G328.4+0.2 : A large and luminous Crab-like supernova remnant

We report on radio continuum and HI observations of the radio source G328.4+0.2 using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Our results confirm G328.4+0.2 to be a filled-center nebula with no surrounding shell, showing significant linear polarization and an almost flat spectral index. These results lead us to conclude that G328.4+0.2 is a Crab-like, or ``plerionic'', supernova remnant (SNR), presumably powered by an unseen central pulsar. HI absorption towards G328.4+0.2 puts a lower limit on its distance of 17.4 +/- 0.9 kpc, making it the largest (D=25 pc) and most luminous (L_R = 3e35 erg/s) Crab-like SNR in the Galaxy. We infer G328.4+0.2 to be significantly older than the Crab Nebula, but powered by a pulsar which is fast spinning (P<20 ms) and which has a comparatively low magnetic field (B<1e12 G). We propose G328.4+0.2, G74.9+1.2 and N157B as a distinct group of large-diameter, high-luminosity Crab-like SNRs, all powered by fast-spinning low-field pulsars.Comment: 7 pages, 3 embedded EPS figures, uses emulateapj.sty. Accepted to ApJ. Abstract corrected so that distance is now in kpc, not pc

Radio Detection of SN 1986E in NGC 4302

Radio observations of SN 1986E have shown a clear detection of emission at 6 cm wavelength about 8 months after optical discovery. Combined with a number of new upper limits and a study of the possible models, it appears that SN 1986E was probably a fairly normal Type IIL supernova, somewhat similar to SN 1980K, with radio emission at roughly expected levels. This detection continues the correlation between radio detection and late time optical emission.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX (AASTeX), 2 PostScript figures, to appear in ApJ (Letters

High Energy Cosmic Rays from Neutrinos

We discuss recent models in which neutrinos, which are assumed to have mass in the eV range, originate the highest energy cosmic rays by interaction with the enhanced density in the galactic halo of the relic cosmic neutrino background. We make an analytical calculation of the required neutrino fluxes to show that the parameter space for these models is constrained by horizontal air shower searches and by the total number of background neutrinos, so that only models which have fairly unnatural halo sizes and enhanced densities are allowed.Comment: 14 pages, 3 ps figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Double fermiophobic Higgs boson production at the LHC and LC

We consider the phenomenology of a fermiophobic Higgs boson (h_f) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and a e+e- Linear Collider (LC). At both machines the standard production mechanisms which rely on the coupling h_fVV (V=W,Z) can be very suppressed at large tan beta. In such cases the complementary channels pp to H^\pm h_f, A^0 h_f and e+e- to A^0 h_f offer promising cross-sections. Together with the potentially large branching ratios for H^\pm to h_fW* and A^0 to h_fZ*, these mechanisms would give rise to double h_f production, leading to signatures of gamma gamma gamma gamma, gamma gamma VV and VVVV.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, expanded discussion, fig.1 changed slightly, version to appear in Phys.Rev.

Form and function in hillslope hydrology : Characterization of subsurface ow based on response observations

Acknowledgements. We are grateful to Marcel Delock, Lisei Köhn, and Marvin Reich for their support during fieldwork, as well as Markus Morgner and Jean Francois Iffly for technical support, Britta Kattenstroth for hydrometeorological data acquisition and isotope sampling, and Barbara Herbstritt and Begoña Lorente Sistiaga for laboratory work. Laurent Pfister and Jean-Francois Iffly from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) are acknowledged for organizing the permissions for the experiments and providing discharge data for Weierbach 1 and Colpach. We also want to thank Frauke K. Barthold and the two anonymous reviewers, whose thorough remarks greatly helped to improve the manuscript. This study is part of DFG-funded CAOS project “From Catchments as Organised Systems to Models based on Dynamic Functional Units” (FOR 1598). The article processing charges for this open-access publication were covered by a Research Centre of the Helmholtz Association.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

VLA Observations of the "Eye of the Tornado"- the High Velocity \HII Region G357.63-0.06

The unusual supernova remnant candidate G357.7-0.1 and the compact source G357.63-0.06 have been observed with the Very Large Array at 1.4 and 8.3 GHz. The H92$\alpha$ line (8.3 GHz) was detected from the compact source with a surprising velocity of about -210 km/s indicating that this source is an \HII region, is most likely located at the Galactic center, and is unrelated to the SNR. The \HI absorption line (1.4 GHz) data toward these sources supports this picture and suggests that G357.7-0.1 lies farther away than the Galactic center.Comment: Latex, 14 pages including 4 figures. Accepted to A

Decay of High-Energy Astrophysical Neutrinos

Existing limits on the non-radiative decay of one neutrino to another plus a massless particle (e.g., a singlet Majoron) are very weak. The best limits on the lifetime to mass ratio come from solar neutrino observations, and are \tau/m \agt 10^{-4} s/eV for the relevant mass eigenstate(s). For lifetimes even several orders of magnitude longer, high-energy neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources would decay. This would strongly alter the flavor ratios from the $\phi_{\nu_e}:\phi_{\nu_{\mu}}:\phi_{\nu_{\tau}} = 1:1:1$ expected from oscillations alone, and should be readily visible in the near future in detectors such as IceCube.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. References added. Version to appear in PR

Resonant conversions of extremely high energy neutrinos in dark matter halos

We study the effect of adiabatically resonant conversion in galactic halos of neutrinos at the highest energies ($\sim 10^{20}$ - $10^{22}$ eV), when the $\nu$ source is in the center of a galaxy. Using the standard neutrino properties and the standard cosmological scenario for the hot dark part of matter, we find that interesting conversions may take place just for neutrino parameters relevant to the solar and atmospheric neutrino problem. The effect is due to the large enhancement in the $\nu$ density in galactic halos and to the form of the effective matter potential both below and above the pole of the $Z$ resonance.Comment: 8 pages, revtex, some comments and references added, to appear in Phys. Rev.

The LWA1 Radio Telescope

LWA1 is a new radio telescope operating in the frequency range 10-88 MHz, located in central New Mexico. The telescope consists of 258 pairs of dipole-type antennas whose outputs are individually digitized and formed into beams. Simultaneously, signals from all dipoles can be recorded using one of the instrument's "all dipoles" modes, facilitating all-sky imaging. Notable features of the instrument include high intrinsic sensitivity (about 6 kJy zenith system equivalent flux density), large instantaneous bandwidth (up to 78 MHz), and 4 independently-steerable beams utilizing digital "true time delay" beamforming. This paper summarizes the design of LWA1 and its performance as determined in commissioning experiments. We describe the method currently in use for array calibration, and report on measurements of sensitivity and beamwidth.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figures, accepted by IEEE Trans. Antennas & Propagation. Various minor changes from previous versio

Swift UVOT Observations of Core-Collapse SNe

We review recent UV observations of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) with the Swift Ultra-violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) during its first two years. Rest-frame UV photometry is useful for differentiating SN types by exploiting the UV-optical spectral shape and more subtle UV features. This is useful for the real-time classification of local and high-redshift SNe using only photometry. Two remarkable SNe Ib/c were observed with UVOT -- SN2006jc was a UV bright SN Ib. Swift observations of GRB060218/SN2006aj began shortly after the explosion and show a UV-bright peak followed by a UV-faint SN bump. UV observations are also useful for constraining the temperature and ionization structure of SNe IIP. Rest-frame UV observations of all types are important for understanding the extinction, temperature, and bolometric luminosity of SNe and to interpret the observations of high redshift SNe observed at optical wavelengths.Comment: Figures are enlarged and colorized from print versio