Extracting Energy from a Black Hole through Its Disk

When some magnetic field lines connect a Kerr black hole with a disk rotating around it, energy and angular momentum are transferred between them. If the black hole rotates faster than the disk, $ca/GM_H>0.36$ for a thin Keplerian disk, then energy and angular momentum are extracted from the black hole and transferred to the disk ($M_H$ is the mass and $a M_H$ is the angular momentum of the black hole). This way the energy originating in the black hole may be radiated away by the disk. The total amount of energy that can be extracted from the black hole spun down from $ca/GM_H = 0.998$ to $ca/GM_H = 0.36$ by a thin Keplerian disk is $\approx 0.15 M_Hc^2$. This is larger than $\approx 0.09 M_Hc^2$ which can be extracted by the Blandford-Znajek mechanism.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

A propeller scenario for the gamma-ray emission of low-mass X-ray binaries: The case of XSS J12270-4859

XSS J12270-4859 is the only low mass X-ray binary (LMXB) with a proposed persistent gamma-ray counterpart in the Fermi-LAT domain, 2FGL 1227.7-4853. Here, we present the results of the analysis of recent INTEGRAL observations, aimed at assessing the long-term variability of the hard X-ray emission, and thus the stability of the accretion state. We confirm that the source behaves as a persistent hard X-ray emitter between 2003 and 2012. We propose that XSS J12270-4859 hosts a neutron star in a propeller state, a state we investigate in detail, developing a theoretical model to reproduce the associated X-ray and gamma-ray properties. This model can be understood as being of a more general nature, representing a viable alternative by which LMXBs can appear as gamma-ray sources. In particular, this may apply to the case of millisecond pulsars performing a transition from a state powered by the rotation of their magnetic field, to a state powered by matter in-fall, such as that recently observed from the transitional pulsar PSR J1023+0038. While the surface magnetic field of a typical NS in a LMXB is lower by more than four orders of magnitude than the much more intense fields of neutron stars accompanying high-mass binaries, the radius at which the matter in-flow is truncated in a NS-LMXB system is much lower. The magnetic field at the magnetospheric interface is then orders of magnitude larger at this interface, and as consequence, so is the power to accelerate electrons. We demonstrate that the cooling of the accelerated electron population takes place mainly through synchrotron interaction with the magnetic field permeating the interface, and through inverse Compton losses due to the interaction between the electrons and the synchrotron photons they emit. We found that self-synchrotron Compton processes can explain the high energy phenomenology of XSS J12270-4859.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. References update

Sea-quark effects in the pion charge form factor

It is shown that the data on the pion charge form factor admit the possibility for a substantial sea-quark components in the pion wave function. If the charge form factor is calculated with instant form kinematics in a constituent quark model that is extended to include explicit $(q\bar q)^2$ components in the pion wave function, that component will give the dominant contribution to the calculated $\pi^+$ charge form factor at large values of momentum transfer. The present experimental values $Q^2$ can be described well with $(q\bar q)^2$ component admixtures of up to 50%. The sensitivity of the calculated $\pi^+$ charge form factor to whether one of the quarks or one of the antiquarks is taken to be in the P-state is small.Comment: 14 page

X(1812) in Quarkonia-Glueball-Hybrid Mixing Scheme

Recently a $J^{PC}=0^{++}$ (X(1812)) state with a mass near the threshold of $\omega$ and $\phi$ has been observed by the BES collaboration in $J/\psi \to \gamma \omega \phi$ decay. It has been suggested that it is a $I^G = 0^+$ state. If it is true, this state fits in a mixing scheme based on quarkonia, glueball and hybrid (QGH) very nicely where five physical states are predicted. Together with the known $f_0(1370)$, $f_0(1500)$, $f_0(1710)$, and $f_0(1790)$ states, X(1812) completes the five members in this family. Using known experimental data on these particles we determine the ranges of the mixing parameters and predict decay properties for X(1812). We also discuss some features which may be able to distinguish between four-quark and hybrid mixing schemes.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, 3 table

Domain Wall and Periodic Solutions of Coupled phi4 Models in an External Field

Coupled double well (phi4) one-dimensional potentials abound in both condensed matter physics and field theory. Here we provide an exhaustive set of exact periodic solutions of a coupled $\phi^4$ model in an external field in terms of elliptic functions (domain wall arrays) and obtain single domain wall solutions in specific limits. We also calculate the energy and interaction between solitons for various solutions. Both topological and nontopological (e.g. some pulse-like solutions in the presence of a conjugate field) domain walls are obtained. We relate some of these solutions to the recently observed magnetic domain walls in certain multiferroic materials and also in the field theory context wherever possible. Discrete analogs of these coupled models, relevant for structural transitions on a lattice, are also considered.Comment: 35 pages, no figures (J. Math. Phys. 2006