1,507 research outputs found
On the validity of nonlinear Alfvén resonance in space plasmas
Aims. In the approximation of linear dissipative magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), it can be shown that driven MHD waves in magnetic plasmas with high Reynolds number exhibit a near resonant behaviour if the frequency of the wave becomes equal to the local Alfvén (or slow) frequency of a magnetic surface. This behaviour is confined to a thin region, known as the dissipative layer, which embraces the resonant magnetic surface. Although driven MHD waves have small dimensionless amplitude far away from the resonant surface, this near-resonant behaviour in the dissipative layer may cause a breakdown of linear theory. Our aim is to study the nonlinear effects in Alfvén dissipative layer
Methods. In the present paper, the method of simplified matched asymptotic expansions developed for nonlinear slow resonant waves is used to describe nonlinear effects inside the Alfvén dissipative layer.
Results. The nonlinear corrections to resonant waves in the Alfvén dissipative layer are derived, and it is proved that at the Alfvén resonance (with isotropic/anisotropic dissipation) wave dynamics can be described by the linear theory with great accuracy
Constraining crystalline color superconducting quark matter with gravitational-wave data
We estimate the maximum equatorial ellipticity sustainable by compact stars
composed of crystalline color-superconducting quark matter. For the
theoretically allowed range of the gap parameter , the maximum
ellipticity could be as large as , which is about 4 orders of
magnitude larger than the tightest upper limit obtained by the recent science
runs of the LIGO and GEO600 gravitational wave detectors based on the data from
78 radio pulsars. We point out that the current gravitational-wave strain upper
limit already has some implications for the gap parameter. In particular, the
upper limit for the Crab pulsar implies that is less than O(20) MeV
for a range of quark chemical potential accessible in compact stars, assuming
that the pulsar has a mass , radius 10 km, breaking strain
, and that it has the maximum quadrupole deformation it can sustain
without fracturing.Comment: Minor changes to match the published versio
Breaking stress of neutron star crust
The breaking stress (the maximum of the stress-strain curve) of neutron star
crust is important for neutron star physics including pulsar glitches, emission
of gravitational waves from static mountains, and flares from star quakes. We
perform many molecular dynamic simulations of the breaking stress at different
coupling parameters (inverse temperatures) and strain rates. We describe our
results with the Zhurkov model of strength. We apply this model to estimate the
breaking stress for timescales ~1 s - 1 year, which are most important for
applications, but much longer than can be directly simulated. At these
timescales the breaking stress depends strongly on the temperature. For
coupling parameter <200, matter breaks at very small stress, if it is applied
for a few years. This viscoelastic creep can limit the lifetime of mountains on
neutron stars. We also suggest an alternative model of timescale-independent
breaking stress, which can be used to estimate an upper limit on the breaking
stress.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter
A Contemporary View of Coronal Heating
Determining the heating mechanism (or mechanisms) that causes the outer
atmosphere of the Sun, and many other stars, to reach temperatures orders of
magnitude higher than their surface temperatures has long been a key problem.
For decades the problem has been known as the coronal heating problem, but it
is now clear that `coronal heating' cannot be treated or explained in isolation
and that the heating of the whole solar atmosphere must be studied as a highly
coupled system. The magnetic field of the star is known to play a key role,
but, despite significant advancements in solar telescopes, computing power and
much greater understanding of theoretical mechanisms, the question of which
mechanism or mechanisms are the dominant supplier of energy to the chromosphere
and corona is still open. Following substantial recent progress, we consider
the most likely contenders and discuss the key factors that have made, and
still make, determining the actual (coronal) heating mechanism (or mechanisms)
so difficult
On a common circle: natural scenes and Gestalt rules
To understand how the human visual system analyzes images, it is essential to
know the structure of the visual environment. In particular, natural images
display consistent statistical properties that distinguish them from random
luminance distributions. We have studied the geometric regularities of oriented
elements (edges or line segments) present in an ensemble of visual scenes,
asking how much information the presence of a segment in a particular location
of the visual scene carries about the presence of a second segment at different
relative positions and orientations. We observed strong long-range correlations
in the distribution of oriented segments that extend over the whole visual
field. We further show that a very simple geometric rule, cocircularity,
predicts the arrangement of segments in natural scenes, and that different
geometrical arrangements show relevant differences in their scaling properties.
Our results show similarities to geometric features of previous physiological
and psychophysical studies. We discuss the implications of these findings for
theories of early vision.Comment: 3 figures, 2 large figures not include
Stokes tomography of radio pulsar magnetospheres. II. Millisecond pulsars
The radio polarization characteristics of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) differ
significantly from those of non-recycled pulsars. In particular, the position
angle (PA) swings of many MSPs deviate from the S-shape predicted by the
rotating vector model, even after relativistic aberration is accounted for,
indicating that they have non-dipolar magnetic geometries, likely due to a
history of accretion. Stokes tomography uses phase portraits of the Stokes
parameters as a diagnostic tool to infer a pulsar's magnetic geometry and
orientation. This paper applies Stokes tomography to MSPs, generalizing the
technique to handle interpulse emission. We present an atlas of look-up tables
for the Stokes phase portraits and PA swings of MSPs with current-modified
dipole fields, filled core and hollow cone beams, and two empirical linear
polarization models. We compare our look-up tables to data from 15 MSPs and
find that the Stokes phase portraits for a current-modified dipole
approximately match several MSPs whose PA swings are flat or irregular and
cannot be reconciled with the standard axisymmetric rotating vector model. PSR
J1939+2134 and PSR J04374715 are modelled in detail. The data from PSR
J1939+2134 at 0.61\,GHz can be fitted well with a current-modified dipole at
and emission altitude 0.4
. The fit is less accurate for PSR J1939+2134 at 1.414\,GHz, and
for PSR J04374715 at 1.44\,GHz, indicating that these objects may have a
more complicated magnetic field geometry, such as a localized surface anomaly
or a polar magnetic mountain.Comment: 38 pages, 33 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA
Leakage of waves from coronal loops by wave tunneling
To better understand the decay of vertically polarised fast kink modes of coronal loops by the mechanism of wave tunneling, simulations are performed of fast kink modes in straight flux slabs which have Alfvén speed profiles which include a tunneling region. The decay rates are found to be determined by the mode number of the trapped mode and the thickness of the tunneling region. Two analytical models are suggested to explain the observed decay. The first is a extension of the work of Roberts (1981, Sol. Phys., 69, 39) to include a finite thickness tunneling region, and the second is a simpler model which yields an analytical solution for the relationship between decay rate, period and the thickness of the tunneling region. The decay rates for these straight slabs are found to be slower than in observations and those found in a previous paper on the subject by Brady & Arber (2005, A&A, 438, 733) using curved flux slabs. It is found that the difference between the straight slabs used here and the curved slabs used in Brady & Arber (2005, A&A, 438, 733) can be represented as a geometric correction to the decay rate
Variational Monte Carlo Study of the Kondo Necklace Model with Geometrical Frustration
We investigate the ground state of the Kondo necklace model on
geometrically-frustrated lattices by the variational Monte Carlo simulation. To
explore the possibility of a partially-ordered phase, we employ an extension of
the Yosida-type wave function as a variational state, which can describe a
coexistence of spin-singlet formation due to the Kondo coupling and magnetic
ordering by the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction. We show the
benchmark of the numerical simulation to demonstrate the high precision brought
by the optimization of a large number of variational parameters. We discuss the
ground-state phase diagram for the model on the kagome lattice in comparison
with that for the triangular-lattice case.Comment: 3 pages, proceedings for ICHE201
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