The Discovery of Argon in Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp)

On 30.14 March 1997 we observed the EUV spectrum of the bright comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) at the time of its perihelion, using our EUVS sounding rocket telescope/spectrometer. The spectra reveal the presence H Ly beta, O+, and, most notably, Argon. Modelling of the retrieved Ar production rates indicates that comet Hale-Bopp is enriched in Ar relative to cosmogonic expectations. This in turn indicates that Hale-Bopp's deep interior has never been exposed to the 35-40 K temperatures necessary to deplete the comet's primordial argon supply.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. ApJ, 545, in press (2000

Strong Enhancement of Superconducting Correlation in a Two-Component Fermion Gas

We study high-density electron-hole (e-h) systems with the electron density slightly larger than the hole density. We find a new superconducting phase, in which the excess electrons form Cooper pairs moving in an e-h BCS phase. The coexistence of the e-h and e-e orders is possible because e and h have opposite charges, whereas analogous phases are impossible in the case of two fermion species that have the same charge or are neutral. Most strikingly, the e-h order enhances the superconducting e-h order parameter by more than one order of magnitude as compared with that given by the BCS formula, for the same value of the effective e-e attractive potential \lambda^{ee}. This new phase should be observable in an e-h system created by photoexcitation in doped semiconductors at low temperatures.Comment: 5 pages including 5 PostScript figure

'Reclaiming the criminal' : the role and training of prison officers in England, 1877-1914

This article examines the role and training of prison officers in England, between 1877 and 1914. It is concerned with the changing penal philosophies and practices of this period and how these were implemented in local prisons, and the duties of the prison officer. More broadly, this article argues that the role of the prison officer and their training (from 1896) reflect wider ambiguities in prison policy and practice during this period

Outbursts from IGR J17473-2721

We have investigated the outbursts of IGR J17473-2721. We analyzed all available observations carried out by RXTE on IGR J17473-2721 during its later outburst and as well all the available SWIFT/BAT data. The flux of the latter outburst rose in ~ one month and then kept roughly constant for the following ~ two months. During this time period, the source was in a low/hard state. The source moved to a high/soft state within the following three days, accompanied by the occurrence of an additional outburst at soft X-rays and the end of the preceding outburst in hard X-rays. During the decay of this soft outburst, the source went back to a low/hard state within 6 days, with a luminosity 4 times lower than the first transition. This shows a full cycle of the hysteresis in transition between the hard and the soft states. The fact that the flux remained roughly constant for ~ two months at times prior to the spectral transition to a high/soft state might be regarded as the result of balancing the evaporation of the inner disk and the inward accretion flow, in a model in which the state transition is determined by the mass flow rate. Such a balance might be broken via an additional mass flow accreting onto the inner disk, which lightens the extra soft outburst and causes the state transition. However, the possibility of an origin of the emission from the jet during this time period cannot be excluded. The spectral analysis suggests an inclined XRB system for IGR J17473-2721. Such a long-lived preceding low/hard state makes IGR J17473-2721 resemble the behavior of outbursts seen in black hole X-ray binaries like GX 339-4.Comment: A&A in pres

X-ray reflection in a sample of X-ray bright Ultraluminous X-ray sources

We apply a reflection-based model to the best available XMM-Newton spectra of X-ray bright UltraLuminous X-ray (ULX) sources (NGC 1313 X-1, NGC 1313 X-2, M 81 X-6, Holmberg IX X-1, NGC 5408 X-1 and Holmberg II X-1). A spectral drop is apparent in the data of all the sources at energies 6-7 keV. The drop is interpreted here in terms of relativistically-blurred ionized reflection from the accretion disk. A soft-excess is also detected from these sources (as usually found in the spectra of AGN), with emission from O K and Fe L, in the case of NGC 5408 X-1 and Holmberg II X-1, which can be understood as features arising from reflection of the disk. Remarkably, ionized disk reflection and the associated powerlaw continuum provide a good description of the broad-band spectrum, including the soft-excess. There is no requirement for thermal emission from the inner disk in the description of the spectra. The black holes of these systems must then be highly spinning, with a spin close to the maximum rate of a maximal spinning black hole. The results require the action of strong light bending in these sources. We suggest that they could be strongly accreting black holes in which most of the energy is extracted from the flow magnetically and released above the disc thereby avoiding the conventional Eddington limit.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Chemical Reaction Dynamics at Surfaces

Contains reports on three research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAL03-86-K-0002)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAL03-89-C-0001)National Science Foundation (Grant CHE 85-08734)MIT Energy Laboratory - Synthetic Fuels CenterPetroleum Research Fund (Contract 19014-AC5

The CUORE Cryostat: A 1-Ton Scale Setup for Bolometric Detectors

The cryogenic underground observatory for rare events (CUORE) is a 1-ton scale bolometric experiment whose detector consists of an array of 988 TeO2 crystals arranged in a cylindrical compact structure of 19 towers. This will be the largest bolometric mass ever operated. The experiment will work at a temperature around or below 10 mK. CUORE cryostat consists of a cryogen-free system based on pulse tubes and a custom high power dilution refrigerator, designed to match these specifications. The cryostat has been commissioned in 2014 at the Gran Sasso National Laboratories and reached a record temperature of 6 mK on a cubic meter scale. In this paper, we present results of CUORE commissioning runs. Details on the thermal characteristics and cryogenic performances of the system will be also given.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, LTD16 conference proceedin