ABSTRACT We investigate timing and spectral characteristics of the transient X-ray pulsar 2S 1417−624 during its 2018 outburst with NICER follow up observations. We describe the spectra with high-energy cut-off and partial covering fraction absorption (PCFA) model and present flux-dependent spectral changes of the source during the 2018 outburst. Utilizing the correlation-mode switching of the spectral model parameters, we confirm the previously reported sub-critical to critical regime transitions and we argue that secondary transition from the gas-dominated to the radiation pressure-dominated disc do not lead us to significant spectral changes below 12 keV. Using the existing accretion theories, we model the spin frequency evolution of 2S 1417−624 and investigate the noise processes of a transient X-ray pulsar for the first time using both polynomial and luminosity-dependent models for the spin frequency evolution. For the first model, the power density spectrum of the torque fluctuations indicate that the source exhibits red noise component (Γ ∼ −2) within the time-scales of outburst duration which is typical for disc-fed systems. On the other hand, the noise spectrum tends to be white on longer time-scales with high timing noise level that indicates an ongoing accretion process in between outburst episodes. For the second model, most of the red noise component is eliminated and the noise spectrum is found to be consistent with a white noise structure observed in wind-fed systems.

Pathological voice disorders are among the conditions affecting negatively our daily life. The aim of this study is to introduce the new feature vector in the hybrid axis and multi-model in order to diagnose these disorders with more conventional methods. Two different databases are used, and the results are compared with the previous studies. Here, two types of fusion models (feature and decision level fusion) are used to increase the classification accuracy of the multi-model. The experimental results show that the proposed multi-model gives the highest classification accuracies with decision level fusion (DLF). Inspecting the results obtained from two databases, the highest accuracy rate (99.58%) is obtained with DLF. It is also seen from the experiments that the proposed feature vector helps to classify pathological data successfully, depending on their pathological conditions. Together with the proposed multi-model, both LSTM and CNN are found to be similarly successful in the classification of data in multi-model architecture.

Anormal X-Isini atarcalari 4U 0142+61, 1RXS J170849.9-400910 ile beraber Yumusak Gama Isini Tekrarlayicilari SGR J1833-0832, SWIFT J1822.3-1606 ve SWIFT J1834.9-0846 kaynaklarinin atim zamanlamasi ozellikleri sunulacaktir. Zamanlama cozumlerinden elde ettigimiz atim gelis zamanlarindan atim periyodu yavaslama orani cikarilarak zamanlama artiklari hesaplanacaktir. Polinom tahmin teknigi kullanilarak, bu kaynaklarin zamanlama artiklarindan gurultu gucleri hesaplanacaktir. Baslangic sonuclari, bu kaynaklarin gurultu gucu ile atim periyodu yavaslama orani arasinda bir baginti oldugunu gostermektedir. Elde edilen bu bagintinin sonuclari anlatilacaktir.

Bu calismada; bir X-isini cift yildiz sistemi olan X-Persei’nin, RXTE ve INTEGRAL uydulari ile alinan verileri analiz edilerek, zamanlama ve tayfsal ozellikleri sunulmustur. Kaynagin uzun sureli atim frekans gecmisi guncellenerek, frekans turevi ile X-isini akisi arasinda bir iliski gozlemlenmistir. Bu iliski Kuresel-Benzeri Aktarim Teorisi’nin ongorulerine gore kutle aktariminin es-yildiz ruzgarlari yolu ile gerceklestigini gostermektedir. Fakat, ayni zamanda guc tayfi analizi ile saptanan $\sim$0.2 Hz frekansinda gecici QPO ozelligi, bir kutle aktarim diskinin varligini da desteklemektedir.

ABSTRACT We probe the properties of the transient X-ray pulsar MAXI J1409−619 through RXTE and Swift follow-up observations of the outburst in 2010. We are able to phase-connect the pulse arrival times for the 25 d episode during the outburst. We suggest that either an orbital model (with Porb ≃ 14.7(4) d) or a noise process due to random torque fluctuations (with Sr ≈ 1.3 × 10−18 Hz2 s−2 Hz−1) is plausible to describe the residuals of the timing solution. The frequency derivatives indicate a positive torque–luminosity correlation, which implies temporary accretion disc formation during the outburst. We also discover several quasi-periodic oscillations in company with their harmonics whose centroid frequencies decrease as the source flux decays. The variation of the pulsed fraction and spectral power-law index of the source with X-ray flux is interpreted as the sign of transition from a critical to a sub-critical accretion regime at the critical luminosity within the range of 6 × 1037–1.2 × 1038 erg s−1. Using pulse-phase-resolved spectroscopy, we show that the phases with higher flux tend to have lower photon indices, indicating that the polar regions produce spectrally harder emission.

We introduce a new feature matrix (FMx) to discriminate the acoustic signals with the help of their hybrid characteristics. The FMx has hybrid domain characteristics consisting of feature values such as distributional area (polygonal area), maximum values of the histogram and fundamental frequency of the difference-difference (d2d) vector. To show the performance of the FMx, three different datasets are used together with quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), multiclass support vector machines (M-SVMs) and convolutional neural networks (CNN). The simulation results show that FMx provides effective and useful information for the discrimination of the signals into subclasses with the help of ReliefF and forward sequential algorithms. In simulations, the test accuracies with QDA, M-SVMs and CNN were obtained as 94.20%, 100% and 100% respectively. So, the results of the simulations support the effectiveness of the FMx for the acoustic signal classification with three different datasets compared to the previous studies. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using RXTE, Chandra, XMM-Newton and Swift observations, we construct the power spectra and torque noise strengths of magnetars for the first time. For some of the sources, on time-scales of months to years, we measure strong red noise that might be a consequence of their outbursts. We compare the noise strengths of magnetars with those of radio pulsars by investigating the possible correlations of noise strength with spin-down rate, magnetic field and age. Using these correlations, we find that the noise strengths of magnetars obey similar trends as radio pulsars. However, we do not find any correlation between noise strength and X-ray luminosity, a correlation that has been seen in accretion-powered pulsars. Our findings suggest that the noise behaviour of magnetars resembles that of radio pulsars, but magnetars possess higher noise levels likely because of their stronger magnetic fields.

Feature extraction of sound signals is essential for the performance of applications such as pattern and voice recognition etc. In this study, a method based on a novel feature is proposed to separate pathological human voice signals from healthy ones as well as to separate subgroups of pathological voices from each other. The voices are examined in time-frequency domain. Their differences obtained from the results of the proposed method are investigated and the mechanism of the method is demonstrated using experimental cases. It is concluded that the method succeeds to discriminate the voices marked “healthy” and “pathological”.

In the first part of the research, we present the design of a vibration-based energy harvesting system. Robotic flexible arm having variable cross-section is investigated to overcome serious problems, e.g. insufficient bandwidth and model inaccuracies. Most of the energy harvesting systems are linear with unimodal characteristics. On the other hand, real vibrations can be modeled as random, multi-modal and time varying systems. Hence, unimodal linear systems can give highly unsatisfactory results under certain circumstances. However, non-linear systems can have multi-modal character with increased performance in real and practical situations. In this work, tapered links are preferred with nonlinear coupling setup to provide sufficient bandwidth and output power requirements for modern applications. Thus, the proposed scheme has been proven by simulated and experimental results successfully. In the second part of the research, we present design and experimental results of an electromagnetic harvester, energy source of which is single-phase household AC power with a nominal voltage of 220 V and a frequency of 50 Hz. In this case, energy harvesting is based on the induced electromotive force (EMF) as a result of the periodic variations of the magnetic field around the AC power cord. In this part, we also discuss basic principles of a wireless sensor network design powered by electromagnetically harvested energy obtained from household alternating current.

We analyse archival CGRO-BATSE X-ray flux and spin frequency measurements of GX 1+4 over a time span of 3000 days. We systematically search for time dependent variations of torque luminosity correlation. Our preliminary results indicate that the correlation shifts from being positive to negative on time scales of few 100 days.

We present timing analysis of the accretion powered pulsar SXP 1062, based on the observations of \textit{Swift}, \textit{XMM-Newton} and \textit{Chandra} satellites covering a time span of about 2 years. We obtain a phase coherent timing solution which shows that SXP 1062 has been steadily spinning down with a rate $-\,4.29(7) \times 10^{-14}$ Hz s$^{-1}$ leading to a surface magnetic field estimate of about $1.5 \times 10^{14}$ G. We also resolve the binary orbital motion of the system from X-ray data which confirms an orbital period of 656(2) days. On MJD 56834.5, a sudden change in pulse frequency occurs with $\Delta\nu = 1.28(5) \times 10^{-6} $ Hz, which indicates a glitch event. The fractional size of the glitch is $\Delta \nu / \nu \! \sim \! 1.37(6) \times 10^{-3}$ and SXP 1062 continues to spin-down with a steady rate after the glitch. A short X-ray outburst 25 days prior to the glitch does not alter the spin-down of the source; therefore the glitch should be associated with the internal structure of the neutron star. While glitch events are common for isolated pulsars, the glitch of SXP 1062 is the first confirmation of the observability of this type of events among accretion powered pulsars. Furthermore, the value of the fractional change of pulse frequency ensures that we discover the largest glitch reported up to now.

We present the analysis of RXTE-PCA observations of GX 1+4 between 2001 March 3 and 2003 January 31 together with the CGRO-BATSE X-ray flux and frequency derivative time series between 1991 and 1999. From the timing analysis of RXTE-PCA observations, we are able to phase connect pulse arrival times of the source within two different time intervals and obtain corresponding timing solutions. Using these pulse arrival times, we contribute to long-term pulse frequency history of the source. We look for episodic correlations and anti-correlations between the torque and X-ray luminosity using the CGRO-BATSE X-ray flux and frequency derivative time series and find that the correlation state of GX 1+ 4 seems to change on similar to 100-200 d long intervals. We estimate the torque noise of the source and observe the flickering noise (f(-1)). We measure the longest observed time-scale for a noise process amongst accretion-powered X-ray pulsars by extending the noise estimate for a time-scale ranging from 31 d to 44 yr. Spectral analysis of individual RXTE-PCA observations indicates a significant correlation between the iron line flux and the unabsorbed X-ray flux. Pulse-phase-resolved spectra of the source indicate a broadening of iron line complex at the bin corresponding to the pulse minimum.

We represent noise strength analysis of Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars (AXPs) 4U 0142+61, 1RXS J170849.9-400910, 1E 1841-045, 1E 2259+586 and Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) SGR J1833-0832, SWIFT J1822.3-1606 and SWIFT J1834.9-0846 together with the X-Ray binaries GX 1+4 and 4U 1907+09 for comparison with accreting sources. Using our timing solutions, we extracted residuals of pulse arrival times after removal of spin down trends and we calculated assoicated noise strength of each source. Our preliminary results indicate that the noise strength is scaling up with spin-down rate. This indicates that, increase in spin-down rate leads to more torque noise on the magnetars. In addition, we present our analysis with Bayesian statistics on the previously reported transient QPO feature of 4U 1907+09.

We present timing and spectral analysis of \emph{Swift}$-$XRT and \emph{RXTE}$-$PCA observations of the transient Be/X-ray pulsar SWIFT J0513.4--6547 during its outburst in 2009 and its rebrightening in 2014. From 2009 observations, short term spin-up rate of the source after the peak of the outburst is found to have about half of the value measured at the peak of the outburst by Coe et al. When the source is quiescent between 2009 and 2014, average spin-down rate of the source is measured to be $\sim 1.52 \times 10^{-12}$ Hz s$^{-1}$ indicating a surface dipole magnetic field of $\sim 1.5 \times 10^{13}$ Gauss assuming a propeller state. From 2014 observations, short term spin-down rate of the source is measured to be about two orders smaller than this long-term spin-down rate. The orbit of the source is found to be circular which is atypical for transient Be/X-ray binary systems. Hardness ratios of the source correlate with the X-ray luminosity up to $8.4\times 10^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$ in 3-10 keV band, whereas for higher luminosities hardness ratios remain constant. Pulsed fractions are found to be correlated with the source flux. Overall \emph{Swift}$-$XRT and \emph{RXTE}$-$PCA energy spectrum of the source fit equally well to a model consisting of blackbody and power law, and a model consisting of a power law with high energy cut-off. From the pulse phase resolved spectra and pulse phase resolved hardness ratios obtained using \emph{RXTE}$-$PCA, it is shown that spectrum is softer for the phases between the two peaks of the pulse.

The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT will be able to study the behaviour of matter in extreme conditions such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions close to black holes and neutron stars and the supra-nuclear densities in the interiors of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, >8m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1 degree collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g., GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the current technical and programmatic status of the mission.

Random number generator (RNG)'s utilize some source of entropy. Various RNGs; pseudo, quasi and true RNGs provide observed samples for given distributions which are necessary in statistical signal processing and simulations applications. True random number generators generally utilize the last insignificant bit of observed samples obtained from a source of entropy. In this work, samples obtained from an FM broadcasting are examined. Least significant bit is used to generate 16 bits observed samples. Randomness and goodness-of-fit test results are compared with the raw samples. It is shown that it is possible to generate true random numbers of sufficient merits using FM signals even when the band is occupied with broadcasting signals.

This is a White Paper in support of the mission concept of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT), proposed as a medium-sized ESA mission. We discuss the potential of LOFT for the study of high-mass X-ray binaries and ultra-luminous X-ray sources. For a summary, we refer to the paper.

We present a timing analysis of X Persei (X Per) using observations made between 1998 and 2010 with the Proportional Counter Array (PCA) onboard the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and with the INTEGRAL Soft Gamma-Ray Imager (ISGRI). All pulse arrival times obtained from the RXTE-PCA observations are phase-connected and a timing solution is obtained using these arrival times. We update the long-term pulse frequency history of the source by measuring its pulse frequencies using RXTE-PCA and ISGRI data. From the RXTE-PCA data, the relation between the frequency derivative and X-ray flux suggests accretion via the companion's stellar wind. However, the detection of a transient quasi-periodic oscillation feature, peaking at similar to 0.2 Hz, suggests the existence of an accretion disc. We find that double-break models fit the average power spectra well, which suggests that the source has at least two different accretion flow components dominating the overall flow. From the power spectrum of frequency derivatives, we measure a power-law index of similar to-1, which implies that, on short time-scales, disc accretion dominates over noise, while on time-scales longer than the viscous time-scales, the noise dominates. From pulse profiles, we find a correlation between the pulse fraction and the count rate of the source.

We present timing analysis of RXTE-PCA and INTEGRAL-ISGRI observations of X Per between 1998 and 2010. All pulse arrival times obtained from the RXTE-PCA observations are phase connected and a timing solution is obtained using these arrival times. We update the long-term pulse frequency history of the source by measuring its pulse frequencies using RXTE-PCA and INTEGRAL-ISGRI data. From the RXTE-PCA data, the relation between frequency derivative and X-ray flux suggests accretion via the companion's stellar wind. On the other hand, detection of the transient QPO feature peaking at ∼ 0.2 Hz suggests the existence of an accretion disc. We find that double break models fit the average power spectra well, which suggests that the source has at least two different accretion flow components dominating the overall flow. From the power spectrum of frequency derivatives, we measure a power law index of ∼ -1 which implies that on short time scales disc accretion dominates over noise, while on time scales longer than the viscous time scales the noise dominates. From pulse profiles, we find a correlation between pulse fraction and count rate of the source.