Black hole magnetosphere with small scale flux tubes--II. Stability and dynamics

In some Seyfert Galaxies, the hard X-rays that produce fluorescent emission lines are thought to be generated in a hot corona that is compact and located at only a few gravitational radii above the supermassive black hole. We consider the possibility that this X-ray source may be powered by small scale magnetic flux tubes attached to the accretion disk near the black hole. We use three dimensional, time dependent force-free simulations in a simplified setting to study the dynamics of such flux tubes as they get continuously twisted by the central compact star/black hole. We find that, the dynamical evolution of the flux tubes connecting the central compact object and the accretion disk is strongly influenced by the confinement of the surrounding field. Although differential rotation between the central object and the disk tends to inflate the flux tubes, strong confinement from surrounding field quenches the formation of a jet-like outflow, as the inflated flux tube becomes kink unstable and dissipates most of the extracted rotational energy relatively close to the central object. Such a process may be able to heat up the plasma and produce strong X-ray emission. We estimate the energy dissipation rate and discuss its astrophysical implications.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Orientation and Motion of Water Molecules at Air/Water Interface

Analysis of SFG vibrational spectra of OH stretching bands in four experimental configurations shows that orientational motion of water molecule at air/water interface is libratory within a limited angular range. This picture is significantly different from the previous conclusion that the interfacial water molecule orientation varies over a broad range within the vibrational relaxation time, the only direct experimental evidence for ultrafast and broad orientational motion of a liquid interface by Wei et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4799, (2001)] using single SFG experimental configuration