On the structure of line-driven winds near black holes

A general physical mechanism of the formation of line-driven winds at the vicinity of strong gravitational field sources is investigated in the frame of General Relativity. We argue that gravitational redshifting should be taken into account to model such outflows. The generalization of the Sobolev approximation in the frame of General Relativity is presented. We consider all processes in the metric of a nonrotating (Schwarzschild) black hole. The radiation force that is due to absorbtion of the radiation flux in lines is derived. It is demonstrated that if gravitational redshifting is taken into account, the radiation force becomes a function of the local velocity gradient (as in the standard line-driven wind theory) and the gradient of $g_{00}$. We derive a general relativistic equation of motion describing such flow. A solution of the equation of motion is obtained and confronted with that obtained from the Castor, Abbott & Klein (CAK) theory. It is shown that the proposed mechanism could have an important contribution to the formation of line-driven outflows from compact objects.Comment: 20 pages, submitted to Ap

Hollowgraphy Driven Holography: Black Hole with Vanishing Volume Interior

Hawking-Bekenstein entropy formula seems to tell us that no quantum degrees of freedom can reside in the interior of a black hole. We suggest that this is a consequence of the fact that the volume of any interior sphere of finite surface area simply vanishes. Obviously, this is not the case in general relativity. However, we show that such a phenomenon does occur in various gravitational theories which admit a spontaneously induced general relativity. In such theories, due to a phase transition (one parameter family degenerates) which takes place precisely at the would have been horizon, the recovered exterior Schwarzschild solution connects, by means of a self-similar transition profile, with a novel 'hollow' interior exhibiting a vanishing spatial volume and a locally varying Newton constant. This constitutes the so-called 'hollowgraphy' driven holography.Comment: Honorable Mention Essay - Gravity Research Foundation (2010

Non-monotonic orbital velocity profiles around rapidly rotating Kerr-(anti-)de Sitter black holes

It has been recently demonstrated that the orbital velocity profile around Kerr black holes in the equatorial plane as observed in the locally non-rotating frame exhibits a non-monotonic radial behaviour. We show here that this unexpected minimum-maximum feature of the orbital velocity remains if the Kerr vacuum is generalized to the Kerr-de Sitter or Kerr-anti-de Sitter metric. This is a new general relativity effect in Kerr spacetimes with non-vanishing cosmological constant. Assuming that the profile of the orbital velocity is known, this effect constrains the spacetime parameters.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for Class. Quant. Gra

The replacement histone H2A.Z in a hyperacetylated form is a feature of active genes in the chicken

The replacement histone H2A.Z is variously reported as being linked to gene expression and preventing the spread of heterochromatin in yeast, or concentrated at heterochromatin in mammals. To resolve this apparent dichotomy, affinity-purified antibodies against the N-terminal region of H2A.Z, in both a triacetylatedandnon- acetylatedstate, areusedin native chromatin immmuno-precipitation experiments with mononucleosomes from three chicken cell types. The hyperacetylated species concentrates at the 50 end of active genes, both tissue specific and housekeeping but is absent from inactive genes, while the unacetylated form is absent from both active and inactive genes. A concentration of H2A.Z is also found at insulators under circumstances implying a link to barrier activity but not to enhancer blocking. Although acetylated H2A.Z is widespread throughout the interphase genome, at mitosis its acetylation is erased, the unmodified form remaining. Thus, although H2A.Z may operate as an epigenetic marker for active genes, its N-terminal acetylation does not

A stochastic template placement algorithm for gravitational wave data analysis

This paper presents an algorithm for constructing matched-filter template banks in an arbitrary parameter space. The method places templates at random, then removes those which are "too close" together. The properties and optimality of stochastic template banks generated in this manner are investigated for some simple models. The effectiveness of these template banks for gravitational wave searches for binary inspiral waveforms is also examined. The properties of a stochastic template bank are then compared to the deterministically placed template banks that are currently used in gravitational wave data analysis.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

The replacement histone H2A.Z in a hyperacetylated form is a feature of active genes in the chicken

The replacement histone H2A.Z is variously reported as being linked to gene expression and preventing the spread of heterochromatin in yeast, or concentrated at heterochromatin in mammals. To resolve this apparent dichotomy, affinity-purified antibodies against the N-terminal region of H2A.Z, in both a triacetylatedandnon- acetylatedstate, areusedin native chromatin immmuno-precipitation experiments with mononucleosomes from three chicken cell types. The hyperacetylated species concentrates at the 50 end of active genes, both tissue specific and housekeeping but is absent from inactive genes, while the unacetylated form is absent from both active and inactive genes. A concentration of H2A.Z is also found at insulators under circumstances implying a link to barrier activity but not to enhancer blocking. Although acetylated H2A.Z is widespread throughout the interphase genome, at mitosis its acetylation is erased, the unmodified form remaining. Thus, although H2A.Z may operate as an epigenetic marker for active genes, its N-terminal acetylation does not

Centrifugally driven electrostatic instability in extragalactic jets

The stability problem of the rotation induced electrostatic wave in extragalactic jets is presented. Solving a set of equations describing dynamics of a relativistic plasma flow of AGN jets, an expression of the instability rate has been derived and analyzed for typical values of AGNs. The growth rate was studied versus the wave length and the inclination angle and it has been found that the instability process is much efficient with respect to the accretion disk evolution, indicating high efficiency of the instability.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Parametric resonant acceleration of particles by gravitational waves

We study the resonant interaction of charged particles with a gravitational wave propagating in the non-empty interstellar space in the presence of a uniform magnetic field. It is found that this interaction can be cast in the form of a parametric resonance problem which, besides the main resonance, allows for the existence of many secondary ones. Each of them is associated with a non-zero resonant width, depending on the amplitude of the wave and the energy density of the interstellar plasma. Numerical estimates of the particles' energisation and the ensuing damping of the wave are given.Comment: LaTeX file, 16 page

Energy Distribution in Melvin's Magnetic Universe

We use the energy-momentum complexes of Landau and Lifshitz and Papapetrou to obtain the energy distribution in Melvin's magnetic universe. For this space-time we find that these definitions of energy give the same and convincing results. The energy distribution obtained here is the same as we obtained earlier for the same space-time using the energy-momentum complex of Einstein. These results uphold the usefulness of the energy-momentum complexes.Comment: 8 pages, RevTex, no figure

Compton Scattering by Static and Moving Media I. The Transfer Equation and Its Moments

Compton scattering of photons by nonrelativistic particles is thought to play an important role in forming the radiation spectrum of many astrophysical systems. Here we derive the time-dependent photon kinetic equation that describes spontaneous and induced Compton scattering as well as absorption and emission by static and moving media, the corresponding radiative transfer equation, and their zeroth and first moments, in both the system frame and in the frame comoving with the medium. We show that it is necessary to use the correct relativistic differential scattering cross section in order to obtain a photon kinetic equation that is correct to first order in epsilon/m_e, T_e/m_e, and V, where epsilon is the photon energy, T_e and m_e are the electron temperature and rest mass, and V is the electron bulk velocity in units of the speed of light. We also demonstrate that the terms in the radiative transfer equation that are second-order in V usually should be retained, because if the radiation energy density is sufficiently large compared to the radiation flux, the effects of bulk Comptonization described by the terms that are second-order in V are at least as important as the effects described by the terms that are first-order in V, even when V is small. Our equations are valid for systems of arbitrary optical depth and can therefore be used in both the free-streaming and the diffusion regimes. We demonstrate that Comptonization by the electron bulk motion occurs whether or not the radiation field is isotropic or the bulk flow converges and that it is more important than thermal Comptonization if V^2 > 3 T_e/m_e.Comment: 31 pages, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa