Photon quantum entanglement in the MeV regime and its application in PET imaging

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a widely-used imaging modality for medical research and clinical diagnosis. Imaging of the radiotracer is obtained from the detected hit positions of the two positron annihilation photons in a detector array. The image is degraded by backgrounds from random coincidences and in-patient scatter events which require correction. In addition to the geometric information, the two annihilation photons are predicted to be produced in a quantum-entangled state, resulting in enhanced correlations between their subsequent interaction processes. To explore this, the predicted entanglement in linear polarisation for the two photons was incorporated into a simulation and tested by comparison with experimental data from a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) PET demonstrator apparatus. Adapted apparati also enabled correlation measurements where one of the photons had undergone a prior scatter process. We show that the entangled simulation describes the measured correlations and, through simulation of a larger preclinical PET scanner, illustrate a simple method to quantify and remove the unwanted backgrounds in PET using the quantum entanglement information alone.

The Inhibition Mechanism of Surfactant Composite for Mild Steel Corrosion in NaCl Solution

The corrosion inhibition of sodium deodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) surfactant and ZnSO4 on mild steel in 0.05 M NaCl solution was conducted through the impedance spectroscopy and linear polarisation measurement. The inhibitors performance was measured separately and as a mixed composite of both at a ratio of 200:200 ppm. Results obtained from both these measurements indicate high corrosion inhibition of the mild steel substrates was achieved. Porosity calculation of the formed inhibition layer was done through the obtained linear polarisation data, and its dielectric properties were deduced from the impedance measurements. Two possible structures of the formed inhibitive layers are proposed. The first structure involved the formation of a stable but porous zinc oxide/hydroxide layer with the surfactant filling up the pores, thus forming a continuous inhibitive barrier film layer while the second, involved a formation of a continuous inhibitive barrier layer due to the chelation of the surfactant and ZnSO4 compounds. The results obtained also indicated that corrosion resistance induced by the inhibitive barrier layers is much more dependent on its charge transfer resistance properties rather than its dielectric properties and that the corrosion inhibition provided is not directly related to the double-layer capacitance values of the barrier layer.

High-sensitivity radio study of the non-thermal stellar bow shock EB27

We present a deep radio-polarimetric observation of the stellar bow shock EB27 associated to the massive star BD+43○3654. This is the only stellar bow shock confirmed to have non-thermal radio emission. We used the Jansky Very Large Array in S band (2–4 GHz) to test whether this synchrotron emission is polarised. The unprecedented sensitivity achieved allowed us to map even the fainter regions of the bow shock, revealing that the more diffuse emission is steeper and the bow shock brighter than previously reported. No linear polarisation is detected in the bow shock above 0.5%, although we detected polarised emission from two southern sources, probably extragalactic in nature. We modeled the intensity and morphology of the radio emission to better constrain the magnetic field and injected power in relativistic electrons. Finally, we derived a set of more precise parameters for the system EB27–BD+43○3654 using Gaia Early Data Release 3, including the spatial velocity. The new trajectory, back in time, intersects the core of the Cyg OB2 association.

Dynamically important magnetic fields near the event horizon of Sgr A*

We study the time-variable linear polarisation of Sgr A* during a bright near-infrared flare observed with the GRAVITY instrument on July 28, 2018. Motivated by the time evolution of both the observed astrometric and polarimetric signatures, we interpret the data in terms of the polarised emission of a compact region (“hotspot”) orbiting a black hole in a fixed, background magnetic field geometry. We calculated a grid of general relativistic ray-tracing models, created mock observations by simulating the instrumental response, and compared predicted polarimetric quantities directly to the measurements. We take into account an improved instrument calibration that now includes the instrument’s response as a function of time, and we explore a variety of idealised magnetic field configurations. We find that the linear polarisation angle rotates during the flare, which is consistent with previous results. The hotspot model can explain the observed evolution of the linear polarisation. In order to match the astrometric period of this flare, the near horizon magnetic field is required to have a significant poloidal component, which is associated with strong and dynamically important fields. The observed linear polarisation fraction of ≃30% is smaller than the one predicted by our model (≃50%). The emission is likely beam depolarised, indicating that the flaring emission region resolves the magnetic field structure close to the black hole.

Helicity proxies from linear polarisation of solar active regions

Context. The α effect is believed to play a key role in the generation of the solar magnetic field. A fundamental test for its significance in the solar dynamo is to look for magnetic helicity of opposite signs both between the two hemispheres as well as between small and large scales. However, measuring magnetic helicity is compromised by the inability to fully infer the magnetic field vector from observations of solar spectra, caused by what is known as the π ambiguity of spectropolarimetric observations. Aims. We decompose linear polarisation into parity-even and parity-odd E and B polarisations, which are not affected by the π ambiguity. Furthermore, we study whether the correlations of spatial Fourier spectra of B and parity-even quantities such as E or temperature T are a robust proxy for magnetic helicity of solar magnetic fields. Methods. We analysed polarisation measurements of active regions observed by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics observatory. Theory predicts the magnetic helicity of active regions to have, statistically, opposite signs in the two hemispheres. We then computed the parity-odd EB and TB correlations and tested for a systematic preference of their sign based on the hemisphere of the active regions. Results. We find that: (i) EB and TB correlations are a reliable proxy for magnetic helicity, when computed from linear polarisation measurements away from spectral line cores; and (ii) E polarisation reverses its sign close to the line core. Our analysis reveals that Faraday rotation does not have a significant influence on the computed parity-odd correlations. Conclusions. The EB decomposition of linear polarisation appears to be a good proxy for magnetic helicity independent of the π ambiguity. This allows us to routinely infer magnetic helicity directly from polarisation measurements.

Repeating fast radio bursts with WSRT/Apertif

Context. Repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) present excellent opportunities to identify FRB progenitors and host environments as well as to decipher the underlying emission mechanism. Detailed studies of repeating FRBs might also hold clues as to the origin of FRBs as a population. Aims. We aim to detect bursts from the first two repeating FRBs, FRB 121102 (R1) and FRB 180814.J0422+73 (R2), and to characterise their repeat statistics. We also want to significantly improve the sky localisation of R2 and identify its host galaxy. Methods. We used the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope to conduct extensive follow-up of these two repeating FRBs. The new phased-array feed system, Apertif, allows one to cover the entire sky position uncertainty of R2 with fine spatial resolution in a single pointing. The data were searched for bursts around the known dispersion measures of the two sources. We characterise the energy distribution and the clustering of detected R1 bursts. Results. We detected 30 bursts from R1. The non-Poissonian nature is clearly evident from the burst arrival times, which is consistent with earlier claims. Our measurements indicate a dispersion measure (DM) of 563.5(2) pc cm−3, suggesting a significant increase in DM over the past few years. Assuming a constant position angle across the burst, we place an upper limit of 8% on the linear polarisation fraction for the brightest burst in our sample. We did not detect any bursts from R2. Conclusions. A single power-law might not fit the R1 burst energy distribution across the full energy range or widely separated detections. Our observations provide improved constraints on the clustering of R1 bursts. Our stringent upper limits on the linear polarisation fraction imply a significant depolarisation, either intrinsic to the emission mechanism or caused by the intervening medium at 1400 MHz, which is not observed at higher frequencies. The non-detection of any bursts from R2, despite nearly 300 h of observations, implies either a highly clustered nature of the bursts, a steep spectral index, or a combination of the two assuming that the source is still active. Another possibility is that R2 has turned off completely, either permanently or for an extended period of time.

Discovery of a Sirius-like binary system with a very strongly magnetic white dwarf

Non-interacting binary systems containing a magnetic white dwarf and a main-sequence star are considered extremely rare, perhaps non-existent. In the course of a search of magnetic fields in high-mass white dwarfs we have discovered a Sirius-like wide binary system composed of a main-sequence G0 star and an M ∼ 1.1 M⊙ white dwarf with a huge (hundreds of MG) magnetic field. This star, WDS J03038+0608B, shows a circular polarisation amplitude of 5% in the continuum, with no evidence of variability on a 1 d timescale, little or no linear polarisation in the blue part of the spectrum, and about 2% linear polarisation in the red part of the optical spectrum. A search in the literature reveals the existence of four more binary systems that include a magnetic white dwarf and a non-degenerate companion; three such systems passed unremarked in previous studies. We estimate that up to a few percent of magnetic white dwarfs may be found to occur in wide binary pairs. However, at least four of the five known binary systems with a magnetic white dwarf are too widely separated to be expected to evolve into systems experiencing Roche-lobe overflow, and cannot be considered as progenitors of magnetic cataclysmic variable (AM Her and DQ Her) systems.

A Recipe to Obtain Lidar Polarisation Calibration Parameters G, H and K

The accuracy of the polarisation calibration is of prime importance for aerosol classification using lidars. We present a detailed description how to obtain the calibration parameters introduced in 2016 [1] accounting for various effects of non-ideal optics, lasers and atmospheric conditions. We find that crucial parameters such as the rotation angle of the plane of polarisation of the Laser (RotL) as well as the degree of linear polarisation (DOLP) influence the volume linear depolarisation ratio significantly.