2,467 research outputs found
A Note on Frame Dragging
The measurement of spin effects in general relativity has recently taken
centre stage with the successfully launched Gravity Probe B experiment coming
toward an end, coupled with recently reported measurements using laser ranging.
Many accounts of these experiments have been in terms of frame-dragging. We
point out that this terminology has given rise to much confusion and that a
better description is in terms of spin-orbit and spin-spin effects. In
particular, we point out that the de Sitter precession (which has been mesured
to a high accuracy) is also a frame-dragging effect and provides an accurate
benchmark measurement of spin-orbit effects which GPB needs to emulate
Spectra and Symmetry in Nuclear Pairing
We apply the algebraic Bethe ansatz technique to the nuclear pairing problem
with orbit dependent coupling constants and degenerate single particle energy
levels. We find the exact energies and eigenstates. We show that for a given
shell, there are degeneracies between the states corresponding to less and more
than half full shell. We also provide a technique to solve the equations of
Bethe ansatz.Comment: 15 pages of REVTEX with 2 eps figure
Diffuse Galactic Soft Gamma-Ray Emission
The Galactic diffuse soft gamma-ray (30-800 keV) emission has been measured
from the Galactic Center by the HIREGS balloon-borne germanium spectrometer to
determine the spectral characteristics and origin of the emission. The
resulting Galactic diffuse continuum is found to agree well with a single
power-law (plus positronium) over the entire energy range, consistent with RXTE
and COMPTEL/CGRO observations at lower and higher energies, respectively. We
find no evidence of spectral steepening below 200 keV, as has been reported in
previous observations. The spatial distribution along the Galactic ridge is
found to be nearly flat, with upper limits set on the longitudinal gradient,
and with no evidence of an edge in the observed region. The soft gamma-ray
diffuse spectrum is well modeled by inverse Compton scattering of interstellar
radiation off of cosmic-ray electrons, minimizing the need to invoke
inefficient nonthermal bremsstrahlung emission. The resulting power requirement
is well within that provided by Galactic supernovae. We speculate that the
measured spectrum provides the first direct constraints on the cosmic-ray
electron spectrum below 300 MeV.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure, submitted to Ap
Modeling kicks from the merger of generic black-hole binaries
Recent numerical relativistic results demonstrate that the merger of
comparable-mass spinning black holes has a maximum ``recoil kick'' of up to
\sim 4000 \kms. However the scaling of these recoil velocities with mass
ratio is poorly understood. We present new runs showing that the maximum
possible kick perpendicular to the orbital plane does not scale as
(where is the symmetric mass ratio), as previously proposed, but is more
consistent with , at least for systems with low orbital precession.
We discuss the effect of this dependence on galactic ejection scenarios and
retention of intermediate-mass black holes in globular clusters.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, 3 tables. Version published in Astrophys. J. Let
Recoiling from a kick in the head-on collision of spinning black holes
Recoil ``kicks'' induced by gravitational radiation are expected in the
inspiral and merger of black holes. Recently the numerical relativity community
has begun to measure the significant kicks found when both unequal masses and
spins are considered. Because understanding the cause and magnitude of each
component of this kick may be complicated in inspiral simulations, we consider
these effects in the context of a simple test problem. We study recoils from
collisions of binaries with initially head-on trajectories, starting with the
simplest case of equal masses with no spin and then adding spin and varying the
mass ratio, both separately and jointly. We find spin-induced recoils to be
significant relative to unequal-mass recoils even in head-on configurations.
Additionally, it appears that the scaling of transverse kicks with spins is
consistent with post-Newtonian theory, even though the kick is generated in the
nonlinear merger interaction, where post-Newtonian theory should not apply.
This suggests that a simple heuristic description might be effective in the
estimation of spin-kicks.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. Replaced with published version, including more
discussion of convergence and properties of final hol
NuSTAR Observations of the Black Hole GS 1354-645: Evidence of Rapid Black Hole Spin
We present the results of a NuSTAR study of the dynamically confirmed
stellar-mass black hole GS 1354-645. The source was observed during its 2015
"hard" state outburst; we concentrate on spectra from two relatively bright
phases. In the higher-flux observation, the broadband NuSTAR spectra reveal a
clear, strong disk reflection spectrum, blurred by a degree that requires a
black hole spin of a = cJ/GM^2 > 0.98 (1 sigma statistical limits only). The
fits also require a high inclination: theta = 75(2) degrees. Strong "dips" are
sometimes observed in the X-ray light curves of sources viewed at such an
angle; these are absent, perhaps indicating that dips correspond to flared disk
structures that only manifest at higher accretion rates. In the lower-flux
observation, there is evidence of radial truncation of the thin accretion disk.
We discuss these results in the context of spin in stellar-mass black holes,
and inner accretion flow geometries at moderate accretion rates.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Progress in Lunar Laser Ranging Tests of Relativistic Gravity
Analyses of laser ranges to the Moon provide increasingly stringent limits on
any violation of the Equivalence Principle (EP); they also enable several very
accurate tests of relativistic gravity. We report the results of our recent
analysis of Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) data giving an EP test of \Delta
(M_G/M_I)_{EP} =(-1.0 +/- 1.4) x 10^{-13}. This result yields a Strong
Equivalence Principle (SEP) test of \Delta (M_G/M_I)_{SEP} =(-2.0 +/- 2.0) x
10^{-13}. Also, the corresponding SEP violation parameter \eta is (4.4 +/- 4.5)
x 10^{-4}, where \eta=4\beta-\gamma-3 and both \beta and \gamma are
parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) parameters. Using the recent Cassini result
for the parameter \gamma, PPN parameter \beta is determined to be \beta-1=(1.2
+/- 1.1) x 10^{-4}. The geodetic precession test, expressed as a relative
deviation from general relativity, is K_{gp}=-0.0019 +/- 0.0064. The search for
a time variation in the gravitational constant results in \dot G/G=(4 +/- 9) x
10^{-13} yr^{-1}, consequently there is no evidence for local (~1AU) scale
expansion of the solar system.Comment: 4 pages, revtex4, minor changes made for publicatio
Charge injection instability in perfect insulators
We show that in a macroscopic perfect insulator, charge injection at a
field-enhancing defect is associated with an instability of the insulating
state or with bistability of the insulating and the charged state. The effect
of a nonlinear carrier mobility is emphasized. The formation of the charged
state is governed by two different processes with clearly separated time
scales. First, due to a fast growth of a charge-injection mode, a localized
charge cloud forms near the injecting defect (or contact). Charge injection
stops when the field enhancement is screened below criticality. Secondly, the
charge slowly redistributes in the bulk. The linear instability mechanism and
the final charged steady state are discussed for a simple model and for
cylindrical and spherical geometries. The theory explains an experimentally
observed increase of the critical electric field with decreasing size of the
injecting contact. Numerical results are presented for dc and ac biased
insulators.Comment: Revtex, 7pages, 4 ps figure
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