Evidence for strange stars from joint observation of harmonic absorption bands and of redshift

From recent reports on terrestrial heavy ion collision experiments it appears that one may not obtain information about the existence of asymptotic freedom (AF) and chiral symmetry restoration (CSR) for quarks of QCD at high density. This information may still be obtained from compact stars – if they are made up of strange quark matter (SQM).
Very high gravitational redshift lines (GRL), seen from some compact stars, seem to suggest high ratios of mass and radius ( M / R ) for them. This is suggestive of strange stars (SS) and can in fact be fitted very well with SQM equation of state (EOS) deduced with built in AF and CSR. In some other stars broad absorption bands (BAB) appear at about  ∼0.3 keV  and multiples thereof, that may fit in very well with resonance with harmonic compressional breathing mode frequencies of these SS. Emission at these frequencies are also observed in six stars.
If these two features of large GRL and BAB were observed together in a single star, it would strengthen the possibility for the existence of SS in nature and would vindicate the current dogma of AF and CSR that we believe in QCD. Recently, in 4U  1700 − 24  , both features appear to be detected, which may well be interpreted as observation of SS – although the group that analyzed the data did not observe this possibility. We predict that if the shifted lines, that has been observed, are from neon with GRL shift   z = 0.4  – then the compact object emitting it is a SS of mass 1.2   M_⊙  and radius 7 km. In addition the fit to the spectrum leaves a residual with broad dips at 0.35 keV and multiples thereof, as in 1E  1207 − 5209  which is again suggestive of SS.     

Reverse shock emission as a probe of gamma-ray burst ejecta

We calculate the reverse shock (RS) synchrotron emission in the optical and the radio wavelength bands from electron–positron pair-enriched gamma-ray burst ejecta with the goal of determining the pair content of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) using early-time observations. We take into account an extensive number of physical effects that influence radiation from the RS-heated GRB ejecta. We find that optical/infrared flux depends very weakly on the number of pairs in the ejecta, and there is no unique signature of ejecta pair enrichment if observations are confined to a single wavelength band. It may be possible to determine if the number of pairs per proton in the ejecta is ≳100 by using observations in optical and radio bands; the ratio of flux in the optical and radio at the peak of each respective RS light curve is dependent on the number of pairs per proton. We also find that over a large parameter space, RS emission is expected to be very weak; GRB 990123 seems to have been an exceptional burst in that only a very small fraction of the parameter space produces optical flashes this bright. Also, it is often the case that the optical flux from the forward shock is brighter than the RS flux at deceleration. This could be another possible reason for the paucity of prompt optical flashes with a rapidly declining light curve at early times as was seen in GRBs 990123 and 021211. Some of these results are a generalization of similar results reported in Nakar & Piran.     

The X-ray source SLX 1732-304 in the globular cluster Terzan 1: The spectral states and an X-ray burst

ART-P/Granat observations of the X-ray burster SLX 1732-304 in the globular cluster Terzan 1 are presented. The X-ray (3–20 keV) fluxes from the source differed by more than a factor of 4 during the observing sessions on September 8 (F _x ? 6.95 × 10^?10 erg cm^?2 s^?1) and October 6, 1990 (F _x ? 1.64 × 10^?10 erg cm^?2 s^?1). The intensity variations of SLX 1732-304 were apparently accompanied by variations in its hardness: whereas the source in its high state had the spectrum with a distinct exponential cutoff typical of bright low-mass X-ray binaries, its low-state spectrum could be satisfactorily described by a simple power law with a photon index α?1.7. During the ART-P observation on September 8, a type I X-ray burst was detected from SLX 1732-304.     

强磁场中的逆Compton散射与γ射线爆能谱

本文认为强磁场中的逆Compton散射可能是γ射线爆的主要辐射机制.其能谱是由源区质子产生的低频光子经强磁场中非热电子的Compton散射形成的.我们利用非相对论情形(B/B_(cr)≤1,hv_i/m_ec~2≤1)下强磁场中的Compton散射微分截面,导出了上述Compton散射的辐射谱公式,由此很好地拟合了典型γ射线爆GB811016的观测能谱.     

A deficit of type I X-ray bursts from low-accretion-rate binaries: Data from the TTM/COMIS telescope onboard the Mir-Kvant observatory

We analyze 175 sessions of Galactic-center observations with the TTM/COMIS telescope onboard the Mir-Kvant observatory from 1987 until 1998. Because of its wide field of view (～ 15°×15°), much of the Galaxy and, hence, a large number of X-ray sources were simultaneously within the telescope aperture. During the observations, 47 X-ray bursts were detected, 33 of which are most likely type I bursts related to unstable helium burning on the surfaces of neutron stars. All the detected type I bursts were identified with known X-ray sources; the pre-and post-burst luminosities of these sources measured with the TTM telescope were high. No bursts were detected from voids, i.e., from sources whose luminosities in quiescence did not exceed the TTM detection threshold. This result allows us to constrain the combination of the number of binary sources with low accretion rates and the properties of X-ray bursts from such sources, in particular, the peak luminosity during bursts and the frequency of their occurrence.     

Quiescent times in gamma-ray bursts – I. An observed correlation between the durations of subsequent emission episodes

Although more than 2000 astronomical gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been detected, the precise progenitor responsible for these events is unknown. The temporal phenomenology observed in GRBs can significantly constrain the different models. Here we analyse the time histories of a sample of bright, long GRBs, searching for the ones exhibiting relatively long (more than 5 per cent of the total burst duration) 'quiescent times', defined as the intervals between adjacent episodes of emission during which the gamma-ray count rate drops to the background level. We find a quantitative relation between the duration of an emission episode and the quiescent time elapsed since the previous episode. We suggest here that the mechanism responsible for the extraction and the dissipation of energy has to take place in a metastable configuration, such that the longer the accumulation period, the higher the stored energy available for the next emission episode.