14786495
State transitions in LMC X-3
We carried out a multiwavelenght study of the black-hole candidate LMC X-3 with XMM-Newton. The system showed a transition to a low-hard state, in which the X-ray spectrum was well fitted by a simple power law. It then returned to a high-soft state, characterised by a strong disk-blackbody component. The line-of-sight absorption column density is <~ 4 x 10^{20} cm^{-2} consistent with the foreground Galactic absorption. This rules out wind accretion. We argue that, despite LMC X-3 being a high-mass X-ray binary, Roche-lobe overflow is the main mechanism of mass transfer. From UV/optical observations in the low-hard state, we determine that the companion is a slightly evolved B5 star with a mass M ~ 4.5 M_sun. This is indeed consistent with the secondary star being close to filling its Roche lobe.
8622161
Populations of X-ray Binaries and the Dynamical History of their Host Galaxies
The observed luminosity distributions of X-ray sources indicate the presence of several populations of X-ray binaries in the nearby galaxies. Each population has its formation and evolutionary history, depending on the host environment. The features seen in the log N(>S)–log S curves for different types of galaxies and for different galactic components can be reproduced by a birth–death model, in which the lifespans of the binaries are inversely proportional to their X-ray brightness. Conversely, the dynamical history of a galaxy can be inferred from the luminosity distributions of its X-ray binary populations.
18779089
Two-temperature accretion flows in magnetic cataclysmic variables: structures of post-shock emission regions and X-ray spectroscopy
We use a two-temperature hydrodynamical formulation to determine the temperature and density structures of the post-shock accretion flows in magnetic cataclysmic variables (mCVs) and calculate the corresponding X-ray spectra. The effects of two-temperature flows are significant for systems with a massive white dwarf and a strong white-dwarf magnetic field. Our calculations show that two-temperature flows predict harder keV spectra than one-temperature flows for the same white-dwarf mass and magnetic field. This result is insensitive to whether the electrons and ions have equal temperature at the shock, but depends on the electron-ion exchange rate, relative to the rate of radiative loss along the flow. White-dwarf masses obtained by fitting the X-ray spectra of mCVs using hydrodynamic models including the two-temperature effects will be lower than those obtained using single-temperature models. The bias is more severe for systems with a massive white dwarf.
1734663
Line emission from optically thick relativistic accretion tori
We calculate line emission from relativistic accretion tori around Kerr black holes and investigate how the line profiles depend on the viewing inclination, spin of the central black hole, parameters describing the shape of the tori, and spatial distribution of line emissivity on the torus surface. We also compare the lines with those from thin accretion disks. Our calculations show that lines from tori and lines from thin disks share several common features. In particular, at low and moderate viewing inclination angles they both have asymmetric double-peaked profiles with a tall, sharp blue peak and a shorter red peak which has an extensive red wing. At high viewing inclination angles they both have very broad, asymmetric lines which can be roughly considered as single-peaked. Torus and disk lines may show very different red and blue line wings, but the differences are due to the models for relativistic tori and disks having differing inner boundary radii. Self-eclipse and lensing play some role in shaping the torus lines, but they are effective only at high inclination angles. If inner and outer radii of an accretion torus are the same as those of an accretion disk, their line profiles show substantial differences only when inclination angles are close to 90°, and those differences manifest mostly at the central regions of the lines instead of the wings.
118743381
General relativistic radiative transfer: formulation and emission from structured tori around black holes
Aims. We aim to construct a general relativistic radiative transfer formulation, applicable to particles with or without mass in astrophysical settings, wherein ray-tracing calculations can be performed for arbitrary geodesics for a given space-time geometry. Methods. The relativistic radiative transfer formulation is derived from first principles: conserving particle number and phase-space density. The formulation is covariant, and transfer calculations are conducted along particle geodesics connecting the emitters and the observer. The geodesics are determined through the space-time metric, which is specified beforehand. Absorption and emission in the radiative transfer calculations are treated explicitly. The particle-medium interaction is evaluated in the local inertial frame, comoving with the medium. Relativistic, geometrical and optical depth effects are treated self-consistently within an integral covariant framework. Results. We present a self-consistent general relativistic radiative transfer formulation with explicit treatment of emission and absorption. The formulation is general and is applicable to both particles with mass and without mass. The presence of particles has two major effects: firstly the particle bundle ray is no longer along the null geodesic, and secondly the intensity variation along the particle bundle ray is reduced by an aberration factor. The radiative transfer formulation can handle 3D geometrical settings and structured objects with variations and gradients in the optical depths across the objects and along the line-of-sight. Such scenarios are applicable in calculations of photon emission from complex structured accretion flows around black holes and neutrino emission from remnant neutron tori in neutron-star mergers. We apply the formulation and demonstrate radiation transfer calculations for emission from accretion tori around rotating black holes. We consider two cases: idealised optically thick tori that have a sharply defined emission boundary surface, and structured tori that allow variations in the absorption coefficient and emissivity within the tori. We show intensity images and emission spectra of the tori obtained in our calculations. Our findings in the radiative transfer calculations are summarised as follows. (i) Geometrical effects, such as lensing-induced self-occulation and multiple-image contribution are much more significant in accretion tori than geometrically thin accretion disks. (ii) Optically thin accretion tori show emission line profiles distinguishable from the profiles of lines from optically thick accretion tori and lines from optically thick geometrically thin accretion disks. (iii) The line profiles of the optically thin accretion tori have a weaker dependence on the viewing inclination angle than those of the optically thick accretion tori or accretion disks, especially at high viewing inclination angles. (iv) Limb effects are present in accretion tori with finite optical depths, due to density and temperature stratification within the tori. We note that in accretion flows onto relativistic compact objects, gravitationally induced line resonance can occur. This resonance occurs easily in 3D flows, but not in 2D flows, such as a thin accretion disk around a black hole.
119332271
Low and High Angular Momentum Accretion Flows in BHCs: Case Study of XTE J1550-564
The 1998 outburst of XTE J1550-564 started with a hard X-ray spike, rising in less than a day and declining after 3-4 days; at the same time, the soft X-ray flux was rising with a longer timescale (~ 10 days). We suggest that the soft and the initial hard X-ray emission are produced by two different components of the accretion flow: a higher angular momentum flow, which forms the disk, and a lower angular momentum flow feeding the hot inner region. Thus, we argue that the onset of the outburst is determined by an increased mass transfer rate from the companion star, but the outburst morphology is also determined by the distribution of specific angular momentum in the accreting matter. In XTE J1550-564, we attribute the initial, impulsive low angular momentum accretion to the breaking down of magnetic confinement by the magnetically active secondary star. We show that a hard X-ray spike is seen at the onset of an outburst in other BHCs.
122844481
Higgs as gauge fields on discrete groups and Standard Models for electroweak and electroweak-strong interactions
We complete the construction of the gauge theory on discrete groups coupled to fermions in the spirit of non-commutative geometry. We show that a simple Higgs field is such a gauge field with respect toZ2-gauge symmetry overM4 and the Yukawa coupling between Higgs and fermions is automatically introduced via minimum coupling principle. TheZ2-symmetry is taken to be Θ={e, r=(CPT)2}, a sub-symmetry of the CPT transformations. The Weinberg-Salam model for the electroweak interaction as well as the Standard Model for the electroweak-strong interaction are reformulated in detail.
122786546
Field equations, conservation laws in 2D quantum gravity and the Beltrami-KdV-Liouville system
Abstract We present the equations of motion and the conservation laws under various gauges of 2D induced gravity as a kind of the Beltrami-Liouville theory. We generalize the schwarzian derivative and derive its composition law. We also find the relation between the Beltrami-Liouville theory and the KdV system as well as the reccursion relations due to Gel'fand and Dikii based on the properties of the quasiconformal transformations.
119450282
Brans-Dicke Theory and Discrete Symmetry
We derive exactly the Brans-Dicke theory on the manifold M(4)xZ(2), where M(4) is the four-dimensional space-time and Z(2) is a discrete internal space with two points. We use the extended affine connection formalism, which is simpler than the vielbein formalism of the previous work and one can see more directly the effect of the Z(2) symmetry. A new formulation is given for the non-commutative differential calculus, which is proper in our discussion.
39379453
Topological Charge of Lattice Abelian Gauge Theory
The configuration space of abelian gauge theory on a periodic lattice becomes topologically disconnected when exceptional gauge field configurations are removed. It is possible to define a U(1)-bundle from the nonexceptional link variables by a smooth interpolation of the transition functions. The lattice analogue of the Chern character obtained using a cohomological technique based on noncommutative differential calculus is shown to give a topological charge related to the topological winding number of the U(1)-bundle.
124321395
ALGEBRAIC APPROACH TO GAUGE-THEORY AND ITS NONCOMMUTATIVE EXTENSION
We propose an alternative algebraic construction of the connection theory on the fiber bundle, and find its non-commutative extension, i.e., the connection theory based on guantum groups. In this construction, the Yang-Baxter equation arises as the exchange relations of connections and a deformed trace of quantum groups is introduced to build up the characteristic classes.