Search results for "astro-ph."
showing 10 items of 2539 documents
Projected WIMP sensitivity of the XENONnT dark matter experiment
2020
XENONnT is a dark matter direct detection experiment, utilizing 5.9 t of instrumented liquid xenon, located at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. In this work, we predict the experimental background and project the sensitivity of XENONnT to the detection of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). The expected average differential background rate in the energy region of interest, corresponding to (1, 13) keV and (4, 50) keV for electronic and nuclear recoils, amounts to 12.3 ± 0.6 (keV t y)-1 and (2.2± 0.5)× 10−3 (keV t y)-1, respectively, in a 4 t fiducial mass. We compute unified confidence intervals using the profile construction method, in order to ensure proper coverage…
A relativistic approach to gravitational instability in the expanding Universe: second-order Lagrangian solutions
1994
A Lagrangian relativistic approach to the non--linear dynamics of cosmological perturbations of an irrotational collisionless fluid is considered. Solutions are given at second order in perturbation theory for the relevant fluid and geometric quantities and compared with the corresponding ones in the Newtonian approximation. Specifically, we compute the density, the volume expansion scalar, the shear, the ``electric" part, or tide, and the ``magnetic" part of the Weyl tensor. The evolution of the shear and the tide beyond the linear regime strongly depends on the ratio of the characteristic size of the perturbation to the cosmological horizon distance. For perturbations on sub--horizon scal…
Modeling an X-ray Flare on Proxima Centauri: evidence of two flaring loop components and of two heating mechanisms at work
2003
We model in detail a flare observed on Proxima Centauri with the EPIC-PN on board XMM-Newton at high statistics and high time resolution and coverage. Time-dependent hydrodynamic loop modeling is used to describe the rise and peak of the light curve, and a large fraction of the decay, including its change of slope and a secondary maximum, over a duration of more than 2 hours. The light curve, the emission measure and the temperature derived from the data allow us to constrain the loop morphology and the heating function and to show that this flare can be described with two components: a major one triggered by an intense heat pulse injected in a single flaring loop with half-length ~1.0 10^{…
The Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit: a consolidated design for the system requirement review of the preliminary definition phase
2023
The Athena X-ray Integral Unit (X-IFU) is the high resolution X-ray spectrometer, studied since 2015 for flying in the mid-30s on the Athena space X-ray Observatory, a versatile observatory designed to address the Hot and Energetic Universe science theme, selected in November 2013 by the Survey Science Committee. Based on a large format array of Transition Edge Sensors (TES), it aims to provide spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy, with a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV (up to 7 keV) over an hexagonal field of view of 5 arc minutes (equivalent diameter). The X-IFU entered its System Requirement Review (SRR) in June 2022, at about the same time when ESA called for an overall X-IFU redesign (i…
Broadband observations of the X-ray burster 4U1705-44 with Beppo SAX
2016
4U 1705-44 is one of the most-studied type I X-ray burster and Atoll sources. This source represents a perfect candidate to test different models proposed to self-consistently track the physical changes occurring between different spectral states because it shows clear spectral state transitions. The broadband coverage, the sensitivity and energy resolution of the BeppoSAX satellite offers the opportunity to disentangle the components that form the total X-ray spectrum and to study their changes according to the spectral state. Using two BeppoSAX observations carried out in August and October 2000, respectively, for a total effective exposure time of about 100 ks, we study the spectral evol…
The LOFT mission concept: a status update
2016
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT will be able to study the behaviour of matter in extreme conditions such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions close to black holes and neutron stars and the supra-nuclear densities in the interiors of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, >8m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolut…
INTEGRAL long-term monitoring of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient XTE J1739-302
2008
In the past few years, a new class of High Mass X-Ray Binaries (HMXRB) has been claimed to exist, the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXT). These are X-ray binary systems with a compact companion orbiting a supergiant star which show very short and bright outbursts in a series of activity periods overimposed on longer quiescent periods. Only very recently the first attempts to model the behaviour of these sources have been published, some of them within the framework of accretion from clumpy stellar winds.Our goal is to analyze the properties of XTE J1739-302/IGR J17391-3021 within the context of the clumpy structure of the supergiant wind. We have used INTEGRAL and RXTE/PCA observations…
First observations of the X-ray transient EXO 2030+375 with IBIS/ISGRI
2003
We present a first INTEGRAL observation of the 42s transient X-ray pulsar EXO 2030+375 with IBIS/ISGRI. The source was detected during Cyg X-1 observations in December 2002. We analyzed observations during the outburst period from 9 to 21 December 2002 with a total exposure time of ~770 kiloseconds. EXO 2030+375 was almost always detected during single ~30 minute exposures in the 18-45 energy bands. The source light curve shows the characteristic outburst shape observed in this source.
3D simulations of wind-jet interaction in massive X-ray binaries
2010
High-mass microquasars may produce jets that will strongly interact with surrounding stellar winds on binary system spatial scales. We study the dynamics of the collision between a mildly relativistic hydrodynamical jet of supersonic nature and the wind of an OB star. We performed numerical 3D simulations of jets that cross the stellar wind with the code Ratpenat. The jet head generates a strong shock in the wind, and strong recollimation shocks occur due to the initial overpressure of the jet with its environment. These shocks can accelerate particles up to TeV energies and produce gamma-rays. The recollimation shock also strengthens jet asymmetric Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities produced i…
Tracking the evolution of the accretion flow in MAXI J1820+070 during its hard state with the JED-SAD model
2021
X-ray binaries in outburst typically show two canonical X-ray spectral states, i.e. hard and soft states, in which the physical properties of the accretion flow and of the jet are known to change. Recently, the JED-SAD paradigm has been proposed for black hole X-ray binaries, aimed to address the accretion-ejection interplay in these systems. According to this model, the accretion flow is composed by an outer standard Shakura-Sunyaev disk (SAD) and an inner hot Jet Emitting Disk (JED). The JED produces both the hard X-ray emission, effectively playing the role of the hot corona, and the radio jets. In this paper, we use the JED-SAD model to describe the evolution of the accretion flow in th…