Hasil untuk "astro-ph.CO"

M. Tashiro, Rich Kelley, S. Watanabe et al.

The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) is a joint mission between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). In addition to the three space agencies, universities and research institutes from Japan, North America, and Europe have joined to contribute to developing satellite and onboard instruments, data-processing software, and the scientific observation program. XRISM is the successor to the ASTRO-H (Hitomi) mission, which ended prematurely in 2016. Its primary science goal is to examine astrophysical problems with precise, high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. XRISM promises to discover new horizons in X-ray astronomy. It carries a 6 × 6 pixelized X-ray microcalorimeter on the focal plane of an X-ray mirror assembly (Resolve) and a co-aligned X-ray CCD camera (Xtend) that covers the same energy band over a large field of view. XRISM utilizes the Hitomi heritage, but all designs were reviewed. The attitude and orbit control system was improved in hardware and software. The spacecraft was launched from the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center on 2023 September 6 (UTC). During the in-orbit commissioning phase, the onboard components were activated. Although the gate valve protecting the Resolve sensor with a thin beryllium X-ray entrance window was not yet opened, scientific observation started in 2024 February with the planned performance verification observation program. The nominal observation program commenced with the following guest observation program beginning in 2024 September.

Y. Ishisaki, R. Kelley, H. Awaki et al.

Abstract. The Resolve instrument onboard the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) consists of an array of 6×6 silicon-thermistor microcalorimeters cooled down to 50 mK and a high-throughput X-ray mirror assembly (XMA) with a focal length of 5.6 m. XRISM is a recovery mission of ASTRO-H/Hitomi, and the Resolve instrument is a rebuild of the ASTRO-H Soft X-ray spectrometer (SXS) and the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) that achieved energy resolution of ∼5  eV FWHM on orbit, with several important changes based on lessons learned from ASTRO-H. The flight models of the Dewar and the electronics boxes were fabricated, and the instrument test and calibration were conducted in 2021. By tuning the cryocooler frequencies, energy resolution better than 4.9 eV FWHM at 6 keV was demonstrated for all 36 pixels and high-resolution grade events, as well as energy-scale accuracy better than 2 eV up to 30 keV. The immunity of the detectors to microvibration, electrical conduction, and radiation was evaluated. The instrument was delivered to the spacecraft system in April 2022. The XMA was tested and calibrated separately. Its angular resolution is 1.27′, and the effective area of the mirror itself is 570  cm2 at 1 keV and 424  cm2 at 6 keV. We report the design and the major changes from the ASTRO-H SXS, the integration, and the results of the instrument test.

Y. Ishisaki, R. Kelley, H. Awaki et al.

The resolve instrument onboard the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) consists of an array of 6 × 6 silicon-thermistor microcalorimeters cooled down to 50 mK and a high-throughput x-ray mirror assembly (XMA) with a focal length of 5.6 m. XRISM is a recovery mission of ASTRO-H/Hitomi, and the Resolve instrument is a rebuild of the ASTRO-H soft x-ray spectrometer (SXS) and the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) that achieved energy resolution of ∼5 eV FWHM on orbit, with several important changes based on lessons learned from ASTRO-H. The flight models of the Dewar and the electronics boxes were fabricated and the instrument test and calibration were conducted in 2021. By tuning the cryocooler frequencies, energy resolution better than 4.9 eV FWHM at 6 keV was demonstrated for all 36 pixels and high resolution grade events, as well as energy-scale accuracy better than 2 eV up to 30 keV. The immunity of the detectors to microvibration, electrical conduction, and radiation was evaluated. The instrument was delivered to the spacecraft system in 2022-04 and is under the spacecraft system testing as of writing. The XMA was tested and calibrated separately. Its angular resolution is 1.27′ and the effective area of the mirror itself is 570 cm2 at 1 keV and 424 cm2 at 6 keV. We report the design and the major changes from the ASTRO-H SXS, the integration, and the results of the instrument test.

S. Worrell, K. Goodman, Nasser K. Altorki et al.

Outcomes for patients with esophageal cancer have improved over the last decade with the implementation of multimodality therapy. There are currently no comprehensive guidelines addressing multidisciplinary management of esophageal cancer that have incorporated the input of surgeons, radiation oncologists, and medical oncologists. To address the need for multidisciplinary input in the management of esophageal cancer and to meet current best practices for clinical practice guidelines, the current guidelines were created as a collaboration between The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Physician representatives chose 8 key clinical questions pertinent to the care of patients with locally advanced, resectable thoracic esophageal cancer (excluding cervical location). A comprehensive literature review was performed identifying 227 articles that met the inclusion criteria covering the use of induction chemotherapy, chemotherapy vs chemoradiotherapy before surgery, optimal radiation dose, the value of esophagectomy, timing of esophagectomy, the approach and extent of lymphadenectomy, the use of minimally invasive esophagectomy, and the value of adjuvant therapy after resection. The relevant data were reviewed and voted on by the panel with 80% of the authors, with 75% agreement on class and level of evidence. These data were then complied into the guidelines document.

Esraa Ali Elkhateeb

In this work, we reconstruct the cosmological unified dark fluid model proposed previously by Elkhateeb \cite{Elkhateeb:2017oqy} in the framework of $f(R)$ gravity. Utilizing the equivalence between the scalar-tensor theory and the $f(R)$ gravity theory, the scalar field for the dark fluid is obtained, whence the $f(R)$ function is extracted and its viability is discussed. The $f(R)$ functions and the scalar field potentials have then been extracted in the early and late times of asymptotically de Sitter spacetime. The ability of our function to describe early time inflation is also tested. The early time scalar field potential is used to derive the slow roll inflation parameters. Our results of the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ and the scalar spectral index $n_s$ are in good agreement with results from Planck-2018 TT+TE+EE+lowE data for the model parameter $m > 2$.

R. Mir, S. Kelly, Ying Xiao et al.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Global Quality Assurance of Radiation Therapy Clinical Trials Harmonization Group (GHG) is a collaborative group of Radiation Therapy Quality Assurance (RTQA) Groups harmonizing and improving RTQA for multi-institutional clinical trials. The objective of the GHG OAR Working Group was to unify OAR contouring guidance across RTQA groups by compiling a single reference list of OARs in line with AAPM TG 263 and ASTRO, together with peer-reviewed, anatomically defined contouring guidance for integration into clinical trial protocols independent of the radiation therapy delivery technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS The GHG OAR multi-professional Working Group comprised of 22 members from 6 international RTQA Groups and affiliated organizations conducted the work in 3 stages: 1) Clinical trial documentation review and identification of structures of interest 2) Review of existing contouring guidance and survey of proposed OAR contouring guidance 3) Review of survey feedback with recommendations for contouring guidance with standardized OAR nomenclature. RESULTS 157 clinical trials were examined; 222 OAR structures were identified. Duplicates, non-anatomical, non-specific, structures with more specific alternative nomenclature, and structures identified by one RTQA group were excluded leaving 58 structures of interest. 6 OAR descriptions were accepted with no amendments, 41 required minor amendments, 6 major amendments, 20 developed as a result of feedback, and 5 structures excluded in response to feedback. The final GHG consensus guidance includes 73 OARs with peer-reviewed descriptions (appendix A). CONCLUSION We provide OAR descriptions with nomenclature for use in clinical trials. A more uniform dataset supports the delivery of clinically relevant and valid conclusions from clinical trials.

B. Schneider, M. Daly, E. Kennedy et al.

John C. Forbes

In the course of doing astronomy, one often encounters plots of densities, for example probability densities, flux densities, and mass functions. Quite frequently the ordinate of these diagrams is plotted logarithmically to accommodate a large dynamic range. In this situation, I argue that it is critical to adjust the density appropriately, rather than simply setting the x-scale to `log' in your favorite plotting code. I will demonstrate the basic issue with a pedagogical example, then mention a few common plots where this may arise, and finally some possible exceptions to the rule.

K. Asad, J. Girard, M. D. Villers et al.

After a decade of design and construction, South Africa's SKA-MID precursor MeerKAT has begun its science operations. To make full use of the widefield capability of the array, it is imperative that we have an accurate model of the primary beam of its antennas. We have used an available L-band full-polarization astro-holographic observation and electromagnetic simulation to create sparse representations of the beam using principal components and Zernike polynomials. The spectral behaviour of the spatial coefficients has been modelled using discrete cosine transform. We have provided the Zernike-based model over a diameter of 10 degrees in an associated software tool that can be useful for direction dependent calibration and imaging. The model is more accurate for the diagonal elements of the beam Jones matrix and at lower frequencies. As we get more accurate beam measurements and simulations in the future, especially for the cross-polarization patterns, our pipeline can be used to create more accurate sparse representations of MeerKAT beam.

R. Essig, J. Jaros, W. Wester et al.

Dark sectors, consisting of new, light, weakly-coupled particles that do not interact with the known strong, weak, or electromagnetic forces, are a particularly compelling possibility for new physics. Nature may contain numerous dark sectors, each with their own beautiful structure, distinct particles, and forces. This review summarizes the physics motivation for dark sectors and the exciting opportunities for experimental exploration. It is the summary of the Intensity Frontier subgroup "New, Light, Weakly-coupled Particles" of the Community Summer Study 2013 (Snowmass). We discuss axions, which solve the strong CP problem and are an excellent dark matter candidate, and their generalization to axion-like particles. We also review dark photons and other dark-sector particles, including sub-GeV dark matter, which are theoretically natural, provide for dark matter candidates or new dark matter interactions, and could resolve outstanding puzzles in particle and astro-particle physics. In many cases, the exploration of dark sectors can proceed with existing facilities and comparatively modest experiments. A rich, diverse, and low-cost experimental program has been identified that has the potential for one or more game-changing discoveries. These physics opportunities should be vigorously pursued in the US and elsewhere.

A. Bezjak, S. Temin, G. Franklin et al.

Tejaswi Venumadhav, Barak Zackay, Javier Roulet et al.

We report the detection of new binary black hole merger events in the publicly available data from the second observing run of advanced LIGO and advanced Virgo (O2). The mergers were discovered using the new search pipeline described in Venumadhav et al. [Phys. Rev. D 100, 023011 (2019)], and are above the detection thresholds as defined in Abbott et al. (LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations) [Phys. Rev. X 9, 031040 (2019).] Three of the mergers (GW170121, GW170304, GW170727) have inferred probabilities of being of astrophysical origin $p_{\rm astro} > 0.98$. The remaining three (GW170425, GW170202, GW170403) are less certain, with $p_{\rm astro}$ ranging from 0.5 to 0.8. The newly found mergers largely share the statistical properties of previously reported events, with the exception of GW170403, the least secure event, which has a highly negative effective spin parameter $χ_{\rm eff}$ . The most secure new event, GW170121 ($p_{\rm astro} > 0.99$), is also notable due to its inferred negative value of $χ_{\rm eff}$, which is inconsistent with being positive at the ~95.8% confidence level. The new mergers nearly double the sample of gravitational wave events reported from O2, and present a substantial opportunity to explore the statistics of the binary black hole population in the Universe. The number of detected events is not surprising since we estimate that the detection volume of our pipeline may be larger than that of other pipelines by as much as a factor of two (with significant uncertainties in the estimate). The increase in volume is larger when the constituent detectors of the network have very different sensitivities, as is likely to be the case in current and future runs.

Alessandro D. A. M. Spallicci, Fabio Ragosta, José A. Helayël-Neto et al.

We revisit for 714 SNeIa the discrepancy between the red-shift associated to the distance modulus $μ$ and the spectroscopic red-shift. Previous work has shown that the total red-shift $z$ might be a combination of the expansion red-shift $z_{\rm C}$ and of a static, blue or red shift $z_{\rm LSV}(r)$, $r$ being the comoving distance. The latter is due to the energy non-conservation of the photon propagating through Electro-Magnetic (EM) background fields (host galaxy, intergalactic and Milky Way), under Lorentz(-Poincaré) Symmetry Violation (LSV), associated to the Standard-Model Extension (SME). The non-conservation stems from the vacuum expectation value of the vector and tensor LSV fields. For zero radiation $Ω_{\rm rad}$ and curvature $Ω_{\rm k}$ densities, and matter density $Ω_m = 0.28$, the SN1a positions in the ($μ$, z) plan are recovered according to the different strengths, orientations, alignments and space-time dependencies of the EM fields and LSV components. The LSV vacuum energy may be thus tantamount to $Ω_Λ\simeq 0.7$, but unrelated to an accelerated expansion. We present models with red or blue-shifts $z_{\rm LSV}$, below $10\%$ of $z$. The $ν$ frequency variation is below $10^{-19} Δν/ν$ per m.

C. Hahn, B. Kavanagh, A. Bhatnagar et al.

C. Kilbourne, J. Adams, R. Brekosky et al.

Thomas D. P. Edwards, Christoph Weniger

We present a toolbox of new techniques and concepts for the efficient forecasting of experimental sensitivities. These are applicable to a large range of scenarios in (astro-)particle physics, and based on the Fisher information formalism. Fisher information provides an answer to the question what is the maximum extractable information from a given observation?. It is a common tool for the forecasting of experimental sensitivities in many branches of science, but rarely used in astroparticle physics or searches for particle dark matter. After briefly reviewing the Fisher information matrix of general Poisson likelihoods, we propose very compact expressions for estimating expected exclusion and discovery limits (equivalent counts method). We demonstrate by comparison with Monte Carlo results that they remain surprisingly accurate even deep in the Poisson regime. We show how correlated background systematics can be efficiently accounted for by a treatment based on Gaussian random fields. Finally, we introduce the novel concept of Fisher information flux. It can be thought of as a generalization of the commonly used signal-to-noise ratio, while accounting for the non-local properties and saturation effects of background and instrumental uncertainties. It is a powerful and flexible tool ready to be used as core concept for informed strategy development in astroparticle physics and searches for particle dark matter.

S. Freedland, R. Rumble, A. Finelli et al.

Naomi Ota, Hiroko Yoshida

To search for bulk motions of the intracluster medium, we analyzed the X-ray spectra taken with the Suzaku satellite and measured the Doppler shift of Fe-K line emission from eight nearby clusters of galaxies with various X-ray morphologies. In the cores of the Centaurus and Perseus clusters, the gas bulk velocity does not exceed the sound velocity, which confirms the results of previous research. For the Cen45 subcluster, we found that the radial velocity relative to the Centaurus core, <780 km s^-1, is significantly smaller than that reported in the optical band at the 3.9 sigma level, which suggests an offset between the gas and galaxy distributions along the line of sight due to the subcluster merger. In A2199, A2142, A3667, and A133, no significant bulk motion was detected, indicating an upper limit on the radial velocity of 3000-4000 km s^-1. A sign of large bulk velocity in excess of the instrumental calibration uncertainty was found near the center of cool-core cluster A2029 and in the subcluster of the merging cluster A2255, suggesting that the nonthermal pressure support is not negligible in estimating the total gravitational mass of not only merging clusters but also relaxed clusters as predicted by numerical simulations. To improve the significance of the detection, however, a further examination by follow-up observations is required. The present study provides a pilot survey prior to the future high-resolution spectroscopy with ASTRO-H, which is expected to play a critical role in revealing the dynamical evolutions of clusters.

F. Hofmann, J. S. Sanders, K. Nandra et al.

In high-resolution X-ray observations of the hot plasma in clusters of galaxies significant structures caused by AGN feedback, mergers, and turbulence can be detected. Many clusters have been observed by Chandra in great depth and at high resolution. Using archival data taken with the Chandra ACIS instrument the aim was to study thermodynamic perturbations of the X-ray emitting plasma and to apply this to better understand the thermodynamic and dynamic state of the intra cluster medium (ICM). We analysed deep observations for a sample of 33 clusters with more than 100 ks of Chandra exposure each at distances between redshift 0.025 and 0.45. The combined exposure of the sample is 8 Ms. Fitting emission models to different regions of the extended X-ray emission we searched for perturbations in density, temperature, pressure, and entropy of the hot plasma. For individual clusters we mapped the thermodynamic properties of the ICM and measured their spread in circular concentric annuli. Comparing the spread of different gas quantities to high-resolution 3D hydrodynamic simulations, we constrain the average Mach number regime of the sample to Mach1D ~ 0.16 +- 0.07. In addition we found a tight correlation between metallicity, temperature and redshift with an average metallicity of Z ~ 0.3 +- 0.1 Z(solar). This study provides detailed perturbation measurements for a large sample of clusters which can be used to study turbulence and make predictions for future X-ray observatories like eROSITA, Astro-H, and Athena.

Nachiketa Chakraborty, Vasiliki Pavlidou, Brian Fields

Emission from blazar jets in the ultraviolet, optical, and infrared is polarized. If these low-energy photons were inverse-Compton scattered, the upscattered high-energy photons retain a fraction of the polarization. Current and future X-ray and gamma-ray polarimeters such as INTEGRAL-SPI, PoGOLITE, X-Calibur, Gamma-Ray Burst Polarimeter, GEMS-like missions, ASTRO-H, and POLARIX have the potential to discover polarized X-rays and gamma-rays from blazar jets for the first time. Detection of such polarization will open a qualitatively new window into high-energy blazar emission; actual measurements of polarization degree and angle will quantitatively test theories of jet emission mechanisms. We examine the detection prospects of blazars by these polarimetry missions using examples of 3C 279, PKS 1510-089, and 3C 454.3, bright sources with relatively high degrees of low-energy polarization. We conclude that while balloon polarimeters will be challenged to detect blazars within reasonable observational times (with X-Calibur offering the most promising prospects), space-based missions should detect the brightest blazars for polarization fractions down to a few percent. Typical flaring activity of blazars could boost the overall number of polarimetric detections by nearly a factor of five to six purely accounting for flux increase of the brightest of the comprehensive, all-sky, Fermi-LAT blazar distribution. The instantaneous increase in the number of detections is approximately a factor of two, assuming a duty cycle of 20% for every source. The detectability of particular blazars may be reduced if variations in the flux and polarization fraction are anticorrelated. Simultaneous use of variability and polarization trends could guide the selection of blazars for high-energy polarimetric observations.