31192948
Blandford's argument: The strongest continuous gravitational wave signal
For a uniform population of neutron stars whose spin-down is dominated by the emission of gravitational radiation, an old argument of Blandford states that the expected gravitational-wave amplitude of the nearest source is independent of the deformation and rotation frequency of the objects. Recent work has improved and extended this argument to set upper limits on the expected amplitude from neutron stars that also emit electromagnetic radiation. We restate these arguments in a more general framework, and simulate the evolution of such a population of stars in the gravitational potential of our galaxy. The simulations allow us to test the assumptions of Blandford's argument on a realistic model of our galaxy. We show that the two key assumptions of the argument (two dimensionality of the spatial distribution and a steady-state frequency distribution) are in general not fulfilled. The effective scaling dimension D of the spatial distribution of neutron stars is significantly larger than two, and for frequencies detectable by terrestrial instruments the frequency distribution is not in a steady state unless the ellipticity is unrealistically large. Thus, in the cases of most interest, the maximum expected gravitational-wave amplitude does have a strong dependence on the deformation and rotation frequency ofmore » the population. The results strengthen the previous upper limits on the expected gravitational-wave amplitude from neutron stars by a factor of 6 for realistic values of ellipticity.« less
119876695
Gravitons in de sitter space
What has been shown in this talk is that the graviton propagator in de Sitter space is OK. If one makes a bad choice of gauge (-fixing term) then the propagator is infra-red divergent. However this is not a problem. You can either make a better choice of gauge (of which there are an infinite number), for which the propagator is completely, finite, or else you can go right ahead and use the infra-red divergent one. We demonstrated that it doesn't matter. Gauge-invariance is the over-riding principle, and it ensures that even if the propagator has an infra-red divergence, the physical scattering amplitudes are finite.
54002264
The SU(5) potential in desitter space
Abstract The one-loop effective potential for a minimal SU (5) theory is calculated on a curved DeSitter background spacetime. The stability of its extrema in the following subgroups is investigated: SU (4) × U (1), SU (3) × SU (2) × U (1), SU (3) × U (1) × U (1), SU (2) × SU (2) × U (1) × U (1). A combination of analytic and numerical methods is used to obtain phase diagrams for the model. In the inflationary universe, the curvature effects do not prevent a slide into the SU (4) × U (1) extremum.
28973038
Cosmic string loops and large-scale structure
We investigate the contribution made by small loops from a cosmic string network as seeds for large-scale structure formation. We show that cosmic string loops are highly correlated with the long-string network on large scales and therefore contribute significantly to the power spectrum of density perturbations if the average loop lifetime is comparable to or above one Hubble time. This effect further improves the large-scale bias problem previously identified in earlier studies of cosmic string models. @S0556-2821~99!01614-8# Quantitative predictions for the large-scale structure induced by cosmic strings have taken some time to crystallize as the understanding of cosmic string physics has improved @1#. In particular, the role of small loops produced by the string network has evolved from a potential one-to-one correspondence between loops and cosmological objects @2# through to a completely subsidiary role relative to the wakes swept out by long strings @3#. This dethronement of loops was a result of numerical studies which showed that the average loop size l ¯ 5at was much smaller than the horizon,
7392737
Timing of a Young Mildly Recycled Pulsar with a Massive White Dwarf Companion
We report on timing observations of the recently discovered binary pulsar PSR J1952+2630 using the Arecibo Observatory. The mildly recycled 20.7-ms pulsar is in a 9.4-hr orbit with a massive, MW D > 0.93 M⊙, white dwarf (WD) companion. We present, for the first time, a phase-coherent timing solution, with precise spin, astrometric, and Keplerian orbital parameters. This shows that the characteristic age of PSR J1952+2630 is 77 Myr, younger by one order of magnitude than any other recycled pulsar–massive WD system. We derive an upper limit on the true age of the system of 150 Myr. We investigate the formation of PSR J1952+2630 using detailed modelling of the mass-transfer process from a naked helium star on to the neutron star following a common-envelope phase (Case BB Roche-lobe overflow). From our modelling of the progenitor system, we constrain the accretion efficiency of the neutron star, which suggests a value between 100 and 300% of the Eddington accretion limit. We present numerical models of the chemical structure of a possible oxygenneon-magnesium WD companion. Furthermore, we calculate the past and the future spin evolution of PSR J1952+2630, until the system merges in about 3.4 Gyr due to gravitational wave emission. Although we detect no relativistic effects in our timing analysis we show that several such effects will become measurable with continued observations over the next 10 years; thus PSR J1952+2630 has potential as a testbed for gravitational theories.
121426208
Vacuum Energy in Gauged Extended Supergravity
Abstract The one loop vacuum energy in gauged extended supergravity is calculated in anti de Sitter space using zeta function regularisation. It vanishes for N ⩾ 5. The energy zeta function has no poles for N ⩾ 3.
68858618
Targeted cancer therapy: The Potential role of Tb-149
121348159
Measurement of the Crab spectrum with Milagro
Through use of new algorithms for estimating γ-ray and cosmic ray primary energies of events in Milagro we determine the energy spectra of gamma rays from the Crab nebula and spectra of Milagro background triggers have been determined in the energy range 1 to 100 TeV. The measured spectra are compared with those measured by ACT techniques and direct measurements of cosmic ray spectra.
124123364
Comments on the Doorway State in Pb 206
The neutron capture cross section of $^{206}\mathrm{Pb}(n, \ensuremath{\gamma})$ has been measured with high resolution at the Oak Ridge electron linear accelerator. The capture results show that the reported ${s}_{\frac{1}{2}}$ doorway in $^{206}\mathrm{Pb}$ is not observed in the photon channel.
119196181
The REgolith X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) for OSIRIS-REx: identifying regional elemental enrichment on asteroids
The OSIRIS-REx Mission was selected under the NASA New Frontiers program and is scheduled for launch in September of 2016 for a rendezvous with, and collection of a sample from the surface of asteroid Bennu in 2019. 101955 Bennu (previously 1999 RQ36) is an Apollo (near-Earth) asteroid originally discovered by the LINEAR project in 1999 which has since been classified as a potentially hazardous near-Earth object. The REgolith X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) was proposed jointly by MIT and Harvard and was subsequently accepted as a student led instrument for the determination of the elemental composition of the asteroid's surface as well as the surface distribution of select elements through solar induced X-ray fluorescence. REXIS consists of a detector plane that contains 4 X-ray CCDs integrated into a wide field coded aperture telescope with a focal length of 20 em for the detection of regions with enhanced abundance in key elements at 50 m scales. Elemental surface distributions of approximately 50-200 m scales can be detected using the instrument as a simple collimator. An overview of the observation strategy of the REXIS instrument and expected performance are presented here.
29439632
PROGRESS IN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF CURRENT FILAMENTATION INSTABILITY
Current Filamentation Instability, CFI, is of central importance for the propagation of relativistic electron beams in plasmas. CFI could play an important role in the generation of magnetic fields and radiation in the afterglow of gamma ray bursts and also in energy transport for the fast-igniter inertial confinement fusion concept. Simulations were conducted with the particle-in-cell code QuickPIC for e beam and plasma parameters at the Brookhaven National Laboratory – Accelerator Test Facility, BNL-ATF. Results show that for a 2cm plasma the instability reaches near saturation. An experimental program was proposed and accepted at the BNL-ATF and an experiment is currently underway. There are three components to the experimental program: 1) imaging of the filaments, beam density, at the exit from the plasma, 2) measurement and imaging of the transverse plasma density gradient and measurement of the magnetic field and 3) identifying the radiation spectrum of the instability. Preliminary results from phase one will be presented along with the progress and diagnostic design for the following phases of the experiment.