4544283
PULSATIONAL MAPPING OF CALCIUM ACROSS THE SURFACE OF A WHITE DWARF
We constrain the distribution of calcium across the surface of the white dwarf star G29-38 by combining time-series spectroscopy from Gemini-North with global time-series photometry from the Whole Earth Telescope. G29-38 is actively accreting metals from a known debris disk. Since the metals sink significantly faster than they mix across the surface, any inhomogeneity in the accretion process will appear as an inhomogeneity of the metals on the surface of the star. We measure the flux amplitudes and the calcium equivalent width amplitudes for two large pulsations excited on G29-38 in 2008. The ratio of these amplitudes best fits a model for polar accretion of calcium and rules out equatorial accretion.
1369515
A pulsational model for the orthogonal polarization modes in radio pulsars
In an earlier paper we introduced a model for pulsars in which nonradial oscillations of high spherical degree (l ) aligned to the magnetic axis of a spinning neutron star were able to reproduce subpulses like those observed in single-pulse measurements of pulsar intensity. The model did not address polarization, which is an integral part of pulsar emission. Observations show that many pulsars emit radio waves that appear to be the superposition of two linearly polarized emission modes with orthogonal polarization angles. In this paper we extend our model to incorporate linear polarization. As before, we propose that pulsational displacements of stellar material modulate the pulsar emission, but now we apply this modulation to a linearly polarized mode of emission, as might be produced by curvature radiation. We further introduce a second polarization mode, orthogonal to the first, that is modulated by pulsational velocities. We combine these modes in superposition to model the observed Stokes parameters in radio pulsars.
15828412
A Quantitative Nonradial Oscillation Model for the Subpulses in PSR B0943+10
In this paper we analyze time series measurements of PSR B0943+10 and fit them with a nonradial oscillation model. The model we apply was first developed for total intensity measurements in an earlier paper, and expanded to encompass linear polarization in a companion paper to this one. We use PSR B0943+10 for the initial tests of our model because it has a simple geometry, it has been exhaustively studied in the literature, and its behavior is well documented. As prelude to quantitative fitting, we have reanalyzed previously published archival data of PSR B0943+10 and uncovered subtle but significant behavior that is difficult to explain in the framework of the drifting-spark model. Our fits of a nonradial oscillation model are able to successfully reproduce the observed behavior in this pulsar.
14056795
A new technique for timing the double pulsar system
In 2004, McLaughlin et al. discovered a phenomenon in the radio emission of PSR J0737-3039B (B) that resembles drifting subpulses. The repeat rate of the subpulses is equal to the spin frequency of PSR J0737-3039A (A); this led to the suggestion that they are caused by incidence upon B's magnetosphere of electromagnetic radiation from A. Here, we describe a geometrical model which predicts the delay of B's subpulses relative to A's radio pulses. We show that measuring these delays is equivalent to tracking A's rotation from the point of view of a hypothetical observer located near B. This has three main astrophysical applications: (i) to determine the sense of rotation of A relative to its orbital plane, (ii) to estimate where in B's magnetosphere the radio subpulses are modulated and (iii) to provide an independent estimate of the mass ratio of A and B. The latter might improve existing tests of gravitational theories using this system.
118628342
A QUANTITATIVE MODEL FOR DRIFTING SUBPULSES IN PSR B0809+74
In this paper, we analyze high time resolution single-pulse data of PSR B0809+74 at 820 MHz. We compare the subpulse phase behavior, undocumented at 820 MHz, with previously published results. The subpulse period changes over time and we measure a subpulse phase jump, when visible, that ranges from 95° to 147°. We find a correlation between the subpulse modulation, subpulse phase, and orthogonal polarization modes. This variety of complicated behavior is not well understood and is not easily explained within the framework of existing models, most of which are founded on the drifting spark model of Ruderman & Sutherland. We quantitatively fit our data with a non-radial oscillation model of Clemens & Rosen and show that the model can accurately reproduce the drifting subpulses, orthogonal polarization modes, subpulse phase jump, and can explain the correlation between all these features.
118528110
The Pulsar Search Collaboratory.
The Pulsar Search Collaboratory [PSC, NSF #0737641] is a joint project between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and West Virginia University (WVU) designed to interest high school students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM] related career paths by helping them to conduct authentic scientific research. The 3- year PSC program, which began in summer 2008, teaches students to analyze astronomical radio data acquired with the 100-m Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope for the purpose of discovering new pulsars. We present the results of the first complete year of the PSC, which includes two astronomical discoveries.
122055328
Charge Screening in a Charged Condensate
We consider a highly dense system of helium-4 nuclei and electrons in which the helium-4 nuclei have condensed. We present the condensation mechanism in the framework of low energy effective field theory and discuss the screening of electric charge in the condensate.
118620972
Effective field theory for quantum liquid in dwarf stars
An effective field theory approach is used to describe quantum matter at greater-than-atomic but less-than-nuclear densities which are encountered in white dwarf stars. We focus on the density and temperature regime for which charged spin-0 nuclei form an interacting charged Bose-Einstein condensate, while the neutralizing electrons form a degenerate fermi gas. After a brief introductory review, we summarize distinctive properties of the charged condensate, such as a mass gap in the bosonic sector as well as gapless fermionic excitations. Charged impurities placed in the condensate are screened with great efficiency, greater than in an equivalent uncondensed plasma. We discuss a generalization of the Friedel potential which takes into account bosonic collective excitations in addition to the fermionic excitations. We argue that the charged condensate could exist in helium-core white dwarf stars and discuss the evolution of these dwarfs. Condensation would lead to a significantly faster rate of cooling than that of carbon-or oxygen-core dwarfs with crystallized cores. This prediction can be tested observationally: signatures of charged condensation may have already been seen in the recently discovered sequence of helium-core dwarfs in the nearby globular cluster NGC 6397. Sufficiently strong magnetic fields can penetrate the condensate within Abrikosov-like vortices. We find approximate analytic vortex solutions and calculate the values of the lower and upper critical magnetic fields at which vortices are formed and destroyed respectively. The lower critical field is within the range of fields observed in white dwarfs, but tends toward the higher end of this interval. This suggests that for a significant fraction of helium-core dwarfs, magnetic fields are entirely expelled within the core.
17029586
Vortex structure in charged condensate
We study magnetic fields in the charged condensate that we have previously argued should be present in helium-core white dwarf stars. We show that below a certain critical value the magnetic field is entirely expelled from the condensate, while for larger values it penetrates the condensate within flux-tubes that are similar to Abrikosov vortex lines; yet higher fields lead to the disruption of the condensate. We find the solution for the vortex lines in both relativistic and nonrelativistic theories that exhibit the charged condensation. We calculate the energy density of the vortex solution and the values of the critical magnetic fields. The minimum magnetic field required for vortices to penetrate the helium white dwarf cores ranges from roughly 107 to 109 Gauss. Fields of this strength have been observed in white dwarfs. We also calculate the London magnetic field due to the rotation of a dwarf star and show that its value is rather small.
14385102
Charged Condensation
We consider Bose-Einstein condensation of massive electrically charged scalars in a uniform background of charged fermions. We focus on the case when the scalar condensate screens the background charge, while the net charge of the system resides on its boundary surface. A distinctive signature of this substance is that the photon acquires a Lorentz-violating mass in the bulk of the condensate. Due to this mass, the transverse and longitudinal gauge modes propagate with different group velocities. We give qualitative arguments that at high enough densities and low temperatures a charged system of electrons and helium-4 nuclei, if held together by laboratory devices or by force of gravity, can form such a substance. We briefly discuss possible manifestations of the charged condensate in compact astrophysical objects.
118427524
Bimetric gravity from ghost-free massive gravity
A bstractGenerically, non-linear bimetric theories of gravity suffer from the same Boulware-Deser ghost instability as non-linear theories of massive gravity. However, recently proposed theories of massive gravity have been shown to be ghost-free. These theories are formulated with respect to a flat, non-dynamical reference metric. In this work we show that it is possible to give dynamics to the reference metric in such a way that the consistency of the theory is maintained. The result is a non-linear bimetric theory of a massless spin-2 field interacting with a massive spin-2 field that is free of the Boulware-Deser ghost. To our knowledge, this is the first construction of such a ghost-free bimetric theory.