22,951 research outputs found
Testing a Simplified Version of Einstein's Equations for Numerical Relativity
Solving dynamical problems in general relativity requires the full machinery
of numerical relativity. Wilson has proposed a simpler but approximate scheme
for systems near equilibrium, like binary neutron stars. We test the scheme on
isolated, rapidly rotating, relativistic stars. Since these objects are in
equilibrium, it is crucial that the approximation work well if we are to
believe its predictions for more complicated systems like binaries. Our results
are very encouraging.Comment: 9 pages (RevTeX 3.0 with 6 uuencoded figures), CRSR-107
Quasi-circular Orbits for Spinning Binary Black Holes
Using an effective potential method we examine binary black holes where the
individual holes carry spin. We trace out sequences of quasi-circular orbits
and locate the innermost stable circular orbit as a function of spin. At large
separations, the sequences of quasi-circular orbits match well with
post-Newtonian expansions, although a clear signature of the simplifying
assumption of conformal flatness is seen. The position of the ISCO is found to
be strongly dependent on the magnitude of the spin on each black hole. At close
separations of the holes, the effective potential method breaks down. In all
cases where an ISCO could be determined, we found that an apparent horizon
encompassing both holes forms for separations well inside the ISCO.
Nevertheless, we argue that the formation of a common horizon is still
associated with the breakdown of the effective potential method.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, submitted to PR
Towards a wave-extraction method for numerical relativity. V. Extracting the Weyl scalars in the quasi-Kinnersley tetrad from spatial data
We extract the Weyl scalars and in the quasi-Kinnersley
tetrad by finding initially the (gauge--, tetrad--, and
background--independent) transverse quasi-Kinnersley frame. This step still
leaves two undetermined degrees of freedom: the ratio , and
one of the phases (the product and the {\em sum} of
the phases are determined by the so-called BB radiation scalar). The residual
symmetry ("spin/boost") can be removed by gauge fixing of spin coefficients in
two steps: First, we break the boost symmetry by requiring that
corresponds to a global constant mass parameter that equals the ADM mass (or,
equivalently in perturbation theory, that or equal their values in
the no-radiation limits), thus determining the two moduli of the Weyl scalars
, while leaving their phases as yet undetermined. Second,
we break the spin symmetry by requiring that the ratio gives the
expected polarization state for the gravitational waves, thus determining the
phases. Our method of gauge fixing--specifically its second step--is
appropriate for cases for which the Weyl curvature is purely electric. Applying
this method to Misner and Brill--Lindquist data, we explicitly find the Weyl
scalars and perturbatively in the quasi-Kinnersley tetrad.Comment: 13 page
Predictions for the fracture toughness of cancellous bone of fracture neck of femur patients
Current protocol in determining if a patient is osteoporotic and their fracture risk is based on dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). DXA gives an indication of their bone mineral density (BMD) which is the product of both the porosity and density of the mineralized bone tissue; this is usually taken at the hip. The DXA results are assessed using the fracture risk assessment tool as recommended by the World Health Organization. While this provides valuable data on a person’s fracture risk advancements in medical imagining technology enables development of more robust and accurate risk assessment tools. In order to develop such tools in vitro analysis of bone is required to assess the morphological properties of bone osteoporotic bone tissue and how these pertain to the fracture toughness (Kcmax) of the tissue.Support was provided by the EPSRC (EP/K020196: Point-ofCare High Accuracy Fracture Risk Prediction), the UK Department of Transport under the BOSCOS (Bone Scanning for Occupant Safety) project, and approved by Gloucester and Cheltenham NHS Trust hospitals under ethical consent (BOSCOS – Mr. Curwen CI REC ref 01/179G)
Relativistic stars in differential rotation: bounds on the dragging rate and on the rotational energy
For general relativistic equilibrium stellar models (stationary axisymmetric
asymptotically flat and convection-free) with differential rotation, it is
shown that for a wide class of rotation laws the distribution of angular
velocity of the fluid has a sign, say "positive", and then both the dragging
rate and the angular momentum density are positive. In addition, the "mean
value" (with respect to an intrinsic density) of the dragging rate is shown to
be less than the mean value of the fluid angular velocity (in full general,
without having to restrict the rotation law, nor the uniformity in sign of the
fluid angular velocity); this inequality yields the positivity and an upper
bound of the total rotational energy.Comment: 23 pages, no figures, LaTeX. Submitted to J. Math. Phy
Inner boundary conditions for black hole Initial Data derived from Isolated Horizons
We present a set of boundary conditions for solving the elliptic equations in
the Initial Data Problem for space-times containing a black hole, together with
a number of constraints to be satisfied by the otherwise freely specifiable
standard parameters of the Conformal Thin Sandwich formulation. These
conditions altogether are sufficient for the construction of a horizon that is
instantaneously in equilibrium in the sense of the Isolated Horizons formalism.
We then investigate the application of these conditions to the Initial Data
Problem of binary black holes and discuss the relation of our analysis with
other proposals that exist in the literature.Comment: 13 pages. Major general revision. Section V comparing with previous
approaches restructured; discussion on the lapse boundary condition extended.
Appendix with some technical details added. Version accepted for publication
in Phys.Rev.
Design and development of a water vapor electrolysis unit
Design and development of water vapor electrolysis unit for oxygen productio
Quasi-equilibrium binary black hole sequences for puncture data derived from helical Killing vector conditions
We construct a sequence of binary black hole puncture data derived under the
assumptions (i) that the ADM mass of each puncture as measured in the
asymptotically flat space at the puncture stays constant along the sequence,
and (ii) that the orbits along the sequence are quasi-circular in the sense
that several necessary conditions for the existence of a helical Killing vector
are satisfied. These conditions are equality of ADM and Komar mass at infinity
and equality of the ADM and a rescaled Komar mass at each puncture. In this
paper we explicitly give results for the case of an equal mass black hole
binary without spin, but our approach can also be applied in the general case.
We find that up to numerical accuracy the apparent horizon mass also remains
constant along the sequence and that the prediction for the innermost stable
circular orbit is similar to what has been found with the effective potential
method.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
High-precision radiocarbon dating of the construction phase of Oakbank Crannog, Loch Tay, Perthshire
Many of the Loch Tay crannogs were built in the Early Iron Age and so calibration of the radiocarbon ages produces
very broad calendar age ranges due to the well-documented Hallstatt plateau in the calibration curve. However, the
large oak timbers that were used in the construction of some of the crannogs potentially provide a means of improving the precision of the dating through subdividing them into decadal or subdecadal increments, dating them to high precision and wiggle-matching the resulting data to the master <sup>14</sup>C calibration curve. We obtained a sample from 1 oak timber from Oakbank Crannog comprising 70 rings (Sample OB06 WMS 1, T103) including sapwood that was complete to the bark edge. The timber is situated on the northeast edge of the main living area of the crannog and as a large and strong oak pile would have been a useful support in more than 1 phase of occupation and may be related to the earliest construction phase of the site. This was sectioned into 5-yr increments and dated to a precision of approximately ±8–16 <sup>14</sup>C yr (1 σ). The wiggle-match predicts that the last ring dated was formed around 500 BC (maximum range of 520–465 BC) and should be taken as indicative of the likely time of construction of Oakbank Crannog. This is a considerable improvement on the estimates based on single <sup>14</sup>C ages made on oak samples, which typically encompassed the period from around 800–400 BC
Gravitational waves from nonspinning black hole-neutron star binaries: dependence on equations of state
We report results of a numerical-relativity simulation for the merger of a
black hole-neutron star binary with a variety of equations of state (EOSs)
modeled by piecewise polytropes. We focus in particular on the dependence of
the gravitational waveform at the merger stage on the EOSs. The initial
conditions are computed in the moving-puncture framework, assuming that the
black hole is nonspinning and the neutron star has an irrotational velocity
field. For a small mass ratio of the binaries (e.g., MBH/MNS = 2 where MBH and
MNS are the masses of the black hole and neutron star, respectively), the
neutron star is tidally disrupted before it is swallowed by the black hole
irrespective of the EOS. Especially for less-compact neutron stars, the tidal
disruption occurs at a more distant orbit. The tidal disruption is reflected in
a cutoff frequency of the gravitational-wave spectrum, above which the spectrum
amplitude exponentially decreases. A clear relation is found between the cutoff
frequency of the gravitational-wave spectrum and the compactness of the neutron
star. This relation also depends weakly on the stiffness of the EOS in the core
region of the neutron star, suggesting that not only the compactness but also
the EOS at high density is reflected in gravitational waveforms. The mass of
the disk formed after the merger shows a similar correlation with the EOS,
whereas the spin of the remnant black hole depends primarily on the mass ratio
of the binary, and only weakly on the EOS. Properties of the remnant disks are
also analyzed.Comment: 27pages, 21 figures; erratum is added on Aug 5. 201
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