430 research outputs found
The Capture and Escape of Stars
The shape of galaxies depends on their orbital populations. These populations change through capture into and escape from resonance. Capture problems fall into distinct cases depending upon the shape of the potential well. To visualise the effective potential well for orbital capture, a diagrammatic approach to the resonant perturbation theory of Born is presented. These diagrams we call equiaction sections. To illustrate their use, we present examples drawn from both galactic and Solar System dynamics. The probability of capture for generic shapes of the potential well is calculated. A number of predictions are made. First, there are barred galaxies that possess two outer rings of gas and stars (type R ′ 1R ′ 2). We show how to relate changes in the pattern speed and amplitude of the bar to the strength of the two rings. Secondly, under certain conditions, small disturbances can lead to dramatic changes in orbital shape. This can be exploited as a mechanism to pump counter-rotating stars and gas into the nuclei of disk galaxies. Tidal resonant forcing of highly inclined orbits around a central mass causes a substantial increase in the likelihood of collision. Thirdly, the angular momentum of a potential well is changed by the passage of stars across or capture into the well. This can lead to the creation of holes, notches and high velocity tails in the stellar distribution function, whose form we explicitly calculate.Peer reviewe
The Integrability of Pauli System in Lorentz Violating Background
We systematically analyze the integrability of a Pauli system in Lorentz
violating background at the non-relativistic level both in two- and
three-dimensions. We consider the non-relativistic limit of the Dirac equation
from the QED sector of the so-called Standard Model Extension by keeping only
two types of background couplings, the vector a_mu and the axial vector b_mu.
We show that the spin-orbit interaction comes as a higher order correction in
the non-relativistic limit of the Dirac equation. Such an interaction allows
the inclusion of spin degree non-trivially, and if Lorentz violating terms are
allowed, they might be comparable under special circumstances. By including all
possible first-order derivative terms and considering the cases a\ne 0, b\ne 0,
and b_0\ne 0 one at a time, we determine the possible forms of constants of
motion operator, and discuss the existence or continuity of integrability due
to Lorentz violating background.Comment: 19 page
Refinement of the standard halo model for dark matter searches in light of the Gaia Sausage
Predicting signals in experiments to directly detect dark matter (DM) requires a form for the local DM velocity distribution. Hitherto, the standard halo model (SHM), in which velocities are isotropic and follow a truncated Gaussian law, has performed this job. New data, however, suggest that a substantial fraction of our stellar halo lies in a strongly radially anisotropic population, the "Gaia sausage." Inspired by this recent discovery, we introduce an updated DM halo model, the SHM++, which includes a "sausage" component, thus better describing the known features of our Galaxy. The SHM++ is a simple analytic model with five parameters: the circular speed, local escape speed, and local DM density, which we update to be consistent with the latest data, and two new parameters: the anisotropy and the density of DM in the sausage. The impact of the SHM++ on signal models for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) and axions is rather modest since the multiple changes and updates have competing effects. In particular, this means that the older exclusion limits derived for WIMPS are still reasonably accurate. However, changes do occur for directional detectors, which have sensitivity to the full three-dimensional velocity distribution
Proper Motions in the Andromeda Subgroup
This article presents results of VLBI observations of regions of H2O maser
activity in the Local Group galaxies M33 and IC10. Since all position
measurements were made relative to extragalactic background sources, the proper
motions of the two galaxies could be measured. For M33, this provides this
galaxy's three dimensional velocity, showing that this galaxy is moving with a
velocity of 190 +/- 59 km\s relative to the Milky Way. For IC10, we obtain a
motion of 215 +/- 42 km/s relative to the Milky Way. These measurements promise
a new handle on dynamical models for the Local Group and the mass and dark
matter halo of Andromeda and the Milky Way.Comment: 4 pages 1 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "Galaxies in the
Local Volume", Astrophysics and Space Science, editors B. Koribalski and H.
Jerjen also available at
http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/staff/abrunthaler/pub.shtm
A key-formula to compute the gravitational potential of inhomogeneous discs in cylindrical coordinates
We have established the exact expression for the gravitational potential of a
homogeneous polar cell - an elementary pattern used in hydrodynamical
simulations of gravitating discs. This formula, which is a closed-form, works
for any opening angle and radial extension of the cell. It is valid at any
point in space, i.e. in the plane of the distribution (inside and outside) as
well as off-plane, thereby generalizing the results reported by Durand (1953)
for the circular disc. The three components of the gravitational acceleration
are given. The mathematical demonstration proceeds from the "incomplete version
of Durand's formula" for the potential (based on complete elliptic integrals).
We determine first the potential due to the circular sector (i.e. a pie-slice
sheet), and then deduce that of the polar cell (from convenient radial scaling
and subtraction). As a by-product, we generate an integral theorem stating that
"the angular average of the potential of any circular sector along its tangent
circle is 2/PI times the value at the corner". A few examples are presented.
For numerical resolutions and cell shapes commonly used in disc simulations, we
quantify the importance of curvature effects by performing a direct comparison
between the potential of the polar cell and that of the Cartesian (i.e.
rectangular) cell having the same mass. Edge values are found to deviate
roughly like 2E-3 x N/256 in relative (N is the number of grid points in the
radial direction), while the agreement is typically four orders of magnitude
better for values at the cell's center. We also produce a reliable
approximation for the potential, valid in the cell's plane, inside and close to
the cell. Its remarkable accuracy, about 5E-4 x N/256 in relative, is
sufficient to estimate the cell's self-acceleration.Comment: Accepted for publication in Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical
Astronom
Dark matter annihilation and non-thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect: II. dwarf spheroidal galaxy
We calculate the CMB temperature distortion due to the energetic electrons
and positrons produced by dark matter annihilation (Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect),
in dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). In the calculation we have included two
important effects which were previously ignored. First we show that the
electron-positron pairs with energy less than GeV, which were neglected in
previous calculation, could contribute a significant fraction of the total
signal. Secondly we also consider the full effects of diffusion loss, which
could significantly reduce the density of electron-positron pairs at the center
of cuspy halos. For neutralinos, we confirm that detecting such kind of SZ
effect is beyond the capability of the current or even the next generation
experiments. In the case of light dark matter (LDM) the signal is much larger,
but even in this case it is only marginally detectable with the next generation
of experiment such as ALMA. We conclude that similar to the case of galaxy
clusters, in the dwarf galaxies the SZ_2DM} effect is not a strong probe of
DM annihilations.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, version accepted by JCA
Ferromagnetic models for cooperative behavior: Revisiting Universality in complex phenomena
Ferromagnetic models are harmonic oscillators in statistical mechanics.
Beyond their original scope in tackling phase transition and symmetry breaking
in theoretical physics, they are nowadays experiencing a renewal applicative
interest as they capture the main features of disparate complex phenomena,
whose quantitative investigation in the past were forbidden due to data
lacking. After a streamlined introduction to these models, suitably embedded on
random graphs, aim of the present paper is to show their importance in a
plethora of widespread research fields, so to highlight the unifying framework
reached by using statistical mechanics as a tool for their investigation.
Specifically we will deal with examples stemmed from sociology, chemistry,
cybernetics (electronics) and biology (immunology).Comment: Contributing to the proceedings of the Conference "Mathematical
models and methods for Planet Heart", INdAM, Rome 201
Identification of high energy gamma-ray sources and source populations in the era of deep all-sky coverage
A large fraction of the anticipated source detections by the Gamma-ray Large
Area Space Telescope (GLAST-LAT) will initially be unidentified. We argue that
traditional approaches to identify individuals and/or populations of gamma ray
sources will encounter procedural limitations. Those limitations are discussed
on the background of source identifications from EGRET observations. Generally,
our ability to classify (faint) source populations in the anticipated GLAST
dataset with the required degree of statistical confidence will be hampered by
sheer source wealth. A new paradigm for achieving the classification of gamma
ray source populations is discussed.Comment: Comments: 6 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in
Astrophysics and Space Science, Proc. of "The Multi-Messenger Approach to
High-Energy Gamma-ray Sources (Third Workshop on the Nature of Unidentified
High-Energy Sources)", Barcelona, July 4-7, 200
Probing Ion-Ion and Electron-Ion Correlations in Liquid Metals within the Quantum Hypernetted Chain Approximation
We use the Quantum Hypernetted Chain Approximation (QHNC) to calculate the
ion-ion and electron-ion correlations for liquid metallic Li, Be, Na, Mg, Al,
K, Ca, and Ga. We discuss trends in electron-ion structure factors and radial
distribution functions, and also calculate the free-atom and metallic-atom
form-factors, focusing on how bonding effects affect the interpretation of
X-ray scattering experiments, especially experimental measurements of the
ion-ion structure factor in the liquid metallic phase.Comment: RevTeX, 19 pages, 7 figure
Adapting Clinical Images to Appear with Different Noise and Sharpness to Model a Different Detector
- …