The Effects of Rotation on the Evolution of Rising Omega-loops in a Stratified Model Convection Zone

We present three-dimensional MHD simulations of buoyant magnetic flux tubes that rise through a stratified model convection zone in the presence of solar rotation. The equations of MHD are solved in the anelastic approximation, and the results are used to determine the effects of solar rotation on the dynamic evolution an Omega-loop. We find that the Coriolis force significantly suppresses the degree of fragmentation at the apex of the loop during its ascent toward the photosphere. If the initial axial field strength of the tube is reduced, then, in the absence of forces due to convective motions, the degree of apex fragmentation is also reduced. We show that the Coriolis force slows the rise of the tube, and induces a retrograde flow in both the magnetized and unmagnetized plasma of an emerging active region. Observationally, we predict that this flow will appear to originate at the leading polarity, and will terminate at the trailing polarity.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, ApJ in pres

Behavior of X-Ray Dust Scattering and Implications for X-Ray Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts

The afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have commonly been assumed to be due to shocks sweeping up the circum-stellar medium. However, most GRBs have been found in dense star-forming regions where a significant fraction of the prompt X-ray emission can be scattered by dust grains. Here we revisit the behavior of dust scattering of X-rays in GRBs. We find that the features of some X-ray afterglows from minutes to days after the gamma-ray triggers are consistent with the scattering of prompt X-ray emission from GRBs off host dust grains. This implies that some of the observed X-ray afterglows (especially those without sharp rising and decaying flares) could be understood with a dust-scattering--driven emission model.Comment: ApJ, in pres

Information of Structures in Galaxy Distribution

We introduce an information-theoretic measure, the Renyi information, to describe the galaxy distribution in space. We discuss properties of the information measure, and demonstrate its relationship with the probability distribution function and multifractal descriptions. Using the First Look Survey galaxy samples observed by the Infrared Array Camera onboard Spitzer Space Telescope, we present measurements of the Renyi information, as well as the counts-in-cells distribution and multifractal properties of galaxies in mid-infrared wavelengths. Guided by multiplicative cascade simulation based on a binomial model, we verify our measurements, and discuss the spatial selection effects on measuring information of the spatial structures. We derive structure scan functions at scales where selection effects are small for the Spitzer samples. We discuss the results, and the potential of applying the Renyi information to measuring other spatial structures.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, submitted to ApJ; To appear in The Astrophysical Journal 2006, 644, 678 (June 20th

The critical Ising lines of the d=2 Ashkin-Teller model

The universal critical point ratio $Q$ is exploited to determine positions of the critical Ising transition lines on the phase diagram of the Ashkin-Teller (AT) model on the square lattice. A leading-order expansion of the ratio $Q$ in the presence of a non-vanishing thermal field is found from finite-size scaling and the corresponding expression is fitted to the accurate perturbative transfer-matrix data calculations for the $L\times L$ square clusters with $L\leq 9$.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages, two figure

Entanglement-assisted local operations and classical communications conversion in the quantum critical systems

Conversions between the ground states in quantum critical systems via entanglement-assisted local operations and classical communications (eLOCC) are studied. We propose a new method to reveal the different convertibility by local operations when a quantum phase transition occurs. We have studied the ground state local convertibility in the one dimensional transverse field Ising model, XY model and XXZ model. It is found that the eLOCC convertibility sudden changes at the phase transition points. In transverse field Ising model the eLOCC convertibility between the first excited state and the ground state are also distinct for different phases. The relation between the order of quantum phase transitions and the local convertibility is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, 5 table

Neutrino emission from a GRB afterglow shock during an inner supernova shock breakout

The observations of a nearby low-luminosity gamma-ray burst (GRB) 060218 associated with supernova SN 2006aj may imply an interesting astronomical picture where a supernova shock breakout locates behind a relativistic GRB jet. Based on this picture, we study neutrino emission for early afterglows of GRB 060218-like GRBs, where neutrinos are expected to be produced from photopion interactions in a GRB blast wave that propagates into a dense wind. Relativistic protons for the interactions are accelerated by an external shock, while target photons are basically provided by the incoming thermal emission from the shock breakout and its inverse-Compton scattered component. Because of a high estimated event rate of low-luminosity GRBs, we would have more opportunities to detect afterglow neutrinos from a single nearby GRB event of this type by IceCube. Such a possible detection could provide evidence for the picture described above.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Effect of intensive melt shearing on the formation of Fe-containing intermetallics in LM24 Al-alloy

Fe is one of the inevitable and detrimental impurities in aluminium alloys that degrade the mechanical performance of castings. In the present work, intensive melt shearing has been demonstrated to modify the morphology of Fe-containing intermetallic compounds by promoting the formation of compact α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si at the expense of needle-shaped β-AlFeSi, leading to an improved mechanical properties of LM24 alloy processed by MC-HPDC process. The promotion of the formation of α -Al(Fe, Mn)Si phase is resulted from the enhanced nucleation on the well dispersed MgAl 2O 4 particles in the melt. The Fe tolerance of LM24 alloy can be effectively improved by combining Mn alloying and intensive melt shearing

Magnetoelectric domains and their switching mechanism in a Y-type hexaferrite

By employing resonant X-ray microdiffraction, we image the magnetisation and magnetic polarity domains of the Y-type hexaferrite Ba$_{0.5}$Sr$_{1.5}$Mg$_2$Fe$_{12}$O$_{22}$. We show that the magnetic polarity domain structure can be controlled by both magnetic and electric fields, and that full inversion of these domains can be achieved simply by reversal of an applied magnetic field in the absence of an electric field bias. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the diffraction intensity measured in different X-ray polarisation channels cannot be reproduced by the accepted model for the polar magnetic structure, known as the 2-fan transverse conical (TC) model. We propose a modification to this model, which achieves good quantitative agreement with all of our data. We show that the deviations from the TC model are large, and may be the result of an internal magnetic chirality, most likely inherited from the parent helical (non-polar) phase.Comment: 9 figure

High Energy Neutrino Flashes from Far-Ultraviolet and X-ray Flares in Gamma-Ray Bursts

The recent observations of bright optical and x-ray flares by the Swift satellite suggest these are produced by the late activities of the central engine. We study the neutrino emission from far-ultraviolet and x-ray flares under the late internal shock model. We show that the efficiency of pion production in the highest energy is comparable to or higher than the unity, and the contribution from such neutrino flashes to a diffuse very high energy neutrino background can be larger than that of prompt bursts if the total baryonic energy input into flares is comparable to the radiated energy of prompt bursts. These signals may be detected by IceCube and are very important because they have possibilities to probe the nature of flares (the baryon loading, the photon field, the magnetic field and so on).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, version published in PR