On behavior strategy solutions in finite extended decision processes

Techniques for finding best behavior strategies on arbitrary information collection scheme

A view of PKS 2155-304 with XMM-Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometers

We present the high resolution X-ray spectrum of the BL Lac object PKS 2155-304 taken with the RGS units onboard XMM-Newton in November 2000. We detect a OVII Kalpha resonant absorption line from warm/hot local gas at 21.59A (~4.5 sigma detection). The line profile is possibly double peaked. We do not confirm the strong 20.02 A absorption line seen with Chandra and interpreted as z~0.05 OVIII Kalpha. A 3sigma upper limit of 14 mA on the equivalent width is set. We also detect the ~23.5 A interstellar OI 1s-->2p line and derive a factor <=1.5 subsolar O/H ratio in the ISM along PKS 2155-304 line of sight.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, emulateapj style. Accepted by Ap

Determining X-Ray Source Intensity and Confidence Bounds in Crowded Fields

We present a rigorous description of the general problem of aperture photometry in high energy astrophysics photon-count images, in which the statistical noise model is Poisson, not Gaussian. We compute the full posterior probability density function for the expected source intensity for various cases of interest, including the important cases in which both source and background apertures contain contributions from the source, and when multiple source apertures partially overlap. A Bayesian approach offers the advantages that it allows one to (a) include explicit prior information on source intensities, (b) propagate posterior distributions as priors for future observations, and (c) use Poisson likelihoods, making the treatment valid in the low counts regime. Elements of this approach have been implemented in the Chandra Source Catalog.Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures. Fixed typos and incorrect statement at end of 4.2.3. Results unchange

On behavior strategy solutions of finite two- person constant-sum extended games

Recall-sensitivity and behavior strategy solutions in finite two-person constant-sum extended game

Deposing the Cool Corona of KPD 0005+5106

The ROSAT PSPC pulse height spectrum of the peculiar He-rich hot white dwarf KPD 0005+5106 provided a great surprise when first analysed by Fleming, Werner & Barstow (1993). It defied the best non-LTE modelling attempts in terms of photospheric emission from He-dominated atmospheres including C, N and O and was instead interpreted as the first evidence for a coronal plasma around a white dwarf. We show here that a recent high resolution Chandra LETGS spectrum has more structure than expected from a thermal bremsstrahlung continuum and lacks the narrow lines of H-like and He-like C expected from a coronal plasma. Moreover, a coronal model requires a total luminosity more than two orders of magnitude larger than that of the star itself. Instead, the observed 20-80 AA flux is consistent with photospheric models containing trace amounts of heavier elements such as Fe. The soft X-ray flux is highly sensitive to the adopted metal abundance and provides a metal abundance diagnostic. The weak X-ray emission at 1 keV announced by O'Dwyer et al (2003) instead cannot arise from the photosphere and requires alternative explanations. We echo earlier speculation that such emission arises in a shocked wind. Despite the presence of UV-optical O VIII lines from transitions between levels n=7-10, no X-ray O VIII Ly alpha flux is detected. We show that O VIII Lyman photons can be trapped by resonant scattering within the emitting plasma and destroyed by photoelectric absorption.Comment: 15 Pages, 4 figures. Accepted for the Astrophysical Journa