3,703 research outputs found
Roche tomography of the secondary stars in CVs
The secondary stars in cataclysmic variables (CVs) are key to our
understanding of the origin, evolution and behaviour of this class of
interacting binary. In seeking a fuller understanding of these objects, the
challenge for observers is to obtain images of the secondary star. This goal
can be achieved through Roche tomography, an indirect imaging technique that
can be used to map the Roche-lobe-filling secondary. The review begins with a
description of the basic principles that underpin Roche tomography, including
methods for determining the system parameters. Finally, we conclude with a look
at the main scientific highlights to date, including the first unambiguous
detection of starspots on AE Aqr B, and consider the future prospects of this
technique.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in A
The Secondary Star in Cataclysmic Variables and Low Mass X-ray Binaries
We critically re-examine the available data on the spectral types, masses and
radii of the secondary stars in cataclysmic variables (CVs) and low-mass X-ray
binaries (LMXBs), using the new catalogue of Ritter & Kolb (1998) as a starting
point. We find there are 55 reliable spectral type determinations and only 14
reliable mass determinations of CV secondary stars (10 and 5, respectively, in
the case of LMXBs). We derive new spectral type-period, mass-radius,
mass-period and radius-period relations, and compare them with theoretical
predictions. We find that CV secondary stars with orbital periods shorter than
7-8 hours are, as a group, indistinguishable from main sequence stars in
detached binaries. We find it is not valid, however, to estimate the mass from
the spectral type of the secondary star in CVs or LMXBs. We find that LMXB
secondary stars show some evidence for evolution, with secondary stars which
are slightly too large for their mass. We show how the masses and radii of the
secondary stars in CVs can be used to test the validity of the disrupted
magnetic braking model of CV evolution, but we find that the currently
available data are not sufficiently accurate or numerous to allow such an
analysis. As well as considering secondary star masses, we also discuss the
masses of the white dwarfs in CVs, and find mean values of M_1 = 0.69+/-0.13
M_sun below the period gap, and M_1 = 0.80+/-0.22 M_sun above the period gap.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure
Tight Lower Bounds on the Contact Distance Distribution in Poisson Hole Process
In this letter, we derive new lower bounds on the cumulative distribution
function (CDF) of the contact distance in the Poisson Hole Process (PHP) for
two cases: (i) reference point is selected uniformly at random from
independently of the PHP, and (ii) reference point is located at
the center of a hole selected uniformly at random from the PHP. While one can
derive upper bounds on the CDF of contact distance by simply ignoring the
effect of holes, deriving lower bounds is known to be relatively more
challenging. As a part of our proof, we introduce a tractable way of bounding
the effect of all the holes in a PHP, which can be used to study other
properties of a PHP as well.Comment: To appear in IEEE Wireless Communications Letter
Coexistence of RF-powered IoT and a Primary Wireless Network with Secrecy Guard Zones
This paper studies the secrecy performance of a wireless network (primary
network) overlaid with an ambient RF energy harvesting IoT network (secondary
network). The nodes in the secondary network are assumed to be solely powered
by ambient RF energy harvested from the transmissions of the primary network.
We assume that the secondary nodes can eavesdrop on the primary transmissions
due to which the primary network uses secrecy guard zones. The primary
transmitter goes silent if any secondary receiver is detected within its guard
zone. Using tools from stochastic geometry, we derive the probability of
successful connection of the primary network as well as the probability of
secure communication. Two conditions must be jointly satisfied in order to
ensure successful connection: (i) the SINR at the primary receiver is above a
predefined threshold, and (ii) the primary transmitter is not silent. In order
to ensure secure communication, the SINR value at each of the secondary nodes
should be less than a predefined threshold. Clearly, when more secondary nodes
are deployed, more primary transmitters will remain silent for a given guard
zone radius, thus impacting the amount of energy harvested by the secondary
network. Our results concretely show the existence of an optimal deployment
density for the secondary network that maximizes the density of nodes that are
able to harvest sufficient amount of energy. Furthermore, we show the
dependence of this optimal deployment density on the guard zone radius of the
primary network. In addition, we show that the optimal guard zone radius
selected by the primary network is a function of the deployment density of the
secondary network. This interesting coupling between the two networks is
studied using tools from game theory. Overall, this work is one of the few
concrete works that symbiotically merge tools from stochastic geometry and game
theory
Joint Uplink and Downlink Coverage Analysis of Cellular-based RF-powered IoT Network
Ambient radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting has emerged as a promising
solution for powering small devices and sensors in massive Internet of Things
(IoT) ecosystem due to its ubiquity and cost efficiency. In this paper, we
study joint uplink and downlink coverage of cellular-based ambient RF energy
harvesting IoT where the cellular network is assumed to be the only source of
RF energy. We consider a time division-based approach for power and information
transmission where each time-slot is partitioned into three sub-slots: (i)
charging sub-slot during which the cellular base stations (BSs) act as RF
chargers for the IoT devices, which then use the energy harvested in this
sub-slot for information transmission and/or reception during the remaining two
sub-slots, (ii) downlink sub-slot during which the IoT device receives
information from the associated BS, and (iii) uplink sub-slot during which the
IoT device transmits information to the associated BS. For this setup, we
characterize the joint coverage probability, which is the joint probability of
the events that the typical device harvests sufficient energy in the given time
slot and is under both uplink and downlink signal-to-interference-plus-noise
ratio (SINR) coverage with respect to its associated BS. This metric
significantly generalizes the prior art on energy harvesting communications,
which usually focused on downlink or uplink coverage separately. The key
technical challenge is in handling the correlation between the amount of energy
harvested in the charging sub-slot and the information signal quality (SINR) in
the downlink and uplink sub-slots. Dominant BS-based approach is developed to
derive tight approximation for this joint coverage probability. Several system
design insights including comparison with regularly powered IoT network and
throughput-optimal slot partitioning are also provided
A Self-Occulting Accretion Disk in the SW Sex Star DW UMa
We present the ultraviolet spectrum of the SW Sex star and nova-like variable
DW UMa in an optical low state, as observed with the Space Telescope Imaging
Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The data are well
described by a synthetic white dwarf (WD) spectrum with T_eff = 46,000 +/- 1000
K, log g = 7.60 +/- 0.15, v*sin(i) = 370 +/- 100 km/s and Z/Z_solar = 0.47 +/-
0.15. For this combination of T_eff and log g, WD models predict M_WD = 0.48
+/- 0.06 M_solar and R_WD = (1.27 +/- 0.18) * 10^9 cm. Combining the radius
estimate with the normalization of the spectral fit, we obtain a distance
estimate of d = 830 +/-150 pc.
During our observations, DW UMa was approximately 3 magnitudes fainter in V
than in the high state. A comparison of our low-state HST spectrum to a
high-state spectrum obtained with the International Ultraviolet Explorer shows
that the former is much bluer and has a higher continuum level shortward of
1450 A. Since DW UMa is an eclipsing system, this suggests that an optically
thick accretion disk rim blocks our view of the WD primary in the high state.
If self-occulting accretion disks are common among the SW Sex stars, we can
account for (i) the preference for high-inclination systems within the class
and (ii) their V-shaped continuum eclipses. Moreover, even though the emission
lines produced by a self-obscured disk are generally still double-peaked, they
are weaker and narrower than those produced by an unobscured disk. This may
allow a secondary line emission mechanism to dominate and produce the
single-peaked, optical lines that are a distinguishing characteristic of the SW
Sex stars.Comment: 9 pages, including 2 figures; accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journal Letters; New version matches version in press (footnote
added to discussion section; figures now use color
Finite-step algorithms for constructing optimal CDMA signature sequences
A description of optimal sequences for direct-spread code-division multiple access (DS-CDMA) is a byproduct of recent characterizations of the sum capacity. This paper restates the sequence design problem as an inverse singular value problem and shows that the problem can be solved with finite-step algorithms from matrix theory. It proposes a new one-sided algorithm that is numerically stable and faster than previous methods
Optimal CDMA signatures: a finite-step approach
A description of optimal sequences for direct-sequence code division multiple access is a byproduct of recent characterizations of the sum capacity. The paper restates the sequence design problem as an inverse singular value problem and shows that it can be solved with finite-step algorithms from matrix analysis. Relevant algorithms are reviewed and a new one-sided construction is proposed that obtains the sequences directly instead of computing the Gram matrix of the optimal signatures
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