scholarly journals The Cyclotron Lines in the Optical Spectra of the Stars of AM Herculis Group: Observations and Interpretation

1980 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 453-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. G. Mitrofanov

The stars of the AM Herculis group (AM Her, VV Pup, AN UMa and 2A 0311-227) are close binaries containing a mass losing, nondegenerate star and an accreting degenerate dwarf. Their main properties are: the large linear and circular polarization of the optical light, high and low luminosity states, the variable emission line, spectra of H, He and other elements and the identification of these objects with X-ray sources. It is generally accepted that the strong magnetic field of the degenerate dwarf is responsible for these peculiar properties and for the distinction between these objects and the cataclysmic variables (Mitrofanov 1978, 1979a). The polarized optical continuum may be emitted by the accreted magnetized plasma (e.g. Chanmugam and Wagner, 1979), by the magnetized photosphere of the degenerate dwarf (Mitrofanov et al. 1977), or by both sources (Mitrofanov, 1979b). To explain the observed X-rays, Lamb and Masters (1979) showed that a magnetic field about 108 gs is necessary. Unfortunately, the basic prediction of their model - the strong ultraviolet continuum in the spectrum of AM Herculis - appears to be absent (Raymond et al. 1979). Chanmugam and Wagner (1979) proposed a rather different estimate for B of 2 · 108/m*gs (m* = 5 ÷ 25). For further investigations of the AM Herculis-type stars it seems useful to find a direct observational method for measuring the dwarfs′ magnetic fields.

2004 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 75-76
Author(s):  
N. A. Webb ◽  
B. Gendre ◽  
D. Barret

AbstractGlobular clusters (GCs) harbour a large number of close binaries which are hard to identify optically due to high stellar densities. Observing these GCs in X-rays, in which the compact binaries are bright, diminishes the over-crowding problem. Using the new generation of X-ray observatories, it is possible to identify populations of neutron star low mass X-ray binaries, cataclysmic variables and millisecond pulsars as well as other types of binaries. We present the spectra of a variety of binaries that we have identified in four GCs observed by XMM-Newton. We show that through population studies we can begin to understand the formation of individual classes of binaries in GCs and hence start to unfold the complex evolutionary paths of these systems.


1979 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 508-508
Author(s):  
D. Q. Lamb

Many cataclysmic variables have been found to be hard, as well as soft, X-ray sources. Emission from the boundary layer of an optically thick accretion disk extending down to the stellar surface can, at outburst, produce soft X-rays, but the production of hard X-rays from such a disk is difficult to understand. We therefore conjecture that the sources which emit hard X-rays have magnetic fields and are, in general, rotating. We then propose a classification scheme for cataclysmic variables based on the size of the Alfven radius rA relative to the stellar radius R of the degenerate dwarf and the separation α of the binary system. We show that many of the varied characteristics displayed by the cataclysmic variable X-ray sources can be understood in terms of this ordering. We suggest that the AM Her Class (AM Her, AN UMa, W Pup, and 2A0311-23) have R ≪ α ≪ rA , the DQ Her Class (DQ Her, V533 Her, and AE Aqr) have R ≪ rA ≪ α, while the SS Cyg Class (SS Cyg, U Gem, EX Hya, and GK Per) have rA ≲ R ≪ α. Although rA depends on both the magnetic field strength of the degenerate dwarf ana the accretion rate, for comparable rates of accretion the ordering that we propose is essentially one of decreasing magnetic field strength.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (S329) ◽  
pp. 369-372
Author(s):  
C. L. Fletcher ◽  
V. Petit ◽  
Y. Nazé ◽  
G. A. Wade ◽  
R. H. Townsend ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent spectropolarimetric surveys of bright, hot stars have found that ~10% of OB-type stars contain strong (mostly dipolar) surface magnetic fields (~kG). The prominent paradigm describing the interaction between the stellar winds and the surface magnetic field is the magnetically confined wind shock (MCWS) model. In this model, the stellar wind plasma is forced to move along the closed field loops of the magnetic field, colliding at the magnetic equator, and creating a shock. As the shocked material cools radiatively it will emit X-rays. Therefore, X-ray spectroscopy is a key tool in detecting and characterizing the hot wind material confined by the magnetic fields of these stars. Some B-type stars are found to have very short rotational periods. The effects of the rapid rotation on the X-ray production within the magnetosphere have yet to be explored in detail. The added centrifugal force due to rapid rotation is predicted to cause faster wind outflows along the field lines, leading to higher shock temperatures and harder X-rays. However, this is not observed in all rapidly rotating magnetic B-type stars. In order to address this from a theoretical point of view, we use the X-ray Analytical Dynamical Magnetosphere (XADM) model, originally developed for slow rotators, with an implementation of new rapid rotational physics. Using X-ray spectroscopy from ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescope, we observed 5 rapidly rotating B-types stars to add to the previous list of observations. Comparing the observed X-ray luminosity and hardness ratio to that predicted by the XADM allows us to determine the role the added centrifugal force plays in the magnetospheric X-ray emission of these stars.


2020 ◽  
Vol 640 ◽  
pp. A37 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Ignesti ◽  
G. Brunetti ◽  
M. Gitti ◽  
S. Giacintucci

Context. A large fraction of cool-core clusters are known to host diffuse, steep-spectrum radio sources, called radio mini-halos, in their cores. Mini-halos reveal the presence of relativistic particles on scales of hundreds of kiloparsecs, beyond the scales directly influenced by the central active galactic nucleus (AGN), but the nature of the mechanism that produces such a population of radio-emitting, relativistic electrons is still debated. It is also unclear to what extent the AGN plays a role in the formation of mini-halos by providing the seeds of the relativistic population. Aims. In this work we explore the connection between thermal and non-thermal components of the intra-cluster medium in a sample of radio mini-halos and we study the implications within the framework of a hadronic model for the origin of the emitting electrons. Methods. For the first time, we studied the thermal and non-thermal connection by carrying out a point-to-point comparison of the radio and the X-ray surface brightness in a sample of radio mini-halos. We extended the method generally applied to giant radio halos by considering the effects of a grid randomly generated through a Monte Carlo chain. Then we used the radio and X-ray correlation to constrain the physical parameters of a hadronic model and we compared the model predictions with current observations. Results. Contrary to what is generally reported in the literature for giant radio halos, we find that the mini-halos in our sample have super-linear scaling between radio and X-rays, which suggests a peaked distribution of relativistic electrons and magnetic field. We explore the consequences of our findings on models of mini-halos. We use the four mini-halos in the sample that have a roundish brightness distribution to constrain model parameters in the case of a hadronic origin of the mini-halos. Specifically, we focus on a model where cosmic rays are injected by the central AGN and they generate secondaries in the intra-cluster medium, and we assume that the role of turbulent re-acceleration is negligible. This simple model allows us to constrain the AGN cosmic ray luminosity in the range ∼1044−46 erg s−1 and the central magnetic field in the range 10–40 μG. The resulting γ-ray fluxes calculated assuming these model parameters do not violate the upper limits on γ-ray diffuse emission set by the Fermi-LAT telescope. Further studies are now required to explore the consistency of these large magnetic fields with Faraday rotation studies and to study the interplay between the secondary electrons and the intra-cluster medium turbulence.


Author(s):  
Nirmal Chandra Sukul ◽  
Tandra Sarkar ◽  
Atheni Konar ◽  
Md. Amir Sohel ◽  
Asmita Sengupta ◽  
...  

Aqueous ethanol is the standard medium for all drugs used in homeopathy. X-ray and Magnetispoli ambo are 2 homeopathic drugs prepared by exposure of aqueous ethanol to x-rays and static magnetic field, respectively.Mother tinctures (MT)weresuccessively diluted with solvent 1:100 and succussed in several steps to prepare centesimal potencies 8 cH, 14 cH and 32 cH. The solvent was processed in the same way. Although identical in chemical composition (0.03 molar ethanol) and water content (96%) these preparations like the Mother tinctures and three potencies of X-ray and Magnetispoli amboexhibit different therapeutic pathological effects. Potency 8cH of each preparation was diluted with water to reach concentrations 4%, 20%, 40% and 80% ethanol. The aim of the study was to establish whether these potencies exhibited variation in free water molecules. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) of MT and potencies exhibited almost similar freezing and melting points, but they remarkably differed in freezing and melting enthalpy and free water molecules. The various dilutions of potency 8cH exhibited variation in enthalpies and free water molecules, being this variation independent of the amount of water added. We conclude that exposure of aqueous ethanol to x-rays and magnetic field, with subsequent dilution and agitation induces changes in the solvent involving free water molecules. All X-ray and Magnetispoli ambo potencies were analyzed by means of Raman spectroscopy for free water molecules. The results were compared to the ones of DSC, being more or less similar.


2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (3) ◽  
pp. 4057-4068
Author(s):  
Mayukh Pahari ◽  
I M McHardy ◽  
Federico Vincentelli ◽  
Edward Cackett ◽  
Bradley M Peterson ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Using a month-long X-ray light curve from RXTE/PCA and 1.5 month-long UV continuum light curves from IUE spectra in 1220–1970 Å, we performed a detailed time-lag study of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469. Our cross-correlation analysis confirms previous results showing that the X-rays are delayed relative to the UV continuum at 1315 Å by 3.49 ± 0.22 d, which is possibly caused by either propagating fluctuation or variable Comptonization. However, if variations slower than 5 d are removed from the X-ray light curve, the UV variations then lag behind the X-ray variations by 0.37 ± 0.14 d, consistent with reprocessing of the X-rays by a surrounding accretion disc. A very similar reverberation delay is observed between Swift/XRT X-ray and Swift/UVOT UVW2, U light curves. Continuum light curves extracted from the Swift/GRISM spectra show delays with respect to X-rays consistent with reverberation. Separating the UV continuum variations faster and slower than 5 d, the slow variations at 1825 Å lag those at 1315 Å by 0.29 ± 0.06 d, while the fast variations are coincident (0.04 ± 0.12 d). The UV/optical continuum reverberation lag from IUE, Swift, and other optical telescopes at different wavelengths are consistent with the relationship: τ ∝ λ4/3, predicted for the standard accretion disc theory while the best-fitting X-ray delay from RXTE and Swift/XRT shows a negative X-ray offset of ∼0.38 d from the standard disc delay prediction.


1997 ◽  
Vol 166 ◽  
pp. 247-250
Author(s):  
H.-C. Thomas ◽  
K. Beuermann

The ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS) was the first one performed with an imaging telescope in the soft X-ray regime and has led to the discovery of numerous new objects whose emission is dominated by soft X-rays. Among these are white dwarfs and a subclass of the cataclysmic variables (CVs), the Polars or AM Herculis binaries. From a pre-ROSAT census of only 17, the number of known sources of this class has increased to some 55 (Beuermann and Thomas 1993, Beuermann 1997). Distances or lower limits to the distance are available for some 35 of these, based on the detection or non-detection of the TiO-Features in their optical red spectra. The derived distances range from below 100 pc up to ~ 600 pc, implying that many of these objects are located within the “Local Bubble” of low gas density in interstellar space. As the soft X-ray emission can be reasonably well represented by blackbody emission with a typical temperature of kTbb ≃ 25 eV, spectral fits to the ROSAT PSPC spectra from either the All-Sky-Survey (RASS) or from subsequent pointed ROSAT observations allow to determine the foreground absorption column density in the direction of the polars.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (S342) ◽  
pp. 137-140
Author(s):  
A. Ignesti ◽  
G. Brunetti ◽  
M. Gitti ◽  
S. Giacintucci

AbstractSeveral cool-core clusters are known to host a radio mini-halo, a diffuse, steep-spectrum radio source located in their cores, thus probing the presence of non-thermal components as magnetic field and relativistic particles on scales not directly influenced by the central AGN. The nature of the mechanism that produces a population of radio-emitting relativistic particles on the scale of hundreds of kiloparsecs is still unclear. At the same time, it is still debated if the central AGN may play a role in the formation of mini-halos by providing the seed of the relativistic particles. We aim to investigate these open issues by studying the connection between thermal and non-thermal components of the intra-cluster medium. We performed a point-to-point analysis of the radio and the X-ray surface brightness of a compilation of mini-halos. We find that mini-halos have super-linear scalings between radio and X-rays, with radio brightness declining more steeply than the X-ray brightness. This trend is opposite to that generally observed in giant radio halos, thus marking a possible difference in the physics of the two radio sources. Finally, using the scalings between radio and X-rays and assuming a hadronic origin of mini-halos we derive constraints on the magnetic field in the core of the hosting clusters.


1972 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 761-762
Author(s):  
G. Elwert ◽  
E. Haug

The polarization and angular distribution of solar hard X radiation above 10 keV was calculated under the assumption that the X rays originate as bremsstrahlung from energetic electrons moving in a preferred direction. The source electrons are supposed to have a power-law spectrum. These conditions are to be expected in the impulsive phase of an X-ray burst. The spiral orbits of the electrons around the magnetic field lines are taken into account.


1983 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 173-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine Mouchet

ABSTRACTWe present the energy distribution of three hard X-ray sources H2252-035, 4U1849-31 and 2A0526-328 identified with intermediate polars. The ultraviolet and optical continuum can be well described by the standard disc model but this requires rather large discs and high accretion rates. Other possible contributions to the energy distribution are estimated. The predicted high accretion rates as well as the amplitude of the optical pulsations are in disagreement with the observed X-ray luminosity suggesting the existence of an unseen soft X-ray or extreme UV component.


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