4,261 research outputs found
Varying speed of light cosmology from a stringy short distance cutoff
It is shown that varying speed of light cosmology follows from a
string-inspired minimal length uncertainty relation. Due to the reduction of
the available phase space volume per quantum mode at short wavelengths, the
equation of state of ultrarelativistic particles stiffens at very high
densities. This causes a stronger than usual deceleration of the scale factor
which competes with a higher than usual propagation speed of the particles.
Various measures for the effective propagation speed are analyzed: the group
and phase velocity in the high energy tail, the thermal average of the group
and phase velocity, and the speed of sound. Of these three groups, only the
first provides a possible solution to the cosmological horizon problem.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Thermonuclear supernova simulations with stochastic ignition
We apply an ad hoc model for dynamical ignition in three-dimensional
numerical simulations of thermonuclear supernovae assuming pure deflagrations.
The model makes use of the statistical description of temperature fluctuations
in the pre-supernova core proposed by Wunsch & Woosley (2004). Randomness in
time is implemented by means of a Poisson process. We are able to vary the
explosion energy and nucleosynthesis depending on the free parameter of the
model which controls the rapidity of the ignition process. However, beyond a
certain threshold, the strength of the explosion saturates and the outcome
appears to be robust with respect to number of ignitions. In the most energetic
explosions, we find about 0.75 solar masses of iron group elements. Other than
in simulations with simultaneous multi-spot ignition, the amount of unburned
carbon and oxygen at radial velocities of a few 1000 km/s tends to be reduced
for an ever increasing number of ignition events and, accordingly, more
pronounced layering results.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astron. Astrophys.;
PDF version with full resolution figures available from
http://www.astro.uni-wuerzburg.de/~schmidt/Paper/StochIgnt_AA.pd
Type Ia Supernova Explosion Models: Homogeneity versus Diversity
Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) are generally believed to be the result of the
thermonuclear disruption of Chandrasekhar-mass carbon-oxygen white dwarfs,
mainly because such thermonuclear explosions can account for the right amount
of Ni-56, which is needed to explain the light curves and the late-time
spectra, and the abundances of intermediate-mass nuclei which dominate the
spectra near maximum light. Because of their enormous brightness and apparent
homogeneity SN Ia have become an important tool to measure cosmological
parameters. In this article the present understanding of the physics of
thermonuclear explosions is reviewed. In particular, we focus our attention on
subsonic (``deflagration'') fronts, i.e. we investigate fronts propagating by
heat diffusion and convection rather than by compression. Models based upon
this mode of nuclear burning have been applied very successfully to the SN Ia
problem, and are able to reproduce many of their observed features remarkably
well. However, the models also indicate that SN Ia may differ considerably from
each other, which is of importance if they are to be used as standard candles.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Proc. 10th Ann. Astrophys. Conf.
"Cosmic Explosions", Univ. of Maryland 1999, eds. S.S. Holt and W.W. Zhan
Numerical dissipation and the bottleneck effect in simulations of compressible isotropic turbulence
The piece-wise parabolic method (PPM) is applied to simulations of forced
isotropic turbulence with Mach numbers . The equation of state
is dominated by the Fermi pressure of an electron-degenerate fluid. The
dissipation in these simulations is of purely numerical origin. For the
dimensionless mean rate of dissipation, we find values in agreement with known
results from mostly incompressible turbulence simulations. The calculation of a
Smagorinsky length corresponding to the rate of numerical dissipation supports
the notion of the PPM supplying an implicit subgrid scale model. In the
turbulence energy spectra of various flow realisations, we find the so-called
bottleneck phenomenon, i.e., a flattening of the spectrum function near the
wavenumber of maximal dissipation. The shape of the bottleneck peak in the
compensated spectrum functions is comparable to what is found in turbulence
simulations with hyperviscosity. Although the bottleneck effect reduces the
range of nearly inertial length scales considerably, we are able to estimate
the value of the Kolmogorov constant. For steady turbulence with a balance
between energy injection and dissipation, it appears that .
However, a smaller value is found in the case of transonic turbulence with a
large fraction of compressive components in the driving force. Moreover, we
discuss length scales related to the dissipation, in particular, an effective
numerical length scale , which can be regarded as the
characteristic smoothing length of the implicit filter associated with the PPM.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures. Revised version accepted by Comp. Fluids. Not
all figures included due to size restriction. Complete PDF available at
http://www.astro.uni-wuerzburg.de/%7Eschmidt/Paper/NumDiss_CF.pd
Thermonuclear explosions of rapidly rotating white dwarfs - I. Deflagrations
Context: Turbulent deflagrations of Chandrasekhar mass White Dwarfs are
commonly used to model Type Ia Supernova explosions. In this context, rapid
rotation of the progenitor star is plausible but has so far been neglected.
Aims: The aim of this work is to explore the influence of rapid rotation on the
deflagration scenario. Methods: We use three dimensional hydrodynamical
simulations to model turbulent deflagrations ignited within a variety of
rapidly rotating CO WDs obeying rotation laws suggested by accretion studies.
Results: We find that rotation has a significant impact on the explosion. The
flame develops a strong anisotropy with a preferred direction towards the
stellar poles, leaving great amounts of unburnt matter along the equatorial
plane. Conclusions: The large amount of unburnt matter is contrary to observed
spectral features of SNe Ia. Thus, rapid rotation of the progenitor star and
the deflagration scenario are incompatible in order to explain SNe Ia.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication by A&
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