal efficiency in numerical calculations using plane waves as basis set. At
most 7 coefficients are necessary to specify its analytic form. It is separable
and has optimal decay properties in both real and Fourier space. Because of
this property, the application of the nonlocal part of the pseudo-potential to
a wave-function can be done in an efficient way on a grid in real space. Real
space integration is much faster for large systems than ordinary multiplication
in Fourier space since it shows only quadratic scaling with respect to the size
of the system. We systematically verify the high accuracy of these
pseudo-potentials by extensive atomic and molecular test calculations.Comment: 16 pages, 4 postscript figure
Thermodynamic aspects of materials' hardness: prediction of novel superhard high-pressure phases
In the present work we have proposed the method that allows one to easily
estimate hardness and bulk modulus of known or hypothetical solid phases from
the data on Gibbs energy of atomization of the elements and corresponding
covalent radii. It has been shown that hardness and bulk moduli of compounds
strongly correlate with their thermodynamic and structural properties. The
proposed method may be used for a large number of compounds with various types
of chemical bonding and structures; moreover, the temperature dependence of
hardness may be calculated, that has been performed for diamond and cubic boron
nitride. The correctness of this approach has been shown for the recently
synthesized superhard diamond-like BC5. It has been predicted that the
hypothetical forms of B2O3, diamond-like boron, BCx and COx, which could be
synthesized at high pressures and temperatures, should have extreme hardness
Discovery of absorption features in the X-ray spectrum of an isolated neutron star
We observed 1E 1207.4--5209, a neutron star in the center of the supernova
remnant PKS 1209--51/52, with the ACIS detector aboard the Chandra X-ray
observatory and detected two absorption features in the source spectrum. The
features are centered near 0.7 keV and 1.4 keV, their equivalent widths are
about 0.1 keV. We discuss various possible interpretations of the absorption
features and exclude some of them. A likely interpretation is that the features
are associated with atomic transitions of once-ionized helium in the neutron
star atmosphere with a strong magnetic field. The first clear detection of
absorption features in the spectrum of an isolated neutron star provides an
opportunity to measure the mass-to-radius ratio and constrain the equation of
state of the superdense matter.Comment: 11 pages, including 1 figure and 1 table, to be published in ApJ
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