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At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
arXiv2007

Eight powers of ten: similarities in black hole accretion on all mass scales

In this paper we discuss the recent advances in the quantitative comparison of accretion, and the accretion:jet coupling, in accreting black holes in both X-ray binaries (where M ~ 10Msun) and Active Galactic Nuclei (10^5Msun < M < 10^9Msun). These similarities include the radiative efficiency and jet power as a function of accretion rate, which are themselves probably the origin of the `fundamental plane of black hole activity'. A second `fundamental plane' which connects mass, accretion rate and timing properties provides us with a further physical diagnostic. Patterns of radio loudness (i.e. jet production) as a function of luminosity and accretion state are shown to be similar for X-ray binaries and AGN. Finally we discuss how neutron stars are a useful control sample, and what the future may hold for this field.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2010

The local star formation history of the thin disc derived from kinematic data

We present an evolutionary disc model for the thin disc in the solar cylinder based on a continuous star formation history and a continuous dynamical heating of the stellar subpopulations. The vertical distribution of the stellar subpopulations are calculated self-consistently in dynamical equilibrium. The SFR and AVR of the stellar subpopulations are determined by fitting the velocity distribution functions of main sequence stars. The SFR shows a maximum 10 Gyr ago declining by a factor of 10 until present time. A constant SFR can be ruled out. The velocity dispersion of the stellar subpopulations increase with age according to a power law with index 0.375. The new scale heights lead to a best fit IMF with power-law indices of 1.5 below and 4.0 above 1.6 Msun, which has no kink around 1 Msun. Including a thick disc component results in slight variations of the thin disc properties, but has a negligible influence on the SFR. A variety of predictions are made concerning the number density, age and metallicity distributions of stellar subpopulations as a function of z above the galactic plane.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

The Northern Site of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a multi-national project for research on ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The Southern Auger Observatory in Mendoza province, Argentina, is approaching completion in 2007 with an instrumented area of 3,000 km^2. It will accurately measure the spectrum and composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays up to and beyond the predicted GZK feature. We are obtaining results on the energy spectrum, mass composition and distribution of arrival directions on the southern sky. The Northern Auger Observatory is designed to complete and extend the investigations begun in the South. It will establish charged particle astronomy and thus open a new window into the universe. The distribution of arrival directions of the highest energy events will point the way to unveiling the almost century old mystery of the origin and nature of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. Achieving this goal requires collecting many more events in spite of the steeply falling energy spectrum. The planned northern site will have an instrumented area of 4,000 square miles (10,370 km}^2 in Southeast Colorado, USA. The paper covers the science of charged particle astronomy, the layout and the technical implementation of the Northern Auger Observatory.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Small effects of low-energy quantum gravity

Small effects of quantum gravity on the scale $\sim 10^{-3} eV$ and their cosmological consequences are discussed and compared with observations of supernovae 1a, gamma-ray bursts and galaxies.

hep-th↗
arXiv2007

Measurement of the UHECR spectrum above 10 EeV at the Pierre Auger Observatory using showers with zenith angles greater than 60 degrees

We report a measurement of the cosmic ray energy spectrum obtained using the inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory. Showers with zenith angles between 60 and 80 degrees recorded in the period between 1 January 2004 and 28 February 2007 are analysed. Showers are first reconstructed in arrival direction and then fitted to density maps of the muon numbers obtained from 10 EeV simulated proton showers for different arrival directions, in order to obtain the core position and an overall normalisation factor N19 which is used as an energy estimator. The parameter N19 is shown to be correlated with the shower energy measured with the fluorescence technique for a sub-sample of good quality hybrid showers. This correlation, measured with hybrid events, is then used to determine the energy of all the showers.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Calculation of the atmospheric muon flux motivated by the ATIC-2 experiment

We calculate the cosmic ray muon flux at ground level using directly the primary cosmic ray spectrum and composition measured in the ATIC-2 balloon experiment. In order to extend the calculations to high energies, up to 100 TeV, we use the data of the GAMMA experiment as well as Zatsepin and Sokolskaya model. This model, supported by the ATIC-2 data, comprises contributions to the cosmic ray flux of three classes of astrophysical sources - the shocks from exploding stars, nova and supernova of different types. The muon flux computation is based on the method for solution of atmospheric hadron cascade equations in which rising total inelastic cross-sections of hadron-nuclear interactions as well as non-power-law character of the primary cosmic ray spectrum are taken into account. The calculated muon spectrum agrees well with measurements of L3+Cosmic and BESS-TeV, CAPRICE, Frejus, MACRO, LVD as well as other experiments.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

AGN Observations in the GeV/TeV Energy Range with the MAGIC Telescope

MAGIC currently is the largest imaging atmospheric Cerenkov telescope world-wide. Since 2004, gamma-ray emission from several active galactic nuclei in the GeV/TeV energy range has been detected, some of which were newly discovered as very-high energy gamma-ray sources. The gamma-rays are assumed to originate from particle acceleration processes in the AGN jets. We give an overview of the AGN observed and detected by MAGIC, discuss spectral and temporal properties of these and show physics implications of some selected observations.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

A First Synoptic Blazar Study Comprising Thirteen Blazars Visible in E>100 GeV Gamma-Rays

Since 2002, the number of detected blazars at E_γ> 100 GeV has more than doubled. I study all currently known BL Lac-type objects with published energy spectra. Their intrinsic energy spectra are reconstructed by removing extragalactic background light attenuation effects. The emission properties are then compared and correlated among each other, with X-ray data, and with the individual black hole masses. In addition, I consider temporal properties of the very high energy gamma-ray flux. Key findings concern the flux--black hole mass and variability scale--black hole mass connections and the correlation of the spectral slope and the luminosity. As a specific application, the study allows to constrain the still undetermined redshift of the blazar PG 1553+113.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Analysis of radial fundamental-to-first overtone period ratios in the presence of near degeneracy

In the present work we provide the preliminary results obtained when analysing the rotational Petersen diagrams when including the effects of near degeneracy. We found that near degeneracy affects significantly the fundamental-to-first overtone period ratios, showing wriggles in the Petersen diagrams. Analysis of such wriggles reveals that they are mainly caused by the avoided-crossing phenomenon. The size of wriggles seems to increase with the rotational velocity and could, in certain cases, invalidate any accurate mass and/or metallicity determinations. Nevertheless, deep analysis of near degeneracy effects may allow us to obtain additional information on the mode identification of the radial modes and their corresponding coupled pairs, which would allow us to constrain the modelling.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Cosmic String Loops and Gravitational Radiation

Understanding of the signatures of cosmic string networks is limited by a large uncertainty in the sizes at which cosmic string loops form. We review cosmic string network evolution, and the gravitational signatures, with emphasis on this uncertainty. We then review a recent analytic model of cosmic string networks. In combination with recent simulations, this suggests that 90% of the string goes into very small loops, at the gravitational radiation scale, and 10% into loops near the Hubble scale. We discuss cosmic string signatures in such a scenario, and the `inverse problem' of determining the microscopic cosmic string properties from observations.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Albus 1: A very bright white dwarf candidate

We have serendipitously discovered a previously-unknown, bright source (B_T = 11.75+/-0.07 mag) with a very blue V_T-K_s color, to which we have named Albus 1. A photometric and astrometric study using Virtual Observatory tools has shown that it possesses an appreciable proper motion and magnitudes and colors very similar to those of the well known white dwarf G 191-B2B. We consider Albus 1 as a DA-type white dwarf located at about 40 pc. If confirmed its nature, Albus 1 would be the sixth brightest isolated white dwarf in the sky, which would make it an excellent spectrophotometric standard.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2008

The Fate of Dwarf Galaxies in Clusters and the Origin of Intracluster Stars. I. Isolated Clusters

The main goal of this paper is to compare the relative importance of destruction by tides, vs. destruction by mergers, in order to assess if tidal destruction of dwarf galaxies in clusters is a viable scenario for explaining the origin of intracluster stars. We have designed a simple algorithm for simulating the evolution of isolated clusters. The distribution of galaxies in the cluster is evolved using a direct gravitational N-body algorithm combined with a subgrid treatment of physical processes such as mergers, tidal disruption, and galaxy harassment. Using this algorithm, we have performed a total of 227 simulations. Our main results are (1) destruction of dwarf galaxies by mergers dominates over destruction by tides, and (2) the destruction of dwarf galaxies by tides is sufficient to explain the observed intracluster light in clusters.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Accretion disc coronae in black hole binaries

Most of the luminosity of accreting black hole is emitted in the X-ray band. This radiation is believed to emerge, through inverse Compton process, from a hot (Te ~ 10^8 -10^9 K) optically thin (Thomson optical depth ~ 1) plasma probably located in the immediate vicinity of the black hole. The mechanisms at work in this so called Compton corona can be unveiled through hard X-ray observations which have revealed a rich phenomenology. Depending on luminosity different spectral states are observed suggesting that the nature and geometry of the corona depends on mass accretion rate. In many instances the spectral behaviour as a function of luminosity shows some degree of hysteresis. The mechanisms triggering the transition between spectral states is very unclear although it could be related to an evaporation/condensation equilibrium in an accretion disc corona system. From the observation of correlation between the X-ray and radio band, it appears that the Compton corona is intimately related to the formation of compact jets and probably constitutes the base of the jet.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Superhump periods in the UGSU-type dwarf nova SDSSp J082409.73+493124.4

We present observations and analysis of the first reported superoutburst of the dwarf nova SDSSp J082409.73+493124.4 during February/March 2007. From a maximum observed magnitude of 15.4C it declined at 0.09 mag/d for 7 days, flattened out around magnitude 16 for a further 5 days and then returned rapidly to quiescence at magnitude 19.4. The flattening of the light curve late in the outburst was not associated with a re-growth of superhumps. For the first 5 days we observed common superhumps with period 0.06954(5) d, thus confirming its classification as a UGSU-type dwarf nova. This was followed by a phase transition to late superhumps with period 0.06921(6) d. We found a small but persistent signal at 0.0687(6) d which we interpret as the orbital period.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

X-Ray Nuclei in Radio Galaxies: Exploring the Roles of Hot and Cold Gas Accretion

We present results from Chandra and XMM-Newton spectroscopic observations of the nuclei of z<0.5 radio galaxies and quasars from the 3CRR catalog, and examine in detail the dichotomy in the properties of low- and high-excitation radio galaxies. The X-ray spectra of low-excitation sources (those with weak or absent optical emission lines) are dominated by unabsorbed emission from a parsec-scale jet, with no contribution from accretion-related emission. These sources show no evidence for an obscuring torus, and are likely to accrete in a radiatively inefficient manner. High-excitation sources (those with prominent optical emission lines), on the other hand, show a significant contribution from a radiatively efficient accretion disk, which is heavily absorbed in the X-ray when they are oriented close to edge-on with respect to the observer. However, the low-excitation/high-excitation division does not correspond to the FRI/FRII division: thus the Fanaroff-Riley dichotomy remains a consequence of the interaction between the jet and the hot-gas environment through which it propagates. Finally, we suggest that accretion of the hot phase of the IGM is sufficient to power all low-excitation radio sources, while high-excitation sources require an additional contribution from cold gas that in turn forms the cold disk and torus. This model explains a number of properties of the radio-loud active galaxy population, and has important implications for AGN feedback mechanisms.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

On Using the Rossiter Effect to Detect Terrestrial Planets

We explore the possibility that the transit signature of an Earth-size planet can be detected in spectroscopic velocity shifts via the Rossiter effect. Under optimistic but not unrealistic conditions, it should be possible to detect a large terrestrial-size planet. While not suitable for discovering planets, this method can be used to confirm suspected planets.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Using globular clusters to test gravity in the weak acceleration regime

We report on the results from an ongoing program aimed at testing Newton's law of gravity in the low acceleration regime using globular clusters. It is shown that all clusters studied so far do behave like galaxies, that is, their velocity dispersion profile flattens out at large radii where the acceleration of gravity goes below 1e-8 cm/s/s, instead of following the expected Keplerian fall off. In galaxies this behavior is ascribed to the existence of a dark matter halo. Globular clusters, however, do not contain dark matter, hence this result might indicate that our present understanding of gravity in the weak regime of accelerations is incomplete and somehow incorrect.

astro-ph↗