39 research outputs found
Mini-discs around spinning black holes
Accretion onto black holes in wind-fed binaries and in collapsars forms small
rotating discs with peculiar properties. Such ``mini-discs'' accrete on the
free-fall time without help of viscosity and nevertheless can have a high
radiative efficiency. The inviscid mini-disc model was previously constructed
for a non-rotating black hole. We extend the model to the case of a spinning
black hole, calculate the structure and radiative efficiency of the disc and
find their dependence on the black hole spin. If the angular momenta of the
disc and the black hole are anti-aligned, a hydrodynamic analog of Penrose
process takes place.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted to MNRA
White dwarfs stripped by massive black holes: sources of coincident gravitational and electromagnetic radiation
White dwarfs inspiraling into black holes of mass \MBH\simgt 10^5M_\odot
are detectable sources of gravitational waves in the LISA band. In many of
these events, the white dwarf begins to lose mass during the main observational
phase of the inspiral. The mass loss starts gently and can last for thousands
of orbits. The white dwarf matter overflows the Roche lobe through the
point at each pericenter passage and the mass loss repeats periodically. The
process occurs very close to the black hole and the released gas can accrete,
creating a bright source of radiation with luminosity close to the Eddington
limit, ~erg~s. This class of inspirals offers a promising
scenario for dual detections of gravitational waves and electromagnetic
radiation.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes. Accepted in MNRAS Letters on
August 6 201
Electromagnetic Counterparts of Compact Object Mergers Powered by the Radioactive Decay of R-process Nuclei
The most promising astrophysical sources of kHz gravitational waves (GWs) are
the inspiral and merger of binary neutron star(NS)/black hole systems.
Maximizing the scientific return of a GW detection will require identifying a
coincident electro-magnetic (EM) counterpart. One of the most likely sources of
isotropic EM emission from compact object mergers is a supernova-like transient
powered by the radioactive decay of heavy elements synthesized in ejecta from
the merger. We present the first calculations of the optical transients from
compact object mergers that self-consistently determine the radioactive heating
by means of a nuclear reaction network; using this heating rate, we model the
light curve with a one dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transfer calculation.
For an ejecta mass ~1e-2 M_sun[1e-3 M_sun] the resulting light curve peaks on a
timescale ~ 1 day at a V-band luminosity nu L_nu ~ 3e41[1e41] ergs/s (M_V =
-15[-14]); this corresponds to an effective "f" parameter ~3e-6 in the
Li-Paczynski toy model. We argue that these results are relatively insensitive
to uncertainties in the relevant nuclear physics and to the precise early-time
dynamics and ejecta composition. Due to the rapid evolution and low luminosity
of NS merger transients, EM counterpart searches triggered by GW detections
will require close collaboration between the GW and astronomical communities.
NS merger transients may also be detectable following a short-duration
Gamma-Ray Burst or "blindly" with present or upcoming optical transient
surveys. Because the emission produced by NS merger ejecta is powered by the
formation of rare r-process elements, current optical transient surveys can
directly constrain the unknown origin of the heaviest elements in the Universe.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; accepted to MNRAS; title changed to highlight
r-process connection and new figure added
Radiative decay of keV-mass sterile neutrino in magnetized electron plasma
The radiative decay of sterile neutrinos with typical masses of 10 keV is investigated in the presence of an external magnetic field and degenerate electron plasma. Full account is taken of the modified photon dispersion relation relative to vacuum. The limiting cases of relativistic and nonrelativistic plasma are analyzed. The decay rate calculated in a strongly magnetized plasma, as a function of the electron number density, is compared with the unmagnetized plasma limit. It is found that the presence of the strong magnetic field in the electron plasma suppresses the catalyzing influence of the plasma by itself on the sterile-neutrino decay rate
Termite sensitivity to temperature affects global wood decay rates.
Deadwood is a large global carbon store with its store size partially determined by biotic decay. Microbial wood decay rates are known to respond to changing temperature and precipitation. Termites are also important decomposers in the tropics but are less well studied. An understanding of their climate sensitivities is needed to estimate climate change effects on wood carbon pools. Using data from 133 sites spanning six continents, we found that termite wood discovery and consumption were highly sensitive to temperature (with decay increasing >6.8 times per 10°C increase in temperature)-even more so than microbes. Termite decay effects were greatest in tropical seasonal forests, tropical savannas, and subtropical deserts. With tropicalization (i.e., warming shifts to tropical climates), termite wood decay will likely increase as termites access more of Earth's surface