19,747 research outputs found
Gravitational waveforms with controlled accuracy
A partially first-order form of the characteristic formulation is introduced
to control the accuracy in the computation of gravitational waveforms produced
by highly distorted single black hole spacetimes. Our approach is to reduce the
system of equations to first-order differential form on the angular
derivatives, while retaining the proven radial and time integration schemes of
the standard characteristic formulation. This results in significantly improved
accuracy over the standard mixed-order approach in the extremely nonlinear
post-merger regime of binary black hole collisions.Comment: Revised version, published in Phys. Rev. D, RevTeX, 16 pages, 4
figure
Cauchy-characteristic Evolution of Einstein-Klein-Gordon Systems: The Black Hole Regime
The Cauchy+characteristic matching (CCM) problem for the scalar wave equation
is investigated in the background geometry of a Schwarzschild black hole.
Previously reported work developed the CCM framework for the coupled
Einstein-Klein-Gordon system of equations, assuming a regular center of
symmetry. Here, the time evolution after the formation of a black hole is
pursued, using a CCM formulation of the governing equations perturbed around
the Schwarzschild background. An extension of the matching scheme allows for
arbitrary matching boundary motion across the coordinate grid. As a proof of
concept, the late time behavior of the dynamics of the scalar field is
explored. The power-law tails in both the time-like and null infinity limits
are verified.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. D, 9 pages, revtex, 5 figures available at
http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/nr/preprints.htm
Matching characteristic codes: exploiting two directions
Combining incoming and outgoing characteristic formulations can provide
numerical relativists with a natural implementation of Einstein's equations
that better exploits the causal properties of the spacetime and gives access to
both null infinity and the interior region simultaneously (assuming the
foliation is free of caustics and crossovers). We discuss how this combination
can be performed and illustrate its behavior in the Einstein-Klein-Gordon field
in 1D.Comment: 10 pages, 9 postscript figures. To appear in Int. Journ. of Mod.
Phys.
Gravitational Waves from a Fissioning White Hole
We present a fully nonlinear calculation of the waveform of the gravitational
radiation emitted in the fission of a vacuum white hole. At early times, the
waveforms agree with close-approximation perturbative calculations but they
reveal dramatic time and angular dependence in the nonlinear regime. The
results pave the way for a subsequent computation of the radiation emitted
after a binary black hole merger.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX
Exceptional orthogonal polynomials and the Darboux transformation
We adapt the notion of the Darboux transformation to the context of
polynomial Sturm-Liouville problems. As an application, we characterize the
recently described Laguerre polynomials in terms of an isospectral
Darboux transformation. We also show that the shape-invariance of these new
polynomial families is a direct consequence of the permutability property of
the Darboux-Crum transformation.Comment: corrected abstract, added references, minor correction
First-order quasilinear canonical representation of the characteristic formulation of the Einstein equations
We prescribe a choice of 18 variables in all that casts the equations of the
fully nonlinear characteristic formulation of general relativity in
first--order quasi-linear canonical form. At the analytical level, a
formulation of this type allows us to make concrete statements about existence
of solutions. In addition, it offers concrete advantages for numerical
applications as it now becomes possible to incorporate advanced numerical
techniques for first order systems, which had thus far not been applicable to
the characteristic problem of the Einstein equations, as well as in providing a
framework for a unified treatment of the vacuum and matter problems. This is of
relevance to the accurate simulation of gravitational waves emitted in
astrophysical scenarios such as stellar core collapse.Comment: revtex4, 7 pages, text and references added, typos corrected, to
appear in Phys. Rev.
A new molecular diagnostic tool for surveying and monitoring Triops cancriformis populations
© 2017 Sellers et al. The tadpole shrimp, Triops cancriformis, is a freshwater crustacean listed as endangered in the UK and Europe living in ephemeral pools. Populations are threatened by habitat destruction due to land development for agriculture and increased urbanisation. Despite this, there is a lack of efficient methods for discovering and monitoring populations. Established macroinvertebrate monitoring methods, such as net sampling, are unsuitable given the organism's life history, that include long lived diapausing eggs, benthic habits and ephemerally active populations. Conventional hatching methods, such as sediment incubation, are both time consuming and potentially confounded by bet-hedging hatching strategies of diapausing eggs. Here we develop a new molecular diagnostic method to detect viable egg banks of T. cancriformis, and compare its performance to two conventional monitoring methods involving diapausing egg hatching. We apply this method to a collection of pond sediments from the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve, which holds one of the two remaining British populations of T. cancriformis. DNA barcoding of isolated eggs, using newly designed species-specific primers for a large region of mtDNA, was used to estimate egg viability. These estimates were compared to those obtained by the conventional methods of sediment and isolation hatching. Our method outperformed the conventional methods, revealing six ponds holding viable T. cancriformis diapausing egg banks in Caerlaverock. Additionally, designed species-specific primers for a short region of mtDNA identified degraded, inviable eggs and were used to ascertain the levels of recent mortality within an egg bank. Together with efficient sugar flotation techniques to extract eggs from sediment samples, our molecular method proved to be a faster and more powerful alternative for assessing the viability and condition of T. cancriformis diapausing egg banks
Explosive first-order transition to synchrony in networked chaotic oscillators
Critical phenomena in complex networks, and the emergence of dynamical abrupt
transitions in the macroscopic state of the system are currently a subject of
the outmost interest. We report evidence of an explosive phase synchronization
in networks of chaotic units. Namely, by means of both extensive simulations of
networks made up of chaotic units, and validation with an experiment of
electronic circuits in a star configuration, we demonstrate the existence of a
first order transition towards synchronization of the phases of the networked
units. Our findings constitute the first prove of this kind of synchronization
in practice, thus opening the path to its use in real-world applications.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett. in pres
Interpretation of increased energetic particle flux measurements by SEPT aboard the STEREO spacecraft and contamination
Context. Interplanetary (IP) shocks are known to be accelerators of energetic
charged particles observed in-situ in the heliosphere. However, the
acceleration of near-relativistic electrons by shocks in the interplanetary
medium is often questioned. On 9 August 2011 a Corotating Interaction Region
(CIR) passed STEREO B (STB) that resulted in a flux increase in the electron
and ion channels of the Solar Electron and Proton Telescope (SEPT). Because
electron measurements in the few keV to several 100 keV range rely on the
so-called magnet foil technique, which is utilized by SEPT, ions can contribute
to the electron channels. Aims. We aim to investigate whether the flux increase
in the electron channels of SEPT during the CIR event on 9 August 2011 is
caused by ion contamination only. Methods. We compute the SEPT response
functions for protons and helium utilizing an updated GEANT4 model of SEPT. The
CIR energetic particle ion spectra for protons and helium are assumed to follow
a Band function in energy per nucleon with a constant helium to proton ratio.
Results. Our analysis leads to a helium to proton ratio of 16.9% and a proton
flux following a Band function with the parameters /
(cm2 s sr MeV/nuc.), keV/nuc. and spectral indices of and which are in good agreement with measurements by
the Suprathermal Ion Telescope (SIT) aboard STB. Conclusions. Since our results
explain the SEPT measurements, we conclude that no significant amount of
electrons were accelerated between keV and keV by the CIR
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