4,342 research outputs found
Three Dimensional Evolution of a Relativistic Current Sheet : Triggering of Magnetic Reconnection by the Guide Field
The linear and non-linear evolution of a relativistic current sheet of pair
() plasmas is investigated by three-dimensional particle-in-cell
simulations. In a Harris configuration, it is obtained that the magnetic energy
is fast dissipated by the relativistic drift kink instability (RDKI). However,
when a current-aligned magnetic field (the so-called "guide field") is
introduced, the RDKI is stabilized by the magnetic tension force and it
separates into two obliquely-propagating modes, which we call the relativistic
drift-kink-tearing instability (RDKTI). These two waves deform the current
sheet so that they trigger relativistic magnetic reconnection at a crossover
thinning point. Since relativistic reconnection produces a lot of non-thermal
particles, the guide field is of critical importance to study the energetics of
a relativistic current sheet.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures; fixed typos and added a footnote [24
Accretion Disks and Dynamos: Toward a Unified Mean Field Theory
Conversion of gravitational energy into radiation in accretion discs and the
origin of large scale magnetic fields in astrophysical rotators have often been
distinct topics of research. In semi-analytic work on both problems it has been
useful to presume large scale symmetries, necessarily resulting in mean field
theories. MHD turbulence makes the underlying systems locally asymmetric and
nonlinear. Synergy between theory and simulations should aim for the
development of practical mean field models that capture essential physics and
can be used for observational modeling. Mean field dynamo (MFD) theory and
alpha-viscosity accretion theory exemplify such ongoing pursuits. 21st century
MFD theory has more nonlinear predictive power compared to 20th century MFD
theory, whereas accretion theory is still in a 20th century state. In fact,
insights from MFD theory are applicable to accretion theory and the two are
artificially separated pieces of what should be a single theory. I discuss
pieces of progress that provide clues toward a unified theory. A key concept is
that large scale magnetic fields can be sustained via local or global magnetic
helicity fluxes or via relaxation of small scale magnetic fluctuations, without
the kinetic helicity driver of 20th century textbooks. These concepts may help
explain the formation of large scale fields that supply non-local angular
momentum transport via coronae and jets in a unified theory of accretion and
dynamos. In diagnosing the role of helicities and helicity fluxes in disk
simulations, each disk hemisphere should be studied separately to avoid being
misled by cancelation that occurs as a result of reflection asymmetry. The
fraction of helical field energy in disks is expected to be small compared to
the total field in each hemisphere as a result of shear, but can still be
essential for large scale dynamo action.Comment: For the Proceedings of the Third International Conference and
Advanced School "Turbulent Mixing and Beyond," TMB-2011 held on 21 - 28
August 2011 at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics,
Trieste, http://users.ictp.it/~tmb/index2011.html Italy, To Appear in Physica
Scripta (corrected small items to match version in print
Molecular gyroscopes and biological effects of weak ELF magnetic fields
Extremely-low-frequency magnetic fields are known to affect biological
systems. In many cases, biological effects display `windows' in biologically
effective parameters of the magnetic fields: most dramatic is the fact that
relatively intense magnetic fields sometimes do not cause appreciable effect,
while smaller fields of the order of 10--100 T do. Linear resonant
physical processes do not explain frequency windows in this case. Amplitude
window phenomena suggest a nonlinear physical mechanism. Such a nonlinear
mechanism has been proposed recently to explain those `windows'. It considers
quantum-interference effects on protein-bound substrate ions. Magnetic fields
cause an interference of ion quantum states and change the probability of
ion-protein dissociation. This ion-interference mechanism predicts specific
magnetic-field frequency and amplitude windows within which biological effects
occur. It agrees with a lot of experiments. However, according to the
mechanism, the lifetime of ion quantum states within a protein
cavity should be of unrealistic value, more than 0.01 s for frequency band
10--100 Hz. In this paper, a biophysical mechanism has been proposed that (i)
retains the attractive features of the ion interference mechanism and (ii) uses
the principles of gyroscopic motion and removes the necessity to postulate
large lifetimes. The mechanism considers dynamics of the density matrix of the
molecular groups, which are attached to the walls of protein cavities by two
covalent bonds, i.e., molecular gyroscopes. Numerical computations have shown
almost free rotations of the molecular gyros. The relaxation time due to van
der Waals forces was about 0.01 s for the cavity size of 28 angstr\"{o}ms.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Low-Frequency Oscillations in Global Simulations of Black Hole Accretion
We have identified the presence of large-scale, low-frequency dynamo cycles
in a long-duration, global, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of black hole
accretion. Such cycles had been seen previously in local shearing box
simulations, but we discuss their evolution over 1,500 inner disk orbits of a
global pi/4 disk wedge spanning two orders of magnitude in radius and seven
scale heights in elevation above/below the disk midplane. The observed cycles
manifest themselves as oscillations in azimuthal magnetic field occupying a
region that extends into a low-density corona several scale heights above the
disk. The cycle frequencies are ten to twenty times lower than the local
orbital frequency, making them potentially interesting sources of low-frequency
variability when scaled to real astrophysical systems. Furthermore, power
spectra derived from the full time series reveal that the cycles manifest
themselves at discrete, narrow-band frequencies that often share power across
broad radial ranges. We explore possible connections between these simulated
cycles and observed low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (LFQPOs) in
galactic black hole binary systems, finding that dynamo cycles have the
appropriate frequencies and are located in a spatial region associated with
X-ray emission in real systems. Derived observational proxies, however, fail to
feature peaks with RMS amplitudes comparable to LFQPO observations, suggesting
that further theoretical work and more sophisticated simulations will be
required to form a complete theory of dynamo-driven LFQPOs. Nonetheless, this
work clearly illustrates that global MHD dynamos exhibit quasi-periodic
behavior on timescales much longer than those derived from test particle
considerations.Comment: Version accepted to The Astrophysical Journal, 8 pages, 7 figure
Thermal expansion and magnetostriction of pure and doped RAgSb2 (R = Y, Sm, La) single crystals
Data on temperature-dependent, anisotropic thermal expansion in pure and
doped RAgSb2 (R = Y, Sm, La) single crystals are presented. Using the Ehrenfest
relation and heat capacity measurements, uniaxial pressure derivatives for long
range magnetic ordering and charge density wave transition temperatures are
evaluated and compared with the results of the direct measurements under
hydrostatic pressure. In-plane and c-axis pressure have opposite effect on the
phase transitions in these materials, with in-plane effects being significantly
weaker. Quantum oscillations in magnetostriction were observed for the three
pure compounds, with the possible detection of new frequencies in SmAgSb2 and
LaAgSb2. The uniaxial (along the c-axis) pressure derivatives of the dominant
extreme orbits (beta) were evaluated for YAgSb2 and LaAgSb2
Jet Deflection via Cross winds: Laboratory Astrophysical Studies
We present new data from High Energy Density (HED) laboratory experiments
designed to explore the interaction of a heavy hypersonic radiative jet with a
cross wind. The jets are generated with the MAGPIE pulsed power machine where
converging conical plasma flows are produced from a cylindrically symmetric
array of inclined wires. Radiative hypersonic jets emerge from the convergence
point. The cross wind is generated by ablation of a plastic foil via
soft-X-rays from the plasma convergence region. Our experiments show that the
jets are deflected by the action of the cross wind with the angle of deflection
dependent on the proximity of the foil. Shocks within the jet beam are apparent
in the data. Analysis of the data shows that the interaction of the jet and
cross wind is collisional and therefore in the hydro-dynamic regime. MHD plasma
code simulations of the experiments are able to recover the deflection
behaviour seen in the experiments. We consider the astrophysical relevance of
these experiments applying published models of jet deflection developed for AGN
and YSOs. Fitting the observed jet deflections to quadratic trajectories
predicted by these models allows us to recover a set of plasma parameters
consistent with the data. We also present results of 3-D numerical simulations
of jet deflection using a new astrophysical Adaptive Mesh Refinement code.
These simulations show highly structured shocks occurring within the beam
similar to what was observed in the experimentsComment: Submitted to ApJ. For a version with figures go to
http://web.pas.rochester.edu/~afrank/labastro/CW/Jet-Wind-Frank.pd
- …