Accretion onto Magnetic White Dwarfs

The standard model of stationary and time-dependent accretion onto magnetic white dwarfs are reviewed, with emphasis on the hydrodynamic structure and the emission properties of the post-shock flow. Observational consequences and applications of the model are discussed, and results obtained from our recent calculations are also presented.     

Halo White Dwarfs and Baryonic Dark Matter

We describe the formation of hot intergalactic gas along with baryonic remnants in galaxy halos. In this scenario, the mass and metallicity of the hot intracluster and intragroup gas relates directly to the production of baryonic remnants during the collapse of galactic halos. We construct a schematic but self-consistent model in which early bursts of star formation lead to a large remnant population in the halo, and to the outflow of stellar ejecta into the halo and ultimately the Local Group. We consider local as well as high redshift constraints on this scenario. This study suggests that the microlensing objects in the Galactic halo may predominantly be 0.5M white dwarfs, assuming that the initial mass function for early star formation favored the formation of intermediate mass stars with m 1M. However, the bulk of the baryonic dark matter in this scenario is associated with the ejecta of the white dwarf progenitors, and resides in the hot intergalactic medium.     

X-ray Spectroscopy of Astrophysical Dust

High spectral resolution X-ray instruments on powerful X-ray satellites (e.g. Chandra, XMM-Newton) pointed through dust and gas at bright black holes and neutron stars can be used to study dust and intervening material in unique ways. With the new subfield of Condensed Matter Astrophysics as its goal, I will discuss current efforts to combine techniques and knowledge from condensed matter physics and astrophysics to determine the species-specific quantity and composition of interstellar gas and dust in the ISM and ionized environments. Prospects for improving on this work in future X-ray missions with higher throughput and spectral resolution are also presented in the context of spectral resolution goals for gratings and calorimeters.     

Modelling Spectral and Timing Properties of Accreting Black Holes: The Hybrid Hot Flow Paradigm

The general picture that emerged by the end of 1990s from a large set of optical and X-ray, spectral and timing data was that the X-rays are produced in the innermost hot part of the accretion flow, while the optical/infrared (OIR) emission is mainly produced by the irradiated outer thin accretion disc. Recent multiwavelength observations of Galactic black hole transients show that the situation is not so simple. Fast variability in the OIR band, OIR excesses above the thermal emission and a complicated interplay between the X-ray and the OIR light curves imply that the OIR emitting region is much more compact. One of the popular hypotheses is that the jet contributes to the OIR emission and even is responsible for the bulk of the X-rays. However, this scenario is largely ad hoc and is in contradiction with many previously established facts. Alternatively, the hot accretion flow, known to be consistent with the X-ray spectral and timing data, is also a viable candidate to produce the OIR radiation. The hot-flow scenario naturally explains the power-law like OIR spectra, fast OIR variability and its complex relation to the X-rays if the hot flow contains non-thermal electrons (even in energetically negligible quantities), which are required by the presence of the MeV tail in Cyg X-1. The presence of non-thermal electrons also lowers the equilibrium electron temperature in the hot flow model to ?100 keV, making it more consistent with observations. Here we argue that any viable model should simultaneously explain a large set of spectral and timing data and show that the hybrid (thermal/non-thermal) hot flow model satisfies most of the constraints.     

The COS-B X-ray observations of X-ray binaries

The observational information on X-ray binaries that was collected with the 80 cm² auxiliary X-ray detector onboard the COS-B gamma-ray satellite is reviewed. The results illustrate that in the study of X-ray binaries observations of long duration are extremely effective, even when using a small instrument.     

MHD Spectroscopy of Transonic Flows

In previous publications (Keppens et al.: 2002, Astrophys. J. 569, L121; Goedbloed et al.: 2004a, Phys. Plasmas 11, 28), we have demonstrated that stationary rotation of magnetized plasma about a compact central object permits an enormous number of different MHD instabilities, with the well-known magneto-rotational instability (Velikhov, E. P.: 1959, Soviet Phys.–JETP Lett. 36, 995; Chandrasekhar, S.: 1960, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 46, 253; Balbus, S. A. and Hawley, J. F.: 1991, Astrophys. J. 376, 214) as just one of them. We here concentrate on the new instabilities found that are driven by transonic transitions of the poloidal flow. A particularly promising class of instabilities, from the point of view of MHD turbulence in accretion disks, is the class of trans-slow Alfv’en continuum modes, that occur when the poloidal flow exceeds a critical value of the slow magnetosonic speed. When this happens, virtually every magnetic/flow surface of the disk becomes unstable with respect to highly localized modes of the continuous spectrum. The mode structures rotate, in turn, about the rotating disk. These structures lock and become explosively unstable when the mass of the central object is increased beyond a certain critical value. Their growth rates then become huge, of the order of the Alfv’en transit time. These instabilities appear to have all requisite properties to facilitate accretion flows across magnetic surfaces and jet formation.     

Infrared Spectroscopy of Solar-System Planets

Most of our knowledge regarding planetary atmospheric composition and structure has been achieved by remote sensing spectroscopy. Planetary spectra strongly differ from one planet to another. CO₂ signatures dominate on Mars, and even more on Venus (where the thermal component is detectable down to 1 μm on the dark side). Spectroscopic monitoring of Venus, Earth and Mars allows us to map temperature fields, wind fields, clouds, aerosols, surface mineralogy (in the case of the Earth and Mars), and to study the planets’ seasonal cycles. Spectra of giant planets are dominated by H₂, CH₄ and other hydrocarbons, NH₃, PH₃ and traces of other minor compounds like CO, H₂O and CO₂. Measurements of the atmospheric composition of giant planets have been used to constrain their formation scenario.     

Spectroscopy Between the Stars

The emission and absorption spectra of interstellar molecules are reviewed with special consideration of recent observational and technical advances in the shorter submillimeter wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Single-dish observations have contributed in the past probably most of the information about the structure of interstellar molecular clouds. At present about 120 interstellar molecules have been identified in interstellar clouds and circumstellar envelopes, evidence of a rich and diversified chemistry. CO, the most abundant interstellar molecule and other diatomic molecules and radicals are found throughout molecular clouds, whereas the more complex molecules are found in high-density cores, which are often the sites of active star formation. These locations represent prime targets for the search for larger molecules, such as glycine. The ignition of young stars is accompanied by strong heating of the surrounding material by radiation and/or shocks, leading to photoevaporation of molecules depleted on dust grains driving a "hot core" chemistry, traceable by its rich organic chemistry and its prevailing high excitation conditions (up to about 2000 cm^-1). However, in the list of detected interstellar molecules many simple hydrides are still missing, e.g. SH, PH, PH₂, etc., which constitute the building blocks for larger molecules. With the technological opening of the terahertz region (ν ∼1 THz corresponds to λ ∼0.3 mm) to both laboratory and interstellar spectroscopy, great scientific advances are to be expected. Amongst these will be the direct detection of the lowest rotational transitions of the light hydrides, the low energy bending vibrations of larger (linear) molecules, and possibly the ring-puckering motion of larger ring molecules such as the polycyclic (multiring) aromatic hydrocarbons. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Spectroscopy of Icy Moon Surface Materials

Remote sensing of icy objects in the outer solar system relies upon availability of appropriate laboratory measurements. Surface deposits of specific substances often provide our most direct route to understanding interior composition, thereby informing theories of endogenic surface modification, exogenic surface processing and processes involving exchange of material with the interiors. Visible to near-infrared reflectance spectra of properly prepared compounds are required to enable retrieval of surface abundances through linear and nonlinear mixture analysis applied to spacecraft observations of icy bodies. This chapter describes the techniques, conditions and approaches necessary to provide reference spectra of use to theoretical models of icy satellite surface compositions, and summarizes the current state of knowledge represented in the published literature.     

Exoplanet Transit Spectroscopy and Photometry

Photometry and spectroscopy of extrasolar planets provides information about their atmospheres and surfaces. From extrasolar planet spectra and photometry we can infer the composition and temperature of the atmospheres as well as the presence of molecular species, including biosignature gases or surface features. So far photometry has been published for three different transiting hot Jupiters (gas giant planets in short-period orbits), opening the era of comparative exoplanetology.     

X-ray Reflection

Material irradiated by X-rays produces backscattered radiation which is commonly known as the Reflection Spectrum. It consists of a structured continuum, due at high energies to the competition between photoelectric absorption and electron scattering enhanced at low energies by emission from the material itself, together with a complex line spectrum. We briefly review the history of X-ray reflection in astronomy and discuss various methods for computing the reflection spectrum from cold and ionized gas, illustrated with results from our own work reflionx. We discuss how the reflection spectrum can be used to obtain the geometry of the accretion flow, particularly the inner regions around black holes and neutron stars.     

“红白格子”的故乡

克罗地亚位于在地中海——亚得里亚海,其国徽是盾徽,中间有25个红白格子。所以,人称克罗地亚为:红白格子的故乡。     

显微拉曼光谱在物品鉴别上的应用

根据拉曼散射的基本原理 ,利用拉曼光谱仪 ,可以对物质进行简单而科学的分析。显微拉曼分析技术的发展为鉴别某些物品的真伪提供了一种新的手段。文章介绍了一些茶饮料和水晶饰品的显微拉曼鉴别实例。     

Hard X-ray balloon observations of compact galactic and extragalactic X-ray sources

A balloon program in hard X-ray astronomy (20–200 keV) is jointly pursued by the Astronomisches Institut der Universität Tübingen (AIT) and the Max Planck-Institute für Extraterrestrische Physik in Garching (MPE). Since 1973 nine successful balloon flights have been performed from Texas and Australia. Here results on Centaurus A and on several galactic binary X-ray sources are summarized. In particular the high energy photon spectrum of Hercules X-1 and the evidence for the cyclotron line feature which was discovered by us in 1976 is reviewed.     

Spectroscopy in Utrecht: A Brief History

In the first half of the 20th century, Leonard Ornstein turned the Physics Laboratory of Utrecht University into a center for testing the nascent quantum mechanics through accurate measurements of line intensities in flame spectra. The microphotometer of instrument builder Willem Moll was the key to this success. Marcel Minneart used this instrument to study stellar spectra at the Utrecht Astronomical Institute, and in particular for the Photometric Atlas of the Solar Spectrum. When the opportunity came in the 1960s to build instruments for research from space, it was natural that Kees de Jager opted for spectroscopy, in X-ray observations of the Sun. The expertise developed in this program allowed the Space Research Organisation of the Netherlands to be a principal player in the development of X-ray spectrographs on the Einstein, EXOSAT, Chandra and XMM-Newton satellites.