Searches for radio transients

Exploration of the transient Universe is an exciting and fast-emerging area within radio astronomy. Known transient phenomena range in time scales from sub-nanoseconds to years or longer, thus spanning a huge range in time domain and hinting a rich diversity in their underlying physical processes. Transient phenomena are likely locations of explosive or dynamic events and they offer tremendous potential to uncover new physics and astrophysics. A number of upcoming next-generation radio facilities and recent advances in computing and instrumentation have provided a much needed impetus for this field which has remained a relatively uncharted territory for the past several decades. In this paper we focus mainly on the class of phenomena that occur on very short time scales (i.e. from $\sim$ milliseconds to $\sim$ nanoseconds), known as {\it fast transients}, the detections of which involve considerable signal processing and data management challenges, given the high time and frequency resolutions required in their explorations, the role of propagation effects to be considered and a multitude of deleterious effects due to radio frequency interference. We will describe the techniques, strategies and challenges involved in their detections and review the world-wide efforts currently under way, both through scientific discoveries enabled by the ongoing large-scale surveys at Parkes and Arecibo, as well as technical developments involving the exploratory use of multi-element array instruments such as VLBA and GMRT. Such developments will undoubtedly provide valuable inputs as next-generation arrays such as LOFAR and ASKAP are designed and commissioned. With their wider fields of view and higher sensitivities, these instruments, and eventually the SKA, hold great potential to revolutionise this relatively nascent field, thereby opening up exciting new science avenues in astrophysics.Comment: To appear in the special issue of the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India on Transients at different wavelengths, eds D.J. Saikia and D.A. Green. 21 pages, 5 figures. http://www.ncra.tifr.res.in/~bas

A CLEAN-based Method for Deconvolving Interstellar Pulse Broadening from Radio Pulses

Multipath propagation in the interstellar medium distorts radio pulses, an effect predominant for distant pulsars observed at low frequencies. Typically, broadened pulses are analyzed to determine the amount of propagation-induced pulse broadening, but with little interest in determining the undistorted pulse shapes. In this paper we develop and apply a method that recovers both the intrinsic pulse shape and the pulse broadening function that describes the scattering of an impulse. The method resembles the CLEAN algorithm used in synthesis imaging applications, although we search for the best pulse broadening function, and perform a true deconvolution to recover intrinsic pulse structre. As figures of merit to optimize the deconvolution, we use the positivity and symmetry of the deconvolved result along with the mean square residual and the number of points below a given threshold. Our method makes no prior assumptions about the intrinsic pulse shape and can be used for a range of scattering functions for the interstellar medium. It can therefore be applied to a wider variety of measured pulse shapes and degrees of scattering than the previous approaches. We apply the technique to both simulated data and data from Arecibo observations.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Bose-Einstein Condensates in Rotating Lattices

Strongly interacting bosons in 2D in a rotating square lattice are investigated via a modified Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian. Such a system corresponds to a rotating lattice potential imprinted on a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate. Second-order quantum phase transitions between states of different symmetries are observed at discrete rotation rates. For the square lattice we study, there are four possible ground-state symmetries.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in PRL v2: Replaced phase winding labels with symmetry eigenstate indices, replaced Gaussian Ansatz with more general treatment and other minor change

Quasars: a supermassive rotating toroidal black hole interpretation

A supermassive rotating toroidal black hole (TBH) is proposed as the fundamental structure of quasars and other jet-producing active galactic nuclei. Rotating protogalaxies gather matter from the central gaseous region leading to the birth of massive toroidal stars whose internal nuclear reactions proceed very rapidly. Once the nuclear fuel is spent, gravitational collapse produces a slender ring-shaped TBH remnant. These events are typically the first supernovae of the host galaxies. Given time the TBH mass increases through continued accretion by several orders of magnitude, the event horizon swells whilst the central aperture shrinks. The difference in angular velocities between the accreting matter and the TBH induces a magnetic field that is strongest in the region of the central aperture and innermost ergoregion. Due to the presence of negative energy states when such a gravitational vortex is immersed in an electromagnetic field, circumstances are near ideal for energy extraction via non-thermal radiation including the Penrose process and superradiant scattering. This establishes a self-sustaining mechanism whereby the transport of angular momentum away from the quasar by relativistic bi-directional jets reinforces both the modulating magnetic field and the TBH/accretion disk angular velocity differential. Quasar behaviour is extinguished once the BH topology becomes spheroidal. Similar mechanisms may be operating in microquasars, SNe and GRBs when neutron density or BH tori arise. In certain circumstances, long-term TBH stability can be maintained by a negative cosmological constant, otherwise the classical topology theorems must somehow be circumvented. Preliminary evidence is presented that Planck-scale quantum effects may be responsible.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figs, various corrections and enhancements, final versio

1.57 μm InGaAsP/InP surface emitting lasers by angled focus ion beam etching

The characteristics of 1.57 μm InGaAsP/InP surface emitting lasers based on an in-plan ridged structure and 45° beam deflectors defined by angled focused ion beam (FIB) etching are reported. With an externally integrated beam deflector, threshold currents and emission spectra identical to conventional edge emitting lasers are achieved. These results show that FIB etching is a very promising technique for the definition of high quality mirrors and beam deflectors on semiconductor heterostructures for a variety of integrated optoelectronic devices

The Index of (White) Noises and their Product Systems

(See detailed abstract in the article.) We single out the correct class of spatial product systems (and the spatial endomorphism semigroups with which the product systems are associated) that allows the most far reaching analogy in their classifiaction when compared with Arveson systems. The main differences are that mere existence of a unit is not it sufficient: The unit must be CENTRAL. And the tensor product under which the index is additive is not available for product systems of Hilbert modules. It must be replaced by a new product that even for Arveson systems need not coincide with the tensor product