4,257 research outputs found
Magnetically Torqued Thin Accretion Disks
We compute the properties of a geometrically thin, steady accretion disk
surrounding a central rotating, magnetized star. The magnetosphere is assumed
to entrain the disk over a wide range of radii. The model is simplified in that
we adopt two (alternate) ad hoc, but plausible, expressions for the azimuthal
component of the magnetic field as a function of radial distance. We find a
solution for the angular velocity profile tending to corotation close to the
central star, and smoothly matching a Keplerian curve at a radius where the
viscous stress vanishes. The value of this ''transition'' radius is nearly the
same for both of our adopted B-field models. We then solve analytically for the
torques on the central star and for the disk luminosity due to gravity and
magnetic torques. When expressed in a dimensionless form, the resulting
quantities depend on one parameter alone, the ratio of the transition radius to
the corotation radius. For rapid rotators, the accretion disk may be powered
mostly by spin-down of the central star. These results are independent of the
viscosity prescription in the disk. We also solve for the disk structure for
the special case of an optically thick alpha disk. Our results are applicable
to a range of astrophysical systems including accreting neutron stars,
intermediate polar cataclysmic variables, and T Tauri systems.Comment: 9 sharper figs, updated reference
Scattering from Singular Potentials in Quantum Mechanics
In non-relativistic quantum mechanics, singular potentials in problems with
spherical symmetry lead to a Schrodinger equation for stationary states with
non-Fuchsian singularities both as r tends to zero and as r tends to infinity.
In the sixties, an analytic approach was developed for the investigation of
scattering from such potentials, with emphasis on the polydromy of the wave
function in the r variable. The present paper extends those early results to an
arbitrary number of spatial dimensions. The Hill-type equation which leads, in
principle, to the evaluation of the polydromy parameter, is obtained from the
Hill equation for a two-dimensional problem by means of a simple change of
variables. The asymptotic forms of the wave function as r tends to zero and as
r tends to infinity are also derived. The Darboux technique of intertwining
operators is then applied to obtain an algorithm that makes it possible to
solve the Schrodinger equation with a singular potential containing many
negative powers of r, if the exact solution with even just one term is already
known.Comment: 19 pages, plain Tex. In this revised version, the analysis of Eq.
(5.29) has been amended, and an appendix has been added for completenes
Self-gravitating Brownian particles in two dimensions: the case of N=2 particles
We study the motion of N=2 overdamped Brownian particles in gravitational
interaction in a space of dimension d=2. This is equivalent to the simplified
motion of two biological entities interacting via chemotaxis when time delay
and degradation of the chemical are ignored. This problem also bears some
similarities with the stochastic motion of two point vortices in viscous
hydrodynamics [Agullo & Verga, Phys. Rev. E, 63, 056304 (2001)]. We
analytically obtain the density probability of finding the particles at a
distance r from each other at time t. We also determine the probability that
the particles have coalesced and formed a Dirac peak at time t (i.e. the
probability that the reduced particle has reached r=0 at time t). Finally, we
investigate the variance of the distribution and discuss the proper form
of the virial theorem for this system. The reduced particle has a normal
diffusion behaviour for small times with a gravity-modified diffusion
coefficient =r_0^2+(4k_B/\xi\mu)(T-T_*)t, where k_BT_{*}=Gm_1m_2/2 is a
critical temperature, and an anomalous diffusion for large times
~t^(1-T_*/T). As a by-product, our solution also describes the growth of
the Dirac peak (condensate) that forms in the post-collapse regime of the
Smoluchowski-Poisson system (or Keller-Segel model) for T<T_c=GMm/(4k_B). We
find that the saturation of the mass of the condensate to the total mass is
algebraic in an infinite domain and exponential in a bounded domain.Comment: Revised version (20/5/2010) accepted for publication in EPJ
High rate, fast timing Glass RPC for the high {\eta} CMS muon detectors
The HL-LHC phase is designed to increase by an order of magnitude the amount
of data to be collected by the LHC experiments. To achieve this goal in a
reasonable time scale the instantaneous luminosity would also increase by an
order of magnitude up to . The region of the forward
muon spectrometer () is not equipped with RPC stations. The
increase of the expected particles rate up to (including a
safety factor 3) motivates the installation of RPC chambers to guarantee
redundancy with the CSC chambers already present. The actual RPC technology of
CMS cannot sustain the expected background level. The new technology that will
be chosen should have a high rate capability and provides a good spatial and
timing resolution. A new generation of Glass-RPC (GRPC) using low-resistivity
(LR) glass is proposed to equip at least the two most far away of the four high
muon stations of CMS. First the design of small size prototypes and
studies of their performance in high-rate particles flux is presented. Then the
proposed designs for large size chambers and their fast-timing electronic
readout are examined and preliminary results are provided.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, Conference proceeding for the 2016 Resistive
Plate Chambers and Related Detector
Interchange Slip-Running Reconnection and Sweeping SEP Beams
We present a new model to explain how particles (solar energetic particles;
SEPs), accelerated at a reconnection site that is not magnetically connected to
the Earth, could eventually propagate along the well-connected open flux tube.
Our model is based on the results of a low-beta resistive magnetohydrodynamics
simulation of a three-dimensional line-tied and initially current-free bipole,
that is embedded in a non-uniform open potential field. The topology of this
configuration is that of an asymmetric coronal null-point, with a closed fan
surface and an open outer spine. When driven by slow photospheric shearing
motions, field lines, initially fully anchored below the fan dome, reconnect at
the null point, and jump to the open magnetic domain. This is the standard
interchange mode as sketched and calculated in 2D. The key result in 3D is
that, reconnected open field lines located in the vicinity of the outer spine,
keep reconnecting continuously, across an open quasi-separatrix layer, as
previously identified for non-open-null-point reconnection. The apparent
slipping motion of these field lines leads to form an extended narrow magnetic
flux tube at high altitude. Because of the slip-running reconnection, we
conjecture that if energetic particles would be traveling through, or be
accelerated inside, the diffusion region, they would be successively injected
along continuously reconnecting field lines that are connected farther and
farther from the spine. At the scale of the full Sun, owing to the super-radial
expansion of field lines below 3 solar radii, such energetic particles could
easily be injected in field lines slipping over significant distances, and
could eventually reach the distant flux tube that is well-connected to the
Earth
On Solving the Coronal Heating Problem
This article assesses the current state of understanding of coronal heating,
outlines the key elements of a comprehensive strategy for solving the problem,
and warns of obstacles that must be overcome along the way.Comment: Accepted by Solar Physics; Published by Solar Physic
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