118 research outputs found
Modeling the Longitudinal Asymmetry in Sunspot Emergence -- the Role of the Wilson Depression
The distributions of sunspot longitude at first appearance and at
disappearance display an east-west asymmetry that results from a reduction in
visibility as one moves from disk centre to the limb. To first order, this is
explicable in terms of simple geometrical foreshortening. However, the
centre-to-limb visibility variation is much larger than that predicted by
foreshortening. Sunspot visibility is also known to be affected by the Wilson
effect: the apparent dish shape of the sunspot photosphere caused by the
temperature-dependent variation of the geometrical position of the tau=1 layer.
In this article we investigate the role of the Wilson effect on the sunspot
appearance distributions, deducing a mean depth for the umbral tau=1 layer of
500 to 1500 km. This is based on the comparison of observations of sunspot
longitude distribution and Monte Carlo simulations of sunspot appearance using
different models for spot growth rate, growth time and depth of Wilson
depression.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, in press (Solar Physics
Real Roots of Random Polynomials and Zero Crossing Properties of Diffusion Equation
We study various statistical properties of real roots of three different
classes of random polynomials which recently attracted a vivid interest in the
context of probability theory and quantum chaos. We first focus on gap
probabilities on the real axis, i.e. the probability that these polynomials
have no real root in a given interval. For generalized Kac polynomials, indexed
by an integer d, of large degree n, one finds that the probability of no real
root in the interval [0,1] decays as a power law n^{-\theta(d)} where \theta(d)
> 0 is the persistence exponent of the diffusion equation with random initial
conditions in spatial dimension d. For n \gg 1 even, the probability that they
have no real root on the full real axis decays like
n^{-2(\theta(2)+\theta(d))}. For Weyl polynomials and Binomial polynomials,
this probability decays respectively like \exp{(-2\theta_{\infty}} \sqrt{n})
and \exp{(-\pi \theta_{\infty} \sqrt{n})} where \theta_{\infty} is such that
\theta(d) = 2^{-3/2} \theta_{\infty} \sqrt{d} in large dimension d. We also
show that the probability that such polynomials have exactly k roots on a given
interval [a,b] has a scaling form given by \exp{(-N_{ab} \tilde
\phi(k/N_{ab}))} where N_{ab} is the mean number of real roots in [a,b] and
\tilde \phi(x) a universal scaling function. We develop a simple Mean Field
(MF) theory reproducing qualitatively these scaling behaviors, and improve
systematically this MF approach using the method of persistence with partial
survival, which in some cases yields exact results. Finally, we show that the
probability density function of the largest absolute value of the real roots
has a universal algebraic tail with exponent {-2}. These analytical results are
confirmed by detailed numerical computations.Comment: 32 pages, 16 figure
Multiwavelength variability of BL Lacertae measured with high time resolution
In an effort to locate the sites of emission at different frequencies and physical processes causing variability in blazar jets, we have obtained high time-resolution observations of BL Lacertae over a wide wavelength range: with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) at 6000–10000 Å with 2 minute cadence; with the Neil Gehrels Swift satellite at optical, UV, and X-ray bands; with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array at hard X-ray bands; with the Fermi Large Area Telescope at γ-ray energies; and with the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope for measurement of the optical flux density and polarization. All light curves are correlated, with similar structure on timescales from hours to days. The shortest timescale of variability at optical frequencies observed with TESS is ~0.5 hr. The most common timescale is 13 ± 1 hr, comparable with the minimum timescale of X-ray variability, 14.5 hr. The multiwavelength variability properties cannot be explained by a change solely in the Doppler factor of the emitting plasma. The polarization behavior implies that there are both ordered and turbulent components to the magnetic field in the jet. Correlation analysis indicates that the X-ray variations lag behind the γ-ray and optical light curves by up to ~0.4 day. The timescales of variability, cross-frequency lags, and polarization properties can be explained by turbulent plasma that is energized by a shock in the jet and subsequently loses energy to synchrotron and inverse Compton radiation in a magnetic field of strength ~3 G.Accepted manuscrip
Intratumoural Light Distribution in an Experimental Mouse Tumour Irradiated by a Diffuse-light Irradiator Compared with Unilateral Helium-neon Light for Photodynamic Therapy
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