5,094 research outputs found
Compressible Flows in Fluidic Oscillators
We present qualitative observations on the internal flow characteristics of
fluidic oscillator geometries commonly referred to as sweeping jets in active
flow control applications. This is part of the fluid dynamics videos.Comment: Videos include
Death of Stellar Baryonic Dark Matter
The nature of the dark matter in the haloes of galaxies is one of the
outstanding questions in astrophysics. All stellar candidates, until recently
thought to be likely baryonic contributions to the Halo of our Galaxy, are
shown to be ruled out. Faint stars and brown dwarfs are found to constitute
only a few percent of the mass of the Galaxy. Stellar remnants, including white
dwarfs and neutron stars, are shown to be very constrained as well. High energy
gamma-rays observed in HEGRA data place the strongest constraints, , where is the Hubble constant in units of 100 km
s Mpc. Hence one is left with several unanswered questions: 1)
What are MACHOs seen in microlensing surveys? 2) What is the dark matter in our
Galaxy? Indeed a nonbaryonic component in the Halo seems to be required.Comment: 6 pages ps fil
Massive Compact Halo Objects Viewed from a Cosmological Perspective: Contribution to the Baryonic Mass Density of the Universe
[Abridged] We estimate the contribution of Massive Compact Halo Objects
(Machos) and their stellar progenitors to the mass density of the Universe. If
the Machos that have been detected reside in the Halo of our Galaxy, then a
simple extrapolation of the Galactic population (out to 50 kpc) of Machos to
cosmic scales gives a cosmic density \rho_{Macho} = (1-5) \times 10^9 h \msun
\Mpc^{-3}, which in terms of the critical density corresponds to
. Such a mass density is comparable to
the baryon density implied by Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. If we take the central
values of the estimates, then Machos dominate the baryonic content of the
Universe today, with . However, the
cumulative uncertainties in the density determinations only require that
, where the fraction of
galaxies that contain Machos , and is the Hubble constant
in units of 100 km s Mpc. Our best estimate for
is hard to reconcile with the current best estimates of the baryonic content of
the intergalactic medium indicated by measurements of the Lyman-
forest. We explore the addition constraints that arise if the Machos are white
dwarfs as suggested by the present microlensing data. We discuss the challenges
this scenario presents at both the local and cosmic scales, emphasizing in
particular the constraints on the required mass budget and nucleosynthesis
products (particularly carbon).Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, uses AASTeX macros. In press, New Astronomy
(submitted Jan. 20, 1998
Simulating a White Dwarf-dominated Galactic Halo
Observational evidence has suggested the possibility of a Galactic halo which
is dominated by white dwarfs (WDs). While debate continues concerning the
interpretation of this evidence, it is clear that an initial mass function
(IMF) biased heavily toward WD precursors (1 < m/Msol < 8), at least in the
early Universe, would be necessary in generating such a halo. Within the
framework of homogeneous, closed-box models of Galaxy formation, such biased
IMFs lead to an unavoidable overproduction of carbon and nitrogen relative to
oxygen (as measured against the abundance patterns in the oldest stars of the
Milky Way). Using a three-dimensional Tree N-body smoothed particle
hydrodynamics code, we study the dynamics and chemical evolution of a galaxy
with different IMFs. Both invariant and metallicity-dependent IMFs are
considered. Our variable IMF model invokes a WD-precursor-dominated IMF for
metallicities less than 5% solar (primarily the Galactic halo), and the
canonical Salpeter IMF otherwise (primarily the disk). Halo WD density
distributions and C,N/O abundance patterns are presented. While Galactic haloes
comprised of ~5% (by mass) of WDs are not supported by our simulations, mass
fractions of ~1-2% cannot be ruled out. This conclusion is consistent with the
present-day observational constraints.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA
Reduced-order modeling using Dynamic Mode Decomposition and Least Angle Regression
Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) yields a linear, approximate model of a
system's dynamics that is built from data. We seek to reduce the order of this
model by identifying a reduced set of modes that best fit the output. We adopt
a model selection algorithm from statistics and machine learning known as Least
Angle Regression (LARS). We modify LARS to be complex-valued and utilize LARS
to select DMD modes. We refer to the resulting algorithm as Least Angle
Regression for Dynamic Mode Decomposition (LARS4DMD). Sparsity-Promoting
Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMDSP), a popular mode-selection algorithm, serves
as a benchmark for comparison. Numerical results from a Poiseuille flow test
problem show that LARS4DMD yields reduced-order models that have comparable
performance to DMDSP. LARS4DMD has the added benefit that the regularization
weighting parameter required for DMDSP is not needed.Comment: 14 pages, 2 Figures, Submitted to AIAA Aviation Conference 201
X-ray Amorphous Components of Antarctica Dry Valley Soils: Weathering Implications for Mars
The Antarctic Dry Valleys (ADV) comprise the largest ice-free region of Antarctica. Precipitation usually occurs as snow, relative humidity is frequently low, and mean annual temperatures are about -20C [1]. Substantial work has focused on soil formation in the ADVs [2], however, little work has focused on the mineralogy of secondary alteration phases. The dominant weathering process in the ADV region is physical weathering, however, chemical weathering has been well documented [3]. The occurrence of chemical weathering processes are suggested by the presence of clay minerals and iron and titanium oxides in soil. Previously we have investigated soils from two sites in the ADVs and have shown evidence of chemical weathering by the presence of clay minerals (vermiculite, smectite), short-range ordered (SRO) and/or X-ray amorphous materials, and Fe- and Tioxides as well as the presence of discrete calcite crystals [4, 5]. The Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument onboard the Mars Curiosity rover has detected abundant amounts (approx. 25-30 wt. %) of X-ray amorphous materials in a windblown deposit or soil (Rocknest) and in a sedimentary rocks [6,7,8]. The occurrence of large amounts of X-ray amorphous materials in Mars sediments is surprising because these materials are usually present in small quantities in terrestrial environments. The objective of this study is to further characterize the chemistry and mineralogy, specifically the secondary alteration mineralogy and the presence of X-ray amorphous material, of soils from two sites we have previously studied, a subxerous soil in Taylor Valley, and an ultraxerous soil in University Valley. While the chemical alteration processes and mineralogy of the ADV has been documented previously, there has been limited discussion on the occurrence and formation of X-ray amorphous and SRO materials in Antarctica soils. The process of aqueous alteration in the ADVs may have implications for pedogenic processes on Mars, and may lead to a better understanding to the abundance of amorphous material found in sediments in Gale crater
Chemical Abundance Constraints on White Dwarfs as Halo Dark Matter
We examine the chemical abundance constraints on a population of white dwarfs
in the Halo of our Galaxy. We are motivated by microlensing evidence for
massive compact halo objects (Machos) in the Galactic Halo, but our work
constrains white dwarfs in the Halo regardless of what the Machos are. We focus
on the composition of the material that would be ejected as the white dwarfs
are formed; abundance patterns in the ejecta strongly constrain white dwarf
production scenarios. Using both analytical and numerical chemical evolution
models, we confirm that very strong constraints come from Galactic Pop II and
extragalactic carbon abundances. We also point out that depending on the
stellar model, significant nitrogen is produced rather than carbon. The
combined constraints from C and N give from
comparison with the low C and N abundances in the Ly forest. We note,
however, that these results are subject to uncertainties regarding the
nucleosynthesis of low-metallicity stars. We thus investigate additional
constraints from D and He, finding that these light elements can be kept
within observational limits only for \Omega_{WD} \la 0.003 and for a white
dwarf progenitor initial mass function sharply peaked at low mass (2).
Finally, we consider a Galactic wind, which is required to remove the ejecta
accompanying white dwarf production from the galaxy. We show that such a wind
can be driven by Type Ia supernovae arising from the white dwarfs themselves,
but these supernovae also lead to unacceptably large abundances of iron. We
conclude that abundance constraints exclude white dwarfs as Machos. (abridged)Comment: Written in AASTeX, 26 pages plus 4 ps figure
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