120528536
Two Micron All Sky Survey, Infrared Astronomical Satellite, and Midcourse Space Experiment Color Properties of Intrinsic and Extrinsic S Stars
We attempt to select new candidate intrinsic and extrinsic S stars in the General Catalogue of Galactic S Stars (GCGSS) by combining data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, and the Midcourse Space Experiment. Catalog entries are cross-identified, yielding 528 objects, out of which 29 are known extrinsic S stars and 31 are known intrinsic S stars. Their color-color diagrams, (H - [12])-(K [12]) and ( K - [12])-(J - [25]), are drawn and used to identify a new sample of 147 extrinsic and 256 intrinsic S star candidates, while the nature of 65 stars remains identified. We infer that about 38% +/- 10% of the GCGSS objects are of extrinsic type. Moreover, we think that colors such as J - [25] can be used to split off the two categories of S stars, while single colors are not appropriate. The color-color diagrams, such as (H - [12])-(K - [12]) and (K - [12])-(J - [25]), are proven to be powerful tools for distinguishing the two kinds of S stars.
14071619
The Mass Distribution of Black Holes in BL Lacertae Objects
In this {\it Letter}, we make an attempt to estimate the masses of black holes and their distributions in BL Lac objects. We find there is a bimodal population of black hole masses in BL Lacs: the first has a lower-mass peak centred at $\sim 7.0 \times 10^6\sunm$ composed of high frequency-peaked BL Lacs (HBLs) and the second is a higher-mass ($>10^9\sunm$) population composed of low frequency-peaked BL Lacs (LBLs). The low mass family of black holes in HBLs does not satisfy the Magorrian et al. relation whereas the high mass family in LBLs does this relation and is in agreement with Laor's limit. The origination of the bimodal distribution of black hole mass remains open.
118436895
Mechanism of very high energy radiation in BL Lacertae object 3C 66A
Aims. Our goal is to understand the nature of blazars and the mechanisms for generating high-energy.-rays, through investigation of the blazar 3C 66A. Methods. We model the high-energy spectrum of 3C 66A, which was observed recently with the Fermi-LAT and VERITAS telescopes. The spectrum has a hard change from the energy range of 0.2-100 GeV to 200-500 GeV in recent almost contemporaneous observations of two telescopes. Results. The de-absorbed VERITAS spectrum depends strongly on redshift, which is highly uncertain. If z = 0.444 is adopted, we are able to use the SSC model to produce the Fermi-LAT component and the EC model to the VERITAS component. However, if z = 0.1, the intrinsic VERITAS spectrum will be softer, and there will be a smooth link between the Fermi-LAT and VERITAS spectra that can be explained using an SSC model.
17685255
Knot in centaurus A: A stochastic magnetic field for diffusive synchrotron radiation?
The emission of relativistic electrons moving in the random and small-scale magnetic field is presented by diffusive synchrotron radiation (DSR). In this Letter, we revisit the perturbative treatment of DSR. We propose that a random and small-scale magnetic field might be generated by the turbulence. As an example, multiband radiation of the knot in Cen A comes from the electrons with energy gamma(e) similar to 10(3 -) 10(4) in the magnetic field of 10(-3) G. The multiband spectrum of DSR is well determined by the feature of a stochastic magnetic field. These results put strong constraints on the models of particle acceleration.
17321754
Implications of Bulk Velocity Structures in AGN Jets
Synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) models and External Compton (EC) models of AGN jets with continually longitudinal and transverse bulk velocity structures have been constructed. The observed spectra show complex and interesting patterns in different velocity structures and viewing angles. These models were used to calculate the synchrotron and inverse Compton spectra of two typical BL Lac objects (BLO) (Mrk 421 and 0716+714) and (one) Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs) (3C 279), and to discuss the implications of jet bulk velocity structures in a unification of the BLO and FR I radio galaxies (FRI). By calculating the synchrotron spectra and SSC spectra of BL Lac object jets with continually bulk velocity structures, we have found that the spectra are much different from those in jets with a uniform velocity structure under increasing viewing angles. The unification of BLO and FRI is less constrained by the viewing angles, and would be imprinted by velocity structures intrinsic to the jets, themselves. By considering jets with bulk velocity structures constrained by the apparent speed, we discuss the velocity structures imprinted on the observed spectra for different viewing angles. We find that the spectra are greatly impacted by longitudinal velocity structures, because the volume elements are compressed or expanded. Finally, we present the EC spectra of FSRQs and FR II radio galaxies (FRII), and find that they are weakly affected by the velocity structures compared to synchrotron and SSC spectra.
118677286
Gamma-ray Burst Prompt Emission: Jitter Radiation in Stochastic Magnetic Field Revisited
We revisit the radiation mechanism of relativistic electrons in the stochastic magnetic field and apply it to the high-energy emissions of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We confirm that jitter radiation is a possible explanation for GRB prompt emission in the condition of a large electron deflection angle. In the turbulent scenario, the radiative spectral property of GRB prompt emission is decided by the kinetic energy spectrum of turbulence. The intensity of the random and small-scale magnetic field is determined by the viscous scale of the turbulent eddy. The microphysical parameters epsilon(e) and epsilon(B) can be obtained. The acceleration and cooling timescales are estimated as well. Due to particle acceleration in magnetized filamentary turbulence, the maximum energy released from the relativistic electrons can reach a value of about 10(14) eV. The GeV GRBs are possible sources of high-energy cosmic-ray.
14138217
Polarization of Quasars: Resonant Line Scattering in the Broad Absorption Line Region
Recent works showed that the absorbing material in broad absorption line (BAL) quasars is optically thick to major resonant absorption lines. This material may contribute significantly to the polarization in the absorption lines. In this paper, we present a detailed study of the resonant line scattering process using a Monte Carlo method to constrain the optical depth, the geometry, and the kinematics of the BAL region (BALR). By comparing our results with observed polarized spectra of BAL quasars, we find the following: (1) Resonant scattering can produce polarization up to 9% at the absorption trough for doublet transitions and up to 20% for singlet transitions in radially accelerated flows. To explain the large polarization degree in the C IV and N V absorption-line troughs detected in a small fraction of BAL QSOs, a nonmonotonic velocity distribution along the line of sight or/and additional contribution from the electron-scattering region is required. (2) The rotation of the flow can lead to the rotation of the polarization position angle (PA) in the line trough. A large extending angle of BALR is required to produce the observed large PA rotation in a few BAL QSOs. (3) A large extending angle of BALR is required to explain a subtrough in the polarized flux that was observed in a number of BAL QSOs. (4) The resonant scattering can contribute a significant part of N V emission line in some QSOs, and it may give rise to anomalous strong N V lines in these quasars. (5) The polarized flux and PA rotation produced by the resonant scattering regions is uniquely asymmetric, which may be used to test the presence of BALR in non-BAL QSOs.
16816092
Broad‐line Balmer decrements in blue active galactic nuclei
We have investigated the broad-line Balmer decrements (H alpha/H beta) for a large, homogeneous sample of Seyfert 1 galaxies and quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) using spectroscopic data obtained in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The sample, drawn from the Fourth Data Release, comprises 446 low-redshift (z less than or similar to 0.35) active galactic nuclei (AGN) that have blue optical continua as indicated by the spectral slopes in order to minimize the effect of dust extinction. We find that (i) the distribution of the intrinsic broad-line H alpha/H beta ratio can be well described by log-Gaussian, with a peak at H alpha/H beta = 3.06 and a standard deviation of about 0.03 dex only; (ii) the Balmer decrement does not correlate with AGN properties such as luminosity, accretion rate and continuum slope, etc.; (iii) on average, the Balmer decrements are found to be only slightly larger in radio-loud sources (3.37) and sources having double-peaked emission-line profiles (3.27) compared to the rest of the sample. We therefore suggest that the broad-line H alpha/H beta ratio can be used as a good indicator for dust extinction in the AGN broad-line region; this is especially true for radio-quiet AGN with regular emission-line profiles, which constitute the vast majority of the AGN population.
40497104
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in $pp$ collision events at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta)<2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.
123147042
Dispersion and energy compensation in high-gradient linacs for lepton colliders
11298079
An X-Ray Census of Young Stars in the Massive Southern Star-forming Complex NGC 6357
We present the first high spatial resolution X-ray study of the massive star-forming region NGC 6357, obtained in a 38 ks Chandra/ACIS observation. Inside the brightest constituent of this large H II region complex is the massive open cluster Pismis 24. It contains two of the brightest and bluest stars known, yet remains poorly studied; only a handful of optically bright stellar members have been identified. We investigate the cluster extent and initial mass function and detect ~800 X-ray sources with a limiting sensitivity of ~1030 ergs s-1; this provides the first reliable probe of the rich intermediate-mass and low-mass population of this massive cluster, increasing the number of known members from optical study by a factor of ~50. The high-luminosity end (log Lh[2-8 keV] ≥ 30.3 ergs s-1) of the observed X-ray luminosity function in NGC 6357 is clearly consistent with a power-law relation as seen in the Orion Nebula Cluster and Cepheus B, yielding the first estimate of NGC 6357's total cluster population, a few times the known Orion population. We investigate the structure of the cluster, finding small-scale substructures superposed on a spherical cluster with 6 pc extent, and discuss its relationship to the nebular morphology. The long-standing LX - 10-7Lbol correlation for O stars is confirmed. Twenty-four candidate O stars and one possible new obscured massive YSO or Wolf-Rayet star are presented. Many cluster members are estimated to be intermediate-mass stars from available infrared photometry (assuming an age of ~1 Myr), but only a few exhibit K-band excess. We report the first detection of X-ray emission from an evaporating gaseous globule at the tip of a molecular pillar; this source is likely a B0-B2 protostar.