The Formation and Merger of Compact Objects in the Central Engine of Active Galactic Nuclei and Quasars: Gamma-Ray Burst and Gravitational Radiation
The production rate of compact objects, i.e., neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs), in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and quasars (QSOs), where frequent supernova explosions are used to explain the high metallicity, is very high because of the interaction between the accretion disk and main-sequence stars in the nucleus of the quasar. The compact object red giant (RG) star binaries can be easily formed because of the large captured cross section of the RG stars. The (NS/BH, NS/BH) binary can be formed after the supernova explosion of the (NS/BH, RG) binary. Intense transient gamma-ray emission (gamma-ray burst) and gravitational radiation can result from the merger of these two compact objects. Collision between the helium core (Hc) of the RG and the BH may also take place and may also result in long-duration gamma-ray bursts but no gravitational waves. We estimate that the merger rate of (NS/BH, NS/BH) binaries and (Hc, BH) is proportional to the metal abundance N V/C IV and can be as high as 10~3 ((N V/C IV)/0.01) yr~1 per AGN/QSO. Subject headings: black hole physicsgalaxies: activegalaxies: nucleigamma rays: bursts ¨ gravitationquasars: emission lines

title: The afterglows of ultraluminous quasars
abstract: Quasars represent a brief phase in the life cycle of most massive galaxies, but the evolutionary connection between central black holes and their host galaxies remains unclear. While quasars are active and shining brighter than the Compton-limit luminosity, their radiation heats the surrounding medium to the Compton temperature, forming Compton spheres extending to the Stromgren radius of Fe26+/He2+. After the quasars shut off, their "afterglow" can be detected through three signatures: (1) an extended X-ray envelope, with a characteristic temperature of ~3 × 107 K, (2) Lyα and Lyβ lines and the K edge of Fe26+, and (3) nebulosity from hydrogen and helium recombination emission lines. We discuss the possibility of detecting these signatures using Chandra, the planned X-Ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy mission, and ground-based optical telescopes. The luminosity and size of quasar afterglows can be used to constrain the lifetime of quasars.

title: Suppressed star formation in circumnuclear regions in seyfert galaxies
abstract: Feedback from black hole activity is widely believed to play a key role in regulating star formation and black hole growth. A long-standing issue is the relation between star formation and the fueling of the supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We compile a sample of 57 Seyfert galaxies to tackle this issue. We estimate the surface densities of gas and star formation rates in circumnuclear regions (CNRs). Comparing them with the well-known Kennicutt-Schmidt (K-S) law, we find that the star formation rates (SFRs) in the CNRs of most Seyfert galaxies are suppressed in this sample. Feedback is suggested to explain the suppressed SFRs.

title: INTEGRAL and RXTE/ASM observations on IGR J17098−3628
abstract: To probe further the possible nature of the unidentified source IGR J17098-3628, we have carried out a detailed analysis of its long-term time variability as monitored by RXTE/ASM, and of its hard X-ray properties as observed by INTEGRAL. INTEGRAL has monitored this sky region over years and significantly detected IGR J17098-3628 only when the source was in this dubbed active state. In particular, at $\ge$ 20 keV, IBIS/ISGRI caught an outburst in March 2005, lasting for $\sim$5 days with detection significance of 73$\sigma$ (20-40 keV) and with the emission at $ $20 keV) outburst by $\sim$2 days. This resembles the behavior of X-ray novae like XN 1124-683, hence it further suggests a LMXB nature for IGR  While the quality of the ASM data prevents us from drawing any definite conclusions, these discoveries are important clues that, coupled with future observations, will help to resolve the as yet unknown nature of IGR J17098-3628.

title: EVOLUTION OF GASEOUS DISK VISCOSITY DRIVEN BY SUPERNOVA EXPLOSIONS IN STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT HIGH REDSHIFT
abstract: Motivated by Genzel et al.'s observations of high-redshift star-forming galaxies, containing clumpy and turbulent rings or disks, we build a set of equations describing the dynamical evolution of gaseous disks with inclusion of star formation and its feedback. Transport of angular momentum is due to "turbulent" viscosity induced by supernova explosions in the star formation region. Analytical solutions of the equations are found for the initial cases of a gaseous ring and the integrated form for a gaseous disk, respectively. For a ring with enough low viscosity, it evolves in a slow process of gaseous diffusion and star formation near the initial radius. For a high viscosity, the ring rapidly diffuses in the early phase. The diffusion drives the ring into a region with a low viscosity and starts the second phase undergoing pile-up of gas at a radius following the decreased viscosity torque. The third is a sharply decreasing phase because of star formation consumption of gas and efficient transportation of gas inward forming a stellar disk. We apply the model to two z similar to 2 galaxies BX 482 and BzK 6004, and find that they are undergoing a decline in their star formation activity.

title: Possible hard X-ray shortages in bursts from KS 1731-260 and 4U 1705-44
abstract: A hard X-ray shortage, implying the cooling of the corona, was observed during bursts of IGR J17473-272, 4U 1636-536, Aql X-1, and GS 1826-238. Apart from these four sources, we investigate here an atoll sample, in which the number of bursts for each source is larger than 5, to explore the possible additional hard X-ray shortage during Rossi X-ray timing explorer (RXTE) era.  According to the source catalog that shows type-I bursts, we analyzed all the available pointing observations of these sources carried out by the RXTE proportional counter array. We grouped and combined the bursts according to their outburst states and searched for the possible hard X-ray shortage while bursting.  We found that the island states of KS 1731-260 and 4U 1705-44 show a hard X-ray shortage at significant levels of 4.5 and 4.7σ and a systematic time lag of 0.9 ± 2.1 s and 2.5 ± 2.0 s with respect to the soft X-rays, respectively. While in their banana branches and other sources, we did not find any consistent shortage.

title: Performance Study of the CMS Barrel Resistive Plate Chambers with Cosmic Rays
abstract: In October and November 2008, the CMS collaboration conducted a programme of cosmic ray data taking, which has recorded about 270 million events. The Resistive Plate Chamber system, which is part of the CMS muon detection system, was successfully operated in the full barrel. More than 98% of the channels were operational during the exercise with typical detection efficiency of 90%. In this paper, the performance of the detector during these dedicated runs is reported.

title: Q value of the superallowed decay of Mg22 and the calibration of the Na21(p,γ) experiment
abstract: The masses of the radioactive nuclei {sup 22}Mg and {sup 22}Na have been measured with the Canadian Penning trap on-line mass spectrometer to a precision of 3x10{sup -8} and 1x10{sup -8}, respectively. A Q{sub EC} value of 4124.39(73) keV for the superallowed {beta} decay of {sup 22}Mg is obtained from the difference of these two masses. With this precise Q value, the Ft value for this decay is determined with improved precision and is found to be consistent with the existing precision data set of superallowed Fermi emitters. This provides an important test of the isospin symmetry-breaking corrections. If the mass of {sup 22}Mg determined here is used in the calibration of a recent {sup 21}Na(p,{gamma}){sup 22}Mg measurement, part of the discrepancy observed in that measurement is removed.

title: ESTIMATING BLACK HOLE MASSES IN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI USING THE Mg II λ2800 EMISSION LINE
abstract: We investigate the relationship between the linewidths of broad Mg II lambda 2800 and H beta in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to refine them as tools to estimate black hole (BH) masses. We perform a detailed spectral analysis of a large sample of AGNs at intermediate redshifts selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, along with a smaller sample of archival ultraviolet spectra for nearby sources monitored with reverberation mapping (RM). Careful attention is devoted to accurate spectral decomposition, especially in the treatment of narrow-line blending and Fe II contamination. We show that, contrary to popular belief, the velocity width of Mg II tends to be smaller than that of H beta, suggesting that the two species are not cospatial in the broad-line region. Using these findings and recently updated BH mass measurements from RM, we present a new calibration of the empirical prescriptions for estimating virial BH masses for AGNs using the broad Mg II and H beta lines. We show that the BH masses derived from our new formalisms show subtle but important differences compared to some of the mass estimators currently used in the literature.

title: Design and study of a TCF lattice with negative momentum compaction factor
abstract: The feasibility of designing a negative momentum compaction factor (alpha(p) < 0) lattice for a circular e(-)e(+) collider is investigated. The modular method for an alpha(p) < 0 lattice is introduced. As a practical example, an alpha(p) < 0 lattice for a Tau-charm factory (TCF) is proposed and studied.

title: Weighing Super-Massive Black Holes with Narrow Fe K$\alpha$ Line
abstract: It has been suggested that the narrow cores of the Fe Kα emission lines in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are likely produced in the torus, the inner radius of which can be measured by observing the lag time between the V and K band flux variations. In this paper, we compare the virial products of the infrared time lags, and the narrow Fe Kα widths for 10 type 1 AGNs, with the black hole masses from other techniques. We found the narrow Fe Kα line width is in average 2.6 −0.4 times broader than expected, assuming an isotropic velocity distribution of the torus at the distance measured by the infrared lags. We propose the thick disk model of the torus may explain the observed larger line width. Another possibility is the contamination by emission from the broad line region or the outer accretion disk. Alternatively, the narrow iron line might originate from the inner most part of the obscuring torus within the sublimation radius, while the infrared emission may be from the outer cooler part. We note the correlations between the black hole masses based on this new technique and those based on other known techniques are statistically insignificant. We argue that this could be attributed to the small sample size and the very large uncertainties in the measurements of iron K line widths. The next generation of X-ray observatories could help verify the origin of the narrow iron Kα line and the reliability of this new technique. Subject headings: black hole physics – galaxies: active – galaxies: nuclei – galaxies: Seyfert – X-rays: galaxies – infrared: galaxies