167 research outputs found
Scale invariance and critical gravitational collapse
We examine ways to write the Choptuik critical solution as the evolution of
scale invariant variables. It is shown that a system of scale invariant
variables proposed by one of the authors does not evolve periodically in the
Choptuik critical solution. We find a different system, based on maximal
slicing. This system does evolve periodically, and may generalize to the case
of axisymmetry or of no symmetry at all.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, Revtex, discussion modified to clarify
presentatio
Evolutions of Magnetized and Rotating Neutron Stars
We study the evolution of magnetized and rigidly rotating neutron stars
within a fully general relativistic implementation of ideal
magnetohydrodynamics with no assumed symmetries in three spatial dimensions.
The stars are modeled as rotating, magnetized polytropic stars and we examine
diverse scenarios to study their dynamics and stability properties. In
particular we concentrate on the stability of the stars and possible critical
behavior. In addition to their intrinsic physical significance, we use these
evolutions as further tests of our implementation which incorporates new
developments to handle magnetized systems.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Graphene as Transparent Electrode for Direct Observation of Hole Photoemission from Silicon to Oxide
The outstanding electrical and optical properties of graphene make it an
excellent alternative as a transparent electrode. Here we demonstrate the
application of graphene as collector material in internal photoemission (IPE)
spectroscopy; enabling the direct observation of both electron and hole
injections at a Si/Al2O3 interface and successfully overcoming the
long-standing difficulty of detecting holes injected from a semiconductor
emitter in IPE measurements. The observed electron and hole barrier heights are
3.5 eV and 4.1 eV, respectively. Thus the bandgap of Al2O3 can be further
deduced to be 6.5 eV, in close agreement with the valued obtained by vacuum
ultraviolet spectroscopic ellipsometry analysis. The detailed optical modeling
of a graphene/Al2O3/Si stack reveals that by using graphene in IPE measurements
the carrier injection from the emitter is significantly enhanced and the
contribution of carrier injection from the collector electrode is minimal. The
method can be readily extended to various IPE test structures for a complete
band alignment analysis and interface characterization.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
New Algorithm for Mixmaster Dynamics
We present a new numerical algorithm for evolving the Mixmaster spacetimes.
By using symplectic integration techniques to take advantage of the exact Taub
solution for the scattering between asymptotic Kasner regimes, we evolve these
spacetimes with higher accuracy using much larger time steps than previously
possible. The longer Mixmaster evolution thus allowed enables detailed
comparison with the Belinskii, Khalatnikov, Lifshitz (BKL) approximate
Mixmaster dynamics. In particular, we show that errors between the BKL
prediction and the measured parameters early in the simulation can be
eliminated by relaxing the BKL assumptions to yield an improved map. The
improved map has different predictions for vacuum Bianchi Type IX and magnetic
Bianchi Type VI Mixmaster models which are clearly matched in the
simulation.Comment: 12 pages, Revtex, 4 eps figure
UV/Ozone treatment to reduce metal-graphene contact resistance
We report reduced contact resistance of single-layer graphene devices by
using ultraviolet ozone (UVO) treatment to modify the metal/graphene contact
interface. The devices were fabricated from mechanically transferred, chemical
vapor deposition (CVD) grown, single layer graphene. UVO treatment of graphene
in the contact regions as defined by photolithography and prior to metal
deposition was found to reduce interface contamination originating from
incomplete removal of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and photoresist. Our
control experiment shows that exposure times up to 10 minutes did not introduce
significant disorder in the graphene as characterized by Raman spectroscopy. By
using the described approach, contact resistance of less than 200 {\Omega}
{\mu}m was achieved, while not significantly altering the electrical properties
of the graphene channel region of devices.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Critical Phenomena in Neutron Stars I: Linearly Unstable Nonrotating Models
We consider the evolution in full general relativity of a family of linearly
unstable isolated spherical neutron stars under the effects of very small,
perturbations as induced by the truncation error. Using a simple ideal-fluid
equation of state we find that this system exhibits a type-I critical
behaviour, thus confirming the conclusions reached by Liebling et al. [1] for
rotating magnetized stars. Exploiting the relative simplicity of our system, we
are able carry out a more in-depth study providing solid evidences of the
criticality of this phenomenon and also to give a simple interpretation of the
putative critical solution as a spherical solution with the unstable mode being
the fundamental F-mode. Hence for any choice of the polytropic constant, the
critical solution will distinguish the set of subcritical models migrating to
the stable branch of the models of equilibrium from the set of subcritical
models collapsing to a black hole. Finally, we study how the dynamics changes
when the numerically perturbation is replaced by a finite-size, resolution
independent velocity perturbation and show that in such cases a nearly-critical
solution can be changed into either a sub or supercritical. The work reported
here also lays the basis for the analysis carried in a companion paper, where
the critical behaviour in the the head-on collision of two neutron stars is
instead considered [2].Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Analysis of ``Gauge Modes'' in Linearized Relativity
By writing the complete set of (ADM) equations for linearized waves,
we are able to demonstrate the properties of the initial data and of the
evolution of a wave problem set by Alcubierre and Schutz. We show that the
gauge modes and constraint error modes arise in a straightforward way in the
analysis, and are of a form which will be controlled in any well specified
convergent computational discretization of the differential equations.Comment: 11pages LaTe
Sublimation of organic-rich comet analog materials and their relevance in fracture formation
Aims. The morphology of cometary nuclei is the result of an ongoing evolution and can provide valuable information to constrain the composition of comets. In our laboratory experiments we investigated the morphological evolution of comet analog materials, which consist of volatile, dust, and organic components. The laboratory results are aimed to help understand the evolution of cometary surfaces.
Methods. We used spherical particles of fly ash and mixtures of ice, glycine, and sodium acetate as analog materials in different mass ratios to reproduce observed cometary morphologies. The cohesive and gravitational properties in the laboratory are scaled to cometary conditions to draw meaningful conclusions from the experimental results. The samples were placed in a vacuum sublimation chamber, cooled down to below 150 K, and were insolated with an external light source. To analyze the morphology of the samples, a camera was used to monitor the alterations of the surface.
Results. Organic components in volatile-rich samples can have a distinct adhesive effect after the volatiles sublimate. During the sublimation process the sample volume decreases and fractures form on the sample surface. Due to the stability of the remaining volatile-depleted material, significant cliff collapses or ejected particles were not observed in the laboratory
Weak Field Black Hole Formation in Asymptotically AdS Spacetimes
We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to study the thermalization of a strongly
coupled conformal field theory that is forced out of its vacuum by a source
that couples to a marginal operator. The source is taken to be of small
amplitude and finite duration, but is otherwise an arbitrary function of time.
When the field theory lives on , the source sets up a
translationally invariant wave in the dual gravitational description. This wave
propagates radially inwards in space and collapses to form a black
brane. Outside its horizon the bulk spacetime for this collapse process may
systematically be constructed in an expansion in the amplitude of the source
function, and takes the Vaidya form at leading order in the source amplitude.
This solution is dual to a remarkably rapid and intriguingly scale dependent
thermalization process in the field theory. When the field theory lives on a
sphere the resultant wave either slowly scatters into a thermal gas (dual to a
glueball type phase in the boundary theory) or rapidly collapses into a black
hole (dual to a plasma type phase in the field theory) depending on the time
scale and amplitude of the source function. The transition between these two
behaviors is sharp and can be tuned to the Choptuik scaling solution in
.Comment: 50 pages + appendices, 6 figures, v2: Minor revisions, references
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Tensile strength of dust-ice mixtures and their relevance as cometary analog material
Aims. The tensile strength of granular matter is of great importance to our understanding of the evolution of comets and to our attempts to reproduce processes on cometary surfaces in laboratory experiments. In this work, we investigate the tensile strength of three different materials and their mixtures, which can be used as cometary analog materials in the laboratory.
Methods. We used two types of siliceous dusts and granular water ice whose polydisperse particles were either angular or spherical. Our samples were cooled to below 150 K to better simulate the conditions of a cometary surface and to avoid thermal alteration of the material. We used the Brazilian disk test method to exert stress on the cooled samples and determine the tensile strength at the moment the samples broke.
Results. We find that the tensile strength of two component mixtures is strongly dominated by the component with the higher tensile strength. The materials made of mostly angular dust particles have a lower filling fraction, but a higher tensile strength compared to materials made of spherical particles. Furthermore, the tensile strength of the cooled components is substantially lower than the tensile strength of the same components at room temperature. This implies that the surface energy of the investigated materials at low temperatures is significantly lower than previously assumed
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