2,177 research outputs found
Intermittency and structure functions in channel flow turbulence
We present a study of intermittency in a turbulent channel flow. Scaling
exponents of longitudinal streamwise structure functions, ,
are used as quantitative indicators of intermittency.
We find that, near the center of the channel the values of
up to are consistent with the assumption of homogeneous/isotropic
turbulence. Moving towards the boundaries, we observe a growth of intermittency
which appears to be related to an intensified presence of ordered vortical
structures. In fact, the behaviour along the normal-to-wall direction of
suitably normalized scaling exponents shows a remarkable correlation with the
local strength of the Reynolds stress and with the \rms value of helicity
density fluctuations. We argue that the clear transition in the nature of
intermittency appearing in the region close to the wall, is related to a new
length scale which becomes the relevant one for scaling in high shear flows.Comment: 4 pages, 6 eps figure
Minimal Length Uncertainty Relation and the Hydrogen Spectrum
Modifications of Heisenberg's uncertainty relations have been proposed in the
literature which imply a minimum position uncertainty. We study the low energy
effects of the new physics responsible for this by examining the consequent
change in the quantum mechanical commutation relations involving position and
momenta. In particular, the modifications to the spectrum of the hydrogen atom
can be naturally interpreted as a varying (with energy) fine structure
constant. From the data on the energy levels we attempt to constrain the scale
of the new physics and find that it must be close to or larger than the weak
scale. Experiments in the near future are expected to change this bound by at
least an additional order of magnitude.Comment: 8 pages, no figure. Corrected typos, added a reference with comment
Intermittency and scaling laws for wall bounded turbulence
Well defined scaling laws clearly appear in wall bounded turbulence, even
very close to the wall, where a distinct violation of the refined Kolmogorov
similarity hypothesis (RKSH) occurs together with the simultaneous persistence
of scaling laws. A new form of RKSH for the wall region is here proposed in
terms of the structure functions of order two which, in physical terms,
confirms the prevailing role of the momentum transfer towards the wall in the
near wall dynamics.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Electromagnetic fields of a massless particle and the eikonal
Electromagnetic fields of a massless charged particle are described by a
gauge potential that is almost everywhere pure gauge. Solution of quantum
mechanical wave equations in the presence of such fields is therefore immediate
and leads to a new derivation of the quantum electrodynamical eikonal
approximation. The elctromagnetic action in the eikonal limit is localised on a
contour in a two-dimensional Minkowski subspace of four-dimensional space-time.
The exact S-matrix of this reduced theory coincides with the eikonal
approximation, and represents the generalisatin to electrodynamics of the
approach of 't Hooft and the Verlinde's to Planckian scattering.Comment: The missing overdot -- signifying the differentiation
in eqs. (23) and (24) -- is
inserted. Also, obsolete macro has been fixed. Plain TeX, 13 page
Planckian Energy Scattering and Surface Terms in the Gravitational Action
This is a revised version of our previous paper by the same name and preprint
number. It contains various changes, two figures and new results in sect.5. We
propose a new approach to four-dimensional Planckian-energy scattering in which
the phase of the -matrix is written---to leading order in and
to all orders in ---in terms of the surface term of the gravity
action and of a boundary term for the colliding quanta. The proposal is checked
at the leading order in and also against some known examples of
scattering in strong gravitational fields.Comment: preprint CERN-TH.6904/93/rev (Latex file, 46 pages, 2 figures not
included
The Amati relation in the "fireshell" model
(Shortened) CONTEXT: [...] AIMS: Motivated by the relation proposed by Amati
and collaborators, we look within the ``fireshell'' model for a relation
between the peak energy E_p of the \nu F_\nu total time-integrated spectrum of
the afterglow and the total energy of the afterglow E_{aft}, which in our model
encompasses and extends the prompt emission. METODS: [...] Within the fireshell
model [...] We can then build two sets of ``gedanken'' GRBs varying the total
energy of the electron-positron plasma E^{e^\pm}_{tot} and keeping the same
baryon loading B of GRB050315. The first set assumes for the effective CBM
density the one obtained in the fit of GRB050315. The second set assumes
instead a constant CBM density equal to the average value of the GRB050315
prompt phase. RESULTS: For the first set of ``gedanken'' GRBs we find a
relation E_p\propto (E_{aft})^a, with a = 0.45 \pm 0.01, whose slope strictly
agrees with the Amati one. Such a relation, in the limit B \to 10^{-2},
coincides with the Amati one. Instead, in the second set of ``gedanken'' GRBs
no correlation is found. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis excludes the Proper-GRB
(P-GRB) from the prompt emission, extends all the way to the latest afterglow
phases and is independent on the assumed cosmological model, since all
``gedanken'' GRBs are at the same redshift. The Amati relation, on the other
hand, includes also the P-GRB, focuses on the prompt emission only, and is
therefore influenced by the instrumental threshold which fixes the end of the
prompt emission, and depends on the assumed cosmology. This may well explain
the intrinsic scatter observed in the Amati relation.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to appear on A&A Letter
A common stochastic process rules gamma-ray burst prompt emission and X-ray flares
Prompt gamma-ray and early X-ray afterglow emission in gamma-ray bursts
(GRBs) are characterized by a bursty behavior and are often interspersed with
long quiescent times. There is compelling evidence that X-ray flares are linked
to prompt gamma-rays. However, the physical mechanism that leads to the complex
temporal distribution of gamma-ray pulses and X-ray flares is not understood.
Here we show that the waiting time distribution (WTD) of pulses and flares
exhibits a power-law tail extending over 4 decades with index ~2 and can be the
manifestation of a common time-dependent Poisson process. This result is robust
and is obtained on different catalogs. Surprisingly, GRBs with many (>=8)
gamma-ray pulses are very unlikely to be accompanied by X-ray flares after the
end of the prompt emission (3.1 sigma Gaussian confidence). These results are
consistent with a simple interpretation: an hyperaccreting disk breaks up into
one or a few groups of fragments, each of which is independently accreted with
the same probability per unit time. Prompt gamma-rays and late X-ray flares are
nothing but different fragments being accreted at the beginning and at the end,
respectively, following the very same stochastic process and likely the same
mechanism.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Ap
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