86 research outputs found
Getting Its Kicks: A VLBA Parallax for the Hyperfast Pulsar B1508+55
The highest velocity neutron stars establish stringent constraints on natal
kicks, asymmetries in supernova core collapse, and the evolution of close
binary systems. Here we present the first results of a long-term pulsar
astrometry program using the VLBA. We measure a proper motion and parallax for
the pulsar B1508+55, leading to model-independent estimates of its distance
(2.37+0.23-0.20 kpc) and transverse velocity (1083+103-90 km/s), the highest
velocity directly measured for a neutron star. We trace the pulsar back from
its present Galactic latitude of 52.3 degrees to a birth site in the Galactic
plane near the Cyg OB associations, and find that it will inevitably escape the
Galaxy. Binary disruption alone is insufficient to impart the required birth
velocity, and a natal kick is indicated. A composite scenario including a large
kick along with binary disruption can plausibly account for the high velocity.Comment: 5 pages, including 2 figures; accepted by ApJL; associated NRAO press
release at http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2005/fastpulsar
Multidimensional Supernova Simulations with Approximative Neutrino Transport I. Neutron Star Kicks and the Anisotropy of Neutrino-Driven Explosions in Two Spatial Dimensions
By means of two-dimensional (2D) simulations we study hydrodynamic
instabilities during the first seconds of neutrino-driven supernova explosions,
using a PPM hydrodynamics code, supplemented with a gray, non-equilibrium
approximation of radial neutrino transport. We consider three 15 solar mass
progenitors with different structures and one rotating model, in which we
replace the dense core of the newly formed neutron star (NS) by a contracting
inner grid boundary, and trigger neutrino-driven explosions by systematically
varying the neutrino fluxes emitted at this boundary. Confirming more idealized
studies as well as supernova simulations with spectral transport, we find that
random seed perturbations can grow by hydrodynamic instabilities to a globally
asymmetric mass distribution, leading to a dominance of dipole (l=1) and
quadrupole (l=2) modes in the explosion ejecta. Anisotropic gravitational and
hydrodynamic forces are found to accelerate the NS on a timescale of 2-3
seconds. Since the explosion anisotropies develop chaotically, the magnitude of
the corresponding kick varies stochastically in response to small differences
in the fluid flow. Our more than 70 models separate into two groups, one with
high and the other with low NS velocities and accelerations after 1s of
post-bounce evolution, depending on whether the l=1 mode is dominant in the
ejecta or not. This leads to a bimodality of the distribution when the NS
velocities are extrapolated to their terminal values. The fast group has an
average velocity of about 500 km/s and peak values in excess of 1000 km/s.
Establishing a link to the measured distribution of pulsar velocities, however,
requires a much larger set of calculations and ultimately 3D modeling.
(abridged)Comment: 40 pages, 28 figures; significantly shortened and revised version
according to referee's comments; accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic
Transient radio bursts from rotating neutron stars
The `radio sky' is relatively unexplored for transient signals, although the
potential of radio-transient searches is high, as demonstrated recently by the
discovery of a previously unknown type of source which varies on timescales of
minutes to hours. Here we report a new large-scale search for radio sources
varying on much shorter timescales. This has revealed 11 objects characterized
by single, dispersed bursts having durations between 2 and 30 ms. The average
time intervals between bursts range from 4 minutes to 3 hours, with radio
emission typically detectable for < 1 s per day. From an analysis of the burst
arrival times, we have identified periodicities in the range 0.4 - 7 s for ten
of the 11 sources, suggesting a rotating neutron star origin. Despite the small
number of sources presently detected, their ephemeral nature implies a total
Galactic population which significantly exceeds that of the regularly pulsing
radio pulsars. Five of the ten sources have periods greater than 4 s, and
period derivatives have been measured for three of the sources, with one having
a very high inferred magnetic field of 5e13 G, suggesting that this new
population is related to other classes of isolated neutron stars observed at
X-ray and gamma-ray wavelengths.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Accepted by Natur
Multidimensional supernova simulations with approximative neutrino transport. II. Convection and the advective-acoustic cycle in the supernova core
By 2D hydrodynamic simulations including a detailed equation of state and
neutrino transport, we investigate the interplay between different non-radial
hydrodynamic instabilities that play a role during the postbounce accretion
phase of collapsing stellar cores. The convective mode of instability, which is
driven by negative entropy gradients caused by neutrino heating or by time
variations of the shock strength, can be identified clearly by the development
of typical Rayleigh-Taylor mushrooms. However, in cases where the gas in the
postshock region is rapidly advected towards the gain radius, the growth of
such a buoyancy instability can be suppressed. In such a situation the shocked
flow nevertheless can develop non-radial asymmetry with an oscillatory growth
of the amplitude. This phenomenon has been termed ``standing accretion shock
instability'' (SASI). It is shown here that the SASI oscillations can trigger
convective instability and like the latter they lead to an increase of the
average shock radius and of the mass in the gain layer. Both hydrodynamic
instabilities in combination stretch the advection time of matter through the
neutrino-heating layer and thus enhance the neutrino energy deposition in
support of the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism. A rapidly contracting and
more compact nascent NS turns out to be favorable for explosions, because the
accretion luminosity and neutrino heating are larger and the growth rate of the
SASI is higher. Moreover, we show that the oscillation period of the SASI and a
variety of other features in our simulations agree with estimates for the
advective-acoustic cycle (AAC), in which perturbations are carried by the
accretion flow from the shock to the neutron star and pressure waves close an
amplifying global feedback loop. (abridged)Comment: 23 pages, 20 figures; revised version with extended Sect.5, accepted
by Astronomy & Astrophysics; high-resolution images can be obtained upon
reques
Pulsar kicks from neutrino oscillations
Neutrino oscillations can explain the observed motion of pulsars. We show
that two different models of neutrino emission from a cooling neutron star are
in good quantitative agreement and predict the same order of magnitude for the
pulsar kick velocity, consistent with the data.Comment: revtex; 4 page
Pulsar kicks from a dark-matter sterile neutrino
We show that a sterile neutrino with mass in the 1-20 keV range and a small
mixing with the electron neutrino can simultaneously explain the origin of the
pulsar motions and the dark matter in the universe. An asymmetric neutrino
emission from a hot nascent neutron star can be the explanation of the observed
pulsar velocities. In addition to the pulsar kick mechanism based on resonant
neutrino transitions, we point out a new possibility: an asymmetric
off-resonant emission of sterile neutrinos. The two cases correspond to
different values of the masses and mixing angles. In both cases we identify the
ranges of parameters consistent with the pulsar kick, as well as cosmological
constraints.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; final version; discussion and references adde
A repeating fast radio burst
Fast radio bursts are millisecond-duration astronomical radio pulses of unknown physical origin that appear to come from extragalactic distances(1-8). Previous follow-up observations have failed to find additional bursts at the same dispersion measure (that is, the integrated column density of free electrons between source and telescope) and sky position as the original detections(9). The apparent non-repeating nature of these bursts has led to the suggestion that they originate in cataclysmic events(10). Here we report observations of ten additional bursts from the direction of the fast radio burst FRB 121102. These bursts have dispersion measures and sky positions consistent with the original burst(4). This unambiguously identifies FRB 121102 as repeating and demonstrates that its source survives the energetic events that cause the bursts. Additionally, the bursts from FRB 121102 show a wide range of spectral shapes that appear to be predominantly intrinsic to the source and which vary on timescales of minutes or less. Although there may be multiple physical origins for the population of fast radio bursts, these repeat bursts with high dispersion measure and variable spectra specifically seen from the direction of FRB 121102 support an origin in a young, highly magnetized, extragalactic neutron star(11,12)
Emergent complex neural dynamics
A large repertoire of spatiotemporal activity patterns in the brain is the
basis for adaptive behaviour. Understanding the mechanism by which the brain's
hundred billion neurons and hundred trillion synapses manage to produce such a
range of cortical configurations in a flexible manner remains a fundamental
problem in neuroscience. One plausible solution is the involvement of universal
mechanisms of emergent complex phenomena evident in dynamical systems poised
near a critical point of a second-order phase transition. We review recent
theoretical and empirical results supporting the notion that the brain is
naturally poised near criticality, as well as its implications for better
understanding of the brain
Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium
We review the properties and applications of binary and millisecond pulsars.
Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years,
mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population
to over 1300. There are now 56 binary and millisecond pulsars in the Galactic
disk and a further 47 in globular clusters. This review is concerned primarily
with the results and spin-offs from these surveys which are of particular
interest to the relativity community.Comment: 59 pages, 26 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Living
Reviews in Relativity (http://www.livingreviews.org
Recent astrophysical and accelerator based results on the Hadronic Equation of State
In astrophysics as well as in hadron physics progress has recently been made
on the determination of the hadronic equation of state (EOS) of compressed
matter. The results are contradictory, however. Simulations of heavy ion
reactions are now sufficiently robust to predict the stiffness of the (EOS)
from (i) the energy dependence of the ratio of from Au+Au and C+C
collisions and (ii) the centrality dependence of the multiplicities. The
data are best described with a compressibility coefficient at normal nuclear
matter density around 200 MeV, a value which is usually called
``soft'' The recent observation of a neutron star with a mass of twice the
solar mass is only compatible with theoretical predictions if the EOS is stiff.
We review the present situation.Comment: invited talk Strange Quark Matter Conference SQM06 in Los Angele
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