745 research outputs found
Dust-driven Dynamos in Accretion Disks
Magnetically driven astrophysical jets are related to accretion and involve
toroidal magnetic field pressure inflating poloidal magnetic field flux
surfaces. Examination of particle motion in combined gravitational and magnetic
fields shows that these astrophysical jet toroidal and poloidal magnetic fields
can be powered by the gravitational energy liberated by accreting dust grains
that have become positively charged by emitting photo-electrons. Because a dust
grain experiences magnetic forces after becoming charged, but not before,
charging can cause irreversible trapping of the grain so dust accretion is a
consequence of charging. Furthermore, charging causes canonical angular
momentum to replace mechanical angular momentum as the relevant constant of the
motion. The resulting effective potential has three distinct classes of
accreting particles distinguished by canonical angular momentum, namely (i)
"cyclotron-orbit", (ii) "Speiser-orbit", and (iii) "zero canonical angular
momentum" particles. Electrons and ions are of class (i) but depending on mass
and initial orbit inclination, dust grains can be of any class. Light-weight
dust grains develop class (i) orbits such that the grains are confined to
nested poloidal flux surfaces, whereas grains with a critical weight such that
they experience comparable gravitational and magnetic forces can develop class
(ii) or class (iii) orbits, respectively producing poloidal and toroidal field
dynamos.Comment: 70 pages, 16 figure
On magnetic field generation in Kolmogorov turbulence
We analyze the initial, kinematic stage of magnetic field evolution in an
isotropic and homogeneous turbulent conducting fluid with a rough velocity
field, v(l) ~ l^alpha, alpha<1. We propose that in the limit of small magnetic
Prandtl number, i.e. when ohmic resistivity is much larger than viscosity, the
smaller the roughness exponent, alpha, the larger the magnetic Reynolds number
that is needed to excite magnetic fluctuations. This implies that numerical or
experimental investigations of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence with small
Prandtl numbers need to achieve extremely high resolution in order to describe
magnetic phenomena adequately.Comment: 4 pages, revised, new material adde
A Magnetically-Switched, Rotating Black Hole Model For the Production of Extragalactic Radio Jets and the Fanaroff and Riley Class Division
A model is presented in which both Fanaroff and Riley class I and II
extragalactic jets are produced by magnetized accretion disk coronae in the
ergospheres of rotating black holes. While the jets are produced in the
accretion disk itself, the output power still is an increasing function of the
black hole angular momentum. For high enough spin, the black hole triggers the
magnetic switch, producing highly-relativistic, kinetic-energy-dominated jets
instead of Poynting-flux-dominated ones for lower spin. The coronal mass
densities needed to trigger the switch at the observed FR break power are quite
small (), implying that the source of the jet material
may be either a pair plasma or very tenuous electron-proton corona, not the
main accretion disk itself.
The model explains the differences in morphology and Mach number between FR I
and II sources and the observed trend for massive galaxies to undergo the FR
I/II transition at higher radio power. It also is consistent with the energy
content of extended radio lobes and explains why, because of black hole
spindown, the space density of FR II sources should evolve more rapidly than
that of FR I sources.
If the present model is correct, then the ensemble average speed of
parsec-scale jets in sources distinguished by their FR I morphology (not
luminosity) should be distinctly slower than that for sources with FR II
morphology. The model also suggests the existence of a population of
high-redshift, sub-mJy FR I and II radio sources associated with spiral or
pre-spiral galaxies that flared once when their black holes were formed but
were never again re-kindled by mergers.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, final version to appear in Sept Ap
Orthonormal sequences in and time frequency localization
We study uncertainty principles for orthonormal bases and sequences in
. As in the classical Heisenberg inequality we focus on the product
of the dispersions of a function and its Fourier transform. In particular we
prove that there is no orthonormal basis for for which the time and
frequency means as well as the product of dispersions are uniformly bounded.
The problem is related to recent results of J. Benedetto, A. Powell, and Ph.
Jaming.
Our main tool is a time frequency localization inequality for orthonormal
sequences in . It has various other applications.Comment: 18 page
Effects of Large-Scale Convection on p-mode Frequencies
We describe an approach for finding the eigenfrequencies of solar acoustic
modes (p modes) in a convective envelope in the WKB limit. This approximation
restricts us to examining the effects of fluid motions which are large compared
to the mode wavelength, but allows us to treat the three-dimensional mode as a
localized ray. The method of adiabatic switching is then used to investigate
the frequency shifts resulting from simple perturbations to a polytropic model
of the convection zone as well as from two basic models of a convective cell.
We find that although solely depth-dependent perturbations can give frequency
shifts which are first order in the strength of the perturbation, models of
convective cells generate downward frequency shifts which are second order in
the perturbation strength. These results may have implications for resolving
the differences between eigenfrequencies derived from solar models and those
found from helioseismic observations.Comment: 27 pages + 6 figures; accepted for publication in Ap
Magnetic-field generation in helical turbulence
We investigate analytically the amplification of a weak magnetic field in a
homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flow lacking reflectional symmetry (helical
turbulence). We propose that the spectral distributions of magnetic energy and
magnetic helicity can be found as eigenmodes of a self-adjoint,
Schr\"odinger-type system of evolution equations. We argue that large-scale and
small-scale magnetic fluctuations cannot be effectively separated, and that the
conventional alpha-model is, in general, not an adequate description of the
large-scale dynamo mechanism. As a consequence, the correct numerical modeling
of such processes should resolve magnetic fluctuations down to the very small,
resistive scales.Comment: 4 page
A Critique of Current Magnetic-Accretion Models for Classical T-Tauri Stars
Current magnetic-accretion models for classical T-Tauri stars rely on a
strong, dipolar magnetic field of stellar origin to funnel the disk material
onto the star, and assume a steady-state. In this paper, I critically examine
the physical basis of these models in light of the observational evidence and
our knowledge of magnetic fields in low-mass stars, and find it lacking.
I also argue that magnetic accretion onto these stars is inherently a
time-dependent problem, and that a steady-state is not warranted.
Finally, directions for future work towards fully-consistent models are
pointed out.Comment: 2 figure
The Lorentz force in atmospheres of CP stars: Aurigae
Several dynamical processes may induce considerable electric currents in the
atmospheres of magnetic chemically peculiar (CP) stars. The Lorentz force,
which results from the interaction between the magnetic field and the induced
currents, modifies the atmospheric structure and induces characteristic
rotational variability of the hydrogen Balmer lines. To study this phenomena we
have initiated a systematic spectroscopic survey of the Balmer lines variation
in magnetic CP stars. In this paper we continue presentation of results of the
program focusing on the high-resolution spectral observations of A0p star \aur
(HD 40312). We have detected a significant variability of the H,
H, and H spectral lines during full rotation cycle of the star.
This variability is interpreted in the framework of the model atmosphere
analysis, which accounts for the Lorentz force effects. Both the inward and
outward directed Lorentz forces are considered under the assumption of the
axisymmetric dipole or dipole+quadrupole magnetic field configurations. We
demonstrate that only the model with the outward directed Lorentz force in the
dipole+quadrupole configuration is able to reproduce the observed hydrogen line
variation. These results present new strong evidences for the presence of
non-zero global electric currents in the atmosphere of an early-type magnetic
star.Comment: 10 figure
Relations between dynamo-region geometry and the magnetic behavior of stars and planets
The geo and solar magnetic fields have long been thought to be very different
objects both in terms of spatial structure and temporal behavior. The recently
discovered field structure of a fully convective star is more reminiscent of
planetary magnetic fields than the Sun's magnetic field (Donati J.-F. et al.,
Science, 311 (2006) 633), despite the fact that the physical and chemical
properties of these objects clearly differ. This observation suggests that a
simple controlling parameter could be responsible for these different
behaviors. We report here the results of three-dimensional simulations which
show that varying the aspect ratio of the active dynamo region can yield sharp
transition from Earth-like steady dynamos to Sun-like dynamo waves
Tidal dissipation in rotating giant planets
[Abridged] Tides may play an important role in determining the observed
distributions of mass, orbital period, and eccentricity of the extrasolar
planets. In addition, tidal interactions between giant planets in the solar
system and their moons are thought to be responsible for the orbital migration
of the satellites, leading to their capture into resonant configurations. We
treat the underlying fluid dynamical problem with the aim of determining the
efficiency of tidal dissipation in gaseous giant planets. In cases of interest,
the tidal forcing frequencies are comparable to the spin frequency of the
planet but small compared to its dynamical frequency. We therefore study the
linearized response of a slowly and possibly differentially rotating planet to
low-frequency tidal forcing. Convective regions of the planet support inertial
waves, while any radiative regions support generalized Hough waves. We present
illustrative numerical calculations of the tidal dissipation rate and argue
that inertial waves provide a natural avenue for efficient tidal dissipation in
most cases of interest. The resulting value of Q depends in a highly erratic
way on the forcing frequency, but we provide evidence that the relevant
frequency-averaged dissipation rate may be asymptotically independent of the
viscosity in the limit of small Ekman number. In short-period extrasolar
planets, if the stellar irradiation of the planet leads to the formation of a
radiative outer layer that supports generalized Hough modes, the tidal
dissipation rate can be enhanced through the excitation and damping of these
waves. These dissipative mechanisms offer a promising explanation of the
historical evolution and current state of the Galilean satellites as well as
the observed circularization of the orbits of short-period extrasolar planets.Comment: 74 pages, 12 figures, submitted to The Astrophysical Journa
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