Frame-dragging effects on magnetic fields near a rotating black hole

We discuss the role of general relativity frame dragging acting on magnetic field lines near a rotating (Kerr) black hole. Near ergosphere the magnetic structure becomes strongly influenced and magnetic null points can develop. We consider aligned magnetic fields as well as fields inclined with respect to the rotation axis, and the two cases are shown to behave in profoundly different ways. Further, we construct surfaces of equal values of local electric and magnetic intensities, which have not yet been discussed in the full generality of a boosted rotating black hole.Comment: to appear in the proceedings of "The Central Kiloparsec in Galactic Nuclei (AHAR 2011)", Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS), IOP Publishin

Description of Pseudo-Newtonian Potential for the Relativistic Accretion Disk around Kerr Black Holes

We present a pseudo-Newtonian potential for accretion disk modeling around the rotating black holes. This potential can describe the general relativistic effects on accretion disk. As the inclusion of rotation in a proper way is very important at an inner edge of disk the potential is derived from the Kerr metric. This potential can reproduce all the essential properties of general relativity within 10% error even for rapidly rotating black holes.Comment: 5 Latex pages including 1 figure. Version to appear in Astrophysical Journal, V-581, N-1, December 10, 200

What do near-term observations tell us about long-term developments in greenhouse gas emissions? A letter

Long-term scenarios developed by integrated assessment models are used in climate research to provide an indication of plausible long-term emissions of greenhouse gases and other radiatively active substances based on developments in the global energy system, land-use and the emissions associated with these systems The phenomena that determine these long-term developments (several decades or even centuries) are very different than those that operate on a shorter time-scales (a few years) Nevertheless, in the literature, we still often find direct comparisons between short-term observations and long-term developments that do not take into account the differing dynamics over these time scales In this letter, we discuss some of the differences between the factors that operate in the short term and those that operate in the long term We use long-term historical emissions trends to show that short-term observations are very poor indicators of long-term future emissions developments Based on this, we conclude that the performance of long-term scenarios should be evaluated against the appropriate, corresponding long-term variables and trends The research community may facilitate this by developing appropriate data sets and protocols that can be used to test the performance of long-term scenarios and the models that produce the

Kerr-Sen dilaton-axion black hole lensing in the strong deflection limit

In the present work we study numerically quasi-equatorial lensing by the charged, stationary, axially-symmetric Kerr-Sen dilaton-axion black hole in the strong deflection limit. In this approximation we compute the magnification and the positions of the relativistic images. The most outstanding effect is that the Kerr-Sen black hole caustics drift away from the optical axis and shift in clockwise direction with respect to the Kerr caustics. The intersections of the critical curves on the equatorial plane as a function of the black hole angular momentum are found, and it is shown that they decrease with the increase of the parameter $Q^{2}/M$. All of the lensing quantities are compared to particular cases as Schwarzschild, Kerr and Gibbons-Maeda black holes.Comment: 31 pages, 17 figures; V2 references added, some typos corrected, V3 references added, language corrections, V4 table added, minor technical correction

The Galactic centre mini-spiral in the mm-regime

The mini-spiral is a feature of the interstellar medium in the central ~2 pc of the Galactic center. It is composed of several streamers of dust and ionised and atomic gas with temperatures between a few 100 K to 10^4 K. There is evidence that these streamers are related to the so-called circumnuclear disk of molecular gas and are ionized by photons from massive, hot stars in the central parsec. We attempt to constrain the emission mechanisms and physical properties of the ionized gas and dust of the mini-spiral region with the help of our multiwavelength data sets. Our observations were carried out at 1.3 mm and 3 mm with the mm interferometric array CARMA in California in March and April 2009, with the MIR instrument VISIR at ESO's VLT in June 2006, and the NIR Br-gamma with VLT NACO in August 2009. We present high resolution maps of the mini-spiral, and obtain a spectral index of 0.5 for Sgr A*, indicating an inverted synchrotron spectrum. We find electron densities within the range 0.8-1.5x10^4 cm-3 for the mini-spiral from the radio continuum maps, along with a dust mass contribution of ~0.25 solar masses from the MIR dust continuum, and extinctions ranging from 1.8-3 at 2.16 micron in the Br-gamma line. We observe a mixture of negative and positive spectral indices in our 1.3 mm and 3 mm observations of the extended emission of the mini-spiral, which we interpret as evidence that there are a range of contributions to the thermal free-free emission by the ionized gas emission and by dust at 1.3 mm.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, accepted to A&

Ecological-climatic characteristics of the flora of a floodplain landscape in Southeastern Europe

Floodplain ecosystems take on the role of active areas of biodiversity and provide many “ecosystem services”, as evidenced by a number of European scientific references. A biodiversity analysis of river floodplains in six European countries within the temperate zone has shown that the floodplains are habitats with a high-level of structural and functional dynamics. The level of their conservation reflects the floristic diversity of forest territories, which is especially important for subarid areas. Recently, a comparison of bioecological characteristics of flora in floodplain forest areas and treeless territories was conducted on the floodplain landscapes of a subarid region of Europe. The valley-terraced landscape of the Samara River, a tributary of the Dnieper can serve as a reference site of native plant complexes of subarid territory in Eastern Europe. Despite long-term anthropogenic transformation, the landscape has retained a significant phytodiversity level. The flora of the Samara River area includes 887 plant species. Of these, 177 species belonging to the rare and endangered categories. The floodplain landscape is the richest in species and most diverse part of this complex. The flora of the Samara floodplain includes 728 species (including 132 rare ones), of which 631 grow in forest communities, and 487 – in anthropogenically transformed, treeless floodplain areas. As part of the forest flora, the number of tree and shrubby species, scyophytes, hygrophytes, and megatrophs significantly increases compared to treeless sites, and the number of ruderal plant species decreases. The floristic composition of the floodplain forests of the subarid region is much richer and more diverse than the flora of the treeless floodplain areas, and this should encourage measures for their protection and restoration. Afforestation of floodplain territories within the steppe zone of Ukraine should be a priority in comparison with other landscapes. For the protection of the flora studied, a scientific justification for creating the National Park "Samara Bor" was prepared. Under the conditions of anthropogenic and climatic impact, this article is of great global importance for attracting the attention of specialists, authorities and society to the protection and restoration of biodiversity in the most valuable landscapes