617 research outputs found
The Position of Sagittarius A*: III. Motion of the Stellar Cusp
In the first two papers of this series, we determined the position of Sgr A*
on infrared images, by aligning the positions of red giant stars with positions
measured at radio wavelengths for their circumstellar SiO masers. In this
paper, we report detections of 5 new stellar SiO masers within 50" (2 pc) of
Sgr A* and new and/or improved positions and proper motions of 15 stellar SiO
masers. The current accuracies are ~1 mas in position and ~0.3 mas/y in proper
motion. We find that the proper motion of the central stellar cluster with
respect to Sgr A* is less than 45 km/s. One star, IRS 9, has a
three-dimensional speed of ~370 km/s at a projected distance of 0.33 pc from
Sgr A*. If IRS 9 is bound to the inner parsec, this requires an enclosed mass
that exceeds current estimates of the sum of the mass of Sgr A* and luminous
stars in the stellar cusp by ~0.8 x 10^6 Msun. Possible explanations include i)
that IRS 9 is not bound to the central parsec and has "fallen" from a radius
greater than 9 pc, ii) that a cluster of dark stellar remnants accounts for
some of the excess mass, and/or iii) that Ro is considerably greater than 8
kpc.Comment: 27 pages including 5 figures and 4 table
Dynamic properties of the spin-1/2 XY chain with three-site interactions
We consider a spin-1/2 XY chain in a transverse (z) field with multi-site
interactions. The additional terms introduced into the Hamiltonian involve
products of spin components related to three adjacent sites. A Jordan-Wigner
transformation leads to a simple bilinear Fermi form for the resulting
Hamiltonian and hence the spin model admits a rigorous analysis. We point out
the close relationships between several variants of the model which were
discussed separately in previous studies. The ground-state phases (ferromagnet
and two kinds of spin liquid) of the model are reflected in the dynamic
structure factors of the spin chains, which are the main focus in this study.
First we consider the zz dynamic structure factor reporting for this quantity a
closed-form expression and analyzing the properties of the two-fermion
(particle-hole) excitation continuum which governs the dynamics of transverse
spin component fluctuations and of some other local operator fluctuations. Then
we examine the xx dynamic structure factor which is governed by many-fermion
excitations, reporting both analytical and numerical results. We discuss some
easily recognized features of the dynamic structure factors which are
signatures for the presence of the three-site interactions.Comment: 28 pages, 10 fugure
High Precision Astrometry with MICADO at the European Extremely Large Telescope
In this article we identify and discuss various statistical and systematic
effects influencing the astrometric accuracy achievable with MICADO, the
near-infrared imaging camera proposed for the 42-metre European Extremely Large
Telescope (E-ELT). These effects are instrumental (e.g. geometric distortion),
atmospheric (e.g. chromatic differential refraction), and astronomical
(reference source selection). We find that there are several phenomena having
impact on ~100 micro-arcsec scales, meaning they can be substantially larger
than the theoretical statistical astrometric accuracy of an optical/NIR
42m-telescope. Depending on type, these effects need to be controlled via
dedicated instrumental design properties or via dedicated calibration
procedures. We conclude that if this is done properly, astrometric accuracies
of 40 micro-arcsec or better - with 40 micro-arcsec/year in proper motions
corresponding to ~20 km/s at 100 kpc distance - can be achieved in one epoch of
actual observationsComment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables. Accepted by MNRA
Thermodynamic Properties of the One-Dimensional Extended Quantum Compass Model in the Presence of a Transverse Field
The presence of a quantum critical point can significantly affect the
thermodynamic properties of a material at finite temperatures. This is
reflected, e.g., in the entropy landscape S(T; c) in the vicinity of a quantum
critical point, yielding particularly strong variations for varying the tuning
parameter c such as magnetic field. In this work we have studied the
thermodynamic properties of the quantum compass model in the presence of a
transverse field. The specific heat, entropy and cooling rate under an
adiabatic demagnetization process have been calculated. During an adiabatic
(de)magnetization process temperature drops in the vicinity of a field-induced
zero-temperature quantum phase transitions. However close to field-induced
quantum phase transitions we observe a large magnetocaloric effect
The instrumental polarization of the Nasmyth focus polarimetric differential imager NAOS/CONICA (NACO) at the VLT - Implications for time-resolved polarimetric measurements of Sgr A*
We report on the results of calibrating and simulating the instrumental
polarization properties of the ESO VLT adaptive optics camera system
NAOS/CONICA (NACO) in the Ks-band. We use the Stokes/Mueller formalism for
metallic reflections to describe the instrumental polarization. The model is
compared to standard-star observations and time-resolved observations of bright
sources in the Galactic center. We find the instrumental polarization to be
highly dependent on the pointing position of the telescope and about 4% at
maximum. We report a polarization angle offset of 13.28{\deg} due to a position
angle offset of the half-wave plate that affects the calibration of NACO data
taken before autumn 2009. With the new model of the instrumental polarization
of NACO it is possible to measure the polarization with an accuracy of 1% in
polarization degree. The uncertainty of the polarization angle is < 5{\deg} for
polarization degrees > 4%. For highly sampled polarimetric time series we find
that the improved understanding of the polarization properties gives results
that are fully consistent with the previously used method to derive the
polarization. The small difference between the derived and the previously
employed polarization calibration is well within the statistical uncertainties
of the measurements, and for Sgr A* they do not affect the results from our
relativistic modeling of the accretion process.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables, accepted by A&A on 2010 October 1
Lattice distortions in a sawtooth chain with Heisenberg and Ising bonds
An exactly solvable model of the sawtooth chain with Ising and Heisenberg
bonds and with coupling to lattice distortion for Heisenberg bonds is
considered in the magnetic field. Using the direct transfer-matrix formalism an
exact description of the thermodynamic functions is obtained. The ground state
phase diagrams for all regions of parameters values containing phases
corresponding to the magnetization plateaus at and 1/2 have been
obtained. Exact formulas for bond distortions for various ground states are
presented. A novel mechanism of magnetization plateau stabilization
corresponding to state is reported.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure
Traces of past activity in the Galactic Centre
The Milky Way centre hosts a supermassive Black Hole (BH) with a mass of
~4*10^6 M_Sun. Sgr A*, its electromagnetic counterpart, currently appears as an
extremely weak source with a luminosity L~10^-9 L_Edd. The lowest known
Eddington ratio BH. However, it was not always so; traces of "glorious" active
periods can be found in the surrounding medium. We review here our current view
of the X-ray emission from the Galactic Center (GC) and its environment, and
the expected signatures (e.g. X-ray reflection) of a past flare. We discuss the
history of Sgr A*'s past activity and its impact on the surrounding medium. The
structure of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) has not changed significantly
since the last active phase of Sgr A*. This relic torus provides us with the
opportunity to image the structure of an AGN torus in exquisite detail.Comment: Invited refereed review. Chapter of the book: "Cosmic ray induced
phenomenology in star forming environments" (eds. Olaf Reimer and Diego F.
Torres
An extremely top-heavy initial mass function in the galactic center stellar disks
Composite armors, having two or more different materials, contain a ceramic layer in the front face and a metallic or polymer matrix composite as support on the back side backing. The function of the ceramic layer is to erode and break up the projectile and to increase the contact surface of the metallic plate by forming a hard cone. The role of the metallic backing layer is to absorb the kinetic energy of the projectile and support the fragmented ceramic. The most impportant advantage of these materials over monolithic metallic armors is to reduce the thickness by using the ceramic layer in front of the metallic layer. This provides reducing the weight of armor. In this study, experiments have been conducted to describe ballistic performance of polymer matrix composites having different geometrical shapes. To do these experiments, aramid and polyethilen composite specimens were first fabricated as laminates in different geometrical shapes. Then, these composite plates at charpy harms were investigeted in varios speed bullet to cover the impact damageKompozit zırhlar iki veya daha fazla farklı malzemeden oluşan, yüzeyde seramik katman ile arkada metal veya polimer matrisli kompozit destek içeren malzemelerdir. Seramik katmanın işlevi mermiyi aşındırma ve parçalamanın yanısıra sert koni oluşturarak metal katmanın temas yüzeyini artırmaktır. Metal destek katmanının görevi ise merminin kinetik enerjisini emmek ve darbe sonrası oluşacak seramik parçaları tutmaktır. Bu malzemelerin, tamamen metalik olan zırhlara göre en önemli avantajı, metalik katmandan önce seramik katmanın kullanılması yoluyla zırh kalınlığının, dolayısı ile zırhın ağırlığının azalmasını sağlamaktadır. Bu çalışmada değişik geometriye sahip, polimer matrisli kompozitlerin, balistik performansını ölçmek için deneyler yapılmıştır. Bunun için önce Aramid ve polietilen numuneler düz, iki değişik çapta silindirik ve küre plakalar halinde üretilmiştir. Bu kompozit plakalara atış poligonunda atışlar yapılmış ve oluşan darbe hasarları incelenmiştir
Evidence for Warped Disks of Young Stars in the Galactic Center
The central parsec around the super-massive black hole in the Galactic Center
hosts more than 100 young and massive stars. Outside the central cusp (R~1")
the majority of these O and Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars reside in a main clockwise
system, plus a second, less prominent disk or streamer system at large angles
with respect to the main system. Here we present the results from new
observations of the Galactic Center with the AO-assisted near-infrared imager
NACO and the integral field spectrograph SINFONI on the ESO/VLT. These include
the detection of 27 new reliably measured WR/O stars in the central 12" and
improved measurements of 63 previously detected stars, with proper motion
uncertainties reduced by a factor of four compared to our earlier work. We
develop a detailed statistical analysis of their orbital properties and
orientations. Half of the WR/O stars are compatible with being members of a
clockwise rotating system. The rotation axis of this system shows a strong
transition as a function of the projected distance from SgrA*. The main
clockwise system either is either a strongly warped single disk with a
thickness of about 10 degrees, or consists of a series of streamers with
significant radial variation in their orbital planes. 11 out of 61 clockwise
moving stars have an angular separation of more than 30 degrees from the
clockwise system. The mean eccentricity of the clockwise system is 0.36+/-0.06.
The distribution of the counter-clockwise WR/O star is not isotropic at the 98%
confidence level. It is compatible with a coherent structure such as stellar
filaments, streams, small clusters or possibly a disk in a dissolving state.
The observed disk warp and the steep surface density distribution favor in situ
star formation in gaseous accretion disks as the origin of the young stars.Comment: ApJ in pres
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