Multiwavelength study of Cygnus A – III. Evidence for relic lobe plasma

We study the particle energy distribution in the cocoon surrounding Cygnus A, using radio images between 151 MHz and 15 GHz and a 200 ks Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer-Imaging (ACIS-I) image. We show that the excess low-frequency emission in the lobe further from the Earth cannot be explained by absorption or excess adiabatic expansion of the lobe or a combination of both. We show that this excess emission is consistent with emission from a relic counterlobe and a relic counterjet that are being re-energized by compression from the current lobe. We detect hints of a relic hotspot at the end of the relic X-ray jet in the more distant lobe. We do not detect relic emission in the lobe nearer to the Earth as expected from light traveltime effects assuming intrinsic symmetry. We determine that the duration of the previous jet activity phase was slightly less than that of the current jet-active phase. Further, we explain some features observed at 5 and 15 GHz as due to the presence of a relic jet.     

A quantitative determination of the AGN content in local ULIRGs through L-band spectroscopy

We present a quantitative estimate of the relative active galactic nucleus (AGN)/starburst content in a sample of 59 nearby  ( z < 0.15)  infrared bright ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) taken from the 1-Jy sample, based on infrared L -band (3–4 μm) spectra. By using diagnostic diagrams and a simple deconvolution model, we show that at least 60 per cent of local ULIRGs contain an active nucleus, but the AGN contribution to the bolometric luminosity is relevant only in  ∼15–20  per cent of the sources. Overall, ULIRGs appear to be powered by the starburst process, responsible for >85 per cent of the observed infrared luminosity. The subsample of sources optically classified as low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs; 31 objects) shows a similar AGN/starburst distribution as the whole sample, indicating a composite nature for this class of objects. We also show that a few ULIRGs, optically classified as starbursts, have L -band spectral features suggesting the presence of a buried AGN.     

激光囚禁放射性氪同位素技术测量地下水年代

地下水年代测定对于了解地下水循环具有十分重要的意义。放射性氪同位素⁸⁵Kr（半衰期10.8a）、⁸¹Kr（半衰期0.23Ma）具有十分理想的地球物理化学特性,十分适于对溶解了大气的水或冰样品进行绝对年代测定。由于样品中的放射性氪原子量极少,利用⁸¹Kr含量进行地下水测年时需要数吨水样品才能完成(Earth and Planetary Science Letters,2000,182：103～113;Geophysical Research Letters,2004,31: L05503)。本文主要介绍我们在中国科学技术大学建立的激光冷却氪原子测量装置,该系统已经成功地对氪原子进行了激光冷却和囚禁,实现了单个放射性氪原子⁸¹Kr和⁸⁵Kr的计数测量。氪原子的冷却捕获速率被大幅提高,预计测年应用中所需样品量可减小一个量级以上,这将使得我们可以开展新的地下水年代测定应用。     

Extragalactic MeV γ-ray emission from cocoons of young radio galaxies

Strong γ-ray emission from cocoons of young radio galaxies is predicted for the first time. Considering the process of adiabatic injection of the shock dissipation energy and mass of the relativistic jet in active nuclei into the cocoon, while assuming thermalizing electron plasma interactions, we find that the thermal electron temperature of the cocoon is typically predicted to be of the order of ∼ MeV, and is determined only by the bulk Lorentz factor of the relativistic jet. Together with the time-dependent dynamics of the cocoon expansion, we find that young cocoons can yield thermal bremsstrahlung emissions at energies ∼MeV.