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B. Bandyopadhyay

Publications and source records attributed to B. Bandyopadhyay.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Broadband Multi-wavelength Properties of M87 during the 2018 EHT Campaign including a Very High Energy Flaring Episode

The nearby elliptical galaxy M87 contains one of the only two supermassive black holes whose emission surrounding the event horizon has been imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). In 2018, more than two dozen multi-wavelength (MWL) facilities (from radio to gamma-ray energies) took part in the second M87 EHT campaign. The goal of this extensive MWL campaign was to better understand the physics of the accreting black hole M87*, the relationship between the inflow and inner jets, and the high-energy particle acceleration. Understanding the complex astrophysics is also a necessary first step towards performing further tests of general relativity. The MWL campaign took place in April 2018, overlapping with the EHT M87* observations. We present a new, contemporaneous spectral energy distribution (SED) ranging from radio to very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays, as well as details of the individual observations and light curves. We also conduct phenomenological modelling to investigate the basic source properties. We present the first VHE gamma-ray flare from M87 detected since 2010. The flux above 350 GeV has more than doubled within a period of about 36 hours. We find that the X-ray flux is enhanced by about a factor of two compared to 2017, while the radio and millimetre core fluxes are consistent between 2017 and 2018. We detect evidence for a monotonically increasing jet position angle that corresponds to variations in the bright spot of the EHT image. Our results show the value of continued MWL monitoring together with precision imaging for addressing the origins of high-energy particle acceleration. While we cannot currently pinpoint the precise location where such acceleration takes place, the new VHE gamma-ray flare already presents a challenge to simple one-zone leptonic emission model approaches, and emphasises the need for combined image and spectral modelling.

astro-ph.HE

Exploring how deviations from the Kerr metric can affect SMBH images

Black holes (BH) are objects described by General Relativity (GR), particularly by the Kerr solution. However, this solution is based on simplifying assumptions. To achieve a more realistic approach, we investigate the impact of deviations from the Kerr solution on the imaging of supermassive black holes (SMBH). We conduct General Relativistic Radiation Transport simulations using a Kerr-Like metric, which includes four nonlinear free deviation functions and is stationary, axis-symmetric, and asymptotically flat. The RAPTOR I code, an open-source ray-tracing code capable of handling arbitrary spacetimes, is employed to generate the images. We analyze the asymmetry, diameter, and shadow displacement of the BH to compare them with those of a Kerr BH. Our findings confirm that these deviations significantly affect the shape of the shadow. However, we acknowledge the importance of considering the matter distribution and emissivities surrounding the BH, as the results cannot be solely inferred from the shape of the photon ring.

gr-qc

Formation of massive black holes via collisions and accretion

To explain the observed population of supermassive black holes at z~7, very massive seed black holes or, alternatively, super-Eddington scenarios are needed to reach final masses of the order of 10^9 solar masses. A popular explanation for massive seeds has been the direct collapse model, which predicts the formation of a single massive object due to the direct collapse of a massive gas cloud. Simulations over the last years have however shown that such a scenario is very difficult to achieve. A realistic model of black hole formation should therefore take fragmentation into account, and consider the interaction between stellar-dynamical and gas-dynamical processes. We present here numerical simulations pursued with the AMUSE code, employing an approximate treatment of the gas. Based on these simulations, we show that very massive black holes of 10^4-10^5 solar masses may form depending on the gas supply and the accretion onto the protostars.

astro-ph.GA

Crossover of the dimensionality of 3d spin fluctuations in LaCoPO

dc magnetization and 31^P spin lattice relaxation rate in the polycrystalline sample of LaCoPO suggest a spin fluctuation dominated ferromagnetically ordered state. Moreover, NMR data clearly indicate a crossover from 2D to 3D spin fluctuations across T_C. In contrast to isotropic hyperfine field, H_hf at the 31^P site in LaFePO, H_hf is anisotropic in LaCoPO. The data of spin lattice relaxation rate also exhibit anisotropic spin fluctuation. The anisotropy vanishes near T_C.

cond-mat.str-el

Study of electron spin dynamics in grain aligned LaCoPO: an itinerant ferromagnet

139La NMR study was performed in grain aligned (c|| H0) sample of LaCoPO and polycrystalline LaFePO. Knight shift is isotropic and temperature independent in LaFePO. It is strongly temperature dependent and anisotropic in LaCoPO. The spin-lattice relaxation rate in LaCoPO clearly reveals the existence of 3D spin fluctuations both in the paramagnetic and ferromagnetic state over and above the dominant 2D spin fluctuations in the paramagnetic state, observed earlier from 31P NMR measurements in the same oriented sample. The spin fluctuation parameters in LaCoPO determined from 139La NMR relaxation and magnetization data, using the self consistent renormalization (SCR) theory, are in close agreement and follow the universal Rhodes-Wohlfarth curve.

cond-mat.str-el

Impurity Substitution in Bismuth and Thallium Cuprates: Suppression of T_c and Estimation of Pseudogap

Suppression of T_c in bilayer bismuth and thallium cuprates, by substitution of Co impurities at Cu sites, are taken for examination. T_c suppression data on differently doped Bi2212 and Tl2212 are analysed within the unitary pair-breaking formalism due to Abrikosov and Gorkov, by fitting data points to a phenomenological relation valid for weak coupling d-wave superconductors. Values of the pseudogap magnitude at each doping are thereby estimated within a "fermi-level density of states suppression" picture. Pseudogap magnitude from our estimation is observed to have a correspondence with a related characteristic temperature T^\star obtained by thermoelectric power measurements. Effects of pseudogap, on the density of states, is studied by calculating the susceptibility which shows a broad peak at high temperature. This peak feature in susceptibility is indicative of an unusual metallic state which could further be explored by systematic other measurements.

cond-mat.supr-con