arXiv subjects

Klaus Werner

Publications and source records attributed to Klaus Werner.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

What the radio signal tells about the cosmic-ray air shower

The physics of radio emission from cosmic-ray induced air showers is shortly summarized. It will be shown that the radio signal at different distances from the shower axis provides complementary information on the longitudinal shower evolution, in particular the early part, and on the distribution of the electrons in the shower core. This complements the information obtained from surface, fluorescence, and muon detectors and is very useful in getting a comprehensive picture of an air shower.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

Magnetic fields in central stars of planetary nebulae?

Most of the planetary nebulae (PN) have bipolar or other non-spherically symmetric shapes. The presence of a magnetic field in the central star may be the reason for this lack of symmetry, but observational works published in the literature have so far reported contradictory results. We try to correlate the presence of a magnetic field with the departures from the spherical geometry of the envelopes of planetary nebulae. We determine the magnetic field from spectropolarimetric observations of ten central stars of planetary nebulae. The results of the analysis of the observations of four stars was previously presented and discussed in the literature, while the observations of six stars, plus additional measurements for a star previously observed, are presented here for the first time. All our determinations of magnetic field in the central planetary nebulae are consistent with null results. Our field measurements have a typical error bar of 150-300 G. Previous spurious field detections obtained with FORS were probably due to the use of different wavelength calibration solutions for frames obtained at different position angles of the retarder waveplate. Currently, there is no observational evidence for the presence of magnetic fields with a strength of the order of hundreds Gauss or higher in the central stars of planetary nebulae.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

Heavy Quark Energy Loss in High Multiplicity Proton Proton Collisions at LHC

One of the most promising probes to study deconfined matter created in high energy nuclear collisions is the energy loss of (heavy) quarks. It has been shown in experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) that even charm and bottom quarks, despite their high mass, experience a remarkable medium suppression in the Quark Gluon Plasma. In this exploratory investigation we study the energy loss of heavy quarks in high multiplicity proton-proton collisions at LHC energies. Although the colliding systems are smaller than compared to those at RHIC (p+p vs. Au+Au) the higher energy might lead to multiplicities comparable to Cu+Cu collisions at RHIC. Recently the CMS collaboration has shown that these particles likely interact among each other. The interaction of charm quarks with this environment gives rise to a non-negligible suppression of high momentum heavy quarks in elementary collisions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Spectral Analysis via the Virtual Observatory: The Service Theossa

In the framework of the Virtual Observatory, the newly developed service TheoSSA provides access to theoretical stellar spectral-energy distributions. In a pilot phase, this service is based on the well established Tuebingen NLTE Model-Atmosphere Package for hot, compact stars. We demonstrate its present capabilities and future extensions.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

Neutron star stiff equation of state derived from cooling phases of the X-ray burster 4U 1724-307

Thermal emission during X-ray bursts is a powerful tool to determine neutron star masses and radii, if the Eddington flux and the apparent radius in the cooling tail can be measured accurately, and distances to the sources are known. We propose here an improved method of determining the basic stellar parameters using the data from the cooling phase of photospheric radius expansion bursts covering a large range of luminosities. Because at that phase the blackbody apparent radius depends only on the spectral hardening factor (color-correction), we suggest to fit the theoretical dependences of the color-correction versus flux in Eddington units to the observed variations of the inverse square root of the apparent blackbody radius with the flux. We show that spectral variations observed during a long photospheric radius expansion burst from 4U 1724-307 are entirely consistent with the theoretical expectations for the passively cooling neutron star atmospheres. Our method allows us to determine both the Eddington flux (which is found to be smaller than the touchdown flux by 15%) and the ratio of the stellar apparent radius to the distance much more reliably. We then find a lower limit on the neutron star radius of 14 km for masses below 2.2M_sun, independently of the chemical composition. These results suggest that the matter inside neutron stars is characterized by a stiff equation of state. We finally show that the apparent blackbody emitting area in the cooling tails of the short bursts from 4U 1724-307 is two times smaller than that for the long burst and their evolution does not follow the theory. This makes their usage for determination of the neutron star parameters questionable and casts serious doubts on the results of previous works that used for the analysis similar bursts from other sources. [abridged]

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

On QGP Formation in pp Collisions at 7 TeV

The possibility of QGP formation in central pp collisions at ultra-high collision energy is discussed. Centrality-dependent $\pt$-spectra and (pseudo)rapidity spectra of thermal photons (charged hadrons) from pp collisions at 7 TeV are presented (addressed). Minimal-bias $\pt$-spectrum of direct photons and charged hadrons is compared under the framework with and without hydrodynamical evolution process.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

The strong interaction at the collider and cosmic-rays frontiers

First data on inclusive particle production measured in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are compared to predictions of various hadron-interaction Monte Carlos (QGSJET, EPOS and SIBYLL) used commonly in high-energy cosmic-ray physics. While reasonable overall agreement is found for some of the models, none of them reproduces consistently the sqrt(s) evolution of all the measured observables. We discuss the implications of the new LHC data for the modeling of the non-perturbative and semihard parton dynamics in hadron-hadron and cosmic-rays interactions at the highest energies studied today.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Iron abundance in the prototype PG1159 star, GW Vir pulsator PG1159-035, and related objects

We performed an iron abundance determination of the hot, hydrogen deficient post-AGB star PG1159-035, which is the prototype of the PG1159 spectral class and the GW Vir pulsators, and of two related objects (PG1520+525, PG1144+005), based on the first detection of Fe VIII lines in stellar photospheres. In another PG1159 star, PG1424+535, we detect Fe VII lines. In all four stars, each within Teff = 110,000 - 150,000 K, we find a solar iron abundance. This result agrees with our recent abundance analysis of the hottest PG1159 stars (Teff = 150,000 - 200,000 K) that exhibit Fe X lines. On the whole, we find that the PG1159 stars are not significantly iron deficient, in contrast to previous notions.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

Direct photons at low transverse momentum -- a QGP signal in pp collisions at LHC

We investigate photon production in a scenario of quark-gluon plasma formation in proton-proton scattering at 7 TeV. It is shown that thermal photon yields increase quadratically with the charged particle multiplicity. This gives an enhanced weight to high multiplicity events, and leads to an important photon production even in minimum bias events, where the thermal photons largely dominate over the prompt ones at transverse momentum values smaller than 10 GeV/c.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Constraints from the first LHC data on hadronic event generators for ultra-high energy cosmic-ray physics

The determination of the primary energy and mass of ultra-high-energy cosmic-rays (UHECR) generating extensive air-showers in the Earth's atmosphere, relies on the detailed modeling of hadronic multiparticle production at center-of-mass (c.m.) collision energies up to two orders of magnitude higher than those studied at particle colliders. The first Large Hadron Collider (LHC) data have extended by more than a factor of three the c.m. energies in which we have direct proton-proton measurements available to compare to hadronic models. In this work we compare LHC results on inclusive particle production at energies sqrt(s) = 0.9, 2.36, and 7 TeV to predictions of various hadronic Monte Carlo (MC) models used commonly in cosmic-ray (CR) physics (QGSJET, EPOS and SIBYLL). As a benchmark with a standard collider physics model we also show PYTHIA (and PHOJET) predictions with various parameter settings. While reasonable overall agreement is found for some of the MC, none of them reproduces consistently the sqrt(s) evolution of all the observables. We discuss implications of the new LHC data for the description of cosmic-ray interactions at the highest energies.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

UV Spectroscopy of the Central Star of the Planetary Nebula A43

About 25% of all post-AGB stars are hydrogen-deficient, e.g. the PG1159 stars with a typical abundance pattern He:C:O = 33:50:17 (by mass). Only four of about 40 known PG1159 stars exhibit H in their spectra. The exciting star of the planetary nebula A43 is one of these so-called hybrid PG1159 stars. We present preliminary results of an on-going spectral analysis by means of NLTE model-atmosphere techniques based on UV spectra obtained with FUSE, HST/GHRS, and IUE as well as on optical observations.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

HST/COS Spectroscopy of H1504+65

We present new ultraviolet spectra of the peculiar white dwarf (WD) H1504+65, obtained with COS on HST. H1504+65 is the hottest known WD (Teff= 200,000 K) and has an atmosphere mainly composed of C and O, augmented with high amounts of Ne and Mg. This object is unique and the origin of its surface chemistry is completely unclear. We probably see the naked core of either a C--O WD or even a O--Ne--Mg WD. In the latter case, this would be the first direct proof that such WDs can be the outcome of single-star evolution. The new observations were performed to shed light on the origin of this mysterious object.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

Spectral Analyses Of The Hottest White Dwarfs: Grids Of Spectral Energy Distributions For Extremely Hot, Compact Stars In The Framework Of The Virtual Observatory

Present X-ray missions like Chandra and XMM-Newton provide high-resolution and high-S/N observations of extremely hot white dwarfs, e.g. burst spectra of novae. Their analysis requires adequate Non-LTE model atmospheres. The Tübingen Non-LTE Model-Atmosphere Package TMAP can calculate such model atmospheres and spectral energy distributions at a high level of sophistication. In the framework of the Virtual Observatory, the German Astrophysical Virtual Observatory (GAVO) offers TheoSSA, a Virtual Observatory (VO) service that provides easy access to theoretical SEDs. We present a new grid of SEDs, that is calculated in the parameter range of novae and supersoft X-ray sources.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

Macroscopic Geo-Magnetic Radiation Model; Polarization effects and finite volume calculations

An ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) colliding with the Earth's atmosphere gives rise to an Extensive Air Shower (EAS). Due to different charge separation mechanisms within the thin shower front coherent electromagnetic radiation will be emitted within the radio frequency range. A small deviation of the index of refraction from unity will give rise to Cherenkov radiation up to distances of 100 meters from the shower core and therefore has to be included in a complete description of the radio emission from an EAS. Interference between the different radiation mechanisms, in combination with different polarization behavior will reflect in a lateral distribution function (LDF) depending on the orientation of the observer and a non-trivial fall-off of the radio signal as function of distance to the shower core.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

Macroscopic Model of Geomagnetic-Radiation from Air Showers, II

The generic properties of the emission of coherent radiation from a moving charge distribution are discussed. The general structure of the charge and current distributions in an extensive air shower are derived. These are subsequently used to develop a very intuitive picture for the properties of the emitted radio pulse. Using this picture can be seen that the structure of the pulse is a direct reflection of the shower profile. At higher frequencies the emission is suppressed because the wavelength is shorter than the important length scale in the shower. It is shown that radio emission can be used to distinguish proton and iron induced air showers.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

The Lateral Distribution Function of Coherent Radio Emission from Extensive Air Showers; Determining the Chemical Composition of Cosmic Rays

The lateral distribution function (LDF) for coherent electromagnetic radiation from air showers initiated by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays is calculated using a macroscopic description. A new expression is derived to calculate the coherent radio pulse at small distances from the observer. It is shown that for small distances to the shower axis the shape of the electric pulse is determined by the `pancake' function, describing the longitudinal distribution of charged particles within the shower front, while for large distances the pulse is determined by the shower profile. This reflects in a different scaling of the LDF at small and at large distances. As a first application we calculate the LDF for proton- and iron-induced showers and we show that this offers a very sensitive measure to discriminate between these two. We show that due to interference between the geo-magnetic and the charge-excess contributions the intensity pattern of the radiation is not circular symmetric.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

Collective flow in (anti)proton-proton collision at Tevatron and LHC

Collective flow as a consequence of hydrodynamical evolution in heavy ion collisions is intensively studied by theorists and experimentalists to understand the behavior of hot quark matter. Due to their large mass, heavy ions suffer collective effects even at low (SPS) or intermediate energies (RHIC). In case of light systems such as (anti)proton-proton interactions, collective effects was not expected. Within a global model such as EPOS, where light and heavy systems are treated using the same physics, it appears that Tevatron data are better described if a flow is introduced. Then the extrapolation to LHC can easily be done and we can compare to first data from ATLAS experiment.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Elliptic flow of thermal photons at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV

The elliptic flow $v_{2}$ of thermal photons at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV is predicted, based on three-dimensional ideal hydrodynamics. Because of the interplay between the asymmetry and the strength of the transverse flow, the thermal photon $v_{2}$ reaches a maximum at $\pt \sim $ 2GeV/$c$ and the $\pt$-integrated $v_{2}$ reaches a maximum at about 50% centrality. The $\pt$-integrated $v_{2}$ is very sensitive to the lower limit of the integral but not sensitive to the upper limit due to the rapid decrease in the spectrum of the transverse momentum.

hep-ph↗