X-ray synchrotron nebulae and the origin of neutron stars

“With all reserve, we advance the view that a supernova represents the transition of an ordinary star into a neutron star.”This conclusion, reached just 50 years ago in a classic paper by Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky (1934), was published three decades before the first direct observational evidence for the existence of neutron stars was uncovered. It still informs the standard picture of neutron star production in the Galaxy. We examine herein some recent evidence bearing on this question which has been derived from Observatory X-ray observations of supernova remnants and radio pulsars. In particular, the discovery that X-ray synchrotron nebulae are found surrounding most young ( 10⁶ yr) pulsars observed to date is discussed. We explore the implications of the lack of such nebulae in the majority of supernova remnants (SNR) for the properties and frequency of neutron star formation in supernova events.     

Magnetar spectra and twisted magnetospheres

The huge potential drop between the footpoints of the closed field lines in the twisted magnetospheres of magnetars may accelerate electrons up to very high energies, γ ? 10⁶. On the other hand, the comparison between the observed spectra of magnetars and spectra obtained by accurate theoretical models seems to favor of a picture in which the magnetosphere is filled by “slow” electrons (v ? 0.8c), rather than by ultra-relativistic particles.     

Modeling the broadband persistent emission of magnetars

In this paper, we discuss our first attempts to model the broadband persistent emission of magnetars within a self-consistent, physical scenario. We present the predictions of a synthetic model that we calculated with a new Monte Carlo 3D radiative code. The basic idea is that soft thermal photons (e.g. emitted by the star surface) can experience resonant cyclotron upscattering by a population of relativistic electrons treated in the twisted magnetosphere. Our code is specifically tailored to work in the ultra-magnetized regime; polarization and QED effects are consistently accounted for, as well different configurations for the magnetosphere. We discuss the predicted spectral properties in the 0.1–1000 keV range, the polarization properties, and we present the model application to a sample of magnetars soft X-ray spectra.     

A fast pulse phase estimation method for X-ray pulsar signals based on epoch folding

X-ray pulsar-based navigation (XPNAV) is an attractive method for autonomous deep-space navigation in the future. The pulse phase estimation is a key task in XPNAV and its accuracy directly determines the navigation accuracy. State-of-the-art pulse phase estimation techniques either suffer from poor estimation accuracy, or involve the maximization of generally non-convex object function, thus resulting in a large computational cost. In this paper, a fast pulse phase estimation method based on epoch folding is presented. The statistical properties of the observed profile obtained through epoch folding are developed. Based on this, we recognize the joint prob-ability distribution of the observed profile as the likelihood function and utilize a fast Fourier transform-based procedure to estimate the pulse phase. Computational complexity of the proposed estimator is analyzed as well. Experimental results show that the proposed estimator significantly outperforms the currently used cross-correlation (CC) and nonlinear least squares (NLS) estima-tors, while significantly reduces the computational complexity compared with NLS and maximum likelihood (ML) estimators.     

ASTROSAT

The ASTROSAT satellite is an Indian National Space Observatory under development in India. Due for launch in 2010, ASTROSAT will carry a complement of five scientific instruments enabling simultaneous observations from the optical through to the hard X-ray energy band. This capability will enable broad-band spectroscopy and high time-resolution monitoring of both galactic and extra-galactic targets, such as X-ray binaries and AGN. One of the instruments is being built in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency and another in collaboration with the University of Leicester. ASTROSAT also carries a scanning sky monitor to observe the variable X-ray sky. After an initial period of science verification and guaranteed time, a certain fraction of ASTROSAT observing time will also be made available to the community via a call for proposals. Here I summarise the instrument complement and principle scientific objectives of the mission.     

民航行李X光安检图像自适应小波去噪算法

对X光安检图像进行去噪处理可以更清楚地显示出危险物。针对传统小波软硬阈值去噪方法的缺陷．给出了一种自适应阈值的去噪方法,在此方法中,首先进行软硬阈值的折中处理,然后分别对大于和小于阈值的两部分进行自适应处理。利用Tennessee大学提供的实际采集的X光安栓图像进行实验,结果表明该方法能有效地去除安检图像中的噪声,图像去噪后的信噪比、峰值信噪比分别是25．2229dB、27．708dB．与含噪图像相比分别增加了7．7253dB和7．739dB。因此该方法表现出较高的去噪性能。     

酚醛树脂固化度的X射线衍射分析

发展使用Ｘ射线衍技术对酚醛树脂固化度进行研究，确定了酚醛树脂固化度与Ｘ射线散射最大值的 关系，得出了利用２θ角来标定树脂固化度的公式。该方法具有快速、无损、灵敏度主同的优点，并可适用于各种不同的酚醛树脂。     

用X光电子能谱研究复合固体推进剂燃烧机理

本文介绍了X光电子能谱(XPS)分析技术在复合固体推进剂燃烧机理研究中的应用。用XPS分析对一种呈负压力指数燃烧特性的聚氨酯复合固体推进剂(404-5A)的未然表面和在2、2.5、3.0、3.5、4.0MPa压强下快速降压熄火后的燃烧表面作元素组成及其化学价态的分析,得到了不同价态的各元素原子百分含量。从实验结果可以确定CaCO_3在凝相反应中生成了CaCl_2。从燃面上碳原子浓度随燃烧压强的变化说明了燃烧过程中存在着熔化的粘合剂对过氯酸铵表面的流动覆盖,覆盖程度随着燃烧压强的上升而增加。本文还对CaCO_3、粘合剂流动覆盖在燃烧过程中的作用进行了探讨。     

7085铝合金残余应力及加工变形的数值仿真与试验

毛坯残余应力的测量以及零件的加工变形分析是航空整体结构件数控加工工艺研究的难题。应用MSC.Marc软件对某型飞机主起支撑接头的7085铝合金锻件毛坯的淬火-压缩工艺进行了数值仿真,获得了毛坯残余应力分布趋势;应用X射线衍射法与钻孔法测量了毛坯表层残余应力分布,提出了基于系数修正法的毛坯残余应力分析方法,通过最小二乘法（LSM）拟合仿真值与试验值以获得应力修正系数,并对毛坯残余应力分布的仿真结果进行修正,获得了实际毛坯的残余应力分布;由此进行了主起支撑接头缩比零件加工变形仿真与验证试验。研究结果表明：7085铝合金块状毛坯残余应力数值仿真结果与测试结果的趋势吻合,为应力修正提供了物理基础;相对于未修正的应力分布,基于修正后的应力分布仿真获得的变形结果精度提高了50%;7085-T7452铝合金的毛坯残余应力是导致主起支撑接头加工变形的主要因素。     

基于Monte Carlo的聚焦型X射线脉冲星望远镜多物理场耦合分析方法

聚焦型X射线脉冲星望远镜(XPT)是涉及光学、机械学、热学等多学科的复杂航天载荷,多物理场耦合分析对提高其在轨性能和可靠性至关重要。传统的光机热多场耦合分析(MCA)方法并不能考虑X射线能量及其反射率信息,而且存在学科间数据传递困难的问题。为此,首先基于Monte Carlo和X射线全反射理论提出了一种高效的多物理场耦合分析方法。该方法同时考虑X射线能量和反射率两大特征信息,基于有限元分析(FEA)法建立了XPT热-结构物理场耦合方程和有限元分析模型,针对不同工况进行热分析、结构分析以及热-结构物理场耦合分析。其次,采用Construction Geometry函数分别提取不同工况下光学镜头面形的形变量,并基于多项式函数对变形后的镜头面形进行拟合和误差分析。然后,基于所提方法对变形后的光学系统聚焦性能进行分析与评价,得到镜头形变对XPT光学聚焦性能的影响规律。最后,以多层嵌套的XPT为例,对不同视场角和形变的X射线光学系统聚焦性能进行了仿真分析。结果表明,在全视场时热-结构耦合形变、热形变及结构形变导致XPT聚焦性能分别下降30.01%,14.35%和7.85%,弥散斑均方根依次为2.9143 mm,2.6038 mm,2.5311 mm。通过与试验结果对比分析,验证了所提方法的有效性,可用于XPT的可靠性设计。