28,189 research outputs found
Jet Collimation by Small-Scale Magnetic Fields
A popular model for jet collimation is associated with the presence of a
large-scale and predominantly toroidal magnetic field originating from the
central engine (a star, a black hole, or an accretion disk). Besides the
problem of how such a large-scale magnetic field is generated, in this model
the jet suffers from the fatal long-wave mode kink magnetohydrodynamic
instability. In this paper we explore an alternative model: jet collimation by
small-scale magnetic fields. These magnetic fields are assumed to be local,
chaotic, tangled, but are dominated by toroidal components. Just as in the case
of a large-scale toroidal magnetic field, we show that the ``hoop stress'' of
the tangled toroidal magnetic fields exerts an inward force which confines and
collimates the jet. The magnetic ``hoop stress'' is balanced either by the gas
pressure of the jet, or by the centrifugal force if the jet is spinning. Since
the length-scale of the magnetic field is small (< the cross-sectional radius
of the jet << the length of the jet), in this model the jet does not suffer
from the long-wave mode kink instability. Many other problems associated with
the large-scale magnetic field are also eliminated or alleviated for
small-scale magnetic fields. Though it remains an open question how to generate
and maintain the required small-scale magnetic fields in a jet, the scenario of
jet collimation by small-scale magnetic fields is favored by the current study
on disk dynamo which indicates that small-scale magnetic fields are much easier
to generate than large-scale magnetic fields.Comment: 14 pages, no figur
Building analytical three-field cosmological models
A difficult task to deal with is the analytical treatment of models composed
by three real scalar fields, once their equations of motion are in general
coupled and hard to be integrated. In order to overcome this problem we
introduce a methodology to construct three-field models based on the so-called
"extension method". The fundamental idea of the procedure is to combine three
one-field systems in a non-trivial way, to construct an effective three scalar
field model. An interesting scenario where the method can be implemented is
within inflationary models, where the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian is coupled
with the scalar field Lagrangian. We exemplify how a new model constructed from
our method can lead to non-trivial behaviors for cosmological parameters.Comment: 11 pages, and 3 figures, updated version published in EPJ
Are Magnetic Wind-Driving Disks Inherently Unstable?
There have been claims in the literature that accretion disks in which a
centrifugally driven wind is the dominant mode of angular momentum transport
are inherently unstable. This issue is considered here by applying an
equilibrium-curve analysis to the wind-driving, ambipolar diffusion-dominated,
magnetic disk model of Wardle & Konigl (1993). The equilibrium solution curves
for this class of models typically exhibit two distinct branches. It is argued
that only one of these branches represents unstable equilibria and that a real
disk/wind system likely corresponds to a stable solution.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to be published in ApJ, vol. 617 (2004 Dec 20).
Uses emulateapj.cl
Euler-Lagrange equations for composition functionals in calculus of variations on time scales
In this paper we consider the problem of the calculus of variations for a
functional which is the composition of a certain scalar function with the
delta integral of a vector valued field , i.e., of the form
. Euler-Lagrange
equations, natural boundary conditions for such problems as well as a necessary
optimality condition for isoperimetric problems, on a general time scale, are
given. A number of corollaries are obtained, and several examples illustrating
the new results are discussed in detail.Comment: Submitted 10-May-2009 to Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems
(DCDS-B); revised 10-March-2010; accepted 04-July-201
Spin precession and alternating spin polarization in spin-3/2 hole systems
The spin density matrix for spin-3/2 hole systems can be decomposed into a
sequence of multipoles which has important higher-order contributions beyond
the ones known for electron systems [R. Winkler, Phys. Rev. B \textbf{70},
125301 (2004)]. We show here that the hole spin polarization and the
higher-order multipoles can precess due to the spin-orbit coupling in the
valence band, yet in the absence of external or effective magnetic fields. Hole
spin precession is important in the context of spin relaxation and offers the
possibility of new device applications. We discuss this precession in the
context of recent experiments and suggest a related experimental setup in which
hole spin precession gives rise to an alternating spin polarization.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Physical Review Letter
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