A past capture event at Sagittarius A* inferred from the fluorescent X-ray emission of Sagittarius B clouds
The fluorescent X-ray emission from neutral iron in the molecular clouds [Sagittarius (Sgr) B] indicates that the clouds are being irradiated by an external X-ray source. The source is probably associated with the Galactic central black hole (Sgr A*), which triggered a bright outburst 100 yr ago. We suggest that such an outburst could be due to a partial capture of a star by Sgr A*, during which a jet was generated. Using constraints from the observed flux and the time variability (∼10 yr) of the Sgr B fluorescent emission, we find that the shock produced by the interaction of the jet with the dense interstellar medium represents a plausible candidate for the X-ray source emission.

title: HIGH-ENERGY GAMMA-RAY AFTERGLOWS FROM LOW-LUMINOSITY GAMMA-RAY BURSTS
abstract: The observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) such as 980425, 031203 and 060218, with luminosities much lower than those of other classic bursts, lead to the definition of a new class of GRBs—LL-GRBs. The nature of the outflow responsible for them is not yet clear. Two scenarios have been suggested: one is the conventional relativistic outflow with initial Lorentz factor of order of Γ0 10 and the other is a trans-relativistic outflow with Γ0 1-2. Here, we compare the high-energy gamma-ray afterglow emission from these two different models, taking into account both synchrotron self-inverse Compton (SSC) scattering and the external inverse Compton scattering due to photons from the cooling supernova or hypernova envelope (SNIC). We find that the conventional relativistic outflow model predicts a relatively high gamma-ray flux from SSC at early times (<104 s for typical parameters) with a rapidly decaying light curve, while in the trans-relativistic outflow model, one would expect a much flatter light curve of high-energy gamma-ray emission at early times, which could be dominated by both the SSC emission and the SNIC emission, depending on the properties of the underlying supernova and the shock parameter e and B . The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope should be able to distinguish between the two models in the future.

title: Effect of a strong magnetic field on the surface electric field of strange stars
abstract: We made a detailed study of the properties of the electron layer near the quark surface of strange stars with strong (${\sim}10^{14}{-}10^{17}$ G) magnetic fields. The electrostatic potential and the electric field at the quark surface were calculated as functions of the magnetic field intensity of bare strange stars. Using an ultrastrong ($B\geq 2.5\times10^{16}$ G) magnetic field, we found that the distribution of electrons becomes an exponential function of radial distance, which is quite different in a magnetic field-free case. We also calculated the variation in gap width between the strange core and the normal nuclear crust for strange stars, which is due to magnetic field effect.

title: Yield and recoil properties of iodine isotopes from the interaction of 240 MeV 12C with 238U.
abstract: The independent yields, recoil properties, and forward-to-backward ratios (F/B) of iodine isotopes from the interaction of 240 MeV /sup 12/C with /sup 238/U have been measured radiochemically by the thick-target/thick-catcher method. The isotopic yield distribution curve has been constructed and is found to consist of two overlapping Gaussians, peaking at A = 126.5 and 133.8 with width parameters of 2.29 and 2.04 mass units, respectively. All the measured iodine isotopes had ranges of 7.7 +- 0.4 mg/cm/sup 2/. The neutron-deficient products have F/B of 1.76 +- 0.14, but the neutron-excessive products have F/B of only 1.09 +- 0.06. The yield curve was analyzed with the liquid drop model and the recoil curve was analyzed by the standard two-step vector model; the results show that the neutron-deficient products are formed from nonequilibrium processes and the neutron-excessive products are formed from the normal low-energy fission process.

title: A statistical classification of the unassociated gamma-ray sources in the second Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog
abstract: With the assistance of the identified/associated sources in the second Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) catalog, we analyze and resolve the spatial distribution and the distributions of the gamma-ray spectral and variability indices of the remaining 575 unassociated Fermi LAT sources. Consequently, it is suggested that the unassociated sources could statistically consist of Galactic supernova remnants/pulsar wind nebulae, BL Lacertae objects, flat spectrum radio quasars and other types of active galaxies with fractions of 25%, 29%, 41% and 5%, respectively.

title: BRIGHT "MERGER-NOVA" FROM THE REMNANT OF A NEUTRON STAR BINARY MERGER: A SIGNATURE OF A NEWLY BORN, MASSIVE, MILLISECOND MAGNETAR
abstract: A massive millisecond magnetar may survive the merger of a neutron star (NS) binary, which would continuously power the merger ejecta. We develop a generic dynamic model for the merger ejecta with energy injection from the central magnetar. The ejecta emission (the “merger-nova”) powered by the magnetar peaks in the UV band and the peak of the light curve progressively shifts to an earlier epoch with increasing frequency. A magnetar-powered mergernova could have an optical peak brightness comparable to a supernova, which is a few tens or hundreds times brighter than the radioactive-powered merger-novae (the so-called macro-nova or kilo-nova). On the other hand, such a merger-nova would peak earlier and have a significantly shorter duration than that of a supernova. An early collapse of the magnetar could suppress the brightness of the optical emission and shorten its duration. Such millisecond-magnetar-powered merger-novae may be detected from NS-NS merger events without an observed short gamma-ray burst, and could be a bright electromagnetic counterpart for gravitational wave bursts due to NS-NS mergers. If detected, it suggests that the merger leaves behind a massive NS, which has important implications for the equation-of-state of nuclear matter.

title: A study of pentaquark Θ state in the chiral SU(3) quark model
abstract: The structure of the pentaquark state uudd (s) over bar, is studied in the chiral SU(3) quark model as well as in the extended chiral SU(3) quark model, in which the vector meson exchanges are included. The lowest four configurations of J(pi) = 1 and four of J(pi) = 1/2(+) for the 5 quark cluster are considered. The results show that the isospin T = 0 state is always the lowest one for both J(pi) = 1/2(-) and J(pi) = 1/2(+) cases in various models. But the theoretical value of the lowest one is still about 200-300 MeV higher than the experimental mass of Theta. It seems that a dynamical calculation should be done for the further study

title: A study of nucleon-nucleon interaction from the quark-antiquark pair creation model
abstract: The NN interaction is studied with the quark cluster model by including the equivalent one-meson-exchange potentials and two-pion-exchange potential, which are constructed from the quark-antiquark pair-creation transition potential. The results show that the long-range part of the equivalent meson-exchange potential is similar to that of the conventional meson-exchange potential, and the medium-range part of the equivalent meson-exchange potential is attractive, but the strength of the latter is not enough to explain the phase shifts of S-wave NN scattering.

title: Multi-strange hadronic systems in a chiral SU(3) quark mean field model
abstract: We apply the chiral SU(3) quark mean field model to investigate the finite nuclei. We find that the combined confining potential chi(c)(C) is more proper to describe finite nuclei compared with the scalar and scalar-vector potentials. The hypernuclei and multi-strange objects which include A and Xi are discussed in this model. The maximum binding energy for such kind of multi-strange objects is about 16-17 MeV and the corresponding strangeness fraction f(s) is around 1.2-1.3.

title: Color screening effect and nucleon-nucleon interaction

title: THE EFFECTIVE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE NUCLEON AND THE ISOBAR