26875059
A possible feature of thermal matter in relativistic jets of radio-loud quasars
It has been suggested that relativistic jets in quasars may contain a considerable amount of thermal matter. In this paper, we explore the possibility that the Kα line from the thermal matter may appear at tens of keV due to a high Doppler blue-shift. In the jet comoving frame, the energy density of photons originally emitted by the accretion disk and reflected off the broad line region clouds dominates over that of photons of other origin. We discuss the photoionization states of the thermal matter and find that the irons elements are neutral. The high metallicity in quasars enhances the possibility to detect the thermal matter in the relativistic jet in some radio-loud quasars. A highly Doppler blue-shifted Kα line may be detected. We make a prediction for 3C 273, in which the Kα line luminosity might be of the order 3.0 × 10 44 erg s −1 with an equivalent width of 2.4 keV. Such a line could be detected in a future mission.
16433217
The afterglows of ultraluminous quasars
Quasars represent a brief phase in the life cycle of most massive galaxies, but the evolutionary connection between central black holes and their host galaxies remains unclear. While quasars are active and shining brighter than the Compton-limit luminosity, their radiation heats the surrounding medium to the Compton temperature, forming Compton spheres extending to the Stromgren radius of Fe26+/He2+. After the quasars shut off, their "afterglow" can be detected through three signatures: (1) an extended X-ray envelope, with a characteristic temperature of ~3 × 107 K, (2) Lyα and Lyβ lines and the K edge of Fe26+, and (3) nebulosity from hydrogen and helium recombination emission lines. We discuss the possibility of detecting these signatures using Chandra, the planned X-Ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy mission, and ground-based optical telescopes. The luminosity and size of quasar afterglows can be used to constrain the lifetime of quasars.
119102309
Possible hard X-ray shortages in bursts from KS 1731-260 and 4U 1705-44
Aims. A hard X-ray shortage, implying the cooling of the corona, was observed during bursts of IGR J17473-272, 4U 1636-536, Aql X-1, and GS 1826-238. Apart from these four sources, we investigate here an atoll sample, in which the number of bursts for each source is larger than 5, to explore the possible additional hard X-ray shortage during Rossi X-ray timing explorer (RXTE) era. Methods. According to the source catalog that shows type-I bursts, we analyzed all the available pointing observations of these sources carried out by the RXTE proportional counter array. We grouped and combined the bursts according to their outburst states and searched for the possible hard X-ray shortage while bursting. Results. We found that the island states of KS 1731-260 and 4U 1705-44 show a hard X-ray shortage at significant levels of 4.5 and 4.7σ and a systematic time lag of 0.9 ± 2.1 s and 2.5 ± 2.0 s with respect to the soft X-rays, respectively. While in their banana branches and other sources, we did not find any consistent shortage.
17396076
INTEGRAL and RXTE/ASM observations on IGR J17098−3628
To probe further the possible nature of the unidentified source IGR J17098-3628, we have carried out a detailed analysis of its long-term time variability as monitored by RXTE/ASM, and of its hard X-ray properties as observed by INTEGRAL. INTEGRAL has monitored this sky region over years and significantly detected IGR J17098-3628 only when the source was in this dubbed active state. In particular, at $\ge$ 20 keV, IBIS/ISGRI caught an outburst in March 2005, lasting for $\sim$5 days with detection significance of 73$\sigma$ (20-40 keV) and with the emission at $ $20 keV) outburst by $\sim$2 days. This resembles the behavior of X-ray novae like XN 1124-683, hence it further suggests a LMXB nature for IGR J17098-3628. While the quality of the ASM data prevents us from drawing any definite conclusions, these discoveries are important clues that, coupled with future observations, will help to resolve the as yet unknown nature of IGR J17098-3628.
15715110
Suppressed star formation in circumnuclear regions in seyfert galaxies
Feedback from black hole activity is widely believed to play a key role in regulating star formation and black hole growth. A long-standing issue is the relation between star formation and the fueling of the supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We compile a sample of 57 Seyfert galaxies to tackle this issue. We estimate the surface densities of gas and star formation rates in circumnuclear regions (CNRs). Comparing them with the well-known Kennicutt-Schmidt (K-S) law, we find that the star formation rates (SFRs) in the CNRs of most Seyfert galaxies are suppressed in this sample. Feedback is suggested to explain the suppressed SFRs.
17406200
EVOLUTION OF GASEOUS DISK VISCOSITY DRIVEN BY SUPERNOVA EXPLOSIONS IN STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT HIGH REDSHIFT
Motivated by Genzel et al.'s observations of high-redshift star-forming galaxies, containing clumpy and turbulent rings or disks, we build a set of equations describing the dynamical evolution of gaseous disks with inclusion of star formation and its feedback. Transport of angular momentum is due to "turbulent" viscosity induced by supernova explosions in the star formation region. Analytical solutions of the equations are found for the initial cases of a gaseous ring and the integrated form for a gaseous disk, respectively. For a ring with enough low viscosity, it evolves in a slow process of gaseous diffusion and star formation near the initial radius. For a high viscosity, the ring rapidly diffuses in the early phase. The diffusion drives the ring into a region with a low viscosity and starts the second phase undergoing pile-up of gas at a radius following the decreased viscosity torque. The third is a sharply decreasing phase because of star formation consumption of gas and efficient transportation of gas inward forming a stellar disk. We apply the model to two z similar to 2 galaxies BX 482 and BzK 6004, and find that they are undergoing a decline in their star formation activity.
7486293
RELATIVISTIC OUTFLOWS IN TWO QUASARS IN THE CHANDRA DEEP FIELD SOUTH
In this paper we provide new 1 Ms Chandra ACIS spectra of two quasars in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S) which had strong and extremely blueshifted X-ray emission/absorption line features in previous 1 Ms spectra, with outflowing bulk velocity v ~ 0.65-0.84c. In the new 1 Ms spectra, the relativistic blueshifted line feature is solidly confirmed in CXO CDFS J033225.3–274219 (CDFS 46, z = 1.617), and marginally visible in CXO CDFS J033260.0–274748 (CDFS 11, z = 2.579), probably due to the increased Chandra ACIS background in the new 1 Ms exposure. The new data rule out the possibility (although very tiny already based on the old 1Ms data) that the two sources were selected to be unusual due to noise spikes in the spectra. The only likely interpretation is extremely blueshifted iron absorption/emission lines or an absorption edge due to relativistic outflow. We find that the rest-frame emission line center in CDFS 46 marginally decreased from 16.2 to 15.2 keV after 7 years. The line shift could be due to either a decreasing outflowing velocity or a lower ionization level. Including the two quasars reported in this paper, we collect a total of 7 quasars from the literature showing blueshifted emission or absorption line features with v ≥ 0.4c in X-ray spectra, and discuss their connection to jet and/or BAL (broad absorption line) outflows.
118434873
Testing the QCD fragmentation mechanism on heavy quarkonium production at LHC
We calculate the fragmentation function for charm quark into J/psi at the QCD next-to-leading-order (NLO) and find that the produced J/psi is of larger momentum fraction than it is at the leading-order. Based on the fragmentation function and partonic processes calculated at the NLO, the transverse momentum distribution on J/psi hadroproduction associated with a charm c (or \bar{c}) jet are predicted. We find that the distribution is enhanced by a factor of 2.0--3.3 at the NLO as p_t increased from 10 GeV to 100 GeV and it is measurable at the LHC with charm tagger. The measurement at the LHC will supply a first chance to directly test the QCD fragmentation mechanism on heavy quarkonium production where the fragmentation function is calculable in perturbative QCD. It is also applied to J/psi (Upsilon) production in the decay of Z^0 (top quark).
15380121
A Puzzling X-Ray Source Found in the Chandra Deep Field-South
In this Letter, we report the detection of an extremely strong X-ray emission line in the 940 ks Chandra ACIS-I spectrum of CXOCDFS J033225.3-274219. The source was identified as a type 1 active galactic nucleus at a redshift of z = 1.617, with a 2.0-10.0 keV rest-frame X-ray luminosity of ~1044 ergs s-1. The emission line was detected at 6.2 keV, with an equivalent width (EW) of 4.4 keV; both quantities refer to the observed frame. In the rest frame, the line is at 16.2 keV with an EW of 11.5 keV. An X-ray emission line at a similar energy (~17 keV, in the rest frame) in PKS 2149-306 was discovered before using ASCA data. We reject the possibility that the line is due to a statistical or instrumental artifact. The line is most likely due to blueshifted Fe K emission from an relativistic outflow, probably an inner X-ray jet, with velocities of the order of ~0.6c-0.7c. Other possible explanations are also discussed.
123363108
A realistic design of the CBM-TOF wall based on modules commissioned in-beam
The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research will use a time-of-flight (TOF) wall for hadron identification, which is at the moment planned to be based on the Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) technology. The wall will be placed at 10m distance from the target, covering an area of the order of 150 m2. Over such an area, it will provide a time-of-flight resolution of 80 ps, by resorting to ca. 50000 RPC cells (in multi-strip or multi-pad configuration). Fluxes of quasi-minimum ionizing particles (γβ≥3) as high as 20 kHz/cm2 can be reached in the central region, corresponding to the low polar angle/high rapidity section. We propose here a realistic design for building the TOF wall by resorting to a single technology based on low-resistivity doped glass and relying on small structural modifications of the modules developed and tested during the last two years. Latest results from the modules are summarized. A comprehensive analytic discussion on the counter performance under non-uniform beams, when neglecting non-local effects, is also presented.
110758806
FIELD EMISSION AND RF BREAKDOWN IN COPPER LINAC STRUCTURES
This paper presents a status report on rf field emission and high-gradient breakdown studies in linac structures at SLAC. The motivation behind these studies, begun in 1984, is to determine the maximum accelerating field gradients that could be used safely in future e/sup /plus minus// colliders, to contribute to the basic understanding of the rf breakdown mechanism, and to discover if special surface treatments might make it possible to shorten the time needed for rf processing and to supersede the field limits presently reachable in room temperature copper structures. Both theoretical ideas and experimental results are discussed. 8 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.