2,780 research outputs found
Pulsar Magnetospheric Emission Mapping: Images and Implications of Polar-Cap Weather
The beautiful sequences of ``drifting'' subpulses observed in some radio
pulsars have been regarded as among the most salient and potentially
instructive characteristics of their emission, not least because they have
appeared to represent a system of subbeams in motion within the emission zone
of the star. Numerous studies of these ``drift'' sequences have been published,
and a model of their generation and motion articulated long ago by Ruderman &
Sutherland (1975); but efforts thus far have failed to establish an
illuminating connection between the drift phemomenon and the actual sites of
radio emission. Through a detailed analysis of a nearly coherent sequence of
``drifting'' pulses from pulsar B0943+10, we have in fact identified a system
of subbeams circulating around the magnetic axis of the star. A mapping
technique, involving a ``cartographic'' transform and its inverse, permits us
to study the character of the polar-cap emission ``map'' and then to confirm
that it, in turn, represents the observed pulse sequence. On this basis, we
have been able to trace the physical origin of the ``drifting-subpulse''
emission to a stably rotating and remarkably organized configuration of
emission columns, in turn traceable possibly to the magnetic polar-cap ``gap''
region envisioned by some theories.Comment: latex with five eps figure
Extragalactic Gamma-ray Absorption and the Intrinsic Spectrum of Mkn 501 During the 1997 Flare
Using the recent models of Malkan & Stecker (2001) for the infrared
background radiation and extrapolating them into the optical and UV range using
recent galaxy count data, we rederive the optical depth of the Universe to high
energy gamma-rays as a function of energy and redshift for energies between 50
GeV and 100 TeV and redshifts between 0.03 and 0.3. We then use these results
to derive the intrinsic gamma-ray spectrum of Mkn 501 during its 1997 high
state. We find that the time averaged spectral energy distribution of Mkn 501
while flaring had a broad, flat peak in the 5 to 10 TeV range which corresponds
to a broad, flat time averaged X-ray peak in the 50 to 100 keV range observed
during the flare. The spectral index of our derived intrinsic differential
photon spectrum for Mkn 501 at energies below about 2 TeV was found to be apx.
1.6 to 1.7. This corresponds to a time averaged spectral index of 1.76 found in
soft X-rays at energies below the X-ray (synchrotron) peak. These results
appear to favor a synchrotron-self Compton origin for the TeV emission together
wuth jet parameters which are consistent with time variability constraints
within the context of a simple SSC model.Comment: Final version, to appear in the Astrophysical Journa
Gamma rays and neutrinos from the Crab Nebula produced by pulsar accelerated nuclei
We investigate the consequences of the acceleration of heavy nuclei (e.g.
iron nuclei) by the Crab pulsar. Accelerated nuclei can photodisintegrate in
collisions with soft photons produced in the pulsar's outer gap, injecting
energetic neutrons which decay either inside or outside the Crab Nebula. The
protons from neutron decay inside the nebula are trapped by the Crab Nebula
magnetic field, and accumulate inside the nebula producing gamma-rays and
neutrinos in collisions with the matter in the nebula. Neutrons decaying
outside the Crab Nebula contribute to the Galactic cosmic rays. We compute the
expected fluxes of gamma-rays and neutrinos, and find that our model could
account for the observed emission at high energies and may be tested by
searching for high energy neutrinos with future neutrino telescopes currently
in the design stage.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, LaTeX uses revtex.sty, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Let
IRS Spectra of Solar-Type Stars: \break A Search for Asteroid Belt Analogs
We report the results of a spectroscopic search for debris disks surrounding
41 nearby solar type stars, including 8 planet-bearing stars, using the {\it
Spitzer Space Telescope}. With accurate relative photometry using the Infrared
Spectrometer (IRS) between 7-34 \micron we are able to look for excesses as
small as 2% of photospheric levels with particular sensitivity to weak
spectral features. For stars with no excess, the upper limit in a
band at 30-34 m corresponds to 75 times the brightness of our
zodiacal dust cloud. Comparable limits at 8.5-13 m correspond to
1,400 times the brightness of our zodiacal dust cloud. These limits correspond
to material located within the 1 to 5 AU region that, in our solar
system, originates from debris associated with the asteroid belt. We find
excess emission longward of 25 m from five stars of which four also
show excess emission at 70 m. This emitting dust must be located around
5-10 AU. One star has 70 micron emission but no IRS excess. In this case, the
emitting region must begin outside 10 AU; this star has a known radial velocity
planet. Only two stars of the five show emission shortward of 25 \micron
where spectral features reveal the presence of a population of small, hot dust
grains emitting in the 7-20 m band. The data presented here strengthen the
results of previous studies to show that excesses at 25 \micron and shorter
are rare: only 1 star out of 40 stars older than 1 Gyr or % shows an
excess. Asteroid belts 10-30 times more massive than our own appear are rare
among mature, solar-type stars
Extraction of electromagnetic neutron form factors through inclusive and exclusive polarized electron scattering on polarized 3He target
Inclusive 3He(e,e') and exclusive 3He(e,e'n) processes with polarized
electrons and 3He have been theoretically analyzed and values for the magnetic
and electric neutron form factors have been extracted. In both cases the form
factor values agree well with the ones extracted from processes on the
deuteron. Our results are based on Faddeev solutions, modern NN forces and
partially on the incorporation of mesonic exchange currents.Comment: 28 pages, 29 Postscript figure
The Missing Luminous Blue Variables and the Bistability Jump
We discuss an interesting feature of the distribution of luminous blue
variables on the H-R diagram, and we propose a connection with the bistability
jump in the winds of early-type supergiants. There appears to be a deficiency
of quiescent LBVs on the S Dor instability strip at luminosities between log
L/Lsun = 5.6 and 5.8. The upper boundary, is also where the
temperature-dependent S Dor instability strip intersects the bistability jump
at about 21,000 K. Due to increased opacity, winds of early-type supergiants
are slower and denser on the cool side of the bistability jump, and we
postulate that this may trigger optically-thick winds that inhibit quiescent
LBVs from residing there. We conduct numerical simulations of radiation-driven
winds for a range of temperatures, masses, and velocity laws at log L/Lsun=5.7
to see what effect the bistability jump should have. We find that for
relatively low stellar masses the increase in wind density at the bistability
jump leads to the formation of a modest to strong pseudo photosphere -- enough
to make an early B-type star appear as a yellow hypergiant. Thus, the proposed
mechanism will be most relevant for LBVs that are post-red supergiants. Yellow
hypergiants like IRC+10420 and rho Cas occupy the same luminosity range as the
``missing'' LBVs, and show apparent temperature variations at constant
luminosity. If these yellow hypergiants do eventually become Wolf-Rayet stars,
we speculate that they may skip the normal LBV phase, at least as far as their
apparent positions on the HR diagram are concerned.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figs, accepted by Ap
The High E_T Drop of J/psi to Drell-Yan Ratio from the Statistical c anti-c Coalescence Model
The dependence of the J/psi yield on the transverse energy E_T in heavy ion
collisions is considered within the statistical c anti-c coalescence model. The
model fits the NA50 data for Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS even in the
high-E_T region (E_T > 100 GeV). Here E_T-fluctuations and E_T-losses in the
dimuon event sample naturally create the celebrated drop in the J/psi to
Drell-Yan ratio.Comment: 14 pages, REVTeX, 1 PS-figure. v2: References are corrected and
update
On the Dynamic Stability of Cool Supergiant Atmospheres
We have developed a new formalism to compute the thermodynamic coefficient
Gamma1 in the theory of stellar and atmospheric stability. We generalize the
classical derivation of the first adiabatic index, which is based on the
assumption of thermal ionization and equilibrium between gas and radiation
temperature, towards an expression which incorporates photo-ionization due to
radiation with a temperature T_rad different from the local kinetic gas
temperature.Our formalism considers the important non-LTE conditions in the
extended atmospheres of supergiant stars. An application to the Kurucz grid of
cool supergiant atmospheres demonstrates that models with T_rad =~ T_eff
between 6500 K and 7500 K become most unstable against dynamic perturbations,
according to Ledoux' stability integral . This results from Gamma1 and
acquiring very low values, below 4/3, throughout the entire stellar
atmosphere, which causes very high gas compression ratios around these
effective temperatures. Based on detailed NLTE-calculations, we discuss
atmospheric instability of pulsating massive yellow supergiants, like the
hypergiant rho Cas (Ia+), which exist in the extension of the Cepheid
instability strip, near the Eddington luminosity limit.Comment: 54 pages including figures and the Appendix, 7 figures, Accepted for
The Astrophysical Journal, Main Journal, 558, Sept. 200
Performance of the Two Aerogel Cherenkov Detectors of the JLab Hall A Hadron Spectrometer
We report on the design and commissioning of two silica aerogel Cherenkov
detectors with different refractive indices. In particular, extraordinary
performance in terms of the number of detected photoelectrons was achieved
through an appropriate choice of PMT type and reflector, along with some design
considerations. After four years of operation, the number of detected
photoelectrons was found to be noticeably reduced in both detectors as a result
of contamination, yellowing, of the aerogel material. Along with the details of
the set-up, we illustrate the characteristics of the detectors during different
time periods and the probable causes of the contamination. In particular we
show that the replacement of the contaminated aerogel and parts of the
reflecting material has almost restored the initial performance of the
detectors.Comment: 18 pages, 9 Figures, 4 Tables, 44 Reference
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