3,326 research outputs found
Interpretations of the Accelerating Universe
It is generally argued that the present cosmological observations support the
accelerating models of the universe, as driven by the cosmological constant or
`dark energy'. We argue here that an alternative model of the universe is
possible which explains the current observations of the universe. We
demonstrate this with a reinterpretation of the magnitude-redshift relation for
Type Ia supernovae, since this was the test that gave a spurt to the current
trend in favour of the cosmological constant.Comment: 12 pages including 2 figures, minor revision, references added, a
paragraph on the interpretation of the CMB anisotropy in the QSSC added in
conclusion, general results unchanged. To appear in the October 2002 issue of
the "Publications of the Astronmical Society of the Pacific
The cosmological BCS mechanism and the Big Bang Singularity
We provide a novel mechanism that resolves the Big Bang Singularity present
in FRW space-times without the need for ghost fields. Building on the fact that
a four-fermion interaction arises in General Relativity when fermions are
covariantly coupled, we show that at early times the decrease in scale factor
enhances the correlation between pairs of fermions. This enhancement leads to a
BCS-like condensation of the fermions and opens a gap dynamically driving the
Hubble parameter to zero and results in a non-singular bounce, at least in
some special cases.Comment: replaced to match the journal versio
Aqueous phase oxidation of sulphur dioxide by ozone in cloud droplets
The growth of aerosol due to the aqueous phase oxidation of sulfur dioxide by ozone was measured in laboratory-generated clouds created in the Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets (CLOUD) chamber at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Experiments were performed at 10 and −10 °C, on acidic (sulfuric acid) and on partially to fully neutralised (ammonium sulfate) seed aerosol. Clouds were generated by performing an adiabatic expansion – pressurising the chamber to 220 hPa above atmospheric pressure, and then rapidly releasing the excess pressure, resulting in a cooling, condensation of water on the aerosol and a cloud lifetime of approximately 6 min. A model was developed to compare the observed aerosol growth with that predicted using oxidation rate constants previously measured in bulk solutions. The model captured the measured aerosol growth very well for experiments performed at 10 and −10 °C, indicating that, in contrast to some previous studies, the oxidation rates of SO2 in a dispersed aqueous system can be well represented by using accepted rate constants, based on bulk measurements. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first laboratory-based measurements of aqueous phase oxidation in a dispersed, super-cooled population of droplets. The measurements are therefore important in confirming that the extrapolation of currently accepted reaction rate constants to temperatures below 0 °C is correct
Modeling Repulsive Gravity with Creation
There is a growing interest in the cosmologists for theories with negative
energy scalar fields and creation, in order to model a repulsive gravity. The
classical steady state cosmology proposed by Bondi, Gold and Hoyle in 1948, was
the first such theory which used a negative kinetic energy creation field to
invoke creation of matter. We emphasize that creation plays very crucial role
in cosmology and provides a natural explanation to the various explosive
phenomena occurring in local (z<0.1) and extra galactic universe. We exemplify
this point of view by considering the resurrected version of this theory - the
quasi-steady state theory, which tries to relate creation events directly to
the large scale dynamics of the universe and supplies more natural explanations
of the observed phenomena. Although the theory predicts a decelerating universe
at the present era, it explains successfully the recent SNe Ia observations
(which require an accelerating universe in the standard cosmology), as we show
in this paper by performing a Bayesian analysis of the data.Comment: The paper uses an old SNeIa dataset. With the new improved data, for
example the updated gold sample (Riess et al, astro-ph/0611572), the fit
improves considerably (\chi^2/DoF=197/180 and a probability of
goodness-of-fit=18%
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Electrical capacitance tomography for flow imaging: System model for development of image reconstruction algorithms and design of primary sensors
A software tool that facilitates the development of image reconstruction algorithms, and the design of optimal capacitance sensors for a capacitance-based 12-electrode tomographic flow imaging system are described. The core of this software tool is the finite element (FE) model of the sensor, which is implemented in OCCAM-2 language and run on the Inmos T800 transputers. Using the system model, the in-depth study of the capacitance sensing fields and the generation of flow model data are made possible, which assists, in a systematic approach, the design of an improved image-reconstruction algorithm. This algorithm is implemented on a network of transputers to achieve a real-time performance. It is found that the selection of the geometric parameters of a 12-electrode sensor has significant effects on the sensitivity distributions of the capacitance fields and on the linearity of the capacitance data. As a consequence, the fidelity of the reconstructed images are affected. Optimal sensor designs can, therefore, be provided, by accommodating these effect
How Protostellar Outflows Help Massive Stars Form
We consider the effects of an outflow on radiation escaping from the
infalling envelope around a massive protostar. Using numerical radiative
transfer calculations, we show that outflows with properties comparable to
those observed around massive stars lead to significant anisotropy in the
stellar radiation field, which greatly reduces the radiation pressure
experienced by gas in the infalling envelope. This means that radiation
pressure is a much less significant barrier to massive star formation than has
previously been thought.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, emulateapj, accepted for publication in ApJ
Letter
Improved Torsion Pendulum for Ground Testing of LISA Displacement Sensors
We discuss a new torsion pendulum design for ground testing of prototype LISA
(Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) displacement sensors. This new design is
directly sensitive to net forces and therefore provides a more representative
test of the noisy forces and parasitic stiffnesses acting on the test mass as
compared to previous ground-based experiments. We also discuss a specific
application to the measurement of thermal gradient effects.Comment: 4 pages 1 figure, to appear in the Proceedings of the 10th Marcel
Grossmann Meeting on General Relativit
The Nikolaevskiy equation with dispersion
The Nikolaevskiy equation was originally proposed as a model for seismic
waves and is also a model for a wide variety of systems incorporating a
neutral, Goldstone mode, including electroconvection and reaction-diffusion
systems. It is known to exhibit chaotic dynamics at the onset of pattern
formation, at least when the dispersive terms in the equation are suppressed,
as is commonly the practice in previous analyses. In this paper, the effects of
reinstating the dispersive terms are examined. It is shown that such terms can
stabilise some of the spatially periodic traveling waves; this allows us to
study the loss of stability and transition to chaos of the waves. The secondary
stability diagram (Busse balloon) for the traveling waves can be remarkably
complicated.Comment: 24 pages; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
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