1,278 research outputs found
The pulsed air gust generator Final report
Wind tunnel simulation of jet pulsing apparatus for controlled gust
Radio-Excess IRAS Galaxies: IV. Optical Spectroscopy
This is the fourth in our series of papers investigating radio-excess
galaxies, which have radio emission associated with an active nucleus but which
do not fit into the traditional categories of either radio-loud or radio-quiet
active galaxies. In this paper, we present optical spectra of our sample of
FIR-luminous radio-excess galaxies. Optical emission line diagnostics are used
to determine the dominant source of the ionizing radiation. We find that radio
excess is an excellent indicator of the presence of an active nucleus: the
radio-excess sample contains a much higher fraction of AGN than samples
selected on FIR luminosity alone, or using other criteria such as warm FIR
colors. Several objects have ambiguous classifications and are likely to be
composite objects with mixed excitation. The type of optical spectrum appears
to be associated with the radio-loudness: radio-loud objects may be more `pure'
AGN than radio-intermediate objects. We find strong evidence for interaction
between the radio plasma and the surrounding gas. The jet energy fluxes of the
radio-excess objects, inferred from the [O III] luminosities, are lower than in
powerful radio sources, consistent with our previous results. We conclude that
the jets of radio-intermediate sources are intrinsically weaker than those in
sources with more powerful radio emission. A significant fraction of the sample
spectra show post-starburst stellar continuum, with A-star absorption lines,
consistent with the large fraction of merging or disturbed host galaxies in the
sample. The ages of the radio sources are significantly less than those of A
stars indicating that, if the radio sources are associated with merging
activity, there is a delay between the interaction and the initiation of the
radio activity. (Abridged.)Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ; version with high resolution figures
available from http://www.cis.rit.edu/~clbsps/papers/paper4.pd
Instability of toroidal magnetic field in jets and plerions
Jets and pulsar-fed supernova remnants (plerions) tend to develop highly
organized toroidal magnetic field. Such a field structure could explain the
polarization properties of some jets, and contribute to their lateral
confinement. A toroidal field geometry is also central to models for the Crab
Nebula - the archetypal plerion - and leads to the deduction that the Crab
pulsar's wind must have a weak magnetic field. Yet this `Z-pinch' field
configuration is well known to be locally unstable, even when the magnetic
field is weak and/or boundary conditions slow or suppress global modes. Thus,
the magnetic field structures imputed to the interiors of jets and plerions are
unlikely to persist.
To demonstrate this, I present a local analysis of Z-pinch instabilities for
relativistic fluids in the ideal MHD limit. Kink instabilities dominate,
destroying the concentric field structure and probably driving the system
toward a more chaotic state in which the mean field strength is independent of
radius (and in which resistive dissipation of the field may be enhanced). I
estimate the timescales over which the field structure is likely to be
rearranged and relate these to distances along relativistic jets and radii from
the central pulsar in a plerion.
I conclude that a concentric toroidal field is unlikely to exist well outside
the Crab pulsar's wind termination shock. There is thus no dynamical reason to
conclude that the magnetic energy flux carried by the pulsar wind is much
weaker than the kinetic energy flux. Abandoning this inference would resolve a
long-standing puzzle in pulsar wind theory.Comment: 28 pages, plain TeX. Accepted for publication in Ap
Control of neurite growth and guidance by an inhibitory cell-body signal
The development of a functional nervous system requires tight control of neurite growth and guidance by extracellular chemical cues. Neurite growth is astonishingly sensitive to shallow concentration gradients, but a widely observed feature of both growth and guidance regulation, with important consequences for development and regeneration, is that both are only elicited over the same relatively narrow range of concentrations. Here we show that all these phenomena can be explained within one theoretical framework. We first test long-standing explanations for the suppression of the trophic effects of nerve growth factor at high concentrations, and find they are contradicted by experiment. Instead we propose a new hypothesis involving inhibitory signalling among the cell bodies, and then extend this hypothesis to show how both growth and guidance can be understood in terms of a common underlying signalling mechanism. This new model for the first time unifies several key features of neurite growth regulation, quantitatively explains many aspects of experimental data, and makes new predictions about unknown details of developmental signalling
High speed techniques for synthetic aperture radar image formation
One possible approach to high speed synthetic aperture radar signal reconstruction involves the utilization of two dimensional real time spatial light modulators as recyclable replacements for photographic film in the input transducer plane of a modified synthetic aperture radar (SAR) coherent optical processor. Leading candidate spatial light modulators include modified Pockels readout optical modulators (PROM), charge coupled devices (CCD) addressed liquid crystal light valves, and CCD addressed membrane light modulators. The fundamental physical limitations affecting SAR processor performance characteristics of such real time devices are under investigation. Current research on PROM is focused on the effects of device operatonal mode, device constitutive parameters, electro-optic crystal orientation, writing wavelength, frame rate/data overwrite/presuming, erasure completeness, and image retention on the overall quality of SAR image formation. Both modulated laser scanning and intensified CRT temporal to spatial input approaches are being examined
Towards a New Standard Theory for Astrophysical Disk Accretion
We briefly review recent developments in black hole accretion disk theory,
placing new emphasis on the vital role played by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)
stresses in transporting angular momentum. The apparent universality of
accretion-related outflow phenomena is a strong indicator that vertical
transport of angular momentum by large-scale MHD torques is important and may
even dominate radial transport by small-scale MHD turbulence. This leads to an
enhanced overall rate of angular momentum transport and allows accretion of
matter to proceed at an interesting rate. Furthermore, we argue that when
vertical transport is important, the radial structure of the accretion disk is
modified and this affects the disk emission spectrum. We present a simple model
demonstrating that energetic, magnetically-driven outflows give rise to a disk
spectrum that is dimmer and redder than a standard accretion disk accreting at
the same rate. We briefly discuss the implications of this key result for
accreting black holes in different astrophysical systems.Comment: Accepted for publication as brief review in Mod. Phys. Let.
Free circular introns with an unusual branchpoint in neuronal projections
The polarized structure of axons and dendrites in neuronal cells depends in part on RNA localization. Previous studies have looked at which polyadenylated RNAs are enriched in neuronal projections or at synapses, but less is known about the distribution of non-adenylated RNAs. By physically dissecting projections from cell bodies of primary rat hippocampal neurons and sequencing total RNA, we found an unexpected set of free circular introns with a non-canonical branchpoint enriched in neuronal projections. These introns appear to be tailless lariats that escape debranching. They lack ribosome occupancy, sequence conservation, and known localization signals, and their function, if any, is not known. Nonetheless, their enrichment in projections has important implications for our understanding of the mechanisms by which RNAs reach distal compartments of asymmetric cells
Inflation with a Weyl term, or ghosts at work
In order to assess the role of ghosts in cosmology, we study the evolution of
linear cosmological perturbations during inflation when a Weyl term is added to
the action. Our main result is that vector perturbations can no longer be
ignored and that scalar modes diverge in the newtonian gauge but remain bounded
in the comoving slicing.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
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