581 research outputs found
Discovery of a Magnetic White Dwarf in the Symbiotic Binary Z Andromedae
We report the first result from our survey of rapid variability in symbiotic
binaries: the discovery of a persistent oscillation at P=1682.6 +- 0.6 s in the
optical emission from the prototype symbiotic, Z Andromedae. The oscillation
was detected on all 8 occasions on which the source was observed over a
timespan of nearly a year, making it the first such persistent periodic pulse
found in a symbiotic binary. The amplitude was typically 2 - 5 mmag, and it was
correlated with the optical brightness during a relatively small outburst of
the system. The most natural explanation is that the oscillation arises from
the rotation of an accreting, magnetic (B_S > 10^5 G) white dwarf. This
discovery constrains the outburst mechanisms, since the oscillation emission
region near the surface of the white dwarf was visible during the outburst.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (6 pages,
including 4 figures), LaTe
Executive Pay Regulation: What Regulators, Shareholders, and Managers Can Learn from Major Sports Leagues
Executive pay regulation is widely discussed as a measure to reduce financial mismanagement in corporations. We show that the professional team sports industry, the only industry with substantial experience in the regulation of compensation arrangements, provides valuable insights for the regulation of executive pay. Based on the experience from professional sports leagues, we develop implications for the corporate sector regarding the establishment and enforcement of executive pay regulation as well as the level, structure, and rigidity of such regulatory measure
The thermal-viscous disk instability model in the AGN context
Accretion disks in AGN should be subject to the same type of instability as
in cataclysmic variables (CVs) or in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), which
leads to dwarf nova and soft X-ray transient outbursts. It has been suggested
that this thermal/viscous instability can account for the long term variability
of AGNs. We test this assertion by presenting a systematic study of the
application of the disk instability model (DIM) to AGNs. We are using the
adaptative grid numerical code we have developed in the context of CVs,
enabling us to fully resolve the radial structure of the disk. We show that,
because in AGN disks the Mach numbers are very large, the heating and cooling
fronts are so narrow that they cannot be resolved by the numerical codes that
have been used until now. In addition, these fronts propagate on time scales
much shorter than the viscous time. As a result, a sequence of heating and
cooling fronts propagate back and forth in the disk, leading only to small
variations of the accretion rate onto the black hole, with short quiescent
states occurring for very low mass transfer rates only. Truncation of the inner
part of the disk by e.g. an ADAF does not alter this result, but enables longer
quiescent states. Finally we discuss the effects of irradiation by the central
X-ray source, and show that, even for extremely high irradiation efficiencies,
outbursts are not a natural outcome of the model.Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics - in pres
The angular momentum transport by standard MRI in quasi-Kepler cylindric Taylor-Couette flows
The instability of a quasi-Kepler flow in dissipative Taylor-Couette systems
under the presence of an homogeneous axial magnetic field is considered with
focus to the excitation of nonaxisymmetric modes and the resulting angular
momentum transport. The excitation of nonaxisymmetric modes requires higher
rotation rates than the excitation of the axisymmetric mode and this the more
the higher the azimuthal mode number m. We find that the weak-field branch in
the instability map of the nonaxisymmetric modes has always a positive slope
(in opposition to the axisymmetric modes) so that for given magnetic field the
modes with m>0 always have an upper limit of the supercritical Reynolds number.
In order to excite a nonaxisymmetric mode at 1 AU in a Kepler disk a minimum
field strength of about 1 Gauss is necessary. For weaker magnetic field the
nonaxisymmetric modes decay. The angular momentum transport of the
nonaxisymmetric modes is always positive and depends linearly on the Lundquist
number of the background field. The molecular viscosity and the basic rotation
rate do not influence the related {\alpha}-parameter. We did not find any
indication that the MRI decays for small magnetic Prandtl number as found by
use of shearing-box codes. At 1 AU in a Kepler disk and a field strength of
about 1 Gauss the {\alpha} proves to be (only) of order 0.005
Anti-correlation between the mass of a supermassive black hole and the mass accretion rate in type I ultraluminous infrared galaxies and nearby QSOs
We discovered a significant anti-correlation between the mass of a
supermassive black hole (SMBH), , and the luminosity ratio of
infrared to active galactic nuclei (AGN) Eddington luminosity, , over four orders of magnitude for ultraluminous infrared
galaxies with type I Seyfert nuclei (type I ULIRGs) and nearby QSOs. This
anti-correlation ( vs. ) can be interpreted
as the anti-correlation between the mass of a SMBH and the rate of mass
accretion onto a SMBH normalized by the AGN Eddington rate, . In other words, the mass accretion rate is not proportional to that of the central BH mass. Thus, this
anti-correlation indicates that BH growth is determined by the external mass
supply process, and not the AGN Eddington-limited mechanism. Moreover, we found
an interesting tendency for type I ULIRGs to favor a super-Eddington accretion
flow, whereas QSOs tended to show a sub-Eddington flow. On the basis of our
findings, we suggest that a central SMBH grows by changing its mass accretion
rate from super-Eddington to sub-Eddington. According to a coevolution scenario
of ULIRGs and QSOs based on the radiation drag process, it has been predicted
that a self-gravitating massive torus, whose mass is larger than a central BH,
exists in the early phase of BH growth (type I ULIRG phase) but not in the
final phase of BH growth (QSO phase). At the same time, if one considers the
mass accretion rate onto a central SMBH via a turbulent viscosity, the
anti-correlation ( vs. ) is well explained
by the positive correlation between the mass accretion rate
and the mass ratio of a massive torus to a SMBH.Comment: 29 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Public perception and knowledge on nanotechnology: A study based on a citizen science approach
Even with the widespread use of nanomaterials (NMs) in everyday life, consumer knowledge about the functionality, benefits, and possible dangers of nanotechnology (NT) is still modest. As with any developing technology, its public perception has direct implications on future policies and has to be taken into account by academia and industry alike. As part of the “Nan-O-Style” interdisciplinary research project, an online survey was conducted using a Citizen Science-guided approach. The main goal was to evaluate the current levels of knowledge and the attitude towards NT among the general Austrian public and to determine how differing sociodemographic factors may affect these. Over the course of 17 months, a total of 1067 responses were collected and quantitatively analysed. We found that while Austrians display a generally optimistic view and a positive attitude towards NT, there are still remaining concerns about its safety and possible risks. Participants expressed great desire for more information about NT and its applications, as well as for clear labelling and transparency of products containing NMs. Notably, we found that age did not affect the general attitude towards NT nor the levels of NT awareness. While participants with a university degree were generally more knowledgeable on this specific topic, surprisingly, there were no significant differences in the attitude towards NT among people from different educational backgrounds. Similar to previous studies, we observed that male participants demonstrated a more positive attitude towards NT and scored slightly higher in our NT quiz compared to female participants. However, female participants voiced greater desire for more information and transparency regarding NMs. Interestingly, while participants with a negative attitude towards NT scored lowest on the NT quiz, they also expressed the least interest in receiving more NT-related information. This illustrates a difficulty in mitigating public aversion solely by providing more information
Multi-fractional analysis of molecular diffusion in polymer multilayers by FRAP: a new simulation-based approach
Comprehensive analysis of the multifractional molecular diffusion provides a deeper understanding of the diffusion phenomenon in the fields of material science, molecular and cell biology, advanced biomaterials, etc. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is commonly employed to probe the molecular diffusion. Despite FRAP being a very popular method, it is not easy to assess multifractional molecular diffusion due to limited possibilities of approaches for analysis. Here we present a novel simulation-optimization-based approach (S-approach) that significantly broadens possibilities of the analysis. In the S-approach, possible fluorescence recovery scenarios are primarily simulated and afterward compared with a real measurement while optimizing parameters of a model until a sufficient match is achieved. This makes it possible to reveal multifractional molecular diffusion. Fluorescent latex particles of different size and fluorescein isothiocyanate in an aqueous medium were utilized as test systems. Finally, the S-approach has been used to evaluate diffusion of cytochrome c loaded into multilayers made of hyaluronan and polylysine. Software for evaluation of multifractional molecular diffusion by S-approach has been developed aiming to offer maximal versatility and user-friendly way for analysis
Causal relations between knowledge-intensive business services and regional employment growth
This paper studies the causal relations between regional employment growth in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) and overall regional employment growth using German labour-market data for the period 1999-2012. Adopting a recently developed technique, we are able to estimate a structural vector autoregressive model in which the causal directions between KIBS and other sectors are examined including various time lags. One main finding holds that although regional growth has a negative short-term effect on KIBS, KIBS growth has a long-term positive effect on the whole regional economy. This result confirms the claim that KIBS can play a key role in regional policies. Distinguishing between financial and non-financial KIBS, we find that financial KIBS have a procyclical effect on regional growth underlining the potential de-stabilizing effect of a large financial sector
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