Jet breaks in the X-ray light-curves of Swift gamma-ray burst afterglows

In the set of 236 gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows observed by Swift between 2005 January and 2007 March, we identify 30 X-ray light-curves that have power-law fall-offs that exhibit a steepening ('break') at 0.1–10 d after they are triggered, to a decay steeper than t ^−1.5. For most of these afterglows, the X-ray spectral slope and the decay indices before and after the break can be accommodated by the standard jet model although a different origin of the breaks cannot be ruled out. In addition, there are 27 other afterglows which have X-ray light-curves that may also exhibit a late break to a steep decay, but the evidence is not that compelling. The X-ray emissions of 38 afterglows decay slower than t ^−1.5 until after 3 d, half of them exhibiting such a slow decay until after 10 d. Therefore, the fraction of well-monitored Swift afterglows with potential jet breaks is around 60 per cent, whether we count only the strongest cases for each type or all of them. This fraction is comparable to the 75 per cent of pre-Swift afterglows which have optical light-curves that displayed similar breaks at ∼1 d. The peak energy of the GRB spectrum of Swift afterglows with light-curve breaks shows the same correlations with the burst isotropic output (Amati relation) and with the burst collimated output (Ghirlanda relation) as previously found for pre- Swift optical afterglows with light-curve breaks. However, we find that the Ghirlanda relation is largely a consequence of Amati's and that the use of the jet-break time leads to a stronger Ghirlanda correlation only when the few objects that do not satisfy the Amati relation are included.     

X-ray synchrotron emission from the oblique shock in the jet of the powerful radio galaxy 3C 346

We report the first detection, with Chandra , of X-ray emission from the jet of the powerful narrow-line radio galaxy 3C 346. X-rays are detected from the bright radio and optical knot at which the jet apparently bends by approximately 70°. The Chandra observation also reveals a bright galaxy-scale atmosphere within the previously known cluster and provides a good X-ray spectrum for the bright core of 3C 346. The X-ray emission from the knot is synchrotron radiation, as seen in lower-power sources. In common with these sources, there is evidence of morphological differences between the radio/optical and X-ray structures, and the spectrum is inconsistent with a one-component continuous-injection model. We suggest that the X-ray-bright knot is associated with a strong oblique shock in a moderately relativistic, light jet, at ∼ 20° to the line of sight, and that this shock is caused by the jet interacting with the wake in the cluster medium behind the companion galaxy of 3C 346. The general jet curvature can result from pressure gradients in the cluster atmosphere.     

Mapping the magnetosphere of PSR B1055−52

We present a geometric study of the radio and γ-ray pulsar B1055−52 based on recent observations at the Parkes radio telescope. We conclude that the pulsar's magnetic axis is inclined at an angle of 75° to its rotation axis and that both its radio main pulse and interpulse are emitted at the same height above their respective poles. This height is unlikely to be higher or much lower than 700 km, a typical value for radio pulsars.
It is argued that the radio interpulse arises from emission formed on open fieldlines close to the magnetic axis which do not pass through the magnetosphere's null (zero-charge) surface. However, the main pulse emission must originate from fieldlines lying well outside the polar cap boundary beyond the null surface, and farther away from the magnetic axis than those of the outer gap region where the single γ-ray peak is generated. This casts doubt on the common assumption that all pulsars have closed, quiescent, corotating regions stretching to the light cylinder.     

台风激发的第二类地脉动特征及激发模式分析

0.003~1 Hz频段的地脉动主要来源于海浪运动与固体地球的耦合作用,台风引起的强烈海浪运动往往可使地脉动能量显著增强.由于涉及大气-海洋-固体地球三个圈层之间的复杂动量传递与耦合过程,迄今为止,关于台风激发地脉动的具体源区位置及激发机制尚存在争议.本文选取日本、中国东南沿海及台湾地区的地震台站波形连续记录,研究了2008年台风“森拉克”和“黑格比”激发地脉动的时频特征,开展相应数值模拟,并与观测数据进行了对比分析研究.结果表明台风激发第二类地脉动存在两种主要模式：（1）近岸源区激发,即台风引起波浪入射至海岸反射并与后续来波相互作用形成驻波作用于海底而激发;（2）台风中心附近源区激发,即台风中心移动过程中不同时期激发的同频率波浪相向传播、相互作用产生驻波作用于海底而激发,源区位置主要集中于台风中心左后方.此外,结合波浪再分析数据、台风风场特征,我们进一步对第二类地脉动激发过程中的影响因素进行了分析,发现：第一种模式激发的地脉动与近岸源区波浪场强度、观测点至源区距离及台风中心至海岸线距离等因素相关;而第二种模式激发的地脉动则主要受台风中心附近波浪场的频率成分与传播方向影响.

     

Gamma-ray probe of cosmic ray pressure in galaxy clusters and cosmological implications

Cosmic rays produced in cluster accretion and merger shocks provide pressure to the intracluster medium (ICM) and affect the mass estimates of galaxy clusters. Although direct evidence for cosmic ray ions in the ICM is still lacking, they produce γ-ray emission through the decay of neutral pions produced in their collisions with ICM nucleons. We investigate the capability of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope ( GLAST ) and imaging atmospheric Čerenkov telescopes (IACTs) for constraining the cosmic ray pressure contribution to the ICM. We show that GLAST can be used to place stringent upper limits, a few per cent for individual nearby rich clusters, on the ratio of pressures of the cosmic rays and thermal gas. We further show that it is possible to place tight (≲10 per cent) constraints for distant  ( z ≲ 0.25)  clusters in the case of hard spectrum, by stacking signals from samples of known clusters. The GLAST limits could be made more precise with the constraint on the cosmic ray spectrum potentially provided by IACTs. Future γ-ray observations of clusters can constrain the evolution of cosmic ray energy density, which would have important implications for cosmological tests with upcoming X-ray and Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect cluster surveys.     

Prompt optical emission and synchrotron self-absorption constraints on emission site of GRBs

We constrain the distance of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission site from the explosion centre R , by determining the location of the electron's self-absorption frequency in the GRB prompt optical-to-X/γ-ray spectral energy distribution, assuming that the optical and the γ-ray emissions are among the same synchrotron radiation continuum of a group of hot electrons. All possible spectral regimes are considered in our analysis. The method has only two assumed parameters, namely the bulk Lorentz factor of the emitting source Γ and the magnetic field strength B in the emission region (with a weak dependence). We identify a small sample of four bursts that satisfy the following three criteria: (1) they all have simultaneous optical and γ-ray detections in multiple observational time intervals, (2) they all show temporal correlations between the optical and γ-ray light curves and (3) the optical emission is consistent with belonging to the same spectral component as the γ-ray emission. For all the time intervals of these four bursts, it is inferred that   R ≥ 10¹⁴  (Γ/300)^3/4 ( B /10⁵ G)^1/4  cm. For a small fraction of the sample, the constraint can be pinned down to   R ≈ 10¹⁴–10¹⁵ cm  for  Γ∼ 300  . For a second sample of bursts with prompt optical non-detections, only upper limits on R can be obtained. We find no inconsistency between the R -constraints for this non-detection sample and those for the detection sample.     

宁夏中北部两次强暴雨过程综合对比分析

2002年6月8日和2006年7月14日宁夏中北部地区分别出现了两次创历史记录的区域暴雨过程。本文就两次强暴雨的降水特点、环流形势、主要影响系统、雷达观测及常用物理量进行对比分析。应用天气学分析及诊断分析方法,对这两次暴雨天气过程的主要触发机制:500 hPa冷槽、700hPa高原低涡等,以及对暴雨发生起重要作用的天气系统,如:地面锢囚锋和台风位置、强度等进行对比。利用常规气象资料和T213数值预报产品,对两次暴雨天气过程的未饱和湿空气静力总温度、低空干暖盖、涡度平流、垂直速度等物理因子进行分析,总结了暴雨发生前后的一般变化规律。     

川东北楼房洞洞穴系统水体元素含量季节变化与影响因素

通过对川东北诺水河地区楼房洞洞穴系统水体Ca、Mg、Sr、Ba和U元素含量变化进行为期一年(2011年7月至2012年6月)的监测,结果发现:(1)各监测点的元素含量变化一般具有较明显的季节性,但不同的监测点之间、不同的元素之间季节变化趋势并不一致,反映了在不同的环境下不同的元素含量变化的影响机制存在差异;(2)对于2011年9月的强降水事件,河水的元素含量明显受到稀释作用影响,而洞穴内水体尤其是池水的元素含量变化明显较弱,这反映了洞穴上覆地层对外部降水事件的缓冲作用,特别是洞穴内池水由于存在更复杂的影响机制,其对外界的降水事件的响应最不敏感;(3)在所有监测点,Sr含量和Sr/Ca比值变化均表现出冬春季节相对较高而夏秋季节较低的特点,可能反映了水岩相互作用和大气沉降活动是影响Sr含量和Sr/Ca比值变化的主要机制。这对该地区岩溶洞穴沉积中的Sr含量(或Sr/Ca比值)和87Sr/86Sr比值作为研究大气粉尘活动和冬季风强度变化指标的观点给予了支持。