375 research outputs found
Quasiequilibrium sequences of black-hole--neutron-star binaries in general relativity
We construct quasiequilibrium sequences of black hole-neutron star binaries
for arbitrary mass ratios by solving the constraint equations of general
relativity in the conformal thin-sandwich decomposition. We model the neutron
star as a stationary polytrope satisfying the relativistic equations of
hydrodynamics, and account for the black hole by imposing equilibrium boundary
conditions on the surface of an excised sphere (the apparent horizon). In this
paper we focus on irrotational configurations, meaning that both the neutron
star and the black hole are approximately nonspinning in an inertial frame. We
present results for a binary with polytropic index n=1, mass ratio
M_{irr}^{BH}/M_{B}^{NS}=5 and neutron star compaction
M_{ADM,0}^{NS}/R_0=0.0879, where M_{irr}^{BH} is the irreducible mass of the
black hole, M_{B}^{NS} the neutron star baryon rest-mass, and M_{ADM,0}^{NS}
and R_0 the neutron star Arnowitt-Deser-Misner mass and areal radius in
isolation, respectively. Our models represent valid solutions to Einstein's
constraint equations and may therefore be employed as initial data for
dynamical simulations of black hole-neutron star binaries.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, revtex4, published in Phys.Rev.
Quasiequilibrium black hole-neutron star binaries in general relativity
We construct quasiequilibrium sequences of black hole-neutron star binaries
in general relativity. We solve Einstein's constraint equations in the
conformal thin-sandwich formalism, subject to black hole boundary conditions
imposed on the surface of an excised sphere, together with the relativistic
equations of hydrostatic equilibrium. In contrast to our previous calculations
we adopt a flat spatial background geometry and do not assume extreme mass
ratios. We adopt a Gamma=2 polytropic equation of state and focus on
irrotational neutron star configurations as well as approximately nonspinning
black holes. We present numerical results for ratios of the black hole's
irreducible mass to the neutron star's ADM mass in isolation of
M_{irr}^{BH}/M_{ADM,0}^{NS} = 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10. We consider neutron stars of
baryon rest mass M_B^{NS}/M_B^{max} = 83% and 56%, where M_B^{max} is the
maximum allowed rest mass of a spherical star in isolation for our equation of
state. For these sequences, we locate the onset of tidal disruption and, in
cases with sufficiently large mass ratios and neutron star compactions, the
innermost stable circular orbit. We compare with previous results for black
hole-neutron star binaries and find excellent agreement with third-order
post-Newtonian results, especially for large binary separations. We also use
our results to estimate the energy spectrum of the outgoing gravitational
radiation emitted during the inspiral phase for these binaries.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures, published in Phys. Rev.
Childhood socioeconomic status and childhood maltreatment: Distinct associations with brain structure
The present study examined the relationship between childhood socioeconomic status (SES), childhood maltreatment, and the volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala between the ages of 25 and 36 years. Previous work has linked both low SES and maltreatment with reduced hippocampal volume in childhood, an effect attributed to childhood stress. In 46 adult subjects, only childhood maltreatment, and not childhood SES, predicted hippocampal volume in regression analyses, with greater maltreatment associated with lower volume. Neither factor was related to amygdala volume. When current SES and recent interpersonal stressful events were also considered, recent interpersonal stressful events predicted smaller hippocampal volumes over and above childhood maltreatment. Finally, exploratory analyses revealed a significant sex by childhood SES interaction, with women’s childhood SES showing a significantly more positive relation (less negative) with hippocampus volume than men’s. The overall effect of childhood maltreatment but not SES, and the sex-specific effect of childhood SES, indicate that different forms of stressful childhood adversity affect brain development differently
Analysis of Neptune's 2017 Bright Equatorial Storm
We report the discovery of a large (8500 km diameter) infrared-bright
storm at Neptune's equator in June 2017. We tracked the storm over a period of
7 months with high-cadence infrared snapshot imaging, carried out on 14 nights
at the 10 meter Keck II telescope and 17 nights at the Shane 120 inch reflector
at Lick Observatory. The cloud feature was larger and more persistent than any
equatorial clouds seen before on Neptune, remaining intermittently active from
at least 10 June to 31 December 2017. Our Keck and Lick observations were
augmented by very high-cadence images from the amateur community, which
permitted the determination of accurate drift rates for the cloud feature. Its
zonal drift speed was variable from 10 June to at least 25 July, but remained a
constant m s from 30 September until at least 15
November. The pressure of the cloud top was determined from radiative transfer
calculations to be 0.3-0.6 bar; this value remained constant over the course of
the observations. Multiple cloud break-up events, in which a bright cloud band
wrapped around Neptune's equator, were observed over the course of our
observations. No "dark spot" vortices were seen near the equator in HST imaging
on 6 and 7 October. The size and pressure of the storm are consistent with
moist convection or a planetary-scale wave as the energy source of convective
upwelling, but more modeling is required to determine the driver of this
equatorial disturbance as well as the triggers for and dynamics of the observed
cloud break-up events.Comment: 42 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables; Accepted to Icaru
The low-order wavefront sensor for the PICTURE-C mission
The PICTURE-C mission will fly a 60 cm off-axis unobscured telescope and two high-contrast coronagraphs in successive high-altitude balloon flights with the goal of directly imaging and spectrally characterizing visible scattered light from exozodiacal dust in the interior 1-10 AU of nearby exoplanetary systems. The first flight in 2017 will use a 10[superscript -4] visible nulling coronagraph (previously flown on the PICTURE sounding rocket) and the second flight in 2019 will use a 10[superscript -7] vector vortex coronagraph. A low-order wavefront corrector (LOWC) will be used in both flights to remove time-varying aberrations from the coronagraph wavefront. The LOWC actuator is a 76-channel high-stroke deformable mirror packaged on top of a tip-tilt stage. This paper will detail the selection of a complementary high-speed, low-order wavefront sensor (LOWFS) for the mission. The relative performance and feasibility of several LOWFS designs will be compared including the Shack-Hartmann, Lyot LOWFS, and the curvature sensor. To test the different sensors, a model of the time-varying wavefront is constructed using measured pointing data and inertial dynamics models to simulate optical alignment perturbations and surface deformation in the balloon environment.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NNX15AG23G S01
The low-order wavefront sensor for the PICTURE-C mission
The PICTURE-C mission will fly a 60 cm off-axis unobscured telescope and two high-contrast coronagraphs in successive high-altitude balloon flights with the goal of directly imaging and spectrally characterizing visible scattered light from exozodiacal dust in the interior 1-10 AU of nearby exoplanetary systems. The first flight in 2017 will use a 10^(-4) visible nulling coronagraph (previously flown on the PICTURE sounding rocket) and the second flight in 2019 will use a 10^(-7) vector vortex coronagraph. A low-order wavefront corrector (LOWC) will be used in both flights to remove time-varying aberrations from the coronagraph wavefront. The LOWC actuator is a 76-channel high-stroke deformable mirror packaged on top of a tip-tilt stage. This paper will detail the selection of a complementary high-speed, low-order wavefront sensor (LOWFS) for the mission. The relative performance and feasibility of several LOWFS designs will be compared including the Shack-Hartmann, Lyot LOWFS, and the curvature sensor. To test the different sensors, a model of the time-varying wavefront is constructed using measured pointing data and inertial dynamics models to simulate optical alignment perturbations and surface deformation in the balloon environment
Active RNA Polymerases: Mobile or Immobile Molecular Machines?
Although it is widely assumed that active RNA polymerase tracks along its template, we find that DNA, not the polymerase, moves, suggesting that polymerase works by reeling in the template
Structural-Thermal-Optical-Performance (STOP) Model Development and Analysis of a Field-widened Michelson Interferometer
An integrated Structural-Thermal-Optical-Performance (STOP) model was developed for a field-widened Michelson interferometer which is being built and tested for the High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) project at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). The performance of the interferometer is highly sensitive to thermal expansion, changes in refractive index with temperature, temperature gradients, and deformation due to mounting stresses. Hand calculations can only predict system performance for uniform temperature changes, under the assumption that coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch effects are negligible. An integrated STOP model was developed to investigate the effects of design modifications on the performance of the interferometer in detail, including CTE mismatch, and other three- dimensional effects. The model will be used to improve the design for a future spaceflight version of the interferometer. The STOP model was developed using the Comet SimApp'TM' Authoring Workspace which performs automated integration between Pro-Engineer, Thermal Desktop, MSC Nastran'TM', SigFit'TM', Code V'TM', and MATLAB. This is the first flight project for which LaRC has utilized Comet, and it allows a larger trade space to be studied in a shorter time than would be possible in a traditional STOP analysis. This paper describes the development of the STOP model, presents a comparison of STOP results for simple cases with hand calculations, and presents results of the correlation effort to bench-top testing of the interferometer. A trade study conducted with the STOP model which demonstrates a few simple design changes that can improve the performance seen in the lab is also presented
The Dynamical Evolution of Black Hole-Neutron Star Binaries in General Relativity: Simulations of Tidal Disruption
We calculate the first dynamical evolutions of merging black hole-neutron
star binaries that construct the combined black hole-neutron star spacetime in
a general relativistic framework. We treat the metric in the conformal flatness
approximation, and assume that the black hole mass is sufficiently large
compared to that of the neutron star so that the black hole remains fixed in
space. Using a spheroidal spectral methods solver, we solve the resulting field
equations for a neutron star orbiting a Schwarzschild black hole. The matter is
evolved using a relativistic, Lagrangian, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH)
treatment. We take as our initial data recent quasiequilibrium models for
synchronized neutron star polytropes generated as solutions of the conformal
thin-sandwich (CTS) decomposition of the Einstein field equations. We are able
to construct from these models relaxed SPH configurations whose profiles show
good agreement with CTS solutions. Our adiabatic evolution calculations for
neutron stars with low compactness show that mass transfer, when it begins
while the neutron star orbit is still outside the innermost stable circular
orbit, is more unstable than is typically predicted by analytical formalisms.
This dynamical mass loss is found to be the driving force in determining the
subsequent evolution of the binary orbit and the neutron star, which typically
disrupts completely within a few orbital periods. The majority of the mass
transferred onto the black hole is accreted promptly; a significant fraction
(~30%) of the mass is shed outward as well, some of which will become
gravitationally unbound and ejected completely from the system. The remaining
portion forms an accretion disk around the black hole, and could provide the
energy source for short-duration gamma ray bursts.Comment: 32 pages, 16 figures, 2 tables, RevTeX, accepted by PR
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