620 research outputs found
On the equipartition of thermal and non-thermal energy in clusters of galaxies
Clusters of galaxies are revealing themselves as powerful sources of non
thermal radiation in a wide range of wavelengths. In order to account for these
multifrequency observations equipartition of cosmic rays (CRs) with the thermal
gas in clusters of galaxies is often invoked. This condition might suggest a
dynamical role played by cosmic rays in the virialization of these large scale
structures and is now testable through gamma ray observations. We show here, in
the specific case of the Coma and Virgo clusters, for which upper limits on the
gamma ray emission exist, that equipartition implies gamma ray fluxes that are
close or even in excess of the EGRET limit, depending on the adopted model of
CR injection. We use this bound to limit the validity of the equipartition
condition. We also show that, contrary to what claimed in previous
calculations, the equipartition assumption implies gamma ray fluxes in the TeV
range which can be detectable even by currently operating gamma ray
observatories if the injection cosmic ray spectrum is flatter than .Comment: 20 pages + 2 figures. To appear in the Astrophysical Journa
Magnetic Field Seeding by Galactic Winds
The origin of intergalactic magnetic fields is still a mystery and several
scenarios have been proposed so far: among them, primordial phase transitions,
structure formation shocks and galactic outflows. In this work we investigate
how efficiently galactic winds can provide an intense and widespread "seed"
magnetisation. This may be used to explain the magnetic fields observed today
in clusters of galaxies and in the intergalactic medium (IGM). We use
semi-analytic simulations of magnetised galactic winds coupled to high
resolution N-body simulations of structure formation to estimate lower and
upper limits for the fraction of the IGM which can be magnetised up to a
specified level. We find that galactic winds are able to seed a substantial
fraction of the cosmic volume with magnetic fields. Most regions affected by
winds have magnetic fields in the range -12 < Log B < -8 G, while higher seed
fields can be obtained only rarely and in close proximity to wind-blowing
galaxies. These seed fields are sufficiently intense for a moderately efficient
turbulent dynamo to amplify them to the observed values. The volume filling
factor of the magnetised regions strongly depends on the efficiency of winds to
load mass from the ambient medium. However, winds never completely fill the
whole Universe and pristine gas can be found in cosmic voids and regions
unaffected by feedback even at z=0. This means that, in principle, there might
be the possibility to probe the existence of primordial magnetic fields in such
regions.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publications by MNRAS. A high
resolution version of the paper is available at
http://astronomy.sussex.ac.uk/~sb207/Papers/bb.ps.g
Gate tunability of stray-field-induced electron spin precession in a GaAs/InGaAs quantum well below an interdigitated magnetized Fe grating
Time-resolved Faraday rotation is used to measure the coherent electron spin
precession in a GaAs/InGaAs quantum well below an interdigitated magnetized Fe
grating. We show that the electron spin precession frequency can be modified by
applying a gate voltage of opposite polarity to neighboring bars. A tunability
of the precession frequency of 0.5 GHz/V has been observed. Modulating the gate
potential with a gigahertz frequency allows the electron spin precession to be
controlled on a nanosecond timescale
Impact of tangled magnetic fields on AGN-blown bubbles
There is growing consensus that feedback from AGN is the main mechanism
responsible for stopping cooling flows in clusters of galaxies. AGN are known
to inflate buoyant bubbles that supply mechanical power to the intracluster gas
(ICM). High Reynolds number hydrodynamical simulations show that such bubbles
get entirely disrupted within 100 Myr, as they rise in cluster atmospheres,
which is contrary to observations. This artificial mixing has consequences for
models trying to quantify the amount of heating and star formation in cool core
clusters of galaxies. It has been suggested that magnetic fields can stabilize
bubbles against disruption. We perform MHD simulations of fossil bubbles in the
presence of tangled magnetic fields using the high order PENCIL code. We focus
on the physically-motivated case where thermal pressure dominates over magnetic
pressure and consider randomly oriented fields with and without maximum
helicity and a case where large scale external fields drape the bubble.We find
that helicity has some stabilizing effect. However, unless the coherence length
of magnetic fields exceeds the bubble size, the bubbles are quickly shredded.
As observations of Hydra A suggest that lengthscale of magnetic fields may be
smaller then typical bubble size, this may suggest that other mechanisms, such
as viscosity, may be responsible for stabilizing the bubbles. However, since
Faraday rotation observations of radio lobes do not constrain large scale ICM
fields well if they are aligned with the bubble surface, the draping case may
be a viable alternative solution to the problem. A generic feature found in our
simulations is the formation of magnetic wakes where fields are ordered and
amplified. We suggest that this effect could prevent evaporation by thermal
conduction of cold Halpha filaments observed in the Perseus cluster.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS, (downgraded resolution figures,
color printing recommended
Imaging the lateral shift of a quantum-point contact using scanning-gate microscopy
We perform scanning-gate microscopy on a quantum-point contact. It is defined
in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas of an AlGaAs/GaAs
heterostructure, giving rise to a weak disorder potential. The lever arm of the
scanning tip is significantly smaller than that of the split gates defining the
conducting channel of the quantum-point contact. We are able to observe that
the conducting channel is shifted in real space when asymmetric gate voltages
are applied. The observed shifts are consistent with transport data and
numerical estimations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Spatially Resolved Raman Spectroscopy of Single- and Few-Layer Graphene
We present Raman spectroscopy measurements on single- and few-layer graphene
flakes. Using a scanning confocal approach we collect spectral data with
spatial resolution, which allows us to directly compare Raman images with
scanning force micrographs. Single-layer graphene can be distinguished from
double- and few-layer by the width of the D' line: the single peak for
single-layer graphene splits into different peaks for the double-layer. These
findings are explained using the double-resonant Raman model based on ab-initio
calculations of the electronic structure and of the phonon dispersion. We
investigate the D line intensity and find no defects within the flake. A finite
D line response originating from the edges can be attributed either to defects
or to the breakdown of translational symmetry
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