Probing the Variation of Reverberation Lags along with X-Ray Flux in the AGN Mrk 704

Understanding the variation of lags with respect to the X-ray flux is important to explore the geometry of the inner region of the accretion disk in AGNs.We performed frequency-lag,energy–lag and spectral studies for two sets of observations,in order to investigate the variations in lags with respect to X-ray flux in the AGN source Mrk 704 using the XMM-Newton observatory.We divided one of the light curves into two sections which were noticed to exhibit a flux variation.The frequency-lag spectra in different energy domains revealed that reverberation(soft)lags varied along with the flux.For the first time,we show that the blurred reflection model can consistently explain the soft excess observed in the X-ray spectra for this source.The fluxes of soft(i.e.,reflection)and hard components were noted to vary by~18%and~9%respectively,across the sections.The soft lag amplitude was found to be larger at the high flux state than the amplitude at the low flux state.Most importantly,we found that both frequency-lag and energy–lag spectra do not display significant variation between two observational data sets despite a flux variation of 43%.This phenomenon cannot be explained by the reflection model because the soft lag amplitudes must be larger in the high flux state.The probable scenario is that,in the low flux state,the obscuring cloud delays the reflected soft photons which increases the soft lag amplitude.

Does black hole spin play a key role in the FSRQ/BL Lac dichotomy?

Blazars are characterized by large intensity and spectral variations across the electromagnetic spectrum It is believed that jets emerging from them are almost aligned with the line-of-sight. The major- ity of identified extragalactic sources in γ-ray catalogs of EGRET and Fermi are blazars. Observationally, blazars can be divided into two classes： fiat spectrum radio quasars （FSRQs） and BL Lacs. BL Lacs usually exhibit lower γ-ray luminosity and harder power law spectra at γ-ray energies than FSRQs. We attempt to explain the high energy properties of FSRQs and BL Lacs from Fermi γ-ray space telescope observations. It was argued previously that the difference in accretion rates is mainly responsible for the large mismatch in observed luminosity in ＂7-ray. However, when intrinsic luminosities are derived by correcting for beaming effects, this difference in 7-ray luminosity between the two classes is significantly reduced. In order to ex- plain this difference in intrinsic luminosities, we propose that spin plays an important role in the luminosity distribution dichotomy of BL Lacs and FSRQs. As the outflow power of a blazar increases with increasing spin of a central black hole, we suggest that the spin plays a crucial role in making BL Lac sources low luminous and slow rotators compared to FSRQ sources.

Performance study of a cesium iodide photocathode-based UV photon detector in Ar/CH_(4) mixture

The detection efficiency of a gaseous photomultiplier depends on the photocathode quantum efficiency and the extraction efficiency of photoelectrons into the gas.In this paper we have studied the performance of an UV photon detector with P10 gas in which the extraction efficiency can reach values near to those in vacuum operated devices.Simulations have been done to compare the percentage of photoelectrons backscattered in P10 gas as well as in the widely used neon-based gas mixture.The performance study has been carried out using a single stage thick gas electron multiplier(THGEM).The electron pulses and electron spectrum are recorded under various operating conditions.Secondary effects prevailing in UV photon detectors like photon feedback are discussed and its effect on the electron spectrum under different operating conditions is analyzed.

Spatial resolution optimization in a THGEM-based UV photon detector

Introduction THick Gas Electron Multiplier(THGEM)is considered in many UV photon detector applications.It has the capability of detecting single photon and imaging with high sensitivity.Operating parameters such as choice of gas mixture,pressure,drift field,drift gap,multiplication voltage,induction field and induction gap play an important role in deciding the spatial resolution of the detector.Detailed simulation study enables to optimize the above-mentioned parameters for a given THGEM-based imaging detector and hence to achieve improved performance for the same.Materials and methods Simulation,using ANSYS and Garfield++,starts with the release of primary electrons at random coordinates on the photocathode plane.They are tracked as they pass through the drift gap and THGEM hole till the electron cloud reaches anode plane.Distribution of electron cloud on the anode plane along X and Y axis is plotted in histogram and fitted with Gaussian function to determine spatial resolution.Ar/CO_(2)(70:30)mixture,which shows higher ETE and lower transverse diffusion,is chosen for this simulation study.Conclusion Transverse diffusion has a major impact on both ETE and the spatial resolution.Lower transverse diffusion coefficient is always desired for having better resolution as well as for ETE.It is found from the simulation study that higher gas pressure,lower drift field and induction field,smaller drift and induction gap can provide optimum detection efficiency with the best spatial resolution.The simulation method proposed here can also be extended to X-ray imaging detectors.