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B. Klein

Publications and source records attributed to B. Klein.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
arXiv2010

Submillimetre observations of RX J1856.5--3754

We report on submillimetre bolometer observations of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5--3754 using the LABOCA bolometer array on the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) Telescope. No cold dust continuum emission peak at the position of RX J1856.5--3754 was detected. The 3 sigma flux density upper limit of 5 mJy translates into a cold dust mass limit of a few earth masses. We use the new submillimetre limit, together with a previously obtained H-band limit, to constrain the presence of a gaseous, circumpulsar disc. Adopting a simple irradiated-disc model, we obtain a mass accretion limit of dM/dt less than 10^{14} g/s, and a maximum outer disc radius of around 10^{14} cm. By examining the projected proper motion of RX J1856.5--3754, we speculate about a possible encounter of the neutron star with a dense fragment of the CrA molecular cloud a few thousand years ago.

astro-ph.SR↗
arXiv2010

Thermodynamics and quark susceptibilities: a Monte-Carlo approach to the PNJL model

The Monte-Carlo method is applied to the Polyakov-loop extended Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (PNJL) model. This leads beyond the saddle-point approximation in a mean-field calculation and introduces fluctuations around the mean fields. We study the impact of fluctuations on the thermodynamics of the model, both in the case of pure gauge theory and including two quark flavors. In the two-flavor case, we calculate the second-order Taylor expansion coefficients of the thermodynamic grand canonical partition function with respect to the quark chemical potential and present a comparison with extrapolations from lattice QCD. We show that the introduction of fluctuations produces only small changes in the behavior of the order parameters for chiral symmetry restoration and the deconfinement transition. On the other hand, we find that fluctuations are necessary in order to reproduce lattice data for the flavor non-diagonal quark susceptibilities. Of particular importance are pion fields, the contribution of which is strictly zero in the saddle point approximation.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2009

Chemical Abundances in the Externally Polluted White Dwarf GD 40: Evidence of a Rocky Extrasolar Minor Planet

We present Keck/HIRES data with model atmosphere analysis of the helium-dominated polluted white dwarf GD 40, in which we measure atmospheric abundances relative to helium of 9 elements: H, O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, and Fe. Apart from hydrogen whose association with the other contaminants is uncertain, this material most likely accreted from GD 40's circumstellar dust disk whose existence is demonstrated by excess infrared emission. The data are best explained by accretion of rocky planetary material, in which heavy elements are largely contained within oxides, derived from a tidally disrupted minor planet at least the mass of Juno, and probably as massive as Vesta. The relatively low hydrogen abundance sets an upper limit of 10% water by mass in the inferred parent body, and the relatively high abundances of refractory elements, Ca and Ti, may indicate high-temperature processing. While the overall constitution of the parent body is similar to the bulk Earth being over 85% by mass composed of oxygen, magnesium, silicon and iron, we find n(Si)/n(Mg) = 0.30 +/- 0.11, significantly smaller than the ratio near unity for the bulk Earth, chondrites, the Sun, and nearby stars. This result suggests that differentiation occurred within the parent body.

astro-ph.EP↗
arXiv2009

FFTS readout for large arrays of Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors

Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) have great potential for large very sensitive detector arrays for use in, for example, sub-mm imaging. Being intrinsically readout in the frequency domain, they are particularly suited for frequency domain multiplexing allowing $\sim$1000s of devices to be readout with one pair of coaxial cables. However, this moves the complexity of the detector from the cryogenics to the warm electronics. We present here the concept and experimental demonstration of the use of Fast Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FFTS) readout, showing no deterioration of the noise performance compared to low noise analog mixing while allowing high multiplexing ratios.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2008

Submillimeter water and ammonia absorption by the peculiar z~0.89 interstellar medium in the gravitational lens of the PKS 1830-211 system

Using the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope we have detected the rotational ground-state transitions of ortho-ammonia and ortho-water toward the redshift ~0.89 absorbing galaxy in the PKS 1830-211 gravitational lens system. We discuss our observations in the context of recent space-borne data obtained for these lines with the SWAS and Odin satellites toward Galactic sources. We find commonalities, but also significant differences between the interstellar media in a galaxy at intermediate redshift and in the Milky Way. Future high-quality observations of the ground-state ammonia transition in PKS 1830-211, together with inversion line data, will lead to strong constraints on the variation of the proton to electron mass ratio over the past 7.2 Gyr.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Comparison of giant radio pulses in young pulsars and millisecond pulsars

Pulse-to-pulse intensity variations are a common property of pulsar radio emission. For some of the objects single pulses are often 10-times stronger than their average pulse. The most dramatic events are so-called giant radio pulses (GRPs). They can be thousand times stronger than the regular single pulses from the pulsar. Giant pulses are a rare phenomenon, occurring in very few pulsars which split into two groups. The first group contains very young and energetic pulsars like the Crab pulsar, and its twin (PSR B0540-69) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), while the second group is represented by old, recycled millisecond pulsars like PSR B1937+21, PSR B1821-24, PSR B1957+20 and PSR J0218+4232 (the only millisecond pulsar detected in gamma-rays). We compare the characteristics of GRPs for these two pulsar groups. Moreover, our latest findings of new features in the Crab GRPs are presented. Analysis of our Effelsberg data at 8.35 GHz shows that GRPs do occur in all phases of its ordinary radio emission, including the phases of the two high frequency components (HFCs) visible only between 5 and 9 GHz.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2006

Chiral Expansion from Renormalization Group Flow Equations

We explore the influence of the current quark mass on observables in the low energy regime of hadronic interactions within a renormalization group analysis of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model in its bosonized form. We derive current quark mass expansions for the pion decay constant and the pion mass, and we recover analytically the universal logarithmic dependence. A numerical solution of the renormalization group flow equations enables us to determine effective low energy constants from the model. We find values consistent with the phenomenological estimates used in chiral perturbation theory.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

Influence of quark boundary conditions on the pion mass in finite volume

We calculate the mass shift for the pion in a finite volume with renormalization group (RG) methods in the framework of the quark-mesons model. In particular, we investigate the importance of the quark effects on the pion mass. As in lattice gauge theory, the choice of quark boundary conditions has a noticeable effect on the pion mass shift in small volumes, in addition to the shift due to pion interactions. We compare our results to chiral perturbation theory calculations and find differences due to the fact that chiral perturbation theory only considers pion effects in the finite volume.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

Volume and Quark Mass Dependence of the Chiral Phase Transition

We investigate chiral symmetry restoration in finite spatial volume and at finite temperature by calculating the dependence of the chiral phase transition temperature on the size of the spatial volume and the current-quark mass for the quark-meson model, using the proper-time Renormalization Group approach. We find that the critical temperature is weakly dependent on the size of the spatial volume for large current-quark masses, but depends strongly on it for small current-quark masses. In addition, for small volumes we observe a dependence on the choice of quark boundary conditions.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

Discovery of two pulsars towards the Galactic Centre

We report the discovery of two highly dispersed pulsars in the direction of the Galactic Centre made during a survey at 3.1 GHz with the Parkes radio telescope. Both PSRs J1745-2912 and J1746-2856 have an angular separation from the Galactic Centre of less than 0.3 degrees and dispersion measures in excess of 1100 cm-3pc, placing them in the top 10 pulsars when ranked on this value. The frequency dependence of the scatter-broadening in PSR J1746-2856 is much shallower than expected from simple theory. We believe it likely that the pulsars are located between 150 and 500 pc from the Galactic Centre on the near side, and are part of an excess population of neutron stars associated with the Centre itself. A second survey made at 8.4 GHz did not detect any pulsars. This implies either that there are not many bright, long-period pulsars at the Galactic Centre or that the scattering is more severe at high frequencies than current models would suggest.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2005

Polarization characteristics of the Crab pulsar's giant radio pulses at HFCs phases

We discuss our recent discovery of the giant radio emission from the Crab pulsar at its high frequency components (HFCs) phases and show the polarization characteristic of these pulses. This leads us to a suggestion that there is no difference in the emission mechanism of the main pulse (MP), interpulse (IP) and HFCs. We briefly review the size distributions of the Crab giant radio pulses (GRPs) and discuss general characteristics of the GRP phenomenon in the Crab and other pulsars.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2005

Volume Dependence of the Pion Mass in the Quark-Meson-Model

We consider the quark-meson-model in a finite three-dimensional volume using the Schwinger proper-time renormalization group. We derive and solve the flow equations for finite volume in local potential approximation. In order to break chiral symmetry in the finite volume, we introduce a small current quark mass. The corresponding effective meson potential breaks chiral O(4) symmetry explicitly, depending on sigma and pion fields separately. We calculate the volume dependence of the pion mass and of the pion decay constant with the renormalization group flow equations and compare with recent results from chiral perturbation theory in a finite volume.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2005

Volume Dependence of the Pion Mass from Renormalization Group Flows

We investigate finite volume effects on the pion mass and the pion decay constant with renormalization group (RG) methods in the framework of a phenomenological model for QCD. An understanding of such effects is important in order to interpret results from lattice QCD and extrapolate reliably from finite lattice volumes to infinite volume. We consider the quark-meson-model in a finite Euclidean 3+1 dimensional volume. In order to break chiral symmetry in the finite volume, we introduce a small current quark mass. In the corresponding effective potential for the meson fields, the chiral O(4)-symmetry is broken explicitly, and the sigma and pion fields are treated individually. Using the proper-time renormalization group, we derive renormalization group flow equations in the finite volume and solve these equations in the approximation of a constant expectation value. We calculate the volume dependence of pion mass and pion decay constant and compare our results with recent results from chiral perturbation theory in finite volume.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2005

A Field Programmable Gate Array Spectrometer for Radio Astronomy

We describe the technological concept and the first-light results of a 1024-channel spectrometer based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) hardware. This spectrometer is the prototype for the seven beam L-band receiver to be installed at the Effelsberg 100-m telescope in autumn 2005. Using "of-the-shelf" hardware and software products, we designed and constructed an extremely flexible Fast-Fourier-Transform (FFT) spectrometer with unprecedented sensitivity and dynamic range, which can be considered prototypical for spectrometer development in future radio astronomy.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2005

Giant Radio Pulses from the Crab Pulsar

Individual giant radio pulses (GRPs) from the Crab pulsar last only a few microseconds. However, during that time they rank among the brightest objects in the radio sky reaching peak flux densities of up to 1500 Jy even at high radio frequencies. Our observations show that GRPs can be found in all phases of ordinary radio emission including the two high frequency components (HFCs) visible only between 5 and 9 GHz (Moffett & Hankins, 1996). This leads us to believe that there is no difference in the emission mechanism of the main pulse (MP), inter pulse (IP) and HFCs. High resolution dynamic spectra from our recent observations of giant pulses with the Effelsberg telescope at a center frequency of 8.35 GHz show distinct spectral maxima within our observational bandwidth of 500 MHz for individual pulses. Their narrow band components appear to be brighter at higher frequencies (8.6 GHz) than at lower ones (8.1 GHz). Moreover, there is an evidence for spectral evolution within and between those structures. High frequency features occur earlier than low frequency ones. Strong plasma turbulence might be a feasible mechanism for the creation of the high energy densities of ~6.7 x 10^4 erg cm^-3 and brightness temperatures of 10^31 K.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2004

The QCD Phase Diagram at Non-zero Baryon and Isospin Chemical Potentials

In heavy ion collision experiments as well as in neutron stars, both baryon and isospin chemical potentials are different from zero. In particular, the regime of small isospin chemical potential is phenomenologically important. Using a random matrix model, we find that the phase diagram at non-zero temperature and baryon chemical potential is greatly altered by an arbitrarily small isospin chemical potential: There are two first order phase transitions at low temperature, two critical endpoints, and two crossovers at high temperature. As a consequence, in the region of the phase diagram explored by RHIC experiments, there are two crossovers that separate the hadronic phase from the quark-gluon plasma phase at high temperature.

hep-lat↗
arXiv2004

Diquark and Pion Condensation in Random Matrix Models for two-color QCD

We introduce a random matrix model with the symmetries of QCD with two colors at nonzero isospin and baryon chemical potentials and temperature. We analyze its phase diagram and find phases with condensation of pion and diquark states in addition to the phases with spontaneously broken chiral symmetries. In the limit of small chemical potentials and quark masses, we reproduce the mean field results obtained from chiral Lagrangians. As in the case of QCD with three colors, the presence of two chemical potentials breaks the flavor symmetry and leads to phases that are characterized by different behaviors of the chiral condensates for each flavor. In particular, the phase diagram we obtain is similar to QCD with three colors and three flavors of quarks of equal masses at zero baryon chemical potential and nonzero isospin and strange chemical potentials. A tricritical point of the superfluid transitions found in lattice calculations and from an analysis in terms of chiral Lagrangians does not appear in the random matrix model. Remarkably, at fixed isospin chemical potential, for the regions outside of the superfluid phases, the phase diagram in the temperature - baryon chemical potential plane for two colors and three colors are qualitatively the same.

hep-ph↗