23 research outputs found
On the stability of general relativistic geometric thin disks
The stability of general relativistic thin disks is investigated under a
general first order perturbation of the energy momentum tensor. In particular,
we consider temporal, radial and azimuthal "test matter" perturbations of the
quantities involved on the plane . We study the thin disks generated by
applying the "displace, cut and reflect" method, usually known as the image
method, to the Schwarzschild metric in isotropic coordinates and to the
Chazy-Curzon metric and the Zipoy-Voorhees metric (-metric) in Weyl
coordinates. In the case of the isotropic Schwarzschild thin disk, where a
radial pressure is present to support the gravitational attraction, the disk is
stable and the perturbation favors the formation of rings. Also, we found the
expected result that the thin disk models generated by the Chazy-Curzon and
Zipoy-Voorhees metric with only azimuthal pressure are not stable under a
general first order perturbationComment: 11 pages, RevTex. Phys Rev D (in press
Charged Annular Disks and Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m Type Black Holes from Extremal Dust
We present the first analytical superposition of a charged black hole with an
annular disk of extremal dust. In order to obtain the solutions, we first solve
the Einstein-Maxwell field equations for sources that represent disk-like
configurations of matter in confomastatic spacetimes by assuming a functional
dependence among the metric function, the electric potential and an auxiliary
function,which is taken as a solution of the Laplace equation. We then employ
the Lord Kelvin Inversion Method applied to models of finite extension in order
to obtain annular disks. The structures obtained extend to infinity, but their
total masses are finite and all the energy conditions are satisfied. Finally,
we observe that the extremal Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole can be embedded
into the center of the disks by adding a boundary term in the inversion.Comment: 17 revtex pages, 8 eps figure
Gravitationally induced electromagnetism at the Compton scale
It is shown that Einstein gravity tends to modify the electric and magnetic
fields appreciably at distances of the order of the Compton wavelength. At that
distance the gravitational field becomes spin dominated rather than mass
dominated. The gravitational field couples to the electromagnetic field via the
Einstein-Maxwell equations which in the simplest model causes the electrostatic
field of charged spinning particles to acquire an oblate structure relative to
the spin direction. For electrons and protons, a pure Coulomb field is
therefore likely to be incompatible with general relativity at the Compton
scale. In the simplest model, the magnetic dipole corresponds to the Dirac
g-factor, g=2. Also, it follows from the form of the electric field that the
electric dipole moment vanishes, in agreement with current experimental limits
for the electron. Quantitatively, the classical Einstein-Maxwell theory
predicts the magnetic and electric dipoles of the electron to an accuracy of
about one part in 10^{-3} or better. Going to the next multipole order, one
finds that the first non-vanishing higher multipole is the electric quadrupole
moment which is predicted to be -124 barn for the electron. Any non-zero value
of the electric quadrupole moment for the electron or the proton would be a
clear sign of curvature due to the implied violation of rotation invariance.
There is also a possible spherical modification of the Coulomb force
proportional to r^{-4}. However, the size of this effect is well below current
experimental limits. The corrections to the hydrogen spectrum are expected to
be small but possibly detectable.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures: revised version published in Class. Quantum
Grav. 23 (2006) 3111-3122; Conclusions unchange
Classical Effective Field Theory for Weak Ultra Relativistic Scattering
Inspired by the problem of Planckian scattering we describe a classical
effective field theory for weak ultra relativistic scattering in which field
propagation is instantaneous and transverse and the particles' equations of
motion localize to the instant of passing. An analogy with the non-relativistic
(post-Newtonian) approximation is stressed. The small parameter is identified
and power counting rules are established. The theory is applied to reproduce
the leading scattering angle for either a scalar interaction field or
electro-magnetic or gravitational; to compute some subleading corrections,
including the interaction duration; and to allow for non-zero masses. For the
gravitational case we present an appropriate decomposition of the gravitational
field onto the transverse plane together with its whole non-linear action. On
the way we touch upon the relation with the eikonal approximation, some
evidence for censorship of quantum gravity, and an algebraic ring structure on
2d Minkowski spacetime.Comment: 29 pages, 2 figures. v4: Duration of interaction is determined in Sec
4 and detailed in App C. Version accepted for publication in JHE
Gravitating discs around black holes
Fluid discs and tori around black holes are discussed within different
approaches and with the emphasis on the role of disc gravity. First reviewed
are the prospects of investigating the gravitational field of a black
hole--disc system by analytical solutions of stationary, axially symmetric
Einstein's equations. Then, more detailed considerations are focused to middle
and outer parts of extended disc-like configurations where relativistic effects
are small and the Newtonian description is adequate.
Within general relativity, only a static case has been analysed in detail.
Results are often very inspiring, however, simplifying assumptions must be
imposed: ad hoc profiles of the disc density are commonly assumed and the
effects of frame-dragging and completely lacking. Astrophysical discs (e.g.
accretion discs in active galactic nuclei) typically extend far beyond the
relativistic domain and are fairly diluted. However, self-gravity is still
essential for their structure and evolution, as well as for their radiation
emission and the impact on the environment around. For example, a nuclear star
cluster in a galactic centre may bear various imprints of mutual star--disc
interactions, which can be recognised in observational properties, such as the
relation between the central mass and stellar velocity dispersion.Comment: Accepted for publication in CQG; high-resolution figures will be
available from http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/CQ
Magnetic layers and neutral points near rotating black hole
Magnetic layers are narrow regions where the field direction changes sharply.
They often occur in the association with neutral points of the magnetic field.
We show that an organised field can produce these structures near a rotating
black hole, and we identify them as potential sites of magnetic reconnection.
To that end we study the field lines affected by the frame-dragging effect,
twisting the magnetic structure and changing the position of neutral points. We
consider oblique fields in vacuum. We also include the possibility of
translational motion of the black hole which may be relevant when the black
hole is ejected from the system. The model settings apply to the innermost
regions around black holes with the ergosphere dominated by a
super-equipartition magnetic field and loaded with a negligible gas content.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, Classical and Quantum Gravity accepte
Changing climate both increases and decreases European river floods
Climate change has led to concerns about increasing river floods resulting from the greater water-holding capacity of a warmer atmosphere1. These concerns are reinforced by evidence of increasing economic losses associated with flooding in many parts of the world, including Europe2. Any changes in river floods would have lasting implications for the design of flood protection measures and flood risk zoning. However, existing studies have been unable to identify a consistent continental-scale climatic-change signal in flood discharge observations in Europe3, because of the limited spatial coverage and number of hydrometric stations. Here we demonstrate clear regional patterns of both increases and decreases in observed river flood discharges in the past five decades in Europe, which are manifestations of a changing climate. Our results\u2014arising from the most complete database of European flooding so far\u2014suggest that: increasing autumn and winter rainfall has resulted in increasing floods in northwestern Europe; decreasing precipitation and increasing evaporation have led to decreasing floods in medium and large catchments in southern Europe; and decreasing snow cover and snowmelt, resulting from warmer temperatures, have led to decreasing floods in eastern Europe. Regional flood discharge trends in Europe range from an increase of about 11 per cent per decade to a decrease of 23 per cent. Notwithstanding the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the observational record, the flood changes identified here are broadly consistent with climate model projections for the next century4,5, suggesting that climate-driven changes are already happening and supporting calls for the consideration of climate change in flood risk management
Evolution of low flows in Czechia revisited
Although a nationwide study focusing on the evolution of low flows in
Czechia was conducted in the past, a need for the revision of the results
has arisen. By means of the trend analysis, which specifically considers the
presence of significant serial correlation at the first lag, the former
study highlighted areas where 7-day low flows increase or decrease. However,
taking into account only the lag-one autoregressive process might still have
led to the detection of so-called pseudo-trends because, besides short-term
persistence, also long-term persistence may adversely influence the variance
of the test statistic when the independence among data is required.
Therefore, one should carefully investigate the presence of persistence in
time series. Before the trend analysis itself, the authors' previous studies
aimed at the discrimination between short memory processes and long memory
processes employing jointly the Phillips–Perron test and the
Kwiatkowski–Phillips–Schmidt–Shin test. This analysis was accompanied by the
Hurst exponent estimation. Here, the subsequent identification of trends is
carried out using three modifications of the Mann–Kendall test that allow
different kinds of persistence. These include the
Bayley–Hammersley–Matalas–Langbein–Lettenmaier equivalent sample size
approach, the trend-free pre-whitening approach and a block bootstrap with
automatic selection of the block length, which was applied for the first
time in hydrology. The general results are similar to those presented in the
former study on trends. Nevertheless, the divergent minimum discharges
evolution in the western part of Czechia is now much clear. Moreover, no
significant increasing trend in series incorporating Julian days was found
Corrigendum to "Evolution of low flows in Czechia revisited" published in Proc. IAHS, 369, 87–95, 2015
No abstract available