2,142 research outputs found
Relativistic Landau damping of longitudinal waves in isotropic pair plasmas
Landau damping is described in relativistic electron-positron
plasmas. Relativistic electron-positron plasma theory contains
important new effects when compared with classical plasmas. For
example, there are undamped superluminal wave modes arising from
both a continuous and discrete mode structure, the former even in
the classical limit. We present here a comprehensive analytical
treatment of the general case resulting in a compact and useful
form for the dispersion relation. The classical pair-plasma case
is addressed, for completeness, in an appendix
On the Use of Group Theoretical and Graphical Techniques toward the Solution of the General N-body Problem
Group theoretic and graphical techniques are used to derive the N-body wave
function for a system of identical bosons with general interactions through
first-order in a perturbation approach. This method is based on the maximal
symmetry present at lowest order in a perturbation series in inverse spatial
dimensions. The symmetric structure at lowest order has a point group
isomorphic with the S_N group, the symmetric group of N particles, and the
resulting perturbation expansion of the Hamiltonian is order-by-order invariant
under the permutations of the S_N group. This invariance under S_N imposes
severe symmetry requirements on the tensor blocks needed at each order in the
perturbation series. We show here that these blocks can be decomposed into a
basis of binary tensors invariant under S_N. This basis is small (25 terms at
first order in the wave function), independent of N, and is derived using
graphical techniques. This checks the N^6 scaling of these terms at first order
by effectively separating the N scaling problem away from the rest of the
physics. The transformation of each binary tensor to the final normal
coordinate basis requires the derivation of Clebsch-Gordon coefficients of S_N
for arbitrary N. This has been accomplished using the group theory of the
symmetric group. This achievement results in an analytic solution for the wave
function, exact through first order, that scales as N^0, effectively
circumventing intensive numerical work. This solution can be systematically
improved with further analytic work by going to yet higher orders in the
perturbation series.Comment: This paper was submitted to the Journal of Mathematical physics, and
is under revie
Factors affecting metal mobilisation during oxidation of sulphidic, sandy wetland substrates
Most metals accumulate as sulphides under anoxic conditions in wetland substrates, reducing their bioavailability due to the solubility of metal sulphides. However, upon oxidation of these sulphides when the substrate is occasionally oxidised, metals can be released from the solid phase to the pore water or overlaying surface water. This release can be affected by the presence of carbonates, organic matter and clay. We compared changes of Cd, Cu and Zn mobility (CaCl2 extraction) during oxidation of a carbonate-rich and a carbonate-poor sulphidic, sandy wetland substrate. In addition, we studied how clay with low and high cation sorption capacity (bentonite and kaolinite, respectively) and organic matter (peat) can counteract Cd, Cu and Zn release during oxidation of both carbonate-rich and carbonate-poor sulphidic sediments. CaCl2-extractability of Cu, a measure for its availability, is low in both carbonate-poor and carbonate-rich substrates, whereas its variability is high. The availability of Cd and Zn is much higher and increases when peat is supplied to carbonate-poor substrates. A strong reduction of Cd and Zn extractability is observed when clay is added to carbonate-poor substrates. This reduction depends on the clay type. Most observations could be explained taking into account pH differences between treatments, with kaolinite resulting in a lower pH in comparison to bentonite. These pH differences affect the presence and characteristics of dissolved organic carbon and the metal speciation, which in turns affects the interaction of metals with the solid soil phase. In carbonate-rich substrates, Cd and Zn availability is lower and the effects of peat and clay amendment are less clear. The latter can also be attributed to the high pH and lack of pH differences between treatments
Ultra-relativistic electrostatic Bernstein waves
A new general form of the dispersion relation for electrostatic Bernstein waves in ultra-relativistic pair plasmas, characterized by a−1 = kBT/(mec2)  1, is derived in this paper. The parameter Sp = aΩ0/ωp, where Ω0 is the rest cyclotron frequency for electrons or positrons and ωp is the electron (or positron) plasma frequency, plays a crucial role in characterizing these waves. In particular, Sp has a restricted range for permitted wave solutions; this range is effectively unlimited for classical plasmas, but is significant for the ultra-relativistic case. The characterization of these waves is applied in particular to the presence of such plasmas in pulsar atmospheres
The Nuclear Ionized Gas in the Radio Galaxy M84 (NGC 4374)
We present optical images of the nucleus of the nearby radio galaxy M84 (NGC
4374 = 3C272.1) obtained with the Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) aboard
the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Our three images cover the H + [N II]
emission lines as well as the V and I continuum bands. Analysis of these images
confirms that the H + [N II] emission in the central 5'' (410 pc) is
elongated along position angle (P.A.) \approx 72\arcdeg, which is roughly
parallel to two nuclear dust lanes.Our high-resolution images reveal that the
H + [N II] emission has three components, namely a nuclear gas disk,an
`ionization cone', and outer filaments. The nuclear disk of ionized gas has
diameter pc and major axis P.A. \approx 58\arcdeg \pm
6\arcdeg. On an angular scale of 0\farcs5, the major axis of this nuclear
gas disk is consistent with that of the dust. However, the minor axis of the
gas disk (P.A. \approx 148\arcdeg) is tilted with respect to that of the
filamentary H + [N II] emission at distances > 2'' from the nucleus;
the minor axis of this larger scale gas is roughly aligned with the axis of the
kpc-scale radio jets (P.A. \approx 170\arcdeg). The ionization cone (whose
apex is offset by \approx 0\farcs3 south of the nucleus) extends 2'' from the
nucleus along the axis of the southern radio jet. This feature is similar to
the ionization cones seen in some Seyfert nuclei, which are also aligned with
the radio axes.Comment: 11 pages plus 4 figure
Analytical Study of Diffusive Relativistic Shock Acceleration
Particle acceleration in relativistic shocks is studied analytically in the
test-particle, small-angle scattering limit, for an arbitrary velocity-angle
diffusion function D. Accurate analytic expressions for the spectral index s
are derived using few (2-6) low-order moments of the shock-frame angular
distribution. For isotropic diffusion, previous results are reproduced and
justified. For anisotropic diffusion, s is shown to be sensitive to D,
particularly downstream and at certain angles, and a wide range of s values is
attainable. The analysis, confirmed numerically, can be used to test
collisionless shock models and to observationally constrain D. For example,
strongly forward- or backward-enhanced diffusion downstream is ruled out by GRB
afterglow observations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, PRL accepted, minor change
Cereal, pasture legume and water supply prospects at Forrestania : results of experimental work east of Hyden, Western Australia
The agricultural potential of the Forrestania area appears at least equal to that of much of the settled eastern wheatbelt. The scrubplain soils of the Forrestania area have an average yield potential of at least 1 000 kg/ha wheat and carrying capacity of 1.8 to 3.7 sheep per hectare on improved pastures. The use of clover ley rotations would maintain these levels of potential yield. Partial crop failures caused by adverse seasonal conditions could be expected 10 years in every 100
Bernstein modes in a weakly relativistic electron-positron plasma
The kinetic theory of weakly relativistic electron-positron plasmas, producing dispersion relations for the electrostatic Bernstein modes was addressed. The treatment presented preserves the full momentum dependence of the cyclotron frequency, albeit with a relaxation on the true relativistic form of the distribution function. The implications of this new treatment were confined largely to astrophysical plasmas, where relativistic electronpositron plasmas occur naturally
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