arXiv subjects

S. Mandal

Publications and source records attributed to S. Mandal.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Detection of non-thermal emission from the massive protostellar jet HH80-81 at low radio frequencies using GMRT

Low radio frequencies are favourable for the identification of emission from non-thermal processes such as synchrotron emission. The massive protostellar jet associated with IRAS 18162-2048 (also known as the HH80-81 system) has been imaged at low radio frequencies: 325, 610 and 1300 MHz, using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, India. This is the first instance of detection of non-thermal emission from a massive protostellar jet at such low radio frequencies. The central region displays an elongated structure characteristic of the jet. In addition, the associated Herbig-Haro objects such as HH80, HH81, HH80N, and other condensations along the inner regions of the jet exhibit negative spectral indices. The spectral indices of most condensations are ~-0.7, higher than the value of -0.3 determined earlier using high frequency measurements. The magnetic field values derived using radio flux densities in the present work, under the assumption of equipartition near minimum energy condition, lie in the range 116-180 microgauss. We probe into the hard X-ray nature of a source that has been attributed to HH80, in an attempt to reconcile the non-thermal characteristics of radio and X-ray measurements. The flux densities of condensations at 610 MHz, measured nearly 11 yrs apart, display variability that could be ascribed to the cooling of condensations, and emphasize the importance of coeval or nearly-coeval measurements for estimation of spectral indices.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

LOFAR discovery of an ultra-steep radio halo and giant head-tail radio galaxy in Abell 1132

LOFAR observations at 144 MHz have revealed large-scale radio sources in the unrelaxed galaxy cluster Abell 1132. The cluster hosts diffuse radio emission on scales of $\sim$650 kpc near the cluster center and a head-tail (HT) radio galaxy, extending up to 1 Mpc, South of the cluster center. The central diffuse radio emission is not seen in NVSS, FIRST, WENSS, nor in C & D array VLA observations at 1.4 GHz, but is detected in our follow-up GMRT observations at 325 MHz. Using LOFAR and GMRT data, we determine the spectral index of the central diffuse emission to be $α=-1.75\pm0.19$ ($S\proptoν^α$). We classify this emission as an ultra-steep spectrum radio halo and discuss the possible implications for the physical origin of radio halos. The HT radio galaxy shows narrow, collimated emission extending up to 1 Mpc and another 300 kpc of more diffuse, disturbed emission, giving a full projected linear size of 1.3 Mpc - classifying it as a giant radio galaxy (GRG) and making it the longest HT found to date. The head of the GRG coincides with an elliptical galaxy (SDSS J105851.01$+$564308.5) belonging to Abell 1132. In our LOFAR image, there appears to be a connection between the radio halo and the GRG. The turbulence that may have produced the halo may have also affected the tail of the GRG. In turn, the GRG may have provided seed electrons for the radio halo.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Fluctuation spectroscopy as a probe of granular superconducting diamond films

We present resistance versus temperature data for a series of boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond films whose grain size is varied by changing the film thickness. Upon extracting the fluctuation conductivity near to the critical temperature we observe three distinct scaling regions -- 3D intragrain, quasi-0D, and 3D intergrain -- in confirmation of the prediction of Lerner, Varlamov and Vinokur. The location of the dimensional crossovers between these scaling regions allows us to determine the tunnelling energy and the Thouless energy for each film. This is a demonstration of the use of \emph{fluctuation spectroscopy} to determine the properties of a superconducting granular system.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey - I. Survey Description and Preliminary Data Release

The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) is a deep 120-168 MHz imaging survey that will eventually cover the entire Northern sky. Each of the 3170 pointings will be observed for 8 hrs, which, at most declinations, is sufficient to produce ~5arcsec resolution images with a sensitivity of ~0.1mJy/beam and accomplish the main scientific aims of the survey which are to explore the formation and evolution of massive black holes, galaxies, clusters of galaxies and large-scale structure. Due to the compact core and long baselines of LOFAR, the images provide excellent sensitivity to both highly extended and compact emission. For legacy value, the data are archived at high spectral and time resolution to facilitate subarcsecond imaging and spectral line studies. In this paper we provide an overview of the LoTSS. We outline the survey strategy, the observational status, the current calibration techniques, a preliminary data release, and the anticipated scientific impact. The preliminary images that we have released were created using a fully-automated but direction-independent calibration strategy and are significantly more sensitive than those produced by any existing large-area low-frequency survey. In excess of 44,000 sources are detected in the images that have a resolution of 25arcsec, typical noise levels of less than 0.5 mJy/beam, and cover an area of over 350 square degrees in the region of the HETDEX Spring Field (right ascension 10h45m00s to 15h30m00s and declination 45d00m00s to 57d00m00s).

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2016

The Lockman Hole project: LOFAR observations and spectral index properties of low-frequency radio sources

The Lockman Hole is a well-studied extragalactic field with extensive multi-band ancillary data covering a wide range in frequency, essential for characterising the physical and evolutionary properties of the various source populations detected in deep radio fields (mainly star-forming galaxies and AGNs). In this paper we present new 150-MHz observations carried out with the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), allowing us to explore a new spectral window for the faint radio source population. This 150-MHz image covers an area of 34.7 square degrees with a resolution of 18.6$\times$14.7 arcsec and reaches an rms of 160 $μ$Jy beam$^{-1}$ at the centre of the field. As expected for a low-frequency selected sample, the vast majority of sources exhibit steep spectra, with a median spectral index of $α_{150}^{1400}=-0.78\pm0.015$. The median spectral index becomes slightly flatter (increasing from $α_{150}^{1400}=-0.84$ to $α_{150}^{1400}=-0.75$) with decreasing flux density down to $S_{150} \sim$10 mJy before flattening out and remaining constant below this flux level. For a bright subset of the 150-MHz selected sample we can trace the spectral properties down to lower frequencies using 60-MHz LOFAR observations, finding tentative evidence for sources to become flatter in spectrum between 60 and 150 MHz. Using the deep, multi-frequency data available in the Lockman Hole, we identify a sample of 100 Ultra-steep spectrum (USS) sources and 13 peaked spectrum sources. We estimate that up to 21 percent of these could have $z>4$ and are candidate high-$z$ radio galaxies, but further follow-up observations are required to confirm the physical nature of these objects.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Optical levitation of high purity nanodiamonds in vacuum without heating

Levitated nanodiamonds containing nitrogen vacancy centres in high vacuum are a potential test bed for numerous phenomena in fundamental physics. However, experiments so far have been limited to low vacuum due to heating arising from optical absorption of the trapping laser. We show that milling pure diamond creates nanodiamonds that do not heat up as the optical intensity is raised above 700 GW/m$^2$ below 5 mbar of pressure. This advance now means that the level of attainable vacuum for nanodiamonds in optical dipole traps is no longer temperature limited.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

SWIFT view of the 2015 outburst of GS 2023+338 (V404 Cyg): complex evolution of spectral and temporal characteristics

We study the spectral and temporal characteristics of the source GS 2023$+$338 (V404 Cyg) during the initial phase of its June 2015 outburst, over the energy range of 0.5 - 150 keV. This is the first detailed study of the characteristics of this source based on {\it SWIFT} observations, being reported. Based on our analysis, we understand that the source existed in the hard, intermediate and soft spectral states. We find that the evolution of the spectral parameters, the hardness intensity diagram and the rms-intensity diagram are not similar to those observed for most of the outbursting black hole sources. We also observe presence of weak peaked components in the power density spectra during the intermediate state of the source. Dramatic changes in the spectral and temporal properties are also exhibited before the ejection of a radio jet suggesting it to be associated with the coronal mass ejection. It seems that may be due to evacuation of the inner part of the Keplerian disc for a short duration, the disc component is not observed after the huge radio flare. The absorption features observed in the low energy spectra suggest the presence of wind emission and the evolution of the characteristics of the variable Fe line emission during both hard and intermediate states, indicate its origin to be probably related to the wind/outflow.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Propagating Disturbances along fan-like coronal loops in an active region

Propagating disturbances are often observed in active region fan-like coronal loops. They were thought to be due to slow mode MHD waves based on some of the observed properties. But the recent studies involving spectroscopy indicate that they could be due to high speed quasi-periodic upflows which are difficult to distinguish from upward propagating slow waves. In this context, we have studied a fan loop structure in the active region AR 11465 using simultaneous spectroscopic and imaging observations from Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on board Hinode and Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board SDO. Analysis of the data shows significant oscillations at different locations. We explore the variations in different line parameters to determine whether the waves or flows could cause these oscillations to improve the current understanding on the nature of these disturbances.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Determination of mass of IGR J17091-3624 from "Spectro-Temporal" variations during onset-phase of the 2011 outburst

The 2011 outburst of the black hole candidate IGR J17091-3624 followed the canonical track of state transitions along with the evolution of Quasi-Periodic Oscillation (QPO) frequencies before it began exhibiting various variability classes similar to GRS 1915+105. We use this canonical evolution of spectral and temporal properties to determine the mass of IGR J17091-3624, using three different methods, viz : Photon Index ($Γ$) - QPO frequency ($ν$) correlation, QPO frequency ($ν$) - Time (day) evolution and broadband spectral modelling based on Two Component Advective Flow. We provide a combined mass estimate for the source using a Naive Bayes based joint likelihood approach. This gives a probable mass range of 11.8 M$_{\odot}$ - 13.7 M$_{\odot}$. Considering each individual estimate and taking the lowermost and uppermost bounds among all three methods, we get a mass range of 8.7 M$_{\odot}$ - 15.6 M$_{\odot}$ with 90% confidence. We discuss the probable implications of our findings in the context of two component accretion flow.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Multiple reentrant glass transitions in confined hard-sphere glasses

Glass forming liquids exhibit a rich phenomenology upon confinement. This is often related to the effects arising from wall-fluid interactions. Here we focus on the interesting limit where the separation of the confining walls becomes of the order of a few particle diameters. For a moderately polydisperse, densely packed hard-sphere fluid confined between two smooth hard walls, we show via event-driven molecular dynamics simulations the emergence of a multiple reentrant glass transition scenario upon a variation of the wall separation. Using thermodynamic relations, this reentrant phenomenon is shown to persist also under constant chemical potential. This allows straightforward experimental investigation and opens the way to a variety of applications in micro- and nanotechnology, where channel dimensions are comparable to the size of the contained particles. The results are in-line with theoretical predictions obtained by a combination of density functional theory and the mode-coupling theory of the glass transition.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2014

Incommensurate, helical spin ground states on the Hollandite lattice

We present a model of classical Heisenberg spins on a Hollandite lattice, which has been developed to describe the magnetic properties of $α$-MnO$_2$ and similar compounds. The model has nearest neighbor interacting spins, however the strength and the sign of spin-spin interactions is anisotropic and depends on the nature of the bonds. Our analysis shows that the Hollandite lattice supports four different incommensurate and helical magnetic ground states depending on the relative strengths and signs of spin-spin interactions. We show that the incommensurate helical ground states appear due to the geometrical frustration present in the model. We demonstrate that each of the four helical incommensurate magnetic phases are continuously connected to four different collinear antiferromagnetic ground states as the strength of spin-spin interaction along some bonds is increased. The present results give support to the presence of helical states that have been previously suggested experimentally for Hollandite compounds. We provide an in-depth analysis of the magnetic form factors for each helical phase and describe how it could be used to identify each of these phases in neutron diffraction experiments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Excited states in the neutron-rich nucleus 25F

The structure of the nucleus 25F was investigated through in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy of the fragmentation of 26Ne and 27,28Na ion beams. Based on the particle-γ and particle-γγ coincidence data, a level scheme was constructed and compared with shell model and coupled-cluster calculations. Some of the observed states were interpreted as quasi single-particle states built on top of the closed-shell nucleus 24O, while the others were described as states arising from coupling of a single proton to the 2+ core excitation of 24O.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2013

Effect of equation of state and composition on relativistic flows

The thermal state of the fluid is governed by the ratio of the thermal and the rest energy. This brings the composition of the fluid into the picture. Although, fluid composed of lighter particles (e.g: electron-positron pair plasma) at same temperature, is more relativistic compared to fluids with finite baryon loading, but this is not necessarily true when baryon poor transonic fluid are compared with each other. It can be shown that the transonic pair-fluid is the least relativistic. This has far reaching consequences on accreting flows around compact objects and are expected to have similar effect on relativistic outflows and explosive events as well.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Direct observation of long-lived isomers in $^{212}$Bi

Long-lived isomers in 212Bi have been studied following 238U projectile fragmentation at 670 MeV per nucleon. The fragmentation products were injected as highly charged ions into the GSI storage ring, giving access to masses and half-lives. While the excitation energy of the first isomer of 212Bi was confirmed, the second isomer was observed at 1478(30) keV, in contrast to the previously accepted value of >1910 keV. It was also found to have an extended Lorentz-corrected in-ring halflife >30 min, compared to 7.0(3) min for the neutral atom. Both the energy and half-life differences can be understood as being due a substantial, though previously unrecognised, internal decay branch for neutral atoms. Earlier shell-model calculations are now found to give good agreement with the isomer excitation energy. Furthermore, these and new calculations predict the existence of states at slightly higher energy that could facilitate isomer de-excitation studies.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2012

Core-coupled states and split proton-neutron quasi-particle multiplets in 122-126Ag

Neutron-rich silver isotopes were populated in the fragmentation of a 136Xe beam and the relativistic fission of 238U. The fragments were mass analyzed with the GSI Fragment separator and subsequently implanted into a passive stopper. Isomeric transitions were detected by 105 HPGe detectors. Eight isomeric states were observed in 122-126Ag nuclei. The level schemes of 122,123,125Ag were revised and extended with isomeric transitions being observed for the first time. The excited states in the odd-mass silver isotopes are interpreted as core-coupled states. The isomeric states in the even-mass silver isotopes are discussed in the framework of the proton-neutron split multiplets. The results of shell-model calculations, performed for the most neutron-rich silver nuclei are compared to the experimental data.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2012

Shear-induced anisotropic decay of correlations in hard-sphere colloidal glasses

Spatial correlations of microscopic fluctuations are investigated via real-space experiments and computer simulations of colloidal glasses under steady shear. It is shown that while the distribution of one-particle fluctuations is always isotropic regardless of the relative importance of shear as compared to thermal fluctuations, their spatial correlations show a marked sensitivity to the competition between shear-induced and thermally activated relaxation. Correlations are isotropic in the thermally dominated regime, but develop strong anisotropy as shear dominates the dynamics of microscopic fluctuations. We discuss the relevance of this observation for a better understanding of flow heterogeneity in sheared amorphous solids.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2011

Spin correlations and phase diagram of the perturbed Kitaev model

We present a general classification of the perturbations to the Kitaev model on the basis of their effect on it's spin correlation functions. We derive a necessary and sufficient condition for the spin correlators to exhibit a long ranged power-law behavior in the presence of such perturbations. We substantiate our result by a study of the phase diagram of the Kitaev model augmented by a loop term and perturbed by an Ising term, within a RVB mean-field theory. We estimate the stability of the spin-liquid phase against such perturbations and show that this model exhibits both confinement-deconfinement transitions from spin liquid to antiferromagnetic/spin-chain/ferromagnetic phases as well as topological quantum phase transitions between gapped and gapless spin liquid phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Confinement-deconfinement transition in a generalized Kitaev model

We present a spin model, namely, the Kitaev model augmented by a loop term and perturbed by an Ising Hamiltonian and show that it exhibits both confinement-deconfinement transitions from spin liquid to antiferromagnetic/spin-chain/ferromagnetic phases and topological quantum phase transitions between gapped and gapless spin liquid phases. We develop a Fermionic mean-field theory to chart out the phase diagram of the model and estimate the stability of its spin liquid phases which might be relevant for attempts to realize the model in optical lattices. We also conjecture that some of the confinement-deconfinement transitions in the model, predicted to be first order within the mean-field theory, may become second order via a defect condensation mechanism.

cond-mat.str-el↗