288 research outputs found
Surface gravity of neutron stars and strange stars
The upper bound on the value of the surface gravity, g_s, for neutron stars
with equations of state respecting v_sound <= c, is derived. This bound is
inversely proportional to the maximum allowable mass M_max, and it reads g_s <=
1.411 x 10^15 (M_sun/M_max) cm/s^2. It implies an absolute upper bound 7.4 x
10^14 cm/s^2 if one uses the 2sigma lower bound on the neutron mass measured
recently in 4U1700-37, 1.9 M_sun. A correlation between g_s and the compactness
parameter 2GM/Rc^2 for baryonic stars is analyzed. The properties of g_s of
strange quark stars and its upper bounds are discussed using the scaling
properties of the strange-star models.Comment: Accepted by A&
Keplerian frequency of uniformly rotating neutron stars and quark stars
We calculate Keplerian (mass shedding) configurations of rigidly rotating
neutron stars and quark stars with crusts. We check the validity of empirical
formula for Keplerian frequency, f_K, proposed by Lattimer & Prakash, f_K(M)=C
(M/M_sun)^1/2 (R/10km)^-3/2, where M is the (gravitational) mass of Keplerian
configuration, R is the (circumferential) radius of the non-rotating
configuration of the same gravitational mass, and C = 1.04 kHz. Numerical
calculations are performed using precise 2-D codes based on the multi-domain
spectral methods. We use a representative set of equations of state (EOSs) of
neutron stars and quark stars. We show that the empirical formula for f_K(M)
holds within a few percent for neutron stars with realistic EOSs, provided 0.5
M_sun < M < 0.9 M_max,stat, where M_max,stat is the maximum allowable mass of
non-rotating neutron stars for an EOS, and C=C_NS=1.08 kHz. Similar precision
is obtained for quark stars with 0.5 M_sun < M < 0.9 M_max,stat. For maximal
crust masses we obtain C_QS = 1.15 kHz, and the value of C_QS is not very
sensitive to the crust mass. All our C's are significantly larger than the
analytic value from the relativistic Roche model, C_Roche = 1.00 kHz. For 0.5
M_sun < M < 0.9 M_max,stat, the equatorial radius of Keplerian configuration of
mass M, R_K(M), is, to a very good approximation, proportional to the radius of
the non-rotating star of the same mass, R_K(M) = aR(M), with a_NS \approx a_QS
\approx 1.44. The value of a_QS is very weakly dependent on the mass of the
crust of the quark star. Both a's are smaller than the analytic value a_Roche =
1.5 from the relativistic Roche model.Comment: 6 pages, 6 color figures, submitted to A&
An Exact Calculation of the Energy Density of Cosmological Gravitational Waves
In this paper we calculate the Bogoliubov coefficients and the energy density
of the stochastic gravitational wave background for a universe that undergoes
inflation followed by radiation domination and matter domination, using a
formalism that gives the Bogoliubov coefficients as continous functions of
time. By making a reasonable assumption for the equation of state during
reheating, we obtain in a natural way the expected high frequency cutoff in the
spectral energy density.Comment: 12 pages+5 figures, uuencoded file,DF/IST-2.9
CBR Anisotropy from Primordial Gravitational Waves in Two-Component Inflationary Cosmology
We examine stochastic temperature fluctuations of the cosmic background
radiation (CBR) arising via the Sachs-Wolfe effect from gravitational wave
perturbations produced in the early universe. We consider spatially flat,
perturbed FRW models that begin with an inflationary phase, followed by a mixed
phase containing both radiation and dust. The scale factor during the mixed
phase takes the form , where are
constants. During the mixed phase the universe smoothly transforms from being
radiation to dust dominated. We find analytic expressions for the graviton mode
function during the mixed phase in terms of spheroidal wave functions. This
mode function is used to find an analytic expression for the multipole moments
of the two-point angular correlation function
for the CBR anisotropy. The analytic expression for the multipole
moments is written in terms of two integrals, which are evaluated numerically.
The results are compared to multipoles calculated for models that are {\it
completely} dust dominated at last-scattering. We find that the multipoles
of the CBR temperature perturbations for are
significantly larger for a universe that contains both radiation and dust at
last-scattering. We compare our results with recent, similar numerical work and
find good agreement. The spheroidal wave functions may have applications to
other problems of cosmological interest.Comment: 28 pgs + 6 postscript figures, RevTe
Scalar and Tensor Inhomogeneities from Dimensional Decoupling
We discuss some perturbative techniques suitable for the gauge-invariant
treatment of the scalar and tensor inhomogeneities of an anisotropic and
homogeneous background geometry whose spatial section naturally decomposes into
the direct product of two maximally symmetric Eucledian manifolds, describing a
general situation of dimensional decoupling in which external dimensions
evolve (in conformal time) with scale factor and internal
dimensions evolve with scale factor . We analyze the growing mode
problem which typically arises in contracting backgrounds and we focus our
attention on the situation where the amplitude of the fluctuations not only
depends on the external space-time but also on the internal spatial
coordinates. In order to illustrate the possible relevance of this analysis we
compute the gravity waves spectrum produced in some highly simplified model of
cosmological evolution and we find that the spectral amplitude, whose magnitude
can be constrained by the usual bounds applied to the stochastic gravity waves
backgrounds, depends on the curvature scale at which the compactification
occurs and also on the typical frequency of the internal excitations.Comment: 31 pages, Latex, DAMTP 96-92, UCM 96-04, to appear in Phys. Rev. D 55
(1997
Fungal and bacterial utilization of organic substrates depends on substrate complexity and N availability
There is growing evidence of a direct relationship between microbial community composition and function, which implies that distinct microbial communities vary in their functional properties. The aim of this study was to determine whether differences in initial substrate utilization between distinct microbial communities are due to the activities of certain microbial groups. We performed a short-term experiment with beech forest soils characterized by three different microbial communities (winter and summer community, and a community from a tree-girdling plot). We incubated these soils with different 13C-labelled substrates with or without inorganic N addition and analyzed microbial substrate utilization by 13C-phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis. Our results revealed that the fate of labile C (glucose) was similar in the three microbial communities, despite differences in absolute substrate incorporation between the summer and winter community. The active microbial community involved in degradation of complex C substrates (cellulose, plant cell walls), however, differed between girdling and control plots and was strongly affected by inorganic N addition. Enhanced N availability strongly increased fungal degradation of cellulose and plant cell walls. Our results indicate that fungi, at least in the presence of a high N supply, are the main decomposers of polymeric C substrates
Setting upper limits on the strength of periodic gravitational waves from PSR J1939+2134 using the first science data from the GEO 600 and LIGO detectors
Data collected by the GEO 600 and LIGO interferometric gravitational wave detectors during their first observational science run were searched for continuous gravitational waves from the pulsar J1939+2134 at twice its rotation frequency. Two independent analysis methods were used and are demonstrated in this paper: a frequency domain method and a time domain method. Both achieve consistent null results, placing new upper limits on the strength of the pulsar's gravitational wave emission. A model emission mechanism is used to interpret the limits as a constraint on the pulsar's equatorial ellipticity
Searching for gravitational waves from known pulsars
We present upper limits on the amplitude of gravitational waves from 28
isolated pulsars using data from the second science run of LIGO. The results
are also expressed as a constraint on the pulsars' equatorial ellipticities. We
discuss a new way of presenting such ellipticity upper limits that takes
account of the uncertainties of the pulsar moment of inertia. We also extend
our previous method to search for known pulsars in binary systems, of which
there are about 80 in the sensitive frequency range of LIGO and GEO 600.Comment: Accepted by CQG for the proceeding of GWDAW9, 7 pages, 2 figure
Swift follow-up observations of candidate gravitational-wave transient events
We present the first multi-wavelength follow-up observations of two candidate
gravitational-wave (GW) transient events recorded by LIGO and Virgo in their
2009-2010 science run. The events were selected with low latency by the network
of GW detectors and their candidate sky locations were observed by the Swift
observatory. Image transient detection was used to analyze the collected
electromagnetic data, which were found to be consistent with background.
Off-line analysis of the GW data alone has also established that the selected
GW events show no evidence of an astrophysical origin; one of them is
consistent with background and the other one was a test, part of a "blind
injection challenge". With this work we demonstrate the feasibility of rapid
follow-ups of GW transients and establish the sensitivity improvement joint
electromagnetic and GW observations could bring. This is a first step toward an
electromagnetic follow-up program in the regime of routine detections with the
advanced GW instruments expected within this decade. In that regime
multi-wavelength observations will play a significant role in completing the
astrophysical identification of GW sources. We present the methods and results
from this first combined analysis and discuss its implications in terms of
sensitivity for the present and future instruments.Comment: Submitted for publication 2012 May 25, accepted 2012 October 25,
published 2012 November 21, in ApJS, 203, 28 (
http://stacks.iop.org/0067-0049/203/28 ); 14 pages, 3 figures, 6 tables;
LIGO-P1100038; Science summary at
http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S6LVSwift/index.php ; Public access
area to figures, tables at
https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p110003
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