3,718 research outputs found
Soft X-ray Emission from the Spiral Galaxy NGC 1313
The nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1313 has been observed with the PSPC
instr- ument on board the ROSAT X-ray satellite. Ten individual sources are
found. Three sources (X-1, X-2 and X-3 [SN~1978K]) are very bright (~10^40
erg/s) and are unusual in that analogous objects do not exist in our Galaxy. We
present an X-ray image of NGC~1313 and \xray spectra for the three bright
sources. The emission from the nuclear region (R ~< 2 kpc) is dominated by
source X-1, which is located ~1 kpc north of the photometric (and dynamical)
center of NGC~1313. Optical, far-infrared and radio images do not indicate the
presence of an active galactic nucleus at that position; however, the compact
nature of the \xray source (X-1) suggests that it is an accretion-powered
object with central mass M >~ 10^3 Msun. Additional emission (L_X ~ 10^39
erg/s) in the nuclear region extends out to ~2.6 kpc and roughly follows the
spiral arms. This emission is from 4 sources with luminosity of several x 10^38
erg/s, two of which are consistent with emission from population I sources
(e.g., supernova remnants, and hot interstellar gas which has been heated by
supernova remnants). The other two sources could be emission from population II
sources (e.g., low-mass \xray binaries). The bright sources X-2 and SN~1978K
are positioned in the southern disk of NGC~1313. X-2 is variable and has no
optical counterpart brighter than 20.8 mag (V-band). It is likely that it is an
accretion-powered object in NGC~1313. The type-II supernova SN~1978K (Ryder
\etal 1993) has become extra- ordinarily luminous in X-rays 13 years
after optical maximum.Comment: to appear in 10 Jun 1995 ApJ, 30 pgs uuencoded compressed postscript,
25 pgs of figures available upon request from colbert, whole preprint
available upon request from Sandy Shrader ([email protected]),
hopefully fixed unknown problem with postscript fil
BATSE Gamma-Ray Burst Line Search: IV. Line Candidates from the Visual Search
We evaluate the significance of the line candidates identified by a visual
search of burst spectra from BATSE's Spectroscopy Detectors. None of the
candidates satisfy our detection criteria: an F-test probability less than
10^-4 for a feature in one detector and consistency among the detectors which
viewed the burst. Most of the candidates are not very significant, and are
likely to be fluctuations. Because of the expectation of finding absorption
lines, the search was biased towards absorption features. We do not have a
quantitative measure of the completeness of the search which would enable a
comparison with previous missions. Therefore a more objective computerized
search has begun.Comment: 18 pages AASTEX 4.0; 4 POSTSCRIPT figures on request from
[email protected]
The ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 1313 X-2 - Its optical counterpart and environment
NGC 1313 X-2 is one of the brightest ultraluminous X-ray sources in the sky,
at both X-ray and optical wavelengths; therefore, quite a few studies of
available ESO VLT and HST data have appeared in the literature. Here, we
present our analysis of VLT/FORS1 and HST/ACS photometric data, confirming the
identification of the B ~ 23 mag blue optical counterpart. We show that the
system is part of a poor cluster with an age of 20 Myr, leading to an upper
mass limit of some 12 M_sun for the mass donor. We attribute the different
results with respect to earlier studies to the use of isochrones in the F435W
and F555W HST/ACS photometric system that appear to be incompatible with the
corresponding Johnson B and V isochrones. The counterpart exhibits significant
photometric variability of about 0.2 mag amplitude, both between the two HST
observations and during the one month of monitoring with the VLT. This includes
variability within one night and suggests that the light is dominated by the
accretion disk in the system and not by the mass donor.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Dark matter: A spin one half fermion field with mass dimension one?
We report an unexpected theoretical discovery of a spin one half matter field
with mass dimension one. It is based on a complete set of eigenspinors of the
charge conjugation operator. Due to its unusual properties with respect to
charge conjugation and parity it belongs to a non standard Wigner class.
Consequently, the theory exhibits non-locality with (CPT)^2 = - I. Its dominant
interaction with known forms of matter is via Higgs, and with gravity. This
aspect leads us to contemplate it as a first-principle candidate for dark
matter.Comment: 5 pages, RevTex, v2: slightly extended discussion, new refs. and note
adde
Classical Physics and Quantum Loops
The standard picture of the loop expansion associates a factor of h-bar with
each loop, suggesting that the tree diagrams are to be associated with
classical physics, while loop effects are quantum mechanical in nature. We
discuss examples wherein classical effects arise from loop contributions and
display the relationship between the classical terms and the long range effects
of massless particles.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure
The general-covariant and gauge-invariant theory of quantum particles in classical backgrounds
A new approach to the concept of particles and their production in quantum
field theory is developed. A local operator describing the current of particle
density is constructed for scalar and spinor fields in arbitrary gravitational
and electromagnetic backgrounds. This enables one to describe particles in a
local, general-covariant and gauge-invariant way. However, the current depends
on the choice of a 2-point function. There is a choice that leads to the local
non-conservation of the current in a gravitational or an electromagnetic
background, which describes local particle production consistent with the usual
global description based on the Bogoliubov transformation. The most natural
choice based on the Green function calculated using the Schwinger-DeWitt method
leads to the local conservation of the current, provided that interactions with
quantum fields are absent. Interactions with quantum fields lead to the local
non-conservation of the current which describes local particle production
consistent with the usual global description based on the interaction picture.Comment: 34 pages, revised, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.
Ongoing Gas Stripping in the Virgo Cluster Spiral NGC 4522
The Virgo cluster galaxy NGC 4522 is one of the best spiral candidates for
ICM-ISM stripping in action. Optical broadband and H-alpha images from the WIYN
telescope of the highly inclined galaxy reveal a relatively undisturbed stellar
disk and a peculiar distribution of H-alpha emission. Ten percent of the
H-alpha emission arises from extraplanar HII regions which appear to lie within
filamentary structures >3 kpc long above one side of the disk. The filaments
emerge from the outer edge of a disk of bright H-alpha emission which is
abruptly truncated beyond 0.35R(25). Together the truncated H-alpha disk and
extraplanar H-alpha filaments are reminiscent of a bow shock morphology, which
strongly suggests that the interstellar medium (ISM) of NGC 4522 is being
stripped by the gas pressure of the intracluster medium (ICM). The galaxy has a
line-of-sight velocity of 1300 km/sec with respect to the mean Virgo cluster
velocity, and thus is expected to experience a strong interaction with the
intracluster gas. The existence of HII regions apparently located above the
disk plane suggests that star formation is occuring in the stripped gas, and
that newly formed stars will enter the galaxy halo and/or intracluster space.
The absence of HII regions in the disk beyond 0.35R(25), and the existence of
HII regions in the stripped gas suggest that even molecular gas has been
effectively removed from the disk of the galaxy.Comment: to appear in The Astronomical Journal, 16 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
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