95 research outputs found
Modelling the light-curves of objects tidally disrupted by a black hole
Tidal disruption by massive black holes is a phenomenon, during which a large
part of gravitational energy can be released on a very short time-scale. The
time-scales and energies involved during X-ray and IR flares observed in
Galactic centre suggest that they may be related to tidal disruption events.
Furthermore, aftermath of a tidal disruption of a star by super-massive black
hole has been observed in some galaxies, e.g. RX J1242.6-1119A. All these
discoveries increased the demand for tools for tidal disruption study in curved
space-time. Here we summarise our study of general relativistic effects on
tidal deformation of stars and compact objects.Comment: 2 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the JENAM 2008, Symposium 7:
"Grand Challenges in Computational Astrophysics
Diagnostics of plasma in the ionospheric D-region: detection and study of different ionospheric disturbance types
Here we discuss our recent investigations of the ionospheric plasma by using
very low and low frequency (VLF/LF) radio waves. We give a review of how to
detect different low ionospheric reactions (sudden ionospheric disturbances) to
various terrestrial and extra-terrestrial events, show their classification
according to intensity and time duration, and present some methods for their
detections in time and frequency domains. Investigations of detection in time
domain are carried out for intensive long-lasting perturbations induced by
solar X-ray flares and for short-lasting perturbations caused by gamma ray
bursts. We also analyze time variations of signals used in the low ionospheric
monitoring after earthquake events. In addition, we describe a procedure for
the detection of acoustic and gravity waves from the VLF/LF signal analysis in
frequency domain. The research of the low ionospheric plasma is based on data
collected by the VLF/LF receivers located in Belgrade, Serbia
What brakes the Crab pulsar?
Optical observations provide convincing evidence that the optical phase of
the Crab pulsar follows the radio one closely. Since optical data do not depend
on dispersion measure variations, they provide a robust and independent
confirmation of the radio timing solution. The aim of this paper is to find a
global mathematical description of Crab pulsar's phase as a function of time
for the complete set of published Jodrell Bank radio ephemerides (JBE) in the
period 1988-2014. We apply the mathematical techniques developed for analyzing
optical observations to the analysis of JBE. We break the whole period into a
series of episodes and express the phase of the pulsar in each episode as the
sum of two analytical functions. The first function is the best-fitting local
braking index law, and the second function represents small residuals from this
law with an amplitude of only a few turns, which rapidly relaxes to the local
braking index law. From our analysis, we demonstrate that the power law index
undergoes "instantaneous" changes at the time of observed jumps in rotational
frequency (glitches). We find that the phase evolution of the Crab pulsar is
dominated by a series of constant braking law episodes, with the braking index
changing abruptly after each episode in the range of values between 2.1 and
2.6. Deviations from such a regular phase description behave as oscillations
triggered by glitches and amount to fewer than 40 turns during the above
period, in which the pulsar has made more than 2.0e10 turns. Our analysis does
not favor the explanation that glitches are connected to phenomena occurring in
the interior of the pulsar. On the contrary, timing irregularities and changes
in slow down rate seem to point to electromagnetic interaction of the pulsar
with the surrounding environment.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables; accepted for publication in Astronomy
& Astrophysic
Non-adiabatically driven electron in quantum wire with spin-orbit interaction
An exact solution is derived for the wave function of an electron in a
semiconductor quantum wire with spin-orbit interaction and driven by external
time dependent harmonic confining potential. The formalism allows analytical
expressions for various quantities to be derived, such as spin and pseudo-spin
rotations, energy and occupation probabilities for excited states. It is
demonstrated how perfect spin and pseudo-spin flips can be achieved at high
frequencies of order \omega, the confining potential level spacing. By an
appropriately chosen driving term, spin manipulation can be exactly performed
far into the non-adiabatic regime. Implications for spin-polarised emission and
spin-dependent transport are also discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Optical phase coherent timing of the Crab nebula pulsar with Iqueye at the ESO New Technology Telescope
The Crab nebula pulsar was observed in 2009 January and December with a novel
very fast optical photon counter, Iqueye, mounted at the ESO 3.5 m New
Technology Telescope. Thanks to the exquisite quality of the Iqueye data, we
computed accurate phase coherent timing solutions for the two observing runs
and over the entire year 2009. Our statistical uncertainty on the determination
of the phase of the main pulse and the rotational period of the pulsar for
short (a few days) time intervals are s and ~0.5 ps,
respectively. Comparison with the Jodrell Bank radio ephemerides shows that the
optical pulse leads the radio one by ~240 s in January and ~160 s in
December, in agreement with a number of other measurements performed after
1996. A third-order polynomial fit adequately describes the spin-down for the
2009 January plus December optical observations. The phase noise is consistent
with being Gaussian distributed with a dispersion of s in most observations, in agreement with theoretical expectations for
photon noise-induced phase variability.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of
the Royal Astronomical Societ
Spectroscopy and 3D imaging of the Crab nebula
Spectroscopy of the Crab nebula along different slit directions reveals the 3
dimensional structure of the optical nebula. On the basis of the linear radial
expansion result first discovered by Trimble (1968), we make a 3D model of the
optical emission. Results from a limited number of slit directions suggest that
optical lines originate from a complicated array of wisps that are located in a
rather thin shell, pierced by a jet. The jet is certainly not prominent in
optical emission lines, but the direction of the piercing is consistent with
the direction of the X-ray and radio jet. The shell's effective radius is ~ 79
seconds of arc, its thickness about a third of the radius and it is moving out
with an average velocity 1160 km/s.Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures, submitted to ApJ, 3D movie of the Crab nebula
available at http://www.fiz.uni-lj.si/~vidrih
Analytical time-like geodesics
Time-like orbits in Schwarzschild space-time are presented and classified in
a very transparent and straightforward way into four types. The analytical
solutions to orbit, time, and proper time equations are given for all orbit
types in the form r=r(\lambda), t=t(\chi), and \tau=\tau(\chi), where \lambda\
is the true anomaly and \chi\ is a parameter along the orbit. A very simple
relation between \lambda\ and \chi\ is also shown. These solutions are very
useful for modeling temporal evolution of transient phenomena near black holes
since they are expressed with Jacobi elliptic functions and elliptic integrals,
which can be calculated very efficiently and accurately.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted by General Relativity and Gravitatio
Effects of Kerr Spacetime on Spectral Features from X-Ray Illuminated Accretion Discs
We performed detailed calculations of the relativistic effects acting on both
the reflection continuum and the iron line from accretion discs around rotating
black holes. Fully relativistic transfer of both illuminating and reprocessed
photons has been considered in Kerr spacetime. We calculated overall spectra,
line profiles and integral quantities, and present their dependences on the
black hole angular momentum.
We show that the observed EW of the lines is substantially enlarged when the
black hole rotates rapidly and/or the source of illumination is near above the
hole. Therefore, such calculations provide a way to distinguish among different
models of the central source.Comment: 9 pages, latex, 13 figures, 3 Tables; accepted for publication in
MNRA
On the tidal evolution of the orbits of low-mass satellites around black holes
Low-mass satellites, like asteroids and comets, are expected to be present
around the black hole at the Galactic center. We consider small bodies orbiting
a black hole, and we study the evolution of their orbits due to tidal
interaction with the black hole. In this paper we investigate the consequences
of the existence of plunging orbits when a black hole is present. We are
interested in finding the conditions that exist when capture occurs. The main
difference between the Keplerian and black hole cases is in the existence of
plunging orbits. Orbital evolution, leading from bound to plunging orbits, goes
through a final unstable circular orbit. On this orbit, tidal energy is
released on a characteristic black hole timescale. This process may be relevant
for explaining how small, compact clumps of material can be brought onto
plunging orbits, where they may produce individual short duration accretion
events. The available energy and the characteristic timescale are consistent
with energy released and the timescale typical of Galactic flares.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Optical Spectrum of Main-, Inter- and Off-pulse Emission from Crab Pulsar
A dedicated stroboscopic device was used to obtain optical spectra of the
Crab main-pulse and inter-pulse as well as the spectrum of the underlying
nebula when the pulsar is turned off. As the nebular emission is very
inhomogeneous, our ability to effectively subtract the nebular background
signal is crucial.
No spectral lines intrinsic to the pulsar are detected. The main-pulse and
the inter-pulse behave as power laws, both with the same de-reddened index
Alpha = +0.2 +- 0.1. This value was obtained by subtracting the nebular
spectrum at the exact position of the pulsar. The underlying nebula is redder,
Alpha = -0.4 +- 0.1. Its emission lines are split into approaching (sim. -1200
km/s) and receding (sim. +600 km/s) components. The strength of emission line
components and the flux in nebular continuum vary on arcsec scale. The nebular
line and continuum intensities along the N-S slit are given.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 10 pages, 3
Tables, 4 Figure
- …