arXiv subjects

Yuki Amano

Publications and source records attributed to Yuki Amano.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Photoexcitation spectroscopy of highly charged ions for application to astronomy using a compact electron beam ion trap (EBIT) at the synchrotron radiation facility SPring-8

In the past few decades, X-ray astronomy satellites equipped with grating spectrometers and microcalorimeters have enabled high-resolution spectroscopic observations of astrophysical objects. The need for accurate atomic data has arose as we attempt detailed analysis of the high-resolution spectra they provide. This is because current spectral models, which heavily rely on theoretical calculations, entail non-negligible uncertainties. We employ a plasma spectroscopy device called electron beam ion trap (EBIT) to experimentally obtain precise atomic data. An EBIT with a design that allows combined operation with synchrotron radiation facilities was developed based on the Heidelberg Compact EBIT and installed at ISAS/JAXA for this purpose. We conducted a spectroscopic experiment using the JAXA-EBIT at the synchrotron radiation facility SPring-8, and successfully obtained high-resolution spectra of the L$α$ resonance transition of Ne-like Fe$^{16+}$ ions, 3C, as well as the K$α$ resonance transition of He-like O$^{6+}$ ions. We also measured another Ne-like Fe$^{16+}$ L$α$ resonance transition, 3G, and constrained an upper limit of the oscillator strength ratio of 3G to 3C, using our experimental results. The experimental values obtained in this study will be applied to observational studies of astrophysical objects as a part of the plasma spectral modeling.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

A laboratory plasma experiment for X-ray astronomy using a compact electron beam ion trap (EBIT)

We present the basic performance and experimental results of an electron beam ion trap (JAXA-EBIT), newly introduced to the Japanese astronomical community. Accurate atomic data are indispensable for the reliable interpretation of high-resolution X-ray spectra of astrophysical plasmas. The JAXA-EBIT generates highly charged ions under well-controlled laboratory conditions, providing experimental benchmarks for atomic data. The JAXA-EBIT shows performance comparable to the Heidelberg compact EBIT through dielectronic recombination measurements of highly charged Ar ions. Furthermore, we conducted resonant photoexcitation spectroscopy of highly charged ions using the soft X-ray beamline BL17SU at the synchrotron radiation facility SPring-8. As a result, we successfully detected resonance transitions of He-like O$^{6+}$ and Ne-like Fe$^{16+}$. These results demonstrate the capability of the JAXA-EBIT for precise measurement of atomic data and show that it serves as a powerful tool for advancing astrophysical research.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Spatially Resolved Plasma Diagnostics of the Supernova Remnant DEM L71 using the Reflection Grating Spectrometer

We present a spatially resolved high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of the supernova remnant DEM L71 using the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) aboard XMM-Newton. Because of the large dispersion angle of the RGS, we are able to resolve individual emission lines and examine their spatial distributions within this moderately extended remnant. We derive line fluxes across different regions of DEM L71 and perform quantitative plasma diagnostics. Our analysis reveals that some regions have high forbidden-to-resonance ratios of O\emissiontype{VII} He$α$ lines, suggesting a non-negligible contribution from additional physical processes, such as charge exchange and/or resonance scattering. Our results demonstrate that the RGS has potential to serve as an outstanding X-ray imaging spectrometer for moderately diffuse objects.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Hanle effect for lifetime determinations in the soft X-ray regime

By exciting a series of $1\mathrm{s}^{2}\, ^{1}\mathrm{S}_{0} \to 1\mathrm{s}n\mathrm{p}\, ^{1}\mathrm{P}_{1}$ transitions in helium-like nitrogen ions with linearly polarized monochromatic soft X-rays at the Elettra facility, we found a change in the angular distribution of the fluorescence sensitive to the principal quantum number $n$. In particular it is observed that the ratio of emission in directions parallel and perpendicular to the polarization of incident radiation increases with higher $n$. We find this $n$-dependence to be a manifestation of the Hanle effect, which served as a practical tool for lifetime determinations of optical transitions since its discovery in 1924. In contrast to traditional Hanle effect experiments, in which one varies the magnetic field and considers a particular excited state, we demonstrate a 'soft X-ray Hanle effect' which arises in a static magnetic field but for a series of excited states. By comparing experimental data with theoretical predictions, we were able to determine lifetimes ranging from hundreds of femtoseconds to tens of picoseconds of the $1\mathrm{s}n\mathrm{p}\, ^{1}\mathrm{P}_{1}$ levels, which find excellent agreement with atomic-structure calculations. We argue that dedicated soft X-ray measurements could yield lifetime data that is beyond current experimental reach and cannot yet be predicted with sufficient accuracy.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2022

ISAI: Investigating Solar Axion by Iron-57

The existence of the axion is a unique solution for the strong CP problem, and the axion is one of the most promising candidates of the dark matter. Investigating Solar Axion by Iron-57 (ISAI) is being prepared as a complemented table-top experiment to confirm the solar axion scenario. Probing an X-ray emission from the nuclear transitions associated with the axion-nucleon coupling is a leading approach. ISAI searches for the monochromatic 14.4 keV X-ray from the first excited state of 57Fe using a state-of-the-art pixelized silicon detector, dubbed XRPIX, under an extremely low-background environment. We highlight scientific objectives, experimental design and the latest status of ISAI.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2022

Locally Defined Independence Systems on Graphs

The maximization for the independence systems defined on graphs is a generalization of combinatorial optimization problems such as the maximum $b$-matching, the unweighted MAX-SAT, the matchoid, and the maximum timed matching problems. In this paper, we consider the problem under the local oracle model to investigate the global approximability of the problem by using the local approximability. We first analyze two simple algorithms FixedOrder and Greedy for the maximization under the model, which shows that they have no constant approximation ratio. Here algorithms FixedOrder and Greedy apply local oracles with fixed and greedy orders of vertices, respectively. We then propose two approximation algorithms for the $k$-degenerate graphs, whose approximation ratios are $α+2k -2$ and $αk$, where $α$ is the approximation ratio of local oracles. The second one can be generalized to the hypergraph setting. We also propose an $(α+ k)$-approximation algorithm for bipartite graphs, in which the local independence systems in the one-side of vertices are $k$-systems with independence oracles.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2022

Charge Exchange X-ray Emission Detected in Multiple Shells of Supernova Remnant G296.1-0.5

Recent high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy revealed possible presence of charge exchange (CX) X-ray emission in supernova remnants (SNRs). Although CX is expected to take place at outermost edges of SNR shells, no significant measurement has been reported so far due to the lack of nearby SNR samples. Here we present an X-ray study of SNR G296.1$-$0.5, which has a complicated multiple-shell structure, with the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) onboard XMM-Newton. We select two shells in different regions and find that in both regions O VII line shows a high forbidden-to-resonance ($f/r$) ratio that cannot be reproduced by a simple thermal model. Our spectral analysis suggests a presence of CX and the result is also supported by our new radio observation, where we discover evidence of molecular clouds associated with these shells. Assuming G296.1$-$0.5 has a spherical shock, we estimate that CX is dominant in a thin layer with a thickness of 0.2--0.3\% of the shock radius. The result is consistent with a previous theoretical expectation and we therefore conclude that CX occurs in G296.1$-$0.5.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

High resolution X-ray study of supernova remnant J0453.6$-$6829 with unusually high forbidden-to-resonance ratio

Recent high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy has revealed that several supernova remnants (SNRs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) show unusually high forbidden-to-resonance ($f/r$) line ratios. While their origin is still uncertain and debated, most of these SNRs have asymmetric morphology and/or show evidence of interaction with dense material, which may hint at the true nature of the anomalous $f/r$ ratios. Here we report on a detailed spectral analysis of an LMC SNR J0453.6$-$6829 with the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) onboard XMM-Newton. We find that the $f/r$ ratio of O$~$VII ($=1.06^{+0.09}_{-0.10}$) is significantly higher than expected from the previously-reported thermal model. The spectrum is fairly explained by taking into account a charge exchange (CX) emission in addition to the thermal component. Analyzing archival ATCA & Parkes radio data, we also reveal that H$~$I cloud is possibly interacting with J0453.6$-$6829. These results support the presence of CX in J0453.6$-$6829, as the origin of the obtained high $f/r$ ratio. Although a contribution of the resonance scattering (RS) cannot be ruled out at this time, we conclude that CX seems more likely than RS considering the relatively symmetric morphology of this remnant.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Fair Ride Allocation on a Line

The airport game is a classical and well-known model of fair cost-sharing for a single facility among multiple agents. This paper extends it to the so-called assignment setting, that is, for multiple facilities and agents, each agent chooses a facility to use and shares the cost with the other agents. Such a situation can be often seen in sharing economy, such as sharing fees for office desks among workers, taxis among customers of possibly different destinations on a line, and so on. Our model is regarded as a coalition formation game based on the fair cost-sharing of the airport game; we call our model \emph{a fair ride allocation on a line}. As criteria of solution concepts, we incorporate Nash stability and envy-freeness into our setting. We show that a Nash-stable feasible allocation that minimizes the social cost of agents can be computed efficiently if a feasible allocation exists. For envy-freeness, we provide several structural properties of envy-free allocations. Based on these, we design efficient algorithms for finding an envy-free allocation when at least one of (1) the number of facilities, (2) the capacity of facilities, and (3) the number of agent types, is small. Moreover, we show that a consecutive envy-free allocation can be computed in polynomial time. On the negative front, we show the NP-hardness of determining the existence of an allocation under two relaxed envy-free concepts.

cs.GT↗

arXiv2020

A 3/4 Differential Approximation Algorithm for Traveling Salesman Problem

In this paper, we consider differential approximability of the traveling salesman problem (TSP). We show that TSP is $3/4$-differential approximable, which improves the currently best known bound $3/4 -O(1/n)$ due to Escoffier and Monnot in 2008, where $n$ denotes the number of vertices in the given graph.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2020

Low-Energy X-ray Performance of SOI Pixel Sensors for Astronomy, "XRPIX"

We have been developing a new type of X-ray pixel sensors, "XRPIX", allowing us to perform imaging spectroscopy in the wide energy band of 1-20 keV for the future Japanese X-ray satellite "FORCE". The XRPIX devices are fabricated with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor silicon-on-insulator technology, and have the "Event-Driven readout mode", in which only a hit event is read out by using hit information from a trigger output function equipped with each pixel. This paper reports on the low-energy X-ray performance of the "XRPIX6E" device with a Pinned Depleted Diode (PDD) structure. The PDD structure especially reduces the readout noise, and hence is expected to largely improve the quantum efficiencies for low-energy X-rays. While F-K X-rays at 0.68 keV and Al-K X-rays at 1.5 keV are successfully detected in the "Frame readout mode", in which all pixels are read out serially without using the trigger output function, the device is able to detect Al-K X-rays, but not F-K X-rays in the Event-Driven readout mode. Non-uniformity is observed in the counts maps of Al-K X-rays in the Event-Driven readout mode, which is due to region-to-region variation of the pedestal voltages at the input to the comparator circuit. The lowest available threshold energy is 1.1 keV for a small region in the device where the non-uniformity is minimized. The noise of the charge sensitive amplifier at the sense node and the noise related to the trigger output function are ~$18~e^-$ (rms) and ~$13~e^-$ (rms), respectively.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Experimental studies on the charge transfer inefficiency of CCD developed for the soft X-ray imaging telescope Xtend aboard the XRISM satellite

We present experimental studies on the charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) of charge-coupled device (CCD) developed for the soft X-ray imaging telescope, Xtend, aboard the XRISM satellite. The CCD is equipped with a charge injection (CI) capability, in which sacrificial charge is periodically injected to fill the charge traps. By evaluating the re-emission of the trapped charge observed behind the CI rows, we find that there are at least three trap populations with different time constants. The traps with the shortest time constant, which is equivalent to a transfer time of approximately one pixel, are mainly responsible for the trailing charge of an X-ray event seen in the following pixel. A comparison of the trailing charge in two clocking modes reveals that the CTI depends not only on the transfer time but also on the area, namely the imaging or storage area. We construct a new CTI model with taking into account with both transfer-time and area dependence. This model reproduces the data obtained in both clocking modes consistently. We also examine apparent flux dependence of the CTI observed without the CI technique. The higher incident X-ray flux is, the lower the CTI value becomes. It is due to a sacrificial charge effect by another X-ray photon. This effect is found to be negligible when the CI technique is used.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Radiation Damage Effects on Double-SOI Pixel Sensors for X-ray Astronomy

The X-ray SOI pixel sensor onboard the FORCE satellite will be placed in the low earth orbit and will consequently suffer from the radiation effects mainly caused by geomagnetically trapped cosmic-ray protons. Based on previous studies on the effects of radiation on SOI pixel sensors, the positive charges trapped in the oxide layer significantly affect the performance of the sensor. To improve the radiation hardness of the SOI pixel sensors, we introduced a double-SOI (D-SOI) structure containing an additional middle Si layer in the oxide layer. The negative potential applied on the middle Si layer compensates for the radiation effects, due to the trapped positive charges. Although the radiation hardness of the D-SOI pixel sensors for applications in high-energy accelerators has been evaluated, radiation effects for astronomical application in the D-SOI sensors has not been evaluated thus far. To evaluate the radiation effects of the D-SOI sensor, we perform an irradiation experiment using a 6-MeV proton beam with a total dose of ~ 5 krad, corresponding to a few tens of years of in-orbit operation. This experiment indicates an improvement in the radiation hardness of the X- ray D-SOI devices. On using an irradiation of 5 krad on the D-SOI device, the energy resolution in the full-width half maximum for the 5.9-keV X-ray increases by 7 $\pm$ 2%, and the chip output gain decreases by 0.35 $\pm$ 0.09%. The physical mechanism of the gain degradation is also investigated; it is found that the gain degradation is caused by an increase in the parasitic capacitance due to the enlarged buried n-well.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2020

Optical Blocking Performance of CCDs Developed for the X-ray Astronomy Satellite XRISM

We have been developing P-channel Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) for the upcoming X-ray Astronomy Satellite XRISM, planned to be launched in 2021. While the basic design of the CCD camera (Soft X-ray Imager: SXI) is almost the same as that of the lost Hitomi (ASTRO-H) observatory, we are planning to reduce the "light leakages" that is one of the largest problems recognized in Hitomi data. We adopted a double-layer optical blocking layer on the XRISM CCDs and also added an extra aluminum layer on the backside of them. We develop a newly designed test sample CCD and irradiate it with optical light to evaluate the optical blocking performance. As a result, light leakages are effectively reduced compared with that of the Hitomi CCDs. We thus conclude that the issue is solved by the new design and that the XRISM CCDs satisfy the mission requirement for the SXI.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Temporal and Spatial Variation of Synchrotron X-ray Stripes in Tycho's Supernova Remnant

The synchrotron X-ray "stripes" discovered in Tycho's supernova remnant (SNR) have been attracting attention since they may be evidence for proton acceleration up to PeV. We analyzed Chandra data taken in 2003, 2007, 2009, and 2015 for imaging and spectroscopy of the stripes in the southwestern region of the SNR. Comparing images obtained at different epochs, we find that time variability of synchrotron X-rays is not limited to two structures previously reported but is more common in the region. Spectral analysis of nine bright stripes reveals not only their time variabilities but also a strong anti-correlation between the surface brightness and photon indices. The spectra of the nine stripes have photon indices of Γ= 2.1--2.6 and are significantly harder than those of the outer rim of the SNR in the same region with Γ= 2.7--2.9. Based on these findings, we indicate that the magnetic field is substantially amplified, and suggest that particle acceleration through a stochastic process may be at work in the stripes.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Evidence for Resonance Scattering in the X-ray Grating Spectrum of the Supernova Remnant N49

Resonance scattering (RS) is an important process in astronomical objects, because it affects measurements of elemental abundances and distorts surface brightness of the object. It is predicted that RS can occur in plasmas of supernova remnants (SNRs). Although several authors reported hints of RS in SNRs, no strong observational evidence has been established so far. We perform a high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of the SNR N49 with the Reflection Grating Spectrometer aboard XMM-Newton. The RGS spectrum of N49 shows a high G-ratio of O VII He$α$ lines as well as O VIII Ly$β$/$α$ and Fe XVII (3s-2p)/(3d-2p) ratios which cannot be explained by the emission from a thin thermal plasma. These line ratios can be well explained by the effect of RS. Our result implies that RS has a large impact particularly on a measurement of the oxygen abundance.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Measurement of Charge Cloud Size in X-ray SOI Pixel Sensors

We report on a measurement of the size of charge clouds produced by X-ray photons in X-ray SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) pixel sensor named XRPIX. We carry out a beam scanning experiment of XRPIX using a monochromatic X-ray beam at 5.0 keV collimated to $\sim 10$ $μ$m with a 4-$μ$m$ϕ$ pinhole, and obtain the spatial distribution of single-pixel events at a sub-pixel scale. The standard deviation of charge clouds of 5.0 keV X-ray is estimated to be $σ_{\rm cloud} = 4.30 \pm 0.07$ $μ$m. Compared to the detector response simulation, the estimated charge cloud size is well explained by a combination of photoelectron range, thermal diffusion, and Coulomb repulsion. Moreover, by analyzing the fraction of multi-pixel events in various energies, we find that the energy dependence of the charge cloud size is also consistent with the simulation.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Subpixel Response of SOI Pixel Sensor for X-ray Astronomy with Pinned Depleted Diode: First Result from Mesh Experiment

We have been developing a monolithic active pixel sensor, ``XRPIX``, for the Japan led future X-ray astronomy mission ``FORCE`` observing the X-ray sky in the energy band of 1-80 keV with angular resolution of better than 15``. XRPIX is an upper part of a stack of two sensors of an imager system onboard FORCE, and covers the X-ray energy band lower than 20 keV. The XRPIX device consists of a fully depleted high-resistivity silicon sensor layer for X-ray detection, a low resistivity silicon layer for CMOS readout circuit, and a buried oxide layer in between, which is fabricated with 0.2 $μ$ m CMOS silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. Each pixel has a trigger circuit with which we can achieve a 10 $μ$ s time resolution, a few orders of magnitude higher than that with X-ray astronomy CCDs. We recently introduced a new type of a device structure, a pinned depleted diode (PDD), in the XRPIX device, and succeeded in improving the spectral performance, especially in a readout mode using the trigger function. In this paper, we apply a mesh experiment to the XRPIX devices for the first time in order to study the spectral response of the PDD device at the subpixel resolution. We confirmed that the PDD structure solves the significant degradation of the charge collection efficiency at the pixel boundaries and in the region under the pixel circuits, which is found in the single SOI structure, the conventional type of the device structure. On the other hand, the spectral line profiles are skewed with low energy tails and the line peaks slightly shift near the pixel boundaries, which contribute to a degradation of the energy resolution.

astro-ph.IM↗