Search results for "GRAVITATION"
showing 10 items of 743 documents
Dark, Cold, and Noisy: Constraining Secluded Hidden Sectors with Gravitational Waves
2018
We explore gravitational wave signals arising from first-order phase transitions occurring in a secluded hidden sector, allowing for the possibility that the hidden sector may have a different temperature than the Standard Model sector. We present the sensitivity to such scenarios for both current and future gravitational wave detectors in a model-independent fashion. Since secluded hidden sectors are of particular interest for dark matter models at the MeV scale or below, we pay special attention to the reach of pulsar timing arrays. Cosmological constraints on light degrees of freedom restrict the number of sub-MeV particles in a hidden sector, as well as the hidden sector temperature. Ne…
Gravitational lensing on the Cosmic Microwave Background by gravity waves
1997
We study the effect of a stochastic background of gravitational waves on the gravitational lensing of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. It has been shown that matter density inhomogeneities produce a smoothing of the acoustic peaks in the angular power spectrum of the CMB anisotropies. A gravitational wave background gives rise to an additional smoothing of the spectrum. For the most simple case of a gravitational wave background arising during a period of inflation, the effect results to be three to four orders of magnitude smaller than its scalar counterpart, and is thus undetectable. It could play a more relevant role in models where a larger background of gravitational wa…
Kicked neutron stars and microlensing
1996
Due to the large kick velocities with which neutron stars are born in supernovae explosions, their spatial distribution is more extended than that of their progenitor stars. The large scale height of the neutron stars above the disk plane makes them potential candidates for microlensing of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Adopting for the distribution of kicks the measured velocities of young pulsars, we obtain a microlensing optical depth of $\tau \sim 2 N_{10} \times 10^{-8}$ (where $N_{10}$ is the total number of neutron stars born in the disk in units of $10^{10}$). The event duration distribution has the interesting property of being peaked at $T \sim 60$--80 d, but for the rates t…
MICROLENSING OF QUASAR ULTRAVIOLET IRON EMISSION
2013
We measure the differential microlensing of the UV Fe II and Fe III emission line blends between 14 quasar image pairs in 13 gravitational lenses. We find that the UV iron emission is strongly microlensed in four cases with amplitudes comparable to that of the continuum. Statistically modeling the magnifications, we infer a typical size of r{sub s}∼4√(M/M{sub ⊙}) light-days for the Fe line-emitting regions, which is comparable to the size of the region generating the UV continuum (∼3-7 light-days). This may indicate that a significant part of the UV Fe II and Fe III emission originates in the quasar accretion disk.
Dark Matter Fraction in Lens Galaxies: New Estimates from Microlensing
2014
We present a joint estimate of the stellar/dark matter mass fraction in lens galaxies and the average size of the accretion disk of lensed quasars from microlensing measurements of 27 quasar image pairs seen through 19 lens galaxies. The Bayesian estimate for the fraction of the surface mass density in the form of stars is $\alpha=0.21\pm0.14$ near the Einstein radius of the lenses ($\sim 1 - 2$ effective radii). The estimate for the average accretion disk size is $R_{1/2}=7.9^{+3.8}_{-2.6}\sqrt{M/0.3M_\sun}$ light days. The fraction of mass in stars at these radii is significantly larger than previous estimates from microlensing studies assuming quasars were point-like. The corresponding l…
The First Precise Determination of an Optical–Far‐Ultraviolet Extinction Curve Beyond the Local Group ( \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \u…
2005
We present the optical-far-ultraviolet extinction curve of the dust in the lens galaxy of the gravitational lens system SBS 0909+532 (z = 0.83). Extending our previous optical-UV estimate (from λ ~ 2 to 5 μm-1) into the far ultraviolet (from λ ~ 5 to 8 μm-1) is crucial for comparing with the extinction curves measured for Local Group galaxies in the spectral region where the differences are greatest. The SBS 0909+532 curve is similar to that of the LMC2 supershell, with a weaker 2175 A feature and a steeper rise into the UV than that observed in the Milky Way. The shapes of the extinction curve inferred from the quasar continuum and emission lines are in very good agreement. There is, howev…
BeppoSAX observation of 4U 1907+09: Detection of a cyclotron line and its second harmonic
2000
Abstract We report the detection of a cyclotron absorption line and its second harmonic in the average spectrum of the high mass X-ray binary 4U1907+09 observed by the BeppoSAX satellite. The broad band spectral capability of BeppoSAX allowed a good determination of the continuum against which the two absorption features are evident at ∼ 19 and ∼ 39 keV. Correcting for the gravitational redshift of a ∼ 1.4 M⊙ neutron star, the inferred surface magnetic field strength is Bsurf = 2.1 × 1012 G.
Scalar Dark Matter in the Radio-Frequency Band: Atomic-Spectroscopy Search Results
2019
Among the prominent candidates for dark matter are bosonic fields with small scalar couplings to the Standard-Model particles. Several techniques are employed to search for such couplings and the current best constraints are derived from tests of gravity or atomic probes. In experiments employing atoms, observables would arise from expected dark-matter-induced oscillations in the fundamental constants of nature. These studies are primarily sensitive to underlying particle masses below $10^{-14}$ eV. We present a method to search for fast oscillations of fundamental constants using atomic spectroscopy in cesium vapor. We demonstrate sensitivity to scalar interactions of dark matter associate…
Detection of chromatic microlensing in Q 2237+0305 A
2008
We present narrowband images of the gravitational lens system Q~2237+0305 made with the Nordic Optical Telescope in eight different filters covering the wavelength interval 3510-8130 \AA. Using point-spread function photometry fitting we have derived the difference in magnitude versus wavelength between the four images of Q~2237+0305. At $\lambda=4110$ \AA, the wavelength range covered by the Str\"omgren-v filter coincides with the position and width of the CIV emission line. This allows us to determine the existence of microlensing in the continuum and not in the emission lines for two images of the quasar. Moreover, the brightness of image A shows a significant variation with wavelength w…
Topological charge selection rule for phase singularities
2009
We present a study of the dynamics and decay pattern of phase singularities due to the action of a system with a discrete rotational symmetry of finite order. A topological charge conservation rule is identified. The role played by the underlying symmetry is emphasized. An effective model describing the short range dynamics of the vortex clusters has been designed. A method to engineer any desired configuration of clusters of phase singularities is proposed. Its flexibility to create and control clusters of vortices is discussed.