Fermi-LAT Gamma-Ray Detections of Classical Novae V1369 Centauri 2013 and V5668 Sagittarii 2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheung, C. C.; Jean, P.; Shore, S. N.; Stawarz, Ł.; Corbet, R. H. D.; Knödlseder, J.; Starrfield, S.; Wood, D. L.; Desiante, R.; Longo, F.; Pivato, G.; Wood, K. S.

2016-08-01

We report the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) detections of high-energy (>100 MeV) γ-ray emission from two recent optically bright classical novae, V1369 Centauri 2013 and V5668 Sagittarii 2015. At early times, Fermi target-of-opportunity observations prompted by their optical discoveries provided enhanced LAT exposure that enabled the detections of γ-ray onsets beginning ˜2 days after their first optical peaks. Significant γ-ray emission was found extending to 39-55 days after their initial LAT detections, with systematically fainter and longer-duration emission compared to previous γ-ray-detected classical novae. These novae were distinguished by multiple bright optical peaks that encompassed the time spans of the observed γ-rays. The γ-ray light curves and spectra of the two novae are presented along with representative hadronic and leptonic models, and comparisons with other novae detected by the LAT are discussed.

Cut-off characterisation of energy spectra of bright Fermi sources: Current instrument limits and future possibilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romoli, Carlo; Taylor, Andrew M.; Aharonian, Felix

2017-01-01

The cut-off region of the gamma-ray spectrum of astrophysical sources encodes important information about the acceleration processes producing the parent particle population. For bright AGNs the cut-off happens in an energy range around a few tens of GeV, a region where satellites are limited by their effective area and current ground based telescopes by energy threshold. In the attempt to maximise the statistics, we have looked at two of the brightest AGNs seen by the Fermi-LAT (3C 454.3 and 3C 279) during extremely luminous flares. Our analysis showed the difficulty to obtain good constraints on the cut-off parameters when a power-law with modified exponential cut-off was assumed to fit the SEDs. We discuss the potential of future low-threshold Cherenkov telescope arrays, in particular CTA, showing the impact that a much bigger effective area can have on the determination of spectral parameters in the cut-off region. This preliminary study serves as an example, demonstrating the importance of having good wide-energy coverage around 10 GeV.

Chandra and Swift Observations of Unidentified Fermi-LAT Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donato, Davide; Cheung, T.; Gehrels, N.

2010-03-01

In the last year we targeted some of the unidentified Fermi-LAT objects (UFOs) at high Galactic latitude with Chandra and Swift in order to determine the basic properties (positions, fluxes, hardness ratios) of all X-ray sources within the Fermi-LAT localization circles. These satellites enable us to detect the X-ray conterparts with a flux limit that is at least an order of magnitude lower than achieved in extant RASS data and to further follow-up at other wavelengths, with the ultimate goal to reveal the nature of these enigmatic gamma-ray sources. Here we present the results obtained with 5 Chandra pointings of high Galactic latitude UFOs in the Fermi-LAT 3-months bright source list. The association of detected X-ray sources within the improved 11-months Fermi-LAT localization circles with available optical and radio observations is discussed.

Fermi-LAT gamma ray detections of classical novae V1369 centauri 2013 and V5668 Sagittarii 2015

DOE PAGES

Cheung, C. C.; Jean, P.; Shore, S. N.; ...

2016-07-27

Here, we report the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) detections of high-energy (>100 MeV) γ-ray emission from two recent optically bright classical novae, V1369 Centauri 2013 and V5668 Sagittarii 2015. Furthermore, at early times, Fermi target-of-opportunity observations prompted by their optical discoveries provided enhanced LAT exposure that enabled the detections of γ-ray onsets beginning ~2 days after their first optical peaks. Significant γ-ray emission was found extending to 39–55 days after their initial LAT detections, with systematically fainter and longer-duration emission compared to previous γ-ray-detected classical novae. These novae were distinguished by multiple bright optical peaks that encompassed the timemore » spans of the observed γ-rays. Finally, we discussed the γ-ray light curves and spectra of the two novae are presented along with representative hadronic and leptonic models, and comparisons with other novae detected by the LAT.« less

First light from the Vela pulsar with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Razzano, M.

2009-04-01

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, launched in June 2008, is an international space mission entirely devoted to the study of the high-energy gamma rays from the Universe. The main instrument aboard Fermi is the Large Area Telescope (LAT), a pair conversion telescope equipped with the state-of-the art in gamma-ray detectors technology. Thanks to its large field of view and effective area, combined with its excellent timing capability, Fermi-LAT is a perfect instrument for probing physics of gamma-ray emission in pulsars. LAT is expected to discover tens of new pulsars, both radio-loud and radio-quiet (Geminga-like). Moreover, LAT will observe with unprecedented statistics the brightest pulsars, investigating the details of magnetospheric emission. The first two months of the mission have been focused on the commissioning and first light, during which the LAT firmly detected the six previously known EGRET gamma-ray pulsars. One of the main sources of interest during our first light observations has been the Vela pulsar, the brightest persistent source in the whole gamma-ray sky. Thanks to its brightness, the Vela pulsar is an ideal candidate for calibrating the LAT and testing its performance. In addition, observations of Vela will help answer many questions related to the physics of pulsar emission processes. We present here some recent results obtained by the LAT on the Vela pulsar, using high-quality timing solutions provided by radio observations carried out within the Fermi pulsar radio timing campaign.

Identifying Unidentified Fermi-LAT Objects (UFOs) at High-Latitude

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheung, Chi Teddy

2009-09-01

We propose a Chandra study of 8 high Galactic latitude gamma-ray sources in the Fermi-LAT bright source list. These sources are currently unidentified, i.e., they are not clearly associated with established classes of gamma-ray emitters like blazars and pulsars. The proposed observations will determine the basic properties (fluxes, positions, hardness ratio/spectra) of all X-ray sources down to a 0.3-10 keV flux limit of 1.5e-14 erg/cm2/s within the Fermi-LAT localization circles. This will enable further follow-up at other wavelengths, with the ultimate goal to reveal the nature of these enigmatic gamma-ray sources.

Artificial light alters natural regimes of night-time sky brightness

PubMed Central

Davies, Thomas W.; Bennie, Jonathan; Inger, Richard; Gaston, Kevin J.

2013-01-01

Artificial light is globally one of the most widely distributed forms of anthropogenic pollution. However, while both the nature and ecological effects of direct artificial lighting are increasingly well documented, those of artificial sky glow have received little attention. We investigated how city lights alter natural regimes of lunar sky brightness using a novel ten month time series of measurements recorded across a gradient of increasing light pollution. In the city, artificial lights increased sky brightness to levels six times above those recorded in rural locations, nine and twenty kilometers away. Artificial lighting masked natural monthly and seasonal regimes of lunar sky brightness in the city, and increased the number and annual regime of full moon equivalent hours available to organisms during the night. The changes have potentially profound ecological consequences.

The First FERMI-LAT Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Asano, K.; Axelsson, M.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bechtol, K.; Bellazzini, R.;

The first Fermi-LAT Gamma-Ray burst catalog

DOE PAGES

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Asano, K.; ...

2013-10-23

In three years of observations since the beginning of nominal science operations in 2008 August, the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has observed high-energy (gsim 20 MeV) γ-ray emission from 35 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Among these, 28 GRBs have been detected above 100 MeV and 7 GRBs above ~20 MeV. The first Fermi-LAT catalog of GRBs is a compilation of these detections and provides a systematic study of high-energy emission from GRBs for the first time. To generate the catalog, we examined 733 GRBs detected by the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on Fermi andmore » processed each of them using the same analysis sequence. Details of the methodology followed by the LAT collaboration for the GRB analysis are provided. Here, we summarize the temporal and spectral properties of the LAT-detected GRBs. We also discuss characteristics of LAT-detected emission such as its delayed onset and longer duration compared with emission detected by the GBM, its power-law temporal decay at late times, and the fact that it is dominated by a power-law spectral component that appears in addition to the usual Band model.« less

Fermi LAT Stacking Analysis of Swift Localized GRBs

DOE PAGES

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Anderson, B.; ...

2016-05-05

In this paper, we perform a comprehensive stacking analysis of data collected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) of γ-ray bursts (GRBs) localized by the Swift spacecraft, which were not detected by the LAT but which fell within the instrument's field of view at the time of trigger. We examine a total of 79 GRBs by comparing the observed counts over a range of time intervals to that expected from designated background orbits, as well as by using a joint likelihood technique to model the expected distribution of stacked counts. We find strong evidence for subthreshold emission at MeVmore » to GeV energies using both techniques. This observed excess is detected during intervals that include and exceed the durations typically characterizing the prompt emission observed at keV energies and lasts at least 2700 s after the co-aligned burst trigger. By utilizing a novel cumulative likelihood analysis, we find that although a burst's prompt γ-ray and afterglow X-ray flux both correlate with the strength of the subthreshold emission, the X-ray afterglow flux measured by Swift's X-ray Telescope at 11 hr post trigger correlates far more significantly. Overall, the extended nature of the subthreshold emission and its connection to the burst's afterglow brightness lend further support to the external forward shock origin of the late-time emission detected by the LAT. Finally, these results suggest that the extended high-energy emission observed by the LAT may be a relatively common feature but remains undetected in a majority of bursts owing to instrumental threshold effects.« less

Time Domain Astronomy with Fermi GBM in the Multi-messenger Era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson-Hodge, Colleen A.; Fermi GBM team, GBM-LIGO team

2018-01-01

As the Multi-Messenger era begins with detections of gravitational waves with LIGO/Virgo and neutrinos with IceCube, the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) provides context observations of gamma-ray transients between 8 keV and 40 MeV. Fermi GBM has a wide field of view, high uptime, and both in-orbit triggering and high time resolution continuous data enabling offline searches for weaker transients. GBM detects numerous gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), soft gamma-ray repeaters, X-ray bursters, solar flares and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes. Longer timescale transients, predominantly in our galaxy so far, are detected using the Earth occultation technique and epoch-folding for periodic sources. The GBM team has developed two ground-based searches to enhance detections of faint transients, especially short GRBs. The targeted search uses the time and location of an event detected with another instrument to coherently search the GBM data, increasing the sensitivity to a transient. The untargeted search agnostically searches the GBM data for all directions and times to find weaker transients. This search finds about 80 short GRBs per year, adding to the 40 per year triggered on-orbit. With its large field of view, high duty cycle and increasingly sophisticated detection methods, Fermi GBM is expected to have a major role in the Multi-Messenger era.

Fermi-LAT View of Bright Flaring Gamma-Ray Blazars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bastieri, D.; Ciprini, S.; Gasparrini, D.

2011-06-01

The Fermi LAT provides a continuous and uniform monitoring of the Universe in the gamma-ray band. During the first year many gamma-ray blazar flares, some unidentified transients and emission by the Sun while in a quiet state were promptly detected. This is mainly due to the design of the mission, featuring a detector, the LAT with a wide field of view, and to the operation of the spacecraft itself, that can cover every region of the sky every 3 hours. Nevertheless, the scientific exploitation of this monitoring is more fruitful when early information about transients reaches a broader community. In this respect, the indefatigable activity of flare advocates, who worked on weekly shifts to validate the results and quickly broadcast information about flares and new detections, was the key to most scientific results.

Fermi Large Area Telescope detection of bright γ-ray outbursts from the peculiar quasar 4C +21.35

DOE PAGES

Tanaka, Y. T.; Stawarz, Ł.; Thompson, D. J.; ...

2011-04-29

In this study, we report on the two-year-long Fermi-Large Area Telescope observation of the peculiar blazar 4C +21.35 (PKS 1222+216). This source was in a quiescent state from the start of the science operations of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in 2008 August until 2009 September, and then became more active, with gradually increasing flux and some moderately bright flares. In 2010 April and June, 4C +21.35 underwent a very strong GeV outburst composed of several major flares characterized by rise and decay timescales of the order of a day. During the outburst, the GeV spectra of 4C +21.35 displayedmore » a broken power-law form with spectral breaks observed near 1-3 GeV photon energies. We demonstrate that, at least during the major flares, the jet in 4C +21.35 carried a total kinetic luminosity comparable to the total accretion power available to feed the outflow. We also discuss the origin of the break observed in the flaring spectra of 4C +21.35. We show that, in principle, a model involving annihilation of the GeV photons on the He II Lyman recombination continuum and line emission of "broad-line region" clouds may account for such. However, we also discuss the additional constraint provided by the detection of 4C +21.35 at 0.07-0.4 TeV energies by the MAGIC telescope, which coincided with one of the GeV flares of the source. We argue that there are reasons to believe that the lesssim TeV emission of 4C +21.35 (as well as the GeV emission of the source, if co-spatial) is not likely to be produced inside the broad-line region zone of highest ionization (~10 17 cm from the nucleus), but instead originates further away from the active center, namely, around the characteristic scale of the hot dusty torus surrounding the 4C +21.35 nucleus (~10 19 cm).« less

Time-dependent Models for Blazar Emission with the Second-order Fermi Acceleration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asano, Katsuaki; Takahara, Fumio; Kusunose, Masaaki; Toma, Kenji; Kakuwa, Jun

2014-01-01

The second-order Fermi acceleration (Fermi-II) driven by turbulence may be responsible for the electron acceleration in blazar jets. We test this model with time-dependent simulations. The hard electron spectrum predicted by the Fermi-II process agrees with the hard photon spectrum of 1ES 1101-232. For other blazars that show softer spectra, the Fermi-II model requires radial evolution of the electron injection rate and/or diffusion coefficient in the outflow. Such evolutions can yield a curved electron spectrum, which can reproduce the synchrotron spectrum of Mrk 421 from the radio to the X-ray regime. The photon spectrum in the GeV energy range of Mrk 421 is hard to fit with a synchrotron self-Compton model. However, if we introduce an external radio photon field with a luminosity of 4.9 × 1038 erg s-1, GeV photons are successfully produced via inverse Compton scattering. The temporal variability of the diffusion coefficient or injection rate causes flare emission. The observed synchronicity of X-ray and TeV flares implies a decrease of the magnetic field in the flaring source region.

Time-dependent models for blazar emission with the second-order Fermi acceleration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Asano, Katsuaki; Takahara, Fumio; Toma, Kenji

The second-order Fermi acceleration (Fermi-II) driven by turbulence may be responsible for the electron acceleration in blazar jets. We test this model with time-dependent simulations. The hard electron spectrum predicted by the Fermi-II process agrees with the hard photon spectrum of 1ES 1101–232. For other blazars that show softer spectra, the Fermi-II model requires radial evolution of the electron injection rate and/or diffusion coefficient in the outflow. Such evolutions can yield a curved electron spectrum, which can reproduce the synchrotron spectrum of Mrk 421 from the radio to the X-ray regime. The photon spectrum in the GeV energy range ofmore » Mrk 421 is hard to fit with a synchrotron self-Compton model. However, if we introduce an external radio photon field with a luminosity of 4.9 × 10{sup 38} erg s{sup –1}, GeV photons are successfully produced via inverse Compton scattering. The temporal variability of the diffusion coefficient or injection rate causes flare emission. The observed synchronicity of X-ray and TeV flares implies a decrease of the magnetic field in the flaring source region.« less

SLAC All Access: Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

ScienceCinema

Romani, Roger

2018-04-16

Three hundred and fifty miles overhead, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope silently glides through space. From this serene vantage point, the satellite's instruments watch the fiercest processes in the universe unfold. Pulsars spin up to 700 times a second, sweeping powerful beams of gamma-ray light through the cosmos. The hyperactive cores of distant galaxies spew bright jets of plasma. Far beyond, something mysterious explodes with unfathomable power, sending energy waves crashing through the universe. Stanford professor and KIPAC member Roger W. Romani talks about this orbiting telescope, the most advanced ever to view the sky in gamma rays, a form of light at the highest end of the energy spectrum that's created in the hottest regions of the universe.

Fermi Large Area Telescope First Source Catalog

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; ...

2010-05-25

Here, we present a catalog of high-energy gamma-ray sources detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT), the primary science instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi), during the first 11 months of the science phase of the mission, which began on 2008 August 4. The First Fermi-LAT catalog (1FGL) contains 1451 sources detected and characterized in the 100 MeV to 100 GeV range. Source detection was based on the average flux over the 11 month period, and the threshold likelihood Test Statistic is 25, corresponding to a significance of just over 4σ. The 1FGL catalog includes source location regions,more » defined in terms of elliptical fits to the 95% confidence regions and power-law spectral fits as well as flux measurements in five energy bands for each source. In addition, monthly light curves are provided. Using a protocol defined before launch we have tested for several populations of gamma-ray sources among the sources in the catalog. For individual LAT-detected sources we provide firm identifications or plausible associations with sources in other astronomical catalogs. Identifications are based on correlated variability with counterparts at other wavelengths, or on spin or orbital periodicity. For the catalogs and association criteria that we have selected, 630 of the sources are unassociated. In conclusion, care was taken to characterize the sensitivity of the results to the model of interstellar diffuse gamma-ray emission used to model the bright foreground, with the result that 161 sources at low Galactic latitudes and toward bright local interstellar clouds are flagged as having properties that are strongly dependent on the model or as potentially being due to incorrectly modeled structure in the Galactic diffuse emission.« less

Cut-off characterisation of energy spectra of bright fermi sources: Current instrument limits and future possibilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romoli, C.; Taylor, A. M.; Aharonian, F.

2017-02-01

In this paper some of the brightest GeV sources observed by the Fermi-LAT were analysed, focusing on their spectral cut-off region. The sources chosen for this investigation were the brightest blazar flares of 3C 454.3 and 3C 279 and the Vela pulsar with a reanalysis with the latest Fermi-LAT software. For the study of the spectral cut-off we first explored the Vela pulsar spectrum, whose statistics in the time interval of the 3FGL catalog allowed strong constraints to be obtained on the parameters. We subsequently performed a new analysis of the flaring blazar SEDs. For these sources we obtained constraints on the cut-off parameters under the assumption that their underlying spectral distribution is described by a power-law with a stretched exponential cut-off. We then highlighted the significant potential improvements on such constraints by observations with next generation ground based Cherenkov telescopes, represented in our study by the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Adopting currently available simulations for this future observatory, we demonstrate the considerable improvement in cut-off constraints achievable by observations with this new instrument when compared with that achievable by satellite observations.

Hunting for treasures among the Fermi unassociated sources: A multiwavelength approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Acero, F.; Ojha, R.; Donato, D.

2013-12-20

The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has been detecting a wealth of sources where the multiwavelength counterpart is either inconclusive or missing altogether. We present a combination of factors that can be used to identify multiwavelength counterparts to these Fermi unassociated sources. This approach was used to select and investigate seven bright, high-latitude unassociated sources with radio, UV, X-ray, and γ-ray observations. As a result, four of these sources are candidates to be active galactic nuclei, and one to be a pulsar, while two do not fit easily into these known categories of sources. The latter pair of extraordinary sources mightmore » reveal a new category subclass or a new type of γ-ray emitter. These results altogether demonstrate the power of a multiwavelength approach to illuminate the nature of unassociated Fermi sources.« less

Fermi-LAT Gamma-ray Bursts and Insight from Swift

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Racusin, Judith L.

2011-01-01

A new revolution in GRB observation and theory has begun over the last 3 years since the launch of the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope. The new window into high energy gamma-rays opened by the Fermi-LAT is providing insight into prompt emission mechanisms and possibly also afterglow physics. The LAT detected GRBs appear to be a new unique subset of extremely energetic and bright bursts. In this talk I will discuss the context and recent discoveries from these LAT GRBs and the large database of broadband observations collected by Swift over the last 7 years and how through comparisons between the Swift, GBM, and LAT GRB samples, we can learn about the unique characteristics and relationships between each population.

Effects of Melatonin and Bright Light Treatment in Childhood Chronic Sleep Onset Insomnia With Late Melatonin Onset: A Randomized Controlled Study.

PubMed

van Maanen, Annette; Meijer, Anne Marie; Smits, Marcel G; van der Heijden, Kristiaan B; Oort, Frans J

2017-02-01

Chronic sleep onset insomnia with late melatonin onset is prevalent in childhood, and has negative daytime consequences. Melatonin treatment is known to be effective in treating these sleep problems. Bright light therapy might be an alternative treatment, with potential advantages over melatonin treatment. In this study, we compare the effects of melatonin and bright light treatment with a placebo condition in children with chronic sleep onset insomnia and late melatonin onset. Eighty-four children (mean age 10.0 years, 61% boys) first entered a baseline week, after which they received melatonin (N = 26), light (N = 30), or placebo pills (N = 28) for 3 to 4 weeks. Sleep was measured daily with sleep diaries and actigraphy. Before and after treatment children completed a questionnaire on chronic sleep reduction, and Dim Light Melatonin Onset (DLMO) was measured. Results were analyzed with linear mixed model analyses. Melatonin treatment and light therapy decreased sleep latency (sleep diary) and advanced sleep onset (sleep diary and actigraphy), although for sleep onset the effects of melatonin were stronger. In addition, melatonin treatment advanced DLMO and had positive effects on sleep latency and sleep efficiency (actigraphy data), and sleep time (sleep diary and actigraphy data). However, wake after sleep onset (actigraphy) increased with melatonin treatment. No effects on chronic sleep reduction were found. We found positive effects of both melatonin and light treatment on various sleep outcomes, but more and stronger effects were found for melatonin treatment. © Sleep Research Society 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

Effect of bright light therapy on delayed sleep/wake cycle and reaction time of athletes participating in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

PubMed

Rosa, João Paulo P; Silva, Andressa; Rodrigues, Dayane F; Simim, Mário Antônio; Narciso, Fernanda V; Tufik, Sergio; Bichara, Jorge J; Pereira, Sebastian Rafael D; Da Silva, Sidney C; de Mello, Marco Tulio

2018-04-16

This study investigated the effect of using an artificial bright light on the entrainment of the sleep/wake cycle as well as the reaction times of athletes before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. A total of 22 athletes from the Brazilian Olympic Swimming Team were evaluated, with the aim of preparing them to compete at a time when they would normally be about to go to bed for the night. During the 8-day acclimatization period, their sleep/wake cycles were assessed by actigraphy, with all the athletes being treated with artificial light therapy for between 30 and 45 min (starting at day 3). In addition, other recommendations to improve sleep hygiene were made to the athletes. In order to assess reaction times, the Psychomotor Vigilance Test was performed before (day 1) and after (day 8) the bright light therapy. As a result of the intervention, the athletes slept later on the third (p = 0.01), seventh (p = 0.01) and eighth (p = 0.01) days after starting bright light therapy. Regarding reaction times, when tested in the morning the athletes showed improved average (p = 0.01) and minimum reaction time (p = 0.03) when comparing day 8 to day 1. When tested in the evening, they showed improved average (p = 0.04), minimum (p = 0.03) and maximum reaction time (p = 0.02) when comparing day 8 to day 1. Light therapy treatment delayed the sleep/wake cycles and improved reaction times of members of the swimming team. The use of bright light therapy was shown to be effective in modulating the sleep/wake cycles of athletes who had to perform in competitions that took place late at night.

Lorentz Invariance Violation: the Latest Fermi Results and the GRB-AGN Complementarity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bolmont, J.; Vasileiou, V.; Jacholkowska, A.; Piron, F.; Couturier, C.; Granot, J.; Stecker, F. W.; Cohen-Tanugi, J.; Longo, F.

2013-01-01

Because they are bright and distant, Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) have been used for more than a decade to test propagation of photons and to constrain relevant Quantum Gravity (QG) models in which the velocity of photons in vacuum can depend on their energy. With its unprecedented sensitivity and energy coverage, the Fermi satellite has provided the most constraining results on the QG energy scale so far. In this talk, the latest results obtained from the analysis of four bright GRBs observed by the Large Area Telescope will be reviewed. These robust results, cross-checked using three different analysis techniques set the limit on QG energy scale at E(sub QG,1) greater than 7.6 times the Planck energy for linear dispersion and E(sub QG,2) greater than 1.3 x 10(exp 11) gigaelectron volts for quadratic dispersion (95% CL). After describing the data and the analysis techniques in use, results will be discussed and confronted to latest constraints obtained with Active Galactic Nuclei.

Detection of significant cm to sub-mm band radio and  γ-ray correlated variability in Fermi bright blazars

DOE PAGES

Fuhrmann, L.; Larsson, S.; Chiang, J.; ...

2014-05-12

The exact location of the γ-ray emitting region in blazars is still controversial. In order to attack this problem we present first results of a cross-correlation analysis between radio (11 cm to 0.8 mm wavelength, F-GAMMA programme) and γ-ray (0.1–300 GeV) ~3.5 yr light curves of 54 Fermi-bright blazars. We perform a source stacking analysis and estimate significances and chance correlations using mixed source correlations. These results reveal: (i) the first highly significant multiband radio and γ-ray correlations (radio lagging γ rays) when averaging over the whole sample, (ii) average time delays (source frame: 76 ± 23 to 7 ±more » 9 d), systematically decreasing from cm to mm/sub-mm bands with a frequency dependence τr, γ(ν) ∝ ν -1, in good agreement with jet opacity dominated by synchrotron self-absorption, (iii) a bulk γ-ray production region typically located within/upstream of the 3 mm core region (τ3mm, γ = 12 ± 8 d), (iv) mean distances between the region of γ-ray peak emission and the radio ‘τ = 1 photosphere’ decreasing from 9.8 ± 3.0 pc (11 cm) to 0.9 ± 1.1 pc (2 mm) and 1.4 ± 0.8 pc (0.8 mm), (v) 3 mm/γ-ray correlations in nine individual sources at a significance level where one is expected by chance (probability: 4 × 10 -6), (vi) opacity and ‘time lag core shift’ estimates for quasar 3C 454.3 providing a lower limit for the distance of the bulk γ-ray production region from the supermassive black hole (SMBH) of ~0.8–1.6 pc, i.e. at the outer edge of the broad-line region (BLR) or beyond. A 3 mm τ = 1 surface at ~2–3 pc from the jet base (i.e. well outside the ‘canonical BLR’) finally suggests that BLR material extends to several parsec distances from the SMBH.« less

The Animated Gamma-ray Sky Revealed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

ScienceCinema

Isabelle Grenier

2018-04-17

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has been observing the sky in gamma-rays since August 2008.  In addition to breakthrough capabilities in energy coverage (20 MeV-300 GeV) and angular resolution, the wide field of view of the Large Area Telescope enables observations of 20% of the sky at any instant, and of the whole sky every three hours. It has revealed a very animated sky with bright gamma-ray bursts flashing and vanishing in minutes, powerful active galactic nuclei flaring over hours and days, many pulsars twinkling in the Milky Way, and X-ray binaries shimmering along their orbit. Most of these variable sources had not been seen by the Fermi predecessor, EGRET, and the wealth of new data already brings important clues to the origin of the high-energy emission and particles powered by the compact objects. The telescope also brings crisp images of the bright gamma-ray emission produced by cosmic-ray interactions in the interstellar medium, thus allowing to measure the cosmic nuclei and electron spectra across the Galaxy, to weigh interstellar clouds, in particular in the dark-gas phase. The telescope sensitivity at high energy will soon provide useful constraints on dark-matter annihilations in a variety of environments. I will review the current results and future prospects of the Fermi mission.

The GAMMA Ray Sky as Seen by Fermi: Opening a New Window on the High Energy Space Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

pulsars , stars whose repeating emissions can be used as ultra-precise chronometers. Measurement of gamma radiation provides unique insight...diffuse glow are a number of bright point sources, mostly gamma ray pulsars — rotating, magnetized neutron stars — as discussed below. The bright sources...important early discoveries of Fermi have been from objects in our galaxy. The LAT has discovered 12 new pulsars that seem to be visible only in gamma

Extended Thomas-Fermi density functional for the unitary Fermi gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salasnich, Luca; Toigo, Flavio

2008-11-01

We determine the energy density ξ(3/5)nɛF and the gradient correction λℏ2(∇n)2/(8mn) of the extended Thomas-Fermi (ETF) density functional, where n is the number density and ɛF is the Fermi energy, for a trapped two-component Fermi gas with infinite scattering length (unitary Fermi gas) on the basis of recent diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) calculations [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 233201 (2007)]. In particular we find that ξ=0.455 and λ=0.13 give the best fit of the DMC data with an even number N of particles. We also study the odd-even splitting γN1/9ℏω of the ground-state energy for the unitary gas in a harmonic trap of frequency ω determining the constant γ . Finally we investigate the effect of the gradient term in the time-dependent ETF model by introducing generalized Galilei-invariant hydrodynamics equations.

High brightness InP micropillars grown on silicon with Fermi level splitting larger than 1 eV.

PubMed

Tran, Thai-Truong D; Sun, Hao; Ng, Kar Wei; Ren, Fan; Li, Kun; Lu, Fanglu; Yablonovitch, Eli; Chang-Hasnain, Constance J

2014-06-11

The growth of III-V nanowires on silicon is a promising approach for low-cost, large-scale III-V photovoltaics. However, performances of III-V nanowire solar cells have not yet been as good as their bulk counterparts, as nanostructured light absorbers are fundamentally challenged by enhanced minority carriers surface recombination rates. The resulting nonradiative losses lead to significant reductions in the external spontaneous emission quantum yield, which, in turn, manifest as penalties in the open-circuit voltage. In this work, calibrated photoluminescence measurements are utilized to construct equivalent voltage-current characteristics relating illumination intensities to Fermi level splitting ΔF inside InP microillars. Under 1 sun, we show that splitting can exceed ΔF ∼ 0.90 eV in undoped pillars. This value can be increased to values of ΔF ∼ 0.95 eV by cleaning pillar surfaces in acidic etchants. Pillars with nanotextured surfaces can yield splitting of ΔF ∼ 0.90 eV, even though they exhibit high densities of stacking faults. Finally, by introducing n-dopants, ΔF of 1.07 eV can be achieved due to a wider bandgap energy in n-doped wurzite InP, the higher brightness of doped materials, and the extraordinarily low surface recombination velocity of InP. This is the highest reported value for InP materials grown on a silicon substrate. These results provide further evidence that InP micropillars on silicon could be a promising material for low-cost, large-scale solar cells with high efficiency.

The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flash (TGF) Catalog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briggs, M. S.; Roberts, O.; Fitzpatrick, G.; Stanbro, M.; Cramer, E.; Mailyan, B. G.; McBreen, S.; Connaughton, V.; Grove, J. E.; Chekhtman, A.; Holzworth, R.

2017-12-01

The revised Second Fermi GBM TGF catalog includes data on 4144 TGFs detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor through 2016 July 31. The catalog includes 686 bright TGFs there were detected in orbit and 4135 TGFs that were discovered by ground analysis of GBM data (the two samples overlap). Thirty of the events may have been detected as electrons and positrons rather than gamma-rays: Terrestrial Electron Beams (TEBs). We also provide results from correlating the GBM TGFs with VLF radio detections of the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). TGFs with WWLLN associations have their localization uncertainties improved from 800 to 10 km, making it possible to identify specific thunderstorms responsible for the TGFs and opening up new types of scientific investigations. There are 1544 TGFs with WWLLN associations; maps are provided for these and the other TGFs of the catalog. The data tables of the catalog are available for use by the scientific community at the Fermi Science Support Center, at https://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/data/access/gbm/tgf/.

Timing gamma-ray pulsars with the Fermi large area telescope: Timing noise and astrometry

DOE PAGES

Kerr, Matthew; Ray, P. S.; Johnston, S.; ...

2015-11-25

We have constructed timing solutions for 81 γ-ray pulsars covering more than five years of Fermi data. The sample includes 37 radio-quiet or radio-faint pulsars which cannot be timed with other telescopes. These timing solutions and the corresponding pulse times of arrival are prerequisites for further study, e.g., phase-resolved spectroscopy or searches for mode switches. Many γ-ray pulsars are strongly affected by timing noise (TN), and we present a new method for characterizing the noise process and mitigating its effects on other facets of the timing model. We present an analysis of TN over the population using a new metric for characterizing its strength and spectral shape, namely, its time-domain correlation. The dependence of the strength on ν andmore » $$\\dot{\

Human Adolescent Phase Response Curves to Bright White Light.

PubMed

Crowley, Stephanie J; Eastman, Charmane I

2017-08-01

Older adolescents are particularly vulnerable to circadian misalignment and sleep restriction, primarily due to early school start times. Light can shift the circadian system and could help attenuate circadian misalignment; however, a phase response curve (PRC) to determine the optimal time for receiving light and avoiding light is not available for adolescents. We constructed light PRCs for late pubertal to postpubertal adolescents aged 14 to 17 years. Participants completed 2 counterbalanced 5-day laboratory sessions after 8 or 9 days of scheduled sleep at home. Each session included phase assessments to measure the dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) before and after 3 days of free-running through an ultradian light-dark (wake-sleep) cycle (2 h dim [~20 lux] light, 2 h dark). In one session, intermittent bright white light (~5000 lux; four 20-min exposures) was alternated with 10 min of dim room light once per day for 3 consecutive days. The time of light varied among participants to cover the 24-h day. For each individual, the phase shift to bright light was corrected for the free-run derived from the other laboratory session with no bright light. One PRC showed phase shifts in response to light start time relative to the DLMO and another relative to home sleep. Phase delay shifts occurred around the hours corresponding to home bedtime. Phase advances occurred during the hours surrounding wake time and later in the afternoon. The transition from delays to advances occurred at the midpoint of home sleep. The adolescent PRCs presented here provide a valuable tool to time bright light in adolescents.

Fermi detection of delayed GeV emission from the short gamma-ray burst 081024B

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A.

2010-03-03

Here, we report on the detailed analysis of the high-energy extended emission from the short gamma-ray burst (GRB) 081024B detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Historically, this represents the first clear detection of temporal extended emission from a short GRB. Furthermore, the light curve observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor lasts approximately 0.8 s whereas the emission in the Fermi Large Area Telescope lasts for about 3 s. Evidence of longer lasting high-energy emission associated with long bursts has been already reported by previous experiments. These observations, together with the earlier reported study of the bright short GRBmore » 090510, indicate similarities in the high-energy emission of short and long GRBs and open the path to new interpretations.« less

FERMI Observations of GRB 090902B: A Distinct Spectral Component in the Prompt and Delayed Emission

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; ...

2009-11-03

Here, we report on the observation of the bright, long gamma-ray burst (GRB), GRB 090902B, by the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area Telescope (LAT) instruments on-board the Fermi observatory. This was one of the brightest GRBs to have been observed by the LAT, which detected several hundred photons during the prompt phase. With a redshift of z = 1.822, this burst is among the most luminous detected by Fermi. Time-resolved spectral analysis reveals a significant power-law component in the LAT data that is distinct from the usual Band model emission that is seen in the sub-MeV energy range.more » This power-law component appears to extrapolate from the GeV range to the lowest energies and is more intense than the Band component, both below ~50 keV and above 100 MeV. The Band component undergoes substantial spectral evolution over the entire course of the burst, while the photon index of the power-law component remains constant for most of the prompt phase, then hardens significantly toward the end. After the prompt phase, power-law emission persists in the LAT data as late as 1 ks post-trigger, with its flux declining as t –1.5. The LAT detected a photon with the highest energy so far measured from a GRB, 33.4 +2.7 –3.5 GeV. This event arrived 82 s after the GBM trigger and ~50 s after the prompt phase emission had ended in the GBM band. In conclusion, we discuss the implications of these results for models of GRB emission and for constraints on models of the extragalactic background light.« less

Time-Domain Astronomy with the Fermi GBM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hui, C. M.

2017-01-01

The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is an all-sky monitoring instrument sensitive to energies from 8 kiloelectronvolts to 40 megaelectronvolts. Over the past 8 years of operation, the GBM has detected over 240 gamma-ray bursts per year and provided timely GCN (Gamma-ray Coordinates Network) notices with localization to few-degree accuracy for follow-up observations. In addition to GRBs, galactic transients, solar flares, and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes have also been observed. In recent years we have also been searching the continuous GBM data for electromagnetic counterpart to astrophysical neutrinos and gravitational wave events, as these are believed to be associated with gamma-ray bursts. With continuous data downlink every few hours and a temporal resolution of 2 microseconds, GBM is well suited for observing transients and supporting EM followup in the era of multi-messenger astronomy.

Time-Domain Astronomy with the Fermi GBM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hui, C. M.

2017-01-01

The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is an all-sky monitoring instrument sensitive to energies from 8 keV to 40 MeV. Over the past 8 years of operation, the GBM has detected over 240 gamma-ray bursts per year and provided timely GCN notices with localization to few-degree accuracy for follow-up observations. In addition to GRBs, Galactic transients, solar flares, and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes have also been observed. In recent years we have also been searching the continuous GBM data for electromagnetic counterpart to astrophysical neutrinos and gravitational wave events, as these are believed to be associated with gamma-ray bursts. With continuous data downlink every few hours and a temporal resolution of 2 microseconds, GBM is well suited for observing transients and supporting EM follow-up in the era of multi-messenger astronomy.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Gamma-ray bright blazars spectrophotometry (Williamson+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williamson, K. E.; Jorstad, S. G.; Marscher, A. P.; Larionov, V. M.; Smith, P. S.; Agudo, I.; Arkharov, A. A.; Blinov, D. A.; Casadio, C.; Efimova, N. V.; Gomez, J. L.; Hagen-Thorn, V. A.; Joshi, M.; Konstantinova, T. S.; Kopatskaya, E. N.; Larionova, E. G.; Larionova, L. V.; Malmrose, M. P.; McHardy, I. M.; Molina, S. N.; Morozova, D. A.; Schmidt, G. D.; Taylor, B. W.; Troitsky, I. S.

2017-03-01

Since 2007, we have been collecting multi-waveband fluxes, polarization measurements, and radio images of blazars to provide the data for understanding the physics of the jets (see, e.g., Marscher 2012, arXiv:1201.5402). This study includes 28 of the original 30 objects selected for the monitoring campaign, confirmed as γ-ray sources by EGRET (Energetic γ-Ray Experiment Telescope) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, have an R-band brightness exceeding 18 mag (bright enough for optical polarization measurements at a 1-2 m class optical telescope without needing excessive amounts of telescope time), exceed 0.5 Jy at 43 GHz, and have a declination accessible to the collaboration's observatories (> - 30°). Three additional BL Lacs (1055+018, 1308+326, and 1749+096) and two FSRQs (3C345 and 3C446) included in this analysis were among those added when they were detected as γ-ray sources by the Fermi LAT (Abdo et al. 2009, J/ApJ/700/597). (4 data files).

Study of the model of calibrating differences of brightness temperature from geostationary satellite generated by time zone differences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Weidong; Shan, Xinjian; Qu, Chunyan

2010-11-01

In comparison with polar-orbiting satellites, geostationary satellites have a higher time resolution and wider field of visions, which can cover eleven time zones (an image covers about one third of the Earth's surface). For a geostationary satellite panorama graph at a point of time, the brightness temperature of different zones is unable to represent the thermal radiation information of the surface at the same point of time because of the effect of different sun solar radiation. So it is necessary to calibrate brightness temperature of different zones with respect to the same point of time. A model of calibrating the differences of the brightness temperature of geostationary satellite generated by time zone differences is suggested in this study. A total of 16 curves of four positions in four different stages are given through sample statistics of brightness temperature of every 5 days synthetic data which are from four different time zones (time zones 4, 6, 8, and 9). The above four stages span January -March (winter), April-June (spring), July-September (summer), and October-December (autumn). Three kinds of correct situations and correct formulas based on curves changes are able to better eliminate brightness temperature rising or dropping caused by time zone differences.

Bright gamma-ray emission from TCP J04432130+4721280 (V392 Per) detected by Fermi-LAT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Kwan-Lok; Chomiuk, Laura; Strader, Jay

2018-05-01

We report the Fermi-LAT detection of the optical transient TCP J04432130+4721280 (V392 Per), which was discovered by Yuji Nakamura on 2018-04-29.4740 (CBET #4515) and later identified as a Galactic nova by Wagner et al. (ATel #11588).

Time-Dependent Thomas-Fermi Approach for Electron Dynamics in Metal Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domps, A.; Reinhard, P.-G.; Suraud, E.

1998-06-01

We propose a time-dependent Thomas-Fermi approach to the (nonlinear) dynamics of many-fermion systems. The approach relies on a hydrodynamical picture describing the system in terms of collective flow. We investigate in particular an application to electron dynamics in metal clusters. We make extensive comparisons with fully fledged quantal dynamical calculations and find overall good agreement. The approach thus provides a reliable and inexpensive scheme to study the electronic response of large metal clusters.

2D CFT partition functions at late times

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dyer, Ethan; Gur-Ari, Guy

2017-08-01

We consider the late time behavior of the analytically continued partition function Z( β + it) Z( β - it) in holographic 2 d CFTs. This is a probe of information loss in such theories and in their holographic duals. We show that each Virasoro character decays in time, and so information is not restored at the level of individual characters. We identify a universal decaying contribution at late times, and conjecture that it describes the behavior of generic chaotic 2 d CFTs out to times that are exponentially large in the central charge. It was recently suggested that at sufficiently late times one expects a crossover to random matrix behavior. We estimate an upper bound on the crossover time, which suggests that the decay is followed by a parametrically long period of late time growth. Finally, we discuss gravitationally-motivated integrable theories and show how information is restored at late times by a series of characters. This hints at a possible bulk mechanism, where information is restored by an infinite sum over non-perturbative saddles.

Fermi-LAT Observations of Continued Gamma-ray Activity from Nova ASASSN-16ma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Kwan-Lok; Chomiuk, Laura; Strader, Jay; Cheung, C. C.; Jean, P.; Shore, S. N.; Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration

2016-11-01

Following the report of a sudden gamma-ray onset detection of nova ASASSN-16ma coincident with the optical peak of 5.5 mag on November 8 (ATel #9736), ASASSN-16ma was observed to slowly decrease in gamma-rays but has remained bright enough to be detectable with Fermi-LAT over the last 9 days (test statistic, TS > 10 per day, except for November 17 with TS=5).

Multilevel Space-Time Aggregation for Bright Field Cell Microscopy Segmentation and Tracking

PubMed Central

Inglis, Tiffany; De Sterck, Hans; Sanders, Geoffrey; Djambazian, Haig; Sladek, Robert; Sundararajan, Saravanan; Hudson, Thomas J.

2010-01-01

A multilevel aggregation method is applied to the problem of segmenting live cell bright field microscope images. The method employed is a variant of the so-called “Segmentation by Weighted Aggregation” technique, which itself is based on Algebraic Multigrid methods. The variant of the method used is described in detail, and it is explained how it is tailored to the application at hand. In particular, a new scale-invariant “saliency measure” is proposed for deciding when aggregates of pixels constitute salient segments that should not be grouped further. It is shown how segmentation based on multilevel intensity similarity alone does not lead to satisfactory results for bright field cells. However, the addition of multilevel intensity variance (as a measure of texture) to the feature vector of each aggregate leads to correct cell segmentation. Preliminary results are presented for applying the multilevel aggregation algorithm in space time to temporal sequences of microscope images, with the goal of obtaining space-time segments (“object tunnels”) that track individual cells. The advantages and drawbacks of the space-time aggregation approach for segmentation and tracking of live cells in sequences of bright field microscope images are presented, along with a discussion on how this approach may be used in the future work as a building block in a complete and robust segmentation and tracking system. PMID:20467468

The VELA-X-Pulsar Wind Nebula Revisited with Four Years of Fermi Large Area Telescope Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grondin, M. -H.; Romani, R. W.; Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Guillemot, L.; Harding, Alice K.; Reposeur, T.

2013-01-01

The Vela supernova remnant (SNR) is the closest SNR to Earth containing an active pulsar, the Vela pulsar (PSR B0833-45). This pulsar is an archetype of the middle-aged pulsar class and powers a bright pulsar wind nebula (PWN), Vela-X, spanning a region of 2deg × 3deg south of the pulsar and observed in the radio, X-ray, and very high energy ?-ray domains. The detection of the Vela-X PWN by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) was reported in the first year of the mission. Subsequently, we have reinvestigated this complex region and performed a detailed morphological and spectral analysis of this source using 4 yr of Fermi-LAT observations. This study lowers the threshold for morphological analysis of the nebula from 0.8 GeV to 0.3 GeV, allowing for the inspection of distinct energy bands by the LAT for the first time. We describe the recent results obtained on this PWN and discuss the origin of the newly detected spatial features.

The Vela-X pulsar wind nebula revisited with four years of Fermi Large Area Telescope observations

DOE PAGES

Grondin, M. -H.; Romani, R. W.; Lemoine-Goumard, M.; ...

2013-08-21

Here, the Vela supernova remnant (SNR) is the closest SNR to Earth containing an active pulsar, the Vela pulsar (PSR B0833–45). This pulsar is an archetype of the middle-aged pulsar class and powers a bright pulsar wind nebula (PWN), Vela-X, spanning a region of 2° × 3° south of the pulsar and observed in the radio, X-ray, and very high energy γ-ray domains. The detection of the Vela-X PWN by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) was reported in the first year of the mission. Subsequently, we have reinvestigated this complex region and performed a detailed morphological and spectral analysismore » of this source using 4 yr of Fermi-LAT observations. This study lowers the threshold for morphological analysis of the nebula from 0.8 GeV to 0.3 GeV, allowing for the inspection of distinct energy bands by the LAT for the first time. We describe the recent results obtained on this PWN and discuss the origin of the newly detected spatial features.« less

Multiwavelength Study of Gamma-Ray Bright Blazars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morozova, Daria; Larionov, V. M.; Hagen-Thorn, V. A.; Jorstad, S. G.; Marscher, A. P.; Troitskii, I. S.

2011-01-01

We investigate total intensity radio images of 6 gamma-ray bright blazars (BL Lac, 3C 279, 3C 273, W Com, PKS 1510-089, and 3C 66A) and their optical and gamma-ray light curves to study connections between gamma-ray and optical brightness variations and changes in the parsec-scale radio structure. We use high-resolution maps obtained by the BU group at 43 GHz with the VLBA, optical light curves constructed by the St.Petersburg State U. (Russia) team using measurements with the 0.4 m telescope of St.Petersburg State U. (LX200) and the 0.7 m telescope of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (AZT-8), and gamma-ray light curves, which we have constructed with data provided by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. Over the period from August 2008 to November 2009, superluminal motion is found in all 6 objects with apparent speed ranging from 2c to 40c. The blazars with faster apparent speeds, 3C 273, 3C 279, PKS 1510-089, and 3C 66A, exhibit stronger variability of the gamma-ray emission. There is a tendency for sources with sharply peaked gamma-ray flares to have faster jet speed than sources with gamma-ray light curves with no sharp peaks. Gamma-ray light curves with sharply peaked gamma-ray flares possess a stronger gamma-ray/optical correlations. The research at St.Petersburg State U. was funded by the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (state contract N#P123). The research at BU was funded in part by NASA Fermi Guest Investigator grant NNX08AV65G and by NSF grant AST-0907893. The VLBA is an instrument of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

Finding Sub-threshold Short Gamma-ray Bursts in Fermi GBM Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burns, Eric; Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor Team

2018-01-01

The all-sky monitoring capability of Fermi GBM makes it ideal for finding transients, and the most prolific detector of short gamma-ray bursts with about 40 on-board triggers per year. Because the observed brightness of short gamma-ray bursts has no correlation with redshift, weak short gamma-ray bursts are important during the gravitational wave era. With this in mind, we discuss two searches of GBM data to find short gamma-ray which were below the on-board trigger threshold. The untargeted search looks for significant background-subtracted signals in two or more detectors at various timescales in the continuous data, detecting ~80 additional short GRB candidates per year. The targeted search is the most sensitive search for weak gamma-ray signals in GBM data and is run over limited time intervals around sources of interest like gravitational waves.

Discovery of the Millisecond Pulsar PSR J2043+1711 in a Fermi Source with the Nancay Radio Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guillemot, L.; Freire, P. C. C.; Cognard, I.; Johnson, T. J.; Takahashi, Y.; Kataoka, J.; Desvignes, G.; Camilo, F.; Ferrara, E. C.; Harding, A. K.;

The Late-time Afterglow of the Extremely Energetic Short Burst GRB 090510 Revisited

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guelbenzu, A. Nicuesa; Klose, S.; Kruehler, T.; Greiner, J.; Rossi, A.; Kann, D. A.; Olivares, F.; Rau, A.; Afonso, P. M. J.; Elliott, J.;

Fermi-LAT Gamma-Ray Bursts and Insights from Swift

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Racusin, Judith L.

2010-01-01

A new revolution in Gamma-ray Burst (GRB) observations and theory has begun over the last two years since the launch of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The new window into high energy gamma-rays opened by the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) is providing insight into prompt emission mechanisms and possibly also afterglow physics. The LAT detected GRBs appear to be a new unique subset of extremely energetic and bright bursts compared to the large sample detected by Swift over the last 6 years. In this talk, I will discuss the context and recent discoveries from these LAT GRBs and the large database of broadband observations collected by the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT) and UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT). Through comparisons between the GRBs detected by Swift-BAT, G8M, and LAT, we can learn about the unique characteristics, physical differences, and the relationships between each population. These population characteristics provide insight into the different physical parameters that contribute to the diversity of observational GRB properties.

Time resolved analysis of Fermi gamma-ray bursts with fast-and slow-cooled synchrotron photon models

DOE PAGES

Burgess, J. M.; Preece, R. D.; Connaughton, V.; ...

2014-02-27

Time-resolved spectroscopy is performed on eight bright, long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) dominated by single emission pulses that were observed with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. Fitting the prompt radiation of GRBs by empirical spectral forms such as the Band function leads to ambiguous conclusions about the physical model for the prompt radiation. Moreover, the Band function is often inadequate to fit the data. Therefore, the GRB spectrum is modeled with two emission components consisting of optically thin non-thermal synchrotron radiation from relativistic electrons and, when significant, thermal emission from a jet photosphere, which is represented by a blackbody spectrum. Inmore » order to produce an acceptable fit, the addition of a blackbody component is required in five out of the eight cases. We also find that the low-energy spectral index α is consistent with a synchrotron component with α = –0.81 ± 0.1. This value lies between the limiting values of α = –2/3 and α = –3/2 for electrons in the slow- and fast-cooling regimes, respectively, suggesting ongoing acceleration at the emission site. The blackbody component can be more significant when using a physical synchrotron model instead of the Band function, illustrating that the Band function does not serve as a good proxy for a non-thermal synchrotron emission component. The temperature and characteristic emission-region size of the blackbody component are found to, respectively, decrease and increase as power laws with time during the prompt phase. Additionally, we find that the blackbody and non-thermal components have separate temporal behaviors as far as their respective flux and spectral evolutions.« less

Fermi arc plasmons in Weyl semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Justin C. W.; Rudner, Mark S.

2017-11-01

In the recently discovered Weyl semimetals, the Fermi surface may feature disjoint, open segments—the so-called Fermi arcs—associated with topological states bound to exposed crystal surfaces. Here we show that the collective dynamics of electrons near such surfaces sharply departs from that of a conventional three-dimensional metal. In magnetic systems with broken time reversal symmetry, the resulting Fermi arc plasmons (FAPs) are chiral, with dispersion relations featuring open, hyperbolic constant frequency contours. As a result, a large range of surface plasmon wave vectors can be supported at a given frequency, with corresponding group velocity vectors directed along a few specific collimated directions. Fermi arc plasmons can be probed using near-field photonics techniques, which may be used to launch highly directional, focused surface plasmon beams. The unusual characteristics of FAPs arise from the interplay of bulk and surface Fermi arc carrier dynamics and give a window into the unusual fermiology of Weyl semimetals.

Intrinsic Correlations for Flaring Blazars Detected by Fermi

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fan, J. H.; Xiao, H. B.; Lin, C.

2017-02-01

Blazars are an extreme subclass of active galactic nuclei. Their rapid variability, luminous brightness, superluminal motion, and high and variable polarization are probably due to a beaming effect. However, this beaming factor (or Doppler factor) is very difficult to measure. Currently, a good way to estimate it is to use the timescale of their radio flares. In this Letter, we use multiwavelength data and Doppler factors reported in the literature for a sample of 86 flaring blazars detected by Fermi to compute their intrinsic multiwavelength data and intrinsic spectral energy distributions and investigate the correlations among observed and intrinsic data.more » Quite interestingly, intrinsic data show a positive correlation between luminosity and peak frequency, in contrast with the behavior of observed data, and a tighter correlation between γ -ray luminosity and the lower-energy ones. For flaring blazars detected by Fermi , we conclude that (1) observed emissions are strongly beamed; (2) the anti-correlation between luminosity and peak frequency from the observed data is an apparent result, the correlation between intrinsic data being positive; and (3) intrinsic γ -ray luminosity is strongly correlated with other intrinsic luminosities.« less

The Fermiac or Fermi's Trolley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coccetti, F.

2016-03-01

The Fermiac, known also as Fermi's trolley or Monte Carlo trolley, is an analog computer used to determine the change in time of the neutron population in a nuclear device, via the Monte Carlo method. It was invented by Enrico Fermi and constructed by Percy King at Los Alamos in 1947, and used for about two years. A replica of the Fermiac was built at INFN mechanical workshops of Bologna in 2015, on behalf of the Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche "Enrico Fermi", thanks to the original drawings made available by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This reproduction of the Fermiac was put in use, and a simulation was developed.

Late-time cosmological phase transitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schramm, David N.

1991-01-01

It is shown that the potential galaxy formation and large scale structure problems of objects existing at high redshifts (Z approx. greater than 5), structures existing on scales of 100 M pc as well as velocity flows on such scales, and minimal microwave anisotropies ((Delta)T/T) (approx. less than 10(exp -5)) can be solved if the seeds needed to generate structure form in a vacuum phase transition after decoupling. It is argued that the basic physics of such a phase transition is no more exotic than that utilized in the more traditional GUT scale phase transitions, and that, just as in the GUT case, significant random Gaussian fluctuations and/or topological defects can form. Scale lengths of approx. 100 M pc for large scale structure as well as approx. 1 M pc for galaxy formation occur naturally. Possible support for new physics that might be associated with such a late-time transition comes from the preliminary results of the SAGE solar neutrino experiment, implying neutrino flavor mixing with values similar to those required for a late-time transition. It is also noted that a see-saw model for the neutrino masses might also imply a tau neutrino mass that is an ideal hot dark matter candidate. However, in general either hot or cold dark matter can be consistent with a late-time transition.

Investigating Possible Outliers in the Fermi Blazar AGN Sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shrader, Chris

2018-01-01

The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (Fermi) has cataloged over 3000 gamma-ray (>100 MeV) point sources of which more than 1100 are likely AGN. These AGN are predominantly among the radio-loud “blazar” subclass. Recently however, a significant sample of bright (F_15GHz >1.5 Jy), radio selected AGN was found to overlap with Fermi at only the ~80% level (Lister et. al., 2015). This could be a result of some selection bias or it could be due to deficient Doppler boosting among that ~20%. Additionally, a recent survey of high-latitude gamma-ray sources by Schinzel et al. (2017) reveals a sample of ~100 objects which are not detected in the 4-10 GHz radio band to a limiting flux of about 2mJy. This apparent lack of radio flux is puzzling, and may indicate either an extreme Compton-dominated sample, or copious gamma-ray emission from a heretofore unknown population such as a subclass of radio-quiet AGN. Speculatively, these radio-loud/gamma-quiet and gamma-loud/radio quiet samples could be odd cases of the blazar phenomena which reside outside of the well-known blazar sequence. To explore this problem further we have undertaken a study to construct or constrain individual source SEDs as a first step towards their classification. In this contribution we present results from our search for emission in the Swift-BAT 15-100-keV hard X-ray band for each of these samples.

Discovery of the millisecond pulsar PSR J2043+1711 in a Fermi source with the Nançay Radio Telescope

DOE PAGES

Guillemot, L.; Freire, P. C. C.; Cognard, I.; ...

2012-04-25

Here, we report the discovery of the millisecond pulsar PSR J2043+1711 in a search of a Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) source with no known associations, with the Nançay Radio Telescope. The new pulsar, confirmed with the Green Bank Telescope, has a spin period of 2.38 ms, is relatively nearby (d ≲ 2 kpc) and is in a 1.48-d orbit around a low-mass companion, probably an He-type white dwarf. Using an ephemeris based on Arecibo, Nançay and Westerbork timing measurements, pulsed gamma-ray emission was detected in the data recorded by the Fermi LAT. The gamma-ray light curve and spectral propertiesmore » are typical of other gamma-ray millisecond pulsars seen with Fermi. X-ray observations of the pulsar with Suzaku and the Swift X-ray Telescope yielded no detection. At 1.4 GHz, we also observe strong flux density variations because of interstellar diffractive scintillation; however, a sharp peak can be observed at this frequency during bright scintillation states. At 327 MHz, the pulsar is detected with a much higher signal-to-noise ratio and its flux density is far more steady. However, at that frequency the Arecibo instrumentation cannot yet fully resolve the pulse profile. Despite that, our pulse time-of-arrival measurements have a post-fit residual rms of 2 μs. Furthermore, this and the expected stability of this system have made PSR J2043+1711 one of the first new Fermi-selected millisecond pulsars to be added to pulsar gravitational wave timing arrays. It has also allowed a significant measurement of relativistic delays in the times of arrival of the pulses due to the curvature of space–time near the companion, but not yet with enough precision to derive useful masses for the pulsar and the companion. Nevertheless, a mass for the pulsar between 1.7 and 2.0 M⊙ can be derived if a standard millisecond pulsar formation model is assumed. In this paper, we also present a comprehensive summary of pulsar searches in Fermi LAT sources with the Nançay Radio

Understanding and Using the Fermi Science Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asercion, Joseph

2018-01-01

The Fermi Science Support Center (FSSC) provides information, documentation, and tools for the analysis of Fermi science data, including both the Large-Area Telescope (LAT) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). Source and binary versions of the Fermi Science Tools can be downloaded from the FSSC website, and are supported on multiple platforms. An overview document, the Cicerone, provides details of the Fermi mission, the science instruments and their response functions, the science data preparation and analysis process, and interpretation of the results. Analysis Threads and a reference manual available on the FSSC website provide the user with step-by-step instructions for many different types of data analysis: point source analysis - generating maps, spectra, and light curves, pulsar timing analysis, source identification, and the use of python for scripting customized analysis chains. We present an overview of the structure of the Fermi science tools and documentation, and how to acquire them. We also provide examples of standard analyses, including tips and tricks for improving Fermi science analysis.

Early-time VLA Observations and Broadband Afterglow Analysis of the Fermi/LAT Detected GRB 130907A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veres, Péter; Corsi, Alessandra; Frail, Dale A.; Cenko, S. Bradley; Perley, Daniel A.

2015-09-01

We present multi-wavelength observations of the hyper-energetic gamma-ray burst (GRB) 130907A, a Swift-discovered burst with early radio observations starting at ≈4 hr after the γ-ray trigger. GRB 130907A was also detected by the Fermi/LAT instrument and at late times showed a strong spectral evolution in X-rays. We focus on the early-time radio observations, especially at >10 GHz, to attempt to identify reverse shock signatures. While our radio follow-up of GRB 130907A ranks among the earliest observations of a GRB with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, we did not see an unambiguous signature of a reverse shock. While a model with both reverse and forward shock can correctly describe the observations, the data is not constraining enough to decide upon the presence of the reverse-shock component. We model the broadband data using a simple forward-shock synchrotron scenario with a transition from a wind environment to a constant density interstellar medium (ISM) in order to account for the observed features. Within the confines of this model, we also derive the underlying physical parameters of the fireball, which are within typical ranges except for the wind density parameter (A*), which is higher than those for bursts with wind-ISM transition, but typical for the general population of bursts. We note the importance of early-time radio observations of the afterglow (and of well-sampled light curves) for unambiguously identifying the potential contribution of the reverse shock.

Fermi Large Area Telescope Observation Of A Gamma-Ray Source At The Position Of Eta Carinae

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A,

2010-10-13

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected a γ-ray source that is spatially consistent with the location of Eta Carinae. This source has been persistently bright since the beginning of the LAT survey observations (from 2008 August to 2009 July, the time interval considered here). The γ-ray signal is detected significantly throughout the LAT energy band (i.e., up to ~100 GeV). The 0.1-100 GeV energy spectrum is well represented by a combination of a cutoff power-law model (<10 GeV) and a hard power-law component (>10 GeV). The total flux (>100 MeV) is 3.7 +0.3more » –0.1 × 10 –7 photons s –1 cm –2, with additional systematic uncertainties of 10%, and consistent with the average flux measured by AGILE. The light curve obtained by Fermi is consistent with steady emission. Our observations do not confirm the presence of a γ-ray flare in 2008 October, as reported by Tavani et al., although we cannot exclude that a flare lasting only a few hours escaped detection by the Fermi LAT. We also do not find any evidence for γ-ray variability that correlates with the large X-ray variability of Eta Carinae observed during 2008 December and 2009 January. We are thus not able to establish an unambiguous identification of the LAT source with Eta Carinae.« less

The fermi paradox is neither Fermi's nor a paradox.

PubMed

Gray, Robert H

2015-03-01

The so-called Fermi paradox claims that if technological life existed anywhere else, we would see evidence of its visits to Earth--and since we do not, such life does not exist, or some special explanation is needed. Enrico Fermi, however, never published anything on this topic. On the one occasion he is known to have mentioned it, he asked "Where is everybody?"--apparently suggesting that we do not see extraterrestrials on Earth because interstellar travel may not be feasible, but not suggesting that intelligent extraterrestrial life does not exist or suggesting its absence is paradoxical. The claim "they are not here; therefore they do not exist" was first published by Michael Hart, claiming that interstellar travel and colonization of the Galaxy would be inevitable if intelligent extraterrestrial life existed, and taking its absence here as proof that it does not exist anywhere. The Fermi paradox appears to originate in Hart's argument, not Fermi's question. Clarifying the origin of these ideas is important, because the Fermi paradox is seen by some as an authoritative objection to searching for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence--cited in the U.S. Congress as a reason for killing NASA's SETI program on one occasion. But evidence indicates that it misrepresents Fermi's views, misappropriates his authority, deprives the actual authors of credit, and is not a valid paradox.

SEARCHES FOR MILLISECOND PULSAR CANDIDATES AMONG THE UNIDENTIFIED FERMI OBJECTS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hui, C. Y.; Park, S. M.; Hu, C. P.

2015-08-10

Here we report the results of searching millisecond pulsar (MSP) candidates from the Fermi LAT second source catalog (2FGL). Seven unassociated γ-ray sources in this catalog are identified as promising MSP candidates based on their γ-ray properties. Through the X-ray analysis, we have detected possible X-ray counterparts, localized to an arcsecond accuracy. We have systematically estimated their X-ray fluxes and compared them with the corresponding γ-ray fluxes. The X-ray to γ-ray flux ratios for 2FGL J1653.6-0159 and 2FGL J1946.4-5402 are comparable with the typical value for pulsars. For 2FGL J1625.2-0020, 2FGL J1653.6-0159, and 2FGL J1946.4-5402, their candidate X-ray counterparts aremore » bright enough to perform a detailed spectral and temporal analysis to discriminate their thermal/non-thermal nature and search for the periodic signal. We have also searched for possible optical/IR counterparts at the X-ray positions. For the optical/IR source coincident with the brightest X-ray object associated with 2FGL J1120.0-2204, its spectral energy distribution is comparable with a late-type star. Evidence for the variability has also been found by examining its optical light curve. All the aforementioned 2FGL sources resemble a pulsar in one or more aspects, making them promising targets for follow-up investigations.« less

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Fermi/non-Fermi blazars jet power and accretion (Chen+, 2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Y. Y.; Zhang, X.; Zhang, H. J.; Yu, X. L.

2017-11-01

We selected the sample using radio catalogues to get the widest possible sample of blazars based on their radio properties. We split them into Fermi-detected sources and non-Fermi detections. Massaro et al. (2009, J/A+A/495/691) created the "Multifrequency Catalogue of Blazars" (Roma-BZCAT), which classifies blazars into three main groups based on their spectral properties. In total, we have a sample containing 177 clean Fermi blazars (96 Fermi FSRQs and 81 Fermi BL Lacs) and 133 non-Fermi blazars (105 non-Fermi FSRQs and 28 non-Fermi BL Lacs). (2 data files).

Fermi-LAT observations of the gamma-ray burst GRB 130427A.

PubMed

Ackermann, M; Ajello, M; Asano, K; Atwood, W B; Axelsson, M; Baldini, L; Ballet, J; Barbiellini, G; Baring, M G; Bastieri, D; Bechtol, K; Bellazzini, R; Bissaldi, E; Bonamente, E; Bregeon, J; Brigida, M; Bruel, P; Buehler, R; Burgess, J Michael; Buson, S; Caliandro, G A; Cameron, R A; Caraveo, P A; Cecchi, C; Chaplin, V; Charles, E; Chekhtman, A; Cheung, C C; Chiang, J; Chiaro, G; Ciprini, S; Claus, R; Cleveland, W; Cohen-Tanugi, J; Collazzi, A; Cominsky, L R; Connaughton, V; Conrad, J; Cutini, S; D'Ammando, F; de Angelis, A; DeKlotz, M; de Palma, F; Dermer, C D; Desiante, R; Diekmann, A; Di Venere, L; Drell, P S; Drlica-Wagner, A; Favuzzi, C; Fegan, S J; Ferrara, E C; Finke, J; Fitzpatrick, G; Focke, W B; Franckowiak, A; Fukazawa, Y; Funk, S; Fusco, P; Gargano, F; Gehrels, N; Germani, S; Gibby, M; Giglietto, N; Giles, M; Giordano, F; Giroletti, M; Godfrey, G; Granot, J; Grenier, I A; Grove, J E; Gruber, D; Guiriec, S; Hadasch, D; Hanabata, Y; Harding, A K; Hayashida, M; Hays, E; Horan, D; Hughes, R E; Inoue, Y; Jogler, T; Jóhannesson, G; Johnson, W N; Kawano, T; Knödlseder, J; Kocevski, D; Kuss, M; Lande, J; Larsson, S; Latronico, L; Longo, F; Loparco, F; Lovellette, M N; Lubrano, P; Mayer, M; Mazziotta, M N; McEnery, J E; Michelson, P F; Mizuno, T; Moiseev, A A; Monzani, M E; Moretti, E; Morselli, A; Moskalenko, I V; Murgia, S; Nemmen, R; Nuss, E; Ohno, M; Ohsugi, T; Okumura, A; Omodei, N; Orienti, M; Paneque, D; Pelassa, V; Perkins, J S; Pesce-Rollins, M; Petrosian, V; Piron, F; Pivato, G; Porter, T A; Racusin, J L; Rainò, S; Rando, R; Razzano, M; Razzaque, S; Reimer, A; Reimer, O; Ritz, S; Roth, M; Ryde, F; Sartori, A; Parkinson, P M Saz; Scargle, J D; Schulz, A; Sgrò, C; Siskind, E J; Sonbas, E; Spandre, G; Spinelli, P; Tajima, H; Takahashi, H; Thayer, J G; Thayer, J B; Thompson, D J; Tibaldo, L; Tinivella, M; Torres, D F; Tosti, G; Troja, E; Usher, T L; Vandenbroucke, J; Vasileiou, V; Vianello, G; Vitale, V; Winer, B L; Wood, K S; Yamazaki, R; Younes, G; Yu, H-F; Zhu, S J; Bhat, P N; Briggs, M S; Byrne, D; Foley, S; Goldstein, A; Jenke, P; Kippen, R M; Kouveliotou, C; McBreen, S; Meegan, C; Paciesas, W S; Preece, R; Rau, A; Tierney, D; van der Horst, A J; von Kienlin, A; Wilson-Hodge, C; Xiong, S; Cusumano, G; La Parola, V; Cummings, J R

2014-01-03

The observations of the exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst (GRB) 130427A by the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope provide constraints on the nature of these unique astrophysical sources. GRB 130427A had the largest fluence, highest-energy photon (95 GeV), longest γ-ray duration (20 hours), and one of the largest isotropic energy releases ever observed from a GRB. Temporal and spectral analyses of GRB 130427A challenge the widely accepted model that the nonthermal high-energy emission in the afterglow phase of GRBs is synchrotron emission radiated by electrons accelerated at an external shock.

Fermi-LAT Observations of the Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 130427A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Asano, K.; Atwood, W. B.; Axelsson, M.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Baring, M. G.; Bastieri, D.;

Collapse and revival of the Fermi sea in a Bose-Fermi mixture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iyer, Deepak; Will, Sebastian; Rigol, Marcos

2014-05-01

The collapse and revival of quantum fields is one of the most pristine forms of coherent quantum dynamics far from equilibrium. Until now, it has only been observed in the dynamical evolution of bosonic systems. We report on the first observation of the boson mediated collapse and revival of the Fermi sea in a Bose-Fermi mixture. Specifically, we present a simple model which captures the experimental observations shown in the talk titled Observation of Collapse and Revival Dynamics in the Fermionic Component of a Lattice Bose-Fermi Mixture by Sebastian Will. Our theoretical analysis shows why the results are robust to the presence of harmonic traps during the loading or the time evolution phase. It also makes apparent that the fermionic dynamics is independent of whether the bosonic component consists of a coherent state or localized Fock states with random occupation numbers. Because of the robustness of the experimental results, we argue that this kind of collapse and revival experiment can be used to accurately characterize interactions between bosons and fermions in a lattice.

Consistency with synchrotron emission in the bright GRB 160625B observed by Fermi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ravasio, M. E.; Oganesyan, G.; Ghirlanda, G.; Nava, L.; Ghisellini, G.; Pescalli, A.; Celotti, A.

2018-05-01

We present time-resolved spectral analysis of prompt emission from GRB 160625B, one of the brightest bursts ever detected by Fermi in its nine years of operations. Standard empirical functions fail to provide an acceptable fit to the GBM spectral data, which instead require the addition of a low-energy break to the fitting function. We introduce a new fitting function, called 2SBPL, consisting of three smoothly connected power laws. Fitting this model to the data, the goodness of the fits significantly improves and the spectral parameters are well constrained. We also test a spectral model that combines non-thermal and thermal (black body) components, but find that the 2SBPL model is systematically favoured. The spectral evolution shows that the spectral break is located around Ebreak 100 keV, while the usual νFν peak energy feature Epeak evolves in the 0.5-6 MeV energy range. The slopes below and above Ebreak are consistent with the values -0.67 and -1.5, respectively, expected from synchrotron emission produced by a relativistic electron population with a low-energy cut-off. If Ebreak is interpreted as the synchrotron cooling frequency, the implied magnetic field in the emitting region is 10 Gauss, i.e. orders of magnitudes smaller than the value expected for a dissipation region located at 1013-14 cm from the central engine. The low ratio between Epeak and Ebreak implies that the radiative cooling is incomplete, contrary to what is expected in strongly magnetized and compact emitting regions.

Fermi's Conundrum: Proliferation and Closed Societies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teller, Wendy; Westfall, Catherine

2007-04-01

On January 1, 1946 Emily Taft Douglas, a freshman Representative at Large for Illinois, sent a letter to Enrico Fermi. She wanted to know whether, if atomic energy was used for peaceful purposes, it might be possible to clandestinely divert some material for bombs. Douglas first learned about the bomb not quite five months before when Hiroshima was bombed. Even though she was not a scientist she identified a key problem of the nuclear age. Fermi responded with requirements to allow peaceful uses of atomic energy and still outlaw nuclear weapons. First, free interchange of information between people was required, and second, people who reported possible violations had to be protected. Fermi had lived in Mussolini's Italy and worked under the war time secrecy restrictions of the Manhattan Project. He was not optimistic that these conditions could be met. This paper discusses how Douglas came to recognize the proliferation issue and what led Fermi to his solution and his pessimism about its practicality.

Simulations of Beam Optics and Bremsstrahlung for High Intensity and Brightness Channeling Radiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hyun, J.; Piot, P.; Sen, T.

2018-04-12

This paper presents X-ray spectra of channeling radiation expected at the FAST (Fermi Accelerator Science and Technology) facility in Fermilab. Our purpose is to produce high brightness quasi-monochromatic X-rays in an energy range from 40 keV to 110 keV. We will use a diamond crystal and low emittance electrons with an energy of around 43 MeV. The quality of emitted X-rays depends on parameters of the electron beam at the crystal. We present simulations of the beam optics for high brightness and high yield operations for a range of bunch charges. We estimate the X-ray spectra including bremsstrahlung background. Wemore » discuss how the electron beam distributions after the diamond crystal are affected by channeling. We discuss an X-ray detector system to avoid pile-up effects during high charge operations.« less

Homogeneous Atomic Fermi Gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukherjee, Biswaroop; Yan, Zhenjie; Patel, Parth B.; Hadzibabic, Zoran; Yefsah, Tarik; Struck, Julian; Zwierlein, Martin W.

2017-03-01

We report on the creation of homogeneous Fermi gases of ultracold atoms in a uniform potential. In the momentum distribution of a spin-polarized gas, we observe the emergence of the Fermi surface and the saturated occupation of one particle per momentum state: the striking consequence of Pauli blocking in momentum space for a degenerate gas. Cooling a spin-balanced Fermi gas at unitarity, we create homogeneous superfluids and observe spatially uniform pair condensates. For thermodynamic measurements, we introduce a hybrid potential that is harmonic in one dimension and uniform in the other two. The spatially resolved compressibility reveals the superfluid transition in a spin-balanced Fermi gas, saturation in a fully polarized Fermi gas, and strong attraction in the polaronic regime of a partially polarized Fermi gas.

Afternoon nap and bright light exposure improve cognitive flexibility post lunch.

PubMed

Slama, Hichem; Deliens, Gaétane; Schmitz, Rémy; Peigneux, Philippe; Leproult, Rachel

2015-01-01

Beneficial effects of napping or bright light exposure on cognitive performance have been reported in participants exposed to sleep loss. Nonetheless, few studies investigated the effect of these potential countermeasures against the temporary drop in performance observed in mid-afternoon, and even less so on cognitive flexibility, a crucial component of executive functions. This study investigated the impact of either an afternoon nap or bright light exposure on post-prandial alterations in task switching performance in well-rested participants. Twenty-five healthy adults participated in two randomized experimental conditions, either wake versus nap (n=15), or bright light versus placebo (n=10). Participants were tested on a switching task three times (morning, post-lunch and late afternoon sessions). The interventions occurred prior to the post-lunch session. In the nap/wake condition, participants either stayed awake watching a 30-minute documentary or had the opportunity to take a nap for 30 minutes. In the bright light/placebo condition, participants watched a documentary under either bright blue light or dim orange light (placebo) for 30 minutes. The switch cost estimates cognitive flexibility and measures task-switching efficiency. Increased switch cost scores indicate higher difficulties to switch between tasks. In both control conditions (wake or placebo), accuracy switch-cost score increased post lunch. Both interventions (nap or bright light) elicited a decrease in accuracy switch-cost score post lunch, which was associated with diminished fatigue and decreased variability in vigilance. Additionally, there was a trend for a post-lunch benefit of bright light with a decreased latency switch-cost score. In the nap group, improvements in accuracy switch-cost score were associated with more NREM sleep stage N1. Thus, exposure to bright light during the post-lunch dip, a countermeasure easily applicable in daily life, results in similar beneficial effects as

Afternoon Nap and Bright Light Exposure Improve Cognitive Flexibility Post Lunch

PubMed Central

Schmitz, Rémy; Peigneux, Philippe; Leproult, Rachel

2015-01-01

Beneficial effects of napping or bright light exposure on cognitive performance have been reported in participants exposed to sleep loss. Nonetheless, few studies investigated the effect of these potential countermeasures against the temporary drop in performance observed in mid-afternoon, and even less so on cognitive flexibility, a crucial component of executive functions. This study investigated the impact of either an afternoon nap or bright light exposure on post-prandial alterations in task switching performance in well-rested participants. Twenty-five healthy adults participated in two randomized experimental conditions, either wake versus nap (n=15), or bright light versus placebo (n=10). Participants were tested on a switching task three times (morning, post-lunch and late afternoon sessions). The interventions occurred prior to the post-lunch session. In the nap/wake condition, participants either stayed awake watching a 30-minute documentary or had the opportunity to take a nap for 30 minutes. In the bright light/placebo condition, participants watched a documentary under either bright blue light or dim orange light (placebo) for 30 minutes. The switch cost estimates cognitive flexibility and measures task-switching efficiency. Increased switch cost scores indicate higher difficulties to switch between tasks. In both control conditions (wake or placebo), accuracy switch-cost score increased post lunch. Both interventions (nap or bright light) elicited a decrease in accuracy switch-cost score post lunch, which was associated with diminished fatigue and decreased variability in vigilance. Additionally, there was a trend for a post-lunch benefit of bright light with a decreased latency switch-cost score. In the nap group, improvements in accuracy switch-cost score were associated with more NREM sleep stage N1. Thus, exposure to bright light during the post-lunch dip, a countermeasure easily applicable in daily life, results in similar beneficial effects as

Fermi acceleration in time-dependent billiards: theory of the velocity diffusion in conformally breathing fully chaotic billiards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batistić, Benjamin; Robnik, Marko

2011-09-01

We study aspects of the Fermi acceleration (the unbounded growth of the energy) in a certain class of time-dependent 2D billiards. Specifically, we look at the conformally breathing billiards (periodic oscillation of the boundary which preserves the shape of the billiard at all times), which are fully chaotic as static (frozen) billiards, and we show that for large velocities around v0 and for not too long times, we observe just normal diffusion of the velocity as a function of the physical (continuous) time, around v0. However, the diffusion is not homogeneous, as the diffusion constant D depends on v0 as a power law D∝1/v30. Taking this into account, we show that to the leading order the average velocity v(n) as a function of the number of collisions n obeys a power law v∝n1/6 thus, the Fermi acceleration exponent is β = 1/6, which is in excellent agreement with the numerical calculations of the fully chaotic oval billiard, the Sinai billiard and the cardioid billiard. The error of the velocity estimates is of the order 1/v2. Thus, the higher the velocity, the better our analytic approximation. Moreover, we derive the underlying universal equation of the velocity dynamics of the time-dependent conformally breathing billiards, correct up to and including the order 1/v in the regime of the large velocity of the particle v. This universal equation does not depend on the dynamical properties of the system (integrability, ergodicity, chaoticity). We present the results of the numerical simulations for three billiards in complete agreement with the theory. We believe that this is a first step towards theoretical understanding of the power law growth and the Fermi acceleration exponents in 2D billiards, although our theory is so far specialized to the conformally breathing fully chaotic billiards.

Subjective time runs faster under the influence of bright rather than dim light conditions during the forenoon.

PubMed

Morita, Takeshi; Fukui, Tomoe; Morofushi, Masayo; Tokura, Hiromi

2007-05-16

The study investigated if 6 h morning bright light exposure, compared with dim light exposure, could influence time sense (range: 5-15 s). Eight women served as participants. The participant entered a bioclimatic chamber at 10:00 h on the day before the test day, where an ambient temperature and relative humidity were controlled at 25 degrees C and 60%RH. She sat quietly in a sofa in 50 lx until 22:00 h, retired at 22:00 h and then slept in total darkness. She rose at 07:00 h the following morning and again sat quietly in a sofa till 13:00 h, either in bright (2500 lx) or dim light (50 lx), the order of light intensities between the two occasions being randomized. The time-estimation test was performed from 13:00 to 13:10 h in 200 lx. The participant estimated the time that had elapsed between two buzzers, ranging over 5-15 s, and inputting the estimate into a computer. The test was carried out separately upon each individual. Results showed that the participants estimated higher durations of the given time intervals after previous exposure to 6 h of bright rather than dim light. The finding is discussed in terms of different load errors (difference between the actual core temperature and its thermoregulatory set-point) following 6-h exposure to bright or dim light in the morning.

The abundance properties of nearby late-type galaxies. II. The relation between abundance distributions and surface brightness profiles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pilyugin, L. S.; Grebel, E. K.; Zinchenko, I. A.

2014-12-01

The relations between oxygen abundance and disk surface brightness (OH–SB relation) in the infrared W1 band are examined for nearby late-type galaxies. The oxygen abundances were presented in Paper I. The photometric characteristics of the disks are inferred here using photometric maps from the literature through bulge-disk decomposition. We find evidence that the OH–SB relation is not unique but depends on the galactocentric distance r (taken as a fraction of the optical radius R{sub 25}) and on the properties of a galaxy: the disk scale length h and the morphological T-type. We suggest a general, four-dimensional OH–SB relation with themore » values r, h, and T as parameters. The parametric OH–SB relation reproduces the observed data better than a simple, one-parameter relation; the deviations resulting when using our parametric relation are smaller by a factor of ∼1.4 than that of the simple relation. The influence of the parameters on the OH–SB relation varies with galactocentric distance. The influence of the T-type on the OH–SB relation is negligible at the centers of galaxies and increases with galactocentric distance. In contrast, the influence of the disk scale length on the OH–SB relation is at a maximum at the centers of galaxies and decreases with galactocentric distance, disappearing at the optical edges of galaxies. Two-dimensional relations can be used to reproduce the observed data at the optical edges of the disks and at the centers of the disks. The disk scale length should be used as a second parameter in the OH–SB relation at the center of the disk while the morphological T-type should be used as a second parameter in the relation at optical edge of the disk. The relations between oxygen abundance and disk surface brightness in the optical B and infrared K bands at the center of the disk and at optical edge of the disk are also considered. The general properties of the abundance–surface brightness relations are similar for

A low-latency pipeline for GRB light curve and spectrum using Fermi/GBM near real-time data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yi; Zhang, Bin-Bin; Xiong, Shao-Lin; Long, Xi; Zhang, Qiang; Song, Li-Ming; Sun, Jian-Chao; Wang, Yuan-Hao; Li, Han-Cheng; Bu, Qing-Cui; Feng, Min-Zi; Li, Zheng-Heng; Wen, Xing; Wu, Bo-Bing; Zhang, Lai-Yu; Zhang, Yong-Jie; Zhang, Shuang-Nan; Shao, Jian-Xiong

2018-05-01

Rapid response and short time latency are very important for Time Domain Astronomy, such as the observations of Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) and electromagnetic (EM) counterparts of gravitational waves (GWs). Based on near real-time Fermi/GBM data, we developed a low-latency pipeline to automatically calculate the temporal and spectral properties of GRBs. With this pipeline, some important parameters can be obtained, such as T 90 and fluence, within ∼ 20 min after the GRB trigger. For ∼ 90% of GRBs, T 90 and fluence are consistent with the GBM catalog results within 2σ errors. This pipeline has been used by the Gamma-ray Bursts Polarimeter (POLAR) and the Insight Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) to follow up the bursts of interest. For GRB 170817A, the first EM counterpart of GW events detected by Fermi/GBM and INTEGRAL/SPI-ACS, the pipeline gave T 90 and spectral information 21 min after the GBM trigger, providing important information for POLAR and Insight-HXMT observations.

Effects of bright and blue light on acoustic reaction time and maximum handgrip strength in male athletes: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Knaier, Raphael; Schäfer, Juliane; Rossmeissl, Anja; Klenk, Christopher; Hanssen, Henner; Höchsmann, Christoph; Cajochen, Christian; Schmidt-Trucksäss, Arno

2017-08-01

To assess which type of evening light exposure has the greatest effect on reaction time and maximum handgrip strength. These were pre-specified secondary outcomes in a trial which primarily investigated the influence of light on cycling performance. Seventy-four male athletes were allocated at random to either bright light (BRIGHT), monochromatic blue light (BLUE), or a control condition (CONTROL). Light exposure lasted for 60 min and started 17 h after the individual midpoint of sleep. Reaction time, handgrip strength, and melatonin levels were measured before and after the light exposure. We used analysis of covariance to compare the groups with respect to the investigated outcomes. Two participants had to be excluded retrospectively. The remaining 72 participants had a median age of 23 years. The adjusted difference in reaction time was -1 ms [95% confidence interval (CI) -8, 6] for participants in BRIGHT and 2 ms (95% CI -5, 9) for participants in BLUE, both relative to participants in CONTROL. The adjusted difference in handgrip strength was 0.9 kg (95% CI -1.5, 3.3) for participants in BRIGHT and -0.3 kg (95% CI -2.7, 2.0) for participants in BLUE, both relative to participants in CONTROL. After the light exposure, 17% of participants in BRIGHT, 22% in BLUE, and 29% in CONTROL showed melatonin concentrations of 2 pg/ml or higher. The results suggest that bright light might reduce melatonin levels but neither bright nor blue light exposure in the evening seem to improve reaction time or handgrip strength in athletes.

Fermi-LAT Observations of the Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 130427A

DOE PAGES

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Asano, K.; ...

2013-11-21

The Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope provide constraints on the nature of these unique astrophysical sources using the observations of the exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst (GRB) 130427A. We found that GRB 130427A had the largest fluence, highest-energy photon (95 GeV), longest γ-ray duration (20 hours), and one of the largest isotropic energy releases ever observed from a GRB. Temporal and spectral analyses of GRB 130427A challenge the widely accepted model that the nonthermal high-energy emission in the afterglow phase of GRBs is synchrotron emission radiated by electrons accelerated at an external shock.

Simulations of Beam Optics and Bremsstrahlung for High Intensity and Brightness Channeling Radiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hyun, J.; Piot, P.; Sen, T.

This paper presents X-ray spectra of channeling radiation expected at the FAST (Fermi Accelerator Science and Technology) facility in Fermilab. Our purpose is to produce high brightness quasi-monochromatic X-rays in an energy range from 40 keV to 110 keV. We will use a diamond crystal and low emittance electrons with an energy of around 43 MeV. The quality of emitted X-rays depends on parameters of the electron beam at the crystal. We present simulations of the beam optics for high brightness and high yield operations for a range of bunch charges. We estimate the X-ray spectra including bremsstrahlung background. Wemore » discuss how the electron beam distributions after the diamond crystal are affected by channeling. Here, we discuss an X-ray detector system to avoid pile-up effects during high charge operations.« less

Simulations of Beam Optics and Bremsstrahlung for High Intensity and Brightness Channeling Radiation

DOE PAGES

Hyun, J.; Piot, P.; Sen, T.

2018-06-14

This paper presents X-ray spectra of channeling radiation expected at the FAST (Fermi Accelerator Science and Technology) facility in Fermilab. Our purpose is to produce high brightness quasi-monochromatic X-rays in an energy range from 40 keV to 110 keV. We will use a diamond crystal and low emittance electrons with an energy of around 43 MeV. The quality of emitted X-rays depends on parameters of the electron beam at the crystal. We present simulations of the beam optics for high brightness and high yield operations for a range of bunch charges. We estimate the X-ray spectra including bremsstrahlung background. Wemore » discuss how the electron beam distributions after the diamond crystal are affected by channeling. Here, we discuss an X-ray detector system to avoid pile-up effects during high charge operations.« less

Fermi Sees the Gamma Ray Sky

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-10-30

This view of the gamma-ray sky constructed from one year of Fermi LAT observations is the best view of the extreme universe to date. The map shows the rate at which the LAT detects gamma rays with energies above 300 million electron volts -- about 120 million times the energy of visible light -- from different sky directions. Brighter colors equal higher rates. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration Full story: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/first_year.html

Red-emission phosphor's brightness deterioration by x-ray and brightness recovery phenomenon by heating.

PubMed

Nakamura, Masaaki; Chida, Koichi; Inaba, Yohei; Kobayashi, Ryota; Zuguchi, Masayuki

2017-06-26

There are no feasible real-time and direct skin dosimeters for interventional radiology. One would be available if there were x-ray phosphors that had no brightness change caused by x-ray irradiation, but the emission of the Y 2 O 3 :Eu, (Y, Gd, Eu)BO 3 , and YVO 4 :Eu phosphors investigated in our previous study was reduced by x-ray irradiation. We found that the brightness of those phosphors recovered, and the purpose of this study is to investigate their recovery phenomena. It is expected that more kinds of phosphors could be used in x-ray dosimeters if the brightness changes caused by x-rays are elucidated and prevented. Three kinds of phosphors-Y 2 O 3 :Eu, (Y, Gd, Eu)BO 3 , and YVO 4 :Eu-were irradiated by x-rays (2 Gy) to reduce their brightness. After the irradiation, brightness changes occurring at room temperature and at 80 °C were investigated. The irradiation reduced the brightness of all the phosphors by 5%-10%, but the brightness of each recovered immediately both at room temperature and at 80 °C. The recovery at 80 °C was faster than that at room temperature, and at both temperatures the recovered brightness remained at 95%-98% of the brightness before the x-ray irradiation. The brightness recovery phenomena of Y 2 O 3 :Eu, (Y, Gd, Eu)BO 3 , and YVO 4 :Eu phosphors occurring after brightness deterioration due to x-ray irradiation were found to be more significant at 80 °C than at room temperature. More kinds of phosphors could be used in x-ray scintillation dosimeters if the reasons for the brightness changes caused by x-rays were elucidated.

A catalog of low surface brightness galaxies - List II

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schombert, James M.; Bothun, Gregory D.; Schneider, Stephen E.; Mcgaugh, Stacy S.

1992-01-01

A list of galaxies characterized by low surface brightness (LSB) is presented which facilitates the recognition of galaxies with brightnesses close to that of the sky. A total of 198 objects and 140 objects are listed in the primary and secondary catalogs respectively, and LSB galaxies are examined by means of H I redshift distributions. LSB disk galaxies are shown to have similar sizes and masses as the high-surface-brightness counterparts, and ellipticals and SOs are rarely encountered. Many LSB spirals have stellarlike nuclei, and most of the galaxies in the present catalog are late-type galaxies in the Sc, Sm, and Im classes. The LSB region of observational parameter space is shown to encompass a spectrum of types as full as that of the Hubble sequence. It is suggested that studies of LSB galaxies can provide important data regarding the formation and star-formation history of all galaxies.

Recent results of PADReS, the Photon Analysis Delivery and REduction System, from the FERMI FEL commissioning and user operations.

PubMed

Zangrando, Marco; Cocco, Daniele; Fava, Claudio; Gerusina, Simone; Gobessi, Riccardo; Mahne, Nicola; Mazzucco, Eric; Raimondi, Lorenzo; Rumiz, Luca; Svetina, Cristian

2015-05-01

The Photon Analysis Delivery and REduction System of FERMI (PADReS) has been routinely used during the machine commissioning and operations of FERMI since 2011. It has also served the needs of several user runs at the facility from late 2012. The system is endowed with online and shot-to-shot diagnostics giving information about intensity, spatial-angular distribution, spectral content, as well as other diagnostics to determine coherence, pulse length etc. Moreover, PADReS is capable of manipulating the beam in terms of intensity and optical parameters. Regarding the optics, besides a standard refocusing system based on an ellipsoidal mirror, the Kirkpatrick-Baez active optics systems are key elements and have been used intensively to meet users' requirements. A general description of the system is given, together with some selected results from the commissioning/operations/user beam time.

Energy-exchange collisions of dark-bright-bright vector solitons.

PubMed

Radhakrishnan, R; Manikandan, N; Aravinthan, K

2015-12-01

We find a dark component guiding the practically interesting bright-bright vector one-soliton to two different parametric domains giving rise to different physical situations by constructing a more general form of three-component dark-bright-bright mixed vector one-soliton solution of the generalized Manakov model with nine free real parameters. Moreover our main investigation of the collision dynamics of such mixed vector solitons by constructing the multisoliton solution of the generalized Manakov model with the help of Hirota technique reveals that the dark-bright-bright vector two-soliton supports energy-exchange collision dynamics. In particular the dark component preserves its initial form and the energy-exchange collision property of the bright-bright vector two-soliton solution of the Manakov model during collision. In addition the interactions between bound state dark-bright-bright vector solitons reveal oscillations in their amplitudes. A similar kind of breathing effect was also experimentally observed in the Bose-Einstein condensates. Some possible ways are theoretically suggested not only to control this breathing effect but also to manage the beating, bouncing, jumping, and attraction effects in the collision dynamics of dark-bright-bright vector solitons. The role of multiple free parameters in our solution is examined to define polarization vector, envelope speed, envelope width, envelope amplitude, grayness, and complex modulation of our solution. It is interesting to note that the polarization vector of our mixed vector one-soliton evolves in sphere or hyperboloid depending upon the initial parametric choices.

Minimal microwave anisotrophy from perturbations induced at late times

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jaffe, Andrew H.; Stebbins, Albert; Frieman, Joshua A.

1994-01-01

Aside from primordial gravitational instability of the cosmological fluid, various mechanisms have been proposed to generate large-scale structure at relatively late times, including, e.g., 'late-time' cosmological phase transitions. In these scenarios, it is envisioned that the universe is nearly homogeneous at the times of last scattering and that perturbations grow rapidly sometimes after the primordial plasma recombines. On this basis, it was suggested that large inhomogeneities could be generated while leaving relatively little imprint on the cosmic microwave background (MBR) anisotropy. In this paper, we calculate the minimal anisotropies possible in any 'late-time' scenario for structure formation, given the level of inhomogeneity observed at present. Since the growth of the inhomogeneity involves time-varying gravitational fields, these scenarios inevitably generate significant MBR anisotropy via the Sachs-Wolfe effect. Moreover, we show that the large-angle MBR anisotropy produced by the rapid post-recombination growth of inhomogeneity is generally greater than that produced by the same inhomogeneity growth via gravitational instability. In 'realistic' scenarios one can decrease the anisotropy compared to models with primordial adiabatic fluctuations, but only on very small angular scales. The value of any particular measure of the anisotropy can be made small in late-time models, but only by making the time-dependence of the gravitational field sufficiently 'pathological'.

Pulsar timing for the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope

DOE PAGES

Smith, D. A.; Guillemot, L.; Camilo, F.; ...

2008-10-27

Here, we describe a comprehensive pulsar monitoring campaign for the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly GLAST). The detection and study of pulsars in gamma rays give insights into the populations of neutron stars and supernova rates in the Galaxy, into particle acceleration mechanisms in neutron star magnetospheres, and into the “engines” driving pulsar wind nebulae. LAT's unprecedented sensitivity between 20 MeV and 300 GeV together with its 2.4 sr field-of-view makes detection of many gamma-ray pulsars likely, justifying the monitoring of over two hundred pulsars with large spin-down powers. To search for gamma-ray pulsationsmore » from most of these pulsars requires a set of phase-connected timing solutions spanning a year or more to properly align the sparse photon arrival times. We describe the choice of pulsars and the instruments involved in the campaign. Attention is paid to verifications of the LAT pulsar software, using for example giant radio pulses from the Crab and from PSR B1937+21 recorded at Nançay, and using X-ray data on PSR J0218+4232 from XMM-Newton. We demonstrate accuracy of the pulsar phase calculations at the microsecond level.« less

The Fermi-GBM Three-year X-Ray Burst Catalog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenke, P. A.; Linares, M.; Connaughton, V.; Beklen, E.; Camero-Arranz, A.; Finger, M. H.; Wilson-Hodge, C. A.

2016-08-01

The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is an all-sky gamma-ray monitor well known in the gamma-ray burst (GRB) community. Although GBM excels in detecting the hard, bright extragalactic GRBs, its sensitivity above 8 keV and its all-sky view make it an excellent instrument for the detection of rare, short-lived Galactic transients. In 2010 March, we initiated a systematic search for transients using GBM data. We conclude this phase of the search by presenting a three-year catalog of 1084 X-ray bursts. Using spectral analysis, location, and spatial distributions we classified the 1084 events into 752 thermonuclear X-ray bursts, 267 transient events from accretion flares and X-ray pulses, and 65 untriggered gamma-ray bursts. All thermonuclear bursts have peak blackbody temperatures broadly consistent with photospheric radius expansion (PRE) bursts. We find an average rate of 1.4 PRE bursts per day, integrated over all Galactic bursters within about 10 kpc. These include 33 and 10 bursts from the ultra-compact X-ray binaries 4U 0614+09 and 2S 0918-549, respectively. We discuss these recurrence times and estimate the total mass ejected by PRE bursts in our Galaxy.

Fermi level dependence of hydrogen diffusivity in GaN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polyakov, A. Y.; Smirnov, N. B.; Pearton, S. J.; Ren, F.; Theys, B.; Jomard, F.; Teukam, Z.; Dmitriev, V. A.; Nikolaev, A. E.; Usikov, A. S.; Nikitina, I. P.

2001-09-01

Hydrogen diffusion studies were performed in GaN samples with different Fermi level positions. It is shown that, at 350 °C, hydrogen diffusion is quite fast in heavily Mg doped p-type material with the Fermi level close to Ev+0.15 eV, considerably slower in high-resistivity p-GaN(Zn) with the Fermi level Ev+0.9 eV, while for conducting and semi-insulating n-GaN samples with the Fermi level in the upper half of the band gap no measurable hydrogen diffusion could be detected. For these latter samples it is shown that higher diffusion temperature of 500 °C and longer times (50 h) are necessary to incorporate hydrogen to appreciable depth. These findings are in line with previously published theoretical predictions of the dependence of hydrogen interstitials formation in GaN on the Fermi level position.

Fermi Observations of γ-Ray Emission from the Moon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Atwoo, W. B.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bechtol, K.; Bellazzini, R.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bonamente, E.; Borgland, A. W.; Bottacini, E.; Bouvier, A.; Bregeon, J.; Brigida, M.; Bruel, P.; Buehler, R.; Buson, S.; Caliandro, G. A.; Cameron, R. A.; Caraveo, P. A.; Casandjian, J. M.; Cecchi, C.; Charles, E.; Chekhtman, A.; Chiang, J.; Ciprini, S.; Claus, R.; Cohen-Tanugi, J.; Conrad, J.; Cutini, S.; D'Ammando, F.; de Angelis, A.; de Palma, F.; Dermer, C. D.; Digel, S. W.; Silva, E. do Couto e.; Drell, P. S.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Dubois, R.; Favuzzi, C.; Fegan, S. J.; Focke, W. B.; Fortin, P.; Fukazawa, Y.; Funk, S.; Fusco, P.; Gargano, F.; Gehrels, N.; Germani, S.; Giglietto, N.; Giommi, P.; Giordano, F.; Giroletti, M.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Gomez-Vargas, G. A.; Grenier, I. A.; Grove, J. E.; Guiriec, S.; Hadasch, D.; Hays, E.; Hill, A. B.; Horan, D.; Hou, X.; Hughes, R. E.; Iafrate, G.; Jackson, M. S.; Jóhannesson, G.; Johnson, A. S.; Kamae, T.; Katagiri, H.; Kataoka, J.; Knödlseder, J.; Kuss, M.; Lande, J.; Larsson, S.; Latronico, L.; Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Longo, F.; Loparco, F.; Lott, B.; Lovellette, M. N.; Lubrano, P.; Mazziotta, M. N.; McEnery, J. E.; Mehault, J.; Michelson, P. F.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Mizuno, T.; Moiseev, A. A.; Monte, C.; Monzani, M. E.; Morselli, A.; Moskalenko, I. V.; Murgia, S.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Nolan, P. L.; Norris, J. P.; Nuss, E.; Ohno, M.; Ohsugi, T.; Okumura, A.; Omodei, N.; Orienti, M.; Orlando, E.; Ormes, J. F.; Ozaki, M.; Paneque, D.; Panetta, J. H.; Parent, D.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Pierbattista, M.; Piron, F.; Pivato, G.; Poon, H.; Porter, T. A.; Prokhorov, D.; Rainò, S.; Rando, R.; Razzano, M.; Razzaque, S.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Reposeur, T.; Rochester, L. S.; Roth, M.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Sanchez, D. A.; Sbarra, C.; Schalk, T. L.; Sgrò, C.; Share, G. H.; Siskind, E. J.; Spandre, G.; Spinelli, P.; Stawarz, Ł.; Takahashi, H.; Tanaka, T.; Thayer, J. G.; Thayer, J. B.; Thompson, D. J.; Tibaldo, L.; Tinivella, M.; Torres, D. F.; Tosti, G.; Troja, E.; Uchiyama, Y.; Usher, T. L.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vasileiou, V.; Vianello, G.; Vitale, V.; Waite, A. P.; Wang, P.; Winer, B. L.; Wood, D. L.; Wood, K. S.; Yang, Z.; Zimmer, S.

2012-10-01

We report on the detection of high-energy γ-ray emission from the Moon during the first 24 months of observations by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). This emission comes from particle cascades produced by cosmic-ray (CR) nuclei and electrons interacting with the lunar surface. The differential spectrum of the Moon is soft and can be described as a log-parabolic function with an effective cutoff at 2-3 GeV, while the average integral flux measured with the LAT from the beginning of observations in 2008 August to the end of 2010 August is F(>100\\ MeV) =(1.04+/- 0.01\\,{[statistical\\ error]}+/- 0.1\\,{[systematic\\ error]})\\times 10^{-6} cm-2 s-1. This flux is about a factor 2-3 higher than that observed between 1991 and 1994 by the EGRET experiment on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, F(>100 MeV) ≈ 5 × 10-7 cm-2 s-1, when solar activity was relatively high. The higher γ-ray flux measured by Fermi is consistent with the deep solar minimum conditions during the first 24 months of the mission, which reduced effects of heliospheric modulation, and thus increased the heliospheric flux of Galactic CRs. A detailed comparison of the light curve with McMurdo Neutron Monitor rates suggests a correlation of the trends. The Moon and the Sun are so far the only known bright emitters of γ-rays with fast celestial motion. Their paths across the sky are projected onto the Galactic center and high Galactic latitudes as well as onto other areas crowded with high-energy γ-ray sources. Analysis of the lunar and solar emission may thus be important for studies of weak and transient sources near the ecliptic.

Pseudogap-generated a coexistence of Fermi arcs and Fermi pockets in cuprate superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Huaisong; Gao, Deheng; Feng, Shiping

2017-03-01

One of the most intriguing puzzle is why there is a coexistence of Fermi arcs and Fermi pockets in the pseudogap phase of cuprate superconductors? This puzzle is calling for an explanation. Based on the t - J model in the fermion-spin representation, the coexistence of the Fermi arcs and Fermi pockets in cuprate superconductors is studied by taking into account the pseudogap effect. It is shown that the pseudogap induces an energy band splitting, and then the poles of the electron Green's function at zero energy form two contours in momentum space, however, the electron spectral weight on these two contours around the antinodal region is gapped out by the pseudogap, leaving behind the low-energy electron spectral weight only located at the disconnected segments around the nodal region. In particular, the tips of these disconnected segments converge on the hot spots to form the closed Fermi pockets, generating a coexistence of the Fermi arcs and Fermi pockets. Moreover, the single-particle coherent weight is directly related to the pseudogap, and grows linearly with doping. The calculated result of the overall dispersion of the electron excitations is in qualitative agreement with the experimental data. The theory also predicts that the pseudogap-induced peak-dip-hump structure in the electron spectrum is absent from the hot-spot directions.

Fermi surfaces in Kondo insulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hsu; Hartstein, Máté; Wallace, Gregory J.; Davies, Alexander J.; Ciomaga Hatnean, Monica; Johannes, Michelle D.; Shitsevalova, Natalya; Balakrishnan, Geetha; Sebastian, Suchitra E.

2018-04-01

We report magnetic quantum oscillations measured using torque magnetisation in the Kondo insulator YbB12 and discuss the potential origin of the underlying Fermi surface. Observed quantum oscillations as well as complementary quantities such as a finite linear specific heat capacity in YbB12 exhibit similarities with the Kondo insulator SmB6, yet also crucial differences. Small heavy Fermi sections are observed in YbB12 with similarities to the neighbouring heavy fermion semimetallic Fermi surface, in contrast to large light Fermi surface sections in SmB6 which are more similar to the conduction electron Fermi surface. A rich spectrum of theoretical models is suggested to explain the origin across different Kondo insulating families of a bulk Fermi surface potentially from novel itinerant quasiparticles that couple to magnetic fields, yet do not couple to weak DC electric fields.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: New spectral lag measurements of 50 Fermi/GBM GRBs (Shao+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, L.; Zhang, B.-B.; Wang, F.-R.; Wu, X.-F.; Cheng, Y.-H.; Zhang, Xi; Yu, B.-Y.; Xi, B.-J.; Wang, X.; Feng, H.-X.; Zhang, M.; Xu, D.

2018-03-01

This work made extensive use of the data from the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. For the first step, we searched in the official GBM online burst catalog (Gruber+ 2014ApJS..211...12G ; von Kienlin+ 2014, J/ApJS/211/13) for bright bursts with a total fluence F>5x10-6erg/cm-2 in 10-1000keV. See section 2 for the details on the sample selection. (1 data file).

The Late-Time Evolution of SN 2002hh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clayton, G. C.; Welch, D. L.

2005-12-01

We present new spectroscopic and photometric observations of the interesting Type II-P supernova, SN 2002hh, in NGC 6946. Gemini/GMOS-N has been used to acquire visible spectra and also g'r'i' photometry covering 5 epochs between August 2004 and October 2005, following the evolution of the supernova from 650 to 1050 d since its initial explosion. Supernova spectra obtained 3 years after outburst are rare. In addition, data have been obtained at several epochs in the JHK bands using the Steward 90" with the 256x256 imager and with Gemini/NIRI. Dust emission from SN 2002hh has been detected at mid-infrared wavelengths by SST/IRAC and confirmed by higher angular resolution Gemini/Michelle observations (Barlow et al. 2005, ApJ, 627, L113). There is a pre-existing optically thick dust shell having a mass of ˜0.1 Msun, suggesting a massive M supergiant or luminous blue variable precursor. However, the formation of new dust in the ejecta of SN 2002hh has not been ruled out. The IR emission from any such new dust would be swamped by the emission from the existing circumstellar dust. The new data, presented here, are being used to investigate the late-time evolution of SN 2002hh and whether new dust has been formed in its ejecta. In particular, we are looking for changes in the H-alpha emission line profiles and for variations in brightness due to changes in the extinction and emission due to dust. This study is partially supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Fermi surface in the absence of a Fermi liquid in the Kondo insulator SmB6

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartstein, M.; Toews, W. H.; Hsu, Y.-T.; Zeng, B.; Chen, X.; Hatnean, M. Ciomaga; Zhang, Q. R.; Nakamura, S.; Padgett, A. S.; Rodway-Gant, G.; Berk, J.; Kingston, M. K.; Zhang, G. H.; Chan, M. K.; Yamashita, S.; Sakakibara, T.; Takano, Y.; Park, J.-H.; Balicas, L.; Harrison, N.; Shitsevalova, N.; Balakrishnan, G.; Lonzarich, G. G.; Hill, R. W.; Sutherland, M.; Sebastian, Suchitra E.

2018-02-01

The search for a Fermi surface in the absence of a conventional Fermi liquid has thus far yielded very few potential candidates. Among promising materials are spin-frustrated Mott insulators near the insulator-metal transition, where theory predicts a Fermi surface associated with neutral low-energy excitations. Here we reveal another route to experimentally realize a Fermi surface in the absence of a Fermi liquid by the experimental study of a Kondo insulator SmB6 positioned close to the insulator-metal transition. We present experimental signatures down to low temperatures (<<1 K) associated with a Fermi surface in the bulk, including a sizeable linear specific heat coefficient, and on the application of a finite magnetic field, bulk magnetic quantum oscillations, finite quantum oscillatory entropy, and substantial enhancement in thermal conductivity well below the charge gap energy scale. Thus, the weight of evidence indicates that despite an extreme instance of Fermi liquid breakdown in Kondo insulating SmB6, a Fermi surface arises from novel itinerant low-energy excitations that couple to magnetic fields, but not weak DC electric fields.

Hot Dust! Late-Time Infrared Emission From Supernovae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, Ori; Skrutskie, M. F.; Chevalier, R. A.

2010-01-01

Supernovae light curves typically peak and fade in the course of several months. Some supernovae , however, exhibit late-time infrared emission that in some cases can last for several years. These supernovae tend to be of the Type IIn subclass, which is defined by narrow hydrogen and helium emission lines arising from a dense, pre-existing circumstellar medium excited by the supernova radiation. Such a late-time ``IR excess'' with respect to the optical blackbody counterpart typically indicates the presence of warm dust. The origin and heating mechanism of the dust is not, however, always well constrained. In this talk, I will explore several scenarios that explain the observed late-time emission. In particular, I will discuss the case of the Type IIn SN 2005ip, which has displayed an ``IR excess'' for over 3 years. The results allow us to interpret the progenitor system and better understand the late stages of stellar evolution. Much of the data used for this analysis were obtained with TripleSpec, a medium-resolution near-infrared spectrograph located at Apache Point Observatory, NM, and FanCam, a JHK imager located at Fan Mountain Observatory, just outside of Charlottesville, VA. These two instruments were designed, fabricated, built, and commissioned by our instrumentation group at the University of Virginia. I will also spend some time discussing these instruments. I would like to thank the following for financial support of this work throughout my graduate career: NASA GSRP, NSF AAG-0607737, Spitzer PID 50256, Achievement Reward for College Scientists (ARCS), and the Virginia Space Grant Consortium.

Second-Order Fermi Acceleration and Emission in Blazar Jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asano, Katsuaki; Takahara, Fumio; Toma, Kenji; Kusunose, Masaaki; Kakuwa, Jun

The second-order Fermi acceleration (Fermi-II) driven by turbulence may be responsible for the electron acceleration in blazar jets. We test this model with time-dependent simulations, adopt it for 1ES 1101-232, and Mrk 421. The Fermi-II model with radial evolution of the electron injection rate and/or diffusion coefficient can reproduce the spectra from the radio to the gamma-ray regime. For Mrk 421, an external radio photon field with a luminosity of 4.9 begin{math} {times} 10 (38) erg s (-1) is required to agree with the observed GeV flux. The temporal variability of the diffusion coefficient or injection rate causes flare emission. The observed synchronicity of X-ray and TeV flares implies a decrease of the magnetic field in the flaring source region.

The vela pulsar: results from the first year of FERMI lat observations

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; ...

2010-03-18

Here, we report on analysis of timing and spectroscopy of the Vela pulsar using 11 months of observations with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The intrinsic brightness of Vela at GeV energies combined with the angular resolution and sensitivity of the LAT allows us to make the most detailed study to date of the energy-dependent light curves and phase-resolved spectra, using a LAT-derived timing model. The light curve consists of two peaks (P1 and P2) connected by bridge emission containing a third peak (P3). We have confirmed the strong decrease of the P1/P2 ratiomore » with increasing energy seen with EGRET and previous Fermi LAT data, and observe that P1 disappears above 20 GeV. The increase with energy of the mean phase of the P3 component can be followed with much greater detail, showing that P3 and P2 are present up to the highest energies of pulsation. We find significant pulsed emission at phases outside the main profile, indicating that magnetospheric emission exists over 80% of the pulsar period. With increased high-energy counts the phase-averaged spectrum is seen to depart from a power law with simple exponential cutoff, and is better fit with a more gradual cutoff. The spectra in fixed-count phase bins are well fit with power laws with exponential cutoffs, revealing a strong and complex phase dependence of the cutoff energy, especially in the peaks. Finally, by combining these results with predictions of the outer magnetosphere models that map emission characteristics to phase, it will be possible to probe the particle acceleration and the structure of the pulsar magnetosphere with unprecedented detail.« less

20 CFR 349.4 - Late completion of timely investigation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2014-04-01 2012-04-01 true Late completion of timely investigation. 349.4 Section 349.4 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT FINALITY OF DECISIONS REGARDING UNEMPLOYMENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE BENEFITS § 349.4 Late...

20 CFR 349.4 - Late completion of timely investigation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2013-04-01 2012-04-01 true Late completion of timely investigation. 349.4 Section 349.4 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT FINALITY OF DECISIONS REGARDING UNEMPLOYMENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE BENEFITS § 349.4 Late...

The Transition of a Type IIL Supernova into a Supernova Remnant: Late-time Observations of SN 2013by

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Black, C. S.; Fesen, R. A.; Milisavljevic, D.

2017-10-10

We present early-time Swift and Chandra X-ray data along with late-time optical and near-infrared observations of SN 2013by, a Type IIL supernova (SN) that occurred in the nearby spiral galaxy ESO 138−G10 ( D ∼ 14.8 Mpc). Optical and NIR photometry and spectroscopy follow the late-time evolution of the SN from days +89 to +457 post maximum brightness. The optical spectra and X-ray light curves are consistent with the picture of an SN having prolonged interaction with circumstellar material (CSM) that accelerates the transition from SN to supernova remnant (SNR). Specifically, we find SN 2013by’s H α profile exhibits significantmore » broadening (∼10,000 km s{sup −1}) on day +457, the likely consequence of high-velocity, H-rich material being excited by a reverse shock. A relatively flat X-ray light curve is observed that cannot be modeled using Inverse Compton scattering processes alone, but requires an additional energy source most likely originating from the SN-CSM interaction. In addition, we see the first overtone of CO emission near 2.3 μ m on day +152, signaling the formation of molecules and dust in the SN ejecta and is the first time CO has been detected in a Type IIL SN. We compare SN 2013by with Type IIP SNe, whose spectra show the rarely observed SN-to-SNR transition in varying degrees and conclude that Type IIL SNe may enter the remnant phase at earlier epochs than their Type IIP counterparts.« less

Fermi surface in the absence of a Fermi liquid in the Kondo insulator SmB 6

DOE PAGES

Hartstein, M.; Toews, W. H.; Hsu, Y. -T.; ...

2017-10-23

The search for a Fermi surface in the absence of a conventional Fermi liquid has thus far yielded very few potential candidates. Among promising materials are spin-frustrated Mott insulators near the insulator–metal transition, where theory predicts a Fermi surface associated with neutral low-energy excitations. In this paper, we reveal another route to experimentally realize a Fermi surface in the absence of a Fermi liquid by the experimental study of a Kondo insulator SmB 6 positioned close to the insulator–metal transition. We present experimental signatures down to low temperatures (<<1 K) associated with a Fermi surface in the bulk, including amore » sizeable linear specific heat coefficient, and on the application of a finite magnetic field, bulk magnetic quantum oscillations, finite quantum oscillatory entropy, and substantial enhancement in thermal conductivity well below the charge gap energy scale. Finally, the weight of evidence indicates that despite an extreme instance of Fermi liquid breakdown in Kondo insulating SmB 6, a Fermi surface arises from novel itinerant low-energy excitations that couple to magnetic fields, but not weak DC electric fields.« less

Effect of bright light at night on core temperature, subjective alertness and performance as a function of exposure time.

PubMed

Foret, J; Daurat, A; Tirilly, G

1998-01-01

This simulated night shift study measured the effects of moderate bright light (a 4-hour pulse starting at 2000 or 0400) during the exposure night and subsequent night (dim light). Eight young males remained confined with little physical activity to a laboratory in groups of 4. After a night of reference, they were active for 24 hours; then after a morning recovery sleep, they were active again for 16 hours. Continuously measured rectal temperature proved to be immediately sensitive to 4 hours of bright light, particularly when given at the end of the night. Self-assessed alertness and also performance on a task with a high requirement for short-term memory were improved by the exposure to bright light. During the subsequent night the subjects were exposed only to dim light. Core temperature, subjective alertness and performance continued to show a time course depending on the preceding bright light exposure. Probably because evening exposure to bright light and morning sleep both had a phase-delaying effect, the effects on the circadian pacemaker were more pronounced. Thus, for practical applications in long night shifts, bright light can be considered to improve mood and alertness immediately but the possibility of modifying the circadian "clock" during subsequent nights should be taken into consideration, in particular after exposure to bright light in the evening.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Fermi blazars with Doppler factors (Fan+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, J. H.; Yang, J. H.; Xiao, H. B.; Lin, C.; Constantin, D.; Luo, G. Y.; Pei, Z. Y.; Hao, J. M.; Mao, Y. W.

2017-09-01

Blazars are an extreme subclass of active galactic nuclei. Their rapid variability, luminous brightness, superluminal motion, and high and variable polarization are probably due to a beaming effect. However, this beaming factor (or Doppler factor) is very difficult to measure. Currently, a good way to estimate it is to use the timescale of their radio flares. In this Letter, we use multiwavelength data and Doppler factors reported in the literature for a sample of 86 flaring blazars detected by Fermi to compute their intrinsic multiwavelength data and intrinsic spectral energy distributions and investigate the correlations among observed and intrinsic data. Quite interestingly, intrinsic data show a positive correlation between luminosity and peak frequency, in contrast with the behavior of observed data, and a tighter correlation between γ-ray luminosity and the lower-energy ones. For flaring blazars detected by Fermi, we conclude that (1) observed emissions are strongly beamed; (2) the anti-correlation between luminosity and peak frequency from the observed data is an apparent result, the correlation between intrinsic data being positive; and (3) intrinsic γ-ray luminosity is strongly correlated with other intrinsic luminosities. (2 data files).

Fermi at Six Months

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hays, Elizabeth

2009-01-01

An overview of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's first 6 months in operation is provided. The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, formerly called GLAST, is a mission to measure the cosmic gamma-ray flux in the energy rage 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV, with supporting measurements for gamma-ray bursts from 8 keV to 30 MeV. It contains a Large Area Telescope capable of viewing the entire sky every 3 hours and a Gamma-ray Burst Monitor for viewing the entire unocculted sky. Since its launch on June 11, 2008 Fermi has provided information on pulsars, gamma ray bursts, relativistic jets, the active galactic nucleus, and a globular star cluster. This presentation describes Fermi's development, mission, instruments and recent findings.

Seebeck effect on a weak link between Fermi and non-Fermi liquids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, T. K. T.; Kiselev, M. N.

2018-02-01

We propose a model describing Seebeck effect on a weak link between two quantum systems with fine-tunable ground states of Fermi and non-Fermi liquid origin. The experimental realization of the model can be achieved by utilizing the quantum devices operating in the integer quantum Hall regime [Z. Iftikhar et al., Nature (London) 526, 233 (2015), 10.1038/nature15384] designed for detection of macroscopic quantum charged states in multichannel Kondo systems. We present a theory of thermoelectric transport through hybrid quantum devices constructed from quantum-dot-quantum-point-contact building blocks. We discuss pronounced effects in the temperature and gate voltage dependence of thermoelectric power associated with a competition between Fermi and non-Fermi liquid behaviors. High controllability of the device allows to fine tune the system to different regimes described by multichannel and multi-impurity Kondo models.

NO TIME FOR DEAD TIME: TIMING ANALYSIS OF BRIGHT BLACK HOLE BINARIES WITH NuSTAR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bachetti, Matteo; Barret, Didier; Harrison, Fiona A.

Timing of high-count-rate sources with the NuSTAR Small Explorer Mission requires specialized analysis techniques. NuSTAR was primarily designed for spectroscopic observations of sources with relatively low count rates rather than for timing analysis of bright objects. The instrumental dead time per event is relatively long (∼2.5 msec) and varies event-to-event by a few percent. The most obvious effect is a distortion of the white noise level in the power density spectrum (PDS) that cannot be easily modeled with standard techniques due to the variable nature of the dead time. In this paper, we show that it is possible to exploitmore » the presence of two completely independent focal planes and use the cospectrum, the real part of the cross PDS, to obtain a good proxy of the white-noise-subtracted PDS. Thereafter, one can use a Monte Carlo approach to estimate the remaining effects of dead time, namely, a frequency-dependent modulation of the variance and a frequency-independent drop of the sensitivity to variability. In this way, most of the standard timing analysis can be performed, albeit with a sacrifice in signal-to-noise ratio relative to what would be achieved using more standard techniques. We apply this technique to NuSTAR observations of the black hole binaries GX 339–4, Cyg X-1, and GRS 1915+105.« less

Double Scaling in the Relaxation Time in the β -Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lvov, Yuri V.; Onorato, Miguel

2018-04-01

We consider the original β -Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou system; numerical simulations and theoretical arguments suggest that, for a finite number of masses, a statistical equilibrium state is reached independently of the initial energy of the system. Using ensemble averages over initial conditions characterized by different Fourier random phases, we numerically estimate the time scale of equipartition and we find that for very small nonlinearity it matches the prediction based on exact wave-wave resonant interaction theory. We derive a simple formula for the nonlinear frequency broadening and show that when the phenomenon of overlap of frequencies takes place, a different scaling for the thermalization time scale is observed. Our result supports the idea that the Chirikov overlap criterion identifies a transition region between two different relaxation time scalings.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Fermi/GBM GRB time-resolved spectral catalog (Yu+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, H.-F.; Preece, R. D.; Greiner, J.; Bhat, P. N.; Bissaldi, E.; Briggs, M. S.; Cleveland, W. H.; Connaughton, V.; Goldstein, A.; von Kienlin; A.; Kouveliotou, C.; Mailyan, B.; Meegan, C. A.; Paciesas, W. S.; Rau, A.; Roberts, O. J.; Veres, P.; Wilson-Hodge, C.; Zhang, B.-B.; van Eerten, H. J.

2016-01-01

Time-resolved spectral analysis results of BEST models: for each spectrum GRB name using the Fermi GBM trigger designation, spectrum number within individual burst, start time Tstart and end time Tstop for the time bin, BEST model, best-fit parameters of the BEST model, value of CSTAT per degrees of freedom, 10keV-1MeV photon and energy flux are given. Ep evolutionary trends: for each burst GRB name, number of spectra with Ep, Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficients between Ep_ and photon flux and 90%, 95%, and 99% confidence intervals, Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficients between Ep and energy flux and 90%, 95%, and 99% confidence intervals, Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient between Ep and time and 90%, 95%, and 99% confidence intervals, trends as determined by computer for 90%, 95%, and 99% confidence intervals, trends as determined by human eyes are given. (2 data files).

Entrainment of oviposition in the fowl using bright and dim light cycles.

PubMed

Morris, T R; Bhatti, B M

1978-05-01

1. Nine short trial, involving 96 different treatments, were used to investigate the critical intensities and duration of bright and dim periods of lighting needed to entrain oviposition in cycles ranging from 21 to 30 h. 2. Entrainment was shown to depend upon the contrast between bright and dim lighting, and to be independent of the absolute light intensity. 3. A bright: dim ratio of 13:1 fully entrained oviposition in cycles of 25 h and 27 h. For 23-h and 28-h cycles a 30:1 ratio was required. Twenty-one-hour cycles required a ratio of 300:1 and with 30-h cycles a ratio of 1000:1 was needed to achieve full entrainment of oviposition. 4. In 24-h cycles, 1 h of bright lighting at 02.00 h was sufficient to override other environmental signals and cause eggs to be laid in the late evening, but a minimum bright period of 6 h was needed to cause full phase setting with 21-h cycles. 5. Circadian periodicity can easily be imposed on hens by providing a short exposure to bright light with a background of continuous dim light; but the signal must be increased (by providing a greater contrast between bright and dim lights and/or a longer period of bright lighting) to entrain oviposition when the cycle deviates markedly from the natural period of 24 h.

Fermi wave vector for the partially spin-polarized composite-fermion Fermi sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balram, Ajit C.; Jain, J. K.

2017-12-01

The fully spin-polarized composite-fermion (CF) Fermi sea at the half-filled lowest Landau level has a Fermi wave vector kF*=√{4 π ρe } , where ρe is the density of electrons or composite fermions, supporting the notion that the interaction between composite fermions can be treated perturbatively. Away from ν =1 /2 , the area is seen to be consistent with kF*=√{4 π ρe } for ν <1 /2 but kF*=√{4 π ρh } for ν >1 /2 , where ρh is the density of holes in the lowest Landau level. This result is consistent with particle-hole symmetry in the lowest Landau level. We investigate in this article the Fermi wave vector of the spin-singlet CF Fermi sea (CFFS) at ν =1 /2 , for which particle-hole symmetry is not a consideration. Using the microscopic CF theory, we find that for the spin-singlet CFFS the Fermi wave vectors for up- and down-spin CFFSs at ν =1 /2 are consistent with kF*↑,↓=√{4 π ρe↑,↓ } , where ρe↑=ρe↓=ρe/2 , which implies that the residual interactions between composite fermions do not cause a nonperturbative correction for spin-singlet CFFS either. Our results suggest the natural conjecture that for arbitrary spin polarization the CF Fermi wave vectors are given by kF*↑=√{4 π ρe↑ } and kF*↓=√{4 π ρe↓ } .

MASTER: OT detection during Fermi trigger inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popova, E.; Lipunov, V.; Buckley, D.; Gorbovskoy, E.; Tiurina, N.; Balanutsa, P.; Kuznetsov, A.; Kornilov, V.; Chazov, V.; Vlasenko, D.; Vladimirov, V.; Gress, O.; Ivanov, K.; Potter, S.; Gabovich, A.

2016-11-01

During inspection of Fermi trigger 501261070 ( (Ra,Dec)=47.190,-47.210; GRB_ERROR_radius=3.27deg, GRB_TIME=2016/11/19 15:11:06.40UT http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/other/501261070.fermi ) MASTER-SAAO auto-detection system ( Lipunov et al., "MASTER Global Robotic Net", Advances in Astronomy, 2010, 30L ) discovered OT source at (RA, Dec) = 03h 22m 52.70s -48d 29m 10.9s on 2016-11-19 21:17:17.878UT with unfiltered m_OT=17.8 (mlim=19.7).

FermiGrid

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yocum, D.R.; Berman, E.; Canal, P.

2007-05-01

As one of the founding members of the Open Science Grid Consortium (OSG), Fermilab enables coherent access to its production resources through the Grid infrastructure system called FermiGrid. This system successfully provides for centrally managed grid services, opportunistic resource access, development of OSG Interfaces for Fermilab, and an interface to the Fermilab dCache system. FermiGrid supports virtual organizations (VOs) including high energy physics experiments (USCMS, MINOS, D0, CDF, ILC), astrophysics experiments (SDSS, Auger, DES), biology experiments (GADU, Nanohub) and educational activities.

Swift and Fermi observations of the early afterglow of the short gamma-ray burst 090510

DOE PAGES

De Pasquale, M.

2010-01-14

Here, we present the observations of GRB090510 performed by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope and the Swift observatory. In a GeV range, we detected a bright, short burst that shows an extended emission. Furthermore, its optical emission initially rises, a feature so far observed only in long bursts, while the X-ray flux shows an initial shallow decrease, followed by a steeper decay. This exceptional behavior enables us to investigate the physical properties of the gamma-ray burst outflow, poorly known in short bursts. Here, we discuss internal and external shock models for the broadband energy emission of this object.

PN-CCD camera for XMM: performance of high time resolution/bright source operating modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kendziorra, Eckhard; Bihler, Edgar; Grubmiller, Willy; Kretschmar, Baerbel; Kuster, Markus; Pflueger, Bernhard; Staubert, Ruediger; Braeuninger, Heinrich W.; Briel, Ulrich G.; Meidinger, Norbert; Pfeffermann, Elmar; Reppin, Claus; Stoetter, Diana; Strueder, Lothar; Holl, Peter; Kemmer, Josef; Soltau, Heike; von Zanthier, Christoph

1997-10-01

The pn-CCD camera is developed as one of the focal plane instruments for the European photon imaging camera (EPIC) on board the x-ray multi mirror (XMM) mission to be launched in 1999. The detector consists of four quadrants of three pn-CCDs each, which are integrated on one silicon wafer. Each CCD has 200 by 64 pixels (150 micrometer by 150 micrometers) with 280 micrometers depletion depth. One CCD of a quadrant is read out at a time, while the four quadrants can be processed independently of each other. In standard imaging mode the CCDs are read out sequentially every 70 ms. Observations of point sources brighter than 1 mCrab will be effected by photon pile- up. However, special operating modes can be used to observe bright sources up to 150 mCrab in timing mode with 30 microseconds time resolution and very bright sources up to several crab in burst mode with 7 microseconds time resolution. We have tested one quadrant of the EPIC pn-CCD camera at line energies from 0.52 keV to 17.4 keV at the long beam test facility Panter in the focus of the qualification mirror module for XMM. In order to test the time resolution of the system, a mechanical chopper was used to periodically modulate the beam intensity. Pulse periods down to 0.7 ms were generated. This paper describes the performance of the pn-CCD detector in timing and burst readout modes with special emphasis on energy and time resolution.

The bright-bright and bright-dark mode coupling-based planar metamaterial for plasmonic EIT-like effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Wei; Meng, Hongyun; Chen, Zhangjie; Li, Xianping; Zhang, Xing; Wang, Faqiang; Wei, Zhongchao; Tan, Chunhua; Huang, Xuguang; Li, Shuti

2018-05-01

In this paper, we propose a novel planar metamaterial structure for the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)-like effect, which consists of a split-ring resonator (SRR) and a pair of metal strips. The simulated results indicate that a single transparency window can be realized in the symmetry situation, which originates from the bright-bright mode coupling. Further, a dual-band EIT-like effect can be achieved in the asymmetry situation, which is due to the bright-bright mode coupling and bright-dark mode coupling, respectively. Different EIT-like effect can be simultaneously achieved in the proposed structure with the different situations. It is of certain significance for the study of EIT-like effect.

Brightness and magnetic evolution of solar coronal bright points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ugarte Urra, Ignacio

This thesis presents a study of the brightness and magnetic evolution of several Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) coronal bright points (hereafter BPs). The study was carried out using several instruments on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, supported by the high resolution imaging from the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer. The results confirm that, down to 1" resolution, BPs are made of small loops with lengths of [approximate]6 Mm and cross-sections of ≈2 Mm. The loops are very dynamic, evolving in time scales as short as 1 - 2 minutes. This is reflected in a highly variable EUV response with fluctuations highly correlated in spectral lines at transition region temperatures, but not always at coronal temperatures. A wavelet analysis of the intensity variations reveals the existence of quasi-periodic oscillations with periods ranging 400--1000s, in the range of periods characteristic of the chromospheric network. The link between BPs and network bright points is discussed, as well as the interpretation of the oscillations in terms of global acoustic modes of closed magnetic structures. A comparison of the magnetic flux evolution of the magnetic polarities to the EUV flux changes is also presented. Throughout their lifetime, the intrinsic EUV emission of BPs is found to be dependent on the total magnetic flux of the polarities. In short time scales, co-spatial and co-temporal coronal images and magnetograms, reveal the signature of heating events that produce sudden EUV brightenings simultaneous to magnetic flux cancellations. This is interpreted in terms of magnetic reconnection events. Finally, a electron density study of six coronal bright points produces values of ≈1.6×10 9 cm -3 , closer to active region plasma than to quiet Sun. The analysis of a large coronal loop (half length of 72 Mm) introduces the discussion on the prospects of future plasma diagnostics of BPs with forthcoming solar missions.

Domain wall formation in late-time phase transitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kolb, Edward W.; Wang, Yun

1992-01-01

We examine domain wall formulation in late time phase transitions. We find that in the invisible axion domain wall phenomenon, thermal effects alone are insufficient to drive different parts of the disconnected vacuum manifold. This suggests that domain walls do not form unless either there is some supplemental (but perhaps not unreasonable) dynamics to localize the scalar field responsible for the phase transition to the low temperature maximum (to an extraordinary precision) before the onset of the phase transition, or there is some non-thermal mechanism to produce large fluctuations in the scalar field. The fact that domain wall production is not a robust prediction of late time transitions may suggest future directions in model building.

Constraints on Lorentz Invariance Violation from Fermi -Large Area Telescope Observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vasileiou, V.; Jacholkowska, A.; Piron, F.; Bolmont, J.; Courturier, C.; Granot, J.; Stecker, Floyd William; Cohen-Tanugi, J.; Longo, F.

2013-01-01

We analyze the MeV/GeV emission from four bright Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) observed by the Fermi-Large Area Telescope to produce robust, stringent constraints on a dependence of the speed of light in vacuo on the photon energy (vacuum dispersion), a form of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) allowed by some Quantum Gravity (QG) theories. First, we use three different and complementary techniques to constrain the total degree of dispersion observed in the data. Additionally, using a maximally conservative set of assumptions on possible source-intrinsic spectral-evolution effects, we constrain any vacuum dispersion solely attributed to LIV. We then derive limits on the "QG energy scale" (the energy scale that LIV-inducing QG effects become important, E(sub QG)) and the coefficients of the Standard Model Extension. For the subluminal case (where high energy photons propagate more slowly than lower energy photons) and without taking into account any source-intrinsic dispersion, our most stringent limits (at 95% CL) are obtained from GRB 090510 and are E(sub QG,1) > 7.6 times the Planck energy (E(sub Pl)) and E(sub QG,2) > 1.3×10(exp 11) GeV for linear and quadratic leading order LIV-induced vacuum dispersion, respectively. These limits improve the latest constraints by Fermi and H.E.S.S. by a factor of approx. 2. Our results disfavor any class of models requiring E(sub QG,1) < or approx. E(sub Pl)

Constraints on Lorentz invariance violation from Fermi -Large Area Telescope observations of gamma-ray bursts

DOE PAGES

Vasileiou, V.; Jacholkowska, A.; Piron, F.; ...

2013-06-04

For this research, we analyze the MeV/GeV emission from four bright gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed by the Fermi Large Area Telescope to produce robust, stringent constraints on a dependence of the speed of light in vacuo on the photon energy (vacuum dispersion), a form of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) allowed by some quantum gravity (QG) theories. First, we use three different and complementary techniques to constrain the total degree of dispersion observed in the data. Additionally, using a maximally conservative set of assumptions on possible source-intrinsic, spectral-evolution effects, we constrain any vacuum dispersion solely attributed to LIV. We then derivemore » limits on the QG energy scale (the energy scale where LIV-inducing QG effects become strong, E QG) and the coefficients of the Standard Model Extension. For the subluminal case (where high-energy photons propagate more slowly than lower-energy photons) and without taking into account any source-intrinsic dispersion, our most stringent limits (at 95% C.L.) are obtained from GRB 090510 and are E QG,1 > 7.6 times the Planck energy (E Pl) and E QG,2 > 1.3 × 10 11 GeV for linear and quadratic leading-order LIV-induced vacuum dispersion, respectively. In conclusion, these limits improve the latest constraints by Fermi and H.E.S.S. by a factor of ~2 . Our results disfavor any class of models requiring E QG,1 ≲ E Pl .« less

Calculation of gyrosynchrotron radiation brightness temperature for outer bright loop of ICME

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Weiying; Wu, Ji; Wang, C. B.; Wang, S.

:Solar polar orbit radio telescope (SPORT) is proposed to detect the high density plasma clouds of outer bright loop of ICMEs from solar orbit with large inclination. Of particular interest is following the propagation of the plasma clouds with remote sensor in radio wavelength band. Gyrosynchrotron emission is a main radio radiation mechanism of the plasma clouds and can provide information of interplanetary magnetic field. In this paper, we statistically analyze the electron density, electron temperature and magnetic field of background solar wind in time of quiet sun and ICMEs propagation. We also estimate the fluctuation range of the electron density, electron temperature and magnetic field of outer bright loop of ICMEs. Moreover, we calculate and analyze the emission brightness temperature and degree of polarization on the basis of the study of gyrosynchrotron emission, absorption and polarization characteristics as the optical depth is less than or equal to 1.

A late wake time phase delays the human dim light melatonin rhythm.

PubMed

Burgess, Helen J; Eastman, Charmane I

2006-03-13

Short sleep/dark durations, due to late bedtimes or early wake times or both, are common in modern society. We have previously shown that a series of days with a late bedtime phase delays the human dim light melatonin rhythm, as compared to a series of days with an early bedtime, despite a fixed wake time. Here we compared the effect of an early versus late wake time with a fixed bedtime on the human dim light melatonin rhythm. Fourteen healthy subjects experienced 2 weeks of short 6h nights with an early wake time fixed at their habitual weekday wake time and 2 weeks of long 9 h nights with a wake time that occurred 3h later than the early wake time, in counterbalanced order. We found that after 2 weeks with the late wake time, the dim light melatonin onset delayed by 2.4 h and the dim light melatonin offset delayed by 2.6 h (both p < 0.001), as compared to after 2 weeks with the early wake time. These results highlight the substantial influence that wake time, likely via the associated morning light exposure, has on the timing of the human circadian clock. Furthermore, the results suggest that when people truncate their sleep by waking early their circadian clocks phase advance and when people wake late their circadian clocks phase delay.

Moon night sky brightness simulation for the Xinglong station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Song; Zhang, Hao-Tong; Yuan, Hai-Long; Zhao, Yong-Heng; Dong, Yi-Qiao; Bai, Zhong-Rui; Deng, Li-Cai; Lei, Ya-Juan

2013-10-01

Using a sky brightness monitor at the Xinglong station of National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, we collected data from 22 dark clear nights and 90 moon nights. We first measured the sky brightness variation with time for dark nights and found a clear correlation between sky brightness and human activity. Then with a modified sky brightness model of moon nights and data from these nights, we derived the typical value for several important parameters in the model. With these results, we calculated the sky brightness distribution under a given moon condition for the Xinglong station. Furthermore, we simulated the sky brightness distribution of a moon night for a telescope with a 5° field of view (such as LAMOST). These simulations will be helpful for determining the limiting magnitude and exposure time, as well as planning the survey for LAMOST during moon nights.

Intrinsic Brightness Temperatures of AGN Jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Homan, D. C.; Kovalev, Y. Y.; Lister, M. L.; Ros, E.; Kellermann, K. I.; Cohen, M. H.; Vermeulen, R. C.; Zensus, J. A.; Kadler, M.

2006-05-01

We present a new method for studying the intrinsic brightness temperatures of the parsec-scale jet cores of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Our method uses observed superluminal motions and observed brightness temperatures for a large sample of AGNs to constrain the characteristic intrinsic brightness temperature of the sample as a whole. To study changes in intrinsic brightness temperature, we assume that the Doppler factors of individual jets are constant in time, as justified by their relatively small changes in observed flux density. We find that in their median-low brightness temperature state, the sources in our sample have a narrow range of intrinsic brightness temperatures centered on a characteristic temperature, Tint~=3×1010 K, which is close to the value expected for equipartition, when the energy in the radiating particles equals the energy stored in the magnetic fields. However, in their maximum brightness state, we find that sources in our sample have a characteristic intrinsic brightness temperature greater than 2×1011 K, which is well in excess of the equipartition temperature. In this state, we estimate that the energy in radiating particles exceeds the energy in the magnetic field by a factor of ~105. We suggest that the excess of particle energy when sources are in their maximum brightness state is due to injection or acceleration of particles at the base of the jet. Our results suggest that the common method of estimating jet Doppler factors by using a single measurement of observed brightness temperature, the assumption of equipartition, or both may lead to large scatter or systematic errors in the derived values.

A brightness exceeding simulated Langmuir limit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakasuji, Mamoru

2013-08-01

When an excitation of the first lens determines a beam is parallel beam, a brightness that is 100 times higher than Langmuir limit is measured experimentally, where Langmuir limits are estimated using a simulated axial cathode current density which is simulated based on a measured emission current. The measured brightness is comparable to Langmuir limit, when the lens excitation is such that an image position is slightly shorter than a lens position. Previously measured values of brightness for cathode apical radii of curvature 20, 60, 120, 240, and 480 μm were 8.7, 5.3, 3.3, 2.4, and 3.9 times higher than their corresponding Langmuir limits, respectively, in this experiment, the lens excitation was such that the lens and the image positions were 180 mm and 400 mm, respectively. From these measured brightness for three different lens excitation conditions, it is concluded that the brightness depends on the first lens excitation. For the electron gun operated in a space charge limited condition, some of the electrons emitted from the cathode are returned to the cathode without having crossed a virtual cathode. Therefore, method that assumes a Langmuir limit defining method using a Maxwellian distribution of electron velocities may need to be revised. For the condition in which the values of the exceeding the Langmuir limit are measured, the simulated trajectories of electrons that are emitted from the cathode do not cross the optical axis at the crossover, thus the law of sines may not be valid for high brightness electron beam systems.

Radio core dominance of Fermi blazars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pei, Zhi-Yuan; Fan, Jun-Hui; Liu, Yi; Yuan, Yi-Hai; Cai, Wei; Xiao, Hu-Bing; Lin, Chao; Yang, Jiang-He

2016-07-01

During the first 4 years of mission, Fermi/LAT detected 1444 blazars (3FGL) (Ackermann et al. in Astrophys. J. 810:14, 2015). Fermi/LAT observations of blazars indicate that Fermi blazars are luminous and strongly variable with variability time scales, for some cases, as short as hours. Those observations suggest a strong beaming effect in Fermi/LAT blazars. In the present work, we will investigate the beaming effect in Fermi/LAT blazars using a core-dominance parameter, R = S_{core}/ S_{ext.}, where S_{core} is the core emission, while S_{ext.} is the extended emission. We compiled 1335 blazars with available core-dominance parameter, out of which 169 blazars have γ-ray emission (from 3FGL). We compared the core-dominance parameters, log R, between the 169 Fermi-detected blazars (FDBs) and the rest non-Fermi-detected blazars (non-FDBs), and we found that the averaged values are < log Rrangle = 0.99±0.87 for FDBs and < log Rrangle = -0.62±1.15 for the non-FDBs. A K-S test shows that the probability for the two distributions of FDBs and non-FDBs to come from the same parent distribution is near zero (P =9.12×10^{-52}). Secondly, we also investigated the variability index (V.I.) in the γ-ray band for FDBs, and we found V.I.=(0.12 ±0.07) log R+(2.25±0.10), suggesting that a source with larger log R has larger V.I. value. Thirdly, we compared the mean values of radio spectral index for FDBs and non-FDBs, and we obtained < α_{radio}rangle =0.06±0.35 for FDBs and < α_{radio}rangle =0.57±0.46 for non-FDBs. If γ-rays are composed of two components like radio emission (core and extended components), then we can expect a correlation between log R and the γ-ray spectral index. When we used the radio core-dominance parameter, log R, to investigate the relationship, we found that the spectral index for the core component is α_{γ}|_{core} = 1.11 (a photon spectral index of α_{γ}^{ph}|_{core} = 2.11) and that for the extended component is α_{γ}|_{ext.} = 0

MASTER-OAFA: Fermi GRB faded optical counterpart detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pogrosheva, T.; Lipunov, V.; Podesta, R.; Levato, H.; Buckley, D.; Gorbovskoy, E.; Tiurina, N.; Balanutsa, P.; Kuznetsov, A.; Gress, O.; Kornilov, V.; Vladimirov, V.; Chazov, V.; Gorbunov, I.; Krylov, A.; Shumkov, V.; Kuvshinov, D.

2017-02-01

During Fermi GBM 508295323 trigger ( GRB_TIME: 2017-02-09 01:08:38.08 UT https://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/other/508295323.fermi ) inspection MASTER-OAFA auto-detection system ( Lipunov et al., "MASTER Global Robotic Net", Advances in Astronomy, 2010, 30L ) discovered new OT source (Podesta et al. GCN #20650) at (RA, Dec) = 07h 23m 07.30s -52d 14m 46.6s on 2017-02-09 02:07:07.478UT with unfiltered m_OT=17.4 (mlimit=18.1m).

Brightness and magnetic evolution of solar coronal bright points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ugarte-Urra, I.

2004-12-01

This thesis presents a study of the brightness and magnetic evolution of several Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) coronal bright points (hereafter BPs). BPs are loop-like features of enhanced emission in the coronal EUV and X-ray images of the Sun, that are associated to the interaction of opposite photospheric magnetic polarities with magnetic fluxes of ≈1018 - 1019 Mx. The study was carried out using several instruments on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO): the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EIT), the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) and the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI), supported by the high resolution imaging from the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE). The results confirm that, down to 1'' (i.e. ~715 km) resolution, BPs are made of small loops with lengths of ~6 Mm and cross-sections of ~2 Mm. The loops are very dynamic, evolving in time scales as short as 1 - 2 minutes. This is reflected in a highly variable EUV response with fluctuations highly correlated in spectral lines at transition region temperatures (in the range 3.2x10^4 - 3.5x10^5 K), but not always at coronal temperatures. A wavelet analysis of the intensity variations reveals, for the first time, the existence of quasi-periodic oscillations with periods ranging 400 -- 1000 s, in the range of periods characteristic of the chromospheric network. The link between BPs and network bright points is discussed, as well as the interpretation of the oscillations in terms of global acoustic modes of closed magnetic structures. A comparison of the magnetic flux evolution of the magnetic polarities to the EUV flux changes is also presented. Throughout their lifetime, the intrinsic EUV emission of BPs is found to be dependent on the total magnetic flux of the polarities. In short time scales, co-spatial and co-temporal TRACE and MDI images, reveal the signature of heating events that produce sudden EUV brightenings simultaneous to magnetic flux cancellations. This is interpreted in

Open EFTs, IR effects & late-time resummations: systematic corrections in stochastic inflation

DOE PAGES

Burgess, C. P.; Holman, R.; Tasinato, G.

2016-01-26

Though simple inflationary models describe the CMB well, their corrections are often plagued by infrared effects that obstruct a reliable calculation of late-time behaviour. Here we adapt to cosmology tools designed to address similar issues in other physical systems with the goal of making reliable late-time inflationary predictions. The main such tool is Open EFTs which reduce in the inflationary case to Stochastic Inflation plus calculable corrections. We apply this to a simple inflationary model that is complicated enough to have dangerous IR behaviour yet simple enough to allow the inference of late-time behaviour. We find corrections to standard Stochasticmore » Inflationary predictions for the noise and drift, and we find these corrections ensure the IR finiteness of both these quantities. The late-time probability distribution, P(Φ), for super-Hubble field fluctuations are obtained as functions of the noise and drift and so these too are IR finite. We compare our results to other methods (such as large-N models) and find they agree when these models are reliable. In all cases we can explore in detail we find IR secular effects describe the slow accumulation of small perturbations to give a big effect: a significant distortion of the late-time probability distribution for the field. But the energy density associated with this is only of order H 4 at late times and so does not generate a dramatic gravitational back-reaction.« less

Open EFTs, IR effects & late-time resummations: systematic corrections in stochastic inflation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burgess, C. P.; Holman, R.; Tasinato, G.

Though simple inflationary models describe the CMB well, their corrections are often plagued by infrared effects that obstruct a reliable calculation of late-time behaviour. Here we adapt to cosmology tools designed to address similar issues in other physical systems with the goal of making reliable late-time inflationary predictions. The main such tool is Open EFTs which reduce in the inflationary case to Stochastic Inflation plus calculable corrections. We apply this to a simple inflationary model that is complicated enough to have dangerous IR behaviour yet simple enough to allow the inference of late-time behaviour. We find corrections to standard Stochasticmore » Inflationary predictions for the noise and drift, and we find these corrections ensure the IR finiteness of both these quantities. The late-time probability distribution, P(Φ), for super-Hubble field fluctuations are obtained as functions of the noise and drift and so these too are IR finite. We compare our results to other methods (such as large-N models) and find they agree when these models are reliable. In all cases we can explore in detail we find IR secular effects describe the slow accumulation of small perturbations to give a big effect: a significant distortion of the late-time probability distribution for the field. But the energy density associated with this is only of order H 4 at late times and so does not generate a dramatic gravitational back-reaction.« less

A Late-time Flattening of Light Curves in Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sironi, Lorenzo; Giannios, Dimitrios

2013-12-01

The afterglow emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is usually interpreted as synchrotron radiation from relativistic electrons accelerated at the GRB external shock. We investigate the temporal decay of the afterglow emission at late times, when the bulk of the shock-accelerated electrons are non-relativistic (the "deep Newtonian phase," as denoted by Huang and Cheng). We assume that the electron spectrum in the deep Newtonian phase is a power-law distribution in momentum with slope p, as dictated by the theory of Fermi acceleration in non-relativistic shocks. For a uniform circumburst medium, the deep Newtonian phase begins at t{_{\\scriptsize {DN}}}\\sim 3\\,\\epsilon _{e,-1}^{5/6}t{_{\\scriptsize {ST}}}, where t ST marks the transition of the blast wave to the non-relativistic, spherically symmetric Sedov-Taylor (ST) solution, and epsilon e = 0.1 epsilon e, -1 quantifies the amount of shock energy transferred to the electrons. For typical parameters, the deep Newtonian stage starts ~0.5 to several years after the GRB. The radio flux in this phase decays as F νvpropt -3(p + 1)/10vpropt -(0.9÷1.2), for a power-law slope 2 < p < 3. This is shallower than the scaling F νvpropt -3(5p - 7)/10vpropt -(0.9÷2.4) derived by Frail et al., which only applies if the GRB shock is non-relativistic, but the electron distribution still peaks at ultra-relativistic energies (a regime that is relevant for a narrow time interval, and only if t DN >~ t ST, namely, epsilon e >~ 0.03). We discuss how the deep Newtonian phase can be reliably used for GRB calorimetry, and we comment on the good detection prospects of trans-relativistic blast waves at 0.1÷10 GHz with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and LOw-Frequency ARray.

Plasmonic EIT-like switching in bright-dark-bright plasmon resonators.

PubMed

Chen, Junxue; Wang, Pei; Chen, Chuncong; Lu, Yonghua; Ming, Hai; Zhan, Qiwen

2011-03-28

In this paper we report the study of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)-like transmission in the bright-dark-bright plasmon resonators. It is demonstrated that the interferences between the dark plasmons excited by two bright plasmon resonators can be controlled by the incident light polarization. The constructive interference strengthens the coupling between the bright and dark resonators, leading to a more prominent EIT-like transparency window of the metamaterial. In contrary, destructive interference suppresses the coupling between the bright and dark resonators, destroying the interference pathway that forms the EIT-like transmission. Based on this observation, the plasmonic EIT switching can be realized by changing the polarization of incident light. This phenomenon may find applications in optical switching and plasmon-based information processing.

Bright light induces choroidal thickening in chickens.

PubMed

Lan, Weizhong; Feldkaemper, Marita; Schaeffel, Frank

2013-11-01

Bright light is a potent inhibitor of myopia development in animal models. Because development of refractive errors has been linked to changes in choroidal thickness, we have studied in chickens whether bright light may exert its effects on myopia also through changes in choroidal thickness. Three-day-old chickens were exposed to "bright light" (15,000 lux; n = 14) from 10 AM to 4 PM but kept under "normal light" (500 lux) during the remaining time of the light phase for 5 days (total duration of light phase 8 AM to 6 PM). A control group (n = 14) was kept under normal light during the entire light phase. Choroidal thickness was measured in alert, hand-held animals with optical coherence tomography at 10 AM, 4 PM, and 8 PM every day. Complete data sets were available for 12 chicks in bright light group and nine in normal light group. The striking inter-individual variability in choroidal thickness (coefficient of variance: 23%) made it necessary to normalize changes to the individual baseline thickness of the choroid. During the 6 hours of exposure to bright light, choroidal thickness decreased by -5.2 ± 4.0% (mean ± SEM). By contrast, in the group kept under normal light, choroidal thickness increased by +15.4 ± 4.7% (difference between both groups p = 0.003). After an additional 4 hours, choroidal thickness increased also in the "bright light group" by +17.8 ± 3.5%, while there was little further change (+0.6 ± 4.0%) in the "normal light group" (difference p = 0.004). Finally, the choroid was thicker in the "bright light group" (+7.6 ± 26.0%) than in the "normal light group" (day 5: -18.6 ± 26.9%; difference p = 0.036). Bright light stimulates choroidal thickening in chickens, although the response is smaller than with experimentally imposed myopic defocus, and it occurs with some time delay. It nevertheless suggests that choroidal thickening is also involved in myopia inhibition by bright light.

Enrico Fermi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chen Ning

2013-05-01

Enrico Fermi was, of all the great physicists of the 20th century, among the most respected and admired. He was respected and admired because of his contributions to both theoretical and experimental physics, because of his leadership in discovering for mankind a powerful new source of energy, and above all, because of his personal character. He was always reliable and trustworthy. He had both of his feet on the ground all the time. He had great strength, but never threw his weight around. He did not play to the gallery. He did not practise one-up-manship. He exemplified, I always believe, the perfect Confucian gentleman...

Fermi arcs vs. fermi pockets in electron-doped perovskite iridates

DOE PAGES

He, Junfeng; Hafiz, H.; Mion, Thomas R.; ...

2015-02-23

We report on an angle resolved photoemission (ARPES) study of bulk electron-doped perovskite iridate, (Sr 1-xLa x)₃Ir₂O₇. Fermi surface pockets are observed with a total electron count in keeping with that expected from La substitution. Depending on the energy and polarization of the incident photons, these pockets show up in the form of disconnected “Fermi arcs”, reminiscent of those reported recently in surface electron-doped Sr₂IrO₄. Our observed spectral variation is consistent with the coexistence of an electronic supermodulation with structural distortion in the system.

Where Was Everybody? Olaf Stapledon and the Fermi Paradox

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baxter, S.

In 1948 Olaf Stapledon gave an address to the BIS in which he summarised his vision of mankind's cosmic future: `One can imagine some sort of cosmical community of worlds ...' One might ask, however, since the universe is vastly older than mankind, why races on other worlds have not already built such a community. This is a `Fermi Paradox' question. The Paradox is based on the observation that there has been time for extraterrestrial intelligence to arise and colonise the Galaxy many times over, yet we see no sign of such endeavours. In this paper Stapledon's novels are retrospectively analysed from the point of view of the Fermi Paradox. In Last and First Men (1930) humanity is forever isolated because life and mind are rare in the Galaxy, and interstellar distances are too large ever to be traversed. These are classic candidate Fermi `solutions'. The `solution' implicit in Star Maker (1937) might be criticised in that it posits that humanity lives at a special epoch, with the cosmically transforming development of interstellar travel occurring a `mere' ten billion years after mankind, in a universe supposedly ~200bn years old. Stapledon died in 1950, the year the Paradox was formulated, and was probably unaware of the Paradox. However to apply retrospectively Fermi thinking to Stapledon's cosmologies is to gain a new insight into the author's philosophy.

Bright Merger-nova Emission Powered by Magnetic Wind from a Newborn Black Hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Shuai-Bing; Lei, Wei-Hua; Gao, He; Xie, Wei; Chen, Wei; Zhang, Bing; Wang, Ding-Xiong

2018-01-01

Mergers of neutron star–neutron star (NS–NS) or neutron star–black hole (NS–BH) binaries are candidate sources of gravitational waves (GWs). At least a fraction of the merger remnants should be a stellar mass BH with sub-relativistic ejecta. A collimated jet is launched via the Blandford–Znajek mechanism from the central BH to trigger a short gamma-ray burst (sGRB). At the same time, a near-isotropic wind may be driven by the Blandford–Payne mechanism (BP). In previous work, additional energy injection to the ejecta from the BP mechanism was ignored, and radioactive decay has long been thought to be the main source of the kilonova energy. In this Letter, we propose that the wind driven by the BP mechanism from the newborn BH’s disk can heat up and push the ejecta during the prompt emission phase or even at late times when there is fall-back accretion. Such a BP-powered merger-nova could be bright in the optical band even for a low-luminosity sGRB. The detection of a GW merger event with a BH clearly identified as a remnant, accompanied by a bright merger-nova, would provide robust confirmation of our model.

Thermal transitions, pseudogap behavior, and BCS-BEC crossover in Fermi-Fermi mixtures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karmakar, Madhuparna

2018-03-01

We study the mass imbalanced Fermi-Fermi mixture within the framework of a two-dimensional lattice fermion model. Based on the thermodynamic and species-dependent quasiparticle behavior, we map out the finite-temperature phase diagram of this system and show that unlike the balanced Fermi superfluid, there are now two different pseudogap regimes as PG-I and PG-II. While within the PG-I regime both the fermionic species are pseudogapped, PG-II corresponds to the regime where pseudogap feature survives only in the light species. We believe that the single-particle spectral features that we discuss in this paper are observable through the species-resolved radio-frequency spectroscopy and momentum-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements on systems such as 6Li-40K mixture. We further investigate the interplay between the population and mass imbalances and report that at a fixed population imbalance, the BCS-BEC crossover in a Fermi-Fermi mixture would require a critical interaction (Uc) for the realization of the uniform superfluid state. The effect of imbalance in mass on the exotic Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov superfluid phase has been probed in detail in terms of the thermodynamic and quasiparticle behavior of this phase. It has been observed that in spite of the s -wave symmetry of the pairing field, a nodal superfluid gap is realized in the Larkin-Ovchinnikov regime. Our results on the various thermal scales and regimes are expected to serve as benchmarks for the experimental observations on 6Li-40K mixture.

Beyond the Fermi liquid paradigm: Hidden Fermi liquids

PubMed Central

Jain, J. K.; Anderson, P. W.

2009-01-01

An intense investigation of possible non-Fermi liquid states of matter has been inspired by two of the most intriguing phenomena discovered in the past quarter century, namely, high-temperature superconductivity and the fractional quantum Hall effect. Despite enormous conceptual strides, these two fields have developed largely along separate paths. Two widely employed theories are the resonating valence bond theory for high-temperature superconductivity and the composite fermion theory for the fractional quantum Hall effect. The goal of this perspective article is to note that they subscribe to a common underlying paradigm: They both connect these exotic quantum liquids to certain ordinary Fermi liquids residing in unphysical Hilbert spaces. Such a relation yields numerous nontrivial experimental consequences, exposing these theories to rigorous and definitive tests. PMID:19506260

7th International Fermi Symposium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2017-10-01

The two Fermi instruments have been surveying the high-energy sky since August 2008. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) has discovered more than three thousand gamma-ray sources and many new source classes, bringing the importance of gamma-ray astrophysics to an ever-broadening community. The LAT catalog includes supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae, pulsars, binary systems, novae, several classes of active galaxies, starburst galaxies, normal galaxies, and a large number of unidentified sources. Continuous monitoring of the high-energy gamma-ray sky has uncovered numerous outbursts from a wide range of transients. Fermi LAT's study of diffuse gamma-ray emission in our Galaxy revealed giant bubbles, as well as an excess of gamma-rays from the Galactic center region, both observations have become exciting puzzles for the astrophysics community. The direct measurement of a harder-than- expected cosmic-ray electron spectrum may imply the presence of nearby cosmic-ray accelerators. LAT data have provided stringent constraints on new phenomena such as supersymmetric dark-matter annihilations as well as tests of fundamental physics. The full reprocessing of the entire mission dataset with Pass 8 includes improved event reconstruction, a wider energy range, better energy measurements, and significantly increased effective area, all them boosting the discovery potential and the ability to do precision observations with LAT. The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) continues to be a prolific detector of gamma-ray transients: magnetars, solar flares, terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and gamma-ray bursts at keV to MeV energies, complementing the higher energy LAT observations of those sources in addition to providing valuable science return in their own right. All gamma-ray data are made immediately available at the Fermi Science Support Center (http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc). These publicly available data and Fermi analysis tools have enabled a large number of important studies. We

Radioactive decay of the late-time light curves of GRB-SNe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misra, Kuntal; Fruchte, Andrew Steven

2018-04-01

We present the late-time Hubble Space Telescope observations of two GRB associated supernovae, GRB 030329/SN 2003dh and XRF 060218/SN 2006aj. Using the multi-color data upto ˜ 320 days after the burst, we constrain the late-time decay nature of these supernovae. The decay rates of SN 2003dh are steeper than SN 2006aj. A comparison with two other GRB supernovae, GRB 980425/SN 1998bw and the supernova associated with XRF 020903, shows that the decay rates of SN 2003dh are similar to XRF 020903 and those of SN 2006aj are similar to SN 1998bw. The late-time decay rates are steeper than the 56Co?56Fe radioactive decay rate (0.0098 mag day-1) indicating that there is some leakage of gamma-rays.

Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from Galactic Novae using Fermi-LAT Pass 8

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buson, Sara; Franckowiak, Anna; Cheung, Teddy; Jean, Pierre; Fermi-LAT Collaboration

2016-01-01

Recently Galactic novae have been identified as a new class of GeV gamma-ray emitters, with 6 detected so far with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) data. Based on optical observations we have compiled a catalog of ~70 Galactic novae, which peak (in optical) during the operations of the Fermi mission. Based on the properties of known gamma-ray novae we developed a search procedure that we apply to all novae in the catalog to detect these slow transient sources or set flux upper limits using the Fermi-LAT Pass 8 data set. This is the first time a large sample of Galactic novae has been uniformly studied.

Effective field theories for superconducting systems with multiple Fermi surfaces

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Braga, P.R., E-mail: pedro.rangel.braga@gmail.com; Granado, D.R., E-mail: diegorochagrana@uerj.br; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S9, 9000 Gent

2016-11-15

In this work we investigate the description of superconducting systems with multiple Fermi surfaces. For the case of one Fermi surface we re-obtain the result that the superconductor is more precisely described as a topological state of matter. Studying the case of more than one Fermi surface, we obtain the effective theory describing a time reversal symmetric topological superconductor. These results are obtained by employing a general procedure to construct effective low energy actions describing states of electromagnetic systems interacting with charges and defects. The procedure consists in taking into account the proliferation or dilution of these charges and defectsmore » and its consequences for the low energy description of the electromagnetic response of the system. We find that the main ingredient entering the low energy characterization of the system with more than one Fermi surface is a non-conservation of the canonical supercurrent triggered by particular vortex configurations.« less

Bright and singular soliton solutions of the conformable time-fractional Klein-Gordon equations with different nonlinearities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosseini, Kamyar; Mayeli, Peyman; Ansari, Reza

2018-07-01

Finding the exact solutions of nonlinear fractional differential equations has gained considerable attention, during the past two decades. In this paper, the conformable time-fractional Klein-Gordon equations with quadratic and cubic nonlinearities are studied. Several exact soliton solutions, including the bright (non-topological) and singular soliton solutions are formally extracted by making use of the ansatz method. Results demonstrate that the method can efficiently handle the time-fractional Klein-Gordon equations with different nonlinearities.

FERMI Observations of High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from GRB 080825C

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Asano, K.; ...

2009-11-24

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has opened a new high-energy window in the study of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Here in this paper, we present a thorough analysis of GRB 080825C, which triggered the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM), and was the first firm detection of a GRB by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). We discuss the LAT event selections, background estimation, significance calculations, and localization for Fermi GRBs in general and GRB 080825C in particular. We show the results of temporal and time-resolved spectral analysis of the GBM and LAT data. Finally, we also present some theoretical interpretation ofmore » GRB 080825C observations as well as some common features observed in other LAT GRBs.« less

Seven-year Collection of Well-monitored Fermi-LAT Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panaitescu, A.

2017-03-01

We present the light curves and spectra of 24 afterglows that have been monitored by Fermi-LAT at 0.1-100 GeV over more than a decade. All light curves (except 130427) are consistent with a single power law starting from their peaks, which occur in most cases before the burst end. The light curves display a brightness-decay rate correlation, with all but one (130427) of the bright afterglows decaying faster than the dimmer afterglows. We attribute this dichotomy to the quick deposition of relativistic ejecta energy in the external shock for the brighter/faster-decaying afterglows and to an extended energy injection in the afterglow shock for the dimmer/slower-decaying light curves. The spectra of six afterglows (090328, 100414, 110721, 110731, 130427, 140619B) indicate the existence of a harder component above a spectral dip or ankle at energies of 0.3-3 GeV, offering evidence for inverse-Compton emission at higher energies and suggesting that the harder power-law spectra of five other LAT afterglows (130327B, 131231, 150523, 150627, 160509) could also be inverse-Compton, while the remaining, softer LAT afterglows should be synchrotron emission. Marginal evidence for a spectral break and softening at higher energies is found for two afterglows (090902B and 090926).

Fermi edge singularity in a tunnel junction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jin; Sherkunov, Yury; D'Ambrumenil, Nicholas; Muzykantskii, Boris

2010-03-01

We present results on the non-equilibrium Fermi edge singularity (FES) problem in tunnel junctions. The FES, which is present in a Fermi gas subject to any sudden change of potential, manifests itself in the final state many body interaction between the electrons in the leads [1]. We establish a connection between the FES problem in a tunnel junction and the Full Counting Statistics (FCS) for the device [2]. We find that the exact profile of the changing potential (or the profile for the barrier opening and closing in the tunnel junction case) strongly affects the overlap between the initial and final state of the Fermi gas. We factorize the contribution to the FES into two approximately independent terms: one is connected with the short time opening process while the other is concerned with the long time asymptotic effect, namely the Anderson orthogonality catastrophe. We consider applications to a localized level coupled through a tunnel barrier to a 1D lead driven out of equilibrium [3]. References: [1] G. Mahan, Phys. Rev. 163, 1612 (1967); P. Nozieres and C. T. De Dominicis, Phys. Rev. 178, 1079 (1969); P. Anderson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 18, 1049 (1967) [2] J. Zhang, Y. Sherkunov, N. d'Ambrumenil, and B. Muzykantskii, ArXiv:0909.3427 [3] D. Abanin and L. Levitov, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 186803 (2005)

Chandra X-Ray Observations of the Two Brightest Unidentified High Galactic Latitude Fermi-LAT Gamma-Ray Sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheung, C. C.; Donato, D.; Gehrels, N.; Sokolovsky, K. V.; Giroletti, M.

2012-01-01

We present Chandra ACIS-I X-ray observations of 0FGL J1311.9-3419 and 0FGL J1653.4-0200, the two brightest high Galactic latitude (absolute value (beta) >10 deg) gamma-ray sources from the three-month Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) bright source list that are still unidentified. Both were also detected previously by EGRET, and despite dedicated multi-wavelength follow-up, they are still not associated with established classes of gamma-ray emitters like pulsars or radio-loud active galactic nuclei. X-ray sources found in the ACIS-I fields of view are cataloged, and their basic properties are determined. These are discussed as candidate counterparts to 0FGL J1311.9-3419 and 0FGL J1653.4-0200, with particular emphasis on the brightest of the 9 and 13 Chandra sources detected within the respective Fermi-LAT 95% confidence regions. Further follow-up studies, including optical photometric and spectroscopic observations, are necessary to identify these X-ray candidate counterparts in order to ultimately reveal the nature of these enigmatic gamma-ray objects.

Recent Developments in Non-Fermi Liquid Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sung-Sik

2018-03-01

Non-Fermi liquids are unconventional metals whose physical properties deviate qualitatively from those of noninteracting fermions due to strong quantum fluctuations near Fermi surfaces. They arise when metals are subject to singular interactions mediated by soft collective modes. In the absence of well-defined quasiparticles, universal physics of non-Fermi liquids is captured by interacting field theories which replace Landau Fermi liquid theory. However, it has been difficult to understand their universal low-energy physics due to a lack of theoretical methods that take into account strong quantum fluctuations in the presence of abundant low-energy degrees of freedom. In this review, we discuss two approaches that have been recently developed for non-Fermi liquid theory with emphasis on two space dimensions. The first is a perturbative scheme based on a dimensional regularization, which achieves a controlled access to the low-energy physics by tuning the codimension of Fermi surface. The second is a nonperturbative approach which treats the interaction ahead of the kinetic term through a non-Gaussian scaling called interaction-driven scaling. Examples of strongly coupled non-Fermi liquids amenable to exact treatments through the interaction-driven scaling are discussed.

Radio and gamma-ray properties of extragalactic jets from the TANAMI sample

DOE PAGES

Böck, M.; Kadler, M.; Müller, C.; ...

2016-05-04

The TANAMI program has been observing parsec-scale radio jets of southern (declination south of - 30°) γ-ray bright AGN, simultaneously with Fermi/LAT monitoring of their γ-ray emission, via high-resolution radio imaging with Very Long Baseline Interferometry techniques. In this paper, we present the radio and γ-rayproperties of the TANAMI sources based on one year of contemporaneous TANAMI and Fermi/LAT data. A large fraction (72%) of the TANAMI sample can be associated with bright γ-ray sources for this time range. Association rates differ for different optical classes with all BL Lacs, 76% of quasars, and just 17% of galaxies detected bymore » the LAT. Upper limits were established on the γ-ray flux from TANAMI sources not detected by LAT. This analysis led to the identification of three new Fermi sources whose detection was later confirmed. The γ-ray and radio luminosities are related by L γ ∝ L r 0.89±0.04. The brightness temperatures of the radio cores increase with the average γ-ray luminosity and the presence of brightness temperatures above the inverse Compton limit implies strong Doppler boosting in those sources. The undetected sources have lower γ/radio luminosity ratios and lower contemporaneous brightness temperatures. Finally, unless the Fermi/LAT-undetected blazars are much γ-ray-fainter than the Fermi/LAT-detected sources, their γ-ray luminosity should not be significantly lower than the upper limits calculated here.« less

Climate effects on late-season flight times of Massachusetts butterflies.

PubMed

Zipf, L; Williams, E H; Primack, R B; Stichter, S

2017-09-01

Although the responses of living organisms to climate change are being widely investigated, little attention has been given to such effects late in the growing season. We studied the late-season flight times of 20 species of butterflies in a geographically limited region, the state of Massachusetts in the USA, by examining change in dates of flight over a 22-year period and in response to average monthly temperature and precipitation. By analyzing the last 10% of each year's observations reported by observers of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club, we found that seven species remain in flight significantly later into the fall than they did two decades earlier, while two species show reduced late-season flight. Life history characteristics of the species, particularly voltinism and average fall flight dates, influenced whether warmer fall months led to increases or decreases in fall flight. Warmer Novembers often led to later fall flight, and wetter Augusts usually extended fall flight. These results document the effects of climate on late-season flight times of butterflies, add to an understanding of how warmer autumn conditions alter the phenology of different butterfly species, and show the usefulness of citizen science data.

Network based sky Brightness Monitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKenna, Dan; Pulvermacher, R.; Davis, D. R.

2009-01-01

We have developed and are currently testing an autonomous 2 channel photometer designed to measure the night sky brightness in the visual wavelengths over a multi-year campaign. The photometer uses a robust silicon sensor filtered with Hoya CM500 glass. The Sky brightness is measured every minute at two elevation angles typically zenith and 20 degrees to monitor brightness and transparency. The Sky Brightness monitor consists of two units, the remote photometer and a network interface. Currently these devices use 2.4 Ghz transceivers with a free space range of 100 meters. The remote unit is battery powered with day time recharging using a solar panel. Data received by the network interface transmits data via standard POP Email protocol. A second version is under development for radio sensitive areas using an optical fiber for data transmission. We will present the current comparison with the National Park Service sky monitoring camera. We will also discuss the calibration methods used for standardization and temperature compensation. This system is expected to be deployed in the next year and be operated by the International Dark Sky Association SKYMONITOR project.

A zero dead-time multi-particle time and position sensitive detector based on correlation between brightness and amplitude

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Urbain, X., E-mail: xavier.urbain@uclouvain.be; Bech, D.; Van Roy, J.-P.

A new multi-particle time and position sensitive detector using only a set of microchannel plates, a waveform digitizer, a phosphor screen, and a CMOS camera is described. The assignment of the timing information, as taken from the microchannel plates by fast digitizing, to the positions, as recorded by the camera, is based on the COrrelation between the BRightness of the phosphor screen spots, defined as their integrated intensity and the Amplitude of the electrical signals (COBRA). Tests performed by observing the dissociation of HeH, the fragmentation of H{sub 3} into two or three fragments, and the photo-double-ionization of Xenon atomsmore » are presented, which illustrate the performances of the COBRA detection scheme.« less

Constraints on dark matter annihilation in clusters of galaxies with the Fermi large area telescope

DOE PAGES

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.; ...

2010-05-20

Nearby clusters and groups of galaxies are potentially bright sources of high-energy gamma-ray emission resulting from the pair-annihilation of dark matter particles. However, no significant gamma-ray emission has been detected so far from clusters in the first 11 months of observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We interpret this non-detection in terms of constraints on dark matter particle properties. In particular for leptonic annihilation final states and particle masses greater than ~ 200 GeV, gamma-ray emission from inverse Compton scattering of CMB photons is expected to dominate the dark matter annihilation signal from clusters, and our gamma-ray limits excludemore » large regions of the parameter space that would give a good fit to the recent anomalous Pamela and Fermi-LAT electron-positron measurements. We also present constraints on the annihilation of more standard dark matter candidates, such as the lightest neutralino of supersymmetric models. The constraints are particularly strong when including the fact that clusters are known to contain substructure at least on galaxy scales, increasing the expected gamma-ray flux by a factor of ~ 5 over a smooth-halo assumption. Here, we also explore the effect of uncertainties in cluster dark matter density profiles, finding a systematic uncertainty in the constraints of roughly a factor of two, but similar overall conclusions. Finally, in this work, we focus on deriving limits on dark matter models; a more general consideration of the Fermi-LAT data on clusters and clusters as gamma-ray sources is forthcoming.« less

Hydrodynamics in a Degenerate, Strongly Attractive Fermi Gas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, John E.; Kinast, Joseph; Hemmer, Staci; Turlapov, Andrey; O'Hara, Ken; Gehm, Mike; Granade, Stephen

2004-01-01

In summary, we use all-optical methods with evaporative cooling near a Feshbach resonance to produce a strongly interacting degenerate Fermi gas. We observe hydrodynamic behavior in the expansion dynamics. At low temperatures, collisions may not explain the expansion dynamics. We observe hydrodynamics in the trapped gas. Our observations include collisionally-damped excitation spectra at high temperature which were not discussed above. In addition, we observe weakly damped breathing modes at low temperature. The observed temperature dependence of the damping time and hydrodynamic frequency are not consistent with collisional dynamics nor with collisionless mean field interactions. These observations constitute the first evidence for superfluid hydrodynamics in a Fermi gas.

Bright-light exposure during daytime sleeping affects nocturnal melatonin secretion after simulated night work.

PubMed

Nagashima, Shunsuke; Osawa, Madoka; Matsuyama, Hiroto; Ohoka, Wataru; Ahn, Aemi; Wakamura, Tomoko

2018-02-01

The guidelines for night and shift workers recommend that after night work, they should sleep in a dark environment during the daytime. However, staying in a dark environment during the daytime reduces nocturnal melatonin secretion and delays its onset. Daytime bright-light exposure after night work is important for melatonin synthesis the subsequent night and for maintaining the circadian rhythms. However, it is not clear whether daytime sleeping after night work should be in a dim- or a bright-light environment for maintaining melatonin secretion. The aim of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the effect of bright-light exposure during daytime sleeping on nocturnal melatonin secretion after simulated night work. Twelve healthy male subjects, aged 24.8 ± 4.6 (mean ± SD), participated in 3-day sessions under two experimental conditions, bright light or dim light, in a random order. On the first day, the subjects entered the experimental room at 16:00 and saliva samples were collected every hour between 18:00 and 00:00 under dim-light conditions. Between 00:00 and 08:00, they participated in tasks that simulated night work. At 10:00 the next morning, they slept for 6 hours under either a bright-light condition (>3000 lx) or a dim-light condition (<50 lx). In the evening, saliva samples were collected as on the first day. The saliva samples were analyzed for melatonin concentration. Activity and sleep times were recorded by a wrist device worn throughout the experiment. In the statistical analysis, the time courses of melatonin concentration were compared between the two conditions by three-way repeated measurements ANOVA (light condition, day and time of day). The change in dim light melatonin onset (ΔDLMO) between the first and second days, and daytime and nocturnal sleep parameters after the simulated night work were compared between the light conditions using paired t-tests. The ANOVA results indicated a significant interaction (light condition and3

A Systematic Review of Bright Light Therapy for Eating Disorders.

PubMed

Beauchamp, Marshall T; Lundgren, Jennifer D

2016-10-27

Bright light therapy is a noninvasive biological intervention for disorders with nonnormative circadian features. Eating disorders, particularly those with binge-eating and night-eating features, have documented nonnormative circadian eating and mood patterns, suggesting that bright light therapy may be an efficacious stand-alone or adjunctive intervention. The purpose of this systematic literature review, using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, was (1) to evaluate the state of the empirical treatment outcome literature on bright light therapy for eating disorders and (2) to explore the timing of eating behavior, mood, and sleep-related symptom change so as to understand potential mechanisms of bright light therapy action in the context of eating disorder treatment. A comprehensive literature search using PsycInfo and PubMed/MEDLINE was conducted in April 2016 with no date restrictions to identify studies published using bright light therapy as a treatment for eating disorders. Keywords included combinations of terms describing disordered eating (eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, binge, eating behavior, eating, and night eating) and the use of bright light therapy (bright light therapy, light therapy, phototherapy). After excluding duplicates, 34 articles were reviewed for inclusion. 14 published studies of bright light therapy for eating disorders met inclusion criteria (included participants with an eating disorder/disordered-eating behaviors; presented as a case study, case series, open-label clinical trial, or randomized/nonrandomized controlled trial; written in English; and published and available by the time of manuscript review). Results suggest that bright light therapy is potentially effective at improving both disordered-eating behavior and mood acutely, although the timing of symptom response and the duration of treatment effects remain unknown. Future research should

Propagation and head-on collisions of ion-acoustic solitons in a Thomas-Fermi magnetoplasma: Relativistic degeneracy effects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akbari-Moghanjoughi, M.

Small amplitude propagation and quasielastic head-on collision of ion-acoustic solitary waves (IASWs) are investigated in a degenerate Thomas-Fermi electron-positron-ion magnetized plasma using extended Poincare-Lighthill-Kuo reductive perturbation method for both ultrarelativistic and nonrelativistic electron/positron degeneracy cases. It is observed that both bright- and dark-type solitary shapes can exist in such plasma, depending on two critical values. The shape of ion-acoustic solitary structures as well as sign of their collision phase shifts are both determined by the same critical values. It is further revealed that relativistic degeneracy of electrons/positrons has significant effect on the propagation as well as interaction of IASWs.

Extending the Fermi-LAT data processing pipeline to the grid

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zimmer, S.; Arrabito, L.; Glanzman, T.

2015-05-12

The Data Handling Pipeline ("Pipeline") has been developed for the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (Fermi) Large Area Telescope (LAT) which launched in June 2008. Since then it has been in use to completely automate the production of data quality monitoring quantities, reconstruction and routine analysis of all data received from the satellite and to deliver science products to the collaboration and the Fermi Science Support Center. Aside from the reconstruction of raw data from the satellite (Level 1), data reprocessing and various event-level analyses are also reasonably heavy loads on the pipeline and computing resources. These other loads, unlike Levelmore » 1, can run continuously for weeks or months at a time. Additionally, it receives heavy use in performing production Monte Carlo tasks.« less

Five Years of the Fermi LAT Flare Advocate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carpenter, Bryce; Ojha, R.; Gasparrini, D.; Ciprini, S.; Fermi LAT Collaboration; Fermi LAT Flare Advocates

2014-01-01

Since the launch of the Fermi satellite, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) team has run a program that provides a daily review of the the gamma-ray sky as soon as Fermi LAT data becomes available. The Flare Advocate/Gamma-ray Sky Watcher (FA-GSW) program allows a rapid analysis of the Automatic Science Processing (ASP) products and triggers dedicated followup analyses by several LAT science groups such as those studying Galactic transients, extragalactic sources and new gamma-ray sources. Significant gamma-ray detections also trigger rapid communications to the entire astrophysical community via astronomical telegrams and gamma-ray coordination network notices. The FA-GSW program plays a key role in maximizing the science return from Fermi by increasing the rate of multi-frequency observations of sources in an active gamma-ray state. In the past ~5 years blazar flaring activity of varying strength and duty cycles, gravitationally lensed blazars, flares from Galactic sources (like Nova Delphini and the Crab Nebula), unidentified transients near and off the Galactic plane, and emission from the quiet and flaring Sun, represent the range of detections made. Flare Advocates have published about 250 Astronomical Telegrams and they publish a weekly blog. Timely, extensive multi-frequency campaigns have been organized to follow-up on these phenomena leading to some of Fermi’s most interesting results.

Bright green light treatment of depression for older adults [ISRCTN69400161].

PubMed

Loving, Richard T; Kripke, Daniel F; Knickerbocker, Nancy C; Grandner, Michael A

2005-11-09

Bright white light has been successfully used for the treatment of depression. There is interest in identifying which spectral colors of light are the most efficient in the treatment of depression. It is theorized that green light could decrease the intensity duration of exposure needed. Late Wake Treatment (LWT), sleep deprivation for the last half of one night, is associated with rapid mood improvement which has been sustained by light treatment. Because spectral responsiveness may differ by age, we examined whether green light would provide efficient antidepressant treatment in an elder age group. We contrasted one hour of bright green light (1,200 Lux) and one hour of dim red light placebo (<10 Lux) in a randomized treatment trial with depressed elders. Participants were observed in their homes with mood scales, wrist actigraphy and light monitoring. On the day prior to beginning treatment, the participants self-administered LWT. The protocol was completed by 33 subjects who were 59 to 80 years old. Mood improved on average 23% for all subjects, but there were no significant statistical differences between treatment and placebo groups. There were negligible adverse reactions to the bright green light, which was well tolerated. Bright green light was not shown to have an antidepressant effect in the age group of this study, but a larger trial with brighter green light might be of value.

Nonlocal Poisson-Fermi model for ionic solvent.

PubMed

Xie, Dexuan; Liu, Jinn-Liang; Eisenberg, Bob

2016-07-01

We propose a nonlocal Poisson-Fermi model for ionic solvent that includes ion size effects and polarization correlations among water molecules in the calculation of electrostatic potential. It includes the previous Poisson-Fermi models as special cases, and its solution is the convolution of a solution of the corresponding nonlocal Poisson dielectric model with a Yukawa-like kernel function. The Fermi distribution is shown to be a set of optimal ionic concentration functions in the sense of minimizing an electrostatic potential free energy. Numerical results are reported to show the difference between a Poisson-Fermi solution and a corresponding Poisson solution.

Effect of timed bright light treatment for rest-activity disruption in institutionalized patients with Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Dowling, Glenna A; Mastick, Judy; Hubbard, Erin M; Luxenberg, Jay S; Burr, Robert L

2005-08-01

Disturbances in rest-activity rhythm are prominent and disabling symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Nighttime sleep is severely fragmented and daytime activity is disrupted by multiple napping episodes. In most institutional environments, light levels are very low and may not be sufficient to entrain the circadian clock to the 24-hour day. The purpose of this randomized clinical trial was to test the effectiveness of timed bright light therapy in reducing rest-activity (circadian) disruption in institutionalized patients with AD. The experimental groups received either morning (9.30-10.30 am) or afternoon (3.30-4.30 pm) bright light exposure ( > or = 2500 lux in gaze direction) Monday through Friday for 10 weeks. The control group received usual indoor light (150-200 lux). Nighttime sleep, daytime wake, and rest-activity parameters were determined by actigraphy. Repeated measures analysis of variance was employed to test the primary study hypotheses. Seventy institutionalized subjects with AD (mean age 84) completed the study. No significant differences in actigraphy-based measures of nighttime sleep or daytime wake were found between groups. Subjects in either experimental light condition evidenced a significantly (p < 0.01) more stable rest-activity rhythm acrophase over the 10-week treatment period compared to the control subjects whose rhythm phase delayed by over two hours. One hour of bright light, administered to subjects with AD either in the morning or afternoon, did not improve nighttime sleep or daytime wake compared to a control group of similar subjects. However, exposure to one-hour of bright light in either the morning or afternoon may provide sufficient additional input to the circadian pacemaker to facilitate entrainment to the 24-hour day. (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dynamic resetting of the human circadian pacemaker by intermittent bright light

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rimmer, D. W.; Boivin, D. B.; Shanahan, T. L.; Kronauer, R. E.; Duffy, J. F.; Czeisler, C. A.

2000-01-01

In humans, experimental studies of circadian resetting typically have been limited to lengthy episodes of exposure to continuous bright light. To evaluate the time course of the human endogenous circadian pacemaker's resetting response to brief episodes of intermittent bright light, we studied 16 subjects assigned to one of two intermittent lighting conditions in which the subjects were presented with intermittent episodes of bright-light exposure at 25- or 90-min intervals. The effective duration of bright-light exposure was 31% or 63% compared with a continuous 5-h bright-light stimulus. Exposure to intermittent bright light elicited almost as great a resetting response compared with 5 h of continuous bright light. We conclude that exposure to intermittent bright light produces robust phase shifts of the endogenous circadian pacemaker. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that humans, like other species, exhibit an enhanced sensitivity to the initial minutes of bright-light exposure.

ON THE BRIGHTNESS AND WAITING-TIME DISTRIBUTIONS OF A TYPE III RADIO STORM OBSERVED BY STEREO/WAVES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eastwood, J. P.; Hudson, H. S.; Krucker, S.

2010-01-10

Type III solar radio storms, observed at frequencies below {approx}16 MHz by space-borne radio experiments, correspond to the quasi-continuous, bursty emission of electron beams onto open field lines above active regions. The mechanisms by which a storm can persist in some cases for more than a solar rotation whilst exhibiting considerable radio activity are poorly understood. To address this issue, the statistical properties of a type III storm observed by the STEREO/WAVES radio experiment are presented, examining both the brightness distribution and (for the first time) the waiting-time distribution (WTD). Single power-law behavior is observed in the number distribution asmore » a function of brightness; the power-law index is {approx}2.1 and is largely independent of frequency. The WTD is found to be consistent with a piecewise-constant Poisson process. This indicates that during the storm individual type III bursts occur independently and suggests that the storm dynamics are consistent with avalanche-type behavior in the underlying active region.« less

The many faces of Fermi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delmastro, Marco

2017-12-01

When I settled down to read The Last Man Who Knew Everything by Davis Schwartz, I was asking myself whether there was any need for yet another Enrico Fermi biography. While navigating this ambitious book, I realized that maybe I knew less than I thought about Fermi, and that maybe there was still a lot I could learn.

Anisotropy of the Fermi surface, Fermi velocity, many-body enhancement, and superconducting energy gap in Nb

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Crabtree, G.W.; Dye, D.H.; Karim, D.P.

1987-02-01

The detailed angular dependence of the Fermi radius k/sub F/, the Fermi velocity v/sub F/(k), the many-body enhancement factor lambda(k), and the superconducting energy gap ..delta..(k), for electrons on the Fermi surface of Nb are derived with use of the de Haas--van Alphen (dHvA) data of Karim, Ketterson, and Crabtree (J. Low Temp. Phys. 30, 389 (1978)), a Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker parametrization scheme, and an empirically adjusted band-structure calculation of Koelling. The parametrization is a nonrelativistic five-parameter fit allowing for cubic rather than spherical symmetry inside the muffin-tin spheres. The parametrized Fermi surface gives a detailed interpretation of the previously unexplained kappa,more » ..cap alpha..', and ..cap alpha..'' orbits in the dHvA data. Comparison of the parametrized Fermi velocities with those of the empirically adjusted band calculation allow the anisotropic many-body enhancement factor lambda(k) to be determined. Theoretical calculations of the electron-phonon interaction based on the tight-binding model agree with our derived values of lambda(k) much better than those based on the rigid-muffin-tin approximation. The anisotropy in the superconducting energy gap ..delta..(k) is estimated from our results for lambda(k), assuming weak anisotropy.« less

Anisotropy of the Fermi surface, Fermi velocity, many-body enhancement, and superconducting energy gap in Nb

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crabtree, G. W.; Dye, D. H.; Karim, D. P.; Campbell, S. A.; Ketterson, J. B.

1987-02-01

The detailed angular dependence of the Fermi radius kF, the Fermi velocity vF(k), the many-body enhancement factor λ(k), and the superconducting energy gap Δ(k), for electrons on the Fermi surface of Nb are derived with use of the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) data of Karim, Ketterson, and Crabtree [J. Low Temp. Phys. 30, 389 (1978)], a Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker parametrization scheme, and an empirically adjusted band-structure calculation of Koelling. The parametrization is a nonrelativistic five-parameter fit allowing for cubic rather than spherical symmetry inside the muffin-tin spheres. The parametrized Fermi surface gives a detailed interpretation of the previously unexplained κ, α', and α'' orbits in the dHvA data. Comparison of the parametrized Fermi velocities with those of the empirically adjusted band calculation allow the anisotropic many-body enhancement factor λ(k) to be determined. Theoretical calculations of the electron-phonon interaction based on the tight-binding model agree with our derived values of λ(k) much better than those based on the rigid-muffin-tin approximation. The anisotropy in the superconducting energy gap Δ(k) is estimated from our results for λ(k), assuming weak anisotropy.

Sky brightness and twilight measurements at Jogyakarta city, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herdiwijaya, Dhani

2016-11-01

The sky brightness measurements were performed using a portable photometer. A pocket-sized and low-cost photometer has 20 degree area measurement, and spectral ranges between 320-720 nm with output directly in magnitudes per arc second square (mass) unit. The sky brightness with 3 seconds temporal resolutions was recorded at Jogyakarta city (110° 25’ E; 70° 52’ S; elevation 100 m) within 136 days in years from 2014 to 2016. The darkest night could reach 22.61 mpass only in several seconds, with mean value 18.8±0.7 mpass and temperature variation 23.1±1.2 C. The difference of mean sky brightness between before and after midnight was about -0.76 mpass or 2.0 times brighter. Moreover, the sky brightness and temperature fluctuations were more stable in after midnight than in before midnight. It is suggested that city light pollution affects those variations, and subsequently duration of twilight. By comparing twilight brightness for several places, we also suggest a 17° solar dip or about 66 minutes before sunrise for new time of Fajr prayer.

Bright-light mask treatment of delayed sleep phase syndrome.

PubMed

Cole, Roger J; Smith, Julian S; Alcalá, Yvonne C; Elliott, Jeffrey A; Kripke, Daniel F

2002-02-01

We treated delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) with an illuminated mask that provides light through closed eyelids during sleep. Volunteers received either bright white light (2,700 lux, n = 28) or dim red light placebo (0.1 lux, n = 26) for 26 days at home. Mask lights were turned on (< 0.01 lux) 4 h before arising, ramped up for 1 h, and remained on at full brightness until arising. Volunteers also attempted to systematically advance sleep time, avoid naps, and avoid evening bright light. The light mask was well tolerated and produced little sleep disturbance. The acrophase of urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (6-SMT) excretion advanced significantly from baseline in the bright group (p < 0.0006) and not in the dim group, but final phases were not significantly earlier in the bright group (ANCOVA ns). Bright treatment did produce significantly earlier phases, however, among volunteers whose baseline 6-SMT acrophase was later than the median of 0602 h (bright shift: 0732-0554 h, p < 0.0009; dim shift: 0746-0717 h, ns; ANCOVA p = 0.03). In this subgroup, sleep onset advanced significantly only with bright but not dim treatment (sleep onset shift: bright 0306-0145 h, p < 0.0002; dim 0229-0211 h, ns; ANCOVA p < .05). Despite equal expectations at baseline, participants rated bright treatment as more effective than dim treatment (p < 0.04). We conclude that bright-light mask treatment advances circadian phase and provides clinical benefit in DSPS individuals whose initial circadian delay is relatively severe.

Indications of a late-time interaction in the dark sector.

PubMed

Salvatelli, Valentina; Said, Najla; Bruni, Marco; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Wands, David

2014-10-31

We show that a general late-time interaction between cold dark matter and vacuum energy is favored by current cosmological data sets. We characterize the strength of the coupling by a dimensionless parameter q(V) that is free to take different values in four redshift bins from the primordial epoch up to today. This interacting scenario is in agreement with measurements of cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies from the Planck satellite, supernovae Ia from Union 2.1 and redshift space distortions from a number of surveys, as well as with combinations of these different data sets. Our analysis of the 4-bin interaction shows that a nonzero interaction is likely at late times. We then focus on the case q(V)≠0 in a single low-redshift bin, obtaining a nested one parameter extension of the standard ΛCDM model. We study the Bayesian evidence, with respect to ΛCDM, of this late-time interaction model, finding moderate evidence for an interaction starting at z=0.9, dependent upon the prior range chosen for the interaction strength parameter q(V). For this case the null interaction (q(V)=0, i.e., ΛCDM) is excluded at 99% C.L.

SEARCH FOR GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM X-RAY-SELECTED SEYFERT GALAXIES WITH FERMI-LAT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.

We report on a systematic investigation of the {gamma}-ray properties of 120 hard X-ray-selected Seyfert galaxies classified as 'radio-quiet' objects, utilizing the three-year accumulation of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data. Our sample of Seyfert galaxies is selected using the Swift Burst Alert Telescope 58 month catalog, restricting the analysis to the bright sources with average hard X-ray fluxes F{sub 14-195keV} {>=} 2.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -11} erg cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} at high Galactic latitudes (|b| > 10 Degree-Sign ). In order to remove 'radio-loud' objects from the sample, we use the 'hard X-ray radio loudness parameter', R{sub rX}, definedmore » as the ratio of the total 1.4 GHz radio to 14-195 keV hard X-ray energy fluxes. Among 120 X-ray bright Seyfert galaxies with R{sub rX} <10{sup -4}, we did not find a statistically significant {gamma}-ray excess (TS > 25) positionally coincident with any target Seyferts, with possible exceptions of ESO 323-G077 and NGC 6814. The mean value of the 95% confidence level {gamma}-ray upper limit for the integrated photon flux above 100 MeV from the analyzed Seyferts is {approx_equal} 4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -9} photons cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} , and the upper limits derived for several objects reach {approx_equal} 1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -9} photons cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} . Our results indicate that no prominent {gamma}-ray emission component related to active galactic nucleus activity is present in the spectra of Seyferts around GeV energies. The Fermi-LAT upper limits derived for our sample probe the ratio of {gamma}-ray to X-ray luminosities L{sub {gamma}}/L{sub X} < 0.1, and even <0.01 in some cases. The obtained results impose novel constraints on the models for high-energy radiation of 'radio-quiet' Seyfert galaxies.« less

Fermi surfaces properties of AuAl2, AuGa2, and AuIn2 with the CaF2-type cubic structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishimura, K.; Kakihana, M.; Suzuki, F.; Yara, T.; Hedo, M.; Nakama, T.; Ōnuki, Y.; Harima, H.

2018-05-01

We grew high-quality single crystals of AuAl2, AuGa2, and AuIn2 with the fluorite (CaF2)-type cubic structure and determined the Fermi surface properties by the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) experiments using full-potential LAPW bad calculations. The Fermi surface and optical properties for three compounds were once studied from an interest of colors because AuAl2 has a striking bright reddish-purple color, whereas AuGa2 and AuIn2 are, respectively, neutral and bluish. The detected dHvA frequencies in the present study are found to be in a wide range of (0.1-13)×107 Oe. The main dHvA branches for three compounds are in excellent agreement with the theoretical ones, but some dHvA branches with small dHvA frequencies are slightly deviated from the theoretical ones, especially in AuGa2 and AuIn2.

Non Fermi Liquid Crossovers in a Quasi-One-Dimensional Conductor in an Inclined Magnetic Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebed, Andrei

We consider a theoretical problem of electron-electron scattering time in a quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) conductor in a magnetic field, perpendicular to its conducting axis. We show that inverse electron-electron scattering time becomes of the order of characteristic electron energy, 1 / τ ~ ɛ ~ T , in a high magnetic field, directed far from the main crystallographic axes, which indicates breakdown of the Fermi liquid theory. In a magnetic field, directed close to one of the main crystallographic axis, inverse electron-electron scattering time becomes much smaller than characteristic electron energy and, thus, applicability of Fermi liquid theory restores. We suggest that there exist crossovers between Fermi liquid and some non Fermi liquid states in a strong enough inclined magnetic field. Application of our results to the Q1D conductor (Per)2Au(mnt)2 shows that it has to be possible to observe the above mentioned phenomenon in feasibly high magnetic fields of the order of H >=H* ~= 25 T . It was partially supported by NFS grant DMR-1104512.

Fermi arc mediated entropy transport in topological semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCormick, Timothy M.; Watzman, Sarah J.; Heremans, Joseph P.; Trivedi, Nandini

2018-05-01

The low-energy excitations of topological Weyl semimetals are composed of linearly dispersing Weyl fermions that act as monopoles of Berry curvature in the bulk momentum space. Furthermore, on the surface there exist topologically protected Fermi arcs at the projections of these Weyl points. We propose a pathway for entropy transport involving Fermi arcs on one surface connecting to Fermi arcs on the other surface via the bulk Weyl monopoles. We present results for the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the magnetothermal conductance of this conveyor belt channel. The circulating currents result in a net entropy transport without any net charge transport. We provide results for the Fermi arc mediated magnetothermal conductivity in the low-field semiclassical limit as well as in the high-field ultraquantum limit, where only chiral Landau levels are involved. Our work provides a proposed signature of Fermi arc mediated magnetothermal transport and sets the stage for utilizing and manipulating the topological Fermi arcs in thermal applications.

Large optical conductivity of Dirac semimetal Fermi arc surface states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Li-kun; Song, Justin C. W.

2017-08-01

Fermi arc surface states, a hallmark of topological Dirac semimetals, can host carriers that exhibit unusual dynamics distinct from that of their parent bulk. Here we find that Fermi arc carriers in intrinsic Dirac semimetals possess a strong and anisotropic light-matter interaction. This is characterized by a large Fermi arc optical conductivity when light is polarized transverse to the Fermi arc; when light is polarized along the Fermi arc, Fermi arc optical conductivity is significantly muted. The large surface spectral weight is locked to the wide separation between Dirac nodes and persists as a large Drude weight of Fermi arc carriers when the system is doped. As a result, large and anisotropic Fermi arc conductivity provides a novel means of optically interrogating the topological surfaces states of Dirac semimetals.

Surface effects in the unitary Fermi gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salasnich, L.; Ancilotto, F.; Toigo, F.

2010-01-01

We study the extended Thomas-Fermi (ETF) density functional of the superfluid unitary Fermi gas. This functional includes a gradient term which is essential to describe accurately the surface effects of the system, in particular with a small number of atoms, where the Thomas-Fermi (local density) approximation fails. We find that our ETF functional gives density profiles which are in good agreement with recent Monte Carlo results and also with a more sophisticated superfluid density functional based on Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. In addition, by using extended hydrodynamics equations of superfluids, we calculate the frequencies of collective surface oscillations of the unitary Fermi gas, showing that quadrupole and octupole modes strongly depend on the number of trapped atoms.

On the Relation Between Facular Bright Points and the Magnetic Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berger, Thomas; Shine, Richard; Tarbell, Theodore; Title, Alan; Scharmer, Goran

1994-12-01

Multi-spectral images of magnetic structures in the solar photosphere are presented. The images were obtained in the summers of 1993 and 1994 at the Swedish Solar Telescope on La Palma using the tunable birefringent Solar Optical Universal Polarimeter (SOUP filter), a 10 Angstroms wide interference filter tuned to 4304 Angstroms in the band head of the CH radical (the Fraunhofer G-band), and a 3 Angstroms wide interference filter centered on the Ca II--K absorption line. Three large format CCD cameras with shuttered exposures on the order of 10 msec and frame rates of up to 7 frames per second were used to create time series of both quiet and active region evolution. The full field--of--view is 60times 80 arcseconds (44times 58 Mm). With the best seeing, structures as small as 0.22 arcseconds (160 km) in diameter are clearly resolved. Post--processing of the images results in rigid coalignment of the image sets to an accuracy comparable to the spatial resolution. Facular bright points with mean diameters of 0.35 arcseconds (250 km) and elongated filaments with lengths on the order of arcseconds (10(3) km) are imaged with contrast values of up to 60 % by the G--band filter. Overlay of these images on contemporal Fe I 6302 Angstroms magnetograms and Ca II K images reveals that the bright points occur, without exception, on sites of magnetic flux through the photosphere. However, instances of concentrated and diffuse magnetic flux and Ca II K emission without associated bright points are common, leading to the conclusion that the presence of magnetic flux is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the occurence of resolvable facular bright points. Comparison of the G--band and continuum images shows a complex relation between structures in the two bandwidths: bright points exceeding 350 km in extent correspond to distinct bright structures in the continuum; smaller bright points show no clear relation to continuum structures. Size and contrast statistical cross

Examining the Fermi-LAT third source catalog in search of dark matter subhalos

DOE PAGES

Bertoni, Bridget; Hooper, Dan; Linden, Tim

2015-12-17

Dark matter annihilations taking place in nearby subhalos could appear as gamma-ray sources without detectable counterparts at other wavelengths. In this study, we consider the collection of unassociated gamma-ray sources reported by the Fermi Collaboration in an effort to identify the most promising dark matter subhalo candidates. While we identify 24 bright, high-latitude, non-variable sources with spectra that are consistent with being generated by the annihilations of ~ 20–70 GeV dark matter particles (assuming annihilations to bbar b), it is not possible at this time to distinguish these sources from radio-faint gamma-ray pulsars. Deeper multi-wavelength observations will be essential tomore » clarify the nature of these sources. It is notable that we do not find any such sources that are well fit by dark matter particles heavier than ~100 GeV. We also study the angular distribution of the gamma-rays from this set of subhalo candidates, and find that the source 3FGL J2212.5+0703 prefers a spatially extended profile (of width ~ 0.15°) over that of a point source, with a significance of 4.2σ (3.6σ after trials factor). Although not yet definitive, this bright and high-latitude gamma-ray source is well fit as a nearby subhalo of m χ ≃ 20–50 GeV dark matter particles (annihilating to bb¯) and merits further multi-wavelength investigation. As a result, based on the subhalo distribution predicted by numerical simulations, we derive constraints on the dark matter annihilation cross section that are competitive to those resulting from gamma-ray observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies, the Galactic Center, and the extragalactic gamma-ray background.« less

STEM education and Fermi problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holubova, Renata

2017-01-01

One of the research areas of Physics education is the study of the educational process. Investigations in this area are aimed for example on the teaching and learning process and its results. The conception of STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is discussed - it is one possible approach to the preparation of the curriculum and the focus on the educational process at basic and secondary schools. At schools in the Czech Republic STEM is much more realized by the application of interdisciplinary relations between subjects Physics-Nature-Technique. In both conceptions the aim is to support pupils' creativity, critical thinking, cross-curricular links. In this context the possibility of using Fermi problems in teaching Physics was discussed (as an interdisciplinary and constructivist activity). The aim of our research was the analysis of Fermi problems solving strategies, the ability of pupils to solve Fermi problems. The outcome of our analysis was to find out methods and teaching strategies which are important to use in teaching - how to solve qualitative and interdisciplinary tasks in physics. In this paper the theoretical basis of STEM education and Fermi problems will be presented. The outcome of our findings based on the research activities will be discussed so as our experiences from 10 years of Fermi problems competition that takes place at the Science Faculty, Palacky University in Olomouc. Changes in competencies of solving tasks by our students (from the point of view in terms of modern, activating teaching methods recommended by theory of Physics education and other science subjects) will be identified.

Lifetime of Feshbach dimers in a Fermi-Fermi mixture of 6Li and 40K

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jag, M.; Cetina, M.; Lous, R. S.; Grimm, R.; Levinsen, J.; Petrov, D. S.

2016-12-01

We present a joint experimental and theoretical investigation of the lifetime of weakly bound dimers formed near narrow interspecies Feshbach resonances in mass-imbalanced Fermi-Fermi systems, considering the specific example of a mixture of 6Li and 40K atoms. Our work addresses the central question of the increase in the stability of the dimers resulting from Pauli suppression of collisional losses, which is a well-known effect in mass-balanced fermionic systems near broad resonances. We present measurements of the spontaneous dissociation of dimers in dilute samples, and of the collisional losses in dense samples arising from both dimer-dimer processes and from atom-dimer processes. We find that all loss processes are suppressed close to the Feshbach resonance. Our general theoretical approach for fermionic mixtures near narrow Feshbach resonances provides predictions for the suppression of collisional decay as a function of the detuning from resonance, and we find excellent agreement with the experimental benchmarks provided by our 40K-6Li system. We finally present model calculations for other Feshbach-resonant Fermi-Fermi systems, which are of interest for experiments in the near future.

NEAR-IR IMAGING POLARIMETRY TOWARD A BRIGHT-RIMMED CLOUD: MAGNETIC FIELD IN SFO 74

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kusune, Takayoshi; Sugitani, Koji; Miao, Jingqi

2015-01-01

We have made near-infrared (JHK {sub s}) imaging polarimetry of a bright-rimmed cloud (SFO 74). The polarization vector maps clearly show that the magnetic field in the layer just behind the bright rim is running along the rim, quite different from its ambient magnetic field. The direction of the magnetic field just behind the tip rim is almost perpendicular to that of the incident UV radiation, and the magnetic field configuration appears to be symmetric as a whole with respect to the cloud symmetry axis. We estimated the column and number densities in the two regions (just inside and farmore » inside the tip rim) and then derived the magnetic field strength, applying the Chandrasekhar-Fermi method. The estimated magnetic field strength just inside the tip rim, ∼90 μG, is stronger than that far inside, ∼30 μG. This suggests that the magnetic field strength just inside the tip rim is enhanced by the UV-radiation-induced shock. The shock increases the density within the top layer around the tip and thus increases the strength of the magnetic field. The magnetic pressure seems to be comparable to the turbulent one just inside the tip rim, implying a significant contribution of the magnetic field to the total internal pressure. The mass-to-flux ratio was estimated to be close to the critical value just inside the tip rim. We speculate that the flat-topped bright rim of SFO 74 could be formed by the magnetic field effect.« less

Real-Time Digital Bright Field Technology for Rapid Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing.

PubMed

Canali, Chiara; Spillum, Erik; Valvik, Martin; Agersnap, Niels; Olesen, Tom

2018-01-01

Optical scanning through bacterial samples and image-based analysis may provide a robust method for bacterial identification, fast estimation of growth rates and their modulation due to the presence of antimicrobial agents. Here, we describe an automated digital, time-lapse, bright field imaging system (oCelloScope, BioSense Solutions ApS, Farum, Denmark) for rapid and higher throughput antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) of up to 96 bacteria-antibiotic combinations at a time. The imaging system consists of a digital camera, an illumination unit and a lens where the optical axis is tilted 6.25° relative to the horizontal plane of the stage. Such tilting grants more freedom of operation at both high and low concentrations of microorganisms. When considering a bacterial suspension in a microwell, the oCelloScope acquires a sequence of 6.25°-tilted images to form an image Z-stack. The stack contains the best-focus image, as well as the adjacent out-of-focus images (which contain progressively more out-of-focus bacteria, the further the distance from the best-focus position). The acquisition process is repeated over time, so that the time-lapse sequence of best-focus images is used to generate a video. The setting of the experiment, image analysis and generation of time-lapse videos can be performed through a dedicated software (UniExplorer, BioSense Solutions ApS). The acquired images can be processed for online and offline quantification of several morphological parameters, microbial growth, and inhibition over time.

20 CFR 349.4 - Late completion of timely investigation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Late completion of timely investigation. 349.4 Section 349.4 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT FINALITY OF DECISIONS REGARDING UNEMPLOYMENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE BENEFITS § 349.4...

20 CFR 349.4 - Late completion of timely investigation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Late completion of timely investigation. 349.4 Section 349.4 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT FINALITY OF DECISIONS REGARDING UNEMPLOYMENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE BENEFITS § 349.4...

20 CFR 349.4 - Late completion of timely investigation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Late completion of timely investigation. 349.4 Section 349.4 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT FINALITY OF DECISIONS REGARDING UNEMPLOYMENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE BENEFITS § 349.4...

Zernike analysis of all-sky night brightness maps.

PubMed

Bará, Salvador; Nievas, Miguel; Sánchez de Miguel, Alejandro; Zamorano, Jaime

2014-04-20

All-sky night brightness maps (calibrated images of the night sky with hemispherical field-of-view (FOV) taken at standard photometric bands) provide useful data to assess the light pollution levels at any ground site. We show that these maps can be efficiently described and analyzed using Zernike circle polynomials. The relevant image information can be compressed into a low-dimensional coefficients vector, giving an analytical expression for the sky brightness and alleviating the effects of noise. Moreover, the Zernike expansions allow us to quantify in a straightforward way the average and zenithal sky brightness and its variation across the FOV, providing a convenient framework to study the time course of these magnitudes. We apply this framework to analyze the results of a one-year campaign of night sky brightness measurements made at the UCM observatory in Madrid.

Comparison of Optical and Multi-Waveband Variations of Selected Gamma-ray Bright Blazars in 2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schultz, Benjamin; Jorstad, S. G.; Marscher, A. P.; Williamson, K. E.; Walker, G. E.

2013-01-01

We present multi-wavelength observations of several gamma-ray bright blazars. We combine optical data obtained with the 17-inch CCD telescope of Maria Mitchell Observatory with space- and ground-based observations carried out with a variety of instruments. These include a number of other optical telescopes, the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope at photon energies of 0.1-200 GeV, and the Swift satellite at 0.3-10 keV plus optical and UV wavelengths. Three of the observed blazars proved to be particularly active - BL Lac, Mrk501, and CTA-102. BL Lac was of special interest, displaying remarkable activity in multiple wavelengths during this observation period, including the optical, in which it underwent its largest observed flare in a number of years. In addition, CTA-102 has recently undergone an unprecedented multi-wavelength outburst. We cross-correlate the variations in the different wavebands in an effort to guide theoretical interpretations of the optical and high-energy emission from blazars. This project was supported by NSF/REU grant AST-0851892 and the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association. The research at Boston University was supported in part by NSF grant AST-0907893 and by NASA through Fermi grant NNX11AQ03G.

A selective deficit in the appreciation and recognition of brightness: brightness agnosia?

PubMed

Nijboer, Tanja C W; Nys, Gudrun M S; van der Smagt, Maarten J; de Haan, Edward H F

2009-01-01

We report a patient with extensive brain damage in the right hemisphere who demonstrated a severe impairment in the appreciation of brightness. Acuity, contrast sensitivity as well as luminance discrimination were normal, suggesting her brightness impairment is not a mere consequence of low-level sensory impairments. The patient was not able to indicate the darker or the lighter of two grey squares, even though she was able to see that they differed. In addition, she could not indicate whether the lights in a room were switched on or off, nor was she able to differentiate between normal greyscale images and inverted greyscale images. As the patient recognised objects, colours, and shapes correctly, the impairment is specific for brightness. As low-level, sensory processing is normal, this specific deficit in the recognition and appreciation of brightness appears to be of a higher, cognitive level, the level of semantic knowledge. This appears to be the first report of 'brightness agnosia'.

FERMI Observations of Gamma -Ray Emission From the Moon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Atwoo, W. B.; Baldini, I.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bechtol, K.; Bellazzini, R.;

New Observations of Subarcsecond Photospheric Bright Points

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berger, T. E.; Schrijver, C. J.; Shine, R. A.; Tarbell, T. D.; Title, A. M.; Scharmer, G.

1995-01-01

We have used an interference filter centered at 4305 A within the bandhead of the CH radical (the 'G band') and real-time image selection at the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope on La Palma to produce very high contrast images of subarcsecond photospheric bright points at all locations on the solar disk. During the 6 day period of 1993 September 15-20 we observed active region NOAA 7581 from its appearance on the East limb to a near-disk-center position on September 20. A total of 1804 bright points were selected for analysis from the disk center image using feature extraction image processing techniques. The measured Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) distribution of the bright points in the image is lognormal with a modal value of 220 km (0 sec .30) and an average value of 250 km (0 sec .35). The smallest measured bright point diameter is 120 km (0 sec .17) and the largest is 600 km (O sec .69). Approximately 60% of the measured bright points are circular (eccentricity approx. 1.0), the average eccentricity is 1.5, and the maximum eccentricity corresponding to filigree in the image is 6.5. The peak contrast of the measured bright points is normally distributed. The contrast distribution variance is much greater than the measurement accuracy, indicating a large spread in intrinsic bright-point contrast. When referenced to an averaged 'quiet-Sun' area in the image, the modal contrast is 29% and the maximum value is 75%; when referenced to an average intergranular lane brightness in the image, the distribution has a modal value of 61% and a maximum of 119%. The bin-averaged contrast of G-band bright points is constant across the entire measured size range. The measured area of the bright points, corrected for pixelation and selection effects, covers about 1.8% of the total image area. Large pores and micropores occupy an additional 2% of the image area, implying a total area fraction of magnetic proxy features in the image of 3.8%. We discuss the implications of this

New Observations of Subarcsecond Photospheric Bright Points

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berger, T. E.; Schrijver, C. J.; Shine, R. A.; Tarbell, T. D.; Title, A. M.; Scharmer, G.

1995-01-01

We have used an interference filter centered at 4305 A within the bandhead of the CH radical (the 'G band') and real-time image selection at the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope on La Palma to produce very high contrast images of subarcsecond photospheric bright points at all locations on the solar disk. During the 6 day period of 15-20 Sept. 1993 we observed active region NOAA 7581 from its appearance on the East limb to a near-disk-center position on 20 Sept. A total of 1804 bright points were selected for analysis from the disk center image using feature extraction image processing techniques. The measured FWHM distribution of the bright points in the image is lognormal with a modal value of 220 km (0.30 sec) and an average value of 250 km (0.35 sec). The smallest measured bright point diameter is 120 km (0.17 sec) and the largest is 600 km (O.69 sec). Approximately 60% of the measured bright points are circular (eccentricity approx. 1.0), the average eccentricity is 1.5, and the maximum eccentricity corresponding to filigree in the image is 6.5. The peak contrast of the measured bright points is normally distributed. The contrast distribution variance is much greater than the measurement accuracy, indicating a large spread in intrinsic bright-point contrast. When referenced to an averaged 'quiet-Sun' area in the image, the modal contrast is 29% and the maximum value is 75%; when referenced to an average intergranular lane brightness in the image, the distribution has a modal value of 61% and a maximum of 119%. The bin-averaged contrast of G-band bright points is constant across the entire measured size range. The measured area of the bright points, corrected for pixelation and selection effects, covers about 1.8% of the total image area. Large pores and micropores occupy an additional 2% of the image area, implying a total area fraction of magnetic proxy features in the image of 3.8%. We discuss the implications of this area fraction measurement in the context of

Anomalous transport phenomena in Weyl metal beyond the Drude model for Landau's Fermi liquids.

PubMed

Kim, Ki-Seok; Kim, Heon-Jung; Sasaki, M; Wang, J-F; Li, L

2014-12-01

Landau's Fermi-liquid theory is the standard model for metals, characterized by the existence of electron quasiparticles near a Fermi surface as long as Landau's interaction parameters lie below critical values for instabilities. Recently this fundamental paradigm has been challenged by the physics of strong spin-orbit coupling, although the concept of electron quasiparticles remains valid near the Fermi surface, where Landau's Fermi-liquid theory fails to describe the electromagnetic properties of this novel metallic state, referred to as Weyl metal. A novel ingredient is that such a Fermi surface encloses a Weyl point with definite chirality, referred to as a chiral Fermi surface, which can arise from breaking of either time reversal or inversion symmetry in systems with strong spin-orbit coupling, responsible for both the Berry curvature and the chiral anomaly. As a result, electromagnetic properties of the Weyl metallic state are described not by conventional Maxwell equations but by axion electrodynamics, where Maxwell equations are modified with a topological-in-origin spatially modulated [Formula: see text] term. This novel metallic state was realized recently in Bi[Formula: see text]Sb x around [Formula: see text] under magnetic fields, where the Dirac spectrum appears around the critical point between the normal semiconducting ([Formula: see text]) and topological semiconducting phases ([Formula: see text]) and the time reversal symmetry breaking perturbation causes the Dirac point to split into a pair of Weyl points along the direction of the applied magnetic field for a very strong spin-orbit coupled system. In this review article, we discuss how the topological structure of both the Berry curvature and the chiral anomaly (axion electrodynamics) gives rise to anomalous transport phenomena in [Formula: see text]Sb x around [Formula: see text] under magnetic fields, thus modifying the Drude model of Landau's Fermi liquids.

Double-wells and double-layers in dusty Fermi-Dirac plasmas: Comparison with the semiclassical Thomas-Fermi counterpart

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akbari-Moghanjoughi, M.

Based on the quantum hydrodynamics (QHD) model, a new relationship between the electrostatic-potential and the electron-density in the ultradense plasma is derived. Propagation of arbitrary amplitude nonlinear ion waves is, then, investigated in a completely degenerate dense dusty electron-ion plasma, using this new energy relation for the relativistic electrons, in the ground of quantum hydrodynamics model and the results are compared to the case of semiclassical Thomas-Fermi dusty plasma. Based on the standard pseudopotential approach, it is remarked that the Fermi-Dirac plasma, in contrast to the Thomas-Fermi counterpart, accommodates a wide variety of nonlinear excitations such as positive/negative-potential ion solitarymore » and periodic waves, double-layers, and double-wells. It is also remarked that the relativistic degeneracy parameter which relates to the mass-density of plasma has significant effects on the allowed matching-speed range in Fermi-Dirac dusty plasmas.« less

Effects of impurity and Bose-Fermi interactions on the transition temperature of a dilute dipolar Bose-Einstein condensation in trapped Bose-Fermi mixtures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yavari, H.; Mokhtari, M.

2014-03-01

The effects of impurity and Bose-Fermi interactions on the transition temperature of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensation in trapped Bose-Fermi mixture, by using the two-fluid model, are investigated. The shift of the transition temperature consists of four contributions due to contact, Bose-Fermi, dipole-dipole, and impurity interactions. We will show that in the presence of an anisotropic trap, the Bose-Fermi correction to the shift of transition temperature due to the excitation spectra of the thermal part is independent of anisotropy factor. Applying our results to trapped Bose-Fermi mixtures shows that, by knowing the impurity effect, the shift of the transition temperature due to Bose-Fermi interaction could be measured for isotropic trap (dipole-dipole contributions is zero) and Feshbach resonance technique (contact potential contribution is negligible).

Effect of timed bright light treatment for rest-activity disruption in institutionalized patients with Alzheimer’s disease

PubMed Central

Dowling, Glenna A.; Mastick, Judy; Hubbard, Erin M.; Luxenberg, Jay S.; Burr, Robert L.

2008-01-01

SUMMARY Background Disturbances in rest-activity rhythm are prominent and disabling symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Nighttime sleep is severely fragmented and daytime activity is disrupted by multiple napping episodes. In most institutional environments, light levels are very low and may not be sufficient to entrain the circadian clock to the 24-hour day. Method The purpose of this randomized clinical trial was to test the effectiveness of timed bright light therapy in reducing rest-activity (circadian) disruption in institutionalized patients with AD. The experimental groups received either morning (9.30–10.30 am) or afternoon (3.30–4.30 pm) bright light exposure (≥ 2500 lux in gaze direction) Monday through Friday for 10 weeks. The control group received usual indoor light (150–200 lux). Nighttime sleep, daytime wake, and rest-activity parameters were determined by actigraphy. Repeated measures analysis of variance was employed to test the primary study hypotheses. Results Seventy institutionalized subjects with AD (mean age 84) completed the study. No significant differences in actigraphy-based measures of nighttime sleep or daytime wake were found between groups. Subjects in either experimental light condition evidenced a significantly (p < 0.01) more stable rest-activity rhythm acrophase over the 10-week treatment period compared to the control subjects whose rhythm phase delayed by over two hours. Conclusions One hour of bright light, administered to subjects with AD either in the morning or afternoon, did not improve nighttime sleep or daytime wake compared to a control group of similar subjects. However, exposure to one-hour of bright light in either the morning or afternoon may provide sufficient additional input to the circadian pacemaker to facilitate entrainment to the 24-hour day. PMID:16035127

Noise of a Chargeless Fermi Liquid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moca, Cǎtǎlin Paşcu; Mora, Christophe; Weymann, Ireneusz; Zaránd, Gergely

2018-01-01

We construct a Fermi liquid theory to describe transport in a superconductor-quantum dot-normal metal junction close to the singlet-doublet (parity changing) transition of the dot. Though quasiparticles do not have a definite charge in this chargeless Fermi liquid, in the case of particle-hole symmetry, a mapping to the Anderson model unveils a hidden U(1) symmetry and a corresponding pseudocharge. In contrast to other correlated Fermi liquids, the back scattering noise reveals an effective charge equal to the charge of Cooper pairs, e*=2 e . In addition, we find a strong suppression of noise when the linear conductance is unitary, even for its nonlinear part.

The Fermi LAT Very Important Project (VIP) List of Active Galactic Nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, David J.; Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration

2018-01-01

Using nine years of Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Large Area Telescope (LAT) observations, we have identified 30 projects for Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) that appear to provide strong prospects for significant scientific advances. This Very Important Project (VIP) AGN list includes AGNs that have good multiwavelength coverage, are regularly detected by the Fermi LAT, and offer scientifically interesting timing or spectral properties. Each project has one or more LAT scientists identified who are actively monitoring the source. They will be regularly updating the LAT results for these VIP AGNs, working together with multiwavelength observers and theorists to maximize the scientific return during the coming years of the Fermi mission. See https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/display/GLAMCOG/VIP+List+of+AGNs+for+Continued+Study

Quadratic Fermi node in a 3D strongly correlated semimetal

PubMed Central

Kondo, Takeshi; Nakayama, M.; Chen, R.; Ishikawa, J. J.; Moon, E.-G.; Yamamoto, T.; Ota, Y.; Malaeb, W.; Kanai, H.; Nakashima, Y.; Ishida, Y.; Yoshida, R.; Yamamoto, H.; Matsunami, M.; Kimura, S.; Inami, N.; Ono, K.; Kumigashira, H.; Nakatsuji, S.; Balents, L.; Shin, S.

2015-01-01

Strong spin–orbit coupling fosters exotic electronic states such as topological insulators and superconductors, but the combination of strong spin–orbit and strong electron–electron interactions is just beginning to be understood. Central to this emerging area are the 5d transition metal iridium oxides. Here, in the pyrochlore iridate Pr2Ir2O7, we identify a non-trivial state with a single-point Fermi node protected by cubic and time-reversal symmetries, using a combination of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. Owing to its quadratic dispersion, the unique coincidence of four degenerate states at the Fermi energy, and strong Coulomb interactions, non-Fermi liquid behaviour is predicted, for which we observe some evidence. Our discovery implies that Pr2Ir2O7 is a parent state that can be manipulated to produce other strongly correlated topological phases, such as topological Mott insulator, Weyl semimetal, and quantum spin and anomalous Hall states. PMID:26640114

Life-threatening motor vehicle crashes in bright sunlight

PubMed Central

Redelmeier, Donald A.; Raza, Sheharyar

2017-01-01

Abstract Bright sunlight may create visual illusions that lead to driver error, including fallible distance judgment from aerial perspective. We tested whether the risk of a life-threatening motor vehicle crash was increased when driving in bright sunlight. This longitudinal, case-only, paired-comparison analysis evaluated patients hospitalized because of a motor vehicle crash between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 2014. The relative risk of a crash associated with bright sunlight was estimated by evaluating the prevailing weather at the time and place of the crash compared with the weather at the same hour and location on control days a week earlier and a week later. The majority of patients (n = 6962) were injured during daylight hours and bright sunlight was the most common weather condition at the time and place of the crash. The risk of a life-threatening crash was 16% higher during bright sunlight than normal weather (95% confidence interval: 9–24, P < 0.001). The increased risk was accentuated in the early afternoon, disappeared at night, extended to patients with different characteristics, involved crashes with diverse features, not apparent with cloudy weather, and contributed to about 5000 additional patient-days in hospital. The increased risk extended to patients with high crash severity as indicated by ambulance involvement, surgical procedures, length of hospital stay, intensive care unit admission, and patient mortality. The increased risk was not easily attributed to differences in alcohol consumption, driving distances, or anomalies of adverse weather. Bright sunlight is associated with an increased risk of a life-threatening motor vehicle crash. An awareness of this risk might inform driver education, trauma staffing, and safety warnings to prevent a life-threatening motor vehicle crash. Level of evidence: Epidemiologic Study, level III. PMID:28072708

Life-threatening motor vehicle crashes in bright sunlight.

PubMed

Redelmeier, Donald A; Raza, Sheharyar

2017-01-01

Bright sunlight may create visual illusions that lead to driver error, including fallible distance judgment from aerial perspective. We tested whether the risk of a life-threatening motor vehicle crash was increased when driving in bright sunlight.This longitudinal, case-only, paired-comparison analysis evaluated patients hospitalized because of a motor vehicle crash between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 2014. The relative risk of a crash associated with bright sunlight was estimated by evaluating the prevailing weather at the time and place of the crash compared with the weather at the same hour and location on control days a week earlier and a week later.The majority of patients (n = 6962) were injured during daylight hours and bright sunlight was the most common weather condition at the time and place of the crash. The risk of a life-threatening crash was 16% higher during bright sunlight than normal weather (95% confidence interval: 9-24, P < 0.001). The increased risk was accentuated in the early afternoon, disappeared at night, extended to patients with different characteristics, involved crashes with diverse features, not apparent with cloudy weather, and contributed to about 5000 additional patient-days in hospital. The increased risk extended to patients with high crash severity as indicated by ambulance involvement, surgical procedures, length of hospital stay, intensive care unit admission, and patient mortality. The increased risk was not easily attributed to differences in alcohol consumption, driving distances, or anomalies of adverse weather.Bright sunlight is associated with an increased risk of a life-threatening motor vehicle crash. An awareness of this risk might inform driver education, trauma staffing, and safety warnings to prevent a life-threatening motor vehicle crash. Epidemiologic Study, level III.

A Probabilistic Analysis of the Fermi Paradox

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solomonides, Evan; Terzian, Yervant

2016-06-01

The Fermi paradox uses an appeal to the mediocrity principle to make it seem counterintuitive that humanity has not been contacted by extraterrestrial intelligence. A numerical, statistical analysis was conducted to determine whether this apparent loneliness is, in fact, unexpected. An inequality was derived to relate the frequency of life arising and developing technology on a suitable planet in the galaxy; the average length of time since the first broadcast of such a civilization; and a constant term. An analysis of the sphere reached thus far by human communication was also conducted, considering our local neighborhood and planets of particular interest. These analyses both conclude that the Fermi paradox is not, in fact, unexpected. By the mediocrity principle and numerical modeling, it is actually unlikely that the Earth would have been reached by extraterrestrial communication at this point. We predict that under 1% of the galaxy has been reached at all thus far, and we do not anticipate to be reached until approximately 50% of stars/planets have been reached. We offer a prediction that we should not expect this until at least 1,500 years in the future. Thus the Fermi paradox is not a shocking observation- or lack thereof- and humanity may very well be contacted within our species’ lifespan (we can begin to expect to be contacted 1,500 years in the future).

FERMI LAT Discovery of Extended Gamma-Ray Emission in the Direction of Supernova Remnant W51C

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; ...

2009-10-27

In this paper, the discovery of bright gamma-ray emission coincident with supernova remnant (SNR) W51C is reported using the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. W51C is a middle-aged remnant (~10 4 yr) with intense radio synchrotron emission in its shell and known to be interacting with a molecular cloud. The gamma-ray emission is spatially extended, broadly consistent with the radio and X-ray extent of SNR W51C. The energy spectrum in the 0.2-50 GeV band exhibits steepening toward high energies. The luminosity is greater than 1 × 10 36 erg s –1 given the distance constraint of D > 5.5 kpc, which makes this object one of the most luminous gamma-ray sources in our Galaxy. The observed gamma-rays can be explained reasonably by a combination of efficient acceleration of nuclear cosmic rays at supernova shocks and shock-cloud interactions. The decay of neutral π mesons produced in hadronic collisions provides a plausible explanation for the gamma-ray emission. The product of the average gas density and the total energy content of the accelerated protons amounts tomore » $$\\bar{n}_{\\rm H}W_p \\simeq 5\\times 10^{51}\\ (D/6\\ {\\rm kpc})^2\\ \\rm erg\\ cm^{-3}$$. Electron density constraints from the radio and X-ray bands render it difficult to explain the LAT signal as due to inverse Compton scattering. Finally, the Fermi LAT source coincident with SNR W51C sheds new light on the origin of Galactic cosmic rays.« less

Quantum chaos on a critical Fermi surface.

PubMed

Patel, Aavishkar A; Sachdev, Subir

2017-02-21

We compute parameters characterizing many-body quantum chaos for a critical Fermi surface without quasiparticle excitations. We examine a theory of [Formula: see text] species of fermions at nonzero density coupled to a [Formula: see text] gauge field in two spatial dimensions and determine the Lyapunov rate and the butterfly velocity in an extended random-phase approximation. The thermal diffusivity is found to be universally related to these chaos parameters; i.e., the relationship is independent of [Formula: see text], the gauge-coupling constant, the Fermi velocity, the Fermi surface curvature, and high-energy details.

Aqueous origins of bright salt deposits on Ceres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zolotov, Mikhail Yu.

2017-11-01

Bright materials have been reported in association with impact craters on Ceres. The abundant Na2CO3 and some ammonium salts, NH4HCO3 and/or NH4Cl, were detected in bright deposits within Occator crater with Dawn near infrared spectroscopy. The composition and appearance of the salts suggest their aqueous mobilization and emplacement after formation of the crater. Here we consider origins of the bright deposits through calculation of speciation in the H-C-N-O-Na-Cl water-salt type system constrained by the mass balance of observed salts. Calculations of chemical equilibria show that initial solutions had the pH of ∼10. The temperature and salinity of solutions could have not exceeded ∼273 K and ∼100 g per kg H2O, respectively. Freezing models reveal an early precipitation of Na2CO3·10H2O followed by minor NaHCO3. Ammonium salts precipitate near eutectic from brines enriched in NH4+, Cl- and Na+. A late-stage precipitation of NaCl·2H2O is modeled for solution compositions with added NaCl. Calculated eutectics are above 247 K. The apparently unabundant ammonium and chloride salts in Occator's deposits imply a rapid emplacement without a compositional evolution of solution. Salty ice grains could have deposited from post-impact ballistic plumes formed through low-pressure boiling of subsurface solutions. Hydrated and ammonium salts are unstable at maximum temperatures of Ceres' surface and could decompose through space weathering. Occator's ice-free salt deposits formed through a post-depositional sublimation of ice followed by dehydration of Na2CO3·10H2O and NaHCO3 to Na2CO3. In other regions, excavated and exposed bright materials could be salts initially deposited from plumes and accumulated at depth via post-impact boiling. The lack of detection of sulfates and an elevated carbonate/chloride ratio in Ceres' materials suggest an involvement of compounds abundant in the outer solar system.

Impulsive And Long Duration High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission From The Very Bright 2012 March 7 Solar Flares

DOE PAGES

Ajello, M.

2014-06-10

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) observed two bright X-class solar ares on 2012 March 7, and detected gamma-rays up to 4 GeV. We detected gamma-rays both during the impulsive and temporally-extended emission phases, with emission above 100 MeV lasting for approximately 20 hours. Accurate localization of the gamma-ray production site(s) coincide with the solar active region from which X-ray emissions associated with these ares originated. Our analysis of the > 100 MeV gamma-ray emission shows a relatively rapid monotonic decrease in flux during the first hour of the impulsive phase, and a much slower, almost monotonic decrease in fluxmore » for the next 20 hours. The spectra can be adequately described by a power law with a high energy exponential cutoff, or as resulting from the decay of neutral pions produced by accelerated protons and ions with an isotropic power-law energy distribution. The required proton spectrum has a number index 3, with minor variations during the impulsive phase, while during the temporally extended phase the spectrum softens monotonically, starting with index 4. The > 30 MeV proton flux and spectra observed near the Earth by the GOES satellites also show a monotonic flux decrease and spectral softening during the extended phase, but with a harder spectrum, with index 3. Based on the Fermi-LAT and GOES observations of the flux and spectral evolution of these bright ares, we explore the relative merits of prompt and continuous acceleration scenarios, hadronic and leptonic emission processes, and acceleration at the solar corona by the fast Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) as explanations for the observations. We conclude that the most likely scenario is continuous acceleration of protons in the solar corona which penetrate the lower solar atmosphere and produce pions that decay into gamma-rays.« less

Impulsive And Long Duration High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission From The Very Bright 2012 March 7 Solar Flares

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ajello, M.

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) observed two bright X-class solar ares on 2012 March 7, and detected gamma-rays up to 4 GeV. We detected gamma-rays both during the impulsive and temporally-extended emission phases, with emission above 100 MeV lasting for approximately 20 hours. Accurate localization of the gamma-ray production site(s) coincide with the solar active region from which X-ray emissions associated with these ares originated. Our analysis of the > 100 MeV gamma-ray emission shows a relatively rapid monotonic decrease in flux during the first hour of the impulsive phase, and a much slower, almost monotonic decrease in fluxmore » for the next 20 hours. The spectra can be adequately described by a power law with a high energy exponential cutoff, or as resulting from the decay of neutral pions produced by accelerated protons and ions with an isotropic power-law energy distribution. The required proton spectrum has a number index 3, with minor variations during the impulsive phase, while during the temporally extended phase the spectrum softens monotonically, starting with index 4. The > 30 MeV proton flux and spectra observed near the Earth by the GOES satellites also show a monotonic flux decrease and spectral softening during the extended phase, but with a harder spectrum, with index 3. Based on the Fermi-LAT and GOES observations of the flux and spectral evolution of these bright ares, we explore the relative merits of prompt and continuous acceleration scenarios, hadronic and leptonic emission processes, and acceleration at the solar corona by the fast Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) as explanations for the observations. We conclude that the most likely scenario is continuous acceleration of protons in the solar corona which penetrate the lower solar atmosphere and produce pions that decay into gamma-rays.« less

Late-time spectroscopy of envelope-stripped SNe: Figuring the central engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawabata, Koji

2011-01-01

We propose to perform late-time spectroscopy of envelope-stripped core-collapse supernovae (SNe), i.e., Type Ib/c/IIb SNe. We aim to examine the explosion physics and its dependence on the progenitor mass. The key information is the asphericity and the chemical composition of the inner atmosphere, which can be explored by late-time observations. The difference in [O I] line profiles indicates that GRB-associated energetic SNe Ic (like SN 1998bw) and non-GRB energetic SNe Ic (2003jd) are intrinsically similar aspherical explosions that are differently viewed (pole-on for 1998bw and nearly edge-on for 2003jd). Our continuing study suggests that the asphericity is rather common characteristic even for normal energy SNe without a GRB. However, it is still unclear how the intermediate types of SNe (SNe Ib/IIb) are produced and how they connected with other types of core-collapse SNe. High-quality late-time spectra of SNe Ib/Ic/IIb are still lacking. We propose to obtain a larger number of nebular spectra of envelope-stripped SNe so that we examine the degree of the asphericity as a function of the progenitor's mass, explosion energy, amount of synthesized ^56Ni, and the physical properties of the central remnant.

Late-time spectroscopy of envelope-stripped SNe: Figuring the central engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawabata, Koji

2012-01-01

We propose to perform late-time spectroscopy of envelope-stripped core-collapse supernovae (SNe), i.e., Type Ib/c/IIb SNe. We aim to examine the explosion physics and its dependence on the progenitor mass. The key information is the asphericity and the chemical composition of the inner atmosphere, which can be explored by late-time observations. The difference in [O I] line profiles indicates that GRB-associated energetic SNe Ic (like SN 1998bw) and non-GRB energetic SNe Ic (2003jd) are intrinsically similar aspherical explosions that are differently viewed (pole-on for 1998bw and nearly edge-on for 2003jd). Our continuing study suggests that the asphericity is rather common characteristic even for normal energy SNe without a GRB. However, it is still unclear how the intermediate types of SNe (SNe Ib/IIb) are produced and how they connected with other types of core-collapse SNe. High-quality late-time spectra of SNe Ib/Ic/IIb are still lacking. We propose to obtain a larger number of nebular spectra of envelope-stripped SNe including SNe IIb so that we examine the degree of the asphericity explosion energy, amount of synthesized ^56Ni and the physical properties of the central remnant as a function of the progenitor's mass.

Chandra X-ray Observation of a Mature Cloud-Shock Interaction in the Bright Eastern Knot of Puppis A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hwang, Una; Flanagan, Kathryn A.; Petre, Robert

2005-01-01

We present Chandra X-ray images and spectra of the most prominent cloud-shock interaction region in the Puppis A supernova remnant. The Bright Eastern Knot (BEK) has two main morphological components: (1) a bright compact knot that lies directly behind the apex of an indentation in the eastern X-ray boundary and (2) lying 1 westward behind the shock, a curved vertical structure (bar) that is separated from a smaller bright cloud (cap) by faint diffuse emission. Based on hardness images and spectra, we identify the bar and cap as a single shocked interstellar cloud. Its morphology strongly resembles the "voided sphere" structures seen at late times in Klein et al. experimental simulat.ions of cloud-shock interactions, when the crushing of the cloud by shear instabilities is well underway. We infer an intera.ction time of roughly cloud-crushing timescales, which translates to 2000-4000 years, based on the X-ray temperature, physical size, and estimated expansion of the shocked cloud. This is the first X-ray identified example of a cloud-shock interaction in this advanced phase. Closer t o the shock front, the X-ray emission of the compact knot in the eastern part of the BEK region implies a recent interaction with relatively denser gas, some of which lies in front of the remnant. The complex spatial relationship of the X-ray emission of the compact knot to optical [O III] emission suggests that there are multiple cloud interactions occurring along the line of sight.

Entanglement entropy and the Fermi surface.

PubMed

Swingle, Brian

2010-07-30

Free fermions with a finite Fermi surface are known to exhibit an anomalously large entanglement entropy. The leading contribution to the entanglement entropy of a region of linear size L in d spatial dimensions is S∼L(d-1)logL, a result that should be contrasted with the usual boundary law S∼L(d-1). This term depends only on the geometry of the Fermi surface and on the boundary of the region in question. I give an intuitive account of this anomalous scaling based on a low energy description of the Fermi surface as a collection of one-dimensional gapless modes. Using this picture, I predict a violation of the boundary law in a number of other strongly correlated systems.

Intermittent Episodes of Bright Light Suppress Myopia in the Chicken More than Continuous Bright Light

PubMed Central

Lan, Weizhong; Feldkaemper, Marita; Schaeffel, Frank

2014-01-01

Purpose Bright light has been shown a powerful inhibitor of myopia development in animal models. We studied which temporal patterns of bright light are the most potent in suppressing deprivation myopia in chickens. Methods Eight-day-old chickens wore diffusers over one eye to induce deprivation myopia. A reference group (n = 8) was kept under office-like illuminance (500 lux) at a 10∶14 light∶dark cycle. Episodes of bright light (15 000 lux) were super-imposed on this background as follows. Paradigm I: exposure to constant bright light for either 1 hour (n = 5), 2 hours (n = 5), 5 hours (n = 4) or 10 hours (n = 4). Paradigm II: exposure to repeated cycles of bright light with 50% duty cycle and either 60 minutes (n = 7), 30 minutes (n = 8), 15 minutes (n = 6), 7 minutes (n = 7) or 1 minute (n = 7) periods, provided for 10 hours. Refraction and axial length were measured prior to and immediately after the 5-day experiment. Relative changes were analyzed by paired t-tests, and differences among groups were tested by one-way ANOVA. Results Compared with the reference group, exposure to continuous bright light for 1 or 2 hours every day had no significant protective effect against deprivation myopia. Inhibition of myopia became significant after 5 hours of bright light exposure but extending the duration to 10 hours did not offer an additional benefit. In comparison, repeated cycles of 1∶1 or 7∶7 minutes of bright light enhanced the protective effect against myopia and could fully suppress its development. Conclusions The protective effect of bright light depends on the exposure duration and, to the intermittent form, the frequency cycle. Compared to the saturation effect of continuous bright light, low frequency cycles of bright light (1∶1 min) provided the strongest inhibition effect. However, our quantitative results probably might not be directly translated into humans, but rather need further amendments in clinical

Intermittent episodes of bright light suppress myopia in the chicken more than continuous bright light.

PubMed

Lan, Weizhong; Feldkaemper, Marita; Schaeffel, Frank

2014-01-01

Bright light has been shown a powerful inhibitor of myopia development in animal models. We studied which temporal patterns of bright light are the most potent in suppressing deprivation myopia in chickens. Eight-day-old chickens wore diffusers over one eye to induce deprivation myopia. A reference group (n = 8) was kept under office-like illuminance (500 lux) at a 10:14 light:dark cycle. Episodes of bright light (15 000 lux) were super-imposed on this background as follows. Paradigm I: exposure to constant bright light for either 1 hour (n = 5), 2 hours (n = 5), 5 hours (n = 4) or 10 hours (n = 4). Paradigm II: exposure to repeated cycles of bright light with 50% duty cycle and either 60 minutes (n = 7), 30 minutes (n = 8), 15 minutes (n = 6), 7 minutes (n = 7) or 1 minute (n = 7) periods, provided for 10 hours. Refraction and axial length were measured prior to and immediately after the 5-day experiment. Relative changes were analyzed by paired t-tests, and differences among groups were tested by one-way ANOVA. Compared with the reference group, exposure to continuous bright light for 1 or 2 hours every day had no significant protective effect against deprivation myopia. Inhibition of myopia became significant after 5 hours of bright light exposure but extending the duration to 10 hours did not offer an additional benefit. In comparison, repeated cycles of 1:1 or 7:7 minutes of bright light enhanced the protective effect against myopia and could fully suppress its development. The protective effect of bright light depends on the exposure duration and, to the intermittent form, the frequency cycle. Compared to the saturation effect of continuous bright light, low frequency cycles of bright light (1:1 min) provided the strongest inhibition effect. However, our quantitative results probably might not be directly translated into humans, but rather need further amendments in clinical studies.

[Monitoring of brightness temperature fluctuation of water in SHF range].

PubMed

Ivanov, Yu D; Kozlov, A F; Galiullin, R A; Tatu, V Yu; Vesnin, S G; Ziborov, V S; Ivanova, N D; Pleshakova, T O

2017-01-01

The purpose of the research consisted in detection of fluctuation of brightness temperature (TSHF) of water in the area of the temperature Т = 42°С (that is critical for human) during its evaporation by SHF radiometry. Methods: Monitoring of the changes in brightness temperature of water in superhigh frequency (SHF) range (3.8-4.2 GHz) near the phase transition temperature of water Т = 42°С during its evaporation in the cone dielectric cell. The brightness temperature measurements were carried out using radiometer. Results: Fluctuation with maximum of brightness temperature was detected in 3.8-4.2 GHz frequency range near at the temperature of water Т = 42°С. It was characteristic for these TSHF fluctuations that brightness temperature rise time in this range of frequencies in ~4°С temperature range with 0.05-15°С/min gradient and a sharp decrease during 10 s connected with measuring vapor conditions. Then nonintensive fluctuation series was observed. At that, the environment temperature remained constant. Conclusion: The significant increasing in brightness temperature of water during its evaporation in SHF range near the temperature of Т ~42°С were detected. It was shown that for water, ТSHF pull with the amplitude DТSHF ~4°C are observed. At the same time, thermodynamic temperature virtually does not change. The observed effects can be used in the development of the systems for diadnostics of pathologies in human and analytical system.

Quantum mechanical models for the Fermi shuttle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sternberg, James; Ovchinnikov, S. Yu.; Macek, J. H.

2009-05-01

Although the Fermi shuttle was originally proposed as an explanation for highly energetic cosmic rays, it is also a mechanism for the production of high energy electrons in atomic collisions [1]. The Fermi shuttle is usually thought of as a classical effect and most models of this process rely on classical or semi-classical approximations. In this work we explore several quantum mechanical models for ion-atom collisions and examine the evidence for the Fermi shuttle in these models. [4pt] [1] B. Sulik, Cs. Koncz, K. Tok'esi, A. Orb'an, and D. Ber'enyi, Phys Rev. Lett. 88 073201 (2002)

Response of noctilucent cloud brightness to daily solar variations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalin, P.; Pertsev, N.; Perminov, V.; Dubietis, A.; Zadorozhny, A.; Zalcik, M.; McEachran, I.; McEwan, T.; Černis, K.; Grønne, J.; Taustrup, T.; Hansen, O.; Andersen, H.; Melnikov, D.; Manevich, A.; Romejko, V.; Lifatova, D.

2018-04-01

For the first time, long-term data sets of ground-based observations of noctilucent clouds (NLC) around the globe have been analyzed in order to investigate a response of NLC to solar UV irradiance variability on a day-to-day scale. NLC brightness has been considered versus variations of solar Lyman-alpha flux. We have found that day-to-day solar variability, whose effect is generally masked in the natural NLC variability, has a statistically significant effect when considering large statistics for more than ten years. Average increase in day-to-day solar Lyman-α flux results in average decrease in day-to-day NLC brightness that can be explained by robust physical mechanisms taking place in the summer mesosphere. Average time lags between variations of Lyman-α flux and NLC brightness are short (0-3 days), suggesting a dominant role of direct solar heating and of the dynamical mechanism compared to photodissociation of water vapor by solar Lyman-α flux. All found regularities are consistent between various ground-based NLC data sets collected at different locations around the globe and for various time intervals. Signatures of a 27-day periodicity seem to be present in the NLC brightness for individual summertime intervals; however, this oscillation cannot be unambiguously retrieved due to inevitable periods of tropospheric cloudiness.

The distribution of early- and late-type galaxies in the Coma cluster

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doi, M.; Fukugita, M.; Okamura, S.; Turner, E. L.

1995-01-01

The spatial distribution and the morohology-density relation of Coma cluster galaxies are studied using a new homogeneous photmetric sample of 450 galaxies down to B = 16.0 mag with quantitative morphology classification. The sample covers a wide area (10 deg X 10 deg), extending well beyond the Coma cluster. Morphological classifications into early- (E+SO) and late-(S) type galaxies are made by an automated algorithm using simple photometric parameters, with which the misclassification rate is expected to be approximately 10% with respect to early and late types given in the Third Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies. The flattened distribution of Coma cluster galaxies, as noted in previous studies, is most conspicuously seen if the early-type galaxies are selected. Early-type galaxies are distributed in a thick filament extended from the NE to the WSW direction that delineates a part of large-scale structure. Spiral galaxies show a distribution with a modest density gradient toward the cluster center; at least bright spiral galaxies are present close to the center of the Coma cluster. We also examine the morphology-density relation for the Coma cluster including its surrounding regions.

Precise γ-ray timing and radio observations of 17 FERMI γ-ray pulsars

DOE PAGES

Ray, Paul S.; Kerr, M.; Parent, D.; ...

2011-04-29

Here, we present precise phase-connected pulse timing solutions for 16 γ-ray-selected pulsars recently discovered using the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope plus one very faint radio pulsar (PSR J1124–5916) that is more effectively timed with the LAT. We describe the analysis techniques including a maximum likelihood method for determining pulse times of arrival from unbinned photon data. A major result of this work is improved position determinations, which are crucial for multiwavelength follow-up. For most of the pulsars, we overlay the timing localizations on X-ray images from Swift and describe the status of X-ray counterpartmore » associations. We report glitches measured in PSRs J0007+7303, J1124–5916, and J1813–1246. We analyze a new 20 ks Chandra ACIS observation of PSR J0633+0632 that reveals an arcminute-scale X-ray nebula extending to the south of the pulsar. We were also able to precisely localize the X-ray point source counterpart to the pulsar and find a spectrum that can be described by an absorbed blackbody or neutron star atmosphere with a hard power-law component. Another Chandra ACIS image of PSR J1732–3131 reveals a faint X-ray point source at a location consistent with the timing position of the pulsar. Finally, we present a compilation of new and archival searches for radio pulsations from each of the γ-ray-selected pulsars as well as a new Parkes radio observation of PSR J1124–5916 to establish the γ-ray to radio phase offset.« less

Brightness enhancement limits in pulsed cladding-pumped fiber Raman amplifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Junhua; Codemard, Christophe A.; Nilsson, Johan

2010-02-01

We analyze theoretically limitations on brightness enhancement of a multimode pump beam into a diffraction-limited Stokes beam in efficient cladding-pumped fiber Raman amplifiers. Firstly, the power-scaling of the 1st Stokes (hence the brightness enhancement) is limited by the generation of the 2nd order Stokes. Thus using a spectral waveguide filter such as a W-type fiber core, it is possible to improve this limit to nearly five times that of a normal fiber without spectral filter. Secondly, we analyze limits set by glass damage, propagation loss, and pump-signal pulse walk-off in the multimode fiber. We show that a well-designed fiber with a propagation loss of 3.5 dB/km allows for a pump-to-signal brightness improvement of over 1000 times for pulses longer than 40 ns and up to 3500 times in the cw regime.

FermiGrid—experience and future plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chadwick, K.; Berman, E.; Canal, P.; Hesselroth, T.; Garzoglio, G.; Levshina, T.; Sergeev, V.; Sfiligoi, I.; Sharma, N.; Timm, S.; Yocum, D. R.

2008-07-01

Fermilab supports a scientific program that includes experiments and scientists located across the globe. In order to better serve this community, Fermilab has placed its production computer resources in a Campus Grid infrastructure called 'FermiGrid'. The FermiGrid infrastructure allows the large experiments at Fermilab to have priority access to their own resources, enables sharing of these resources in an opportunistic fashion, and movement of work (jobs, data) between the Campus Grid and National Grids such as Open Science Grid (OSG) and the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid Collaboration (WLCG). FermiGrid resources support multiple Virtual Organizations (VOs), including VOs from the OSG, EGEE, and the WLCG. Fermilab also makes leading contributions to the Open Science Grid in the areas of accounting, batch computing, grid security, job management, resource selection, site infrastructure, storage management, and VO services. Through the FermiGrid interfaces, authenticated and authorized VOs and individuals may access our core grid services, the 10,000+ Fermilab resident CPUs, near-petabyte (including CMS) online disk pools and the multi-petabyte Fermilab Mass Storage System. These core grid services include a site wide Globus gatekeeper, VO management services for several VOs, Fermilab site authorization services, grid user mapping services, as well as job accounting and monitoring, resource selection and data movement services. Access to these services is via standard and well-supported grid interfaces. We will report on the user experience of using the FermiGrid campus infrastructure interfaced to a national cyberinfrastructure - the successes and the problems.

FermiGrid - experience and future plans

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chadwick, K.; Berman, E.; Canal, P.

2007-09-01

Fermilab supports a scientific program that includes experiments and scientists located across the globe. In order to better serve this community, Fermilab has placed its production computer resources in a Campus Grid infrastructure called 'FermiGrid'. The FermiGrid infrastructure allows the large experiments at Fermilab to have priority access to their own resources, enables sharing of these resources in an opportunistic fashion, and movement of work (jobs, data) between the Campus Grid and National Grids such as Open Science Grid and the WLCG. FermiGrid resources support multiple Virtual Organizations (VOs), including VOs from the Open Science Grid (OSG), EGEE and themore » Worldwide LHC Computing Grid Collaboration (WLCG). Fermilab also makes leading contributions to the Open Science Grid in the areas of accounting, batch computing, grid security, job management, resource selection, site infrastructure, storage management, and VO services. Through the FermiGrid interfaces, authenticated and authorized VOs and individuals may access our core grid services, the 10,000+ Fermilab resident CPUs, near-petabyte (including CMS) online disk pools and the multi-petabyte Fermilab Mass Storage System. These core grid services include a site wide Globus gatekeeper, VO management services for several VOs, Fermilab site authorization services, grid user mapping services, as well as job accounting and monitoring, resource selection and data movement services. Access to these services is via standard and well-supported grid interfaces. We will report on the user experience of using the FermiGrid campus infrastructure interfaced to a national cyberinfrastructure--the successes and the problems.« less

Eight γ-Ray Pulsars Discovered In Blind Frequency Searches Of Fermi Lat Data

DOE PAGES

Saz Parkinson, P. M.; Dormody, M.; Ziegler, M.; ...

2010-11-19

We report the discovery of eight γ-ray pulsars in blind frequency searches of ~650 source positions using the Large Area Telescope (LAT), on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. We present the timing models, light curves, and detailed spectral parameters of the new pulsars. PSRs J1023-5746, J1044-5737, J1413-5205, J1429-5911, and J1954+2836 are young (τ c < 100 kyr), energetic (more » $$\\dot{E} \\gtrsim 10^{36}$$ erg s–1), and located within the Galactic plane (|b| < 3°). The remaining three pulsars, PSRs J1846+0919, J1957+5033, and J2055+25, are less energetic, and located off the plane. Five pulsars are associated with sources included in the Fermi-LAT bright γ-ray source list, but only one, PSR J1413–6205, is clearly associated with an EGRET source. PSR J1023–5746 has the smallest characteristic age (τ c = 4.6 kyr) and is the most energetic ($$\\dot{E} = 1.1 \\times 10^{37}$$ erg s–1) of all γ-ray pulsars discovered so far in blind searches. By analyzing >100 ks of publicly available archival Chandra X-ray data, we have identified the likely counterpart of PSR J1023–5746 as a faint, highly absorbed source, CXOU J102302.8-574606. The large X-ray absorption indicates that this could be among the most distant γ-ray pulsars detected so far. PSR J1023–5746 is positionally coincident with the TeV source HESS J1023–575, located near the young stellar cluster Westerlund 2, while PSR J1954+2836 is coincident with a 4.3σ excess reported by Milagro at a median energy of 35 TeV. PSRs J1957+5033 and J2055+25 have the largest characteristic ages (τ c ~ 1 Myr) and are the least energetic ($$\\dot{E} \\sim 5\\times 10^{33}$$ erg s–1) of the newly discovered pulsars. We used recent XMM observations to identify the counterpart of PSR J2055+25 as XMMU J205549.4+253959. Deep radio follow-up observations of the eight pulsars resulted in no detections of pulsations and upper limits comparable to the faintest known radio pulsars, indicating that these

Coronal bright points in microwaves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kundu, M. R.; Nitta, N.

1988-01-01

An excellent map of the quiet sun showing coronal bright points at 20-cm wavelength was produced using the VLA on February 13, 1987. The locations of bright points (BPs) were studied relative to features on the photospheric magnetogram and Ca K spectroheliogram. Most bright points appearing in the full 5-hour synthesized map are associated with small bipolar structures on the photospheric magnetogram; and the brightest part of a BP tends to lie on the boundary of a supergranulation network. The bright points exhibit rapid variations in intensity superposed on an apparently slow variation.

Models of bright nickel-free supernovae from stripped massive stars with circumstellar shells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleiser, Io K. W.; Kasen, Daniel; Duffell, Paul C.

2018-04-01

The nature of an emerging class of rapidly fading supernovae (RFSNe) - characterized by their short-lived light-curve duration, but varying widely in peak brightness - remains puzzling. Whether the RFSNe arise from low-mass thermonuclear eruptions on white dwarfs or from the core collapse of massive stars is still a matter of dispute. We explore the possibility that the explosion of hydrogen-free massive stars could produce bright but rapidly fading transients if the effective pre-supernova radii are large and if little or no radioactive nickel is ejected. The source of radiation is then purely due to shock cooling. We study this model of RFSNe using spherically symmetric hydrodynamics and radiation transport calculations of the explosion of stripped stars embedded in helium-dominated winds or shells of various masses and extent. We present a parameter study showing how the properties of the circumstellar envelopes affect the dynamics of the explosion and can lead to a diversity of light curves. We also explore the dynamics of the fallback of the innermost stellar layers, which might be able to remove radioactive nickel from the ejecta, making the rapid decline in the late-time light curve possible. We provide scaling relations that describe how the duration and luminosity of these events depend on the supernova kinetic energy and the mass and radius of the circumstellar material.

Active Processes: Bright Streaks and Dark Fans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Figure 1Figure 2

In a region of the south pole known informally as 'Ithaca' numerous fans of dark frost form every spring. HiRISE collected a time lapse series of these images, starting at L_s = 185 and culminating at L_s = 294. 'L_s' is the way we measure time on Mars: at L_s = 180 the sun passes the equator on its way south; at L_s = 270 it reaches its maximum subsolar latitude and summer begins.

In the earliest image (figure 1) fans are dark, but small narrow bright streaks can be detected. In the next image (figure 2), acquired at L_s = 187, just 106 hours later, dramatic differences are apparent. The dark fans are larger and the bright fans are more pronounced and easily detectable. The third image in the sequence shows no bright fans at all.

We believe that the bright streaks are fine frost condensed from the gas exiting the vent. The conditions must be just right for the bright frost to condense.

Observation Geometry Image PSP_002622_0945 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on 16-Feb-2007. The complete image is centered at -85.2 degrees latitude, 181.5 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 246.9 km (154.3 miles). At this distance the image scale is 49.4 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects 148 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 50 cm/pixel . The image was taken at a local Mars time of 05:46 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 88 degrees, thus the sun was about 2 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 185.1 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Autumn.

Faint Ring, Bright Arc

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-01-12

In this image taken by NASA Cassini spacecraft, the bright arc in Saturn faint G ring contains a little something special. Although it cant be seen here, the tiny moonlet Aegaeon orbits within the bright arc.

Time-calibrated Milankovitch cycles for the late Permian.

PubMed

Wu, Huaichun; Zhang, Shihong; Hinnov, Linda A; Jiang, Ganqing; Feng, Qinglai; Li, Haiyan; Yang, Tianshui

2013-01-01

An important innovation in the geosciences is the astronomical time scale. The astronomical time scale is based on the Milankovitch-forced stratigraphy that has been calibrated to astronomical models of paleoclimate forcing; it is defined for much of Cenozoic-Mesozoic. For the Palaeozoic era, however, astronomical forcing has not been widely explored because of lack of high-precision geochronology or astronomical modelling. Here we report Milankovitch cycles from late Permian (Lopingian) strata at Meishan and Shangsi, South China, time calibrated by recent high-precision U-Pb dating. The evidence extends empirical knowledge of Earth's astronomical parameters before 250 million years ago. Observed obliquity and precession terms support a 22-h length-of-day. The reconstructed astronomical time scale indicates a 7.793-million year duration for the Lopingian epoch, when strong 405-kyr cycles constrain astronomical modelling. This is the first significant advance in defining the Palaeozoic astronomical time scale, anchored to absolute time, bridging the Palaeozoic-Mesozoic transition.

Late time behaviors of an inhomogeneous rolling tachyon

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kwon, O-Kab; Lee, Chong Oh; Basic Science Research Institute, Chonbuk National University, Chonju 561-756

2006-06-15

We study an inhomogeneous decay of an unstable D-brane in the context of Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI)-type effective action. We consider tachyon and electromagnetic fields with dependence of time and one spatial coordinate, and an exact solution is found under an exponentially decreasing tachyon potential, e{sup -|T|/{radical}}{sup (2)}, which is valid for the description of the late time behavior of an unstable D-brane. Though the obtained solution contains both time and spatial dependence, the corresponding momentum density vanishes over the entire spacetime region. The solution is governed by two parameters. One adjusts the distribution of energy density in the inhomogeneous direction, andmore » the other interpolates between the homogeneous rolling tachyon and static configuration. As time evolves, the energy of the unstable D-brane is converted into the electric flux and tachyon matter.« less

Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope Science Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, David J.

2010-01-01

After more than 2 years of science operations, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope continues to survey the high-energy sky on a daily basis. In addition to the more than 1400 sources found in the first Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog (I FGL), new results continue to emerge. Some of these are: (1) Large-scale diffuse emission suggests possible activity from the Galactic Center region in the past; (2) a gamma-ray nova was found, indicating particle acceleration in this binary system; and (3) the Crab Nebula, long thought to be a steady source, has varied in the energy ranges seen by both Fermi instruments.

Recent Results on SNRs and PWNe from the Fermi Large Area Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hays, Elizabeth

2010-01-01

Topics include: Fermi LAT Collaboration groups; galactic results from LAT; a GeV, wide-field instrument; the 1FGL catalog, the Fermi LAT 1FGL source catalog, unidentified gamma-ray sources; variability in 1FGL sources; curvature in 1FGL sources; spectral-variability classification; pulsars and their wind nebulae; gamma-ray pulsars and MSPs; GeV PWN search; Crab pulsar and nebula; Vela X nebular of Vela pulsar; MSH 15-52; supernova remnants, resolved GeV sources, galactic transients, LAT unassociated transient detections; gamma rays from a nova; V407 Cyngi - a symbiotic nova; V407 Cygni: a variable star; and March 11 - a nova. Summary slides include pulsars everywhere, blazars, LAT as an electron detector, cosmic ray spectrum, the Large Area Telescope, the Fermi Observatory, LAT sensitivity with time, candidate gamma-ray events, on-orbit energy calibration and rate, a 1 year sky map, LAT automated science processing, reported GeV flares, early activity and spectacular flare, gamma-ray transients near the galactic plane , two early unassociated transients, counter part search - Fermi J0910-5404; counterpart search 3EG J0903-3531, and a new LAT transient - J1057-6027.

Viscous cosmology for early- and late-time universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brevik, Iver; Grøn, Øyvind; de Haro, Jaume; Odintsov, Sergei D.; Saridakis, Emmanuel N.

From a hydrodynamicist’s point of view the inclusion of viscosity concepts in the macroscopic theory of the cosmic fluid would appear most natural, as an ideal fluid is after all an abstraction (exluding special cases such as superconductivity). Making use of modern observational results for the Hubble parameter plus standard Friedmann formalism, we may extrapolate the description of the universe back in time up to the inflationary era, or we may go to the opposite extreme and analyze the probable ultimate fate of the universe. In this review, we discuss a variety of topics in cosmology when it is enlarged in order to contain a bulk viscosity. Various forms of this viscosity, when expressed in terms of the fluid density or the Hubble parameter, are discussed. Furthermore, we consider homogeneous as well as inhomogeneous equations of state. We investigate viscous cosmology in the early universe, examining the viscosity effects on the various inflationary observables. Additionally, we study viscous cosmology in the late universe, containing current acceleration and the possible future singularities, and we investigate how one may even unify inflationary and late-time acceleration. Finally, we analyze the viscosity-induced crossing through the quintessence-phantom divide, we examine the realization of viscosity-driven cosmological bounces, and we briefly discuss how the Cardy-Verlinde formula is affected by viscosity.

Observation strategies with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McEnery, Julie E.; Fermi mission Teams

2015-01-01

During the first few years of the Fermi mission, the default observation mode has been an all-sky survey, optimized to provide relatively uniform coverage of the entire sky every three hours. Over 95% of the mission has been performed in this observation mode. However, Fermi is capable of flexible survey mode patterns, and inertially pointed observations both of which allow increased coverage of selected parts of the sky. In this presentation, we will describe the types of observations that Fermi can make, the relative advantages and disadvantages of various observations, and provide guidelines to help Fermi users plan and evaluate non-standard observations.

Non-Fermi liquids in oxide heterostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stemmer, Susanne; Allen, S. James

2018-06-01

Understanding the anomalous transport properties of strongly correlated materials is one of the most formidable challenges in condensed matter physics. For example, one encounters metal-insulator transitions, deviations from Landau Fermi liquid behavior, longitudinal and Hall scattering rate separation, a pseudogap phase, and bad metal behavior. These properties have been studied extensively in bulk materials, such as the unconventional superconductors and heavy fermion systems. Oxide heterostructures have recently emerged as new platforms to probe, control, and understand strong correlation phenomena. This article focuses on unconventional transport phenomena in oxide thin film systems. We use specific systems as examples, namely charge carriers in SrTiO3 layers and interfaces with SrTiO3, and strained rare earth nickelate thin films. While doped SrTiO3 layers appear to be a well behaved, though complex, electron gas or Fermi liquid, the rare earth nickelates are a highly correlated electron system that may be classified as a non-Fermi liquid. We discuss insights into the underlying physics that can be gained from studying the emergence of non-Fermi liquid behavior as a function of the heterostructure parameters. We also discuss the role of lattice symmetry and disorder in phenomena such as metal-insulator transitions in strongly correlated heterostructures.

Enrico Fermi and the Dolomites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battimelli, Giovanni; de Angelis, Alessandro

2014-11-01

Summer vacations in the Dolomites were a tradition among the professors of the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Roma since the end of the XIX century. Beyond the academic walls, people like Tullio Levi-Civita, Federigo Enriques and Ugo Amaldi sr., together with their families, were meeting friends and colleagues in Cortina, San Vito, Dobbiaco, Vigo di Fassa and Selva, enjoying trekking together with scientific discussions. The tradition was transmitted to the next generations, in particular in the first half of the XX century, and the group of via Panisperna was directly connected: Edoardo Amaldi, the son of the mathematician Ugo sr., rented at least during two summers, in 1925 and in 1949, and in the winter of 1960, a house in San Vito di Cadore, and almost every year in the Dolomites; Enrico Fermi was a frequent guest. Many important steps in modern physics, in particular the development of the Fermi-Dirac statistics and the Fermi theory of beta decay, are related to scientific discussions held in the region of the Dolomites.

Is Travel Time to Colonoscopy Associated With Late-Stage Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Iowa?

PubMed

Charlton, Mary E; Matthews, Kevin A; Gaglioti, Anne; Bay, Camden; McDowell, Bradley D; Ward, Marcia M; Levy, Barcey T

2016-09-01

Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening has been shown to decrease the incidence of late-stage colorectal cancer, yet a substantial proportion of Americans do not receive screening. Those in rural areas may face barriers to colonoscopy services based on travel time, and previous studies have demonstrated lower screening among rural residents. Our purpose was to assess factors associated with late-stage CRC, and specifically to determine if longer travel time to colonoscopy was associated with late-stage CRC among an insured population in Iowa. SEER-Medicare data were used to identify individuals ages 65 to 84 years old diagnosed with CRC in Iowa from 2002 to 2009. The distance between the centroid of the ZIP code of residence and the ZIP code of colonoscopy was computed for each individual who had continuous Medicare fee-for-service coverage for a 3- to 4-month period prior to diagnosis, and a professional claim for colonoscopy within that time frame. Demographic characteristics and travel times were compared between those diagnosed with early- versus late-stage CRC. Also, demographic differences between those who had colonoscopy claims identified within 3-4 months prior to diagnosis (81%) were compared to patients with no colonoscopy claims identified (19%). A total of 5,792 subjects met inclusion criteria; 31% were diagnosed with early-stage versus 69% with late-stage CRC. Those divorced or widowed (vs married) were more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage CRC (OR: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.06-1.37). Travel time was not associated with diagnosis of late-stage CRC. Among a Medicare-insured population, there was no relationship between travel time to colonoscopy and disease stage at diagnosis. It is likely that factors other than distance to colonoscopy present more pertinent barriers to screening in this insured population. Additional research should be done to determine reasons for nonadherence to screening among those with access to CRC screening services, given that over

Quasiparticle lifetime in a mixture of Bose and Fermi superfluids.

PubMed

Zheng, Wei; Zhai, Hui

2014-12-31

In this Letter, we study the effect of quasiparticle interactions in a Bose-Fermi superfluid mixture. We consider the lifetime of a quasiparticle of the Bose superfluid due to its interaction with quasiparticles in the Fermi superfluid. We find that this damping rate, i.e., the inverse of the lifetime, has quite a different threshold behavior at the BCS and the BEC side of the Fermi superfluid. The damping rate is a constant near the threshold momentum in the BCS side, while it increases rapidly in the BEC side. This is because, in the BCS side, the decay process is restricted by the constraint that the fermion quasiparticle is located near the Fermi surface, while such a restriction does not exist in the BEC side where the damping process is dominated by bosonic quasiparticles of the Fermi superfluid. Our results are related to the collective mode experiment in the recently realized Bose-Fermi superfluid mixture.

The Fermi Science Support Center Data Servers and Archive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reustle, Alexander; Fermi Science Support Center

2018-01-01

The Fermi Science Support Center (FSSC) provides the scientific community with access to Fermi data and other products. The Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) data is stored at NASA's High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) and is accessible through their searchable Browse web interface. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) data is distributed through a custom FSSC interface where users can request all photons detected from a region on the sky over a specified time and energy range. Through its website the FSSC also provides planning and scheduling products, such as long and short term observing timelines, spacecraft position and attitude histories, and exposure maps. We present an overview of the different data products provided by the FSSC, how they can be accessed, and statistics on the archive usage since launch.

Fermi Large Area Telescope

Science.gov Websites

Home Mission Instrument Institutions Publications NASA Pictures Internal lock The Fermi Large Area Monitor (GBM). Wikipedia Country Funding Agencies United States NASA; Department of Energy France

Dark lump excitations in superfluid Fermi gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yan-Xia; Duan, Wen-Shan

2012-11-01

We study the linear and nonlinear properties of two-dimensional matter-wave pulses in disk-shaped superfluid Fermi gases. A Kadomtsev—Petviashvili I (KPI) solitary wave has been realized for superfluid Fermi gases in the limited cases of Bardeen—Cooper—Schrieffer (BCS) regime, Bose—Einstein condensate (BEC) regime, and unitarity regime. One-lump solution as well as one-line soliton solutions for the KPI equation are obtained, and two-line soliton solutions with the same amplitude are also studied in the limited cases. The dependence of the lump propagating velocity and the sound speed of two-dimensional superfluid Fermi gases on the interaction parameter are investigated for the limited cases of BEC and unitarity.

The Star-forming Main Sequence of Dwarf Low Surface Brightness Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGaugh, Stacy S.; Schombert, James M.; Lelli, Federico

2017-12-01

We explore the star-forming properties of late-type, low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies. The star-forming main sequence ({SFR}-{M}* ) of LSB dwarfs has a steep slope, indistinguishable from unity (1.04 ± 0.06). They form a distinct sequence from more massive spirals, which exhibit a shallower slope. The break occurs around {M}* ≈ {10}10 {M}⊙ , and can also be seen in the gas mass—stellar mass plane. The global Kennicutt-Schmidt law ({SFR}-{M}g) has a slope of 1.47 ± 0.11 without the break seen in the main sequence. There is an ample supply of gas in LSB galaxies, which have gas depletion times well in excess of a Hubble time, and often tens of Hubble times. Only ˜ 3 % of this cold gas needs be in the form of molecular gas to sustain the observed star formation. In analogy with the faint, long-lived stars of the lower stellar main sequence, it may be appropriate to consider the main sequence of star-forming galaxies to be defined by thriving dwarfs (with {M}* < {10}10 {M}⊙ ), while massive spirals (with {M}* > {10}10 {M}⊙ ) are weary giants that constitute more of a turn-off population.

Sources of GeV Photons and the Fermi Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dermer, Charles D.

This chapter presents the elaborated lecture notes on Sources of GeV Photons and the Fermi Results given by Charles D. Dermer at the 40th Saas-Fee Advanced Course on "Astrophysics at Very High Energies". The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope made important discoveries and established new results in various areas of astrophysics: from our solar system to remote gamma-ray bursts, from pulsar physics to limits on dark matter and Lorentz invariance violations. The author gives a broad overview of these results by discussing GeV instrumentation and the GeV sky as seen by Fermi, the Fermi catalogs on gamma-ray sources, pulsars and active galactic nuclei, relativistic jet physics and blazars, gamma-rays from cosmic rays in the Galaxy, from star-forming galaxies and from clusters of galaxies, the diffuse extra-galactic gamma-ray background, micro-quasars, radio galaxies, the extragalactic background light, gamma-ray bursts, Fermi acceleration, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, and black holes.

Quasiparticles and Fermi liquid behaviour in an organic metal

PubMed Central

Kiss, T.; Chainani, A.; Yamamoto, H.M.; Miyazaki, T.; Akimoto, T.; Shimojima, T.; Ishizaka, K.; Watanabe, S.; Chen, C.-T.; Fukaya, A.; Kato, R.; Shin, S.

2012-01-01

Many organic metals display exotic properties such as superconductivity, spin-charge separation and so on and have been described as quasi-one-dimensional Luttinger liquids. However, a genuine Fermi liquid behaviour with quasiparticles and Fermi surfaces have not been reported to date for any organic metal. Here, we report the experimental Fermi surface and band structure of an organic metal (BEDT-TTF)3Br(pBIB) obtained using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, and show its consistency with first-principles band structure calculations. Our results reveal a quasiparticle renormalization at low energy scales (effective mass m*=1.9 me) and ω2 dependence of the imaginary part of the self energy, limited by a kink at ~50 meV arising from coupling to molecular vibrations. The study unambiguously proves that (BEDT-TTF)3Br(pBIB) is a quasi-2D organic Fermi liquid with a Fermi surface consistent with Shubnikov-de Haas results. PMID:23011143

Probing and Manipulating Ultracold Fermi Superfluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Lei

Ultracold Fermi gas is an exciting field benefiting from atomic physics, optical physics and condensed matter physics. It covers many aspects of quantum mechanics. Here I introduce some of my work during my graduate study. We proposed an optical spectroscopic method based on electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) as a generic probing tool that provides valuable insights into the nature of Fermi paring in ultracold Fermi gases of two hyperfine states. This technique has the capability of allowing spectroscopic response to be determined in a nearly non-destructive manner and the whole spectrum may be obtained by scanning the probe laser frequency faster than the lifetime of the sample without re-preparing the atomic sample repeatedly. Both quasiparticle picture and pseudogap picture are constructed to facilitate the physical explanation of the pairing signature in the EIT spectra. Motivated by the prospect of realizing a Fermi gas of 40K atoms with a synthetic non-Abelian gauge field, we investigated theoretically BEC-HCS crossover physics in the presence of a Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a system of two-component Fermi gas with and without a Zeeman field that breaks the population balance. A new bound state (Rashba pair) emerges because of the spin-orbit interaction. We studied the properties of Rashba pairs using a standard pair fluctuation theory. As the two-fold spin degeneracy is lifted by spin-orbit interaction, bound pairs with mixed singlet and triplet pairings (referred to as rashbons) emerge, leading to an anisotropic superfluid. We discussed in detail the experimental signatures for observing the condensation of Rashba pairs by calculating various physical observables which characterize the properties of the system and can be measured in experiment. The role of impurities as experimental probes in the detection of quantum material properties is well appreciated. Here we studied the effect of a single classical impurity in trapped ultracold Fermi

The Fermi-LAT detection of magnetar-like pulsar PSR J1846-0258 at high-energy gamma-rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuiper, L.; Hermsen, W.; Dekker, A.

2018-03-01

We report the detection of the pulsed signal of the radio-quiet magnetar-like pulsar PSR J1846-0258 in the high-energy γ-ray data of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi LAT). We produced phase-coherent timing models exploiting RXTE PCA and Swift XRT monitoring data for the post- (magnetar-like) outburst period from 2007 August 28 to 2016 September 4, with independent verification using INTEGRAL ISGRI and Fermi GBM data. Phase-folding barycentric arrival times of selected Fermi LAT events from PSR J1846-0258 resulted in a 4.2σ detection (30-100 MeV) of a broad pulse consistent in shape and aligned in phase with the profiles that we measured with Swift XRT (2.5-10 keV), INTEGRAL ISGRI (20-150 keV), and Fermi GBM (20-300 keV). The pulsed flux (30-100 MeV) is (3.91 ± 0.97) × 10-9 photons cm-2 s-1 MeV-1. Declining significances of the INTEGRAL ISGRI 20-150 keV pulse profiles suggest fading of the pulsed hard X-ray emission during the post-outburst epochs. We revisited with greatly improved statistics the timing and spectral characteristics of PSR B1509-58 as measured with the Fermi LAT. The broad-band pulsed emission spectra (from 2 keV up to GeV energies) of PSR J1846-0258 and PSR B1509-58 can be accurately described with similarly curved shapes, with maximum luminosities at 3.5 ± 1.1 MeV (PSR J1846-0258) and 2.23 ± 0.11 MeV (PSR B1509-58). We discuss possible explanations for observational differences between Fermi LAT detected pulsars that reach maximum luminosities at GeV energies, like the second magnetar-like pulsar PSR J1119-6127, and pulsars with maximum luminosities at MeV energies, which might be due to geometric differences rather than exotic physics in high-B fields.

Conformal Fermi Coordinates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dai, Liang; Pajer, Enrico; Schmidt, Fabian, E-mail: ldai@ias.edu, E-mail: Enrico.pajer@gmail.com, E-mail: fabians@mpa-garching.mpg.de

Fermi Normal Coordinates (FNC) are a useful frame for isolating the locally observable, physical effects of a long-wavelength spacetime perturbation. Their cosmological application, however, is hampered by the fact that they are only valid on scales much smaller than the horizon. We introduce a generalization that we call Conformal Fermi Coordinates (CFC). CFC preserve all the advantages of FNC, but in addition are valid outside the horizon. They allow us to calculate the coupling of long- and short-wavelength modes on all scales larger than the sound horizon of the cosmological fluid, starting from the epoch of inflation until today, bymore » removing the complications of the second order Einstein equations to a large extent, and eliminating all gauge ambiguities. As an application, we present a calculation of the effect of long-wavelength tensor modes on small scale density fluctuations. We recover previous results, but clarify the physical content of the individual contributions in terms of locally measurable effects and ''projection'' terms.« less

First Year Results from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hays, Elizabeth

2009-01-01

After one year of survey observations and more than 70 billion triggers, Fermi is revealing an unprecedented view of the high energy gamma-ray sky. The observatory .carries two instruments, the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GB, 8 keV - 40 MeV) and the Large Area Telescope (LAT, 20 MeV greater than or equal to 300 GeV), which in combination cover over 7 orders of magnitude in energy for transient phenomena. The LAT provides substantially more sensitivity than previous instruments in this waveband and has opened up the energy window from 10-100 GeV. The first year has produced many important results, from detections of extremely energetic and distant gamma-ray bursts, to monitoring daily variations in emission caused by massive black holes at the cores of galaxies, to identifying a new population of gamma-ray bright pulsars, to measuring the spectrum of diffuse emission from our own. Galaxy and the spectrum of the local cosmic electrons. I'll review highlights from the first year and discuss how the data are answering questions from the past and raising new ones for the future.

Bright to Dim Oscillatory Response of the Neurospora Circadian Oscillator

PubMed Central

Gooch, Van D.; Johnson, Alicia E.; Larrondo, Luis F.; Loros, Jennifer J.; Dunlap, Jay C.

2014-01-01

The fungus Neurospora crassa constitutes an important model system extensively used in chronobiology. Several studies have addressed how environmental cues, such as light, can reset or synchronize a circadian system. By means of an optimized firefly luciferase reporter gene and a controllable lighting system, we show that Neurospora can display molecular circadian rhythms in dim light when cultures receive bright light prior to entering dim light conditions. We refer to this behavior as the “bright to dim oscillatory response” (BDOR). The bright light treatment can be applied up to 76 h prior to dim exposure, and it can be as short as 15 min in duration. We have characterized this response in respect to the duration of the light pulse, the time of the light pulse before dim, the intensity of dim light, and the oscillation dynamics in dim light. Although the molecular mechanism that drives the BDOR remains obscure, these findings suggest that a long-term memory of bright light exists as part of the circadian molecular components. It is important to consider the ecological significance of such dim light responses in respect to how organisms naturally maintain their timing mechanism in moonlight. PMID:24492882

Bright to dim oscillatory response of the Neurospora circadian oscillator.

PubMed

Gooch, Van D; Johnson, Alicia E; Larrondo, Luis F; Loros, Jennifer J; Dunlap, Jay C

2014-02-01

The fungus Neurospora crassa constitutes an important model system extensively used in chronobiology. Several studies have addressed how environmental cues, such as light, can reset or synchronize a circadian system. By means of an optimized firefly luciferase reporter gene and a controllable lighting system, we show that Neurospora can display molecular circadian rhythms in dim light when cultures receive bright light prior to entering dim light conditions. We refer to this behavior as the "bright to dim oscillatory response" (BDOR). The bright light treatment can be applied up to 76 h prior to dim exposure, and it can be as short as 15 min in duration. We have characterized this response in respect to the duration of the light pulse, the time of the light pulse before dim, the intensity of dim light, and the oscillation dynamics in dim light. Although the molecular mechanism that drives the BDOR remains obscure, these findings suggest that a long-term memory of bright light exists as part of the circadian molecular components. It is important to consider the ecological significance of such dim light responses in respect to how organisms naturally maintain their timing mechanism in moonlight.

"Where is Everybody?" An Account of Fermi's Question

DOE R&D Accomplishments Database

Jones, E. M.

1985-03-01

Enrico Fermi's famous question, now central to debates about the prevalence of extraterrestrial civilizations, arose during a luncheon conversation with Emil Konopinski, Edward Teller, and Herbert York in the summer of 1950. Fermi's companions on that day have provided accounts of the incident.

Influences of diurnal bright or dim light exposure on urine volume in humans.

PubMed

Hyun, Ki-Ja; Nishimura, Shinya; Tokura, Hiromi

2006-03-01

We investigated with eight healthy females if 8 hr diurnal (0700 to 1500 h) bright rather than dim light (5,000 vs. 80 lx) influenced urine volume. Environmental illuminance was made identical at all other times besides 07:00 to 15:00 h. The participants spent time at strictly regulated schedules in a bioclimatic chamber (26 degrees C, relative humidity 60%) for 57 h. Blood was drawn (2 ml) just before lunch in order to calculate Creatinine clearance (Ccr). Urine volume was significantly higher during wakefulness and the 8-h sleep period with bright rather than dim light. Ccr was significantly higher after bright light. The results were discussed in terms of suppression of the sympathetic nerve system under the influence of diurnal bright light exposure. We also discussed these in terms of physiological polymorphisms.

Vortex Lattices in the Bose-Fermi Superfluid Mixture.

PubMed

Jiang, Yuzhu; Qi, Ran; Shi, Zhe-Yu; Zhai, Hui

2017-02-24

In this Letter we show that the vortex lattice structure in the Bose-Fermi superfluid mixture can undergo a sequence of structure transitions when the Fermi superfluid is tuned from the BCS regime to the BEC regime. This is due to the difference in the vortex core structure of a Fermi superfluid in the BCS regime and in the BEC regime. In the BCS regime the vortex core is nearly filled, while the density at the vortex core gradually decreases until it empties out in the BEC regime. Therefore, with the density-density interaction between the Bose and the Fermi superfluids, interaction between the two sets of vortex lattices gets stronger in the BEC regime, which yields the structure transition of vortex lattices. In view of the recent realization of this superfluid mixture and vortices therein, our theoretical predication can be verified experimentally in the near future.

Do Low Surface Brightness Galaxies Host Stellar Bars?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cervantes Sodi, Bernardo; Sánchez García, Osbaldo

2017-09-01

With the aim of assessing if low surface brightness galaxies host stellar bars and by studying the dependence of the occurrence of bars as a function of surface brightness, we use the Galaxy Zoo 2 data set to construct a large volume-limited sample of galaxies and then segregate these galaxies as having low or high surface brightness in terms of their central surface brightness. We find that the fraction of low surface brightness galaxies hosting strong bars is systematically lower than that found for high surface brightness galaxies. The dependence of the bar fraction on the central surface brightness is mostly driven by a correlation of the surface brightness with the spin and the gas richness of the galaxies, showing only a minor dependence on the surface brightness. We also find that the length of the bars is strongly dependent on the surface brightness, and although some of this dependence is attributed to the gas content, even at a fixed gas-to-stellar mass ratio, high surface brightness galaxies host longer bars than their low surface brightness counterparts, which we attribute to an anticorrelation of the surface brightness with the spin.

Do Low Surface Brightness Galaxies Host Stellar Bars?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cervantes Sodi, Bernardo; Sánchez García, Osbaldo, E-mail: b.cervantes@irya.unam.mx, E-mail: o.sanchez@irya.unam.mx

With the aim of assessing if low surface brightness galaxies host stellar bars and by studying the dependence of the occurrence of bars as a function of surface brightness, we use the Galaxy Zoo 2 data set to construct a large volume-limited sample of galaxies and then segregate these galaxies as having low or high surface brightness in terms of their central surface brightness. We find that the fraction of low surface brightness galaxies hosting strong bars is systematically lower than that found for high surface brightness galaxies. The dependence of the bar fraction on the central surface brightness ismore » mostly driven by a correlation of the surface brightness with the spin and the gas richness of the galaxies, showing only a minor dependence on the surface brightness. We also find that the length of the bars is strongly dependent on the surface brightness, and although some of this dependence is attributed to the gas content, even at a fixed gas-to-stellar mass ratio, high surface brightness galaxies host longer bars than their low surface brightness counterparts, which we attribute to an anticorrelation of the surface brightness with the spin.« less

Late-time particle emission from laser-produced graphite plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harilal, S. S.; Hassanein, A.; Polek, M.

2011-09-01

We report a late-time "fireworks-like" particle emission from laser-produced graphite plasma during its evolution. Plasmas were produced using graphite targets excited with 1064 nm Nd: yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) laser in vacuum. The time evolution of graphite plasma was investigated using fast gated imaging and visible emission spectroscopy. The emission dynamics of plasma is rapidly changing with time and the delayed firework-like emission from the graphite target followed a black-body curve. Our studies indicated that such firework-like emission is strongly depended on target material properties and explained due to material spallation caused by overheating the trapped gases through thermal diffusion along the layer structures of graphite.

3D Quantum Hall Effect of Fermi Arc in Topological Semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, C. M.; Sun, Hai-Peng; Lu, Hai-Zhou; Xie, X. C.

2017-09-01

The quantum Hall effect is usually observed in 2D systems. We show that the Fermi arcs can give rise to a distinctive 3D quantum Hall effect in topological semimetals. Because of the topological constraint, the Fermi arc at a single surface has an open Fermi surface, which cannot host the quantum Hall effect. Via a "wormhole" tunneling assisted by the Weyl nodes, the Fermi arcs at opposite surfaces can form a complete Fermi loop and support the quantum Hall effect. The edge states of the Fermi arcs show a unique 3D distribution, giving an example of (d -2 )-dimensional boundary states. This is distinctly different from the surface-state quantum Hall effect from a single surface of topological insulator. As the Fermi energy sweeps through the Weyl nodes, the sheet Hall conductivity evolves from the 1 /B dependence to quantized plateaus at the Weyl nodes. This behavior can be realized by tuning gate voltages in a slab of topological semimetal, such as the TaAs family, Cd3 As2 , or Na3Bi . This work will be instructive not only for searching transport signatures of the Fermi arcs but also for exploring novel electron gases in other topological phases of matter.

Millisecond Pulsars at Gamma-Ray Energies: Fermi Detections and Implications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harding, Alice K.

2011-01-01

The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has revolutionized the study of pulsar physics with the discovery of new populations of radio quiet and millisecond gamma-ray pulsars. The Fermi Large Area Telescope has so far discovered approx.20 new gamma-ray millisecond pulsars (MSPs) by both folding at periods of known radio MSPs or by detecting them as gamma-ray sources that are followed up by radio pulsar searches. The second method has resulted in a phenomenally successful synergy, with -30 new radio MSPs (to date) having been discovered at Fermi unidentified source locations and the gamma-ray pulsations having then been detected in a number of these using the radio timing solutions. Many of the newly discovered MSPs may be suitable for addition to the collection of very stable MSPs used for gravitational wave detection. Detection of such a large number of MSPs was surprising, given that most have relatively low spin-down luminosity and surface field strength. I will discuss their properties and the implications for pulsar particle acceleration and emission, as well as their potential contribution to gamma-ray backgrounds and Galactic cosmic rays.

Controlling resonant tunneling in graphene via Fermi velocity engineering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lima, Jonas R. F., E-mail: jonas.lima@ufrpe.br; Pereira, Luiz Felipe C.; Bezerra, C. G.

We investigate the resonant tunneling in a single layer graphene superlattice with modulated energy gap and Fermi velocity via an effective Dirac-like Hamiltonian. We calculate the transmission coefficient with the transfer matrix method and analyze the effect of a Fermi velocity modulation on the electronic transmission, in the case of normal and oblique incidence. We find it is possible to manipulate the electronic transmission in graphene by Fermi velocity engineering, and show that it is possible to tune the transmitivity from 0 to 1. We also analyze how a Fermi velocity modulation influences the total conductance and the Fano factor.more » Our results are relevant for the development of novel graphene-based electronic devices.« less

Map of Ceres' Bright Spots

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-12

This map from NASA's Dawn mission shows locations of bright material on dwarf planet Ceres. There are more than 300 bright areas, called "faculae," on Ceres. Scientists have divided them into four categories: bright areas on the floors of crater (red), on the rims or walls of craters (green), in the ejecta blankets of craters (blue), and on the flanks of the mountain Ahuna Mons (yellow). https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21914

Fermi/GBM Results of Magnetars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kouveliotou, chryssa

2011-01-01

Magnetars are magnetically powered rotating neutron stars with extreme magnetic fields (over 10(exp 14) Gauss). They were discovered in the X- and gamma-rays where they predominantly emit their radiation. Very few sources (roughly 18) have been found since their discovery in 1987. NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope was launched June 11,2009; since then the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) recorded emission from four magnetar sources. Two of these were brand new sources, SGR J0501 +4516, discovered with Swift and extensively monitored with Swift and GBM, SGR J0418+5729, discovered with GBM and the Interplanetary Network (IPN). A third was SGR Jl550-5418, a source originally classified as an Anomalous X-ray Pulsar (AXP IEI547.0-5408), but exhibiting a very prolific outburst with over 400 events recorded in January 2009. In my talk I will give a short history of magnetars and describe how this, once relatively esoteric field, has emerged as a link between several astrophysical areas including Gamma-Ray Bursts. Finally, I will describe the exciting new results of Fermi in this field and the current status of our knowledge of the magnetar population properties and magnetic fields.

MASTER OT J015539.85+485955.6 was detected during Fermi alert inspection 3.5h after the trigger time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rebolo, R.; Lipunov, V.; Gorbovskoy, E.; Serra, M.; Lodieu, N.; Israelian, G.; Suarez-Andres, L.; Shumkov, V.; Tyurina, N.; Kornilov, V.; Balanutsa, P.; Kuznetsov, A.; Vlasenko, D.; Gorbunov, I.; Vladimirov, V.; Popova, E.; Buckley, D.; Potter, S.; Kniazev, A.; Kotze, M.; Tlatov, A.; Parhomenko, A. V.; Dormidontov, D.; Senik, V.; Gress, O.; Ivanov, K.; Budnev, N. M.; Yurkov, V.; Sergienko, Yu.; Gabovich, A.; Sinyakov, E.; Krushinski, V.; Zalozhnih, I.; Shurpakov, S.

2015-11-01

MASTER-IAC, MASTER-Kislovodsk and MASTER-SAAO was pointed to the FERMI GBM GRB151107B (Stanbro, Meegan, GCN #18570 ) at 2015-11-07 20:25:52(/59s/58s) UT (R.Rebolo et al., GCN #18576 ). There were the prompt pointing observations because duration of the GRB was ~140s . After 5 minutes of the alert observations of the error-box center, MASTER telescopes in IAC and Kislovodsk started the inspect survey inside large Fermi error box (ra=00 42 28 dec=+48 48 58 r=4.533300) obtained by GCN socket.

Magnetospheric Multiscale Satellite Observations of Parallel Electron Acceleration in Magnetic Field Reconnection by Fermi Reflection from Time Domain Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mozer, F. S.; Agapitov, O. A.; Artemyev, A.; Burch, J. L.; Ergun, R. E.; Giles, B. L.; Mourenas, D.; Torbert, R. B.; Phan, T. D.; Vasko, I.

2016-01-01

The same time domain structures (TDS) have been observed on two Magnetospheric Multiscale Satellites near Earth's dayside magnetopause. These TDS, traveling away from the X line along the magnetic field at 4000 km/s, accelerated field-aligned approx. 5 eV electrons to approx. 200 eV by a single Fermi reflection of the electrons by these overtaking barriers. Additionally, the TDS contained both positive and negative potentials, so they were a mixture of electron holes and double layers. They evolve in approx.10 km of space or 7 ms of time and their spatial scale size is 10-20 km, which is much larger than the electron gyroradius (less than1km) or the electron inertial length (4 km at the observation point, less nearer the X line).

Late-time flux evolution of magnetars SGR 1627-41 and Swift J1822.3-1606

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Hongjun

2013-10-01

The flux relaxations of magnetars post-outburst are of great interest as they permit detailed studies of magnetars and their environments. One model that can explain the flux relaxation is crustal cooling. In the model, heat is deposited after an energetic event in the crust and emitted at the surface. A significant amount of heat can propagate deeper inside, heating the core/crust boundary and changing the shape of the light curve at late times. Therefore, studying the flux relaxation at late times may provides a new opportunity to study the extreme environment near the core. We propose XMM-Newton observations to study the late-time flux evolution of two magnetars, SGR 1627-41 and Swift J1822.3- 1606 to test the crustal cooling model and infer physical properties of the magnetars.

Fermi's Motion Produces a Study in Spirograph

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-02-27

Final still from Fermi video [bit.ly/Y2K4LN]. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration ----- NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope orbits our planet every 95 minutes, building up increasingly deeper views of the universe with every circuit. Its wide-eyed Large Area Telescope (LAT) sweeps across the entire sky every three hours, capturing the highest-energy form of light -- gamma rays -- from sources across the universe. These range from supermassive black holes billions of light-years away to intriguing objects in our own galaxy, such as X-ray binaries, supernova remnants and pulsars. Now a Fermi scientist has transformed LAT data of a famous pulsar into a mesmerizing movie that visually encapsulates the spacecraft's complex motion. Click here to continue reading: 1.usa.gov/WhYwCU NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Pairing in a dry Fermi sea

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maier, Thomas A.; Staar, Peter; Mishra, V.

In the traditional Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory of superconductivity, the amplitude for the propagation of a pair of electrons with momentum k and -k has a log singularity as the temperature decreases. This so-called Cooper instability arises from the presence of an electron Fermi sea. It means that an attractive interaction, no matter how weak, will eventually lead to a pairing instability. However, in the pseudogap regime of the cuprate superconductors, where parts of the Fermi surface are destroyed, this log singularity is suppressed, raising the question of how pairing occurs in the absence of a Fermi sea. In this paper, wemore » report Hubbard model numerical results and the analysis of angular-resolved photoemission experiments on a cuprate superconductor. Finally, in contrast to the traditional theory, we find that in the pseudogap regime the pairing instability arises from an increase in the strength of the spin–fluctuation pairing interaction as the temperature decreases rather than the Cooper log instability.« less

Pairing in a dry Fermi sea

DOE PAGES

Maier, Thomas A.; Staar, Peter; Mishra, V.; ...

2016-06-17

In the traditional Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory of superconductivity, the amplitude for the propagation of a pair of electrons with momentum k and -k has a log singularity as the temperature decreases. This so-called Cooper instability arises from the presence of an electron Fermi sea. It means that an attractive interaction, no matter how weak, will eventually lead to a pairing instability. However, in the pseudogap regime of the cuprate superconductors, where parts of the Fermi surface are destroyed, this log singularity is suppressed, raising the question of how pairing occurs in the absence of a Fermi sea. In this paper, wemore » report Hubbard model numerical results and the analysis of angular-resolved photoemission experiments on a cuprate superconductor. Finally, in contrast to the traditional theory, we find that in the pseudogap regime the pairing instability arises from an increase in the strength of the spin–fluctuation pairing interaction as the temperature decreases rather than the Cooper log instability.« less

Acoustics of tachyon Fermi gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Trojan, Ernst; Vlasov, George V.

2011-06-15

We consider a Fermi gas of free tachyons as a continuous medium and find whether it satisfies the causality condition. There is no stable tachyon matter with the particle density below critical value n{sub T} and the Fermi momentum k{sub F}<{radical}((3/2))m that depends on the tachyon mass m. The pressure P and energy density E cannot be arbitrary small, but the situation P>E is not forbidden. Existence of shock waves in tachyon gas is also discussed. At low density n{sub T}

Impact vaporization: Late time phenomena from experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schultz, P. H.; Gault, D. E.

1987-01-01

While simple airflow produced by the outward movement of the ejecta curtain can be scaled to large dimensions, the interaction between an impact-vaporized component and the ejecta curtain is more complicated. The goal of these experiments was to examine such interaction in a real system involving crater growth, ejection of material, two phased mixtures of gas and dust, and strong pressure gradients. The results will be complemented by theoretical studies at laboratory scales in order to separate the various parameters for planetary scale processes. These experiments prompt, however, the following conclusions that may have relevance at broader scales. First, under near vacuum or low atmospheric pressures, an expanding vapor cloud scours the surrounding surface in advance of arriving ejecta. Second, the effect of early-time vaporization is relatively unimportant at late-times. Third, the overpressure created within the crater cavity by significant vaporization results in increased cratering efficiency and larger aspect ratios.

High-energy non-thermal and thermal emission from GRB 141207A detected by Fermi

DOE PAGES

Arimoto, Makoto; Asano, Katsuaki; Ohno, Masanori; ...

2016-12-13

A bright long gamma-ray burst GRB 141207A was observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and detected by both instruments onboard. The observations show that the spectrum in the prompt phase is not well described by the canonical empirical Band function alone, and that an additional power-law component is needed. In the early phase of the prompt emission, a modified blackbody with a hard low-energy photon index (α = +0.2 to +0.4) is detected, which suggests a photospheric origin. In a finely time-resolved analysis, the spectra are also well fitted by the modified blackbody combined with a power-law function. Heremore » we discuss the physical parameters of the photosphere such as the bulk Lorentz factor of the relativistic flow and the radius. We also discuss the physical origin of the extra power-law component observed during the prompt phase in the context of different models such as leptonic and hadronic scenarios in the internal shock regime and synchrotron emission in the external forward shock. In the afterglow phase, the temporal and spectral behaviors of the temporally extended high-energy emission and the fading X-ray emission detected by the X-Ray Telescope on-board Swift are consistent with synchrotron emission in a radiative external forward shock.« less

Fermi-LAT detection of ongoing gamma-ray activity from the new gamma-ray source Fermi J1654-1055 (PMN J1632-1052)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kocevski, D.; Ajello, M.; Buson, S.; Buehler, R.; Giomi, M.

2016-02-01

During the week between February 8 and 15, 2016, the Large Area Telescope (LAT), one of the two instruments on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, observed gamma-ray activity from a new transient source, Fermi J1654-1055.

A search for Fermi bursts associated with supernovae and their frequency of occurrence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovacevic, M.; Izzo, L.; Wang, Y.; Muccino, M.; Della Valle, M.; Amati, L.; Barbarino, C.; Enderli, M.; Pisani, G. B.; Li, L.

2014-09-01

Context. Observations suggest that most long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are connected with broad-line supernovae Ib/c, (SNe-Ibc). The presence of GRB-SNe is revealed by rebrightenings emerging from the optical GRB afterglow 10-15 days, in the rest-frame of the source, after the prompt GRB emission. Aims: Fermi/GBM has a field of view (FoV) about 6.5 times larger than the FoV of Swift, therefore we expect that a number of GRB-SN connections have been missed because of lack of optical and X-ray instruments on board of Fermi, which are essential for revealing SNe associated with GRBs. This has motivated our search in the Fermi catalog for possible GRB-SN events. Methods: The search for possible GRB-SN associations follows two requirements: (1) SNe should fall inside the Fermi/GBM error box of the considered long GRB, and (2) this GRB should occur within 20 days before the SN event. Results: We have found five cases within z< 0.2 fulfilling the above reported requirements. One of them, GRB 130702A-SN 2013dx, was already known to have a GRB-SN association. We have analyzed the remaining four cases and we have concluded that three of them are, very likely, just random coincidences due to the Fermi/GBM large error box associated with each GRB detection. We found one GRB possibly associated with a SN 1998bw-like source, GRB 120121B/SN 2012ba. Conclusions: The very low redshift of GRB 120121B/SN 2012ba (z = 0.017) implies a low isotropic energy of this burst (Eiso = 1.39 × 1048) erg. We then compute the rate of Fermi low-luminosity GRBs connected with SNe to be ρ0,b ≤ 770 Gpc-3 yr-1. We estimate that Fermi/GBM could detect 1-4 GRBs-SNe within z ≤ 0.2 in the next 4 years.

Fermi-LAT observation of nonblazar AGNs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahakyan, N.; Baghmanyan, V.; Zargaryan, D.

2018-06-01

Context. Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) has recently detected γ-ray emission from active galactic nuclei (AGN) that do not show clear evidence for optical blazar characteristics or have jets pointing away from the observer (nonblazar AGNs). These are interesting γ-ray emitters providing an alternative approach to studying high energy emission processes. Aims: This paper investigates the spectral and temporal properties of γ-ray emission from nonblazar AGNs using the recent Fermi-LAT observational data. Methods: The data collected by Fermi-LAT during 2008-2015, from the observations of 26 nonblazar AGNs, including 11 Fanaroff-Riley Type I (FRI) and ten FRII radio galaxies and steep spectrum radio quasars (SSRQs) and five narrow line seyfert 1s (NLSy1s) are analysed using the new PASS 8 event selection and instrument response function. Possible spectral changes above GeV energies are investigated with a detailed spectral analysis. Light curves generated with normal and adaptive time bins are used to study the γ-ray flux variability. Results: Non-blazar AGNs have a γ-ray photon index in the range of 1.84-2.86 and a flux varying from a few times 10-9 photon cm-2 s-1 to 10-7 photon cm-2 s-1. Over long time periods, the power law provides an adequate description of the γ-ray spectra of almost all sources. Significant curvature is observed in the γ-ray spectra of NGC 1275, NGC 6251, SBS 0846 + 513, and PMN J0948 + 0022 and their spectra are better described by log parabola or by the power law with exponential cut-off models. The γ-ray spectra of PKS 0625-25 and 3C 380 show a possible deviation from a simple power-law shape, indicating a spectral cut-off around the observed photon energy of Ecut = 131.2 ± 88.04 GeV and Ecut = 55.57 ± 50.74 GeV, respectively. Our analysis confirms the previous finding of an unusual spectral turnover in the γ-ray spectrum of Cen A: the photon index changes from Γ = 2.75 ± 0.02 to 2.31 ± 0.1 at 2.35 ± 0.08 GeV. In the �

Little Bright Spot

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-01-12

A bright spot can be seen on the left side of Rhea in this image. The spot is the crater Inktomi, named for a Lakota spider spirit. Inktomi is believed to be the youngest feature on Rhea (949 miles or 1527 kilometers across). The relative youth of the feature is evident by its brightness. Material that is newly excavated from below the moon's surface and tossed across the surface by a cratering event, appears bright. But as the newly exposed surface is subjected to the harsh space environment, it darkens. This is one technique scientists use to date features on surfaces. This view looks toward the trailing hemisphere of Rhea. North on Rhea is up and rotated 21 degrees to the left. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 29, 2013. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.0 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) fro http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18300

Fermi, Szilard and Trinity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Herbert L.

1974-01-01

The final installment of the author's recollections of his work with physicists Enrico Fermi, Leo Szilard and others in developing the first controlled nuclear chain reaction and in preparing the test explosion of the first atomic bomb. (GS)

Chiral pair of Fermi arcs, anomaly cancellation, and spin or valley Hall effects in Weyl metals with broken inversion symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Iksu; Kim, Ki-Seok

2018-04-01

Anomaly cancellation has been shown to occur in broken time-reversal symmetry Weyl metals, which explains the existence of a Fermi arc. We extend this result in the case of broken inversion symmetry Weyl metals. Constructing a minimal model that takes a double pair of Weyl points, we demonstrate the anomaly cancellation explicitly. This demonstration explains why a chiral pair of Fermi arcs appear in broken inversion symmetry Weyl metals. In particular, we find that this pair of Fermi arcs gives rise to either "quantized" spin Hall or valley Hall effects, which corresponds to the "quantized" version of the charge Hall effect in broken time-reversal symmetry Weyl metals.

First Observation of Bright Solitons in Bulk Superfluid ^{4}He.

PubMed

Ancilotto, Francesco; Levy, David; Pimentel, Jessica; Eloranta, Jussi

2018-01-19

The existence of bright solitons in bulk superfluid ^{4}He is demonstrated by time-resolved shadowgraph imaging experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The initial liquid compression that leads to the creation of nonlinear waves is produced by rapidly expanding plasma from laser ablation. After the leading dissipative period, these waves transform into bright solitons, which exhibit three characteristic features: dispersionless propagation, negligible interaction in a two-wave collision, and direct dependence between soliton amplitude and the propagation velocity. The experimental observations are supported by DFT calculations, which show rapid evolution of the initially compressed liquid into bright solitons. At high amplitudes, solitons become unstable and break down into dispersive shock waves.

Lunar and Venusian radar bright rings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, T. W.; Saunders, R. S.; Weissman, D. E.

1986-01-01

Twenty-one lunar craters have radar bright ring appearances which are analogous to eleven complete ring features in the earth-based 12.5 cm observations of Venus. Radar ring diameters and widths for the lunar and Venusian features overlap for sizes from 45 to 100 km. Radar bright areas for the lunar craters are associated with the slopes of the inner and outer rim walls, while level crater floors and level ejecta fields beyond the raised portion of the rim have average radar backscatter. It is proposed that the radar bright areas of the Venusian rings are also associated with the slopes on the rims of craters. The lunar craters have evolved to radar bright rings via mass wasting of crater rim walls and via post-impact flooding of crater floors. Aeolian deposits of fine-grained material on Venusian crater floors may produce radar scattering effects similar to lunar crater floor flooding. These Venusian aeolian deposits may preferentially cover blocky crater floors producing a radar bright ring appearance. It is proposed that the Venusian features with complete bright ring appearances and sizes less than 100 km are impact craters. They have the same sizes as lunar craters and could have evolved to radar bright rings via analogous surface processes.

Dark and bright solitons for the two-dimensional complex modified Korteweg-de Vries and Maxwell-Bloch system with time-dependent coefficient

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaikhova, G.; Ozat, N.; Yesmakhanova, K.; Bekova, G.

2018-02-01

In this work, we present Lax pair for two-dimensional complex modified Korteweg-de Vries and Maxwell-Bloch (cmKdV-MB) system with the time-dependent coefficient. Dark and bright soliton solutions for the cmKdV-MB system with variable coefficient are received by Darboux transformation. Moreover, the determinant representation of the one-fold and two-fold Darboux transformation for the cmKdV-MB system with time-dependent coefficient is presented.

Towards a complete Fermi surface in underdoped high Tc superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrison, Neil

The discovery of magnetic quantum oscillations in underdoped high Tc superconductors raised many questions, and initiated a quest to understand the origin of the Fermi surface the like of which had not been seen since the very first discovery of quantum oscillations in elemental bismuth. While studies of the Fermi surface of materials are today mostly assisted by computer codes for calculating the electronic band structure, this was not the case in the underdoped high Tc materials. The Fermi surface was shown to reconstructed into small pockets, yet there was no hint of a viable order parameter. Crucial clues to understanding the origin of the Fermi surface were provided by the small value of the observed Fermi surface cross-section, the negative Hall coefficient and the small electronic heat capacity at high magnetic fields. We also know that the magnetic fields were likely to be too weak to destroy the pseudogap and that vortex pinning effects could be seen to persist to high magnetic fields at low temperatures. I will show that the Fermi surface that appears to fit best with the experimental observations is a small electron pocket formed by connecting the nodal `Fermi arcs' seen in photoemission experiments, corresponding to a density-wave state with two different orthogonal ordering vectors. The existence of such order has subsequently been detected by x-ray scattering experiments, thereby strengthening the case for charge ordering being responsible for reconstructing the Fermi surface. I will discuss new efforts to understand the relationship between the charge ordering and the pseudogap state, discussing the fate of the quasiparticles in the antinodal region and the dimensionality of the Fermi surface. The author acknowledges contributions from Suchitra Sebastian, Brad Ramshaw, Mun Chan, Yu-Te Hsu, Mate Hartstein, Gil Lonzarich, Beng Tan, Arkady Shekhter, Fedor Balakirev, Ross McDonald, Jon Betts, Moaz Altarawneh, Zengwei Zhu, Chuck Mielke, James Day, Doug

Non-Equilibrium Dynamics of Fermi Gases Near A Scattering Resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trotzky, S.; Luciuk, C.; Smale, S.; Beattie, S.; Taylor, E.; Enss, T.; Zhang, Shizhong; Thywissen, J. H.

2015-05-01

We present recent dynamic measurements of fermionic potassium (40K) near Fano-Feshbach scattering resonances. In our experiments, we start with a weakly or non-interacting Fermi gas and initiate strong interactions on a timescale that is fast compared to the equilibration mechanisms in the system quasi-instantaneous quench. Equally fast measurements allow us to follow the non-equilibrium many-body dynamics. First, we discuss time-resolved radio-frequency (rf) spectroscopy, and its use to probe the evolution of the short-range part of the many-body wave function - i.e., the contact. Second, we discuss spin-echo measurements that reveal the nature of transverse spin transport. Most recently, we have studied a Fermi gas with repulsive interactions in the metastable upper branch of the energy spectrum near a s-wave scattering resonance.

Fermi/LAT observations of lobe-dominant radio galaxy 3C 207 and possible radiation region of γ-rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Sheng-Chu; Zhang, Hai-Ming; Zhang, Jin; Liang, En-Wei

2018-06-01

3C 207 is a lobe-dominant radio galaxy with a one sided jet and bright knots, spanning a kpc-Mpc scale, which have been resolved in the radio, optical and X-ray bands. This target was confirmed as a γ-ray emitter with Fermi/LAT, but it is uncertain whether the γ-ray emission region is the core or knots due to the low spatial resolution of Fermi/LAT. We present an analysis of its Fermi/LAT data acquired during the past 9 years. Different from the radio and optical emission from the core, it is found that the γ-ray emission is steady without detection of flux variation at over a 2σ confidence level. This likely implies that the γ-ray emission is from its knots. We collect the radio, optical and X-ray data of knot-A, the closest knot from the core at 1.4″, and compile its spectral energy distribution (SED). Although the single-zone synchrotron+SSC+IC/CMB model that assumes knot-A is at rest can reproduce the SED in the radio-optical-X-ray band, the predicted γ-ray flux is lower than the LAT observations and the derived magnetic field strength deviates from the equipartition condition by 3 orders of magnitude. Assuming that knot-A is moving relativistically, its SED from radio to γ-ray bands would be represented well with the single-zone synchrotron+SSC+IC/CMB model under the equipartition condition. These results likely suggest that the γ-ray emission may be from knot-A via the IC/CMB process and the knot should have relativistical motion. The jet power derived from our model parameters is also roughly consistent with the kinetic power estimated with radio data.

Spectrum of the isotropic diffuse gamma-ray emission derived from first-year Fermi Large Area Telescope data.

PubMed

Abdo, A A; Ackermann, M; Ajello, M; Atwood, W B; Baldini, L; Ballet, J; Barbiellini, G; Bastieri, D; Baughman, B M; Bechtol, K; Bellazzini, R; Berenji, B; Blandford, R D; Bloom, E D; Bonamente, E; Borgland, A W; Bregeon, J; Brez, A; Brigida, M; Bruel, P; Burnett, T H; Buson, S; Caliandro, G A; Cameron, R A; Caraveo, P A; Casandjian, J M; Cavazzuti, E; Cecchi, C; Celik, O; Charles, E; Chekhtman, A; Cheung, C C; Chiang, J; Ciprini, S; Claus, R; Cohen-Tanugi, J; Cominsky, L R; Conrad, J; Cutini, S; Dermer, C D; de Angelis, A; de Palma, F; Digel, S W; Di Bernardo, G; do Couto e Silva, E; Drell, P S; Drlica-Wagner, A; Dubois, R; Dumora, D; Farnier, C; Favuzzi, C; Fegan, S J; Focke, W B; Fortin, P; Frailis, M; Fukazawa, Y; Funk, S; Fusco, P; Gaggero, D; Gargano, F; Gasparrini, D; Gehrels, N; Germani, S; Giebels, B; Giglietto, N; Giommi, P; Giordano, F; Glanzman, T; Godfrey, G; Grenier, I A; Grondin, M-H; Grove, J E; Guillemot, L; Guiriec, S; Gustafsson, M; Hanabata, Y; Harding, A K; Hayashida, M; Hughes, R E; Itoh, R; Jackson, M S; Jóhannesson, G; Johnson, A S; Johnson, R P; Johnson, T J; Johnson, W N; Kamae, T; Katagiri, H; Kataoka, J; Kawai, N; Kerr, M; Knödlseder, J; Kocian, M L; Kuehn, F; Kuss, M; Lande, J; Latronico, L; Lemoine-Goumard, M; Longo, F; Loparco, F; Lott, B; Lovellette, M N; Lubrano, P; Madejski, G M; Makeev, A; Mazziotta, M N; McConville, W; McEnery, J E; Meurer, C; Michelson, P F; Mitthumsiri, W; Mizuno, T; Moiseev, A A; Monte, C; Monzani, M E; Morselli, A; Moskalenko, I V; Murgia, S; Nolan, P L; Norris, J P; Nuss, E; Ohsugi, T; Omodei, N; Orlando, E; Ormes, J F; Paneque, D; Panetta, J H; Parent, D; Pelassa, V; Pepe, M; Pesce-Rollins, M; Piron, F; Porter, T A; Rainò, S; Rando, R; Razzano, M; Reimer, A; Reimer, O; Reposeur, T; Ritz, S; Rochester, L S; Rodriguez, A Y; Roth, M; Ryde, F; Sadrozinski, H F-W; Sanchez, D; Sander, A; Saz Parkinson, P M; Scargle, J D; Sellerholm, A; Sgrò, C; Shaw, M S; Siskind, E J; Smith, D A; Smith, P D; Spandre, G; Spinelli, P; Starck, J-L; Strickman, M S; Strong, A W; Suson, D J; Tajima, H; Takahashi, H; Takahashi, T; Tanaka, T; Thayer, J B; Thayer, J G; Thompson, D J; Tibaldo, L; Torres, D F; Tosti, G; Tramacere, A; Uchiyama, Y; Usher, T L; Vasileiou, V; Vilchez, N; Vitale, V; Waite, A P; Wang, P; Winer, B L; Wood, K S; Ylinen, T; Ziegler, M

2010-03-12

We report on the first Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) measurements of the so-called "extragalactic" diffuse gamma-ray emission (EGB). This component of the diffuse gamma-ray emission is generally considered to have an isotropic or nearly isotropic distribution on the sky with diverse contributions discussed in the literature. The derivation of the EGB is based on detailed modeling of the bright foreground diffuse Galactic gamma-ray emission, the detected LAT sources, and the solar gamma-ray emission. We find the spectrum of the EGB is consistent with a power law with a differential spectral index gamma = 2.41 +/- 0.05 and intensity I(>100 MeV) = (1.03 +/- 0.17) x 10(-5) cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1), where the error is systematics dominated. Our EGB spectrum is featureless, less intense, and softer than that derived from EGRET data.

Localized-to-extended-states transition below the Fermi level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tito, M. A.; Pusep, Yu. A.

2018-05-01

Time-resolved photoluminescence is employed to examine a transition from localized to extended electron states below the Fermi level in multiple narrow quantum well GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures, where disorder was generated by interface roughness. Such a transition resembles the metal-insulator transition profoundly investigated by electric transport measurements. An important distinction distinguishes the localized-to-extended-states transition studied here: it takes place below the Fermi level in an electron system with a constant concentration, which implies unchanging Coulomb correlations. Moreover, for such a localized-to-extended-states transition the temperature is shown to be irrelevant. In the insulating regime the magnetic field was found to cause an additional momentum relaxation which considerably enhanced the recombination rate. Thus, we propose a method to explore the evolution of the localized electron states in a system with a fixed disorder and Coulomb interaction.

Magnetar Observations with Fermi/GBM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kouveliotou, Chryssa

2009-01-01

NASA's Fermi Observatory was launched June 11, 2009; the Fermi Gamma Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) began normal operations on July 14, about a month after launch, when the trigger algorithms were enabled. In the first year of operations we recorded emission from four magnetar sources; of these, only one was an old magnetar: SGR 1806+20. The other three detections were: SGR J0501+4516, newly discovered with Swift and extensively monitored with both Swift and GBM, SGR J1550-5418, a source originally classified as an Anomalous X-ray Pulsar (AXP) and a very recently discovered new source, SGR 0418+5729. I report below on the current status of the analyses efforts of the GBM data.

Out-of-equilibrium dynamics of repulsive Fermi gases in quasiperiodic potentials: A density functional theory study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ancilotto, Francesco; Rossini, Davide; Pilati, Sebastiano

2018-04-01

The dynamics of a one-dimensional two-component Fermi gas in the presence of a quasiperiodic optical lattice (OL) is investigated by means of a density functional theory approach. Inspired by the protocol implemented in recent cold-atom experiments—designed to identify the many-body localization transition—we analyze the relaxation of an initially prepared imbalance between the occupation number of odd and of even sites. For quasidisorder strength beyond the Anderson localization transition, the imbalance survives for long times, indicating the inability of the system to reach local equilibrium. The late-time value of the imbalance diminishes for increasing interaction strength. Close to the critical quasidisorder strength corresponding to the noninteracting (Anderson) transition, the interacting system displays an extremely slow relaxation dynamics, consistent with subdiffusive behavior. The amplitude of the imbalance fluctuations around its running average is found to decrease with time, and such damping is more effective with increasing interaction strengths. While our study addresses the setup with two equally intense OLs, very similar effects due to interactions have been observed also in recent cold-atom experiments performed in the tight-binding regime, i.e., where one of the two OLs is very deep and the other is much weaker.

Cinema, Fermi problems and general education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Efthimiou, C. J.; Llewellyn, R. A.

2007-05-01

During the past few years the authors have developed a new approach to the teaching of physical science, a general education course typically found in the curricula of nearly every college and university. This approach, called Physics in Films (Efthimiou and Llewellyn 2006 Phys. Teach. 44 28-33), uses scenes from popular films to illustrate physical principles and has excited student interest and improved student performance. A similar approach at the senior/high-school level, nicknamed Hollywood Physics, has been developed by Chandler (2006 Phys. Teach. 44 290-2 2002 Phys. Teach. 40 420-4). The two approaches may be considered complementary as they target different student groups. The analyses of many of the scenes in Physics in Films are a direct application of Fermi calculations—estimates and approximations designed to make solutions of complex and seemingly intractable problems understandable to the student non-specialist. The intent of this paper is to provide instructors with examples they can use to develop skill in recognizing Fermi problems and making Fermi calculations in their own courses.

Late-Time Evolution of Broad-Bandwidth, Laser-Imposed Nonuniformities in Accelerated Foils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smalyuk, V. A.; Boehly, T. R.; Bradley, D. K.; Knauer, J. P.; Meyerhofer, D. D.; Oron, D.; Srebro, Y.; Shvarts, D.

1998-11-01

The late-time evolution of broad-bandwidth nonuniformities is studied in planar-foil experiments on the OMEGA laser system. Five beams with ~600-μm-diam uniform region accelerate 20-μm-thick CH foils at an average intensity of 2×10^14\\:W/cm^2 in a 3-ns square pulse. Growth of perturbations seeded by irradiation nonuniformities was observed using time-gated, pinhole photographs of ~1.2-keV x rays from a backlighter. At late times collective saturation is observed at levels similar to Haan's prediction.(S. W. Haan, Phys. Rev. A 39), 5812 (1989). The maximum of the nonuniformity spectrum moves toward longer wavelength in time as expected. Target images taken at different times show the formation of bubbles and spikes from initial elongated ``wormy'' structures. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inertial Confinement Fusion under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC03-92SF19460, the University of Rochester, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The support of DOE does not constitute an endorsement by DOE of the views expressed in this article.

A significant hardening and rising shape detected in the MeV/GeV νF ν spectrum from the recently discovered very-high-energy blazar S4 0954+65 during the bright optical flare in 2015 February

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tanaka, Yasuyuki T.; Becerra Gonzalez, Josefa; Itoh, Ryosuke

2016-05-23

In this paper, we report on Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and multi-wavelength results on the recently discovered very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) blazar S4 0954+65 (z = 0.368) during an exceptionally bright optical flare in 2015 February. During the time period (2015 February 13/14, or MJD 57067) when the MAGIC telescope detected VHE γ-ray emission from the source, the Fermi-LAT data indicated a significant spectral hardening at GeV energies, with a power-law photon index of 1.8 ± 0.1—compared with the 3FGL (The Fermi LAT 4-Year Point Source Catalog) value (averaged over four years of observation) of 2.34 ±more » 0.04. In contrast, Swift X-Ray Telescope data showed a softening of the X-ray spectrum, with a photon index of 1.72 ± 0.08 (compared with 1.38 ± 0.03 averaged during the flare from MJD 57066 to 57077), possibly indicating a modest contribution of synchrotron photons by the highest-energy electrons superposed on the inverse Compton component. Fitting of the quasi-simultaneous (<1 d) broad-band spectrum with a one-zone synchrotron plus inverse-Compton model revealed that GeV/TeV emission could be produced by inverse-Compton scattering of external photons from the dust torus. Finally, we emphasize that a flaring blazar showing high flux of ≳1.0 × 10 -6 photons cm -2s -1 (E > 100 MeV) and a hard spectral index of ΓGeV < 2.0 detected by Fermi-LAT on daily timescales is a promising target for TeV follow-up by ground-based Cherenkov telescopes to discover high-redshift blazars, investigate their temporal variability and spectral features in the VHE band, and also constrain the intensity of the extragalactic background light.« less

Auroral bright spot in Jupiter’s active region in corresponding to solar wind dynamic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haewsantati, K.; Wannawichian, S.; Clarke, J. T.; Nichols, J. D.

2017-09-01

Jupiter’s polar emission has brightness whose behavior appears to be unstable. This work focuses on the bright spot in active region which is a section of Jupiter’s polar emission. Images of the aurora were taken by Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Previously, two bright spots, which were found on 13 th May 2007, were suggested to be fixed on locations described by system III longitude. The bright spot’s origin in equatorial plane was proposed to be at distance 80-90 Jovian radii and probably associated with the solar wind properties. This study analyzes additional data on May 2007 to study long-term variation of brightness and locations of bright spots. The newly modified magnetosphere-ionosphere mapping based on VIP4 and VIPAL model is used to locate the origin of bright spot in magnetosphere. Furthermore, the Michigan Solar Wind Model or mSWiM is also used to study the variation of solar wind dynamic pressure during the time of bright spot’s observation. We found that the bright spots appear in similar locations which correspond to similar origins in magnetosphere. In addition, the solar wind dynamic pressure should probably affect the bright spot’s variation.

Fixation of strategies with the Moran and Fermi processes in evolutionary games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xuesong; He, Mingfeng; Kang, Yibin; Pan, Qiuhui

2017-10-01

A model of stochastic evolutionary game dynamics with finite population was built. It combines the standard Moran and Fermi rules with two strategies cooperation and defection. We obtain the expressions of fixation probabilities and fixation times. The one-third rule which has been found in the frequency dependent Moran process also holds for our model. We obtain the conditions of strategy being an evolutionarily stable strategy in our model, and then make a comparison with the standard Moran process. Besides, the analytical results show that compared with the standard Moran process, fixation occurs with higher probabilities under a prisoner's dilemma game and coordination game, but with lower probabilities under a coexistence game. The simulation result shows that the fixation time in our mixed process is lower than that in the standard Fermi process. In comparison with the standard Moran process, fixation always takes more time on average in spatial populations, regardless of the game. In addition, the fixation time decreases with the growth of the number of neighbors.

Use of Fermi-Dirac statistics for defects in solids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, R. A.

1981-12-01

The Fermi-Dirac distribution function is an approximation describing a special case of Boltzmann statistics. A general occupation probability formula is derived and a criterion given for the use of Fermi-Dirac statistics. Application to classical problems of defects in solids is discussed.

Time-Resolved SEDs of Blazars Flares

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kreikenbohm, A.; Dorner, D.; Kadler, M.; Beuchert, T.; Kreter, M.; Kreykenbohm, I.; Langejahn, M.; Leiter, K.; Mannheim, K.; Wilms, J.

2017-10-01

The origin of very-high-energy gamma rays in active galactic nuclei is still under debate. While snapshots of spectral energy distributions (SEDs) can usually be explained with simple competing models, the true emission mechanisms may be revealed from dynamic SED studies during exceptional source states. Based on the FACT monitoring program, we have set up a multiwavelength target-of-opportunity program which allows us to measure time-resolved SEDs during blazar flares. While the FACT and Fermi measurements cover the high energy peak continuously, X-ray observations with INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton are triggered in case of a bright flare. To distinguish orphan flares from time lags between the energy bands, this is combined with an X-ray monitoring with the Swift satellite. In December 2015, observations of the X-ray telescopes Swift and INTEGRAL were triggered during a moderately-high flux state of the TeV blazar Mrk 421. Pre- and post observations in X-rays are available from Swift-XRT. In this presentation, the results from the Mrk 421 ToO observations will be summarized.

BrightStat.com: free statistics online.

PubMed

Stricker, Daniel

2008-10-01

Powerful software for statistical analysis is expensive. Here I present BrightStat, a statistical software running on the Internet which is free of charge. BrightStat's goals, its main capabilities and functionalities are outlined. Three different sample runs, a Friedman test, a chi-square test, and a step-wise multiple regression are presented. The results obtained by BrightStat are compared with results computed by SPSS, one of the global leader in providing statistical software, and VassarStats, a collection of scripts for data analysis running on the Internet. Elementary statistics is an inherent part of academic education and BrightStat is an alternative to commercial products.

Characterization of brightness and stoichiometry of bright particles by flow-fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy.

PubMed

Johnson, Jolene; Chen, Yan; Mueller, Joachim D

2010-11-03

Characterization of bright particles at low concentrations by fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy (FFS) is challenging, because the event rate of particle detection is low and fluorescence background contributes significantly to the measured signal. It is straightforward to increase the event rate by flow, but the high background continues to be problematic for fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Here, we characterize the use of photon-counting histogram analysis in the presence of flow. We demonstrate that a photon-counting histogram efficiently separates the particle signal from the background and faithfully determines the brightness and concentration of particles independent of flow speed, as long as undersampling is avoided. Brightness provides a measure of the number of fluorescently labeled proteins within a complex and has been used to determine stoichiometry of protein complexes in vivo and in vitro. We apply flow-FFS to determine the stoichiometry of the group specific antigen protein within viral-like particles of the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 from the brightness. Our results demonstrate that flow-FFS is a sensitive method for the characterization of complex macromolecular particles at low concentrations. Copyright © 2010 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Discovery of an Unidentified Fermi Object as a Black Widow-Like Millisecond Pulsar

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kong, A. K. H.; Huang, R. H. H.; Cheng, K. S.; Takata, J.; Yatsu, Y.; Cheung, C. C.; Donato, D.; Lin, L. C. C.; Kataoka, J.; Takahashi, Y.;

Bright Enceladus

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-02-14

Saturn moon Enceladus reflects sunlight brightly while the planet and its rings fill the background in this view from NASA Cassini spacecraft. Enceladus is one of the most reflective bodies in the solar system.

Lyman-α emitters gone missing: the different evolution of the bright and faint populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weinberger, Lewis H.; Kulkarni, Girish; Haehnelt, Martin G.; Choudhury, Tirthankar Roy

2018-06-01

We model the transmission of the Lyman-α line through the circum- and intergalactic media around dark matter haloes expected to host Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs) at z ≥ 5.7, using the high-dynamic-range Sherwood simulations. We find very different CGM environments around more massive haloes (˜1011M⊙) compared to less massive haloes (˜109M⊙) at these redshifts, which can contribute to a different evolution of the Lyα transmission from LAEs within these haloes. Additionally we confirm that part of the differential evolution could result from bright LAEs being more likely to reside in larger ionized regions. We conclude that a combination of the CGM environment and the IGM ionization structure is likely to be responsible for the differential evolution of the bright and faint ends of the LAE luminosity function at z ≥ 6. More generally, we confirm the suggestion that the self-shielded neutral gas in the outskirts of the host halo can strongly attenuate the Lyα emission from high redshift galaxies. We find that this has a stronger effect on the more massive haloes hosting brighter LAEs. The faint-end of the LAE luminosity function is thus a more reliable probe of the average ionization state of the IGM. Comparing our model for LAEs with a range of observational data we find that the favoured reionization histories are our previously advocated `Late' and `Very Late' reionization histories, in which reionization finishes rather rapidly at around z ≃ 6.

FERMI Observations of TeV-Selected Active Galactic Nuclei

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; ...

2009-12-04

Here, we report on observations of TeV-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) made during the first 5.5 months of observations with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on-board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi). In total, 96 AGNs were selected for study, each being either (1) a source detected at TeV energies (28 sources) or (2) an object that has been studied with TeV instruments and for which an upper limit has been reported (68 objects). The Fermi observations show clear detections of 38 of these TeV-selected objects, of which 21 are joint GeV-TeV sources, and 29 were not in the thirdmore » EGRET catalog. For each of the 38 Fermi-detected sources, spectra and light curves are presented. Most can be described with a power law of spectral index harder than 2.0, with a spectral break generally required to accommodate the TeV measurements. Based on an extrapolation of the Fermi spectrum, we identify sources, not previously detected at TeV energies, which are promising targets for TeV instruments. Finally, evidence for systematic evolution of the γ-ray spectrum with redshift is presented and discussed in the context of interaction with the extragalactic background light.« less

NASA's Fermi Telescope Resolves Radio Galaxy Centaurus A

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA release April 1, 2010 Fermi's Large Area Telescope resolved high-energy gamma rays from an extended region around the active galaxy Centaurus A. The emission corresponds to million-light-year-wide radio-emitting gas thrown out by the galaxy's supersized black hole. This inset shows an optical/gamma-ray composite of the galaxy and its location on the Fermi one-year sky map. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, Capella Observatory To learn more about these images go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/smokestack-plumes.html NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.

Multiparticle instability in a spin-imbalanced Fermi gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitehead, T. M.; Conduit, G. J.

2018-01-01

Weak attractive interactions in a spin-imbalanced Fermi gas induce a multiparticle instability, binding multiple fermions together. The maximum binding energy per particle is achieved when the ratio of the number of up- and down-spin particles in the instability is equal to the ratio of the up- and down-spin densities of states in momentum at the Fermi surfaces, to utilize the variational freedom of all available momentum states. We derive this result using an analytical approach, and verify it using exact diagonalization. The multiparticle instability extends the Cooper pairing instability of balanced Fermi gases to the imbalanced case, and could form the basis of a many-body state, analogously to the construction of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory of superconductivity out of Cooper pairs.

Brightness and transparency in the early visual cortex.

PubMed

Salmela, Viljami R; Vanni, Simo

2013-06-24

Several psychophysical studies have shown that transparency can have drastic effects on brightness and lightness. However, the neural processes generating these effects have remained unresolved. Several lines of evidence suggest that the early visual cortex is important for brightness perception. While single cell recordings suggest that surface brightness is represented in the primary visual cortex, the results of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have been discrepant. In addition, the location of the neural representation of transparency is not yet known. We investigated whether the fMRI responses in areas V1, V2, and V3 correlate with brightness and transparency. To dissociate the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response to brightness from the response to local border contrast and mean luminance, we used variants of White's brightness illusion, both opaque and transparent, in which luminance increments and decrements cancel each other out. The stimuli consisted of a target surface and a surround. The surround luminance was always sinusoidally modulated at 0.5 Hz to induce brightness modulation to the target. The target luminance was constant or modulated in counterphase to null brightness modulation. The mean signal changes were calculated from the voxels in V1, V2, and V3 corresponding to the retinotopic location of the target surface. The BOLD responses were significantly stronger for modulating brightness than for stimuli with constant brightness. In addition, the responses were stronger for transparent than for opaque stimuli, but there was more individual variation. No interaction between brightness and transparency was found. The results show that the early visual areas V1-V3 are sensitive to surface brightness and transparency and suggest that brightness and transparency are represented separately.

Gap Solitons of Superfluid Fermi Gas in FS Optical Lattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yan; Zhang, Ke-Zhi; He, Yong-Lin; Liu, Zhen-Lai; Zhu, Liao

2018-01-01

By employing the mean-field theory and hydrodynamic scheme, we study the gap solitons of superfluid Fermi gas in Fourier-Synthesized(FS) optical lattices. By means of numerical methods and variational approximation, the atomic interaction, the chemical potential, the potential depth of the lattice and relative phase of the Fermi system are derived along the Bose-Enstein condensation(BEC)side to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS)side. It means that the condition exciting gap solitons is obtained. Moreover, we analyze the fundamental gap soltions of the superfluid Fermi gas. It is found that the relative phase α impacts greatly on the properties of fundamental gap solitons for superfluid Fermi gas. Especially, the nonlinearity interaction term g decreases with α. Add, due to Fermi pressure, curvature changes of g in the BEC limit( γ = 1, here, γ is a function of an interaction parameter) is larger than that at unitary ( γ = 2/3). Spatial distribution of gap solitons exhibit very obvious different when the system transit from the BEC side to BCS side.

Recent Results on SNRs and PWNe from the Fermi Large Area Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hays, Elizabeth A.

2010-01-01

Topics include: Fermi LAT Collaboration groups; galactic results from LAT; a GeV, wide-field instrument; the 1FGL catalog, the Fermi LAT 1FGL source catalog, unidentified gamma-ray sources; variability in 1FGL sources; curvature in 1FGL sources; spectral-variability classification; gamma-ray pulsars and MSPs; GeV PWN - where to look; Crab pulsar and nebula; Vela X nebular of Vela pulsar; MSH 15-52; GeV PWNe spectra; GeV nebula limits; Nebula search of LAT pulsars; supernova remnants; SNR: GeV morphology; SNR: molecular connection; SNR: GeV breaks; SNR: young vs. old. The summary includes slides about the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and LAT sensitivity with time.

Double Bright Band Observations with High-Resolution Vertically Pointing Radar, Lidar, and Profiles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Emory, Amber E.; Demoz, Belay; Vermeesch, Kevin; Hicks, Michael

2014-01-01

On 11 May 2010, an elevated temperature inversion associated with an approaching warm front produced two melting layers simultaneously, which resulted in two distinct bright bands as viewed from the ER-2 Doppler radar system, a vertically pointing, coherent X band radar located in Greenbelt, MD. Due to the high temporal resolution of this radar system, an increase in altitude of the melting layer of approximately 1.2 km in the time span of 4 min was captured. The double bright band feature remained evident for approximately 17 min, until the lower atmosphere warmed enough to dissipate the lower melting layer. This case shows the relatively rapid evolution of freezing levels in response to an advancing warm front over a 2 h time period and the descent of an elevated warm air mass with time. Although observations of double bright bands are somewhat rare, the ability to identify this phenomenon is important for rainfall estimation from spaceborne sensors because algorithms employing the restriction of a radar bright band to a constant height, especially when sampling across frontal systems, will limit the ability to accurately estimate rainfall.

Double bright band observations with high-resolution vertically pointing radar, lidar, and profilers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emory, Amber E.; Demoz, Belay; Vermeesch, Kevin; Hicks, Micheal

2014-07-01

On 11 May 2010, an elevated temperature inversion associated with an approaching warm front produced two melting layers simultaneously, which resulted in two distinct bright bands as viewed from the ER-2 Doppler radar system, a vertically pointing, coherent X band radar located in Greenbelt, MD. Due to the high temporal resolution of this radar system, an increase in altitude of the melting layer of approximately 1.2 km in the time span of 4 min was captured. The double bright band feature remained evident for approximately 17 min, until the lower atmosphere warmed enough to dissipate the lower melting layer. This case shows the relatively rapid evolution of freezing levels in response to an advancing warm front over a 2 h time period and the descent of an elevated warm air mass with time. Although observations of double bright bands are somewhat rare, the ability to identify this phenomenon is important for rainfall estimation from spaceborne sensors because algorithms employing the restriction of a radar bright band to a constant height, especially when sampling across frontal systems, will limit the ability to accurately estimate rainfall.

Phase advancing human circadian rhythms with morning bright light, afternoon melatonin, and gradually shifted sleep: can we reduce morning bright-light duration?

PubMed

Crowley, Stephanie J; Eastman, Charmane I

2015-02-01

Efficient treatments to phase-advance human circadian rhythms are needed to attenuate circadian misalignment and the associated negative health outcomes that accompany early-morning shift work, early school start times, jet lag, and delayed sleep phase disorder. This study compared three morning bright-light exposure patterns from a single light box (to mimic home treatment) in combination with afternoon melatonin. Fifty adults (27 males) aged 25.9 ± 5.1 years participated. Sleep/dark was advanced 1 h/day for three treatment days. Participants took 0.5 mg of melatonin 5 h before the baseline bedtime on treatment day 1, and an hour earlier each treatment day. They were exposed to one of three bright-light (~5000 lux) patterns upon waking each morning: four 30-min exposures separated by 30 min of room light (2-h group), four 15-min exposures separated by 45 min of room light (1-h group), and one 30-min exposure (0.5-h group). Dim-light melatonin onsets (DLMOs) before and after treatment determined the phase advance. Compared to the 2-h group (phase shift = 2.4 ± 0.8 h), smaller phase-advance shifts were seen in the 1-h (1.7 ± 0.7 h) and 0.5-h (1.8 ± 0.8 h) groups. The 2-h pattern produced the largest phase advance; however, the single 30-min bright-light exposure was as effective as 1 h of bright light spread over 3.25 h, and it produced 75% of the phase shift observed with 2 h of bright light. A 30-min morning bright-light exposure with afternoon melatonin is an efficient treatment to phase-advance human circadian rhythms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phase advancing human circadian rhythms with morning bright light, afternoon melatonin, and gradually shifted sleep: can we reduce morning bright light duration?

PubMed Central

Crowley, Stephanie J.; Eastman, Charmane I.

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE Efficient treatments to phase advance human circadian rhythms are needed to attenuate circadian misalignment and the associated negative health outcomes that accompany early morning shift work, early school start times, jet lag, and delayed sleep phase disorder. This study compared three morning bright light exposure patterns from a single light box (to mimic home treatment) in combination with afternoon melatonin. METHODS Fifty adults (27 males) aged 25.9±5.1 years participated. Sleep/dark was advanced 1 hour/day for 3 treatment days. Participants took 0.5 mg melatonin 5 hours before baseline bedtime on treatment day 1, and an hour earlier each treatment day. They were exposed to one of three bright light (~5000 lux) patterns upon waking each morning: four 30-minute exposures separated by 30 minutes of room light (2 h group); four 15-minute exposures separated by 45 minutes of room light (1 h group), and one 30-minute exposure (0.5 h group). Dim light melatonin onsets (DLMOs) before and after treatment determined the phase advance. RESULTS Compared to the 2 h group (phase shift=2.4±0.8 h), smaller phase advance shifts were seen in the 1 h (1.7±0.7 h) and 0.5 h (1.8±0.8 h) groups. The 2-hour pattern produced the largest phase advance; however, the single 30-minute bright light exposure was as effective as 1 hour of bright light spread over 3.25 h, and produced 75% of the phase shift observed with 2 hours of bright light. CONCLUSIONS A 30-minute morning bright light exposure with afternoon melatonin is an efficient treatment to phase advance human circadian rhythms. PMID:25620199

EXCEPTIONALLY BRIGHT TEV FLARES FROM THE BINARY LS I +61° 303

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Archambault, S.; Archer, A.; Buckley, J. H.

2016-01-20

The TeV binary system LS I +61° 303 is known for its regular, non-thermal emission pattern that traces the orbital period of the compact object in its 26.5 day orbit around its B0 Ve star companion. The system typically presents elevated TeV emission around apastron passage with flux levels between 5% and 15% of the steady flux from the Crab Nebula (>300 GeV). In this article, VERITAS observations of LS I +61° 303 taken in late 2014 are presented, during which bright TeV flares around apastron at flux levels peaking above 30% of the Crab Nebula flux were detected. This is the brightest such activity frommore » this source ever seen in the TeV regime. The strong outbursts have rise and fall times of less than a day. The short timescale of the flares, in conjunction with the observation of 10 TeV photons from LS I +61° 303 during the flares, provides constraints on the properties of the accelerator in the source.« less

Non-Fermi glasses: fractionalizing electrons at finite energy density

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parameswaran, Siddharth; Gopalakrishnan, Sarang

Non-Fermi liquids are metals that cannot be adiabatically deformed into free fermion states. We argue for the existence of ``non-Fermi glasses,'' which are phases of interacting disordered fermions that are fully many-body localized, yet cannot be deformed into an Anderson insulator without an eigenstate phase transition. We explore the properties of such non-Fermi glasses, focusing on a specific solvable example. At high temperature, non-Fermi glasses have qualitatively similar spectral features to Anderson insulators. We identify a diagnostic, based on ratios of correlation functions, that sharply distinguishes between the two phases even at infinite temperature. We argue that our results and diagnostic should generically apply to the high-temperature behavior of the many-body localized descendants of fractionalized phases. S.A.P. is supported by NSF Grant DMR-1455366 and a UC President's Research Catalyst Award CA-15-327861, and S.G. by the Burke Institute at Caltech.

The bidirectional congruency effect of brightness-valence metaphoric association in the Stroop-like and priming paradigms.

PubMed

Huang, Yanli; Tse, Chi-Shing; Xie, Jiushu

2017-11-04

The conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999) postulates a unidirectional metaphoric association between abstract and concrete concepts: sensorimotor experience activated by concrete concepts facilitates the processing of abstract concepts, but not the other way around. However, this unidirectional view has been challenged by studies that reported a bidirectional metaphoric association. In three experiments, we tested the directionality of the brightness-valence metaphoric association, using Stroop-like paradigm, priming paradigm, and Stroop-like paradigm with a go/no-go manipulation. Both mean and vincentile analyses of reaction time data were performed. We showed that the directionality of brightness-valence metaphoric congruency effect could be modulated by the activation level of the brightness/valence information. Both brightness-to-valence and valence-to-brightness metaphoric congruency effects occurred in the priming paradigm, which could be attributed to the presentation of prime that pre-activated the brightness or valence information. However, in the Stroop-like paradigm the metaphoric congruency effect was only observed in the brightness-to-valence direction, but not in the valence-to-brightness direction. When the go/no-go manipulation was used to boost the activation of word meaning in the Stroop-like paradigm, the valence-to-brightness metaphoric congruency effect was observed. Vincentile analyses further revealed that valence-to-brightness metaphoric congruency effect approached significance in the Stroop-like paradigm when participants' reaction times were slower (at around 490ms). The implications of the current findings on the conceptual metaphor theory and embodied cognition are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Teradiode's high brightness semiconductor lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Robin K.; Chann, Bien; Burgess, James; Lochman, Bryan; Zhou, Wang; Cruz, Mike; Cook, Rob; Dugmore, Dan; Shattuck, Jeff; Tayebati, Parviz

2016-03-01

TeraDiode is manufacturing multi-kW-class ultra-high brightness fiber-coupled direct diode lasers for industrial applications. A fiber-coupled direct diode laser with a power level of 4,680 W from a 100 μm core diameter, <0.08 numerical aperture (NA) output fiber at a single center wavelength was demonstrated. Our TeraBlade industrial platform achieves world-record brightness levels for direct diode lasers. The fiber-coupled output corresponds to a Beam Parameter Product (BPP) of 3.5 mm-mrad and is the lowest BPP multi-kW-class direct diode laser yet reported. This laser is suitable for industrial materials processing applications, including sheet metal cutting and welding. This 4-kW fiber-coupled direct diode laser has comparable brightness to that of industrial fiber lasers and CO2 lasers, and is over 10x brighter than state-of-the-art direct diode lasers. We have also demonstrated novel high peak power lasers and high brightness Mid-Infrared Lasers.

Human responses to bright light of different durations.

PubMed

Chang, Anne-Marie; Santhi, Nayantara; St Hilaire, Melissa; Gronfier, Claude; Bradstreet, Dayna S; Duffy, Jeanne F; Lockley, Steven W; Kronauer, Richard E; Czeisler, Charles A

2012-07-01

Light exposure in the early night induces phase delays of the circadian rhythm in melatonin in humans. Previous studies have investigated the effect of timing, intensity, wavelength, history and pattern of light stimuli on the human circadian timing system. We present results from a study of the duration–response relationship to phase-delaying bright light. Thirty-nine young healthy participants (16 female; 22.18±3.62 years) completed a 9-day inpatient study. Following three baseline days, participants underwent an initial circadian phase assessment procedure in dim light (<3 lux), and were then randomized for exposure to a bright light pulse (∼10,000 lux) of 0.2 h, 1.0 h, 2.5 h or 4.0 h duration during a 4.5 h controlled-posture episode centred in a 16 h wake episode. After another 8 h sleep episode, participants completed a second circadian phase assessment. Phase shifts were calculated from the difference in the clock time of the dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) between the initial and final phase assessments. Exposure to varying durations of bright light reset the circadian pacemaker in a dose-dependent, non-linear manner. Per minute of exposure, the 0.2 h duration was over 5 times more effective at phase delaying the circadian pacemaker (1.07±0.36 h) as compared with the 4.0 h duration (2.65±0.24 h). Acute melatonin suppression and subjective sleepiness also had a dose-dependent response to light exposure duration. These results provide strong evidence for a non-linear resetting response of the human circadian pacemaker to light duration.

Non-Fermi-liquid magic angle effects in high magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebed, A. G.

2016-07-01

We investigate a theoretical problem of electron-electron interactions in an inclined magnetic field in a quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) conductor. We show that they result in strong non-Fermi-liquid corrections to a specific heat, provided that the direction of the magnetic field is far from the so-called Lebed's magic angles (LMAs). If magnetic field is directed close to one of the LMAs, the specific heat corrections become small and the Fermi-liquid picture restores. As a result, we predict Fermi-liquid-non-Fermi-liquid angular crossovers in the vicinities of the LMA directions of the field. We suggest to perform the corresponding experiment in the Q1D conductor (Per) 2Au (mnt) 2 under pressure in magnetic fields of the order of H ≃25 T .

The treatment of early-morning awakening insomnia with 2 evenings of bright light.

PubMed

Lack, Leon; Wright, Helen; Kemp, Kristyn; Gibbon, Samantha

2005-05-01

To assess the effectiveness of brief bright-light therapy for the treatment of early-morning awakening insomnia. Twenty-four healthy adults with early-morning awakening insomnia were assigned to either the bright-light condition (2,500-lux white light) or the control (dim red light) condition. The circadian phase of rectal temperature and urinary melatonin rhythms were assessed with 26-hour constant routines before and after 2 evenings of light therapy. Sleep and daytime functioning were monitored using sleep diaries, activity monitors, and mood scales before light therapy and for 4 weeks during the follow-up period. While there were no significant circadian phase changes in the dim-light control group, the bright-light group had significant 2-hour phase delays of circadian temperature and melatonin rhythm. Compared to pretreatment measures, over the 4-week follow-up period, the bright-light group had a greater reduction of time awake after sleep onset, showed a trend toward waking later, and had a greater increase of total sleep time. Participants in the bright-light condition also tended to report greater reductions of negative daytime symptoms, including significantly fewer days of feeling depressed at the 4-week follow-up, as compared with the control group. Two evenings of bright-light exposure phase delayed the circadian rhythms of early-morning awakening insomniacs. It also improved diary and actigraphy sleep measures and improved some indexes of daytime functioning for up to 1 month after light exposure. The study suggests that a brief course of evening bright-light therapy can be an effective treatment for early-morning awakening insomniacs who have relatively phase advanced circadian rhythms.

Cooling an Optically Trapped Ultracold Fermi Gas by Periodical Driving.

PubMed

Li, Jiaming; de Melo, Leonardo F; Luo, Le

2017-03-30

We present a cooling method for a cold Fermi gas by parametrically driving atomic motions in a crossed-beam optical dipole trap (ODT). Our method employs the anharmonicity of the ODT, in which the hotter atoms at the edge of the trap feel the anharmonic components of the trapping potential, while the colder atoms in the center of the trap feel the harmonic one. By modulating the trap depth with frequencies that are resonant with the anharmonic components, we selectively excite the hotter atoms out of the trap while keeping the colder atoms in the trap, generating parametric cooling. This experimental protocol starts with a magneto-optical trap (MOT) that is loaded by a Zeeman slower. The precooled atoms in the MOT are then transferred to an ODT, and a bias magnetic field is applied to create an interacting Fermi gas. We then lower the trapping potential to prepare a cold Fermi gas near the degenerate temperature. After that, we sweep the magnetic field to the noninteracting regime of the Fermi gas, in which the parametric cooling can be manifested by modulating the intensity of the optical trapping beams. We find that the parametric cooling effect strongly depends on the modulation frequencies and amplitudes. With the optimized frequency and amplitude, we measure the dependence of the cloud energy on the modulation time. We observe that the cloud energy is changed in an anisotropic way, where the energy of the axial direction is significantly reduced by parametric driving. The cooling effect is limited to the axial direction because the dominant anharmonicity of the crossed-beam ODT is along the axial direction. Finally, we propose to extend this protocol for the trapping potentials of large anharmonicity in all directions, which provides a promising scheme for cooling quantum gases using external driving.

Leptonic v.s. Hadronic Origin of the Gamma-ray Emission of the Fermi bubbles: Updates from Fermi-LAT and Forecast for Future Gamma-ray Telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Meng

2014-06-01

Data from the Fermi-LAT revealed two large gamma-ray bubbles, extending 50 degrees above and below the Galactic center, with a width of about 40 degrees in longitude. Such structure has been confirmed with multi-wavelength observations. With the most up to date Fermi-LAT data analysis, I will show that the Fermi bubbles have a spectral cutoff at both low energy < 1 GeV and high energy > 150 GeV. Detailed analysis of the spectral features will help us to distinguish the leptonic origin from hadronic origin of the gamma-ray emission from the bubbles. I will also describe what we expect to learn about the bubbles from future gamma-ray telescopes after Fermi, with an emphasis on Dark Matter Particle Explorer and Pair Production Gamma-ray Unit.

Brightness perception of unrelated self-luminous colors.

PubMed

Withouck, Martijn; Smet, Kevin A G; Ryckaert, Wouter R; Pointer, Michael R; Deconinck, Geert; Koenderink, Jan; Hanselaer, Peter

2013-06-01

The perception of brightness of unrelated self-luminous colored stimuli of the same luminance has been investigated. The Helmholtz-Kohlrausch (H-K) effect, i.e., an increase in brightness perception due to an increase in saturation, is clearly observed. This brightness perception is compared with the calculated brightness according to six existing vision models, color appearance models, and models based on the concept of equivalent luminance. Although these models included the H-K effect and half of them were developed to work with unrelated colors, none of the models seemed to be able to fully predict the perceived brightness. A tentative solution to increase the prediction accuracy of the color appearance model CAM97u, developed by Hunt, is presented.

Two-Dimensional Homogeneous Fermi Gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hueck, Klaus; Luick, Niclas; Sobirey, Lennart; Siegl, Jonas; Lompe, Thomas; Moritz, Henning

2018-02-01

We report on the experimental realization of homogeneous two-dimensional (2D) Fermi gases trapped in a box potential. In contrast to harmonically trapped gases, these homogeneous 2D systems are ideally suited to probe local as well as nonlocal properties of strongly interacting many-body systems. As a first benchmark experiment, we use a local probe to measure the density of a noninteracting 2D Fermi gas as a function of the chemical potential and find excellent agreement with the corresponding equation of state. We then perform matter wave focusing to extract the momentum distribution of the system and directly observe Pauli blocking in a near unity occupation of momentum states. Finally, we measure the momentum distribution of an interacting homogeneous 2D gas in the crossover between attractively interacting fermions and bosonic dimers.

Fractionalized Fermi liquid in a Kondo-Heisenberg model

DOE PAGES

Tsvelik, A. M.

2016-10-10

The Kondo-Heisenberg model is used as a controllable tool to demonstrate the existence of a peculiar metallic state with unbroken translational symmetry where the Fermi surface volume is not controlled by the total electron density. Here, I use a nonperturbative approach where the strongest interactions are taken into account by means of exact solution, and corrections are controllable. The resulting metallic state represents a fractionalized Fermi liquid where well defined quasiparticles coexist with gapped fractionalized collective excitations, in agreement with the general requirements formulated by T. Senthil et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 216403 (2003)]. Furthermore, the system undergoes amore » phase transition to an ordered phase (charge density wave or superconducting), at the transition temperature which is parametrically small in comparison to the quasiparticle Fermi energy.« less

Bright-dark soliton pairs in a self-mode locking fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Yichang; Zhang, Shumin; Li, Hongfei; Du, Juan; Hao, Yanping; Li, Xingliang

2012-06-01

We have experimentally observed bright-dark soliton pairs in an erbium-doped fiber ring laser for the first time. This approach is different from the vector dark domain wall solitons which separate the two orthogonal linear polarization eigenstates of the laser emission. In our laser, the bright-dark soliton pairs can co-exist in any one polarization state. Numerical simulations based on the coupled complex Ginzburg-Landau equations have confirmed the experimental results.

Occator Bright Spots in 3-D

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-03-09

This 3-D image, or anaglyph, shows the center of Occator Crater, the brightest area on dwarf planet Ceres, using data from NASA's Dawn mission. The bright central area, including a dome that is 0.25 miles (400 meters) high, is called Cerealia Facula. The secondary, scattered bright areas are called Vinalia Faculae. A 2017 study suggests that the central bright area is significantly younger than Occator Crater. Estimates put Cerealia Facula at 4 million years old, while Occator Crater is approximately 34 million years old. The reflective material that appears so bright in this image is made of carbonate salts, according to Dawn researchers. The Vinalia Faculae seem to be composed of carbonates mixed with dark material. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21398

On the Early-Time Excess Emission in Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernovae

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vreeswijk, Paul M.; Leloudas, Giorgos; Gal-Yam, Avishay; De Cia, Annalisa; Perley, Daniel A.; Quimby, Robert M.; Waldman, Roni; Sullivan, Mark; Yan, Lin; Ofek, Eran O.;

On The Early-Time Excess Emission In Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernovae

DOE PAGES

Vreeswijk, Paul M.; Leloudas, Giorgos; Gal-Yam, Avishay; ...

2017-01-18

Here, we present the light curves of the hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe I) PTF 12dam and iPTF 13dcc, discovered by the (intermediate) Palomar Transient Factory. Both show excess emission at early times and a slowly declining light curve at late times. The early bump in PTF 12dam is very similar in duration (~10 days) and brightness relative to the main peak (2-3 mag fainter) compared to that observed in other SLSNe I. In contrast, the long-duration ( > 30 days) early excess emission in iPTF 13dcc, whose brightness competes with that of the main peak, appears to be of amore » different nature. We construct bolometric light curves for both targets, and fit a variety of light-curve models to both the early bump and main peak in an attempt to understand the nature of these explosions. Even though the slope of the late-time decline in the light curves of both SLSNe is suggestively close to that expected from the radioactive decay of 56Ni and 56Co, the amount of nickel required to power the full light curves is too large considering the estimated ejecta mass. The magnetar model including an increasing escape fraction provides a reasonable description of the PTF 12dam observations. However, neither the basic nor the double-peaked magnetar model is capable of reproducing the light curve of iPTF 13dcc. A model combining a shock breakout in an extended envelope with late-time magnetar energy injection provides a reasonable fit to the iPTF 13dcc observations. Finally, we find that the light curves of both PTF 12dam and iPTF 13dcc can be adequately fit with the model involving interaction with the circumstellar medium.« less

ON THE EARLY-TIME EXCESS EMISSION IN HYDROGEN-POOR SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVAE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vreeswijk, Paul M.; Leloudas, Giorgos; Gal-Yam, Avishay

2017-01-20

We present the light curves of the hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe I) PTF 12dam and iPTF 13dcc, discovered by the (intermediate) Palomar Transient Factory. Both show excess emission at early times and a slowly declining light curve at late times. The early bump in PTF 12dam is very similar in duration (∼10 days) and brightness relative to the main peak (2–3 mag fainter) compared to that observed in other SLSNe I. In contrast, the long-duration (>30 days) early excess emission in iPTF 13dcc, whose brightness competes with that of the main peak, appears to be of a different nature. Wemore » construct bolometric light curves for both targets, and fit a variety of light-curve models to both the early bump and main peak in an attempt to understand the nature of these explosions. Even though the slope of the late-time decline in the light curves of both SLSNe is suggestively close to that expected from the radioactive decay of {sup 56}Ni and {sup 56}Co, the amount of nickel required to power the full light curves is too large considering the estimated ejecta mass. The magnetar model including an increasing escape fraction provides a reasonable description of the PTF 12dam observations. However, neither the basic nor the double-peaked magnetar model is capable of reproducing the light curve of iPTF 13dcc. A model combining a shock breakout in an extended envelope with late-time magnetar energy injection provides a reasonable fit to the iPTF 13dcc observations. Finally, we find that the light curves of both PTF 12dam and iPTF 13dcc can be adequately fit with the model involving interaction with the circumstellar medium.« less

Surface to bulk Fermi arcs via Weyl nodes as topological defects

PubMed Central

Kim, Kun Woo; Lee, Woo-Ram; Kim, Yong Baek; Park, Kwon

2016-01-01

A hallmark of Weyl semimetal is the existence of surface Fermi arcs. An intriguing question is what determines the connectivity of surface Fermi arcs, when multiple pairs of Weyl nodes are present. To answer this question, we show that the locations of surface Fermi arcs are predominantly determined by the condition that the Zak phase integrated along the normal-to-surface direction is . The Zak phase can reveal the peculiar topological structure of Weyl semimetal directly in the bulk. Here, we show that the winding of the Zak phase around each projected Weyl node manifests itself as a topological defect of the Wannier–Stark ladder, energy eigenstates under an electric field. Remarkably, this leads to bulk Fermi arcs, open-line segments in the bulk spectra. Bulk Fermi arcs should exist in conjunction with surface counterparts to conserve the Weyl fermion number under an electric field, which is supported by explicit numerical evidence. PMID:27845342

A Method for Localizing Energy Dissipation in Blazars Using Fermi Variability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dotson, Amanda; Georganopoulos, Markos; Kazanas, Demosthenes; Perlman, Eric S.

2013-01-01

The distance of the Fermi-detected blazar gamma-ray emission site from the supermassive black hole is a matter of active debate. Here we present a method for testing if the GeV emission of powerful blazars is produced within the sub-pc scale broad line region (BLR) or farther out in the pc-scale molecular torus (MT) environment. If the GeV emission takes place within the BLR, the inverse Compton (IC) scattering of the BLR ultraviolet (UV) seed photons that produces the gamma-rays takes place at the onset of the Klein-Nishina regime. This causes the electron cooling time to become practically energy independent and the variation of the gamma-ray emission to be almost achromatic. If on the other hand the -ray emission is produced farther out in the pc-scale MT, the IC scattering of the infrared (IR) MT seed photons that produces the gamma-rays takes place in the Thomson regime, resulting to energy-dependent electron cooling times, manifested as faster cooling times for higher Fermi energies. We demonstrate these characteristics and discuss the applicability and limitations of our method.

Anisotropies in the diffuse gamma-ray background from dark matter with Fermi LAT: A closer look

DOE PAGES

Cuoco, A.; Sellerholm, A.; Conrad, J.; ...

2011-06-21

We perform a detailed study of the sensitivity to the anisotropies related to dark matter (DM) annihilation in the isotropic gamma-ray background (IGRB) as measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope ( Fermi LAT). For the first time, we take into account the effects of the Galactic foregrounds and use a realistic representation of the Fermi LAT. We implement an analysis pipeline which simulates Fermi LAT data sets starting from model maps of the Galactic foregrounds, the Fermi-resolved point sources, the extragalactic diffuse emission and the signal from DM annihilation. The effects of the detector are taken into account bymore » convolving the model maps with the Fermi LAT instrumental response. We then use the angular power spectrum to characterize the anisotropy properties of the simulated data and to study the sensitivity to DM. We consider DM anisotropies of extragalactic origin and of Galactic origin (which can be generated through annihilation in the Milky Way substructures) as opposed to a background of anisotropies generated by sources of astrophysical origin, blazars for example. We find that with statistics from 5 yr of observation, Fermi is sensitive to a DM contribution at the level of 1–10 per cent of the measured IGRB depending on the DM mass m χ and annihilation mode. In terms of the thermally averaged cross-section , this corresponds to ~10 –25 cm 3 s –1, i.e. slightly above the typical expectations for a thermal relic, for low values of the DM mass m χ≲ 100 GeV. As a result, the anisotropy method for DM searches has a sensitivity comparable to the usual methods based only on the energy spectrum and thus constitutes an independent and complementary piece of information in the DM puzzle.« less

Tuning the Fano factor of graphene via Fermi velocity modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lima, Jonas R. F.; Barbosa, Anderson L. R.; Bezerra, C. G.; Pereira, Luiz Felipe C.

2018-03-01

In this work we investigate the influence of a Fermi velocity modulation on the Fano factor of periodic and quasi-periodic graphene superlattices. We consider the continuum model and use the transfer matrix method to solve the Dirac-like equation for graphene where the electrostatic potential, energy gap and Fermi velocity are piecewise constant functions of the position x. We found that in the presence of an energy gap, it is possible to tune the energy of the Fano factor peak and consequently the location of the Dirac point, by a modulation in the Fermi velocity. Hence, the peak of the Fano factor can be used experimentally to identify the Dirac point. We show that for higher values of the Fermi velocity the Fano factor goes below 1/3 at the Dirac point. Furthermore, we show that in periodic superlattices the location of Fano factor peaks is symmetric when the Fermi velocity vA and vB is exchanged, however by introducing quasi-periodicity the symmetry is lost. The Fano factor usually holds a universal value for a specific transport regime, which reveals that the possibility of controlling it in graphene is a notable result.

Projection displays and MEMS: timely convergence for a bright future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hornbeck, Larry J.

1995-09-01

Projection displays and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have evolved independently, occasionally crossing paths as early as the 1950s. But the commercially viable use of MEMS for projection displays has been illusive until the recent invention of Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing TM (DLP) technology. DLP technology is based on the Digital Micromirror DeviceTM (DMD) microchip, a MEMS technology that is a semiconductor digital light switch that precisely controls a light source for projection display and hardcopy applications. DLP technology provides a unique business opportunity because of the timely convergence of market needs and technology advances. The world is rapidly moving to an all- digital communications and entertainment infrastructure. In the near future, most of the technologies necessary for this infrastrucutre will be available at the right performance and price levels. This will make commercially viable an all-digital chain (capture, compression, transmission, reception decompression, hearing, and viewing). Unfortunately, the digital images received today must be translated into analog signals for viewing on today's televisions. Digital video is the final link in the all-digital infrastructure and DLP technoogy provides that link. DLP technology is an enabler for digital, high-resolution, color projection displays that have high contrast, are bright, seamless, and have the accuracy of color and grayscale that can be achieved only by digital control. This paper contains an introduction to DMD and DLP technology, including the historical context from which to view their developemnt. The architecture, projection operation, and fabrication are presented. Finally, the paper includes an update about current DMD business opportunities in projection displays and hardcopy.

Imprints of explosion conditions on late-time spectra of type Ia supernovae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diamond, Tiara R.

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) play a vital role in the discrimination of different cosmological models. These events have been shown to be standardizable based on properties of their light curves during the early-time photospheric phase. However, the distribution of types of progenitor system, the explosion trigger, and the physics of the explosion are still an active topic of discussion. The details of the progenitors and explosion may provide insight into the variation seen in Type Ia supernova light curves and spectra, and therefore, allow for additional methods of standardization among the group. Late-time near-infrared spectral observations for SNe Ia show numerous strong emission features of forbidden line transitions of cobalt and iron, tracing the central distribution of iron-group burning products. As the spectrum ages, the cobalt features fade as expected from the decay of 56Co to 56Fe. This work will show that the strong and isolated [Fe II] emission line at 1.644 mum provides a unique tool to analyze near-infrared spectra of SNe Ia. Several new methods of analysis will be demonstrated to determine some of the initial conditions of the system. The initial central density, rhoc, and the extent of mixing in the central regions of the explosion have signatures in the line profiles of late-time spectra. An embedded magnetic field, B, of the white dwarf can be determined using the evolution of the lines profiles. Currently magnetic field effects are not included in the hydrodynamics and radiation transport of simulations of SNe Ia. Normalization of spectra to the 1.644 mum line allows separation of features produced by stable versus unstable isotopes of iron group elements. Implications for potential progenitor systems, explosion mechanisms, and the origins and morphology of magnetic fields in SNe Ia, in addition to limitations of the method, are discussed. Observations of the late-time near-infrared emission spectrum at multiple epochs allow for the first ever

Standardizing Type Ia supernovae optical brightness using near-infrared rebrightening time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shariff, H.; Dhawan, S.; Jiao, X.; Leibundgut, B.; Trotta, R.; van Dyk, D. A.

2016-12-01

Accurate standardization of Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) is instrumental to the usage of SNIa as distance indicators. We analyse a homogeneous sample of 22 low-z SNIa, observed by the Carnegie Supernova Project in the optical and near-infrared (NIR). We study the time of the second peak in the J band, t2, as an alternative standardization parameter of SNIa peak optical brightness, as measured by the standard SALT2 parameter mB. We use BAHAMAS, a Bayesian hierarchical model for SNIa cosmology, to estimate the residual scatter in the Hubble diagram. We find that in the absence of a colour correction, t2 is a better standardization parameter compared to stretch: t2 has a 1σ posterior interval for the Hubble residual scatter of σΔμ = {0.250, 0.257} mag, compared to σΔμ = {0.280, 0.287} mag when stretch (x1) alone is used. We demonstrate that when employed together with a colour correction, t2 and stretch lead to similar residual scatter. Using colour, stretch and t2 jointly as standardization parameters does not result in any further reduction in scatter, suggesting that t2 carries redundant information with respect to stretch and colour. With a much larger SNIa NIR sample at higher redshift in the future, t2 could be a useful quantity to perform robustness checks of the standardization procedure.

Fermi large area telescope second source catalog

DOE PAGES

Nolan, P. L.; Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; ...

2012-03-28

Here, we present the second catalog of high-energy γ-ray sources detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT), the primary science instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi), derived from data taken during the first 24 months of the science phase of the mission, which began on 2008 August 4. Source detection is based on the average flux over the 24 month period. The second Fermi-LAT catalog (2FGL) includes source location regions, defined in terms of elliptical fits to the 95% confidence regions and spectral fits in terms of power-law, exponentially cutoff power-law, or log-normal forms. Also included are fluxmore » measurements in five energy bands and light curves on monthly intervals for each source. Twelve sources in the catalog are modeled as spatially extended. Furthermore, we provide a detailed comparison of the results from this catalog with those from the first Fermi-LAT catalog (1FGL). Although the diffuse Galactic and isotropic models used in the 2FGL analysis are improved compared to the 1FGL catalog, we attach caution flags to 162 of the sources to indicate possible confusion with residual imperfections in the diffuse model. Finally, the 2FGL catalog contains 1873 sources detected and characterized in the 100 MeV to 100 GeV range of which we consider 127 as being firmly identified and 1171 as being reliably associated with counterparts of known or likely γ-ray-producing source classes.« less

Fermi Large Area Telescope Second Source Catalog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nolan, P. L.; Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M; Allafort, A.; Antolini, E; Bonnell, J.; Cannon, A.; Celik O.; Corbet, R.;

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE SECOND SOURCE CATALOG

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nolan, P. L.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.

We present the second catalog of high-energy {gamma}-ray sources detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT), the primary science instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi), derived from data taken during the first 24 months of the science phase of the mission, which began on 2008 August 4. Source detection is based on the average flux over the 24 month period. The second Fermi-LAT catalog (2FGL) includes source location regions, defined in terms of elliptical fits to the 95% confidence regions and spectral fits in terms of power-law, exponentially cutoff power-law, or log-normal forms. Also included are flux measurementsmore » in five energy bands and light curves on monthly intervals for each source. Twelve sources in the catalog are modeled as spatially extended. We provide a detailed comparison of the results from this catalog with those from the first Fermi-LAT catalog (1FGL). Although the diffuse Galactic and isotropic models used in the 2FGL analysis are improved compared to the 1FGL catalog, we attach caution flags to 162 of the sources to indicate possible confusion with residual imperfections in the diffuse model. The 2FGL catalog contains 1873 sources detected and characterized in the 100 MeV to 100 GeV range of which we consider 127 as being firmly identified and 1171 as being reliably associated with counterparts of known or likely {gamma}-ray-producing source classes.« less

Titan's Surface Brightness Temperatures and H2 Mole Fraction from Cassini CIRS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jennings, Donald E.; Flasar, F. M.; Kunde, V. G.; Samuelson, R. E.; Pearl, J. C.; Nixon, C. A.; Carlson, R. C.; Mamoutkine, A. A.; Brasunas, J. C.; Guandique, E.;

Fermi-LAT and Suzaku observations of the radio galaxy Centaurus B

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Katsuta, J.; Tanaka, Y. T.; Stawarz, Ł.

2013-01-28

Centaurus B is a nearby radio galaxy positioned in the southern hemisphere close to the Galactic plane. Here, in this work, we present a detailed analysis of about 43 months of accumulated Fermi-LAT data of the γ-ray counterpart of the source initially reported in the 2nd Fermi-LAT catalog, and of newly acquired Suzaku X-ray data. We confirm its detection at GeV photon energies and analyze the extension and variability of the γ-ray source in the LAT dataset, in which it appears as a steady γ-ray emitter. The X-ray core of Centaurus B is detected as a bright source of amore » continuum radiation. We do not detect, however, any diffuse X-ray emission from the known radio lobes, with the provided upper limit only marginally consistent with the previously claimed ASCA flux. Two scenarios that connect the X-ray and γ-ray properties are considered. In the first one, we assume that the diffuse non-thermal X-ray emission component is not significantly below the derived Suzaku upper limit. In this case, modeling the inverse-Compton emission shows that the observed γ-ray flux of the source may in principle be produced within the lobes. This association would imply that efficient in-situ acceleration of the radiating electrons is occurring and that the lobes are dominated by the pressure from the relativistic particles. In the second scenario, with the diffuse X-ray emission well below the Suzaku upper limits, the lobes in the system are instead dominated by the magnetic pressure. In this case, the observed γ-ray flux is not likely to be produced within the lobes, but instead within the nuclear parts of the jet. In conclusion, by means of synchrotron self-Compton modeling, we show that this possibility could be consistent with the broad-band data collected for the unresolved core of Centaurus B, including the newly derived Suzaku spectrum.« less

GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM PSR J0007+7303 USING SEVEN YEARS OF FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Jian; Torres, Diego F.; De Oña Wilhelmi, Emma

Based on more than seven years of Fermi Large Area Telescope Pass 8 data, we report on a detailed analysis of the bright gamma-ray pulsar (PSR) J0007+7303. We confirm that PSR J0007+7303 is significantly detected as a point source also during the off-peak phases with a test statistic value of 262 (∼16 σ ). In the description of the off-peak spectrum of PSR J0007+7303, a power law with an exponential cutoff at 2.7 ± 1.2 ± 1.3 GeV (the first/second uncertainties correspond to statistical/systematic errors) is preferred over a single power law at a level of 3.5 σ . Themore » possible existence of a cutoff hints at a magnetospheric origin of the emission. In addition, no extended gamma-ray emission is detected that is compatible with either the supernova remnant (CTA 1) or the very high-energy (>100 GeV) pulsar wind nebula. A flux upper limit of 6.5 × 10{sup −12} erg cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} in the energy range 10–300 GeV is reported, for an extended source assuming the morphology of the VERITAS detection. During on-peak phases, a sub-exponential cutoff is significantly preferred (∼11 σ ) for representing the spectral energy distribution, in both the phase-averaged and phase-resolved spectra. Three glitches are detected during the observation period and we found no flux variability at the time of the glitches or in the long-term behavior. We also report the discovery of a previously unknown gamma-ray source in the vicinity of PSR J0007+7303, Fermi J0020+7328, which we associate with the z = 1.781 quasar S5 0016+73. A concurrent analysis of this source is needed to correctly characterize the behavior of CTA 1 and it is also presented in the paper.« less

Singular F(R) cosmology unifying early- and late-time acceleration with matter and radiation domination era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Odintsov, S. D.; Oikonomou, V. K.

2016-06-01

We present some cosmological models which unify the late- and early-time acceleration eras with the radiation and the matter domination era, and we realize the cosmological models by using the theoretical framework of F(R) gravity. Particularly, the first model unifies the late- and early-time acceleration with the matter domination era, and the second model unifies all the evolution eras of our Universe. The two models are described in the same way at early and late times, and only the intermediate stages of the evolution have some differences. Each cosmological model contains two Type IV singularities which are chosen to occur one at the end of the inflationary era and one at the end of the matter domination era. The cosmological models at early times are approximately identical to the R 2 inflation model, so these describe a slow-roll inflationary era which ends when the slow-roll parameters become of order one. The inflationary era is followed by the radiation era and after that the matter domination era follows, which lasts until the second Type IV singularity, and then the late-time acceleration era follows. The models have two appealing features: firstly they produce a nearly scale invariant power spectrum of primordial curvature perturbations and a scalar-to-tensor ratio which are compatible with the most recent observational data and secondly, it seems that the deceleration-acceleration transition is crucially affected by the presence of the second Type IV singularity which occurs at the end of the matter domination era. As we demonstrate, the Hubble horizon at early times shrinks, as expected for an initially accelerating Universe, then during the matter domination era, it expands and finally after the Type IV singularity, the Hubble horizon starts to shrink again, during the late-time acceleration era. Intriguingly enough, the deceleration-acceleration transition, occurs after the second Type IV singularity. In addition, we investigate which F(R) gravity

A brightness-referenced star identification algorithm for APS star trackers.

PubMed

Zhang, Peng; Zhao, Qile; Liu, Jingnan; Liu, Ning

2014-10-08

Star trackers are currently the most accurate spacecraft attitude sensors. As a result, they are widely used in remote sensing satellites. Since traditional charge-coupled device (CCD)-based star trackers have a limited sensitivity range and dynamic range, the matching process for a star tracker is typically not very sensitive to star brightness. For active pixel sensor (APS) star trackers, the intensity of an imaged star is valuable information that can be used in star identification process. In this paper an improved brightness referenced star identification algorithm is presented. This algorithm utilizes the k-vector search theory and adds imaged stars' intensities to narrow the search scope and therefore increase the efficiency of the matching process. Based on different imaging conditions (slew, bright bodies, etc.) the developed matching algorithm operates in one of two identification modes: a three-star mode, and a four-star mode. If the reference bright stars (the stars brighter than three magnitude) show up, the algorithm runs the three-star mode and efficiency is further improved. The proposed method was compared with other two distinctive methods the pyramid and geometric voting methods. All three methods were tested with simulation data and actual in orbit data from the APS star tracker of ZY-3. Using a catalog composed of 1500 stars, the results show that without false stars the efficiency of this new method is 4~5 times that of the pyramid method and 35~37 times that of the geometric method.

Observation of the Leggett-Rice Effect in a Unitary Fermi Gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trotzky, S.; Beattie, S.; Luciuk, C.; Smale, S.; Bardon, A. B.; Enss, T.; Taylor, E.; Zhang, S.; Thywissen, J. H.

2015-01-01

We observe that the diffusive spin current in a strongly interacting degenerate Fermi gas of 40K precesses about the local magnetization. As predicted by Leggett and Rice, precession is observed both in the Ramsey phase of a spin-echo sequence, and in the nonlinearity of the magnetization decay. At unitarity, we measure a Leggett-Rice parameter γ =1.08 (9 ) and a bare transverse spin diffusivity D0⊥=2.3 (4 )ℏ/m for a normal-state gas initialized with full polarization and at one-fifth of the Fermi temperature, where m is the atomic mass. One might expect γ =0 at unitarity, where two-body scattering is purely dissipative. We observe γ →0 as temperature is increased towards the Fermi temperature, consistent with calculations that show the degenerate Fermi sea restores a nonzero γ . Tuning the scattering length a , we find that a sign change in γ occurs in the range 0 <(kFa )-1≲1.3 , where kF is the Fermi momentum. We discuss how γ reveals the effective interaction strength of the gas, such that the sign change in γ indicates a switching of branch between a repulsive and an attractive Fermi gas.

At Bright Band Inside Victoria Crater

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

A layer of light-toned rock exposed inside Victoria Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars appears to mark where the surface was at the time, many millions of years ago, when an impact excavated the crater. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove to this bright band as the science team's first destination for the rover during investigations inside the crater.

Opportunity's left front hazard-identification camera took this image just after the rover finished a drive of 2.25 meters (7 feet, 5 inches) during the rover's 1,305th Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 25, 2007). The rocks beneath the rover and its extended robotic arm are part of the bright band.

Victoria Crater has a scalloped shape of alternating alcoves and promontories around the crater's circumference. Opportunity descended into the crater two weeks earlier, within an alcove called 'Duck Bay.' Counterclockwise around the rim, just to the right of the arm in this image, is a promontory called 'Cabo Frio.'

Quench dynamics of the spin-imbalanced Fermi-Hubbard model in one dimension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Xiao; Radzihovsky, Leo

2016-12-01

We study a nonequilibrium dynamics of a one-dimensional spin-imbalanced Fermi-Hubbard model following a quantum quench of on-site interaction, realizable, for example, in Feshbach-resonant atomic Fermi gases. We focus on the post-quench evolution starting from the initial BCS and Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) ground states and analyze the corresponding spin-singlet, spin-triplet, density-density, and magnetization-magnetization correlation functions. We find that beyond a light-cone crossover time, rich post-quench dynamics leads to thermalized and pre-thermalized stationary states that display strong dependence on the initial ground state. For initially gapped BCS state, the long-time stationary state resembles thermalization with the effective temperature set by the initial value of the Hubbard interaction. In contrast, while the initial gapless FFLO state reaches a stationary pre-thermalized form, it remains far from equilibrium. We suggest that such post-quench dynamics can be used as a fingerprint for identification and study of the FFLO phase.

A time-dependent search for high-energy neutrinos from bright GRBs with ANTARES

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Celli, Silvia

2017-03-01

Astrophysical point-like neutrino sources, like Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), are one of the main targets for neutrino telescopes, since they are among the best candidates for Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) acceleration. From the interaction between the accelerated protons and the intense radiation fields of the source jet, charged mesons are produced, which then decay into neutrinos. The methods and the results of a search for high-energy neutrinos in spatial and temporal correlation with the detected gamma-ray emission are presented for four bright GRBs observed between 2008 and 2013: a time-dependent analysis, optimised for each flare of the selected bursts, is performed to predict detailed neutrino spectra. The internal shock scenario of the fireball model is investigated, relying on the neutrino spectra computed through the numerical code NeuCosmA. The analysis is optimized on a per burst basis, through the maximization of the signal discovery probability. Since no events in ANTARES data passed the optimised cuts, 90% C.L. upper limits are derived on the expected neutrino fluences.

Characterizing and Quantifying Time Dependent Night Sky Brightness In and Around Tucson, Arizona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nydegger, Rachel

2014-01-01

As part of a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), I (with mentor Dr. Constance Walker of NOAO) characterized light pollution in and near Tucson, Arizona using eight Sky Quality Meters (SQMs). In order to analyze the data in a consistent way for comparison, we created a standard procedure for reduction and analysis using python and MATLAB. The series of python scripts remove faulty data and examine specifically anthropogenic light pollution by excluding contributions made by the sun, moon, and the Milky Way. We then use MATLAB codes to illustrate how the light pollution changes in relation to time, distance from the city, and airglow. Data are then analyzed by a recently developed sky brightness model created by Dan Duriscoe of the National Park Service. To quantify the measurements taken by SQMs, we tested the wavelength sensitivity of the devices used for the data collection. The findings from the laboratory testing have prompted innovations for the SQMs as well as given a sense of how data gathered by these devices should be treated.

All-Sky Earth Occultation Observations with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson-Hodge, C. A.; Beklen, E.; Bhat, P. N.; Briggs, M.; Camero-Arranz, A.; Case, G.; Jenke, P.; Chaplin, V.; Cherry, M.; Connaughton, V.;

Fermi Spots a Record Flare from Blazar

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-10

Blazar 3C 279's historic gamma-ray flare can be seen in this image from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on NASA's Fermi satellite. Gamma rays with energies from 100 million to 100 billion electron volts (eV) are shown; for comparison, visible light has energies between 2 and 3 eV. The image spans 150 degrees, is shown in a stereographic projection, and represents an exposure from June 11 at 00:28 UT to June 17 at 08:17 UT. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

Experimental observation of optical Weyl points and Fermi arcs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rechtsman, Mikael

We directly observe the presence type-II Weyl points for optical photons in a three-dimensional dielectric structure comprising arrays of evanescently-coupled, single-mode, helical waveguides. We also observe the corresponding Fermi arc surface states emerging from Weyl points (despite the use of the `Fermi arc' terminology, we are referring to bosons rather than fermions). The Weyl points are manifested by the presence of conical diffraction at the Weyl frequency in the photonic band structure, and the Fermi arc states are manifested by the emergence of surface states as we scan in frequency past the Weyl point. We map the Weyl points to Dirac points of the isofrequency surface, and the Fermi arcs to chiral edge states of an anomalous Floquet insulator. In collaboration with: Jiho Noh, Sheng Huang, Daniel Leykam*, Y. D. Chong, Kevin Chen, and Mikael C. Rechtsman M.C.R. acknowledges the National Science Foundation under Award Number ECCS-1509546, the Penn State MRSEC, Center for Nanoscale Science, under Award Number NSF DMR-1420620, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation under fellowship number FG-2016-6418.

Electromagnetically induced transparency control in terahertz metasurfaces based on bright-bright mode coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yahiaoui, R.; Burrow, J. A.; Mekonen, S. M.; Sarangan, A.; Mathews, J.; Agha, I.; Searles, T. A.

2018-04-01

We demonstrate a classical analog of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a highly flexible planar terahertz metamaterial (MM) comprised of three-gap split-ring resonators. The keys to achieve EIT in this system are the frequency detuning and hybridization processes between two bright modes coexisting in the same unit cell as opposed to bright-dark modes. We present experimental verification of two bright modes coupling for a terahertz EIT-MM in the context of numerical results and theoretical analysis based on a coupled Lorentz oscillator model. In addition, a hybrid variation of the EIT-MM is proposed and implemented numerically to dynamically tune the EIT window by incorporating photosensitive silicon pads in the split gap region of the resonators. As a result, this hybrid MM enables the active optical control of a transition from the on state (EIT mode) to the off state (dipole mode).

The contact of a homogeneous unitary Fermi gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukherjee, Biswaroop; Patel, Parth; Yan, Zhenjie; Fletcher, Richard; Struck, Julian; Zwierlein, Martin

2017-04-01

The contact is a fundamental quantity that measures the strength of short-range correlations in quantum gases. As one of its most important implications, it provides a link between the microscopic two-particle correlation function at small distance and the macroscopic thermodynamic properties of the gas. In particular, pairing and superfluidity in a unitary Fermi gas can be expected to leave its mark in behavior of the contact. Here we present measurements on the temperature dependence of the contact of a unitary Fermi gas across the superfluid transition. By trapping ultracold 6Li atoms in a potential that is homogeneous in two directions and harmonic in the third, we obtain radiofrequency spectra of the homogeneous gas at a high signal-to-noise ratio. We compare our data to existing, but often mutually excluding theoretical calculations for the strongly interacting Fermi gas.

An Ultraviolet/Optical Atlas of Bright Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcum, Pamela M.; O'Connell, Robert W.; Fanelli, Michael N.; Cornett, Robert H.; Waller, William H.; Bohlin, Ralph C.; Neff, Susan G.; Roberts, Morton S.; Smith, Andrew M.; Cheng, K.-P.; Collins, Nicholas R.; Hennessy, Gregory S.; Hill, Jesse K.; Hill, Robert S.; Hintzen, Paul; Landsman, Wayne B.; Ohl, Raymond G.; Parise, Ronald A.; Smith, Eric P.; Freedman, Wendy L.; Kuchinski, Leslie E.; Madore, Barry; Angione, Ronald; Palma, Christopher; Talbert, Freddie; Stecher, Theodore P.

2001-02-01

We present wide-field imagery and photometry of 43 selected nearby galaxies of all morphological types at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths. The ultraviolet (UV) images, in two broad bands at 1500 and 2500 Å, were obtained using the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) during the Astro-1 Spacelab mission. The UV images have ~3" resolution, and the comparison sets of ground-based CCD images (in one or more of B, V, R, and Hα) have pixel scales and fields of view closely matching the UV frames. The atlas consists of multiband images and plots of UV/optical surface brightness and color profiles. Other associated parameters, such as integrated photometry and half-light radii, are tabulated. In an appendix, we discuss the sensitivity of different wavebands to a galaxy's star formation history in the form of ``history weighting functions'' and emphasize the importance of UV observations as probes of evolution during the past 10-1000 Myr. We find that UV galaxy morphologies are usually significantly different from visible band morphologies as a consequence of spatially inhomogeneous stellar populations. Differences are quite pronounced for systems in the middle range of Hubble types, Sa through Sc, but less so for ellipticals or late-type disks. Normal ellipticals and large spiral bulges are fainter and more compact in the UV. However, they typically exhibit smooth UV profiles with far-UV/optical color gradients which are larger than any at optical/IR wavelengths. The far-UV light in these cases is probably produced by extreme horizontal branch stars and their descendants in the dominant, low-mass, metal-rich population. The cool stars in the large bulges of Sa and Sb spirals fade in the UV while hot OB stars in their disks brighten, such that their Hubble classifications become significantly later. In the far-UV, early-type spirals often appear as peculiar, ringlike systems. In some spiral disks, UV-bright structures closely outline the spiral pattern; in others, the

The Magnetic Evolution of Coronal Hole Bright Points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Y.; Muglach, K.

2017-12-01

Space weather refers to the state of the heliosphere and the geospace environment that are caused primarily by solar activity. Coronal mass ejections and flares originate in active regions and filaments close to the solar surface and can cause geomagnetic storms and solar energetic particles events, which can damage both spacecraft and ground-based systems that are critical for society's well-being. Coronal bright points are small-scale magnetic regions on the sun that seem to be similar to active regions, but are about an order of magnitude smaller. Due to their shorter lifetime, the complete evolutionary cycle of these mini active regions can be studied, from the time they appear in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) images to the time they fade. We are using data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to study both the coronal EUV flux and the photospheric magnetic field and compare them to activities of the coronal bright point.

Generalized Thomas-Fermi equations as the Lampariello class of Emden-Fowler equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosu, Haret C.; Mancas, Stefan C.

2017-04-01

A one-parameter family of Emden-Fowler equations defined by Lampariello's parameter p which, upon using Thomas-Fermi boundary conditions, turns into a set of generalized Thomas-Fermi equations comprising the standard Thomas-Fermi equation for p = 1 is studied in this paper. The entire family is shown to be non integrable by reduction to the corresponding Abel equations whose invariants do not satisfy a known integrability condition. We also discuss the equivalent dynamical system of equations for the standard Thomas-Fermi equation and perform its phase-plane analysis. The results of the latter analysis are similar for the whole class.

Fermi -Lat Observations Of The Geminga Pulsar

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A.

2010-08-09

We report on the Fermi-LAT observations of the Geminga pulsar, the second brightest non-variable GeV source in the γ-ray sky and the first example of a radio-quiet γ-ray pulsar. The observations cover one year, from the launch of the Fermi satellite through 2009 June 15. A data sample of over 60,000 photons enabled us to build a timing solution based solely on γ-rays. Timing analysis shows two prominent peaks, separated by Δphgr = 0.497 ± 0.004 in phase, which narrow with increasing energy. Pulsed γ-rays are observed beyond 18 GeV, precluding emission below 2.7 stellar radii because of magnetic absorption.more » The phase-averaged spectrum was fitted with a power law with exponential cutoff of spectral index Γ = (1.30 ± 0.01 ± 0.04), cutoff energy E 0 = (2.46 ± 0.04 ± 0.17) GeV, and an integral photon flux above 0.1 GeV of (4.14 ± 0.02 ± 0.32) × 10 –6 cm –2 s –1. The first uncertainties are statistical and the second ones are systematic. The phase-resolved spectroscopy shows a clear evolution of the spectral parameters, with the spectral index reaching a minimum value just before the leading peak and the cutoff energy having maxima around the peaks. The phase-resolved spectroscopy reveals that pulsar emission is present at all rotational phases. The spectral shape, broad pulse profile, and maximum photon energy favor the outer magnetospheric emission scenarios.« less

Measuring night sky brightness: methods and challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hänel, Andreas; Posch, Thomas; Ribas, Salvador J.; Aubé, Martin; Duriscoe, Dan; Jechow, Andreas; Kollath, Zoltán; Lolkema, Dorien E.; Moore, Chadwick; Schmidt, Norbert; Spoelstra, Henk; Wuchterl, Günther; Kyba, Christopher C. M.

2018-01-01

Measuring the brightness of the night sky has become an increasingly important topic in recent years, as artificial lights and their scattering by the Earth's atmosphere continue spreading around the globe. Several instruments and techniques have been developed for this task. We give an overview of these, and discuss their strengths and limitations. The different quantities that can and should be derived when measuring the night sky brightness are discussed, as well as the procedures that have been and still need to be defined in this context. We conclude that in many situations, calibrated consumer digital cameras with fisheye lenses provide the best relation between ease-of-use and wealth of obtainable information on the night sky. While they do not obtain full spectral information, they are able to sample the complete sky in a period of minutes, with colour information in three bands. This is important, as given the current global changes in lamp spectra, changes in sky radiance observed only with single band devices may lead to incorrect conclusions regarding long term changes in sky brightness. The acquisition of all-sky information is desirable, as zenith-only information does not provide an adequate characterization of a site. Nevertheless, zenith-only single-band one-channel devices such as the "Sky Quality Meter" continue to be a viable option for long-term studies of night sky brightness and for studies conducted from a moving platform. Accurate interpretation of such data requires some understanding of the colour composition of the sky light. We recommend supplementing long-term time series derived with such devices with periodic all-sky sampling by a calibrated camera system and calibrated luxmeters or luminance meters.

PSR J2030+364I: Radio Discovery and Gamma-ray Study of a Middle-aged Pulsar in the Now Identified Fermi-LAT Source 1FGL J2030.0+3641

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Camilo, F.; Kerr, M.; Ray, P. S.; Ransom, S. M.; Johnston, S.; Romani, R. W.; Parent, D.; Decesar, M. E.; Harding, A. K.; Donato, D.;

FerriBRIGHT: a rationally designed fluorescent probe for redox active metals.

PubMed

Kennedy, Daniel P; Kormos, Chad M; Burdette, Shawn C

2009-06-24

The novel catechol-BODIPY dyad, 8-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2,6-bis(ethoxycarbonyl)-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (FerriBRIGHT) was rationally designed with the aid of computational methods. FerriBRIGHT could be prepared by standard one-pot synthesis of BODIPY fluorophores from 3,4-bis(benzyloxy)benzaldehyde (1) and 3,5-dimethyl-4-(ethoxycarbonyl)pyrrole (3); however, isolating the dipyrrin intermediate 8-[3,4-bis(benzyloxy)phenyl]-2,6-bis(ethoxycarbonyl)-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-4,4-diaza-s-indacene (7) prior to reaction with excess BF(3).OEt(2) led to marked improvements in the isolated overall yield of the desired compound. In addition to these improvements in fluorophore synthesis, microwave-assisted palladium-catalyzed hydrogenolysis of benzyl ethers was used to reduce reaction times and catalyst loading in preparation of the desired compound. When FerriBRIGHT is exposed to excess FeCl(3), CuCl(2), [Co(NH(3))(5)Cl]Cl(2), 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyanobenzoquinone, or ceric ammonium nitrate in methanol, a significant enhancement of fluorescence is observed. FerriBRIGHT-Q, the product resulting from the oxidation of the pendant catechol to the corresponding quinone, was found to be the emissive species. FerriBRIGHT-Q was synthesized independently, isolated, and fully characterized to allow for direct comparison with the spectroscopic data acquired in solution. Biologically relevant reactive oxygen species, such as H(2)O(2), (*)OH, (1)O(2), O(2)(*-), and bleach (NaOCl), failed to cause any changes in the emission intensity of FerriBRIGHT. In accordance with the quantum mechanical calculations, the quantum yield of fluorescence for FerriBRIGHT (Phi(fl) approximately 0) and FerriBRIGHT-Q (Phi(fl) = 0.026, lambda(ex)/lambda(em) = 490 nm/510 nm) suggests that photoinduced electron transfer between the catechol and the BODIPY dye is attenuated upon oxidation, which results in fluorescence enhancement. Binding studies of FerriBRIGHT with Ga(NO(3

The extraordinarily bright optical afterglow of GRB 991208 and its host galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro-Tirado, A. J.; Sokolov, V. V.; Gorosabel, J.; Castro Cerón, J. M.; Greiner, J.; Wijers, R. A. M. J.; Jensen, B. L.; Hjorth, J.; Toft, S.; Pedersen, H.; Palazzi, E.; Pian, E.; Masetti, N.; Sagar, R.; Mohan, V.; Pandey, A. K.; Pandey, S. B.; Dodonov, S. N.; Fatkhullin, T. A.; Afanasiev, V. L.; Komarova, V. N.; Moiseev, A. V.; Hudec, R.; Simon, V.; Vreeswijk, P.; Rol, E.; Klose, S.; Stecklum, B.; Zapatero-Osorio, M. R.; Caon, N.; Blake, C.; Wall, J.; Heinlein, D.; Henden, A.; Benetti, S.; Magazzù, A.; Ghinassi, F.; Tommasi, L.; Bremer, M.; Kouveliotou, C.; Guziy, S.; Shlyapnikov, A.; Hopp, U.; Feulner, G.; Dreizler, S.; Hartmann, D.; Boehnhardt, H.; Paredes, J. M.; Martí, J.; Xanthopoulos, E.; Kristen, H. E.; Smoker, J.; Hurley, K.

2001-05-01

Broad-band optical observations of the extraordinarily bright optical afterglow of the intense gamma-ray burst GRB 991208 started ~2.1 days after the event and continued until 4 Apr. 2000. The flux decay constant of the optical afterglow in the R-band is -2.30 +/- 0.07 up to ~5 days, which is very likely due to the jet effect, and it is followed by a much steeper decay with constant -3.2 +/- 0.2, the fastest one ever seen in a GRB optical afterglow. A negative detection in several all-sky films taken simultaneously with the event, that otherwise would have reached naked eye brightness, implies either a previous additional break prior to ~2 days after the occurrence of the GRB (as expected from the jet effect) or a maximum, as observed in GRB 970508. The existence of a second break might indicate a steepening in the electron spectrum or the superposition of two events, resembling GRB 000301C. Once the afterglow emission vanished, contribution of a bright underlying supernova was found on the basis of the late-time R-band measurements, but the light curve is not sufficiently well sampled to rule out a dust echo explanation. Our redshift determination of z = 0.706 indicates that GRB 991208 is at 3.7 Gpc (for Ho = 60 km s-1 Mpc-1, OMEGAo = 1 and LAMDAo = 0), implying an isotropic energy release of 1.15 x 1053 erg which may be relaxed by beaming by a factor >102. Precise astrometry indicates that the GRB coincides within 0.2" with the host galaxy, thus supporting a massive star origin. The absolute magnitude of the galaxy is MB = -18.2, well below the knee of the galaxy luminosity function and we derive a star-forming rate of (11.5 +/- 7.1) Msun yr-1, which is much larger than the present-day rate in our Galaxy. The quasi-simultaneous broad-band photometric spectral energy distribution of the afterglow was determined ~3.5 day after the burst (Dec. 12.0) implying a cooling frequency nuc below the optical band, i.e. supporting a jet model with p = -2.30 as the index of

Fermi: The Gamma-Ray Large Area Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McEnery, Julie

2015-01-01

Following its launch in June 2008, high-energy gamma-ray observations by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have unveiled over 1000 new sources and opened an important and previously unexplored window on a wide variety of phenomena. These have included the discovery of an population of pulsars pulsing only in gamma rays; the detection of photons up to 10s of GeV from gamma-ray bursts, enhancing our understanding of the astrophysics of these powerful explosions; the detection of hundreds of active galaxies; a measurement of the high energy cosmic-ray electron spectrum which may imply the presence of nearby astrophysical particle accelerators; the determination of the diffuse gamma-ray emission with unprecedented accuracy and the constraints on phenomena such as supersymmetric dark-matter annihilations and exotic relics from the Big Bang. Continuous monitoring of the high-energy gamma-ray sky has uncovered numerous outbursts from active galaxies and the discovery of transient sources in our galaxy. In this talk I will describe the current status of the Fermi observatory and review the science highlights from Fermi.

Spin Imbalanced Quasi-Two-Dimensional Fermi Gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ong, Willie C.

Spin-imbalanced Fermi gases serve as a testbed for fundamental notions and are efficient table-top emulators of a variety of quantum matter ranging from neutron stars, the quark-gluon plasma, to high critical temperature superconductors. A macroscopic quantum phenomenon which occurs in spin-imbalanced Fermi gases is that of phase separation; in three dimensions, a spin-balanced, fully-paired superfluid core is surrounded by an imbalanced normal-fluid shell, followed by a fully polarized shell. In one dimension, the behavior is reversed; a balanced phase appears outside a spin-imbalanced core. This thesis details the first density profile measurements and studies on spin-imbalanced quasi-2D Fermi gases, accomplished with high-resolution, rapid sequential spin-imaging. The measured cloud radii and central densities are in disagreement with mean-field Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory for a 2D system. Data for normal-fluid mixtures are well fit by a simple 2D polaron model of the free energy. Not predicted by the model is an observed phase transition to a spin-balanced central core above a critical polarisation.

Fermi: The Gamma-Ray Large Area Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McEnery, Julie

2014-01-01

Following its launch in June 2008, high-energy gamma-ray observations by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have unveiled over 1000 new sources and opened an important and previously unexplored window on a wide variety of phenomena. These have included the discovery of an population of pulsars pulsing only in gamma rays; the detection of photons up to 10 seconds of gigaelectronvolts from gamma-ray bursts, enhancing our understanding of the astrophysics of these powerful explosions; the detection of hundreds of active galaxies; a measurement of the high energy cosmic-ray electron spectrum which may imply the presence of nearby astrophysical particle accelerators; the determination of the diffuse gamma-ray emission with unprecedented accuracy and the constraints on phenomena such as super-symmetric dark-matter annihilations and exotic relics from the Big Bang. Continuous monitoring of the high-energy gamma-ray sky has uncovered numerous outbursts from active galaxies and the discovery of transient sources in our galaxy. In this talk I will describe the current status of the Fermi observatory and review the science highlights from Fermi.

Intermittent Fermi-Pasta-Ulam Dynamics at Equilibrium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, David; Danieli, Carlo; Flach, Sergej

The equilibrium value of an observable defines a manifold in the phase space of an ergodic and equipartitioned many-body syste. A typical trajectory pierces that manifold infinitely often as time goes to infinity. We use these piercings to measure both the relaxation time of the lowest frequency eigenmode of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chain, as well as the fluctuations of the subsequent dynamics in equilibrium. We show that previously obtained scaling laws for equipartition times are modified at low energy density due to an unexpected slowing down of the relaxation. The dynamics in equilibrium is characterized by a power-law distribution of excursion times far off equilibrium, with diverging variance. The long excursions arise from sticky dynamics close to regular orbits in the phase space. Our method is generalizable to large classes of many-body systems. The authors acknowledge financial support from IBS (Project Code IBS-R024-D1).

Hatching late in the season requires flexibility in the timing of song learning

PubMed Central

Leitner, Stefan; Teichel, Johanna; Ter Maat, Andries; Voigt, Cornelia

2015-01-01

Most songbirds learn their songs from adult tutors, who can be their father or other male conspecifics. However, the variables that control song learning in a natural social context are largely unknown. We investigated whether the time of hatching of male domesticated canaries has an impact on their song development and on the neuroendocrine parameters of the song control system. Average age difference between early- and late-hatched males was 50 days with a maximum of 90 days. Song activity of adult tutor males decreased significantly during the breeding season. While early-hatched males were exposed to tutor songs for on average the first 99 days, late-hatched peers heard adult song only during the first 48 days of life. Remarkably, although hatching late in the season negatively affected body condition, no differences between both groups of males were found in song characteristics either in autumn or in the following spring. Similarly, hatching date had no effect on song nucleus size and circulating testosterone levels. Our data suggest that late-hatched males must have undergone accelerated song development. Furthermore, the limited tutor song exposure did not affect adult song organization and song performance. PMID:26311160

Modeling and Maximum Likelihood Fitting of Gamma-Ray and Radio Light Curves of Millisecond Pulsars Detected with Fermi

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, T. J.; Harding, A. K.; Venter, C.

2012-01-01

Pulsed gamma rays have been detected with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) from more than 20 millisecond pulsars (MSPs), some of which were discovered in radio observations of bright, unassociated LAT sources. We have fit the radio and gamma-ray light curves of 19 LAT-detected MSPs in the context of geometric, outermagnetospheric emission models assuming the retarded vacuum dipole magnetic field using a Markov chain Monte Carlo maximum likelihood technique. We find that, in many cases, the models are able to reproduce the observed light curves well and provide constraints on the viewing geometries that are in agreement with those from radio polarization measurements. Additionally, for some MSPs we constrain the altitudes of both the gamma-ray and radio emission regions. The best-fit magnetic inclination angles are found to cover a broader range than those of non-recycled gamma-ray pulsars.

Relative timing of last glacial maximum and late-glacial events in the central tropical Andes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bromley, Gordon R. M.; Schaefer, Joerg M.; Winckler, Gisela; Hall, Brenda L.; Todd, Claire E.; Rademaker, Kurt M.

2009-11-01

Whether or not tropical climate fluctuated in synchrony with global events during the Late Pleistocene is a key problem in climate research. However, the timing of past climate changes in the tropics remains controversial, with a number of recent studies reporting that tropical ice age climate is out of phase with global events. Here, we present geomorphic evidence and an in-situ cosmogenic 3He surface-exposure chronology from Nevado Coropuna, southern Peru, showing that glaciers underwent at least two significant advances during the Late Pleistocene prior to Holocene warming. Comparison of our glacial-geomorphic map at Nevado Coropuna to mid-latitude reconstructions yields a striking similarity between Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Late-Glacial sequences in tropical and temperate regions. Exposure ages constraining the maximum and end of the older advance at Nevado Coropuna range between 24.5 and 25.3 ka, and between 16.7 and 21.1 ka, respectively, depending on the cosmogenic production rate scaling model used. Similarly, the mean age of the younger event ranges from 10 to 13 ka. This implies that (1) the LGM and the onset of deglaciation in southern Peru occurred no earlier than at higher latitudes and (2) that a significant Late-Glacial event occurred, most likely prior to the Holocene, coherent with the glacial record from mid and high latitudes. The time elapsed between the end of the LGM and the Late-Glacial event at Nevado Coropuna is independent of scaling model and matches the period between the LGM termination and Late-Glacial reversal in classic mid-latitude records, suggesting that these events in both tropical and temperate regions were in phase.

Time evolution of the spectral break in the high-energy extra component of GRB 090926A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yassine, M.; Piron, F.; Mochkovitch, R.; Daigne, F.

2017-10-01

Aims: The prompt light curve of the long GRB 090926A reveals a short pulse 10 s after the beginning of the burst emission, which has been observed by the Fermi observatory from the keV to the GeV energy domain. During this bright spike, the high-energy emission from GRB 090926A underwent a sudden hardening above 10 MeV in the form of an additional power-law component exhibiting a spectral attenuation at a few hundreds of MeV. This high-energy break has been previously interpreted in terms of gamma-ray opacity to pair creation and has been used to estimate the bulk Lorentz factor of the outflow. In this article, we report on a new time-resolved analysis of the GRB 090926A broadband spectrum during its prompt phase and on its interpretation in the framework of prompt emission models. Methods: We characterized the emission from GRB 090926A at the highest energies with Pass 8 data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), which offer a greater sensitivity than any data set used in previous studies of this burst, particularly in the 30-100 MeV energy band. Then, we combined the LAT data with the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) in joint spectral fits to characterize the time evolution of the broadband spectrum from keV to GeV energies. We paid careful attention to the systematic effects that arise from the uncertainties on the LAT response. Finally, we performed a temporal analysis of the light curves and we computed the variability timescales from keV to GeV energies during and after the bright spike. Results: Our analysis confirms and better constrains the spectral break, which has been previously reported during the bright spike. Furthermore, it reveals that the spectral attenuation persists at later times with an increase of the break characteristic energy up to the GeV domain until the end of the prompt phase. We discuss these results in terms of keV-MeV synchroton radiation of electrons accelerated during the dissipation of the jet energy and inverse Compton

Automated Adaptive Brightness in Wireless Capsule Endoscopy Using Image Segmentation and Sigmoid Function.

PubMed

Shrestha, Ravi; Mohammed, Shahed K; Hasan, Md Mehedi; Zhang, Xuechao; Wahid, Khan A

2016-08-01

Wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) plays an important role in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal (GI) diseases by capturing images of human small intestine. Accurate diagnosis of endoscopic images depends heavily on the quality of captured images. Along with image and frame rate, brightness of the image is an important parameter that influences the image quality which leads to the design of an efficient illumination system. Such design involves the choice and placement of proper light source and its ability to illuminate GI surface with proper brightness. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are normally used as sources where modulated pulses are used to control LED's brightness. In practice, instances like under- and over-illumination are very common in WCE, where the former provides dark images and the later provides bright images with high power consumption. In this paper, we propose a low-power and efficient illumination system that is based on an automated brightness algorithm. The scheme is adaptive in nature, i.e., the brightness level is controlled automatically in real-time while the images are being captured. The captured images are segmented into four equal regions and the brightness level of each region is calculated. Then an adaptive sigmoid function is used to find the optimized brightness level and accordingly a new value of duty cycle of the modulated pulse is generated to capture future images. The algorithm is fully implemented in a capsule prototype and tested with endoscopic images. Commercial capsules like Pillcam and Mirocam were also used in the experiment. The results show that the proposed algorithm works well in controlling the brightness level accordingly to the environmental condition, and as a result, good quality images are captured with an average of 40% brightness level that saves power consumption of the capsule.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Observation of first Fermi-LAT sources at Parkes (Camilo+, 2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camilo, F.; Kerr, M.; Ray, P. S.; Ransom, S. M.; Sarkissian, J.; Cromartie, H. T.; Johnston, S.; Reynolds, J. E.; Wolff, M. T.; Freire, P. C. C.; Bhattacharyya, B.; Ferrara, E. C.; Keith, M.; Michelson, P. F.; Parkinson, P. M. S.; Wood, K. S.

2017-10-01

Keith et al. (2011MNRAS.414.1292K) used a digital filterbank at Parkes to search 11 unidentified sources from the first Fermi-LAT catalog (1FGL; Abdo et al. 2010, J/ApJS/188/405). Two MSPs and one slow pulsar were discovered in single observations of each target at a central frequency of 1.4 GHz. Subsequently, one of these MSPs was found to be associated with the corresponding LAT source. At nearly the same time, in late 2009, we used an analog filterbank at Parkes to search 14 unidentified 1FGL sources (Kerr et al. 2012ApJ...748L...2K). The single observations of these targets resulted in the detection of six MSPs, five of them discoveries. However, confirmation of some of these MSPs was not easy: the search observations lasted for 1-2 hr each, but some of the pulsars were not detected in equivalent initial confirmation attempts, owing to the effects of interstellar scintillation. These and other selection effects (see Section 2.2 for details) led us to search some promising unidentified LAT sources repeatedly. (1 data file).

Magnetic topological analysis of coronal bright points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galsgaard, K.; Madjarska, M. S.; Moreno-Insertis, F.; Huang, Z.; Wiegelmann, T.

2017-10-01

Context. We report on the first of a series of studies on coronal bright points which investigate the physical mechanism that generates these phenomena. Aims: The aim of this paper is to understand the magnetic-field structure that hosts the bright points. Methods: We use longitudinal magnetograms taken by the Solar Optical Telescope with the Narrowband Filter Imager. For a single case, magnetograms from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager were added to the analysis. The longitudinal magnetic field component is used to derive the potential magnetic fields of the large regions around the bright points. A magneto-static field extrapolation method is tested to verify the accuracy of the potential field modelling. The three dimensional magnetic fields are investigated for the presence of magnetic null points and their influence on the local magnetic domain. Results: In nine out of ten cases the bright point resides in areas where the coronal magnetic field contains an opposite polarity intrusion defining a magnetic null point above it. We find that X-ray bright points reside, in these nine cases, in a limited part of the projected fan-dome area, either fully inside the dome or expanding over a limited area below which typically a dominant flux concentration resides. The tenth bright point is located in a bipolar loop system without an overlying null point. Conclusions: All bright points in coronal holes and two out of three bright points in quiet Sun regions are seen to reside in regions containing a magnetic null point. An as yet unidentified process(es) generates the brigh points in specific regions of the fan-dome structure. The movies are available at http://www.aanda.org

Quadratic Fermi node in a 3D strongly correlated semimetal

DOE PAGES

Kondo, Takeshi; Nakayama, M.; Chen, R.; ...

2015-12-07

We report that strong spin–orbit coupling fosters exotic electronic states such as topological insulators and superconductors, but the combination of strong spin–orbit and strong electron–electron interactions is just beginning to be understood. Central to this emerging area are the 5d transition metal iridium oxides. Here, in the pyrochlore iridate Pr 2Ir 2O 7, we identify a non-trivial state with a single-point Fermi node protected by cubic and time-reversal symmetries, using a combination of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. Owing to its quadratic dispersion, the unique coincidence of four degenerate states at the Fermi energy, and strong Coulomb interactions, non-Fermimore » liquid behaviour is predicted, for which we observe some evidence. Lastly, our discovery implies that Pr 2Ir 2O 7 is a parent state that can be manipulated to produce other strongly correlated topological phases, such as topological Mott insulator, Weyl semimetal, and quantum spin and anomalous Hall states.« less

Number of holes contained within the Fermi surface volume in underdoped high-temperature superconductors

DOE PAGES

Harrison, Neil

2016-08-16

Here, we provide a potential solution to the longstanding problem relating Fermi surface reconstruction to the number of holes contained within the Fermi surface volume in underdoped high T c superconductors. On considering uniaxial and biaxial charge-density wave order, we show that there exists a relationship between the ordering wave vector, the hole doping, and the cross-sectional area of the reconstructed Fermi surface whose precise form depends on the volume of the starting Fermi surface. We consider a “large” starting Fermi surface comprising 1+p hole carriers, as predicted by band structure calculations, and a “small” starting Fermi surface comprising pmore » hole carriers, as proposed in models in which the Coulomb repulsion remains the dominant energy. Using the reconstructed Fermi surface cross-sectional area obtained in quantum oscillation experiments in YBa 2Cu 3O 6+x and HgBa 2CuO 4+x and the established methods for estimating the chemical hole doping, we find the ordering vectors obtained from x-ray scattering measurements to show a close correspondence with those expected for the small starting Fermi surface. We therefore show the quantum oscillation frequency and charge-density wave vectors provide accurate estimates for the number of holes contributing to the Fermi surface volume in the pseudogap regime.« less

Number of holes contained within the Fermi surface volume in underdoped high-temperature superconductors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harrison, Neil

Here, we provide a potential solution to the longstanding problem relating Fermi surface reconstruction to the number of holes contained within the Fermi surface volume in underdoped high T c superconductors. On considering uniaxial and biaxial charge-density wave order, we show that there exists a relationship between the ordering wave vector, the hole doping, and the cross-sectional area of the reconstructed Fermi surface whose precise form depends on the volume of the starting Fermi surface. We consider a “large” starting Fermi surface comprising 1+p hole carriers, as predicted by band structure calculations, and a “small” starting Fermi surface comprising pmore » hole carriers, as proposed in models in which the Coulomb repulsion remains the dominant energy. Using the reconstructed Fermi surface cross-sectional area obtained in quantum oscillation experiments in YBa 2Cu 3O 6+x and HgBa 2CuO 4+x and the established methods for estimating the chemical hole doping, we find the ordering vectors obtained from x-ray scattering measurements to show a close correspondence with those expected for the small starting Fermi surface. We therefore show the quantum oscillation frequency and charge-density wave vectors provide accurate estimates for the number of holes contributing to the Fermi surface volume in the pseudogap regime.« less

Renormalization Group Theory for the Imbalanced Fermi Gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gubbels, K. B.; Stoof, H. T. C.

2008-04-11

We formulate a Wilsonian renormalization group theory for the imbalanced Fermi gas. The theory is able to recover quantitatively well-established results in both the weak-coupling and the strong-coupling (unitarity) limits. We determine for the latter case the line of second-order phase transitions of the imbalanced Fermi gas and, in particular, the location of the tricritical point. We obtain good agreement with the recent experiments of Y. Shin et al. [Nature (London) 451, 689 (2008)].

LARGER PLANET RADII INFERRED FROM STELLAR ''FLICKER'' BRIGHTNESS VARIATIONS OF BRIGHT PLANET-HOST STARS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bastien, Fabienne A.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Pepper, Joshua

2014-06-10

Most extrasolar planets have been detected by their influence on their parent star, typically either gravitationally (the Doppler method) or by the small dip in brightness as the planet blocks a portion of the star (the transit method). Therefore, the accuracy with which we know the masses and radii of extrasolar planets depends directly on how well we know those of the stars, the latter usually determined from the measured stellar surface gravity, log g. Recent work has demonstrated that the short-timescale brightness variations ({sup f}licker{sup )} of stars can be used to measure log g to a high accuracymore » of ∼0.1-0.2 dex. Here, we use flicker measurements of 289 bright (Kepmag < 13) candidate planet-hosting stars with T {sub eff} = 4500-6650 K to re-assess the stellar parameters and determine the resulting impact on derived planet properties. This re-assessment reveals that for the brightest planet-host stars, Malmquist bias contaminates the stellar sample with evolved stars: nearly 50% of the bright planet-host stars are subgiants. As a result, the stellar radii, and hence the radii of the planets orbiting these stars, are on average 20%-30% larger than previous measurements had suggested.« less

The local metallicity-surface brightness relationship in galactic disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ryder, Stuart D.

1995-01-01

We present the results of a first attempt to employ multiaperture masks to obtain spectrophotometry of H II regions in nearby galaxies. A total of 97 H II regions in six southern spiral galaxies were observed using a combination of multiaperture masks and conventional long-slit spectrophotometry. The oxygen abundances derived from the multiaperture mask observations using the empirical abundance diagnostic R(sub 23) are shown to be consistent with those from long-slit spectra and generally show better reproducibility and object definition. Although the number of objects that can be observed simultaneously with this particular system is still quite limited compared with either imaging spectrophotometry or fiber-fed spectrographs, the spectral resolution offered and high throughput in the blue help make multiaperture spectrophotometry a competitive technique for increasing the sampling of H II regions in both radial distance and luminosity. There is still no clear trend of abundance gradient with either the galaxy's luminosity or its Hubble type, although the extrapolated central abundance does appear to correlate with galaxy luminosity/mass. In order to avoid difficulty in choosing an appropriate normalizing radius, we instead plot the oxygen abundance against the underlying I-band surface brightness at the radial distance of the H II region and confirm the existence of a local metallicity-surface brightness reltaionship within the disks of spiral galaxies. Although the simple closed-boc model of galaxy evolution predicts almost the right form of this relationship, a more realistic multizone model employing expnentially decreasing gas infall provides a more satisfactory fit to the observational data, provided the expected enriched gas return from dying low-mass stars shedding their envelopes at late epochs is properly taken into account. This same model, with a star formation law based upon self-regulating star formation in a three-dimensional disk (Dopita & Ryder

Generating High-Brightness Ion Beams for Inertial Confinement Fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cuneo, M. E.

1997-11-01

The generation of high current density ion beams with applied-B ion diodes showed promise in the late-1980's as an efficient, rep-rate, focusable driver for inertial confinement fusion. These devices use several Tesla insulating magnetic fields to restrict electron motion across anode-cathode gaps of order 1-2 cm, while accelerating ions to generate ≈ 1 kA/cm^2, 5 - 15 MeV beams. These beams have been used to heat hohlraums to about 65 eV. However, meeting the ICF driver requirements for low-divergence and high-brightness lithium ion beams has been more technically challenging than initially thought. Experimental and theoretical work over the last 5 years shows that high-brightness beams meeting the requirements for inertial confinement fusion are possible. The production of these beams requires the simultaneous integration of at least four conditions: 1) rigorous vacuum cleaning techniques for control of undesired anode, cathode, ion source and limiter plasma formation from electrode contaminants to control impurity ions and impedance collapse; 2) carefully tailored insulating magnetic field geometry for uniform beam generation; 3) high magnetic fields (V_crit/V > 2) and other techniques to control the electron sheath and the onset of a high divergence electromagnetic instability that couples strongly to the ion beam; and 4) an active, pre-formed, uniform lithium plasma for low source divergence which is compatible with the above electron-sheath control techniques. These four conditions have never been simultaneously present in any lithium beam experiment, but simulations and experimental tests of individual conditions have been done. The integration of these conditions is a goal of the present ion beam generation program at Sandia. This talk will focus on the vacuum cleaning techniques for ion diodes and pulsed power devices in general, including experimental results obtained on the SABRE and PBFA-II accelerators over the last 3 years. The current status of

On the late-time cosmology of a condensed scalar field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghalee, Amir

2016-04-01

We study the late-time cosmology of a scalar field with a kinetic term non-minimally coupled to gravity. It is demonstrated that the scalar field dominate the radiation matter and the cold dark matter (CDM). Moreover, we show that eventually the scalar field will be condensed and results in an accelerated expansion. The metric perturbations around the condensed phase of the scalar field are investigated and it has been shown that the ghost instability and gradient instability do not exist.

Do the surface Fermi arcs in Weyl semimetals survive disorder?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Justin H.; Pixley, J. H.; Huse, David A.; Refael, Gil; Das Sarma, S.

2018-06-01

We theoretically study the topological robustness of the surface physics induced by Weyl Fermi-arc surface states in the presence of short-ranged quenched disorder and surface-bulk hybridization. This is investigated with numerically exact calculations on a lattice model exhibiting Weyl Fermi arcs. We find that the Fermi-arc surface states, in addition to having a finite lifetime from disorder broadening, hybridize with nonperturbative bulk rare states making them no longer bound to the surface (i.e., they lose their purely surface spectral character). Thus, we provide strong numerical evidence that the Weyl Fermi arcs are not topologically protected from disorder. Nonetheless, the surface chiral velocity is robust and survives in the presence of strong disorder, persisting all the way to the Anderson-localized phase by forming localized current loops that live within the localization length of the surface. Thus, the Weyl semimetal is not topologically robust to the presence of disorder, but the surface chiral velocity is.

Extreme Brightness Temperatures and Refractive Substructure in 3C273 with RadioAstron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Michael D.; Kovalev, Yuri Y.; Gwinn, Carl R.; Gurvits, Leonid I.; Narayan, Ramesh; Macquart, Jean-Pierre; Jauncey, David L.; Voitsik, Peter A.; Anderson, James M.; Sokolovsky, Kirill V.; Lisakov, Mikhail M.

2016-03-01

Earth-space interferometry with RadioAstron provides the highest direct angular resolution ever achieved in astronomy at any wavelength. RadioAstron detections of the classic quasar 3C 273 on interferometric baselines up to 171,000 km suggest brightness temperatures exceeding expected limits from the “inverse-Compton catastrophe” by two orders of magnitude. We show that at 18 cm, these estimates most likely arise from refractive substructure introduced by scattering in the interstellar medium. We use the scattering properties to estimate an intrinsic brightness temperature of 7× {10}12 {{K}}, which is consistent with expected theoretical limits, but which is ˜15 times lower than estimates that neglect substructure. At 6.2 cm, the substructure influences the measured values appreciably but gives an estimated brightness temperature that is comparable to models that do not account for the substructure. At 1.35 {{cm}}, the substructure does not affect the extremely high inferred brightness temperatures, in excess of {10}13 {{K}}. We also demonstrate that for a source having a Gaussian surface brightness profile, a single long-baseline estimate of refractive substructure determines an absolute minimum brightness temperature, if the scattering properties along a given line of sight are known, and that this minimum accurately approximates the apparent brightness temperature over a wide range of total flux densities.

Brightness analysis of an electron beam with a complex profile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maesaka, Hirokazu; Hara, Toru; Togawa, Kazuaki; Inagaki, Takahiro; Tanaka, Hitoshi

2018-05-01

We propose a novel analysis method to obtain the core bright part of an electron beam with a complex phase-space profile. This method is beneficial to evaluate the performance of simulation data of a linear accelerator (linac), such as an x-ray free electron laser (XFEL) machine, since the phase-space distribution of a linac electron beam is not simple, compared to a Gaussian beam in a synchrotron. In this analysis, the brightness of undulator radiation is calculated and the core of an electron beam is determined by maximizing the brightness. We successfully extracted core electrons from a complex beam profile of XFEL simulation data, which was not expressed by a set of slice parameters. FEL simulations showed that the FEL intensity was well remained even after extracting the core part. Consequently, the FEL performance can be estimated by this analysis without time-consuming FEL simulations.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Fermi-LAT flaring gamma-ray sources from FAVA (Ackermann+, 2013)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Albert, A.; Allafort, A.; Antolini, E.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Bechtol, K.; Bellazzini, R.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Bonamente, E.; Bottacini, E.; Bouvier, A.; Brandt, T. J.; Bregeon, J.; Brigida, M.; Bruel, P.; Buehler, R.; Buson, S.; Caliandro, G. A.; Cameron, R. A.; Caraveo, P. A.; Cavazzuti, E.; Cecchi, C.; Charles, E.; Chekhtman, A.; Cheung, C. C.; Chiang, J.; Chiaro, G.; Ciprini, S.; Claus, R.; Cohen-Tanugi, J.; Conrad, J.; Cutini, S.; Dalton, M.; D'Ammando, F.; de Angelis, A.; de Palma, F.; Dermer, C. D.; di Venere, L.; Drell, P. S.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Favuzzi, C.; Fegan, S. J.; Ferrara, E. C.; Focke, W. B.; Franckowiak, A.; Fukazawa, Y.; Funk, S.; Fusco, P.; Gargano, F.; Gasparrini, D.; Germani, S.; Giglietto, N.; Giordano, F.; Giroletti, M.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Grenier, I. A.; Grondin, M.-H.; Grove, J. E.; Guiriec, S.; Hadasch, D.; Hanabata, Y.; Harding, A. K.; Hayashida, M.; Hays, E.; Hewitt, J.; Hill, A. B.; Horan, D.; Hou, X.; Hughes, R. E.; Inoue, Y.; Jackson, M. S.; Jogler, T.; Johannesson, G.; Johnson, W. N.; Kamae, T.; Kataoka, J.; Kawano, T.; Knodlseder, J.; Kuss, M.; Lande, J.; Larsson, S.; Latronico, L.; Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Longo, F.; Loparco, F.; Lott, B.; Lovellette, M. N.; Lubrano, P.; Mayer, M.; Mazziotta, M. N.; McEnery, J. E.; Michelson, P. F.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Mizuno, T.; Monte, C.; Monzani, M. E.; Morselli, A.; Moskalenko, I. V.; Murgia, S.; Nemmen, R.; Nuss, E.; Ohsugi, T.; Okumura, A.; Omodei, N.; Orienti, M.; Orlando, E.; Ormes, J. F.; Paneque, D.; Panetta, J. H.; Perkins, J. S.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Piron, F.; Pivato, G.; Porter, T. A.; Raino, S.; Rando, R.; Razzano, M.; Reimer, A.; Reimer, O.; Romoli, C.; Roth, M.; Sanchez-Conde, M.; Scargle, J. D.; Schulz, A.; Sgro, C.; Siskind, E. J.; Spandre, G.; Spinelli, P.; Suson, D. J.; Takahashi, H.; Takeuchi, Y.; Thayer, J. G.; Thayer, J. B.; Thompson, D. J.; Tibaldo, L.; Tinivella, M.; Torres, D. F.; Tosti, G.; Troja, E.; Tronconi, V.; Usher, T. L.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vasileiou, V.; Vianello, G.; Vitale, V.; Winer, B. L.; Wood, K. S.; Wood, M.; Yang, Z.

2015-01-01

We applied FAVA (Fermi All-sky Variability Analysis) to the first 47 months of Fermi/LAT observations (2008 August 4 to 2012 July 16 UTC), in weekly time intervals. The total number of weeks is 206. We considered two ranges of gamma-ray energy, E>100MeV and E>800MeV, to increase the sensitivity for spectrally soft and hard flares, respectively. We generate measured and expected count maps with a resolution of 0.25deg2 per pixel. We found LAT counterparts for 192 of the 215 FAVA sources. Most of the associated sources, 177, are AGNs. (2 data files).

Multiwavelength Challenges in the Fermi Era

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, D. J.

2010-01-01

The gamma-ray surveys of the sky by AGILE and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope offer both opportunities and challenges for multiwavelength and multi-messenger studies. Gamma-ray bursts, pulsars, binary sources, flaring Active Galactic Nuclei, and Galactic transient sources are all phenomena that can best be studied with a wide variety of instruments simultaneously or contemporaneously. From the gamma-ray side, a principal challenge is the latency from the time of an astrophysical event to the recognition of this event in the data. Obtaining quick and complete multiwavelength coverage of gamma-ray sources of interest can be difficult both in terms of logistics and in terms of generating scientific interest.

FERMI LAT discovery of extended gamma-ray emissions in the vicinity of the HB 3 supernova remnant

DOE PAGES

Katagiri, H.; Yoshida, K.; Ballet, J.; ...

2016-02-11

We report the discovery of extended gamma-ray emission measured by the Large Area Tele- scope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the region of the supernova rem- nant (SNR) HB 3 (G132.7+1.3) and the W3 HII complex adjacent to the southeast of the remnant. W3 is spatially associated with bright 12CO (J=1-0) emission. The gamma-ray emission is spatially correlated with this gas and the SNR. We discuss the possibility that gamma rays originate in inter- actions between particles accelerated in the SNR and interstellar gas or radiation fields. The decay of neutral pions produced in nucleon-nucleon interactions betweenmore » accelerated hadrons and interstellar gas provides a reasonable explanation for the gamma-ray emission. The emission fromW3 is consistent with irradiation of the CO clouds by the cosmic rays accelerated in HB 3.« less

FERMI LAT DISCOVERY OF EXTENDED GAMMA-RAY EMISSIONS IN THE VICINITY OF THE HB 3 SUPERNOVA REMNANT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Katagiri, H.; Yoshida, K.; Ballet, J.

2016-02-20

We report the discovery of extended gamma-ray emission measured by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the region of the supernova remnant (SNR) HB 3 (G132.7+1.3) and the W3 II complex adjacent to the southeast of the remnant. W3 is spatially associated with bright {sup 12}CO (J = 1–0) emission. The gamma-ray emission is spatially correlated with this gas and the SNR. We discuss the possibility that gamma rays originate in interactions between particles accelerated in the SNR and interstellar gas or radiation fields. The decay of neutral pions produced in nucleon–nucleon interactions between accelerated hadrons and interstellar gas provides amore » reasonable explanation for the gamma-ray emission. The emission from W3 is consistent with irradiation of the CO clouds by the cosmic rays accelerated in HB 3.« less

Spectrum of the Isotropic Diffuse Gamma-Ray Emission Derived from First-Year Fermi Large Area Telescope Data

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A.

2010-03-08

Here, we report on the first Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) measurements of the so-called “extragalactic” diffuse γ -ray emission (EGB). This component of the diffuse γ -ray emission is generally considered to have an isotropic or nearly isotropic distribution on the sky with diverse contributions discussed in the literature. The derivation of the EGB is based on detailed modeling of the bright foreground diffuse Galactic γ -ray emission, the detected LAT sources, and the solar γ -ray emission. We also find the spectrum of the EGB is consistent with a power law with a differential spectral index γ =more » 2.41 ± 0.05 and intensity I ( > 100 MeV ) = ( 1.03 ± 0.17 ) × 10 - 5 cm -2 s - 1 sr - 1 , where the error is systematics dominated. The EGB spectrum, presented here, is featureless, less intense, and softer than that derived from EGRET data.« less

Galaxy Selection and the Surface Brightness Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGaugh, Stacy S.; Bothun, Gregory D.; Schombert, James M.

1995-08-01

Optical surveys for galaxies are biased against the inclusion of low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies. Disney [Nature, 263,573(1976)] suggested that the constancy of disk central surface brightness noticed by Freeman [ApJ, 160,811(1970)] was not a physical result, but instead was an artifact of sample selection. Since LSB galaxies do exist, the pertinent and still controversial issue is if these newly discovered galaxies constitute a significant percentage of the general galaxy population. In this paper, we address this issue by determining the space density of galaxies as a function of disk central surface brightness. Using the physically reasonable assumption (which is motivated by the data) that central surface brightness is independent of disk scale length, we arrive at a distribution which is roughly flat (i.e., approximately equal numbers of galaxies at each surface brightness) faintwards of the Freeman (1970) value. Brightwards of this, we find a sharp decline in the distribution which is analogous to the turn down in the luminosity function at L^*^. An intrinsically sharply peaked "Freeman law" distribution can be completely ruled out, and no Gaussian distribution can fit the data. Low surface brightness galaxies (those with central surface brightness fainter than 22 B mag arcsec^-2^) comprise >~ 1/2 the general galaxy population, so a representative sample of galaxies at z = 0 does not really exist at present since past surveys have been insensitive to this component of the general galaxy population.

Brightness discrimination test is not useful in screening for open angle glaucoma.

PubMed

Peter, E; Thomas, R; Muliyil, J

1996-06-01

Brightness discrimination test (BDT) is routinely employed to assess asymmetrical optic nerve dysfunction and has been suggested as a screening test for primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). We tested the reliability and validity of BDT in the diagnosis of POAG. The study groups included 34 patients with established primary open angle glaucoma, 20 glaucoma suspects, and 33 age-sex matched controls. Cataract was not an exclusion criterion in these groups. The normal brightness score was determined to be 88% (mean score, 94%-2 SD) in a pilot study. Brightness discrimination test was performed in all subjects by two observers independently. BDT showed an excellent interobserver agreement (weighted Kappa 0.84). The presence of a cataract alone increased the risk of brightness impairment twofold, glaucoma alone increased the risk eightfold, and the presence of both conditions by 17 times compared to those with neither condition. BDT was not a useful test in the diagnosis of POAG (sensitivity 67% and specificity 93%); the ability to detect a significant field defect was also poor (sensitivity 53% and specificity 76%). There was poor association between decreased brightness scores and asymmetrical field defects as determined by the Humphrey's field analyzer (HFA).

Spatiotemporal analysis of brightness induction

PubMed Central

McCourt, Mark E.

2011-01-01

Brightness induction refers to a class of visual illusions in which the perceived intensity of a region of space is influenced by the luminance of surrounding regions. These illusions are significant because they provide insight into the neural organization of the visual system. A novel quadrature-phase motion cancelation technique was developed to measure the magnitude of the grating induction brightness illusion across a wide range of spatial frequencies, temporal frequencies and test field heights. Canceling contrast is greatest at low frequencies and declines with increasing frequency in both dimensions, and with increasing test field height. Canceling contrast scales as the product of inducing grating spatial frequency and test field height (the number of inducing grating cycles per test field height). When plotted using a spatial axis which indexes this product, the spatiotemporal induction surfaces for four test field heights can be described as four partially overlapping sections of a single larger surface. These properties of brightness induction are explained in the context of multiscale spatial filtering. The present study is the first to measure the magnitude of grating induction as a function of temporal frequency. Taken in conjunction with several other studies (Blakeslee & McCourt, 2008; Robinson & de Sa, 2008; Magnussen & Glad, 1975) the results of this study illustrate that at least one form of brightness induction is very much faster than that reported by DeValois et al. (1986) and Rossi and Paradiso (1996), and are inconsistent with the proposition that brightness induction results from a slow “filling in” process. PMID:21763339

A Brightness-Referenced Star Identification Algorithm for APS Star Trackers

PubMed Central

Zhang, Peng; Zhao, Qile; Liu, Jingnan; Liu, Ning

2014-01-01

Star trackers are currently the most accurate spacecraft attitude sensors. As a result, they are widely used in remote sensing satellites. Since traditional charge-coupled device (CCD)-based star trackers have a limited sensitivity range and dynamic range, the matching process for a star tracker is typically not very sensitive to star brightness. For active pixel sensor (APS) star trackers, the intensity of an imaged star is valuable information that can be used in star identification process. In this paper an improved brightness referenced star identification algorithm is presented. This algorithm utilizes the k-vector search theory and adds imaged stars' intensities to narrow the search scope and therefore increase the efficiency of the matching process. Based on different imaging conditions (slew, bright bodies, etc.) the developed matching algorithm operates in one of two identification modes: a three-star mode, and a four-star mode. If the reference bright stars (the stars brighter than three magnitude) show up, the algorithm runs the three-star mode and efficiency is further improved. The proposed method was compared with other two distinctive methods the pyramid and geometric voting methods. All three methods were tested with simulation data and actual in orbit data from the APS star tracker of ZY-3. Using a catalog composed of 1500 stars, the results show that without false stars the efficiency of this new method is 4∼5 times that of the pyramid method and 35∼37 times that of the geometric method. PMID:25299950

Fermi-Level Pinning of Contacted Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Shi-Yu; Liu, Lei; Jayanthi, Chakram; Guo, Guang-Yu

2004-03-01

Experimental evidences suggest that the Fermi-level of a contacted SWCNT with an energy gap is pinned in the vicinity of either the top of the valence band or the bottom of the conduction band, depending on the work function of the metallic leads (see, for example, E. D. Minot, Yuval Yaish,Vera Sazonova, Ji-Yong Park, Markus Brink, and Paul L. McEuen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 156401 (2003)). This pinning of the Fermi-level may be attributed to the finite length of the contacted SWCNT. In this presentation, we report the result of our study of the pinning of the Fermi-level of a finite SWCNT, using the single π-orbital theory modified by the inclusion of a self-consistent scheme for the determination of charge transfer. We will also discuss the effect of the Fermi-level pinning on the transport properties of a SWCNT with a gap, either intrinsic or induced by a mechanical deformation. This work is supported by the NSF (Grant Nos: DMR-0112824 and ECS-0224114), the U.S. Department of Energy (Grant No: DE-FG02-00ER45832), and the National Science Council of Taiwan.

The novel metallic states of the cuprates: Topological Fermi liquids and strange metals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sachdev, Subir; Chowdhury, Debanjan

2016-12-01

We review ideas on the nature of the metallic states of the hole-doped cuprate high temperature superconductors, with an emphasis on the connections between the Luttinger theorem for the size of the Fermi surface, topological quantum field theories (TQFTs), and critical theories involving changes in the size of the Fermi surface. We begin with the derivation of the Luttinger theorem for a Fermi liquid, using momentum balance during a process of flux insertion in a lattice electronic model with toroidal boundary conditions. We then review the TQFT of the ℤ spin liquid, and demonstrate its compatibility with the toroidal momentum balance argument. This discussion leads naturally to a simple construction of "topological" Fermi liquid states: the fractionalized Fermi liquid (FL*) and the algebraic charge liquid (ACL). We present arguments for a description of the pseudogap metal of the cuprates using ℤ-FL* or ℤ-ACL states with Ising-nematic order. These pseudogap metal states are also described as Higgs phases of a SU(2) gauge theory. The Higgs field represents local antiferromagnetism, but the Higgs-condensed phase does not have long-range antiferromagnetic order: the magnitude of the Higgs field determines the pseudogap, the reconstruction of the Fermi surface, and the Ising-nematic order. Finally, we discuss the route to the large Fermi surface Fermi liquid via the critical point where the Higgs condensate and Ising nematic order vanish, and the application of Higgs criticality to the strange metal.

HESS J1640-465 and HESS J1641-463: Two Intriguing TeV Sources in Light of New Fermi-LAT Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Grondin, M.-H.; Acero, F.; Ballet, J.; Laffon, H.; Reposeur, T.

2014-10-01

We report on γ-ray analysis of the region containing the bright TeV source HESS J1640-465 and the close-by TeV source HESS J1641-463 using 64 months of observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Previously only one GeV source was reported in this region and was associated with HESS J1640-465. With an increased data set and the improved sensitivity afforded by the reprocessed data (P7REP) of the LAT, we now report the detection, morphological study, and spectral analysis of two distinct sources above 100 MeV. The softest emission in this region comes from the TeV source HESS J1641-463 which is well fitted with a power law of index Γ = 2.47 ± 0.05 ± 0.06 and presents no significant γ-ray signal above 10 GeV, which contrasts with its hard spectrum at TeV energies. The Fermi-LAT spectrum of the second TeV source, HESS J1640-465 is well described by a power-law shape of index Γ = 1.99 ± 0.04 ± 0.07 that links up naturally with the spectral data points obtained by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.). These new results provide new constraints concerning the identification of these two puzzling γ-ray sources.

Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) Observed with the Fermi-Gamma-ray Burst Monitor: Temporal and Spectral Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fishman, G. J.; Briggs, M. S.; Connaughton, W.; Wilson-Hodge, C.; Bhat, P. N.

2010-01-01

The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Observatory (Fermi) was detecting 2.1 TGFs per week. This rate has increased by a factor of 8 since new flight software was uploaded to the spacecraft in November 2009 in order to increase the sensitivity of GBM to TGFs. Further upgrades to Fermi-GBM to allow observations of weaker TGFs are in progress. The high time resolution (2 s) allows temporal features to be resolved so that some insight may be gained on the origin and transport of the gamma-ray photons through the atmosphere. The absolute time of the TGFs, known to several microseconds, also allows accurate correlations of TGFs with lightning networks and other lightning-related phenomena. The thick bismuth germanate (BGO) scintillation detectors of the GBM system have observed photon energies from TGFs at energies above 40 MeV. New results on the some temporal aspects of TGFs will be presented along with spectral characteristics and properties of several electron-positron TGF events that have been identified.

The First Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog of Gamma-ray Pulsars

DOE PAGES

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; ...

2010-03-25

The dramatic increase in the number of known gamma-ray pulsars since the launch of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly GLAST) offers the first opportunity to study a sizable population of these high-energy objects. This catalog summarizes 46 high-confidence pulsed detections using the first six months of data taken by the Large Area Telescope (LAT), Fermi's main instrument. Sixteen previously unknown pulsars were discovered by searching for pulsed signals at the positions of bright gamma-ray sources seen with the LAT, or at the positions of objects suspected to be neutron stars based on observations at other wavelengths. The dimmest observed flux among these gamma-ray-selected pulsars is 6.0 × 10 –8 ph cm –2 s –1 (for E>100 MeV). Pulsed gamma-ray emission was discovered from 24 known pulsars by using ephemerides (timing solutions) derived from monitoring radio pulsars. Eight of these new gamma-ray pulsars are millisecond pulsars. The dimmest observed flux among the radio-selected pulsars is 1.4 × 10 –8 ph cm –2 s –1 (for E>100 MeV). The remaining six gamma-ray pulsars were known since the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory mission, or before. The limiting flux for pulse detection is non-uniform over the sky owing to different background levels, especially near the Galactic plane. The pulsed energy spectra can be described by a power law with an exponential cutoff, with cutoff energies in the range ~1-5 GeV. The rotational energy-loss rate (more » $$\\dot{E}$$) of these neutron stars spans five decades, from ~3 × 10 33 erg s –1 to 5 × 10 38 erg s –1, and the apparent efficiencies for conversion to gamma-ray emission range from ~0.1% to ~ unity, although distance uncertainties complicate efficiency estimates. The pulse shapes show substantial diversity, but roughly 75% of the gamma-ray pulse profiles have two peaks, separated by ≳0.2 of rotational phase. For most of the pulsars, gamma-ray emission appears to come mainly from the outer

Supernova Remnant Kesteven 27: Interaction with A Neighbor HI Cloud Viewed by Fermi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Yi; Wang, Zhongxiang; Zhang, Xiao; Chen, Yang

2015-05-01

We report on the likely detection of γ-ray emission from the supernova remnant (SNR) Kesteven 27 (Kes 27). We analyze 5.7 yr Fermi Large Area Telescope data of the SNR region and find an unresolved source at a position consistent with the radio brightness peak and the X-ray knot of Kes 27, which is located in the eastern region of the SNR and caused by its interaction with a nearby Hi cloud. The source’s emission is best fit with a power-law spectrum with a photon index of 2.5 ± 0.1 and a >0.2 GeV luminosity of 5.8× {{10}34} erg s-1 assuming a distance of 4.3 kpc, as derived from radio observations of the nearby Hi cloud. Comparing the properties of the source with that of other SNRs that are known to be interacting with nearby high-density clouds, we discuss the origin of the source’s emission. The spectral energy distribution of the source can be described by a hadronic model that considers the interaction of energetic protons escaping from the shock front of Kes 27 with a high-density cloud.

Fermi Large Area Telescope observations of the supernova remnant HESS J1731-347

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Rui-zhi; Zhang, Xiao; Yuan, Qiang; Liu, Siming

2014-07-01

Context. HESS J1731-347 has been identified as one of the few TeV-bright shell-type supernova remnants (SNRs). These remnants are dominated by nonthermal emission, and the nature of TeV emission has been continuously debated for nearly a decade. Aims: We carry out the detailed modeling of the radio to γ-ray spectrum of HESS J1731-347 to constrain the magnetic field and energetic particles sources, which we compare with those of the other TeV-bright shell-type SNRs explored before. Methods: Four years of data from Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) observations for regions around this remnant are analyzed, leading to no detection correlated with the source discovered in the TeV band. The Markov chain Monte Carlo method is used to constrain parameters of one-zone models for the overall emission spectrum. Results: Based on the 99.9% upper limits of fluxes in the GeV range, one-zone hadronic models with an energetic proton spectral slope greater than 1.8 can be ruled out, which favors a leptonic origin for the γ-ray emission, making this remnant a sibling of the brightest TeV SNR RX J1713.7-3946, the Vela Junior SNR RX J0852.0-4622, and RCW 86. The best-fit leptonic model has an electron spectral slope of 1.8 and a magnetic field of ~30 μG, which is at least a factor of 2 higher than those of RX J1713.7-3946 and RX J0852.0-4622, posing a challenge to the distance estimate and/or the energy equipartition between energetic electrons and the magnetic field of this source. A measurement of the shock speed will address this challenge and has implications on the magnetic field evolution and electron acceleration driven by shocks of SNRs.

Dust acoustic solitary and shock excitations in a Thomas-Fermi magnetoplasma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rahim, Z.; Qamar, A.; National Center for Physics

The linear and nonlinear properties of dust-acoustic waves are investigated in a collisionless Thomas-Fermi magnetoplasma, whose constituents are electrons, ions, and negatively charged dust particles. At dust time scale, the electron and ion number densities follow the Thomas-Fermi distribution, whereas the dust component is described by the classical fluid equations. A linear dispersion relation is analyzed to show that the wave frequencies associated with the upper and lower modes are enhanced with the variation of dust concentration. The effect of the latter is seen more strongly on the upper mode as compared to the lower mode. For nonlinear analysis, wemore » obtain magnetized Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) and Zakharov-Kuznetsov (ZK) equations involving the dust-acoustic solitary waves in the framework of reductive perturbation technique. Furthermore, the shock wave excitations are also studied by allowing dissipation effects in the model, leading to the Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers (KdVB) and ZKB equations. The analysis reveals that the dust-acoustic solitary and shock excitations in a Thomas-Fermi plasma are strongly influenced by the plasma parameters, e.g., dust concentration, dust temperature, obliqueness, magnetic field strength, and dust fluid viscosity. The present results should be important for understanding the solitary and shock excitations in the environments of white dwarfs or supernova, where dust particles can exist.« less

Brightness masking is modulated by disparity structure.

PubMed

Pelekanos, Vassilis; Ban, Hiroshi; Welchman, Andrew E

2015-05-01

The luminance contrast at the borders of a surface strongly influences surface's apparent brightness, as demonstrated by a number of classic visual illusions. Such phenomena are compatible with a propagation mechanism believed to spread contrast information from borders to the interior. This process is disrupted by masking, where the perceived brightness of a target is reduced by the brief presentation of a mask (Paradiso & Nakayama, 1991), but the exact visual stage that this happens remains unclear. In the present study, we examined whether brightness masking occurs at a monocular-, or a binocular-level of the visual hierarchy. We used backward masking, whereby a briefly presented target stimulus is disrupted by a mask coming soon afterwards, to show that brightness masking is affected by binocular stages of the visual processing. We manipulated the 3-D configurations (slant direction) of the target and mask and measured the differential disruption that masking causes on brightness estimation. We found that the masking effect was weaker when stimuli had a different slant. We suggest that brightness masking is partly mediated by mid-level neuronal mechanisms, at a stage where binocular disparity edge structure has been extracted. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Enrico Fermi - And the Revolutions of Modern Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, Dan

1999-02-01

In 1938, at the age of 37, Enrico Fermi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. That same year he emigrated from Italy to the United States and, in the course of his experiments, discovered nuclear fission--a process which forms the basis of nuclear power and atomic bombs. Soon the brilliant physicist was involved in the top secret race to produce the deadliest weapon on Earth. He created the first self-sustaining chain reaction, devised new methods for purifying plutonium, and eventually participated in the first atomic test. This compelling biography traces Fermis education in Italy, his meteoric career in the scientific world, his escape from fascism to America, and the ingenious experiments he devised and conducted at the University of Rome, Columbia University, and the Los Alamos laboratory. The book also presents a mini-course in quantum and nuclear physics in an accessible, fast-paced narrative that invokes all the dizzying passion of Fermis brilliant discoveries.

Fermi GBM Observations of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Briggs, Michael S.

2011-09-21

Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes are short pulses of energetic radiation associated with thunderstorms and lightning. While the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on Fermi was designed to observe gamma-ray bursts, its large BGO detectors are excellent for observing TGFs. Using GBM, TGF pulses are seen to either be symmetrical or have faster rise time than fall times. Some TGFs are resolved into double, partially overlapping pulses. Using ground-based radio observations of lightning from the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN), TGFs and their associated lightning are found to be simultaneous to {approx_equal}40 {mu} s. The lightning locations are typically within 300 kmmore » of the sub-spacecraft point.« less

Splitting Fermi Surfaces and Heavy Electronic States in Non-Centrosymmetric U3Ni3Sn4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maurya, Arvind; Harima, Hisatomo; Nakamura, Ai; Shimizu, Yusei; Homma, Yoshiya; Li, DeXin; Honda, Fuminori; Sato, Yoshiki J.; Aoki, Dai

2018-04-01

We report the single-crystal growth of the non-centrosymmetric paramagnet U3Ni3Sn4 by the Bridgman method and the Fermi surface properties detected by de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) experiments. We have also investigated single-crystal U3Ni3Sn4 by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, magnetization, electrical resistivity, and heat capacity measurements. The angular dependence of the dHvA frequencies reveals many closed Fermi surfaces, which are nearly spherical in topology. The experimental results are in good agreement with local density approximation (LDA) band structure calculations based on the 5f-itinerant model. The band structure calculation predicts many Fermi surfaces, mostly with spherical shape, derived from 12 bands crossing the Fermi energy. To our knowledge, the splitting of Fermi surfaces due to the non-centrosymmetric crystal in 5f-electron systems is experimentally detected for the first time. The temperature dependence of the dHvA amplitude reveals a large cyclotron effective mass of up to 35 m0, indicating the heavy electronic state of U3Ni3Sn4 due to the proximity of the quantum critical point. From the field dependence of the dHvA amplitude, a mean free path of conduction electrons of up to 1950 Å is detected, reflecting the good quality of the grown crystal. The small splitting energy related to the antisymmetric spin-orbit interaction is most likely due to the large cyclotron effective mass.

Modeling the instability behavior of thin film devices: Fermi Level Pinning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moeini, Iman; Ahmadpour, Mohammad; Gorji, Nima E.

2018-05-01

We investigate the underlying physics of degradation/recovery of a metal/n-CdTe Schottcky junction under reverse or forward bias stressing conditions. We used Sah-Noyce-Shockley (SNS) theory to investigate if the swept of Fermi level pinning at different levels (under forward/reverse bias) is the origin of change in current-voltage characteristics of the device. This theory is based on Shockley-Read-Hall recombination within the depletion width and takes into account the interface defect levels. Fermi Level Pinning theory was primarily introduced by Ponpon and developed to thin film solar cells by Dharmadasa's group in Sheffield University-UK. The theory suggests that Fermi level pinning at multiple levels occurs due to high concentration of electron-traps or acceptor-like defects at the interface of a Schottky or pn junction and this re-arranges the recombination rate and charage collection. Shift of these levels under stress conditions determines the change in current-voltage characteristics of the cell. This theory was suggested for several device such as metal/n-CdTe, CdS/CdTe, CIGS/CdS or even GaAs solar cells without a modeling approach to clearly explain it's physics. We have applied the strong SNS modeling approach to shed light on Fermi Level Pinning theory. The modeling confirms that change in position of Fermi Level and it's pining in a lower level close to Valence band increases the recombination and reduces the open-circuit voltage. In contrast, Fermi Level pinning close to conduction band strengthens the electric field at the junction which amplifies the carrier collection and boosts the open-circuit voltage. This theory can well explain the stress effect on device characteristics of various solar cells or Schottky junctions by simply finding the right Fermi level pinning position at every specific stress condition.

Fermi surfaces of the pyrite-type cubic AuSb2 compared with split Fermi surfaces of the ullmannite-type cubic chiral NiSbS and PdBiSe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishimura, K.; Kakihana, M.; Nakamura, A.; Aoki, D.; Harima, H.; Hedo, M.; Nakama, T.; Ōnuki, Y.

2018-05-01

We grew high-quality single crystals of AuSb2 with the pyrite (FeS2)-type cubic structure by the Bridgman method and studied the Fermi surface properties by the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) experiment and the full potential LAPW band calculation. The Fermi surfaces of AuSb2 are found to be similar to those of NiSbS and PdBiSe with the ullmannite (NiSbS)-type cubic chiral structure because the crystal structures are similar each other and the number of valence electrons is the same between two different compounds. Note that each Fermi surface splits into two Fermi surfaces in NiSbS and PdBiSe, reflecting the non-centrosymmetric crystal structure.

Numerical simulations of novel high-power high-brightness diode laser structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boucke, Konstantin; Rogg, Joseph; Kelemen, Marc T.; Poprawe, Reinhart; Weimann, Guenter

2001-07-01

One of the key topics in today's semiconductor laser development activities is to increase the brightness of high-power diode lasers. Although structures showing an increased brightness have been developed specific draw-backs of these structures lead to a still strong demand for investigation of alternative concepts. Especially for the investigation of basically novel structures easy-to-use and fast simulation tools are essential to avoid unnecessary, cost and time consuming experiments. A diode laser simulation tool based on finite difference representations of the Helmholtz equation in 'wide-angle' approximation and the carrier diffusion equation has been developed. An optimized numerical algorithm leads to short execution times of a few seconds per resonator round-trip on a standard PC. After each round-trip characteristics like optical output power, beam profile and beam parameters are calculated. A graphical user interface allows online monitoring of the simulation results. The simulation tool is used to investigate a novel high-power, high-brightness diode laser structure, the so-called 'Z-Structure'. In this structure an increased brightness is achieved by reducing the divergency angle of the beam by angular filtering: The round trip path of the beam is two times folded using internal total reflection at surfaces defined by a small index step in the semiconductor material, forming a stretched 'Z'. The sharp decrease of the reflectivity for angles of incidence above the angle of total reflection leads to a narrowing of the angular spectrum of the beam. The simulations of the 'Z-Structure' indicate an increase of the beam quality by a factor of five to ten compared to standard broad-area lasers.

Large Diamagnetic Susceptibility from Petit Fermi Surfaces in LaV2Al20

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirose, Takahiro; Okamoto, Yoshihiko; Yamaura, Jun-ichi; Hiroi, Zenji

2015-11-01

The large diamagnetic susceptibility of LaV2Al20 is studied by magnetization and de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) oscillation measurements on single crystals as well as by Ti-for-V substitution (hole doping) experiments. Its origin is ascribed to a tiny holelike Fermi surface (FS) with a low Fermi temperature of 140 K and a small dHvA frequency of 19 T. The FS has a characteristic anisotropy that is approximated by six spheroidal hole pockets elongated along the cubic <001> directions with a minimum effective mass of 0.067 times the free electron mass. This characteristic FS can generate an unusually large Landau-Peierls diamagnetic susceptibility as observed experimentally in LaV2Al20.

Theoretical reconsideration of antiferromagnetic Fermi surfaces in URu2Su2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamagami, Hiroshi

2011-01-01

In an itinerant 5f-band model, the antiferromagnetic (AFM) Fermi surfaces of URu2Si2 are reconsidered using a relativistic LAPW method within a local spin-density approximation, especially taking into account the lattice parameters dependent on pressures. The reduction of the z-coordinate of the Si sites results in the effect of flattening the Ru-Si layers of URu2Si2 crystal structure, thus weakening a hybridization/mixing between the U-5f and Ru-4d states in the band structure. Consequently the 5f bands around the Fermi level are more flat in the dispersion with decreasing the z-coordinate, thus producing three closed Fermi surfaces like "curing-stone", "rugby-ball " and "ball". The origins of de Haas-van Alphen branches can be qualitatively interpreted from the obtained AFM Fermi surfaces.

Oxygen abundance distributions in six late-type galaxies based on SALT spectra of H II regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zinchenko, I. A.; Kniazev, A. Y.; Grebel, E. K.; Pilyugin, L. S.

2015-10-01

Spectra of 34 H ii regions in the late-type galaxies NGC 1087, NGC 2967, NGC 3023, NGC 4030, NGC 4123, and NGC 4517A were observed with the South African Large Telescope (SALT). In all 34 H ii regions, oxygen abundances were determined through the "counterpart" method (C method). Additionally, in two H ii regions in which we detected auroral lines, we measured oxygen abundances with the classic Te method. We also estimated the abundances in our H ii regions using the O3N2 and N2 calibrations and compared those with the C-based abundances. With these data, we examined the radial abundance distributions in the disks of our target galaxies. We derived surface-brightness profiles and other characteristics of the disks (the surface brightness at the disk center and the disk scale length) in three photometric bands for each galaxy using publicly available photometric imaging data. The radial distributions of the oxygen abundances predicted by the relation between abundance and disk surface brightness in the W1 band obtained for spiral galaxies in our previous study are close to the radial distributions of the oxygen abundances determined from the analysis of the emission line spectra for four galaxies where this relation is applicable. Hence, when the surface-brightness profile of a late-type galaxy is known, this parametric relation can be used to estimate the likely present-day oxygen abundance in the disk of the galaxy. Based on observations made with the Southern African Large Telescope, programs 2012-1-RSA_OTH-001, 2012-2-RSA_OTH-003 and 2013-1-RSA_OTH-005.

Effect of evening exposure to bright or dim light after daytime bright light on absorption of dietary carbohydrates the following morning.

PubMed

Hirota, Naoko; Sone, Yoshiaki; Tokura, Hiromi

2010-01-01

We had previously reported on the effect of exposure to light on the human digestive system: daytime bright light exposure has a positive effect, whereas, evening bright light exposure has a negative effect on the efficiency of dietary carbohydrate absorption from the evening meal. These results prompted us to examine whether the light intensity to which subjects are exposed in the evening affects the efficiency of dietary carbohydrate absorption the following morning. In this study, subjects were exposed to either 50 lux (dim light conditions) or 2,000 lux (bright light conditions) in the evening for 9 h (from 15:00 to 24:00) after staying under bright light in the daytime (under 2,000 lux from 07:00 to 15:00). We measured unabsorbed dietary carbohydrates using the breath-hydrogen test the morning after exposure to either bright light or dim light the previous evening. Results showed that there was no significant difference between the two conditions in the amount of breath hydrogen. This indicates that evening exposure to bright or dim light after bright light exposure in the daytime has no varying effect on digestion or absorption of dietary carbohydrates in the following morning's breakfast.

Late-time evolution of a self-interacting scalar field in the spacetime of a dilaton black hole

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moderski, Rafal; Rogatko, Marek

2001-08-15

We investigate the late-time tails of self-interacting (massive) scalar fields in the spacetime of a dilaton black hole. Following the no hair theorem we examine the mechanism by which self-interacting scalar hair decays. We reveal that the intermediate asymptotic behavior of the considered field perturbations is dominated by an oscillatory inverse power-law decaying tail. The numerical simulations show that at very late time, massive self-interacting scalar hair decays slower than any power law.

Hartree-Fock treatment of Fermi polarons using the Lee-Low-Pine transformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kain, Ben; Ling, Hong Y.

2017-09-01

We consider the Fermi polaron problem at zero temperature, where a single impurity interacts with noninteracting host fermions. We approach the problem starting with a Fröhlich-like Hamiltonian where the impurity is described with canonical position and momentum operators. We apply the Lee-Low-Pine (LLP) transformation to change the fermionic Fröhlich Hamiltonian into the fermionic LLP Hamiltonian, which describes a many-body system containing host fermions only. We adapt the self-consistent Hartree-Fock (HF) approach, first proposed by Edwards, to the fermionic LLP Hamiltonian in which a pair of host fermions with momenta k and k' interact with a potential proportional to k .k' . We apply the HF theory, which has the advantage of not restricting the number of particle-hole pairs, to repulsive Fermi polarons in one dimension. When the impurity and host fermion masses are equal our variational ansatz, where HF orbitals are expanded in terms of free-particle states, produces results in excellent agreement with McGuire's exact analytical results based on the Bethe ansatz. This work raises the prospect of using the HF ansatz and its time-dependent generalization as building blocks for developing all-coupling theories for both equilibrium and nonequilibrium Fermi polarons in higher dimensions.

Fermi bubbles as a source of cosmic rays above 1015 eV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chernyshov, D. O.; Cheng, K. S.; Dogiel, V. A.; Ko, C. M.

2014-11-01

Fermi bubbles are giant gamma-ray structures extended north and south of the Galactic center with characteristic sizes of order of 10 kpc recently discovered by Fermi Large Area Telescope. Good correlation between radio and gamma-ray emission in the region covered by Fermi bubbles implies the presence of high-energy electrons in this region. Since it is relatively difficult for relativistic electrons of this energy to travel all the way from the Galactic sources toward Fermi bubbles one can assume that they accelerated in-situ. The corresponding acceleration mechanism should also affect the distribution of the relativistic protons in the Galaxy. Since protons have much larger lifetimes the effect may even be observed near the Earth. In our model we suggest that Fermi bubbles are created by acceleration of electrons on series of shocks born due to periodic star accretions by supermassive black hole Sgr A*. We propose that hadronic CR within the 'knee' of the observed CR spectrum are produced by Galactic supernova remnants distributed in the Galactic disk. Reacceleration of these particles in the Fermi Bubble produces CRs beyond the knee. This model provides a natural explanation of the observed CR flux, spectral indexes, and matching of spectra at the knee.

Microwave Brightness Temperatures of Tilted Convective Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hong, Ye; Haferman, Jeffrey L.; Olson, William S.; Kummerow, Christian D.

1998-01-01

Aircraft and ground-based radar data from the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled-Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) show that convective systems are not always vertical. Instead, many are tilted from vertical. Satellite passive microwave radiometers observe the atmosphere at a viewing angle. For example, the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) on Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites and the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) on the TRMM satellite have an incident angle of about 50deg. Thus, the brightness temperature measured from one direction of tilt may be different than that viewed from the opposite direction due to the different optical depth. This paper presents the investigation of passive microwave brightness temperatures of tilted convective systems. To account for the effect of tilt, a 3-D backward Monte Carlo radiative transfer model has been applied to a simple tilted cloud model and a dynamically evolving cloud model to derive the brightness temperature. The radiative transfer results indicate that brightness temperature varies when the viewing angle changes because of the different optical depth. The tilt increases the displacements between high 19 GHz brightness temperature (Tb(sub 19)) due to liquid emission from lower level of cloud and the low 85 GHz brightness temperature (Tb(sub 85)) due to ice scattering from upper level of cloud. As the resolution degrades, the difference of brightness temperature due to the change of viewing angle decreases dramatically. The dislocation between Tb(sub 19) and Tb(sub 85), however, remains prominent.

Delay-time distribution of core-collapse supernovae with late events resulting from binary interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zapartas, E.; de Mink, S. E.; Izzard, R. G.; Yoon, S.-C.; Badenes, C.; Götberg, Y.; de Koter, A.; Neijssel, C. J.; Renzo, M.; Schootemeijer, A.; Shrotriya, T. S.

2017-05-01

Most massive stars, the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae, are in close binary systems and may interact with their companion through mass transfer or merging. We undertake a population synthesis study to compute the delay-time distribution of core-collapse supernovae, that is, the supernova rate versus time following a starburst, taking into account binary interactions. We test the systematic robustness of our results by running various simulations to account for the uncertainties in our standard assumptions. We find that a significant fraction, %, of core-collapse supernovae are "late", that is, they occur 50-200 Myr after birth, when all massive single stars have already exploded. These late events originate predominantly from binary systems with at least one, or, in most cases, with both stars initially being of intermediate mass (4-8 M⊙). The main evolutionary channels that contribute often involve either the merging of the initially more massive primary star with its companion or the engulfment of the remaining core of the primary by the expanding secondary that has accreted mass at an earlier evolutionary stage. Also, the total number of core-collapse supernovae increases by % because of binarity for the same initial stellar mass. The high rate implies that we should have already observed such late core-collapse supernovae, but have not recognized them as such. We argue that φ Persei is a likely progenitor and that eccentric neutron star - white dwarf systems are likely descendants. Late events can help explain the discrepancy in the delay-time distributions derived from supernova remnants in the Magellanic Clouds and extragalactic type Ia events, lowering the contribution of prompt Ia events. We discuss ways to test these predictions and speculate on the implications for supernova feedback in simulations of galaxy evolution.

The effect of a change in sleep-wakefulness timing, bright light and physical exercise interventions on 24-hour patterns of performance, mood and body temperature.

PubMed

Iskra-Golec, I; Fafrowicz, M; Marek, T; Costa, G; Folkard, S; Foret, J; Kundi, M; Smith, L

2001-12-01

Experiments consisting of baseline, bright light and physical exercise studies were carried out to compare the effect of a 9-hour delay in sleep-wakefulness timing, and the effects of bright light and physical exercise interventions on 24-hour patterns of performance, mood and body temperature were examined. Each study comprised a 24-hour constant routine at the beginning followed by 3 night shifts and 24-hour constant routine at the end. Performance on tasks differing in cognitive load, mood and body temperature was measured during each constant routine and the interventions were applied during the night shifts. The 24-hour pattern of alertness and performance on the tasks with low cognitive load in post-treatment conditions followed the change in sleep-wakefulness timing while more cognitively loaded tasks tended to show a reverse trend when compared to pre-treatment conditions. There was a phase delay around 4 hours in circadian rhythms of body temperature in post-treatment conditions.

Bright point study. [of solar corona

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tang, F.; Harvey, K.; Bruner, M.; Kent, B.; Antonucci, E.

1982-01-01

Transition region and coronal observations of bright points by instruments aboard the Solar Maximum Mission and high resolution photospheric magnetograph observations on September 11, 1980 are presented. A total of 31 bipolar ephemeral regions were found in the photosphere from birth in 9.3 hours of combined magnetograph observations from three observatories. Two of the three ephemeral regions present in the field of view of the Ultraviolet Spectrometer-Polarimeter were observed in the C IV 1548 line. The unobserved ephemeral region was determined to be the shortest-lived (2.5 hr) and lowest in magnetic flux density (13G) of the three regions. The Flat Crystal Spectrometer observed only low level signals in the O VIII 18.969 A line, which were not statistically significant to be positively identified with any of the 16 ephemeral regions detected in the photosphere. In addition, the data indicate that at any given time there lacked a one-to-one correspondence between observable bright points and photospheric ephemeral regions, while more ephemeral regions were observed than their counterparts in the transition region and the corona.

Superallowed Fermi β decay studies at TRIUMF-ISAC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Svensson, C. E.; Dunlop, R.; Finlay, P.; Ball, G. C.; Ettenauer, S.; Leslie, J. R.; Towner, I. S.; Andreoiu, C.; Austin, R. A. E.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Chagnon-Lessard, S.; Chester, A.; Cross, D. S.; Demand, G.; Djongolov, M.; Garnsworthy, A. B.; Garrett, P. E.; Green, K. L.; Glister, J.; Grinyer, G. F.; Hackman, G.; Hadinia, B.; Leach, K. G.; Pearson, C. J.; Phillips, A. A.; Rand, E. T.; Starosta, K.; Sumithrarachchi, C. S.; Tardiff, E. R.; Triambak, S.; Williams, S. J.; Wong, J.; Yates, S. W.; Zganjar, E. F.

2013-10-01

A program of high-precision superallowed Fermi β decay studies is being carried out at the Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC) radioactive ion beam facility at TRIUMF. Recent high-precision branching ratio measurements for the superallowed decays of 74Rb and 26Alm, as well as a half-life measurement for 26Alm that is the most precise half-life measurement for any superallowed emitter to date, are reported. These results provide demanding tests of the theoretical isospin symmetry breaking corrections in superallowed Fermi β decays.

Early, on-time, and late behavioural autonomy in adolescence: psychosocial correlates in young and middle adulthood.

PubMed

Pavlova, Maria K; Haase, Claudia M; Silbereisen, Rainer K

2011-04-01

Drawing on two nationally representative German studies (N(1) = 1744, N(2) = 759), we examined correlates of early, on-time, and late curfew autonomy, a retrospective indicator of behavioural autonomy, in young and middle adulthood (19-37 years of age). Adjustment in four domains was considered: educational attainment, externalizing problem behaviour, subjective well-being, and interpersonal relationships. The early group showed lower adjustment in multiple domains across young and middle adulthood. The late group reported a mixed pattern of adjustment at younger ages (lower externalizing problems, but lower positive affect, lower importance of peers, and lower likelihood to have a partner) and positive adjustment in all domains at older ages. Timing effects were controlled for sociodemographic characteristics and retrospective measures of early adversities, pubertal timing, disclosure to parents, and peer group affiliation in adolescence. Findings show that late behavioural autonomy in its correlates is not simply the opposite of early behavioural autonomy. Copyright © 2010 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Review of Optical Sky Brightness and Extinction at Dome C, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kenyon, S. L.; Storey, J. W. V.

2006-03-01

The recent discovery of exceptional seeing conditions at Dome C, Antarctica, raises the possibility of constructing an optical observatory there with unique capabilities. However, little is known from an astronomer's perspective about the optical sky brightness and extinction at Antarctic sites. We review the contributions to sky brightness at high-latitude sites and calculate the amount of usable dark time at Dome C. We also explore the implications of the limited sky coverage of high-latitude sites and review optical extinction data from the South Pole. Finally, we examine the proposal of Baldry & Bland-Hawthorn to extend the amount of usable dark time through the use of polarizing filters.

Six New Millisecond Pulsars From Arecibo Searches Of Fermi Gamma-Ray Sources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cromartie, H. T.; Camilo, F.; Kerr, M.

2016-02-25

We have discovered six radio millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in a search with the Arecibo telescope of 34 unidentified gamma-ray sources from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) 4-year point source catalog. Among the 34 sources, we also detected two MSPs previously discovered elsewhere. Each source was observed at a center frequency of 327 MHz, typically at three epochs with individual integration times of 15 minutes. The new MSP spin periods range from 1.99 to 4.66 ms. Five of the six pulsars are in interacting compact binaries (period ≤ 8.1 hr), while the sixth is a more typical neutron star-white dwarfmore » binary with an 83-day orbital period. This is a higher proportion of interacting binaries than for equivalent Fermi-LAT searches elsewhere. The reason is that Arecibo’s large gain afforded us the opportunity to limit integration times to 15 minutes, which significantly increased our sensitivity to these highly accelerated systems. Seventeen of the remaining 26 gamma-ray sources are still categorized as strong MSP candidates, and will be re-searched.« less

SIX NEW MILLISECOND PULSARS FROM ARECIBO SEARCHES OF FERMI GAMMA-RAY SOURCES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cromartie, H. T.; Camilo, F.; Kerr, M.

2016-03-01

We have discovered six radio millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in a search with the Arecibo telescope of 34 unidentified gamma-ray sources from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) four year point source catalog. Among the 34 sources, we also detected two MSPs previously discovered elsewhere. Each source was observed at a center frequency of 327 MHz, typically at three epochs with individual integration times of 15 minutes. The new MSP spin periods range from 1.99 to 4.66 ms. Five of the six pulsars are in interacting compact binaries (period ≤ 8.1 hr), while the sixth is a more typical neutron star-whitemore » dwarf binary with an 83 day orbital period. This is a higher proportion of interacting binaries than for equivalent Fermi-LAT searches elsewhere. The reason is that Arecibo's large gain afforded us the opportunity to limit integration times to 15 minutes, which significantly increased our sensitivity to these highly accelerated systems. Seventeen of the remaining 26 gamma-ray sources are still categorized as strong MSP candidates, and will be re-searched.« less

The Latest Space-Borne Observations of TGFs from Fermi-GBM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fishman, Gerald J.

2010-01-01

The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Observatory (Fermi) is detecting about two TGFs per week. This rate has increased by a factor of approx.eight since launch when flight software was uploaded to the spacecraft in November 2009 in order to increase the sensitivity of GBM to TGFs. Weaker, un-triggered TGFs are now also being observed about once per day over selected low-latitude regions Americas. The high efficiency and time resolution (2 s) of GBM allows temporal features to be resolved so that some insight may be gained on the origin and transport of the gamma-ray photons through the atmosphere. TGFs are observed to be shorter than previously thought, with an average duration of approx.100 micro-s. The absolute times of TGFs are known to approx.10 micro-s, allowing accurate correlations of TGFs with lightning networks and other lightning-related phenomena. The events are observed in the thick bismuth germanate (BGO) scintillation detectors of GBM with photon energies above 40 MeV. Other new results on the temporal and spectral characteristics of TGFs will be presented, along with properties of several electron-positron TGF events that have been identified.

Precise stellar surface gravities from the time scales of convectively driven brightness variations

PubMed Central

Kallinger, Thomas; Hekker, Saskia; García, Rafael A.; Huber, Daniel; Matthews, Jaymie M.

2016-01-01

A significant part of the intrinsic brightness variations in cool stars of low and intermediate mass arises from surface convection (seen as granulation) and acoustic oscillations (p-mode pulsations). The characteristics of these phenomena are largely determined by the stars’ surface gravity (g). Detailed photometric measurements of either signal can yield an accurate value of g. However, even with ultraprecise photometry from NASA’s Kepler mission, many stars are too faint for current methods or only moderate accuracy can be achieved in a limited range of stellar evolutionary stages. This means that many of the stars in the Kepler sample, including exoplanet hosts, are not sufficiently characterized to fully describe the sample and exoplanet properties. We present a novel way to measure surface gravities with accuracies of about 4%. Our technique exploits the tight relation between g and the characteristic time scale of the combined granulation and p-mode oscillation signal. It is applicable to all stars with a convective envelope, including active stars. It can measure g in stars for which no other analysis is now possible. Because it depends on the time scale (and no other properties) of the signal, our technique is largely independent of the type of measurement (for example, photometry or radial velocity measurements) and the calibration of the instrumentation used. However, the oscillation signal must be temporally resolved; thus, it cannot be applied to dwarf stars observed by Kepler in its long-cadence mode. PMID:26767193

Precise stellar surface gravities from the time scales of convectively driven brightness variations.

PubMed

Kallinger, Thomas; Hekker, Saskia; García, Rafael A; Huber, Daniel; Matthews, Jaymie M

2016-01-01

A significant part of the intrinsic brightness variations in cool stars of low and intermediate mass arises from surface convection (seen as granulation) and acoustic oscillations (p-mode pulsations). The characteristics of these phenomena are largely determined by the stars' surface gravity (g). Detailed photometric measurements of either signal can yield an accurate value of g. However, even with ultraprecise photometry from NASA's Kepler mission, many stars are too faint for current methods or only moderate accuracy can be achieved in a limited range of stellar evolutionary stages. This means that many of the stars in the Kepler sample, including exoplanet hosts, are not sufficiently characterized to fully describe the sample and exoplanet properties. We present a novel way to measure surface gravities with accuracies of about 4%. Our technique exploits the tight relation between g and the characteristic time scale of the combined granulation and p-mode oscillation signal. It is applicable to all stars with a convective envelope, including active stars. It can measure g in stars for which no other analysis is now possible. Because it depends on the time scale (and no other properties) of the signal, our technique is largely independent of the type of measurement (for example, photometry or radial velocity measurements) and the calibration of the instrumentation used. However, the oscillation signal must be temporally resolved; thus, it cannot be applied to dwarf stars observed by Kepler in its long-cadence mode.

The Brightness of Colour

PubMed Central

Corney, David; Haynes, John-Dylan; Rees, Geraint; Lotto, R. Beau

2009-01-01

Background The perception of brightness depends on spatial context: the same stimulus can appear light or dark depending on what surrounds it. A less well-known but equally important contextual phenomenon is that the colour of a stimulus can also alter its brightness. Specifically, stimuli that are more saturated (i.e. purer in colour) appear brighter than stimuli that are less saturated at the same luminance. Similarly, stimuli that are red or blue appear brighter than equiluminant yellow and green stimuli. This non-linear relationship between stimulus intensity and brightness, called the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch (HK) effect, was first described in the nineteenth century but has never been explained. Here, we take advantage of the relative simplicity of this ‘illusion’ to explain it and contextual effects more generally, by using a simple Bayesian ideal observer model of the human visual ecology. We also use fMRI brain scans to identify the neural correlates of brightness without changing the spatial context of the stimulus, which has complicated the interpretation of related fMRI studies. Results Rather than modelling human vision directly, we use a Bayesian ideal observer to model human visual ecology. We show that the HK effect is a result of encoding the non-linear statistical relationship between retinal images and natural scenes that would have been experienced by the human visual system in the past. We further show that the complexity of this relationship is due to the response functions of the cone photoreceptors, which themselves are thought to represent an efficient solution to encoding the statistics of images. Finally, we show that the locus of the response to the relationship between images and scenes lies in the primary visual cortex (V1), if not earlier in the visual system, since the brightness of colours (as opposed to their luminance) accords with activity in V1 as measured with fMRI. Conclusions The data suggest that perceptions of brightness

Nonextensive Thomas-Fermi model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shivamoggi, Bhimsen; Martinenko, Evgeny

2007-11-01

Nonextensive Thomas-Fermi model was father investigated in the following directions: Heavy atom in strong magnetic field. following Shivamoggi work on the extension of Kadomtsev equation we applied nonextensive formalism to father generalize TF model for the very strong magnetic fields (of order 10e12 G). The generalized TF equation and the binding energy of atom were calculated which contain a new nonextensive term dominating the classical one. The binding energy of a heavy atom was also evaluated. Thomas-Fermi equations in N dimensions which is technically the same as in Shivamoggi (1998) ,but behavior is different and in interesting 2 D case nonextesivity prevents from becoming linear ODE as in classical case. Effect of nonextensivity on dielectrical screening reveals itself in the reduction of the envelope radius. It was shown that nonextesivity in each case is responsible for new term dominating classical thermal correction term by order of magnitude, which is vanishing in a limit q->1. Therefore it appears that nonextensive term is ubiquitous for a wide range of systems and father work is needed to understand the origin of it.

Anisotropic breakdown of Fermi liquid quasiparticle excitations in overdoped La₂-xSrxCuO₄.

PubMed

Chang, J; Månsson, M; Pailhès, S; Claesson, T; Lipscombe, O J; Hayden, S M; Patthey, L; Tjernberg, O; Mesot, J

2013-01-01

High-temperature superconductivity emerges from an un-conventional metallic state. This has stimulated strong efforts to understand exactly how Fermi liquids breakdown and evolve into an un-conventional metal. A fundamental question is how Fermi liquid quasiparticle excitations break down in momentum space. Here we show, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, that the Fermi liquid quasiparticle excitations of the overdoped superconducting cuprate La1.77Sr0.23CuO4 is highly anisotropic in momentum space. The quasiparticle scattering and residue behave differently along the Fermi surface and hence the Kadowaki-Wood's relation is not obeyed. This kind of Fermi liquid breakdown may apply to a wide range of strongly correlated metal systems where spin fluctuations are present.

Psr J2030+3641: Radio Discovery And Gamma-Ray Study Of A Middle-Aged Pulsar In The Now Identified Fermi -Lat Source 1FGL J2030.0+3641

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Camilo, F.; Kerr, M.; Ray, P. S.

2012-01-23

In a radio search with the Green Bank Telescope of three unidentified low Galactic latitude Fermi-LAT sources, we have discovered the middle-aged pulsar J2030+3641, associated with 1FGL J2030.0+3641 (2FGL J2030.0+3640). Following the detection of gamma-ray pulsations using a radio ephemeris, we have obtained a phase-coherent timing solution based on gamma-ray and radio pulse arrival times that spans the entire Fermi mission. With a rotation period of 0.2 s, spin-down luminosity of 3X10 34 erg s -1, and characteristic age of 0.5 Myr, PSR J2030+3641 is a middle-aged neutron star with spin parameters similar to those of the exceedingly gamma-ray-bright andmore » radio-undetected Geminga. Its gamma-ray flux is 1% that of Geminga, primarily because of its much larger distance, as suggested by the large integrated column density of free electrons, DM = 246 pc cm-3. We fit the gamma-ray light curve, along with limited radio polarimetric constraints, to four geometrical models of magnetospheric emission, and while none of the fits have high significance some are encouraging and suggest that further refinements of these models may be worthwhile. We argue that not many more non-millisecond radio pulsars may be detected along the Galactic plane that are responsible for LAT sources, but that modified methods to search for gamma-ray pulsations should be productive — PSR J2030+3641 would have been found blindly in gamma rays if only & 0:8 GeV photons had been considered, owing to its relatively flat spectrum and location in a region of high soft background.« less

Extremely Bright GRB 160625B with Multiple Emission Episodes: Evidence for Long-term Ejecta Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lü, Hou-Jun; Lü, Jing; Zhong, Shu-Qing; Huang, Xiao-Li; Zhang, Hai-Ming; Lan, Lin; Xie, Wei; Lu, Rui-Jing; Liang, En-Wei

2017-11-01

GRB 160625B is an extremely bright GRB with three distinct emission episodes. By analyzing its data observed with the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi mission, we find that a multicolor blackbody (mBB) model can be used to fit very well the spectra of the initial short episode (Episode I) within the hypothesis of photosphere emission of a fireball model. The time-resolved spectra of its main episode (Episode II), which was detected with both GBM and LAT after a long quiescent stage (˜180 s) following the initial episode, can be fitted with a model comprising an mBB component plus a cutoff power-law (CPL) component. This GRB was detected again in the GBM and LAT bands with a long extended emission (Episode III) after a quiescent period of ˜300 s. The spectrum of Episode III is adequately fitted with CPL plus single power-law models, and no mBB component is required. These features may imply that the emission of the three episodes are dominated by distinct physics processes, I.e., Episode I is possible from the cocoon emission surrounding the relativistic jet, Episode II may be from photosphere emission and internal shock of the relativistic jet, and Episode III is contributed by internal and external shocks of the relativistic jet. On the other hand, both X-ray and optical afterglows are consistent with the standard external shocks model.

Spin-imbalanced pairing and Fermi surface deformation in flat bands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huhtinen, Kukka-Emilia; Tylutki, Marek; Kumar, Pramod; Vanhala, Tuomas I.; Peotta, Sebastiano; Törmä, Päivi

2018-06-01

We study the attractive Hubbard model with spin imbalance on two lattices featuring a flat band: the Lieb and kagome lattices. We present mean-field phase diagrams featuring exotic superfluid phases, similar to the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state, whose stability is confirmed by dynamical mean-field theory. The nature of the pairing is found to be richer than just the Fermi surface shift responsible for the usual FFLO state. The presence of a flat band allows for changes in the particle momentum distributions at null energy cost. This facilitates formation of nontrivial superfluid phases via multiband Cooper pair formation: the momentum distribution of the spin component in the flat band deforms to mimic the Fermi surface of the other spin component residing in a dispersive band. The Fermi surface of the unpaired particles that are typical for gapless superfluids becomes deformed as well. The results highlight the profound effect of flat dispersions on Fermi surface instabilities, and provide a potential route for observing spin-imbalanced superfluidity and superconductivity.

Late-time Cooling of Neutron Star Transients and the Physics of the Inner Crust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deibel, Alex; Cumming, Andrew; Brown, Edward F.; Reddy, Sanjay

2017-04-01

An accretion outburst onto a neutron star transient heats the neutron star’s crust out of thermal equilibrium with the core. After the outburst, the crust thermally relaxes toward equilibrium with the neutron star core, and the surface thermal emission powers the quiescent X-ray light curve. Crust cooling models predict that thermal equilibrium of the crust will be established ≈ 1000 {days} into quiescence. Recent observations of the cooling neutron star transient MXB 1659-29, however, suggest that the crust did not reach thermal equilibrium with the core on the predicted timescale and continued to cool after ≈ 2500 {days} into quiescence. Because the quiescent light curve reveals successively deeper layers of the crust, the observed late-time cooling of MXB 1659-29 depends on the thermal transport in the inner crust. In particular, the observed late-time cooling is consistent with a low thermal conductivity layer near the depth predicted for nuclear pasta that maintains a temperature gradient between the neutron star’s inner crust and core for thousands of days into quiescence. As a result, the temperature near the crust-core boundary remains above the critical temperature for neutron superfluidity, and a layer of normal neutrons forms in the inner crust. We find that the late-time cooling of MXB 1659-29 is consistent with heat release from a normal neutron layer near the crust-core boundary with a long thermal time. We also investigate the effect of inner crust physics on the predicted cooling curves of the accreting transient KS 1731-260 and the magnetar SGR 1627-41.

Stability of the two-dimensional Fermi polaron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griesemer, Marcel; Linden, Ulrich

2018-02-01

A system composed of an ideal gas of N fermions interacting with an impurity particle in two space dimensions is considered. The interaction between impurity and fermions is given in terms of two-body point interactions whose strength is determined by the two-body binding energy, which is a free parameter of the model. If the mass of the impurity is 1.225 times larger than the mass of a fermion, it is shown that the energy is bounded below uniformly in the number N of fermions. This result improves previous, N-dependent lower bounds, and it complements a recent, similar bound for the Fermi polaron in three space dimensions.

Applications of Fermi-Lowdin-Orbital Self-Interaction Correction Scheme to Organic Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baruah, Tunna; Kao, Der-You; Yamamoto, Yoh

Recent progress in treating the self-interaction errors by means of local, Lowdin-orthogonalized Fermi Orbitals offers a promising route to study the effect of self-interaction errors in the electronic structure of molecules. The Fermi orbitals depend on the location of the electronic positions, called as Fermi orbital descriptors. One advantage of using the Fermi orbitals is that the corrected Hamiltonian is unitarily invariant. Minimization of the corrected energies leads to an optimized set of centroid positions. Here we discuss the applications of this method to various systems from constituent atoms to several medium size molecules such as Mg-porphyrin, C60, pentacene etc. The applications to the ionic systems will also be discussed. De-SC0002168, NSF-DMR 125302.

Fermi surface properties of NbAs2 studied by de Haas-van Alphen oscillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singha, Ratnadwip; Mandal, Prabhat

2018-04-01

We have grown high quality single crystal of NbAs2, a member of the transition metal dipnictide family and measured magnetotransport properties. Very large magnetoresistance ˜1.3×105 % has been observed at 2 K with 9 T magnetic field. The Fermi surface properties have been studied by de Haas-van Alphen oscillation technique. The Fermi surface is highly anisotropic and consists of multiple Fermi pockets. From quantum oscillation results, different Fermi surface related parameters have been quantified.

Late time cosmological dynamics with a nonminimal extension of the mimetic matter scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosseinkhan, N.; Nozari, K.

2018-02-01

We investigate an extension of mimetic gravity in which mimetic matter is nonminimally coupled to the Ricci scalar. We derive the background field equations and show that, as the minimal case, the nonminimal mimetic matter can behave as dark matter or dark energy. By adopting some well-known potentials, we study the dynamics of the scale factor and the equation of state parameter in detail. As the effective mimetic dark energy, this model explains the late time cosmic acceleration and its equation of state parameter crosses the phantom divide. We extend our analysis to the dynamical system approach and the phase space trajectories of the model. We obtain an attractor line which corresponds to the late time cosmic acceleration. By comparing this nonminimal mimetic matter scenario with observational data for the LCDM, we show that the confidence levels of this model overlap with those of Planck 2015 TT, TE, EE + Low P + Lensing + BAO data in the LCDM model.

Small Fermi surfaces of PtSn4 and Pt3In7

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yara, T.; Kakihana, M.; Nishimura, K.; Hedo, M.; Nakama, T.; Ōnuki, Y.; Harima, H.

2018-05-01

An extremely large magnetoresistance of PtSn4 has been recently observed and discussed from a viewpoint of de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) oscillations and theoretical small Fermi surfaces. We have studied precisely the Fermi surfaces by measuring angular dependences of dHvA frequencies and have also carried out the full potential LAPW band calculation. Furthermore, small Fermi surfaces have been detected in another Pt-based compound of Pt3In7 with the cubic structure.

Exposure to bright light biases effort-based decisions.

PubMed

Bijleveld, Erik; Knufinke, Melanie

2018-06-01

Secreted in the evening and the night, melatonin suppresses activity of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, a brain pathway involved in reward processing. However, exposure to bright light diminishes-or even prevents-melatonin secretion. Thus, we hypothesized that reward processing, in the evening, is more pronounced in bright light (vs. dim light). Healthy human participants carried out three tasks that tapped into various aspects of reward processing (effort expenditure for rewards task [EEfRT]; two-armed bandit task [2ABT]; balloon analogue risk task [BART). Brightness was manipulated within-subjects (bright vs. dim light), in separate evening sessions. During the EEfRT, participants used reward-value information more strongly when they were exposed to bright light (vs. dim light). This finding supported our hypothesis. However, exposure to bright light did not significantly affect task behavior on the 2ABT and the BART. While future research is necessary (e.g., to zoom in on working mechanisms), these findings have potential implications for the design of physical work environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Bose-Fermi symmetry in the odd-even gold isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, T.; Régis, J.-M.; Jolie, J.; Heinze, S.; Albers, M.; Bernards, C.; Fransen, C.; Radeck, D.

2014-05-01

In this work the results of an in-beam experiment on 195Au are presented, yielding new spins, multipole mixing ratios, and new low-lying states essential for the understanding of this nucleus. The positive-parity states from this work together with compiled data from the available literature for 185-199Au are compared to Interacting Boson Fermion Model calculations employing the Spin(6) Bose-Fermi symmetry. The evolution of the parameters for the τ splitting and the J splitting reveals a smooth behavior. Thereby, a common description based on the Bose-Fermi symmetry is found for 189-199Au. Furthermore, the calculated E2 transition strengths are compared to experimental values with fixed effective boson and fermion charges for all odd-even gold isotopes, emphasizing that the Spin(6) Bose-Fermi symmetry is valid for the gold isotopes.

Dark blood late enhancement imaging.

PubMed

Kellman, Peter; Xue, Hui; Olivieri, Laura J; Cross, Russell R; Grant, Elena K; Fontana, Marianna; Ugander, Martin; Moon, James C; Hansen, Michael S

2016-11-07

Bright blood late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging typically achieves excellent contrast between infarcted and normal myocardium. However, the contrast between the myocardial infarction (MI) and the blood pool is frequently suboptimal. A large fraction of infarctions caused by coronary artery disease are sub-endocardial and thus adjacent to the blood pool. It is not infrequent that sub-endocardial MIs are difficult to detect or clearly delineate. In this present work, an inversion recovery (IR) T2 preparation was combined with single shot steady state free precession imaging and respiratory motion corrected averaging to achieve dark blood LGE images with good signal to noise ratio while maintaining the desired spatial and temporal resolution. In this manner, imaging was conducted free-breathing, which has benefits for image quality, patient comfort, and clinical workflow in both adults and children. Furthermore, by using a phase sensitive inversion recovery reconstruction the blood signal may be made darker than the myocardium (i.e., negative signal values) thereby providing contrast between the blood and both the MI and remote myocardium. In the proposed approach, a single T1-map scout was used to measure the myocardial and blood T1 using a MOdified Look-Locker Inversion recovery (MOLLI) protocol and all protocol parameters were automatically calculated from these values within the sequence thereby simplifying the user interface. The contrast to noise ratio (CNR) between MI and remote myocardium was measured in n = 30 subjects with subendocardial MI using both bright blood and dark blood protocols. The CNR for the dark blood protocol had a 13 % loss compared to the bright blood protocol. The CNR between the MI and blood pool was positive for all dark blood cases, and was negative in 63 % of the bright blood cases. The conspicuity of subendocardial fibrosis and MI was greatly improved by dark blood (DB) PSIR as well as the delineation of the

Coronal bright points at 6cm wavelength

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fu, Qijun; Kundu, M. R.; Schmahl, E. J.

1988-01-01

Results are presented from observations of bright points at a wavelength of 6-cm using the VLA with a spatial resolution of 1.2 arcsec. During two hours of observations, 44 sources were detected with brightness temperatures between 2000 and 30,000 K. Of these sources, 27 are associated with weak dark He 10830 A features at distances less than 40 arcsecs. Consideration is given to variations in the source parameters and the relationship between ephemeral regions and bright points.

Particle localization, spinor two-valuedness, and Fermi quantization of tensor systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reifler, Frank; Morris, Randall

1994-01-01

Recent studies of particle localization shows that square-integrable positive energy bispinor fields in a Minkowski space-time cannot be physically distinguished from constrained tensor fields. In this paper we generalize this result by characterizing all classical tensor systems, which admit Fermi quantization, as those having unitary Lie-Poisson brackets. Examples include Euler's tensor equation for a rigid body and Dirac's equation in tensor form.

Observations of M31 and M33 with the Fermi Large Area Telescope: A Galactic Center Excess in Andromeda?

DOE PAGES

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Albert, A.; ...

2017-02-23

We report the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has opened the way for comparative studies of cosmic rays (CRs) and high-energy objects in the Milky Way (MW) and in other, external, star-forming galaxies. Using 2 yr of observations with the Fermi LAT, Local Group galaxy M31 was detected as a marginally extended gamma-ray source, while only an upper limit has been derived for the other nearby galaxy M33. We revisited the gamma-ray emission in the direction of M31 and M33 using more than 7 yr of LAT Pass 8 data in the energy rangemore » $$0.1\\mbox{--}100\\,\\mathrm{GeV}$$, presenting detailed morphological and spectral analyses. M33 remains undetected, and we computed an upper limit of $$2.0\\times {10}^{-12}\\,\\mathrm{erg}\\,{\\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}\\,{{\\rm{s}}}^{-1}\\,$$ on the $$0.1\\mbox{--}100\\,\\mathrm{GeV}$$ energy flux (95% confidence level). This revised upper limit remains consistent with the observed correlation between gamma-ray luminosity and star formation rate tracers and implies an average CR density in M33 that is at most half of that of the MW. M31 is detected with a significance of nearly $$10\\sigma $$. Its spectrum is consistent with a power law with photon index $${\\rm{\\Gamma }}=2.4\\pm {0.1}_{\\mathrm{stat}+\\mathrm{syst}}$$ and a $$0.1\\mbox{--}100\\,\\mathrm{GeV}$$ energy flux of $$(5.6\\pm {0.6}_{\\mathrm{stat}+\\mathrm{syst}})\\times {10}^{-12}\\,\\mathrm{erg}\\,{\\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}\\,{{\\rm{s}}}^{-1}$$. M31 is detected to be extended with a $$4\\sigma $$ significance. The spatial distribution of the emission is consistent with a uniform-brightness disk with a radius of 0fdg4 and no offset from the center of the galaxy, but nonuniform intensity distributions cannot be excluded. The flux from M31 appears confined to the inner regions of the galaxy and does not fill the disk of the galaxy or extend far from it. The gamma-ray signal is not correlated with regions rich in gas or star formation activity, which suggests that the emission is not

Observations of M31 and M33 with the Fermi Large Area Telescope: A Galactic Center Excess in Andromeda?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Albert, A.

We report the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has opened the way for comparative studies of cosmic rays (CRs) and high-energy objects in the Milky Way (MW) and in other, external, star-forming galaxies. Using 2 yr of observations with the Fermi LAT, Local Group galaxy M31 was detected as a marginally extended gamma-ray source, while only an upper limit has been derived for the other nearby galaxy M33. We revisited the gamma-ray emission in the direction of M31 and M33 using more than 7 yr of LAT Pass 8 data in the energy rangemore » $$0.1\\mbox{--}100\\,\\mathrm{GeV}$$, presenting detailed morphological and spectral analyses. M33 remains undetected, and we computed an upper limit of $$2.0\\times {10}^{-12}\\,\\mathrm{erg}\\,{\\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}\\,{{\\rm{s}}}^{-1}\\,$$ on the $$0.1\\mbox{--}100\\,\\mathrm{GeV}$$ energy flux (95% confidence level). This revised upper limit remains consistent with the observed correlation between gamma-ray luminosity and star formation rate tracers and implies an average CR density in M33 that is at most half of that of the MW. M31 is detected with a significance of nearly $$10\\sigma $$. Its spectrum is consistent with a power law with photon index $${\\rm{\\Gamma }}=2.4\\pm {0.1}_{\\mathrm{stat}+\\mathrm{syst}}$$ and a $$0.1\\mbox{--}100\\,\\mathrm{GeV}$$ energy flux of $$(5.6\\pm {0.6}_{\\mathrm{stat}+\\mathrm{syst}})\\times {10}^{-12}\\,\\mathrm{erg}\\,{\\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}\\,{{\\rm{s}}}^{-1}$$. M31 is detected to be extended with a $$4\\sigma $$ significance. The spatial distribution of the emission is consistent with a uniform-brightness disk with a radius of 0fdg4 and no offset from the center of the galaxy, but nonuniform intensity distributions cannot be excluded. The flux from M31 appears confined to the inner regions of the galaxy and does not fill the disk of the galaxy or extend far from it. The gamma-ray signal is not correlated with regions rich in gas or star formation activity, which suggests that the emission is not

Generalized charge-screening in relativistic Thomas–Fermi model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akbari-Moghanjoughi, M.

In this paper, we study the charge shielding within the relativistic Thomas-Fermi model for a wide range of electron number-densities and the atomic-number of screened ions. A generalized energy-density relation is obtained using the force-balance equation and taking into account the Chandrasekhar's relativistic electron degeneracy pressure. By numerically solving a second-order nonlinear differential equation, the Thomas-Fermi screening length is investigated, and the results are compared for three distinct regimes of the solid-density, warm-dense-matter, and white-dwarfs (WDs). It is revealed that our nonlinear screening theory is compatible with the exponentially decaying Thomas-Fermi-type shielding predicted by the linear response theory. Moreover, themore » variation of relative Thomas-Fermi screening length shows that extremely dense quantum electron fluids are relatively poor charge shielders. Calculation of the total number of screening electrons around a nucleus shows that there is a position of maximum number of screening localized electrons around the screened nucleus, which moves closer to the point-like nucleus by increase in the plasma number density but is unaffected due to increase in the atomic-number value. It is discovered that the total number of screening electrons, (N{sub s}∝r{sub TF}{sup 3}/r{sub d}{sup 3} where r{sub TF} and r{sub d} are the Thomas-Fermi and interparticle distance, respectively) has a distinct limit for extremely dense plasmas such as WD-cores and neutron star crusts, which is unique for all given values of the atomic-number. This is equal to saying that in an ultrarelativistic degeneracy limit of electron-ion plasma, the screening length couples with the system dimensionality and the plasma becomes spherically self-similar. Current analysis can provide useful information on the effects of relativistic correction to the charge screening for a wide range of plasma density, such as the inertial-confined plasmas and compact