543 research outputs found
In Defense of Defensive Devices: How Delaware Discouraged Preventive Measures in Omnicare v. NCS Healthcare
Relativistic Jets and Long-Duration Gamma-ray Bursts from the Birth of Magnetars
We present time-dependent axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the
interaction of a relativistic magnetized wind produced by a proto-magnetar with
a surrounding stellar envelope, in the first seconds after core
collapse. We inject a super-magnetosonic wind with ergs
s into a cavity created by an outgoing supernova shock. A strong
toroidal magnetic field builds up in the bubble of plasma and magnetic field
that is at first inertially confined by the progenitor star. This drives a jet
out along the polar axis of the star, even though the star and the magnetar
wind are each spherically symmetric. The jet has the properties needed to
produce a long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB). At s after core bounce,
the jet has escaped the host star and the Lorentz factor of the material in the
jet at large radii cm is similar to that in the magnetar wind
near the source. Most of the spindown power of the central magnetar escapes via
the relativistic jet. There are fluctuations in the Lorentz factor and energy
flux in the jet on second timescale. These may contribute to
variability in GRB emission (e.g., via internal shocks).Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted in MNRAS letter, presented at the
conference "Astrophysics of Compact Objects", 1-7 July, Huangshan, Chin
On the Nature of Pulsar Radio Emission
A theory of pulsar radio emission generation, in which the observed waves are
produced directly by maser-type plasma instabilities operating at the anomalous
cyclotron-Cherenkov resonance and the Cherenkov-drift resonance , is capable of explaining the main
observational characteristics of pulsar radio emission. The instabilities are
due to the interaction of the fast particles from the primary beam and the tail
of the distribution with the normal modes of a strongly magnetized
one-dimensional electron-positron plasma. The waves emitted at these resonances
are vacuum-like, electromagnetic waves that may leave the magnetosphere
directly. In this model, the cyclotron-Cherenkov instability is responsible for
core emission pattern and the Cherenkov-drift instability produces conal
emission. The conditions for the development of the cyclotron-Cherenkov
instability are satisfied for both typical and millisecond pulsars provided
that the streaming energy of the bulk plasma is not very high . In a typical pulsar the cyclotron-Cherenkov and Cherenkov-drift resonances
occur in the outer parts of magnetosphere at . This
theory can account for various aspects of pulsar phenomenology including the
morphology of the pulses, their polarization properties and their spectral
behavior. We propose several observational tests for the theory. The most
prominent prediction are the high altitudes of the emission region and the
linear polarization of conal emission in the plane orthogonal to the local
osculating plane of the magnetic field.Comment: 39 pages, 10 figure
Green Bank Telescope Observations of the Eclipse of Pulsar "A" in the Double Pulsar Binary PSR J0737-3039
We report on the first Green Bank Telescope observations at 427, 820 and 1400
MHz of the newly discovered, highly inclined and relativistic double pulsar
binary. We focus on the brief eclipse of PSR J0737-3039A, the faster pulsar,
when it passes behind PSR J0737-3039B. We measure a frequency-averaged eclipse
duration of 26.6 +/- 0.6 s, or 0.00301 +/- 0.00008 in orbital phase. The
eclipse duration is found to be significantly dependent on radio frequency,
with eclipses longer at lower frequencies. Specifically, eclipse duration is
well fit by a linear function having slope (-4.52 +/- 0.03) x 10^{-7}
orbits/MHz. We also detect significant asymmetry in the eclipse. Eclipse
ingress takes 3.51 +/- 0.99 times longer than egress, independent of radio
frequency. Additionally, the eclipse lasts (40 +/- 7) x 10^{-5} in orbital
phase longer after conjunction, also independent of frequency. We detect
significant emission from the pulsar on short time scales during eclipse in
some orbits. We discuss these results in the context of a model in which the
eclipsing material is a shock-heated plasma layer within the slower PSR
J0737-3039B's light cylinder, where the relativistic pressure of the faster
pulsar's wind confines the magnetosphere of the slower pulsar.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
The effect of differential refraction on wave propagation in rotating pulsar magnetospheres
Refraction of wave propagation in a corotating pulsar magnetospheric plasma
is considered as a possible interpretation for observed asymmetric pulse
profiles with multiple components. The pulsar radio emission produced inside
the magnetosphere propagates outward through the rotating magnetosphere,
subject to refraction by the intervening plasma that is spatially
inhomogeneous. Both effects of a relativistic distribution of the plasma and
rotation on wave propagation are considered. It is shown that refraction
coupled with rotation can produce asymmetric conal structures of the profile.
The differential refraction due to the rotation can cause the conal structures
to skew toward the rotation direction and lead to asymmetry in relative
intensities between the leading and trailing components. Both of these features
are potentially observable.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Transverse quasilinear relaxation in inhomogeneous magnetic field
Transverse quasilinear relaxation of the cyclotron-Cherenkov instability in
the inhomogeneous magnetic field of pulsar magnetospheres is considered. We
find quasilinear states in which the kinetic cyclotron-Cherenkov instability of
a beam propagating through strongly magnetized pair plasma is saturated by the
force arising in the inhomogeneous field due to the conservation of the
adiabatic invariant. The resulting wave intensities generally have nonpower law
frequency dependence, but in a broad frequency range can be well approximated
by the power law with the spectral index -2. The emergent spectra and fluxes
are consistent with the one observed from pulsars.Comment: 14 Pages, 4 Figure
Understanding and Affecting Student Reasoning About Sound Waves
Student learning of sound waves can be helped through the creation of
group-learning classroom materials whose development and design rely on
explicit investigations into student understanding. We describe reasoning in
terms of sets of resources, i.e. grouped building blocks of thinking that are
commonly used in many different settings. Students in our university physics
classes often used sets of resources that were different from the ones we wish
them to use. By designing curriculum materials that ask students to think about
the physics from a different view, we bring about improvement in student
understanding of sound waves. Our curriculum modifications are specific to our
own classes, but our description of student learning is more generally useful
for teachers. We describe how students can use multiple sets of resources in
their thinking, and raise questions that should be considered by both
instructors and researchers.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, 28 references, 7 notes. Accepted for
publication in the International Journal of Science Educatio
Pair-production multiplicities in rotation-powered pulsars
We discuss the creation of electron-positron cascades in the context of
pulsar polar cap acceleration models and derive several useful analytic and
semi-analytic results for the spatial extent and energy response of the
cascade. Instead of Monte Carlo simulations, we use an integro- differential
equation which describes the development of the cascade energy spectrum in one
space dimension quite well, when it is compared to existing Monte Carlo models.
We reduce this full equation to a single integral equation, from which we can
derive useful results, such as the energy loss between successive generations
of photons and the spectral index of the response. We find that a simple
analytic formula represents the pair cascade multiplicity quite well, provided
that the magnetic field is below 10^12 Gauss, and that an only slightly more
complex formula matches the numerically-calculated cascade at all other field
strengths. Using these results, we find that cascades triggered by gamma rays
emitted through inverse Compton scattering of thermal photons from the neutron
star's surface, both resonant and non-resonant, are important for the dynamics
of the polar cap region in many pulsars.Comment: to appear in ApJ; 19 pages, 18 figure
- âŠ