arXiv subjects

P. Harris

Publications and source records attributed to P. Harris.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

MOA-2010-BLG-073L: An M-Dwarf with a Substellar Companion at the Planet/Brown Dwarf Boundary

We present an analysis of the anomalous microlensing event, MOA-2010-BLG-073, announced by the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics survey on 2010-03-18. This event was remarkable because the source was previously known to be photometrically variable. Analyzing the pre-event source lightcurve, we demonstrate that it is an irregular variable over time scales >200d. Its dereddened color, $(V-I)_{S,0}$, is 1.221$\pm$0.051mag and from our lens model we derive a source radius of 14.7$\pm$1.3 $R_{\odot}$, suggesting that it is a red giant star. We initially explored a number of purely microlensing models for the event but found a residual gradient in the data taken prior to and after the event. This is likely to be due to the variability of the source rather than part of the lensing event, so we incorporated a slope parameter in our model in order to derive the true parameters of the lensing system. We find that the lensing system has a mass ratio of q=0.0654$\pm$0.0006. The Einstein crossing time of the event, $T_{\rm{E}}=44.3$\pm$0.1d, was sufficiently long that the lightcurve exhibited parallax effects. In addition, the source trajectory relative to the large caustic structure allowed the orbital motion of the lens system to be detected. Combining the parallax with the Einstein radius, we were able to derive the distance to the lens, $D_L$=2.8$\pm$0.4kpc, and the masses of the lensing objects. The primary of the lens is an M-dwarf with $M_{L,p}$=0.16$\pm0.03M_{\odot}$ while the companion has $M_{L,s}$=11.0$\pm2.0M_{\rm{J}}$ putting it in the boundary zone between planets and brown dwarfs.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2012

MOA-2010-BLG-523: "Failed Planet" = RS CVn Star

The Galactic bulge source MOA-2010-BLG-523S exhibited short-term deviations from a standard microlensing lightcurve near the peak of an Amax ~ 265 high-magnification microlensing event. The deviations originally seemed consistent with expectations for a planetary companion to the principal lens. We combine long-term photometric monitoring with a previously published high-resolution spectrum taken near peak to demonstrate that this is an RS CVn variable, so that planetary microlensing is not required to explain the lightcurve deviations. This is the first spectroscopically confirmed RS CVn star discovered in the Galactic bulge.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

MOA-2010-BLG-477Lb: constraining the mass of a microlensing planet from microlensing parallax, orbital motion and detection of blended light

Microlensing detections of cool planets are important for the construction of an unbiased sample to estimate the frequency of planets beyond the snow line, which is where giant planets are thought to form according to the core accretion theory of planet formation. In this paper, we report the discovery of a giant planet detected from the analysis of the light curve of a high-magnification microlensing event MOA-2010-BLG-477. The measured planet-star mass ratio is $q=(2.181\pm0.004)\times 10^{-3}$ and the projected separation is $s=1.1228\pm0.0006$ in units of the Einstein radius. The angular Einstein radius is unusually large $θ_{\rm E}=1.38\pm 0.11$ mas. Combining this measurement with constraints on the "microlens parallax" and the lens flux, we can only limit the host mass to the range $0.13<M/M_\odot<1.0$. In this particular case, the strong degeneracy between microlensing parallax and planet orbital motion prevents us from measuring more accurate host and planet masses. However, we find that adding Bayesian priors from two effects (Galactic model and Keplerian orbit) each independently favors the upper end of this mass range, yielding star and planet masses of $M_*=0.67^{+0.33}_{-0.13}\ M_\odot$ and $m_p=1.5^{+0.8}_{-0.3}\ M_{\rm JUP}$ at a distance of $D=2.3\pm0.6$ kpc, and with a semi-major axis of $a=2^{+3}_{-1}$ AU. Finally, we show that the lens mass can be determined from future high-resolution near-IR adaptive optics observations independently from two effects, photometric and astrometric.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2006

Limits on the Transient Ultra-High Energy Neutrino Flux from Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) Derived from RICE Data

We present limits on ultra-high energy (UHE; E(nu)>1 PeV) neutrino fluxes from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), based on recently presented data, limits, and simulations from the RICE experiment. We use data from five recorded transients with sufficient photon spectral shape and redshift information to derive an expected neutrino flux, assuming that the observed photons are linked to neutrino production through pion decay via the well-known 'Waxman-Bahcall' prescription. Knowing the declination of the observed burst, as well as the RICE sensitivity as a function of polar angle and the previously published non-observation of any neutrino events allows an estimate of the sensitivity to a given neutrino flux. Although several orders of magnitude weaker than the expected fluxes, our GRB neutrino flux limits are nevertheless the first in the PeV--EeV energy regime. For completeness, we also provide a listing of other bursts, recorded at times when the RICE experiment was active, but requiring some assumptions regarding luminosity and redshift to permit estimates of the neutrino flux.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

Measurement of the $\overline{p}p \to K_S K_S η$ cross section at beam momenta in the regions of 1.45 and 1.7 GeV/c

The PS185 experiment at LEAR/CERN has investigated strangeness production in antiproton-proton collisions with final states such as $\overlineΛ Λ$, $\overlineΣ^0 Λ+ c.c$, $\overline{Σ^+} Σ^+$, $\overline{Σ^-} Σ^-$ and $K_S K_S$. Results are presented from a study of about 32,000 {$K_S K_S X$} events obtained at several antiproton momenta in the regions of 1.45 and 1.7 GeV/c. The $\overline{p} p \to K_S K_S η$ cross sections extracted at these momenta constitute the first measurement of this reaction in flight and are broadly consistent with expectations of a phase-space extrapolation of branching ratios from annihilation at rest.

hep-ex↗