492 research outputs found
Fast Acceleration of Transrelativistic Electrons in Astrophysical Turbulence
Highly energetic, relativistic electrons are commonly present in many
astrophysical systems, from solar flares to the intra-cluster medium, as
indicated by observed electromagnetic radiation. However, open questions remain
about the mechanisms responsible for their acceleration, and possible
re-acceleration. Ubiquitous plasma turbulence is one of the possible universal
mechanisms. We study the energization of transrelativistic electrons in
turbulence using hybrid particle-in-cell, which provide a realistic model of
Alfv\'{e}nic turbulence from MHD to sub-ion scales, and test particle
simulations for electrons. We find that, depending on the electron initial
energy and turbulence strength, electrons may undergo a fast and efficient
phase of energization due to the magnetic curvature drift during the time they
are trapped in dynamic magnetic structures. In addition, electrons are
accelerated stochastically which is a slower process that yields lower maximum
energies. The combined effect of these two processes determines the overall
electron acceleration. With appropriate turbulence parameters, we find that
superthermal electrons can be accelerated up to relativistic energies. For
example, with heliospheric parameters and a relatively high turbulence level,
rapid energization to MeV energies is possible.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
A JKO splitting scheme for Kantorovich-Fisher-Rao gradient flows
In this article we set up a splitting variant of the JKO scheme in order to
handle gradient flows with respect to the Kantorovich-Fisher-Rao metric,
recently introduced and defined on the space of positive Radon measure with
varying masses. We perform successively a time step for the quadratic
Wasserstein/Monge-Kantorovich distance, and then for the Hellinger/Fisher-Rao
distance. Exploiting some inf-convolution structure of the metric we show
convergence of the whole process for the standard class of energy functionals
under suitable compactness assumptions, and investigate in details the case of
internal energies. The interest is double: On the one hand we prove existence
of weak solutions for a certain class of reaction-advection-diffusion
equations, and on the other hand this process is constructive and well adapted
to available numerical solvers.Comment: Final version, to appear in SIAM SIM
Nonlinear theory of mirror instability near threshold
An asymptotic model based on a reductive perturbative expansion of the drift
kinetic and the Maxwell equations is used to demonstrate that, near the
instability threshold, the nonlinear dynamics of mirror modes in a magnetized
plasma with anisotropic ion temperatures involves a subcritical
bifurcation,leading to the formation of small-scale structures with amplitudes
comparable with the ambient magnetic field
A detailed analysis of a multi-agent diverse team
In an open system we can have many different kinds of agents. However, it is a challenge to decide which agents to pick when forming multi-agent teams. In some scenarios, agents coordinate by voting continuously. When forming such teams, should we focus on the diversity of the team or on the strength of each member? Can a team of diverse (and weak) agents outperform a uniform team of strong agents? We propose a new model to address these questions. Our key contributions include: (i) we show that a diverse team can overcome a uniform team and we give the necessary conditions for it to happen; (ii) we present optimal voting rules for a diverse team; (iii) we perform synthetic experiments that demonstrate that both diversity and strength contribute to the performance of a team; (iv) we show experiments that demonstrate the usefulness of our model in one of the most difficult challenges for Artificial Intelligence: Computer Go
Continuous catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol over Pt/SiOâ and Pt/H-MFI-90
Hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol in the presence of 1-octanol was studied in a fixed-bed reactor under mild conditions (50-250 °C) over platinum particles supported on silica (Pt/SiO2) and a zeolite with framework type MFI at a Si/Al-ratio of 45 (Pt/H-MFI-90). The deoxygenation selectivity strongly depended on the support and the temperature. Both guaiacol and octanol were rapidly deoxygenated in the presence of hydrogen over Pt/H-MFI-90 at 250 °C to cyclohexane and octane, respectively. In contrast, Pt/SiO2 mostly showed hydrogenation, but hardly any deoxygenation activity. The acidic sites of the MFI-90 support lead to improved deoxygenation performance at the mild temperature conditions of this study. Significant conversions under reaction conditions applied already occurred at temperatures of 200 °C. However, during long-term stability tests, the Pt/H-MFI-90 catalyst deactivated after more than 30 h, probably due to carbon deposition, whereas Pt/SiO2 was more stable. The catalytic activity of the zeolite catalyst could only partly be regained by calcination in air, as some of the acidic sites were lost
Novel dithiocarbamate derivatives are effective copper-dependent antimicrobials against Streptococcal species
Despite the availability of several vaccines against multiple disease-causing strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae, the rise of antimicrobial resistance and pneumococcal disease caused by strains not covered by the vaccine creates a need for developing novel antimicrobial strategies. N,N-dimethyldithiocarbamate (DMDC) was found to be a potent copper-dependent antimicrobial against several pathogens, including S. pneumoniae. Here, DMDCs efficacy against Streptococcal pathogens Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Streptococcus anginosus was tested using bactericidal and inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometry. After confirming DMDC as broad-spectrum streptococcal antimicrobial, DMDC was derivatized into five compounds. The derivativesâ effectiveness as copper chelators using DsRed2 and as copper-dependent antimicrobials against S. pneumoniae TIGR4 and tested in bactericidal and animal models. Two compounds, sodium N-benzyl-N-methyldithiocarbamate and sodium N-allyl-N-methyldithiocarbamate (herein âCompound 3â and âCompound 4â), were effective against TIGR4 and further, D39 and ATCCÂź 6303âą _(a type 3 capsular strain). Both Compound 3 and 4 increased the pneumococcal internal concentrations of copper to the same previously reported levels as with DMDC and copper treatment. However, in an in vivo murine pneumonia model, Compound 3, but not Compound 4, was effective in significantly decreasing the bacterial burden in the blood and lungs of S. pneumoniae-infected mice. These derivatives also had detrimental effects on the other streptococcal species. Collectively, derivatizing DMDC holds promise as potent bactericidal antibiotics against relevant streptococcal pathogens
ARTEMIS Science Objectives
NASA's two spacecraft ARTEMIS mission will address both heliospheric and planetary research questions, first while in orbit about the Earth with the Moon and subsequently while in orbit about the Moon. Heliospheric topics include the structure of the Earth's magnetotail; reconnection, particle acceleration, and turbulence in the Earth's magnetosphere, at the bow shock, and in the solar wind; and the formation and structure of the lunar wake. Planetary topics include the lunar exosphere and its relationship to the composition of the lunar surface, the effects of electric fields on dust in the exosphere, internal structure of the Moon, and the lunar crustal magnetic field. This paper describes the expected contributions of ARTEMIS to these baseline scientific objectives
Solar Wind Turbulence and the Role of Ion Instabilities
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