12040637
Is the energy generation rate of nuclear reactions in hot accretion flows important
The temperature of hot accretion flows around black holes is sufficiently high for the ignition of nuclear reactions. This is potentially an important nucleosynthesis mechanism in the universe. As the first step in studying this problem, we need to measure physical quantities such as density and temperature of the accretion flow. In usual studies of the hot accretion flow, viscous dissipation is considered to be the only heating mechanism, while the heating caused by nuclear reactions is not considered. In this paper, we investigate whether the energy generation rate of nuclear reaction is important compared to the viscous heating. Our calculation indicates that the former is at most one percent of the latter and thus is not important. The dynamics of accretion flow can be therefore calculated in the usual way, without the need to consider heating due to nuclear reactions.
119194670
Metal enrichment via ram pressure stripping in the IGM of the compact galaxy group RGH 80
By creating and analyzing two dimensional gas temperature and abundance maps of the RGH 80 compact galaxy group with high-quality Chandra data, we detect a high-abundance (≃0.7 Z ⊙ ) arc, where the metal abundance is significantly higher than the surrounding regions by ≃0.3 Z ⊙ . This structure shows tight spatial correlations with the member galaxy PGC 046529, as well as with the arm-like feature identified on the X-ray image in the previous work of Randall et al. (2009). Since no apparent signature of AGN activity is found to be associated with PGC 046529 in multi-band observations, and the gas temperature, metallicity, and mass of the high-abundance arc resemble those of the ISM of typical early-type galaxies, we conclude that this high-abundance structure is the remnant of the ISM of PGC 046529, which was stripped out of the galaxy by ram pressure stripping due to the motion of PGC 046529 in RGH 80. This novel case shows that ram pressure stripping can work as efficiently in the metal enrichment process in galaxy groups as it can in galaxy clusters.
17382364
The Cross-Correlation between Galaxies of Different Luminosities and Colors
We study the cross-correlation between galaxies of different luminosities and colors, using a sample of 284,489 galaxies selected from SDSS DR4. Galaxies are divided into six samples according to luminosity, and each of these samples is further divided into red and blue subsamples according to their (g-r) colors. Projected autocorrelation is estimated for each subsample, and projected cross-correlation is estimated for each pair of subsamples. At projected separations r(p) greater than or similar to 1 h(-1) Mpc, all correlation functions are roughly parallel, although the correlation amplitude depends systematically on both luminosity and color. On r(p) less than or similar to 1 h(-1) Mpc, the autocorrelation and cross- correlation functions of red galaxies are significantly enhanced relative to the corresponding power laws obtained on larger scales. Such enhancement is absent for blue galaxies and in the cross- correlation between red and blue galaxies. We estimate the relative bias factor on scales r(p) greater than or similar to 1 h(-1) Mpc for each subsample using its autocorrelation function as well as its cross-correlation functions with other subsamples. The relative bias factors obtained from different methods are similar. For blue galaxies the luminosity dependence of the relative bias is strong over the entire luminosity range probed (-23.0 < M-r <= -18.0), while for red galaxies the dependence is weaker and becomes insignificant for luminosities below L*. In order to examine whether a significant stochastic/nonlinear component exists in the bias relation, we study the ratio R-ij equivalent to WiiWjj/W-ij(2), where W-ij is the projected correlation between subsample "i" and "j." Results suggest that a significant stochastic/nonlinear component exists in the relationship between red and blue galaxies, particularly on small scales.
16270452
A CHANDRA STUDY OF TEMPERATURE SUBSTRUCTURES IN INTERMEDIATE-REDSHIFT GALAXY CLUSTERS
By analyzing the gas temperature maps created from the Chandra archive data, we reveal the prevailing existence of temperature substructures on ~100 h –1 70 kpc scales in the central regions of nine intermediate-redshift (z ≈ 0.1) galaxy clusters, which resemble those found in the Virgo and Coma Clusters. Each substructure contains a clump of hot plasma whose temperature is about 2-3 keV higher than the environment, corresponding to an excess thermal energy of ~1058-1060 erg per clump. If there were no significant nongravitational heating sources, these substructures would have perished in 108-109 yr due to thermal conduction and turbulent flows, whose velocity is found to range from about 200 to 400 km s–1, we conclude that the substructures cannot be created and sustained by inhomogeneous radiative cooling. We also eliminate the possibilities that the temperature substructures are caused by supernova explosions, or by the nonthermal X-ray emission due to the inverse-Comptonization of the cosmic microwave background photons. By calculating the rising time of active galactic nucleus (AGN)-induced buoyant bubbles, we speculate that the intermittent AGN outbursts (≥1060 erg per burst) may have played a crucial role in the formation of the high-temperature substructures. Our results are supported by the recent study of McNamara and Nulsen, posing a tight observational constraint on future theoretical and numerical studies.
6108495
Are GRB 090423 and similar bursts due to superconducting cosmic strings?
Superconducting cosmic strings may be able to power energetic gamma-ray bursts, in particular at high-redshifts ($z>6$). The ultra-relativistic outflows driven by the superconducting cosmic strings, however, seem too narrow to be consistent with the afterglow data of GRB 090423 and GRB 080913.
15367156
A High-Abundance Arc in the Compact Group of Galaxies HCG 62: An AGN- or Merger-Induced Metal Outflow?
We present a Chandra study of the metal distribution in the X-ray bright compact group of galaxies HCG 62. We find that the diffuse X-ray emission is peaked at the core of the central galaxy NGC 4778 and is dominated by the contribution of the hot gas. The diffuse emission is roughly symmetric within similar or equal to 0.25', which is straddled by double-sided X-ray cavities aligned in the northeast-southwest direction. By mapping the emission hardness ratio distributions and by performing a two-dimensional spectral analysis, we identify a remarkable high-abundance arc region at about 2' (33: 6 h(70)(-1) kpc) from the X-ray peak that spans over a vast region from south to northwest, a part of which roughly coincides with the outer edge of the southwest X-ray cavity. The measured average abundance in this arc is higher than that in its neighboring regions by a factor of about 2, and the abundance ratios therein are nicely consistent with the dominance of the SN Ia yields. We estimate that the mass of iron contained in the arc is > 3 x 10(6) h(70)(-2.5) M-circle dot, which accounts for > 3% of the iron synthesized in the galaxy. The high-abundance arc could have been formed by AGN activity. However, it is also possible that the arc was formed in a recent merger, as implied by the recent optical kinematic study by Spavone and colleagues, which suggests that mergers may be as important as AGN activity in metal redistributions in early-type galaxies and their associated groups or clusters.
15082169
Search for Neutral Charmless B-Decays at Lep
Abstract A search for rare charmless decays of B d 0 and B s 0 mesons has been performed in the exclusive channels B d(s) 0 → ηη , B d(s) 0 → ηπ 0 and B d(s) 0 → π 0 π 0 . The data sample consisted of three million hadronic Z decays collected by the L3 experiment at LEP from 1991 through 1994. No candidate event has been observed and the following upper limits at 90% confidence level on the branching ratios have been set: Br ( B () d → ηη ) x 10 −4 , Br ( B () s → ηη ) x 10 −3 , Br ( B () d → ηφ () ) x 10 −4 , Br ( B () s → ηphi ; () ) x 10 −3 , Br ( B () d → phi ; () phi ; () ) x 10 −5 , Br ( B () s → phi ; () phi ; () ) x 10 −4 . These are the first experimental limits on B d 0 →ηη and on the B s 0 neutral charmless modes.
119228154
Full halo coronal mass ejections: Do we need to correct the projection effect in terms of velocity?
[1] The projection effect is one of the biggest obstacles in learning the real properties of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and forecasting their geoeffectiveness. To evaluate the projection effect, 86 full halo CMEs (FHCMEs) listed in the Coordinated Data Analysis Workshop CME catalog from 1 March 2007 to 31 May 2012 are investigated. By applying the Graduated Cylindrical Shell model, we obtain the deprojected values of the propagation velocity, direction, and angular width of these FHCMEs and compare them with the projected values measured in the plane-of-sky. Although these CMEs look full halo in the view angle of SOHO, it is found that their propagation directions and angular widths could vary in a large range, implying projection effect is a major reason causing a CME being halo, but not the only one. Furthermore, the comparison of the deprojected and projected velocities reveals that most FHCMEs originating within 45° of the Sun-Earth line with a projected speed slower than 900 km s−1 suffer from large projection effect, while the FHCMEs originating far from the vicinity of solar disk center or moving faster than 900 km s−1have small projection effect. Thus, for the latter class of FHCMEs, it is not necessary to correct the measured velocities.
99483196
Correlation between muonic levels and nuclear structure in muonic atoms
Abstract A method that deals with the nucleons and the muon unitedly is employed to investigate the muonic lead, with which the correlation between the muon and nucleus can be studied distinctly. A “kink” appears in the muonic isotope shift at a neutron magic number where the nuclear shell structure plays a key role. This behavior may have very important implications for the experimentally probing the shell structure of the nuclei far away from the β -stable line. We investigate the variations of the nuclear structure due to the interaction with the muon in the muonic atom and find that the nuclear structure remains basically unaltered. Therefore, the muon is a clean and reliable probe for studying the nuclear structure. In addition, a correction that the muon-induced slight change in the proton density distribution in turn shifts the muonic levels is investigated. This correction to muonic level is as important as the Lamb shift and high order vacuum polarization correction, but is larger than anomalous magnetic moment and electron shielding correction.
110697258
Front-end Electronics for the ALICE Calorimeters
Abstract The ALICE calorimeters PHOS and EMCal are based on Avalanche Photo-Diode (APD) photosensors with Charge Sensitive Preamplifiers (CSP) for readout of the scintillating elements. The amplified signals are read out via 32-channel shaper/digitizer front-end electronics (FEE) with 14-bit effective dynamic range. The electronics is based on second order shapers with dual gain for each channel, getting digitized by ALTRO chips. Each APD channel is equipped with an individual 10-bit APD gain adjustment and 2 × 2 channel clusters generate a 100 ns shaped analog sums output (Fast OR) for the associated Trigger Region Units (TRU). The Fast OR signals are generated by first order shapers with a dynamic range of 12-bit given by the ADC in the TRU cards. Board controller firmware in the FPGA provides local monitoring and configuration of all parameters via the ALICE DCS system. The signal to noise ratio for MIP at 215  MeV is ∼ 7 per channel with a noise level of 30 MeV at room temperature for a dynamic range of 80 GeV for PHOS, and the fast-OR RMS noise level is about 75 MeV for a dynamic range of 250 GeV for EMCal.
22730544
Revised rates for the stellar triple-alpha process from measurement of 12C nuclear resonances.
In the centres of stars where the temperature is high enough, three alpha-particles (helium nuclei) are able to combine to form 12C because of a resonant reaction leading to a nuclear excited state. (Stars with masses greater than approximately 0.5 times that of the Sun will at some point in their lives have a central temperature high enough for this reaction to proceed.) Although the reaction rate is of critical significance for determining elemental abundances in the Universe, and for determining the size of the iron core of a star just before it goes supernova, it has hitherto been insufficiently determined. Here we report a measurement of the inverse process, where a 12C nucleus decays to three alpha-particles. We find a dominant resonance at an energy of approximately 11 MeV, but do not confirm the presence of a resonance at 9.1 MeV (ref. 3). We show that interference between two resonances has important effects on our measured spectrum. Using these data, we calculate the triple-alpha rate for temperatures from 10(7) K to 10(10) K and find significant deviations from the standard rates. Our rate below approximately 5 x 10(7) K is higher than the previous standard, implying that the critical amounts of carbon that catalysed hydrogen burning in the first stars are produced twice as fast as previously believed. At temperatures above 10(9) K, our rate is much less, which modifies predicted nucleosynthesis in supernovae.