4314784
X-ray detection of the eclipsing millisecond pulsar PSR1957 +20
IN the binary millisecond pulsar system PSR1957 + 20 (ref. 1), a wind from the pulsar is ablating a low-mass (0.02 solar mass) companion and also inflating a local nebula2 confined by the ram pressure of the interstellar medium. We have detected X-ray emission from this system, using the Rosat satellite. X-ray emission is expected from the pulsar magnetosphere and the two shocks of the pulsar wind, one at the companion and the other inside the nebula. Our observations show that less than 20% of the pulsar's spin-down luminosity can be carried away by electrons and positrons with Lorentz factor γ ≈ 105, and less than 5% by elec-trons and positrons with γ ≈ 108. Neither of these fluxes can provide the penetrating flux required to heat the companion's photosphere. These observations and those in the accompanying paper by Fruchter et al.3 represent the first direct diagnostics of the relativistic wind from a weakly magnetized pulsar, and suggest that the wind differs substantially from that of the more highly magnetized Crab pulsar.
11026035
The Incidence of Dwarf Novae in Large Area Transient Searches
Understanding and quantifying the contribution of known classes of transient and variable sources is an important lesson to be learned from the manifold of precursor programs of the near-future large synoptic sky survey programs such as SkyMapper, Pan-STARRS, and LSST. With this goal in mind, we undertook photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations of four recently reported unidentified transients. For two sources, WFI J132813.7-214237 and WFI J161953.3+031909, we show that unfortunate coincidences led to their previous designation as transients. While the former is now interpreted as the spatial coincidence of a solar system object with a faint background star, the latter is merely a cataclysmic variable unfortunately caught in and out of eclipse. The third candidate, ROTSE3 J160213.1-021311.7, is identified as an SU UMa type dwarf nova with quiescent brightness of R ~ 22.7 and an outburst amplitude of ~5 mag. The fourth event, SDSS-SN 15207, similarly shows evidence for a dwarf nova origin. Our main conclusion is that cataclysmic variables in their various avatars will contribute moderately to the population of transient objects.
28576228
CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE FROM THE PALOMAR TRANSIENT FACTORY: INDICATIONS FOR A DIFFERENT POPULATION IN DWARF GALAXIES
We use the first compilation of 72 core-collapse supernovae (SNe) from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) to study their observed subtype distribution in dwarf galaxies compared to giant galaxies. Our sample is the largest single-survey, untargeted, spectroscopically classified, homogeneous collection of core-collapse events ever assembled, spanning a wide host-galaxy luminosity range (down to M_r ≈ –14 mag) and including a substantial fraction (>20%) of dwarf (M_r ≥ –18 mag) hosts. We find more core-collapse SNe in dwarf galaxies than expected and several interesting trends emerge. We use detailed subclassifications of stripped-envelope core-collapse SNe and find that all Type I core-collapse events occurring in dwarf galaxies are either SNe Ib or broad-lined SNe Ic (SNe Ic-BL), while "normal" SNe Ic dominate in giant galaxies. We also see a significant excess of SNe IIb in dwarf hosts. We hypothesize that in lower metallicity hosts, metallicity-driven mass loss is reduced, allowing massive stars that would have appeared as "normal" SNe Ic in metal-rich galaxies to retain some He and H, exploding as Ib/IIb events. At the same time, another mechanism allows some stars to undergo extensive stripping and explode as SNe Ic-BL (and presumably also as long-duration gamma-ray bursts). Our results are still limited by small-number statistics, and our measurements of the observed N(Ib/c)/N(II) number ratio in dwarf and giant hosts (0.25^(+0.3)_(–0.15) and 0.23^(+0.11)_(–0.08), respectively; 1σ uncertainties) are consistent with previous studies and theoretical predictions. As additional PTF data accumulate, more robust statistical analyses will be possible, allowing the evolution of massive stars to be probed via the dwarf-galaxy SN population.
8913778
Spitzer Observations of the New Luminous Red Nova M85 OT2006-1
M85 OT2006-1 is the latest and most brilliant addition to the small group of known luminous red novae (LRNe). An identifying characteristic of the previously detected events (M31 RV, V4332 Sgr, and V838 Mon) was a spectral redward evolution connected with an emerging infrared component following the optical decay. Here we report on the discovery of a similar feature in Keck NIRC and Spitzer photometry of M85 OT2006-1 6 months posteruption. We find that its 2.1-22 μm spectral energy distribution is best described by a blackbody with effective temperature T_(eff) = 950 ± 150 K and bolometric luminosity L = 2.9^(+0.4)_(-0.5) × 10^5 L_⊙. Assuming spherical geometry, the blackbody effective radius, R = 2.0^(+0.6)_(-0.4) × 10^4 R_⊙, and corresponding expansion velocity, v = 870^(+260)_(-180) km s^(-1), are remarkably similar to the properties of M31 RV 70 days after its eruption. Furthermore, we propose a search strategy for LRNe in the local universe making use of the longevity of their infrared excess emission and discuss the expected number of events in the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey.
14167939
Detecting Outer Planets in Edge-on Orbits: Combining Radial Velocity and Astrometric Techniques
The astrometric and radial velocity techniques of extrasolar planet detection attempt to detect the periodic reflex motion of the parent star by extracting this periodic signal from a time-sampled set of observations. The extraction is generally accomplished using periodogram analysis or the functionally equivalent technique of least-squares fitting of sinusoids. In this paper, we use a frequentist approach to examine the sensitivity of the least-squares technique when applied to a combination of radial velocity and astrometric observations. We derive an analytical expression for the sensitivity and show that the combined approach yields significantly better sensitivity than either technique on its own. We discuss the ramifications of this result to upcoming astrometric surveys with the Full-Sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer, the Keck Interferometer, and the Space Interferometry Mission.
20207808
DISCOVERY OF A COSMOLOGICAL, RELATIVISTIC OUTBURST VIA ITS RAPIDLY FADING OPTICAL EMISSION
We report the discovery by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) of the transient source PTF11agg, which is distinguished by three primary characteristics: (1) bright (Rpeak = 18.3mag), rapidly fading (ΔR = 4mag in Δt = 2 days) optical transient emission; (2) a faint (R = 26.2 ± 0.2mag), blue (g � − R = 0.17 ± 0.29mag) quiescent optical counterpart; and (3) an associated year-long, scintillating radio transient. We argue that these observed properties are inconsistent with any known class of Galactic transients (flare stars, X-ray binaries, dwarf novae), and instead suggest a cosmological origin. The detection of incoherent radio emission at such distances implies a large emitting region, from which we infer the presence of relativistic ejecta. The observed properties are allconsistentwiththepopulationoflong-durationgamma-raybursts(GRBs),markingthefirsttimesuchanoutburst has been discovered in the distant universe independent of a high-energy trigger. We searched for possible highenergy counterparts to PTF11agg, but found no evidence for associated prompt emission. We therefore consider three possible scenarios to account for a GRB-like afterglow without a high-energy counterpart: an “untriggered” GRB (lack of satellite coverage), an “orphan” afterglow (viewing-angle effects), and a “dirty fireball” (suppressed high-energy emission). The observed optical and radio light curves appear inconsistent with even the most basic predictions for off-axis afterglow models. The simplest explanation, then, is that PTF11agg is a normal, on-axis long-durationGRBforwhichtheassociatedhigh-energyemissionwassimplymissed.However,wehavecalculated the likelihood of such a serendipitous discovery by PTF and find that it is quite small (≈2.6%). While not definitive, we nonetheless speculate that PTF11agg may represent a new, more common (>4 times the on-axis GRB rate at 90% confidence) class of relativistic outbursts lacking associated high-energy emission. If so, such sources will be uncovered in large numbers by future wide-field optical and radio transient surveys.
119305031
Hawking radiation and covariant anomalies
Generalizing the method of Wilczek and collaborators we provide a derivation of Hawking radiation from charged black holes using only covariant gauge and gravitational anomalies. The reliability and universality of the anomaly cancellation approach to Hawking radiation is also discussed.
119246679
Modified dispersion relations and the response of the rotating Unruh-DeWitt detector
We study the response of a rotating monopole detector that is coupled to a massless scalar field which is described by a nonlinear dispersion relation in flat spacetime. Since it does not seem to be possible to evaluate the response of the rotating detector analytically, we resort to numerical computations. Interestingly, unlike the case of the uniformly accelerated detector that has been considered recently, we find that defining the transition probability rate of the rotating detector poses no difficulties. Further, we show that the response of the rotating detector can be computed exactly (albeit, numerically) even when it is coupled to a field that is governed by a nonlinear dispersion relation. We also discuss the response of the rotating detector in the presence of a cylindrical boundary on which the scalar field is constrained to vanish. While superluminal dispersion relations hardly affect the standard results, we find that subluminal dispersion relations can lead to relatively large modifications.
119234273
Hawking radiation and near horizon universality of chiral Virasoro algebra
We show that the diffeomorphism anomaly together with the trace anomaly reveal a chiral Virasoro algebra near the event horizon of a black hole. This algebra is the same irrespective of whether the anomaly is covariant or consistent, thereby manifesting its universal character and the fact that only the outgoing modes are relevant near the horizon. Our analysis therefore clarifies the role of the trace anomaly in the diffeomorphism anomaly approach [Robinson and Wilczek in Phys. Rev. Lett. 95:011303, 2005; Iso et al. in Phys. Rev. Lett. 96:151302, 2006; Banerjee and Kulkarni in Phys. Rev. D 77:024018, 2008; Gangopadhyay and Kulkarni in Phys. Rev. D 77:024038, 2008] to the Hawking radiation.
119114244
Transport in non-conformal holographic fluids
A bstractWe have considered non-conformal fluid dynamics whose gravity dual is a certain Einstein dilaton system with Liouville type dilaton potential, characterized by an intrinsic parameter η. We have discussed the Hawking-Page transition in this framework using hard-wall model and it turns out that the critical temperature of the Hawking-Page transition encapsulates a non-trivial dependence on η. We also obtained transport coefficients such as AC conductivity, shear viscosity and diffusion constant in the hydrodynamic limit, which show non-trivial η dependent deviations from those in conformal fluids, although the ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density is found to saturate the universal bound. Some of the retarded correlators are also computed in the high frequency limit for case study.
91177292
SModelS: a tool for interpreting simplified-model results from the LHC and its application to supersymmetry
We present a general procedure to decompose Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) collider signatures presenting a $$\mathbb {Z}_2$$Z2 symmetry into Simplified Model Spectrum (SMS) topologies. Our method provides a way to cast BSM predictions for the LHC in a model independent framework, which can be directly confronted with the relevant experimental constraints. Our concrete implementation currently focusses on supersymmetry searches with missing energy, for which a large variety of SMS results from ATLAS and CMS are available. As show-case examples we apply our procedure to two scans of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. We discuss how the SMS limits constrain various particle masses and which regions of parameter space remain unchallenged by the current SMS interpretations of the LHC results.