We present a comprehensive flux resolved spectral analysis of the bright Narrow line Seyfert I AGNs, Mrk~335 and Ark~564 using observations by XMM-Newton satellite. The mean and the flux resolved spectra are fitted by an empirical model consisting of
two Comptonization components, one for the low energy soft excess and the other for the high energy power-law. A broad Iron line and a couple of low energies edges are required to explain the spectra. For Mrk~335, the 0.3 - 10 keV luminosity relative to the Eddington value, L{$_{X}$}/L$_{Edd}$, varied from 0.002 to 0.06. The index variation can be empirically described as $Gamma$ = 0.6 log$_{10}$ L{$_{X}$}/L$_{Edd}$ + 3.0 for $0.005 < L{_{X}}/L_{Edd} < 0.04$. At $ L_{{X}}/L_{Edd} sim 0.04$ the spectral index changes and then continues to follow $Gamma$ = 0.6 log$_{10}$ L$_{{X}}$/L$_{Edd}$ + 2.7, i.e. on a parallel track. We confirm that the result is independent of the specific spectral model used by fitting the data in the 3 - 10 keV band by only a power-law and an Iron line. For Ark~564, the index variation can be empirically described as $Gamma$ = 0.2 log$_{10}$ L$_{{X}}$/L$_{Edd}$ + 2.7 with a significantly large scatter as compared to Mrk~335. Our results indicate that for Mrk~335, there may be accretion disk geometry changes which lead to different parallel tracks. These changes could be related to structural changes in the corona or enhanced reflection at high flux levels. There does not seem to be any homogeneous or universal relationship for the X-ray index and luminosity for different AGNs or even for the same AGN.
GRS 1915+105 is a prominent black hole system exhibiting variability over a wide range of time scales and its observed light curves have been classified into 12 temporal states. Here we undertake a complete analysis of these light curves from all the
states using various quantifiers from nonlinear time series analysis, such as, the correlation dimension (D_2), the correlation entropy (K_2), singular value decomposition (SVD) and the multifractal spectrum ($f(alpha)$ spectrum). An important aspect of our analysis is that, for estimating these quantifiers, we use algorithmic schemes which we have proposed recently and tested successfully on synthetic as well as practical time series from various fields. Though the schemes are based on the conventional delay embedding technique, they are automated so that the above quantitative measures can be computed using conditions prescribed by the algorithm and without any intermediate subjective analysis. We show that nearly half of the 12 temporal states exhibit deviation from randomness and their complex temporal behavior could be approximated by a few (3 or 4) coupled ordinary nonlinear differential equations. These results could be important for a better understanding of the processes that generate the light curves and hence for modelling the temporal behavior of such complex systems. To our knowledge, this is the first complete analysis of an astrophysical object (let alone a black hole system) using various techniques from nonlinear dynamics.
We present experimental data and a theoretical interpretation on the conductance near the metal-insulator transition in thin ferromagnetic Gd films of thickness b approximately 2-10 nm. A large phase relaxation rate caused by scattering of quasiparti
cles off spin wave excitations renders the dephasing length L_phi < b in the range of sheet resistances considered, so that the effective dimension is d = 3. The observed approximate fractional temperature power law of the conductivity is ascribed to the scaling regime near the transition. The conductivity data as a function of temperature and disorder strength collapse on to two scaling curves for the metallic and insulating regimes. The best fit is obtained for a dynamical exponent z approximately 2.5 and a correlation length critical exponent u approximately 1.4 on the metallic side and a localization length exponent u approximately 0.8 on the insulating side.
We present a study of quantum corrections to the conductivity of thin ferromagnetic gadolinium films. In situ magneto-transport measurements were performed on a series of thin films with thickness d < 135A. For sheet resistances R0 < 4011 Ohm and tem
peratures T < 30K, we observe a linear temperature dependence of the conductivity in addition to the logarithmic temperature dependence expected from well known quantum corrections in two dimensions. We show that such a linear T-dependence can arise from a spin-wave mediated Altshuler-Aronov type correction.
We report variability of the X-ray source, X-7, in NGC 6946, during a 60 ksec Chandra observation when the count rate decreased by a factor of ~1.5 in ~5000 secs. Spectral fitting of the high and low count rate segments of the light curve reveal that
the simplest and most probable interpretation is that the X-ray spectra are due to disk black body emission with an absorbing hydrogen column density equal to the Galactic value of 2.1 X 10^{21} cm^{-2}. During the variation, the inner disk temperature decreased from ~0.29 to ~0.26 keV while the inner disk radius remained constant at ~6 X 10^8 cm. This translates into a luminosity variation from 3.8 to 2.8 X 10^{39} ergs cm^{-2} sec^{-1} and a black hole mass of ~400 solar masses. More complicated models like assuming intrinsic absorption and/or the addition of a power-law component imply a higher luminosity and a larger black hole mass. Even if the emission is beamed by a factor of ~5, the size of the emitting region would be > 2.7 X 10^8 cm implying a black hole mass > 180 solar masses. Thus, these spectral results provide strong evidence that the mass of the black hole in this source is definitely > 100 solar masses and more probably ~400 solar masses.
