X-Ray Spectral Variability in Cygnus X-1

Spectral variability in different energy bands of X-rays from Cyg X-1 in different states is studied with RXTE observations and time domain approaches. In the hard tail of energy spectrum above $\sim 10$ keV, average peak aligned shots are softer than the average steady emission and the hardness ratio decreases when the flux increases during a shot for all states. In regard to a soft band lower $\sim 10$ keV, the hardness in the soft state varies in an opposite way: it peaks when the flux of the shot peaks. For the hard and transition states, the hardness ratio in respect to a soft band during a shot is in general lower than that of the steady component and a sharp rise is observed at about the shot peak. For the soft state, the correlation coefficient between the intensity and hardness ratio in the hard tail is negative and decreases monotonically as the timescale increases from 0.01 s to 50 s, which is opposite to that in regard to a soft band. For the hard and transition states, the correlation coefficients are in general negative and have a trend of decrease with increasing timescale.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Ap

Temporal variability in early afterglows of short gamma-ray bursts

The shock model has successfully explained the observed behaviors of afterglows from long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Here we use it to investigate the so-called early afterglows from short GRBs, which arises from blast waves that are not decelerated considerably by their surrounding medium. We consider a nearby medium loaded with $e^{\pm}$ pairs (Beloborodov 2002). The temporal behaviors show first a soft-to-hard spectral evolution, from the optical to hard X-ray, and then a usual hard-to-soft evolution after the blast waves begin to decelerate. The light curves show variability, and consist of two peaks. The first peak, due to the pair effect, can be observed in the X-ray, though too faint and too short in the optical. The second peak will be easily detected by {\it Swift}. We show that detections of the double-peak structure in the light curves of early afterglows are very helpful to determine all the shock parameters of short GRBs, including both the parameters of the relativistic source and the surroundings. Besides, from the requirement that the forward-shock emission in short GRBs should be below the BATSE detection threshold, we give a strong constraint on the shock model parameters. In particular, the initial Lorentz factor of the source is limited to be no more than $\sim 10^3$, and the ambient medium density is inferred to be low, n\la 10^{-1} cm$^{-3}$.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, minor changes to match the publish in MNRA

QED Penguin Contributions To Isospin Splittings of Heavy-Light Quark Systems

Recent experiments show that the isospin-violating mass splitting of the B mesons is very small, but the best fits with a QCD sum rule analysis give a splitting of at least 1.0 MeV. The isospin-violating mass splittings of the charmed mesons, on the other hand, are in agreement with experiment. In this letter we show that the inclusion of 2$^{nd}$ kind QED penguin diagrams can account for this discrepancy within the errors in the QCD sum rule method.Comment: 9 pages, latex, 2 figure

Critical exponents of the two-layer Ising model

The symmetric two-layer Ising model (TLIM) is studied by the corner transfer matrix renormalisation group method. The critical points and critical exponents are calculated. It is found that the TLIM belongs to the same universality class as the Ising model. The shift exponent is calculated to be 1.773, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction 1.75 with 1.3% deviation.Comment: 7 pages, with 10 figures include

Highlights of the TEXONO Research Program on Neutrino and Astroparticle Physics

This article reviews the research program and efforts for the TEXONO Collaboration on neutrino and astro-particle physics. The ``flagship'' program is on reactor-based neutrino physics at the Kuo-Sheng (KS) Power Plant in Taiwan. A limit on the neutrino magnetic moment of \munuebar < 1.3 X 10^{-10} \mub} at 90% confidence level was derived from measurements with a high purity germanium detector. Other physics topics at KS, as well as the various R&D program, are discussedComment: 10 pages, 9 figures, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Neutrino and Dark Matter in Nuclear Physics (NDM03), Nara, Japan, June 9-14, 200

Corrections to the thermodynamics of Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole and the generalized uncertainty principle

We investigate the thermodynamics of Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole in the context of the generalized uncertainty principle. The corrections to the Hawking temperature, entropy and the heat capacity are obtained via the modified Hamilton-Jacobi equation. These modifications show that the GUP changes the evolution of Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole. Specially, the GUP effect becomes susceptible when the radius or mass of black hole approach to the order of Planck scale, it stops radiating and leads to black hole remnant. Meanwhile, the Planck scale remnant can be confirmed through the analysis of the heat capacity. Those phenomenons imply that the GUP may give a way to solve the information paradox. Besides, we also investigate the possibilities to observe the black hole at LHC, the results demonstrate that the black hole can not be produced in the recent LHC.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

DISCHARGE OXIDE STORAGE CAPACITY AND VOLTAGE LOSS IN LI-AIR BATTERY

Air cathodes, where oxygen reacts with Li ions and electrons with discharge oxide stored in their pore structure, are often considered as the most challenging component in nonaqueous Lithium-air batteries. In non-aqueous electrolytes, discharge oxides are usually insoluble and hence precipitate at local reaction site, raising the oxygen transport resistance in the pore network. Due to their low electric conductivity, their presence causes electrode passivation. This study aims to investigate the air cathode's performance through analytically obtaining oxygen profiles, modeling electrode passivation, evaluating the transport polarization raised by discharge oxide precipitate, and developing analytical formulas for insoluble Li oxides storage capacity. The variations of cathode quantities, including oxygen content and temperature, are evaluated and related to a single dimensionless parameter - the Damköhler Number (Da). An approximate model is developed to predict discharge voltage loss, along with validation against two sets of experimental data. Air cathode properties, including tortuosity, surface coverage factor and the Da number, and their effects on the cathode's capacity of storing Li oxides are formulated and discussed

Quantum state transfer via the ferromagnetic chain in a spatially modulated field

We show that a perfect quantum state transmission can be realized through a spin chain possessing a commensurate structure of energy spectrum, which is matched with the corresponding parity. As an exposition of the mirror inversion symmetry discovered by Albanese et. al (quant-ph/0405029), the parity matched the commensurability of energy spectra help us to present the novel pre-engineered spin systems for quantum information transmission. Based on the these theoretical analysis, we propose a protocol of near-perfect quantum state transfer by using a ferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with uniform coupling constant, but an external parabolic magnetic field. The numerical results shows that the initial Gaussian wave packet in this system with optimal field distribution can be reshaped near-perfectly over a longer distance.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure