25,893 research outputs found
Quantum fields near phantom-energy `sudden' singularities
This paper is committed to calculations near a type of future singularity
driven by phantom energy. At the singularities considered, the scale factor
remains finite but its derivative diverges. The general behavior of barotropic
phantom energy producing this singularity is calculated under the assumption
that near the singularity such fluid is the dominant contributor. We use the
semiclassical formula for renormalized stress tensors of conformally invariant
fields in conformally flat spacetimes and analyze the softening/enhancing of
the singularity due to quantum vacuum contributions. This dynamical analysis is
then compared to results from thermodynamical considerations. In both cases,
the vacuum states of quantized scalar and spinor fields strengthen the
accelerating expansion near the singularity whereas the vacuum states of vector
fields weaken it.Comment: 6 pages RevTe
Strongly interacting neutrinos as the highest energy cosmic rays
We show that all features of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray spectrum from
10^{17} eV to 10^{21} eV can be described with a simple power-like injection
spectrum of protons under the assumption that the neutrino-nucleon
cross-section is significantly enhanced at center of mass energies above
\approx 100 TeV. In our scenario, the cosmogenic neutrinos produced during the
propagation of protons through the cosmic microwave background initiate air
showers in the atmosphere, just as the protons. The total air shower spectrum
induced by protons and neutrinos shows excellent agreement with the
observations. A particular possibility for a large neutrino-nucleon
cross-section exists within the Standard Model through electroweak
instanton-induced processes.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, talk given at Beyond the Desert '03, Castle
Ringberg, 9-14 June, 200
F-15 flight flutter test program
The modes to be observed during the F-15 flight flutter test program were selected on the basis of the results of analytical studies, wind tunnel tests, and ground vibration tests. The modes (both symmetrical and antisymmetrical) tracked on this basis were: fin first bending, fin torsion, fin tip roll, stabilator bending, stabilator pitch, boom lateral bending, boom torsion, boom vertical bending, wing first bending, wing second bending, wing first torsion, outer wing torsion, and aileron rotation. Data obtained for these various modes were evaluated in terms of damping versus airspeed at 1525 m (5000 ft), damping versus altitude at the cross-section Mach numbers (to extrapolate to the damping value to be expected at sea level), and flutter boundaries on the basis of flutter margin of various modal pairs representing potential flutter mechanisms. Results of these evaluations are summarized in terms of minimum predicted flutter margin for the various mechanisms
On the origin of cold dark matter halo density profiles
N-body simulations predict that CDM halo-assembly occurs in two phases: 1) a
fast accretion phase with a rapidly deepening potential well; and 2) a slow
accretion phase characterised by a gentle addition of mass to the outer halo
with little change in the inner potential well. We demonstrate, using
one-dimensional simulations, that this two-phase accretion leads to CDM halos
of the NFW form and provides physical insight into the properties of the mass
accretion history that influence the final profile. Assuming that the
velocities of CDM particles are effectively isotropised by fluctuations in the
gravitational potential during the fast accretion phase, we show that
gravitational collapse in this phase leads to an inner profile rho(r) ~ r^{-1}.
Slow accretion onto an established potential well leads to an outer profile
with rho(r) ~ r^{-3}. The concentration of a halo is determined by the fraction
of mass that is accreted during the fast accretion phase. Using an ensemble of
realistic mass accretion histories, we show that the model predictions of the
dependence of halo concentration on halo formation time, and hence the
dependence of halo concentration on halo mass, and the distribution of halo
concentrations all match those found in cosmological N-body simulations. Using
a simple analytic model that captures much of the important physics we show
that the inner r^{-1} profile of CDM halos is a natural result of hierarchical
mass assembly with a initial phase of rapid accretion.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, references added, 11 pages, 8
figure
On Fast Linear Gravitational Dragging
A new formula is given for the fast linear gravitational dragging of the
inertial frame within a rapidly accelerated spherical shell of deep potential.
The shell is charged and is electrically accelerated by an electric field whose
sources are included in the solution.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
On the Evolutionary History of Stars and their Fossil Mass and Light
The total extragalactic background radiation can be an important test of the
global star formation history (SFH). Using direct observational estimates of
the SFH, along with standard assumptions about the initial mass function (IMF),
we calculate the total extragalactic background radiation and the observed
stellar density today. We show that plausible SFHs allow a significant range in
each quantity, but that their ratio is very tightly constrained. Current
estimates of the stellar mass and extragalactic background are difficult to
reconcile, as long as the IMF is fixed to the Salpeter slope above 1 Msun. The
joint confidence interval of these two quantities only agrees with that
determined from the allowed range of SFH fits at the 3-sigma level, and for our
best-fit values the discrepancy is about a factor of two. Alternative energy
sources that contribute to the background, such as active galactic nuclei
(AGN), Population III stars, or decaying particles, appear unlikely to resolve
the discrepancy. However, changes to the IMF allow plausible solutions to the
background problem. The simplest is an average IMF with an increased
contribution from stars around 1.5--4 Msun. A ``paunchy'' IMF of this sort
could emerge as a global average if low mass star formation is suppressed in
galaxies experiencing rapid starbursts. Such an IMF is consistent with
observations of star-forming regions, and would help to reconcile the fossil
record of star formation with the directly observed SFH.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables; submitted to Monthly Notice
Bayesian inferences of galaxy formation from the K-band luminosity and HI mass functions of galaxies: constraining star formation and feedback
We infer mechanisms of galaxy formation for a broad family of semi-analytic
models (SAMs) constrained by the K-band luminosity function and HI mass
function of local galaxies using tools of Bayesian analysis. Even with a broad
search in parameter space the whole model family fails to match to constraining
data. In the best fitting models, the star formation and feedback parameters in
low-mass haloes are tightly constrained by the two data sets, and the analysis
reveals several generic failures of models that similarly apply to other
existing SAMs. First, based on the assumption that baryon accretion follows the
dark matter accretion, large mass-loading factors are required for haloes with
circular velocities lower than 200 km/s, and most of the wind mass must be
expelled from the haloes. Second, assuming that the feedback is powered by
Type-II supernovae with a Chabrier IMF, the outflow requires more than 25% of
the available SN kinetic energy. Finally, the posterior predictive
distributions for the star formation history are dramatically inconsistent with
observations for masses similar to or smaller than the Milky-Way mass. The
inferences suggest that the current model family is still missing some key
physical processes that regulate the gas accretion and star formation in
galaxies with masses below that of the Milky Way.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRA
The growth of galaxies in cosmological simulations of structure formation
We use hydrodynamic simulations to examine how the baryonic components of
galaxies are assembled, focusing on the relative importance of mergers and
smooth accretion in the formation of ~L_* systems. In our primary simulation,
which models a (50\hmpc)^3 comoving volume of a Lambda-dominated cold dark
matter universe, the space density of objects at our (64-particle) baryon mass
resolution threshold, M_c=5.4e10 M_sun, corresponds to that of observed
galaxies with L~L_*/4. Galaxies above this threshold gain most of their mass by
accretion rather than by mergers. At the redshift of peak mass growth, z~2,
accretion dominates over merging by about 4:1. The mean accretion rate per
galaxy declines from ~40 M_sun/yr at z=2 to ~10 M_sun/yr at z=0, while the
merging rate peaks later (z~1) and declines more slowly, so by z=0 the ratio is
about 2:1. We cannot distinguish truly smooth accretion from merging with
objects below our mass resolution threshold, but extrapolating our measured
mass spectrum of merging objects, dP/dM ~ M^a with a ~ -1, implies that
sub-resolution mergers would add relatively little mass. The global star
formation history in these simulations tracks the mass accretion rate rather
than the merger rate. At low redshift, destruction of galaxies by mergers is
approximately balanced by the growth of new systems, so the comoving space
density of resolved galaxies stays nearly constant despite significant mass
evolution at the galaxy-by-galaxy level. The predicted merger rate at z<~1
agrees with recent estimates from close pairs in the CFRS and CNOC2 redshift
surveys.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, 35 pp including 15 fig
Gravitational energy
Observers at rest in a stationary spacetime flat at infinity can measure
small amounts of rest-mass+internal energies+kinetic energies+pressure energy
in a small volume of fluid attached to a local inertial frame. The sum of these
small amounts is the total "matter energy" for those observers. The total
mass-energy minus the matter energy is the binding gravitational energy.
Misner, Thorne and Wheeler evaluated the gravitational energy of a
spherically symmetric static spacetime. Here we show how to calculate
gravitational energy in any static and stationary spacetime for isolated
sources with a set of observers at rest.
The result of MTW is recovered and we find that electromagnetic and
gravitational 3-covariant energy densities in conformastatic spacetimes are of
opposite signs. Various examples suggest that gravitational energy is negative
in spacetimes with special symmetries or when the energy-momentum tensor
satisfies usual energy conditions.Comment: 12 pages. Accepted for publication in Class. Quantum Gra
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