Gravastars and Black Holes of Anisotropic Dark Energy

Dynamical models of prototype gravastars made of anisotropic dark energy are constructed, in which an infinitely thin spherical shell of a perfect fluid with the equation of state $p = (1-\gamma)\sigma$ divides the whole spacetime into two regions, the internal region filled with a dark energy fluid, and the external Schwarzschild region. The models represent "bounded excursion" stable gravastars, where the thin shell is oscillating between two finite radii, while in other cases they collapse until the formation of black holes. Here we show, for the first time in the literature, a model of gravastar and formation of black hole with both interior and thin shell constituted exclusively of dark energy. Besides, the sign of the parameter of anisotropy ($p_t - p_r$) seems to be relevant to the gravastar formation. The formation is favored when the tangential pressure is greater than the radial pressure, at least in the neighborhood of the isotropic case ($\omega=-1$).Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Gen. Rel. Gra

Rotating Dilaton Solutions in 2+1 Dimensions

We report a three parameter family of solutions for dilaton gravity in 2+1 dimensions with finite mass and finite angular momentum. These solutions are obtained by a compactification of vacuum solutions in 3+1 dimensions with cylindrical symmetry. One class of solutions corresponds to conical singularities and the other leads to curvature singularities.Comment: Accepted to be published in Gen. Rel. Grav., added reference

Role of aldehyde chemistry and NO_x concentrations in secondary organic aerosol formation

Aldehydes are an important class of products from atmospheric oxidation of hydrocarbons. Isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene), the most abundantly emitted atmospheric non-methane hydrocarbon, produces a significant amount of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) via methacrolein (a C_4-unsaturated aldehyde) under urban high-NO_x conditions. Previously, we have identified peroxy methacryloyl nitrate (MPAN) as the important intermediate to isoprene and methacrolein SOA in this NO_x regime. Here we show that as a result of this chemistry, NO_2 enhances SOA formation from methacrolein and two other α, β-unsaturated aldehydes, specifically acrolein and crotonaldehyde, a NO_x effect on SOA formation previously unrecognized. Oligoesters of dihydroxycarboxylic acids and hydroxynitrooxycarboxylic acids are observed to increase with increasing NO_2/NO ratio, and previous characterizations are confirmed by both online and offline high-resolution mass spectrometry techniques. Molecular structure also determines the amount of SOA formation, as the SOA mass yields are the highest for aldehydes that are α, β-unsaturated and contain an additional methyl group on the α-carbon. Aerosol formation from 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (MBO232) is insignificant, even under high-NO_2 conditions, as PAN (peroxy acyl nitrate, RC(O)OONO_2) formation is structurally unfavorable. At atmospherically relevant NO_2/NO ratios (3–8), the SOA yields from isoprene high-NO_x photooxidation are 3 times greater than previously measured at lower NO_2/NO ratios. At sufficiently high NO_2 concentrations, in systems of α, β-unsaturated aldehydes, SOA formation from subsequent oxidation of products from acyl peroxyl radicals+NO_2 can exceed that from RO_2+HO_2 reactions under the same inorganic seed conditions, making RO_2+NO_2 an important channel for SOA formation

α-pinene photooxidation under controlled chemical conditions – Part 2: SOA yield and composition in low- and high-NO_x environments

The gas-phase oxidation of α-pinene produces a large amount of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in the atmosphere. A number of carboxylic acids, organosulfates and nitrooxy organosulfates associated with α-pinene have been found in field samples and some are used as tracers of α-pinene oxidation. α-pinene reacts readily with OH and O_3 in the atmosphere followed by reactions with both HO_2 and NO. Due to the large number of potential reaction pathways, it can be difficult to determine what conditions lead to SOA. To better understand the SOA yield and chemical composition from low- and high-NO_x OH oxidation of α-pinene, studies were conducted in the Caltech atmospheric chamber under controlled chemical conditions. Experiments used low O_3 concentrations to ensure that OH was the main oxidant and low α-pinene concentrations such that the peroxy radical (RO_2) reacted primarily with either HO_2 under low-NO_x conditions or NO under high-NO_x conditions. SOA yield was suppressed under conditions of high-NO_x. SOA yield under high-NO_x conditions was greater when ammonium sulfate/sulfuric acid seed particles (highly acidic) were present prior to the onset of growth than when ammonium sulfate seed particles (mildly acidic) were present; this dependence was not observed under low-NO_x conditions. When aerosol seed particles were introduced after OH oxidation, allowing for later generation species to be exposed to fresh inorganic seed particles, a number of low-NO_x products partitioned to the highly acidic aerosol. This indicates that the effect of seed acidity and SOA yield might be under-estimated in traditional experiments where aerosol seed particles are introduced prior to oxidation. We also identify the presence of a number of carboxylic acids that are used as tracer compounds of α-pinene oxidation in the field as well as the formation of organosulfates and nitrooxy organosulfates. A number of the carboxylic acids were observed under all conditions, however, pinic and pinonic acid were only observed under low-NO_x conditions. Evidence is provided for particle-phase sulfate esterification of multi-functional alcohols