Spatial distribution of Cherenkov radiation in periodic dielectric media

The nontrivial dispersion relation of a periodic medium affects both the spectral and the spatial distribution of Cherenkov radiation. We present a theory of the spatial distribution of Cherenkov radiation in the far-field zone inside arbitrary three- and two-dimensional dielectric media. Simple analytical expressions for the far-field are obtained in terms of the Bloch mode expansion. Numerical examples of the Cherenkov radiation in a two-dimensional photonic crystal is presented. The developed analytical theory demonstrates good agreement with numerically rigorous finite-difference time-domain calculations.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, Journal of Optics A (in press

Particle acceleration by slow modes in strong compressible MHD turbulence, with application to solar flares

Energetic particles that undergo strong pitch-angle scattering and diffuse through a plasma containing strong compressible MHD turbulence undergo diffusion in momentum space with diffusion coefficient Dp. In this paper, the contribution of slow modes to Dp is calculated assuming the rms turbulent velocity is of order the Alfven speed. The energy spectrum of accelerated particles is derived assuming slow modes make the dominant contribution to Dp, taking into account Coulomb losses and particle escape from the acceleration region with an energy-independent escape time. The results are applied to solar flares.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The 511 keV emission from positron annihilation in the Galaxy

The first gamma-ray line originating from outside the solar system that was ever detected is the 511 keV emission from positron annihilation in the Galaxy. Despite 30 years of intense theoretical and observational investigation, the main sources of positrons have not been identified up to now. Observations in the 1990's with OSSE/CGRO showed that the emission is strongly concentrated towards the Galactic bulge. In the 2000's, the SPI instrument aboard ESA's INTEGRAL gamma-ray observatory allowed scientists to measure that emission across the entire Galaxy, revealing that the bulge/disk luminosity ratio is larger than observed in any other wavelength. This mapping prompted a number of novel explanations, including rather "exotic ones (e.g. dark matter annihilation). However, conventional astrophysical sources, like type Ia supernovae, microquasars or X-ray binaries, are still plausible candidates for a large fraction of the observed total 511 keV emission of the bulge. A closer study of the subject reveals new layers of complexity, since positrons may propagate far away from their production sites, making it difficult to infer the underlying source distribution from the observed map of 511 keV emission. However, contrary to the rather well understood propagation of high energy (>GeV) particles of Galactic cosmic rays, understanding the propagation of low energy (~MeV) positrons in the turbulent, magnetized interstellar medium, still remains a formidable challenge. We review the spectral and imaging properties of the observed 511 keV emission and we critically discuss candidate positron sources and models of positron propagation in the Galaxy.Comment: 62 pages, 35 figures. Review paper to appear in Reviews of Modern Physic

Coherent radiation from neutral molecules moving above a grating

We predict and study the quantum-electrodynamical effect of parametric self-induced excitation of a molecule moving above the dielectric or conducting medium with periodic grating. In this case the radiation reaction force modulates the molecular transition frequency which results in a parametric instability of dipole oscillations even from the level of quantum or thermal fluctuations. The present mechanism of instability of electrically neutral molecules is different from that of the well-known Smith-Purcell and transition radiation in which a moving charge and its oscillating image create an oscillating dipole. We show that parametrically excited molecular bunches can produce an easily detectable coherent radiation flux of up to a microwatt.Comment: 4 page

Diffusive Shock Acceleration with Magnetic Amplification by Non-resonant Streaming Instability in SNRs

We investigate the diffusive shock acceleration in the presence of the non-resonant streaming instability introduced by Bell (2004). The numerical MHD simulations of the magnetic field amplification combined with the analytical treatment of cosmic ray acceleration permit us to calculate the maximum energy of particles accelerated by high-velocity supernova shocks. The estimates for Cas A, Kepler, SN1006, and Tycho historical supernova remnants are given. We also found that the amplified magnetic field is preferentially oriented perpendicular to the shock front downstream of the fast shock. This explains the origin of the radial magnetic fields observed in young supernova remnants.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, accepted to Ap

Studies of h/e Aharonov-Bohm Photovoltaic Oscillations in Mesoscopic Au Rings

We have investigated a mesoscopic photovoltaic (PV) effect in micron-size Au rings in which a dc voltage Vdc is generated in response to microwave radiation. The effect is due to the lack of inversion symmetry in a disordered system. Aharonov-Bohm PV oscillations with flux period h/e have been observed at low microwave intensities for temperatures ranging from 1.4 to 13 K. For moderate microwave intensities the h/e PV oscillations are completely quenched providing evidence that the microwaves act to randomize the phase of the electrons. Studies of the temperature dependence of Vdc also provide evidence of the dephasing nature of the microwave field. A complete theoretical explanation of the observed behavior seems to require a theory for the PV effect in a ring geometry.Comment: 10 pages (RevTex twocolumn style), 8 figures-2 pages (one postscript file) To be published in Phys. Rev.

Hard X-ray Emission Clumps in the gamma-Cygni Supernova Remnant: an INTEGRAL-ISGRI View

Spatially resolved images of the galactic supernova remnant G78.2+2.1 (gamma-Cygni) in hard X-ray energy bands from 25 keV to 120 keV are obtained with the IBIS-ISGRI imager aboard the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory INTEGRAL. The images are dominated by localized clumps of about ten arcmin in size. The flux of the most prominent North-Western (NW) clump is (1.7 +/- 0.4) 10^{-11} erg/cm^2/s in the 25-40 keV band. The observed X-ray fluxes are in agreement with extrapolations of soft X-ray imaging observations of gamma-Cygni by ASCA GIS and spatially unresolved RXTE PCA data. The positions of the hard X-ray clumps correlate with bright patches of optical line emission, possibly indicating the presence of radiative shock waves in a shocked cloud. The observed spatial structure and spectra are consistent with model predictions of hard X-ray emission from nonthermal electrons accelerated by a radiative shock in a supernova interacting with an interstellar cloud, but the powerful stellar wind of the O9V star HD 193322 is a plausible candidate for the NW source as well.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Astronomy and Astrophysics Letter

Radiation pattern of a classical dipole in a photonic crystal: photon focusing

The asymptotic analysis of the radiation pattern of a classical dipole in a photonic crystal possessing an incomplete photonic bandgap is presented. The far-field radiation pattern demonstrates a strong modification with respect to the dipole radiation pattern in vacuum. Radiated power is suppressed in the direction of the spatial stopband and strongly enhanced in the direction of the group velocity, which is stationary with respect to a small variation of the wave vector. An effect of radiated power enhancement is explained in terms of \emph{photon focusing}. Numerical example is given for a square-lattice two-dimensional photonic crystal. Predictions of asymptotic analysis are substantiated with finite-difference time-domain calculations, revealing a reasonable agreement.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.

A simple formula for the L-gap width of a face-centered-cubic photonic crystal

The width $\triangle_L$ of the first Bragg's scattering peak in the (111) direction of a face-centered-cubic lattice of air spheres can be well approximated by a simple formula which only involves the volume averaged $\epsilon$ and $\epsilon^2$ over the lattice unit cell, $\epsilon$ being the (position dependent) dielectric constant of the medium, and the effective dielectric constant $\epsilon_{eff}$ in the long-wavelength limit approximated by Maxwell-Garnett's formula. Apparently, our formula describes the asymptotic behaviour of the absolute gap width $\triangle_L$ for high dielectric contrast $\delta$ exactly. The standard deviation $\sigma$ steadily decreases well below 1% as $\delta$ increases. For example $\sigma< 0.1$ for the sphere filling fraction $f=0.2$ and $\delta\geq 20$. On the interval $\delta\in(1,100)$, our formula still approximates the absolute gap width $\triangle_L$ (the relative gap width $\triangle_L^r$) with a reasonable precision, namely with a standard deviation 3% (4.2%) for low filling fractions up to 6.5% (8%) for the close-packed case. Differences between the case of air spheres in a dielectric and dielectric spheres in air are briefly discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figs., RevTex, two references added. For more info see http://www.amolf.nl/external/wwwlab/atoms/theory/index.htm

Neutrino conversions in random magnetic fields and ν~e\tilde{\nu}_e from the Sun

The magnetic field in the convective zone of the Sun has a random small-scale component with the r.m.s. value substantially exceeding the strength of a regular large-scale field. For two Majorana neutrino flavors $\times$ two helicities in the presence of a neutrino transition magnetic moment and nonzero neutrino mixing we analyze the displacement of the allowed ($\Delta m^2- \sin^22\theta$)-parameter region reconciled for the SuperKamiokande(SK) and radiochemical (GALLEX, SAGE, Homestake) experiments in dependence on the r.m.s. magnetic field value $b$, or more precisely, on a value $\mu b$ assuming the transition magnetic moment $\mu = 10^{-11}\mu_B$. In contrast to RSFP in regular magnetic fields we find an effective production of electron antineutrinos in the Sun even for small neutrino mixing through cascade conversions $\nu_{eL}\to \nu_{\mu L}\to \tilde{\nu}_{eR}$, $\nu_{eL}\to \nu_{\mu R}\to \tilde{\nu}_{eR}$ in a random magnetic field that would be a signature of the Majorana nature of neutrino if $\tilde{\nu}_{eR}$ will be registered. Basing on the present SK bound on electron antineutrinos we have also found an excluded area in the same $\Delta m^2,~\sin^22\theta$-plane and revealed a strong sensitivity to the random magnetic field correlation length $L_0$.Comment: LaTex 36 pages including 14 PostScript figure