arXiv subjects

Biswajit Paul

Publications and source records attributed to Biswajit Paul.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Cosmological implications of the composite spectra of galactic X-ray binaries constructed using MAXI data

We have investigated the long term average spectral properties of galactic X-ray binaries in the energy range of 3-20 keV, using long term monitoring data from MAXI -Gas Slit Camera (GSC). These long term average spectra are used to construct separately the composite spectra of galactic High Mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) and Low Mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). These composite spectra can be described empirically with piece-wise power-law with three components. X-rays from HMXBs are considered as important contributors to heating and ionization of neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium during the Epoch of Reionization. Using the above empirical form of the composite HMXB spectra extrapolated to lower energies as an input, we have studied the impact of these sources on the 21-cm signal using the outputs of N-body simulation and 1D radiative transfer. The heating due to the composite spectrum is less patchy compared to power-law spectrum with a spectral index $α= 1.5$, used in previous studies. The amplitude of the heating peak of large scale power spectrum, when plotted as a function of the redshift, is less for the composite spectrum.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Several Trade off Features of Quantum Steering in Distributed Scenario

In the present work, we address the question of how bipartite steering violation takes place among multi-partite systems (where each sub-system have Hilbert space dimension restricted to two) based on the maximal violations of the bipartite steering inequality of the reduced pairwise qubit systems. We have derived a trade-off relation which is satisfied by those pairwise bipartite maximal steering violations, which physically can be understood as providing restrictions on the distribution of steering among subsystems. For a three-qubit system, it is impossible that all pairs of qubits violate the steering inequality, and once a pair of qubits violates the steering inequality maximally, the other two pairs of qubits must both obey the steering inequality. We also present a complementarity relation between genuine entanglement present in a tripartite state and maximum bipartite steering violation by its reduced states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Treating Ostrogradski instability for Gallilean invariant Chern Simon's model via \mathcal{PT} symmetry

The Ostrogradski ghost problem that appears in higher derivative theories containing constraints has been considered here. Specifically we have considered systems where only the second class constraints appear. For these kind of systems, it is not possible to gauge away the linear momenta that cause the instability. To solve this issue, we have considered the PT symmetric aspects of the theory. As an example we have considered the Galilean invariant Chern Simons model in $2+1$ D which is a purely second class system. By solving the constraints, in the reduced phasespace, we have derived the \p similarity transformed Hamiltonian and putting conditions on we found that the final form of the Hamiltonian is free from any linear momenta and bounded from below.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Probing the Cyclotron line characteristics of 4U 1538-522 using AstroSat-LAXPC

We report the first report on cyclotron line studies with the LAXPC instrument onboard AstroSat of the High mass X-ray Binary pulsar 4U 1538-52. During the observation of source which spanned about one day with a net exposure of 50 ks,the source X-ray flux remained constant. Pulse profile is double peaked in low energy range and has a single peak in high energy range, the transition taking place around the cyclotron line energy of the source. Cyclotron Scattering Feature (CRSF) is detected at $\sim$ 22 keV with a very high significance in phase averaged spectrum. It is one of the highest signal to noise ratio detection of CRSF for this source. We performed detailed pulse phase resolved spectral analysis with 10 independent phase bins. We report the results of pulse phase resolved spectroscopy of the continuum and CRSF parameters. The cyclotron line parameters show pulse phase dependence over the entire phase with a CRSF energy variation of $\sim$ 13% which is in agreement with previous studies. We also confirm the increase in the centroid energy of the CRSF observed between the 1996-2004 (RXTE) and the 2012 (Suzaku) observations, reinforcing that the increase was a long-term change.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Multitude of iron lines including a Compton scattered component in OAO 1657--415 detected with Chandra

We present a high resolution X-ray spectrum of the accreting X-ray pulsar, OAO 1657--415 with HETG+ACIS-S onboard \emph{Chandra},revealing the presence of a broad line component around $\sim$ 6.3 keV associated with the neutral iron K$_α$ line at 6.4 \rm{keV}. This is interpreted as Compton shoulder arising from the Compton scattering of the 6.4 \rm{keV} fluorescence photons making OAO 1657--415 the second accreting neutron star where such a feature is detected. A Compton shoulder reveals the presence of dense matter surrounding the X-ray source. We did not detect any periodicity in the lightcurve and obtained an upper limit of $\sim$ 2\% for the pulse fraction during this observation. This could be due to the smearing of the pulses when X-ray photons are scattered from a large region around the neutron star. In addition to the Fe K$_α$, Fe $K_β$ and Ni $K_α$ lines already reported for this source, we also report for the first time, the presence of He-like and H-like iron emission lines at 6.7 and 6.97 \rm{keV} in the first order HETG spectrum. The detection of such ionized lines, indicative of a highly ionized surrounding medium, is rare in X-ray binaries.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Physics and astrophysics of strong magnetic field systems with eXTP

In this paper we present the science potential of the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry (eXTP) mission for studies of strongly magnetized objects. We will focus on the physics and astrophysics of strongly magnetized objects, namely magnetars, accreting X-ray pulsars, and rotation powered pulsars. We also discuss the science potential of eXTP for QED studies. Developed by an international Consortium led by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the eXTP mission is expected to be launched in the mid 2020s.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Thermonuclear X-ray bursts in rapid succession in 4U 1636-536 with AstroSat-LAXPC

We present results from an observation of the Low Mass X-ray Binary 4U 1636-536 obtained with the LAXPC instrument aboard AstroSat. The observations of 4U 1636-536 made during the performance verification phase of AstroSat showed seven thermonuclear X-ray bursts in a total exposure of ~ 65 ks over a period of about two consecutive days. Moreover, the light curve of 4U 1636-536 revealed the presence of a rare triplet of X-ray bursts, having a wait time of about 5.5 minutes between second and the third bursts. We also present results from time-resolved spectroscopy performed during these seven X-ray bursts. In addition, we have also detected a transient Quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) at ~ 5 Hz. However, we did not find any evidence of kilo-hertz QPOs and/or X-ray burst oscillations, perhaps due to the hard spectral state of the source during this observation.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Spectral properties of MXB 1658-298 in the low/hard and high/soft state

We report results from a broadband spectral analysis of the low mass X-ray binary MXB 1658-298 with the Swift/XRT and NuSTAR observations made during its 2015-2017 outburst. The source showed different spectral states and accretion rates during this outburst. The source was in low/hard state during 2015; and it was in high/soft state during the 2016 NuSTAR observations. This is the first time that a comparison of the soft and hard spectral states during an outburst is being reported in MXB 1658-298. Compared with the observation of 2015, the X-ray luminosity was about four times higher during 2016. The hard state spectrum can be well described with models consisting of a single-temperature blackbody component along with Comptonized disc emission, or three component model comprising of multi-colour disc, single-temperature blackbody and thermal Comptonization components. The soft state spectrum can be described with blackbody or disc blackbody and Comptonization component, where the neutron star surface (or boundary layer) is the dominant source for the Comptonization seed photons. We have also found a link between the spectral state of the source and the Fe K absorber. The absorption features due to highly ionized Fe were observed only in the soft state. This suggests a probable connection between accretion disc wind (or atmosphere) and spectral state (or accretion state) of MXB 1658-298.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Detection of a cyclotron line in SXP 15.3 during its 2017 outburst

We report the results of AstroSat and NuSTAR observations of the Be/X-ray binary pulsar SXP 15.3 in the Small Magellanic Cloud during its outburst in late 2017, when the source reached a luminosity level of ~ 10^{38} erg s^{-1}, close to the Eddington limit. The unprecedented broadband coverage of the source allowed us to perform timing and spectral analysis between 3 and 80 keV. The pulse profile exhibits a significant energy dependence, and morphs from a double peaked profile to a single broad pulse at energies >15 keV. This can be explained by a spectral hardening during an intensity dip seen between the two peaks of the pulse profile. We detect a Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature (CRSF) at ~5 keV in the X-ray spectrum, independent of the choice of the continuum model. This indicates a magnetic field strength of 6x10^{11} G for the neutron star.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Effects of thermonuclear X-ray bursts on non-burst emissions in the soft state of 4U 1728--34

It has recently been shown that the persistent emission of a neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) evolves during a thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray burst. The reason of this evolution, however, is not securely known. This uncertainty can introduce significant systematics in the neutron star radius measurement using burst spectra, particularly if an unknown but significant fraction of the burst emission, which is reprocessed, contributes to the changes in the persistent emission during the burst. Here, by analyzing individual burst data of AstroSat/LAXPC from the neutron star LMXB 4U 1728--34 in the soft state, we show that the burst emission is not significantly reprocessed by a corona covering the neutron star. Rather, our analysis suggests that the burst emission enhances the accretion disk emission, possibly by increasing the accretion rate via disk. This enhanced disk emission, which is Comptonized by a corona covering the disk, can explain an increased persistent emission observed during the burst. This finding provides an understanding of persistent emission components, and their interaction with the thermonuclear burst emission. Furthermore, since burst photons are not significantly reprocessed, non-burst and burst emissions can be reliably separated, which is required to reduce systematic uncertainties in the stellar radius measurement.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Observation of variable pre-eclipse dips and disk winds in the eclipsing LMXB XTE J1710-281

We report the first detection of highly ionized Fe species in the X-ray spectrum of the eclipsing and dipping Low Mass X-ray Binary XTE J1710-281. Using archival Chandra and Suzaku observations, we have carried out a spectro-timing analysis of the source during three different epochs. We compare the average orbital profile and obtain differences in pre-eclipse dip morphologies between different observation epochs. We observe an orbit to orbit evolution of the dips for the first time in this source in both the Chandra observations, reflecting changes in the structure of the accretion disc in timescales of hours. We further perform intensity resolved spectroscopy for both the Chandra and the Suzaku data to characterize the changes in the spectral parameters from the persistent to the dipping intervals. We find that the absorbers responsible for the dips, can be best described using a partially ionized partial covering absorber, with an ionization parameter, log($ξ$) of $\sim$2. The photon index of the source remained at $\sim$2 during both the Chandra and the Suzaku observations. In the 0.6-9 keV Suzaku spectra, we detect a broad 0.72 keV Fe L-alpha emission line complex and two narrow absorption lines at $\sim$6.60 keV and $\sim$7.01 keV. The highly ionized Fe line signatures, being an indicator of accretion disc-winds, has been observed for the first time in XTE J1710-281.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

SFXTs versus classical SgXBs: Does the difference lie in the companion wind?

We present a comparative study of stellar winds in classical supergiant high mass X-ray binaries (SgXBs) and supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) based on the analysis of publicly available out-of-eclipse observations performed with Suzaku and XMM-Newton. Our data-set includes 55 observations of classical SgXBs and 21 observations of SFXTs. We found that classical SgXBs are characterized by a systematically higher absorption and luminosity compared to the SFXTs, confirming the results of previous works in the literature. Additionally, we show that the equivalent width of the fluorescence Kα iron line in the classical SgXBs is significantly larger than that of the SFXTs (outside X-ray eclipses). Based on our current understanding of the physics of accretion in these systems, we conclude that the most likely explanation of these differences is to be ascribed to the presence of mechanisms inhibiting accretion for most of the time in the SFXTs and leading to a much less efficient photoionization of the stellar wind compared to classical SgXBs.We do not find evidence for the previously reported anti-correlation between the equivalent width of the fluorescence iron line and the luminosity of SgXBs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Changes in the pulse phase dependence of X-ray emission lines in 4U 1626-67 with a torque reversal

We report results from an observation with the XMM-Newton observatory of a unique X-ray pulsar 4U 1626-67. EPIC-pn data during the current spin-up phase of 4U 1626-67 have been used to study pulse phase dependence of low energy emission lines. We found strong variability of low energy emission line at 0.915 keV with the pulse phase, varying by a factor of 2, much stronger than the continuum variability. Another interesting observation is that behavior of one of the low energy emission lines across the pulse phase is quite different from that observed during the spin-down phase. This indicates that the structures in the accretion disk that produce pulse phase dependence of emission features have changed from spin-down to spin-up phase. This is well supported by the differences in the timing characteristics (like pulse profiles, QPOs etc) between spin-down and spin-up phases. We have also found that during the current spin-up phase of 4U 1626-67, the X-ray pulse profile below 2 keV is different compared to the spin-down phase. The X-ray light curve also shows flares which produce a feature around 3 mHz in power density spectrum of 4U 1626-67. Since flares are dominant at lower energies, the feature around 3 mHz is prominent at low energies.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Restricted Distribution of Quantum Correlations in Bilocal Network

Analyzing shareability of correlations arising in any physical theory may be considered as a fruitful technique of studying the theory. Our present topic of discussion involves an analogous approach of studying quantum theory. For our purpose, we have deviated from the usual procedure of assessing monogamous nature of quantum correlations in standard Bell-CHSH scenario. We have considered correlations arising in a quantum network involving independent sources. Precisely speaking, we have analyzed monogamy of nonbilocal correlations by deriving a relation restricting marginals. Interestingly, restrictions constraining distribution of nonbilocal correlations remain same irrespective of whether inputs of the nodal observers are kept fixed(in different bilocal networks) while studying nonbilocal nature of marginal correlations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Neutron Stars in X-ray Binaries and their Environments

Neutron stars in X-ray binary systems are fascinating objects that display a wide range of timing and spectral phenomena in the X-rays. Not only parameters of the neutron stars, like magnetic field strength and spin period evolve in their active binary phase, the neutron stars also affect the binary systems and their immediate surroundings in many ways. Here we discuss some aspects of the interactions of the neutron stars with their environments that are revelaed from their X-ray emission. We discuss some recent developments involving the process of accretion onto high magnetic field neutron stars: accretion stream structure and formation, shape of pulse profile and its changes with accretion torque. Various recent studies of reprocessing of X-rays in the accretion disk surface, vertical structures of the accretion disk and wind of companion star are also discussed here. The X-ray pulsars among the binary neutron stars provide excellent handle to make accurate measurement of the orbital parameters and thus also evolution of the binray orbits that take place over time scale of a fraction of a million years to tens of millions of years. The orbital period evolution of X-ray binaries have shown them to be rather complex systems. Orbital evolution of X-ray binaries can also be carried out from timing of the X-ray eclipses and there have been some surprising results in that direction, including orbital period glitches in two X-ray binaries and possible detection of the most massive circum-binary planet around a Low Mass X-ray Binary.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Removing Ostrogradski ghost from degenerate gravity theories

The Ostrogradski ghost problem that appears in higher derivative system is considered for systems with constraints. A prescription for removal of the ghost creating momenta is described based on the Dirac's constraint analysis. It is shown how one can make the canonical Hamiltonian bounded from below by systematically removing the constraints appearing in the system thereby reducing the effective dimension of the phase space. To show the effect of higher derivative terms we consider the singularity free Gauss-Bonnet theory coupled via a matter field to the Einstein Hilbert action. Finally we construct the ghost free canonical Hamiltonian for the theory that is bounded from below.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Nontrilocality: Exploiting nonlocality from three particle systems

In Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{104},170401 (2010), Branciard \textit{e.t al.} first characterized the correlations arising in an entanglement swapping network under the assumption that the sources generating the initially uncorrelated quantum systems are independent. Precisely speaking, in Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{104},170401 (2010) and later in Phys. Rev. A \textbf{85},032119 (2012) the authors analyzed the importance of \textit{bilocal}(source independence) assumption to lower down the restrictions over correlations for revealing quantumness in the network where each of two sources generates a bipartite entangled state. In this context one may find interest to characterize correlations in a network involving independent sources which can correlate more than two initially uncorrelated multipartite entangled quantum systems. Our present topic of discussion basically analyzes such a network scenario. Specifically we introduce \textit{trilocal network scenario} where each of three sources independently generates a tripartite entangled quantum system thereby exploring the role of source independence assumption to exploit nonlocality in a network involving multipartite entanglement analogous to bilocal assumption in a network where only bipartite entanglement was considered. Interestingly, genuine entanglement content did not turn out to be an essential requirement for exploiting nonlocality in such a scenario. Moreover it is interesting to explore whether such a scenario can be generalized so as to characterize correlations arising in a network involving $n$ number of $n$ partite systems for any finite value of $n\geq4$ under source independence assumption.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Orbital variations in intensity and spectral properties of the highly obscured sgHMXB IGR J16318-4848

IGR J16318-4848 is an X-ray binary with the highest known line of sight absorption column density among all known X-ray binary systems in our galaxy. In order to investigate the reason behind such a large absorption column, we looked at the variations in the X-ray intensity and spectral parameters as a function of the tentatively discovered $\sim$ 80 day orbit of this source. The orbital period is firmly confirmed in the long term ($\sim$ 12 year) Swift BAT lightcurve. Two peaks about half an orbit apart, one narrow and small, and the other broad and large are seen in the orbital intensity profile. We find that while most orbits show enhanced emissions at these two peaks, the larger peak in the folded longterm lightcurve is more a result of randomly occurring large flares spread over $\sim$ 0.2 orbital phase. As opposed to this, the smaller peak is seen in every orbit as a regular increase in intensity. Using archival data spread over different phases of the orbit and the geometry of the system as known from previously published infrared observations, we present a possible scenario which explains the orbital intensity profile, bursting characteristics and large column density of this X-ray binary.

astro-ph.HE↗