| 1. |
- Offringa, A. R., et al.
(författare)
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The brightness and spatial distributions of terrestrial radio sources
- 2013
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 435:1, s. 584-596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Faint undetected sources of radio-frequency interference (RFI) might become visible in long radio observations when they are consistently present over time. Thereby, they might obstruct the detection of the weak astronomical signals of interest. This issue is especially important for Epoch of Reionization (EoR) projects that try to detect the faint redshifted H I signals from the time of the earliest structures in the Universe. We explore the RFI situation at 30-163 MHz by studying brightness histograms of visibility data observed with Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR), similar to radio-source-count analyses that are used in cosmology. An empirical RFI distribution model is derived that allows the simulation of RFI in radio observations. The brightness histograms show an RFI distribution that follows a power-law distribution with an estimated exponent around -1.5. With several assumptions, this can be explained with a uniform distribution of terrestrial radio sources whose radiation follows existing propagation models. Extrapolation of the power law implies that the current LOFAR EoR observations should be severely RFI limited if the strength of RFI sources remains strong after time integration. This is in contrast with actual observations, which almost reach the thermal noise and are thought not to be limited by RFI. Therefore, we conclude that it is unlikely that there are undetected RFI sources that will become visible in long observations. Consequently, there is no indication that RFI will prevent an EoR detection with LOFAR.
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| 2. |
- Galan, C., et al.
(författare)
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International observational campaigns of the last two eclipses in EE Cephei : 2003 and 2008/9
- 2012
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 544, s. A53-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. EECep is an unusual long-period (5.6 yr) eclipsing binary discovered during the mid-twentieth century. It undergoes almost-grey eclipses that vary in terms of both depth and duration at different epochs. The system consists of a Be type star and a dark dusty disk around an invisible companion. EECep together with the widely studied epsilon Aur are the only two known cases of long-period eclipsing binaries with a dark, dusty disk component responsible for periodic obscurations.Aims. Two observational campaigns were carried out during the eclipses of EECep in 2003 and 2008/9 to verify whether the eclipsing body in the system is indeed a dark disk and to understand the observed changes in the depths and durations of the eclipses.Methods. Multicolour photometric data and spectroscopic observations performed at both low and high resolutions were collected with several dozen instruments located in Europe and North America. We numerically modelled the variations in brightness and colour during the eclipses. We tested models with different disk structure, taking into consideration the inhomogeneous surface brightness of the Be star. We considered the possibility of disk precession.Results. The complete set of observational data collected during the last three eclipses are made available to the astronomical community. The 2003 and 2008/9 eclipses of EECep were very shallow. The latter is the shallowest among all observed. The very high quality photometric data illustrate in detail the colour evolution during the eclipses for the first time. Two blue maxima in the colour indices were detected during these two eclipses, one before and one after the photometric minimum. The first (stronger) blue maximum is simultaneous with a "bump" that is very clear in all the UBV(RI)(C) light curves. A temporary increase in the I-band brightness at the orbital phase similar to 0.2 was observed after each of the last three eclipses. Variations in the spectral line profiles seem to be recurrent during each cycle. The Na I lines always show at least three absorption components during the eclipse minimum and strong absorption is superimposed on the H alpha emission.Conclusions. These observations confirm that the eclipsing object in EECep system is indeed a dark, dusty disk around a low luminosity object. The primary appears to be a rapidly rotating Be star that is strongly darkened at the equator and brightened at the poles. Some of the conclusions of this work require verification in future studies: (i) a complex, possibly multi-ring structure of the disk in EECep; (ii) our explanation of the "bump" observed during the last two eclipses in terms of the different times of obscuration of the hot polar regions of the Be star by the disk; and (iii) our suggested period of the disk precession (similar to 11-12 P-orb) and predicted depth of about 2(m) for the forthcoming eclipse in 2014.
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| 3. |
- Gehlot, B. K., et al.
(författare)
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The first power spectrum limit on the 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen during the Cosmic Dawn at z=20-25 from LOFAR
- 2019
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 488:3, s. 4271-4287
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Observations of the redshifted 21-cm hyperfine line of neutral hydrogen from early phases of the Universe such as Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization promise to open a new window onto the early formation of stars and galaxies. We present the first upper limits on the power spectrum of redshifted 21-cm brightness temperature fluctuations in the redshift range z = 19.8-25.2 (54-68 MHz frequency range) using 14 h of data obtained with the LOFAR-Low Band Antenna (LBA) array. We also demonstrate the application of a multiple pointing calibration technique to calibrate the LOFAR-LBA dual-pointing observations centred on the North Celestial Pole and the radio galaxy 3C220.3, We observe an unexplained excess of similar to 30-50 per cent in Stokes / noise compared to Stokes V for the two observed fields, which decorrelates on greater than or similar to 12 s and might have a physical origin. We show that enforcing smoothness of gain errors along frequency direction during calibration reduces the additional variance in Stokes I compared Stokes V introduced by the calibration on sub-band level. After subtraction of smooth foregrounds, we achieve a 2 sigma upper limit on the 21-cm power spectrum of Delta(2)(21) < (14561 mK)(2) at k similar to 0.038 h cMpc(-1) and Delta(2)(21) < (14886 mK)(2) at k 0.038 h cMpc(-1) for the 3C220 and NCP fields respectively and both upper limits are consistent with each other. The upper limits for the two fields are still dominated by systematics on most k modes.
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| 4. |
- Mertens, F. G., et al.
(författare)
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Improved upper limits on the 21 cm signal power spectrum of neutral hydrogen at z approximate to 9.1 from LOFAR
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 493:2, s. 1662-1685
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new upper limit on the 21 cm signal power spectrum at a redshift of z approximate to 9.1 is presented, based on 141 h of data obtained with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR). The analysis includes significant improvements in spectrally smooth gain-calibration, Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) foreground mitigation and optimally weighted power spectrum inference. Previously seen 'excess power' due to spectral structure in the gain solutions has markedly reduced but some excess power still remains with a spectral correlation distinct from thermal noise. This excess has a spectral coherence scale of 0.25-0.45 MHz and is partially correlated between nights, especially in the foreground wedge region. The correlation is stronger between nights covering similar local sidereal times. A best 2-sigma upper limit of Delta(2)(21) < (73)(2) mK(2) at k = 0.075 h cMpc(-1) is found, an improvement by a factor approximate to 8 in power compared to the previously reported upper limit. The remaining excess power could be due to residual foreground emission from sources or diffuse emission far away from the phase centre, polarization leakage, chromatic calibration errors, ionosphere, or low-level radiofrequency interference. We discuss future improvements to the signal processing chain that can further reduce or even eliminate these causes of excess power.
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| 5. |
- Patil, A. H., et al.
(författare)
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Upper Limits on the 21cm Epoch of Reionization Power Spectrum from One Night with LOFAR
- 2017
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 838:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the first limits on the Epoch of Reionization 21 cm H I power spectra, in the redshift range z = 7.910.6, using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) High-Band Antenna (HBA). In total, 13.0 hr of data were used from observations centered on the North Celestial Pole. After subtraction of the sky model and the noise bias, we detect a non-zero Delta(2)(I)=(56 +/- 13 mK)(2) (1-sigma) excess variance and a best 2-sigma upper limit of Delta(2)(21) < (79.6 mK)(2) at k = 0.053 h cMpc(-1) in the range z = 9.610.6. The excess variance decreases when optimizing the smoothness of the direction- and frequency-dependent gain calibration, and with increasing the completeness of the sky model. It is likely caused by (i) residual side-lobe noise on calibration baselines, (ii) leverage due to nonlinear effects, (iii) noise and ionosphere-induced gain errors, or a combination thereof. Further analyses of the excess variance will be discussed in forthcoming publications.
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| 6. |
- Asad, K. M. B., et al.
(författare)
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Polarization leakage in epoch of reionization windows - I. Low Frequency Array observations of the 3C196 field
- 2015
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 451:4, s. 3709-3727
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Detection of the 21-cm signal coming from the epoch of reionization (EoR) is challenging especially because, even after removing the foregrounds, the residual Stokes I maps contain leakage from polarized emission that can mimic the signal. Here, we discuss the instrumental polarization of Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) and present realistic simulations of the leakages between Stokes parameters. From the LOFAR observations of polarized emission in the 3C196 field, we have quantified the level of polarization leakage caused by the nominal model beam of LOFAR, and compared it with the EoR signal using power spectrum analysis. We found that at 134-166 MHz, within the central 4A degrees of the field the (Q, U) -> I leakage power is lower than the EoR signal at k < 0.3 Mpc(-1). The leakage was found to be localized around a Faraday depth of 0, and the rms of the leakage as a fraction of the rms of the polarized emission was shown to vary between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent, both of which could be utilized in the removal of leakage. Moreover, we could define an 'EoR window' in terms of the polarization leakage in the cylindrical power spectrum above the point spread function (PSF)-induced wedge and below k(ayen) similar to 0.5 Mpc(-1), and the window extended up to k(ayen) similar to 1 Mpc(-1) at all k(aSyen) when 70 per cent of the leakage had been removed. These LOFAR results show that even a modest polarimetric calibration over a field of view of a parts per thousand(2) 4A degrees in the future arrays like Square Kilometre Array will ensure that the polarization leakage remains well below the expected EoR signal at the scales of 0.02-1 Mpc(-1).
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| 7. |
- Jelić, V., et al.
(författare)
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Linear polarization structures in LOFAR observations of the interstellar medium in the 3C 196 field
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 583
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: This study aims to characterize linear polarization structures in LOFAR observations of the interstellar medium (ISM) in the 3C 196 field, one of the primary fields of the LOFAR-Epoch of Reionization key science project.Methods: We have used the high band antennas (HBA) of LOFAR to image this region and rotation measure (RM) synthesis to unravel the distribution of polarized structures in Faraday depth.Results: The brightness temperature of the detected Galactic emission is 5-15 K in polarized intensity and covers the range from -3 to +8 rad m(-2) in Faraday depth. The most interesting morphological feature is a strikingly straight filament at a Faraday depth of +0.5 rad m(-2) running from north to south, right through the centre of the field and parallel to the Galactic plane. There is also an interesting system of linear depolarization canals conspicuous in an image showing the peaks of Faraday spectra. We used the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) at 350 MHz to image the same region. For the first time, we see some common morphology in the RM cubes made at 150 and 350 MHz. There is no indication of diffuse emission in total intensity in the interferometric data, in line with results at higher frequencies and previous LOFAR observations. Based on our results, we determined physical parameters of the ISM and proposed a simple model that may explain the observed distribution of the intervening magneto-ionic medium.Conclusions: The mean line-of-sight magnetic field component, B-parallel to, is determined to be 0.3 +/- 0.1 mu G and its spatial variation across the 3C 196 field is 0.1 mu G. The filamentary structure is probably an ionized filament in the ISM, located somewhere within the Local Bubble. This filamentary structure shows an excess in thermal electron density (n(e)B(parallel to) > 6.2 cm(-3) mu G) compared to its surroundings.
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| 8. |
- Abrashev, M. V., et al.
(författare)
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Raman spectroscopy of the charge- and orbital-ordered state in La0.5Ca0.5MnO3
- 2001
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Ingår i: Physical Review B. ; 64:14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Polarized Raman spectra from microcrystals of La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 were studied as a function of temperature, excitation photon energy, and scattering configuration. At temperatures below the transition from ferromagnetic metallic phase to antiferromagnetic insulating charge- and orbital-ordered (COO) phase, several lines appear in Raman spectra excited with photon energies (h) over bar omega (L)<2.5 eV. We argue that their appearance signals ordering and freezing of the Jahn-Teller distortions at this transition temperature into a superstructure with a doubled elementary cell. We suggest a simplified structural model based on an analysis of the normal phonon modes in the COO phase, neglecting the octahedral tilts and containing ordered Mn4+O6 (undistorted) and Mn3+O6 (Jahn-Teller distorted) octahedra. The symmetries of the experimentally observed Raman lines are determined by comparing their relative intensities to those predicted by the polarization selection rules for a finely twinned quasicubic crystal. The most intensive Raman lines are assigned to definite normal modes in close comparison with corresponding modes in COO layered manganites and undoped RMnO3 (R=La, Y).
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| 9. |
- Gesheva, Kostadinka, et al.
(författare)
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Optical, structural and electrochromic properties of sputter deposited W-Mo oxide thin films
- 2016
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Ingår i: INERA CONFERENCE. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP).
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thin metal oxide films were investigated by a series of characterization techniques including impedance spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, Raman spectroscopy, and Atomic Force Microscopy. Thin film deposition by reactive DC magnetron sputtering was performed at the Ångström Laboratory. W and Mo targets (5 cm diameter) and various oxygen gas flows were employed to prepare samples with different properties, whereas the gas pressure was kept constant at about 30 mTorr. The substrates were 5×5 cm2 plates of unheated glass pre-coated with ITO having a resistance of 40 ohm/sq. Film thicknesses were around 300nm as determined by surface profilometry. Newly acquired equipment was used to study optical spectra, optoelectronic properties, and film structure. Films of WO3 and of mixed W–Mo oxide with three compositions showed coloring and bleaching under the application of a small voltage. Cyclic voltammograms were recorded with a scan rate of 5 mV s–1. Ellipsometric data for the optical constants show dependence on the amount of MoOx in the chemical composition. Single MoOx film, and the mixed one with only 8% MoOx have the highest value of refractive index, and similar dispersion in the visible spectral range. Raman spectra displayed strong lines at wavenumbers between 780 cm–1 and 950 cm–1 related to stretching vibrations of WO3, and MoO3. AFM gave evidence for domains of different composition in mixed W-Mo oxide films.
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| 10. |
- Ghara, Raghunath, et al.
(författare)
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Constraining the intergalactic medium at z approximate to 9.1 using LOFAR Epoch of Reionization observations
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 493:4, s. 4728-4747
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We derive constraints on the thermal and ionization states of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at redshift approximate to 9.1 using new upper limits on the 21-cm power spectrum measured by the LOFAR radio telescope and a prior on the ionized fraction at that redshift estimated from recent cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. We have used results from the reionization simulation code GRIZZLY and a Bayesian inference framework to constrain the parameters which describe the physical state of the IGM. We find that, if the gas heating remains negligible, an IGM with ionized fraction greater than or similar to 0.13 and a distribution of the ionized regions with a characteristic size greater than or similar to 8 h(-1) comoving megaparsec (Mpc) and a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) greater than or similar to 16 h(-1) Mpc is ruled out. For an IGM with a uniform spin temperature T-S greater than or similar to 3 K, no constraints on the ionized component can be computed. If the large-scale fluctuations of the signal are driven by spin temperature fluctuations, an IGM with a volume fraction less than or similar to 0.34 of heated regions with a temperature larger than CMB, average gas temperature 7-160 K, and a distribution of the heated regions with characteristic size 3.5-70 h(-1) Mpc and FWHM of less than or similar to 110 h(-1) Mpc is ruled out. These constraints are within the 95 per cent credible intervals. With more stringent future upper limits from LOFAR at multiple redshifts, the constraints will become tighter and will exclude an increasingly large region of the parameter space.
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