502 research outputs found
Integral equations PS-3 and moduli of pants
More than a hundred years ago H.Poincare and V.A.Steklov considered a problem
for the Laplace equation with spectral parameter in the boundary conditions.
Today similar problems for two adjacent domains with the spectral parameter in
the conditions on the common boundary of the domains arises in a variety of
situations: in justification and optimization of domain decomposition method,
simple 2D models of oil extraction, (thermo)conductivity of composite
materials. Singular 1D integral Poincare-Steklov equation with spectral
parameter naturally emerges after reducing this 2D problem to the common
boundary of the domains. We present a constructive representation for the
eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of this integral equation in terms of moduli of
explicitly constructed pants, one of the simplest Riemann surfaces with
boundary. Essentially the solution of integral equation is reduced to the
solution of three transcendent equations with three unknown numbers, moduli of
pants. The discreet spectrum of the equation is related to certain surgery
procedure ('grafting') invented by B.Maskit (1969), D.Hejhal (1975) and
D.Sullivan- W.Thurston (1983).Comment: 27 pages, 13 figure
Measuring Black Hole Spin using X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy
I review the current status of X-ray reflection (a.k.a. broad iron line)
based black hole spin measurements. This is a powerful technique that allows us
to measure robust black hole spins across the mass range, from the stellar-mass
black holes in X-ray binaries to the supermassive black holes in active
galactic nuclei. After describing the basic assumptions of this approach, I lay
out the detailed methodology focusing on "best practices" that have been found
necessary to obtain robust results. Reflecting my own biases, this review is
slanted towards a discussion of supermassive black hole (SMBH) spin in active
galactic nuclei (AGN). Pulling together all of the available XMM-Newton and
Suzaku results from the literature that satisfy objective quality control
criteria, it is clear that a large fraction of SMBHs are rapidly-spinning,
although there are tentative hints of a more slowly spinning population at high
(M>5*10^7Msun) and low (M<2*10^6Msun) mass. I also engage in a brief review of
the spins of stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries. In general,
reflection-based and continuum-fitting based spin measures are in agreement,
although there remain two objects (GROJ1655-40 and 4U1543-475) for which that
is not true. I end this review by discussing the exciting frontier of
relativistic reverberation, particularly the discovery of broad iron line
reverberation in XMM-Newton data for the Seyfert galaxies NGC4151, NGC7314 and
MCG-5-23-16. As well as confirming the basic paradigm of relativistic disk
reflection, this detection of reverberation demonstrates that future large-area
X-ray observatories such as LOFT will make tremendous progress in studies of
strong gravity using relativistic reverberation in AGN.Comment: 19 pages. To appear in proceedings of the ISSI-Bern workshop on "The
Physics of Accretion onto Black Holes" (8-12 Oct 2012). Revised version adds
a missing source to Table 1 and Fig.6 (IRAS13224-3809) and corrects the
referencing of the discovery of soft lags in 1H0707-495 (which were in fact
first reported in Fabian et al. 2009
An overview of jets and outflows in stellar mass black holes
In this book chapter, we will briefly review the current empirical
understanding of the relation between accretion state and and outflows in
accreting stellar mass black holes. The focus will be on the empirical
connections between X-ray states and relativistic (`radio') jets, although we
are now also able to draw accretion disc winds into the picture in a systematic
way. We will furthermore consider the latest attempts to measure/order jet
power, and to compare it to other (potentially) measurable quantities, most
importantly black hole spin.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Also to appear in
the Space Sciences Series of ISSI - The Physics of Accretion on to Black
Holes (Springer Publisher
Higher dimensional dust collapse with a cosmological constant
The general solution of the Einstein equation for higher dimensional (HD)
spherically symmetric collapse of inhomogeneous dust in presence of a
cosmological term, i.e., exact interior solutions of the Einstein field
equations is presented for the HD Tolman-Bondi metrics imbedded in a de Sitter
background. The solution is then matched to exterior HD Scwarschild-de Sitter.
A brief discussion on the causal structure singularities and horizons is
provided. It turns out that the collapse proceed in the same way as in the
Minkowski background, i.e., the strong curvature naked singularities form and
that the higher dimensions seem to favor black holes rather than naked
singularities.Comment: 7 Pages, no figure
Radiating black hole solutions in arbitrary dimensions
We prove a theorem that characterizes a large family of non-static solutions
to Einstein equations in -dimensional space-time, representing, in general,
spherically symmetric Type II fluid. It is shown that the best known
Vaidya-based (radiating) black hole solutions to Einstein equations, in both
four dimensions (4D) and higher dimensions (HD), are particular cases from this
family. The spherically symmetric static black hole solutions for Type I fluid
can also be retrieved. A brief discussion on the energy conditions,
singularities and horizons is provided.Comment: RevTeX 9 pages, no figure
Towards a population of HMXB/NS microquasars as counterparts of low-latitude unidentified EGRET sources
The discovery of the microquasar LS 5039 well within the 95% conficence
contour of the Unidentified EGRET Source (UES) 3EG J1824-1514 was a major step
towards the possible association between microquasars (MQs) and UESs. The
recent discovery of precessing relativistic radio jets in LS I +61 303, a
source associated for long time with 2CG 135+01 and with the UES 3EG
J0241+6103, has given further support to this idea. Finally, the very recently
proposed association between the microquasar candidate AX J1639.0-4642 and the
UES 3EG J1639-4702 points towards a population of High Mass X-ray Binary
(HMXB)/Neutron Star (NS) microquasars as counterparts of low-latitude
unidentified EGRET sources.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Proceedings of the Conference "The
Multiwavelength Approach to Unidentified Gamma-ray Sources", to appear in the
journal Astrophysics and Space Scienc
Accretion and ejection in black-hole X-ray transients
Aims: We summarize the current observational picture of the outbursts of
black-hole X-ray transients (BHTs), based on the evolution traced in a
hardness-luminosity diagram (HLD), and we offer a physical interpretation.
Methods: The basic ingredient in our interpretation is the Poynting-Robertson
Cosmic Battery (PRCB, Contopoulos & Kazanas 1998), which provides locally the
poloidal magnetic field needed for the ejection of the jet. In addition, we
make two assumptions, easily justifiable. The first is that the mass-accretion
rate to the black hole in a BHT outburst has a generic bell-shaped form. This
is guaranteed by the observational fact that all BHTs start their outburst and
end it at the quiescent state. The second assumption is that at low accretion
rates the accretion flow is geometrically thick, ADAF-like, while at high
accretion rates it is geometrically thin.
Results: Both, at the beginning and the end of an outburst, the PRCB
establishes a strong poloidal magnetic field in the ADAF-like part of the
accretion flow, and this explains naturally why a jet is always present in the
right part of the HLD. In the left part of the HLD, the accretion flow is in
the form of a thin disk, and such a disk cannot sustain a strong poloidal
magnetic filed. Thus, no jet is expected in this part of the HLD. The
counterclockwise traversal of the HLD is explained as follows: the poloidal
magnetic field in the ADAF forces the flow to remain ADAF and the source to
move upwards in the HLD rather than to turn left. Thus, the history of the
system determines the counterclockwise traversal of the HLD. As a result, no
BHT is expected to ever traverse the entire HLD curve in the clockwise
direction.
Conclusions: We offer a physical interpretation of accretion and ejection in
BHTs with only one parameter, the mass transfer rate.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Aerosolized Amiloride for the Treatment of Lung Disease in Cystic Fibrosis
To the Editor: The April 26 issue of the Journal presented encouraging results by Knowles et al. regarding the beneficial effects of aerosolized amiloride in the treatment of cystic fibrosis.1 The introduction and discussion sections of this article described the function of amiloride as an inhibitor of sodium transport in the airway epithelium, and the authors suggested that the beneficial effects observed were exerted “at least in part by increasing the clearance of secretions.” Although the results of this investigation were promising in terms of the improvement in the decline of forced vital capacity in patients with cystic fibrosis, this
Theoretical overview on high-energy emission in microquasars
Microquasar (MQ) jets are sites of particle acceleration and synchrotron
emission. Such synchrotron radiation has been detected coming from jet regions
of different spatial scales, which for the instruments at work nowadays appear
as compact radio cores, slightly resolved radio jets, or (very) extended
structures. Because of the presence of relativistic particles and dense photon,
magnetic and matter fields, these outflows are also the best candidates to
generate the very high-energy (VHE) gamma-rays detected coming from two of
these objects, LS 5039 and LS I +61 303, and may be contributing significantly
to the X-rays emitted from the MQ core. In addition, beside electromagnetic
radiation, jets at different scales are producing some amount of leptonic and
hadronic cosmic rays (CR), and evidences of neutrino production in these
objects may be eventually found. In this work, we review on the different
physical processes that may be at work in or related to MQ jets. The jet
regions capable to produce significant amounts of emission at different
wavelengths have been reduced to the jet base, the jet at scales of the order
of the size of the system orbital semi-major axis, the jet middle scales (the
resolved radio jets), and the jet termination point. The surroundings of the
jet could be sites of multiwavelegnth emission as well, deserving also an
insight. We focus on those scenarios, either hadronic or leptonic, in which it
seems more plausible to generate both photons from radio to VHE and high-energy
neutrinos. We briefly comment as well on the relevance of MQ as possible
contributors to the galactic CR in the GeV-PeV range.Comment: Astrophysics & Space Science, in press (invited talk in the
conference: The multimessenger approach to the high-energy gamma-ray
sources", Barcelona/Catalonia, in July 4-7); 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables
(one reference corrected
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