5,418 research outputs found
Electromagnetic Zero Point Field as Active Energy Source in the Intergalactic Medium
For over twenty years the possibility that the electromagnetic zero point
field (ZPF) may actively accelerate electromagnetically interacting particles
in regions of extremely low particle density (as those extant in intergalactic
space (IGS) with n < 1 particle/m^3 has been studied and analyzed. This
energizing phenomenon has been one of the few contenders for acceleration of
cosmic rays (CR), particularly at ultrahigh energies. The recent finding by the
AGASA collaboration (Phys. Rev. Lett., 81, 1163, 1998) that the CR energy
spectrum does not display any signs of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cut-off
(that should be present if these CR particles were indeed generated in
localized ultrahigh energies CR sources, as e.g., quasars and other highly
active galactic nuclei), may indicate the need for an acceleration mechanism
that is distributed throughout IGS as is the case with the ZPF. Other
unexplained phenomena that receive an explanation from this mechanism are the
generation of X-ray and gamma-ray backgrounds and the existence of Cosmic
Voids. However recently, a statistical mechanics kind of challenge to the
classical (not the quantum) version of the zero-point acceleration mechanism
has been posed (de la Pena and Cetto, The Quantum Dice, 1996). Here we briefly
examine the consequences of this challenge and a prospective resolution.Comment: 7 pages, no figure
Dark-matter dynamical friction versus gravitational-wave emission in the evolution of compact-star binaries
The measured orbital period decay of compact-star binaries, with
characteristic orbital periods ~days, is explained with very high
precision by the gravitational wave (GW) emission of an inspiraling binary in
vacuum. However, the binary gravitational binding energy is also affected by an
usually neglected phenomenon, namely the dark matter dynamical friction (DMDF)
produced by the interaction of the binary components with their respective DM
gravitational wakes. The entity of this effect depends on the orbital period
and on the local value of the DM density, hence on the position of the binary
in the Galaxy. We evaluate the DMDF produced by three different DM profiles:
the Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW), the non-singular-isothermal-sphere (NSIS) and
the Ruffini-Arg\"uelles-Rueda (RAR) profile based on self-gravitating keV
fermions. We first show that indeed, due to their Galactic position, the GW
emission dominates over the DMDF in the NS-NS, NS-WD and WD-WD binaries for
which measurements of the orbital decay exist. Then, we evaluate the conditions
under which the effect of DMDF on the binary evolution becomes comparable to,
or overcomes, the one of the GW emission. We find that, for instance for
-- NS-WD, --~ NS-NS, and
--~ WD-WD, located at 0.1~kpc, this occurs at orbital
periods around 20--30 days in a NFW profile while, in a RAR profile, it occurs
at about 100 days. For closer distances to the Galactic center, the DMDF effect
increases and the above critical orbital periods become interestingly shorter.
Finally, we also analyze the system parameters for which DMDF leads to an
orbital widening instead of orbital decay. All the above imply that a
direct/indirect observational verification of this effect in compact-star
binaries might put strong constraints on the nature of DM and its Galactic
distribution.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev. D, 201
Strong-field gravitational-wave emission in Schwarzschild and Kerr geometries: some general considerations
We show how the concurrent implementation of the exact solutions of the
Einstein equations, of the equations of motion of the test particles, and of
the relativistic estimate of the emission of gravitational waves from test
particles, can establish a priori constraints on the possible phenomena
occurring in Nature. Two examples of test particles starting at infinite
distance or from finite distance in a circular orbit around a Kerr black hole
are considered: the first leads to a well defined gravitational wave burst the
second to a smooth merging into the black hole. This analysis is necessary for
the study of the waveforms in merging binary systems.Comment: Resubmitted to PRD after Referee repor
On the core-halo distribution of dark matter in galaxies
We investigate the distribution of dark matter in galaxies by solving the
equations of equilibrium of a self-gravitating system of massive fermions
(`inos') at selected temperatures and degeneracy parameters within general
relativity. Our most general solutions show, as a function of the radius, a
segregation of three physical regimes: 1) an inner core of almost constant
density governed by degenerate quantum statistics; 2) an intermediate region
with a sharply decreasing density distribution followed by an extended plateau,
implying quantum corrections; 3) an asymptotic, classical
Boltzmann regime fulfilling, as an eigenvalue problem, a fixed value of the
flat rotation curves. This eigenvalue problem determines, for each value of the
central degeneracy parameter, the mass of the ino as well as the radius and
mass of the inner quantum core. Consequences of this alternative approach to
the central and halo regions of galaxies, ranging from dwarf to big spirals,
for SgrA*, as well as for the existing estimates of the ino mass, are outlined.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication by MNRA
Novel constraints on fermionic dark matter from galactic observables I: The Milky Way
We have recently introduced a new model for the distribution of dark matter
(DM) in galaxies based on a self-gravitating system of massive fermions at
finite temperatures, the Ruffini-Arg\"uelles-Rueda (RAR) model. We show that
this model, for fermion masses in the keV range, explains the DM halo of the
Galaxy and predicts the existence of a denser quantum core at the center. We
demonstrate here that the introduction of a cutoff in the fermion phase-space
distribution, necessary to account for the finite Galaxy size, defines a new
solution with a central core which represents an alternative to the black hole
(BH) scenario for SgrA*. For a fermion mass in the range --
~keV, the DM halo distribution is in agreement with the Milky Way rotation
curve data, while harbors a dense quantum core of about
within the S2-star pericenter.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Published in Physics of the Dark Univers
Fundamental Frequencies in the Schwarzschild Spacetime
We consider the Keplerian, radial and vertical fundamental frequencies in the
Schwarzschild spacetime to study the so-called kilohertz quasi-periodic
oscillations from low-mass X-ray binary systems. We show that, within the
Relativistic Precession Model, the interpretation of observed kilohertz
quasi-periodic oscillations in terms of the fundamental frequencies of test
particles in the Schwarzschild spacetime, allows one to infer the total mass
of the central object, the internal and external radii of
accretion disks, and innermost stable circular orbits for test
particles in a low-mass X-ray binary system. By constructing the relation
between the upper and lower frequencies and exploiting the quasi-periodic
oscillation data of the Z and Atoll sources we perform the non-linear model fit
analysis and estimate the mass of the central object. Knowing the value of the
mass we calculate the internal and external radii of
accretion disks and show that they are larger than , what was
expected.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl
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