15,430 research outputs found
The pulsar spectral index distribution
The flux density spectra of radio pulsars are known to be steep and, to first
order, described by a power-law relationship of the form S_{\nu} \propto
\nu^{\alpha}, where S_{\nu} is the flux density at some frequency \nu and
\alpha is the spectral index. Although measurements of \alpha have been made
over the years for several hundred pulsars, a study of the intrinsic
distribution of pulsar spectra has not been carried out. From the result of
pulsar surveys carried out at three different radio frequencies, we use
population synthesis techniques and a likelihood analysis to deduce what
underlying spectral index distribution is required to replicate the results of
these surveys. We find that in general the results of the surveys can be
modelled by a Gaussian distribution of spectral indices with a mean of -1.4 and
unit standard deviation. We also consider the impact of the so-called
"Gigahertz-peaked spectrum" pulsars. The fraction of peaked spectrum sources in
the population with significant turn-over at low frequencies appears to be at
most 10%. We demonstrate that high-frequency (>2 GHz) surveys preferentially
select flatter-spectrum pulsars and the converse is true for lower-frequency
(<1 GHz) surveys. This implies that any correlations between \alpha and other
pulsar parameters (for example age or magnetic field) need to carefully account
for selection biases in pulsar surveys. We also expect that many known pulsars
which have been detected at high frequencies will have shallow, or positive,
spectral indices. The majority of pulsars do not have recorded flux density
measurements over a wide frequency range, making it impossible to constrain
their spectral shapes. We also suggest that such measurements would allow an
improved description of any populations of pulsars with 'non-standard' spectra.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by MNRA
Resistive Magnetohydrodynamic Equilibria in a Torus
It was recently demonstrated that static, resistive, magnetohydrodynamic
equilibria, in the presence of spatially-uniform electrical conductivity, do
not exist in a torus under a standard set of assumed symmetries and boundary
conditions. The difficulty, which goes away in the ``periodic straight cylinder
approximation,'' is associated with the necessarily non-vanishing character of
the curl of the Lorentz force, j x B. Here, we ask if there exists a spatial
profile of electrical conductivity that permits the existence of zero-flow,
axisymmetric r esistive equilibria in a torus, and answer the question in the
affirmative. However, the physical properties of the conductivity profile are
unusual (the conductivity cannot be constant on a magnetic surface, for
example) and whether such equilibria are to be considered physically possible
remains an open question.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
Design study of general aviation collision avoidance system
The selection and design of a time/frequency collision avoidance system for use in general aviation aircraft is discussed. The modifications to airline transport collision avoidance equipment which were made to produce the simpler general aviation system are described. The threat determination capabilities and operating principles of the general aviation system are illustrated
Motion of a droplet for the mass-conserving stochastic Allen-Cahn equation
We study the stochastic mass-conserving Allen-Cahn equation posed on a
bounded two-dimensional domain with additive spatially smooth space-time noise.
This equation associated with a small positive parameter describes the
stochastic motion of a small almost semicircular droplet attached to domain's
boundary and moving towards a point of locally maximum curvature. We apply
It\^o calculus to derive the stochastic dynamics of the droplet by utilizing
the approximately invariant manifold introduced by Alikakos, Chen and Fusco for
the deterministic problem. In the stochastic case depending on the scaling, the
motion is driven by the change in the curvature of the boundary and the
stochastic forcing. Moreover, under the assumption of a sufficiently small
noise strength, we establish stochastic stability of a neighborhood of the
manifold of droplets in and , which means that with overwhelming
probability the solution stays close to the manifold for very long time-scales
Toroidal Vortices in Resistive Magnetohydrodynamic Equilibria
Resistive steady states in toroidal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), where Ohm's
law must be taken into account, differ considerably from ideal ones. Only for
special (and probably unphysical) resistivity profiles can the Lorentz force,
in the static force-balance equation, be expressed as the gradient of a scalar
and thus cancel the gradient of a scalar pressure. In general, the Lorentz
force has a curl directed so as to generate toroidal vorticity. Here, we
calculate, for a collisional, highly viscous magnetofluid, the flows that are
required for an axisymmetric toroidal steady state, assuming uniform scalar
resistivity and viscosity. The flows originate from paired toroidal vortices
(in what might be called a ``double smoke ring'' configuration), and are
thought likely to be ubiquitous in the interior of toroidally driven
magnetofluids of this type. The existence of such vortices is conjectured to
characterize magnetofluids beyond the high-viscosity limit in which they are
readily calculable.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
Origin of the “accelerated growth an lactose” (“AGL”) trait
Origin of AGL trai
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