1,127 research outputs found
Low-x evolution of parton densities
It is shown that a Bessel-like behaviour of the structure function F2 at
small x, obtained for a flat initial condition in the DGLAP evolution
equations, leads to good agreement with the deep inelastic scattering
experimental data from HERA.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, in Proc. of the third International Workshop on
Multiple Partonic Interactions at the LHC (21-25 November 2011, DESY,
Hamburg
Free-fall accretion and emitting caustics in wind-fed X-ray sources
In wind-fed X-ray binaries the accreting matter is Compton cooled and falls
freely onto the compact object. The matter has a modest angular momentum
and accretion is quasi-spherical at large distances from the compact object.
Initially small non-radial velocities grow in the converging supersonic flow
and become substantial in the vicinity of the accretor. The streamlines with
(where and are the mass and radius of the compact
object) intersect outside and form a two-dimensional caustic which emits
X-rays. The streamlines with low angular momentum, , run into
the accretor. If the accretor is a neutron star, a large X-ray luminosity
results. We show that the distribution of accretion rate/luminosity over the
star surface is sensitive to the angular momentum distribution of the accreting
matter. The apparent luminosity depends on the side from which the star is
observed and can change periodically with the orbital phase of the binary. The
accretor then appears as a `Moon-like' X-ray source.Comment: 8 pages, accepted to MNRA
Hard X-ray emitting black hole fed by accretion of low angular momentum matter
Observed spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and luminous X-ray binaries
in our Galaxy suggest that both hot (~10^9 K) and cold (~10^6 K) plasma
components exist close to the central accreting black hole. Hard X-ray
component of the spectra is usually explained by Compton upscattering of
optical/UV photons from optically thick cold plasma by hot electrons.
Observations also indicate that some of these objects are quite efficient in
converting gravitational energy of accretion matter into radiation. Existing
theoretical models have difficulties in explaining the two plasma components
and high intensity of hard X-rays. Most of the models assume that the hot
component emerges from the cold one due to some kind of instability, but no one
offers a satisfactory physical explanation for this. Here we propose a solution
to these difficulties that reverses what was imagined previously: in our model
the hot component forms first and afterward it cools down to form the cold
component. In our model, accretion flow has initially a small angular momentum,
and thus it has a quasi-spherical geometry at large radii. Close to the black
hole, the accreting matter is heated up in shocks that form due to the action
of the centrifugal force. The hot post-shock matter is very efficiently cooled
down by Comptonization of low energy photons and condensates into a thin and
cold accretion disk. The thin disk emits the low energy photons which cool the
hot component.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, submitted to ApJ Let
- …