245 research outputs found
Black hole tidal problem in the Fermi normal coordinates
We derive a tidal potential for a self-gravitating fluid star orbiting Kerr
black hole along a timelike geodesic extending previous works by Fishbone and
Marck. In this paper, the tidal potential is calculated up to the third and
fourth-order terms in , where is the stellar radius and the
orbital separation, in the Fermi-normal coordinate system following the
framework developed by Manasse and Misner. The new formulation is applied for
determining the tidal disruption limit (Roche limit) of corotating Newtonian
stars in circular orbits moving on the equatorial plane of Kerr black holes. It
is demonstrated that the third and fourth-order terms quantitatively play an
important role in the Roche limit for close orbits with R/r \agt 0.1. It is
also indicated that the Roche limit of neutron stars orbiting a stellar-mass
black hole near the innermost stable circular orbit may depend sensitively on
the equation of state of the neutron star.Comment: Correct typo
Retarded coordinates based at a world line, and the motion of a small black hole in an external universe
In the first part of this article I present a system of retarded coordinates
based at an arbitrary world line of an arbitrary curved spacetime. The
retarded-time coordinate labels forward light cones that are centered on the
world line, the radial coordinate is an affine parameter on the null generators
of these light cones, and the angular coordinates are constant on each of these
generators. The spacetime metric in the retarded coordinates is displayed as an
expansion in powers of the radial coordinate and expressed in terms of the
world line's acceleration vector and the spacetime's Riemann tensor evaluated
at the world line. The formalism is illustrated in two examples, the first
involving a comoving world line of a spatially-flat cosmology, the other
featuring an observer in circular motion in the Schwarzschild spacetime. The
main application of the formalism is presented in the second part of the
article, in which I consider the motion of a small black hole in an empty
external universe. I use the retarded coordinates to construct the metric of
the small black hole perturbed by the tidal field of the external universe, and
the metric of the external universe perturbed by the presence of the black
hole. Matching these metrics produces the MiSaTaQuWa equations of motion for
the small black hole.Comment: 20 pages, revtex4, 2 figure
Burst dynamics during drainage displacements in porous media: Simulations and experiments
We investigate the burst dynamics during drainage going from low to high
injection rate at various fluid viscosities. The bursts are identified as
pressure drops in the pressure signal across the system. We find that the
statistical distribution of pressure drops scales according to other systems
exhibiting self-organized criticality. The pressure signal was calculated by a
network model that properly simulates drainage displacements. We compare our
results with corresponding experiments.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Europhys. Let
Numerical models of irrotational binary neutron stars in general relativity
We report on general relativistic calculations of quasiequilibrium
configurations of binary neutron stars in circular orbits with zero vorticity.
These configurations are expected to represent realistic situations as opposed
to corotating configurations. The Einstein equations are solved under the
assumption of a conformally flat spatial 3-metric (Wilson-Mathews
approximation). The velocity field inside the stars is computed by solving an
elliptical equation for the velocity scalar potential. Results are presented
for sequences of constant baryon number (evolutionary sequences). Although the
central density decreases much less with the binary separation than in the
corotating case, it still decreases. Thus, no tendency is found for the stars
to individually collapse to black hole prior to merger.Comment: Minor corrections, improved figure, 5 pages, REVTeX, Phys. Rev. Lett.
in pres
Transposition of the tendon of the M. tibialis posterior as an effective operative treatment of a drop foot
Quasiequilibrium sequences of synchronized and irrotational binary neutron stars in general relativity. I. Method and tests
We present a numerical method to compute quasiequilibrium configurations of
close binary neutron stars in the pre-coalescing stage. A hydrodynamical
treatment is performed under the assumption that the flow is either rigidly
rotating or irrotational. The latter state is technically more complicated to
treat than the former one (synchronized binary), but is expected to represent
fairly well the late evolutionary stages of a binary neutron star system. As
regards the gravitational field, an approximation of general relativity is
used, which amounts to solving five of the ten Einstein equations (conformally
flat spatial metric). The obtained system of partial differential equations is
solved by means of a multi-domain spectral method. Two spherical coordinate
systems are introduced, one centered on each star; this results in a precise
description of the stellar interiors. Thanks to the multi-domain approach, this
high precision is extended to the strong field regions. The computational
domain covers the whole space so that exact boundary conditions are set to
infinity. Extensive tests of the numerical code are performed, including
comparisons with recent analytical solutions. Finally a constant baryon number
sequence (evolutionary sequence) is presented in details for a polytropic
equation of state with gamma=2.Comment: Minor corrections, references updated, 42 pages, 25 PostScript
figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Transposition of the tendon of the M. tibialis posterior as an effective operative treatment of a drop foot
Objective. To evaluate the results of transposition of the tendon of the M. tibialis posterior in patients with a drop foot. Design. Descriptive, retrospective and follow-up investigation. Methods. Surgical treatment was carried out in 12 patients with a drop foot (9 women and 3 men, with an average age of 37 years) in the period 1986-1998. The aetiology of the drop foot was a traumatic or iatrogenic lesion of the peroneal nerve or sciatic nerve in 9 patients and in 3 patients spina bifida occulta, leprosy and a herniation of a lumbar disc respectively. None of the patients had important comorbidity. Treatment consisted of lengthening the Achilles tendon according to Huckstep, transposition of the tibial posterior tendon in two tails to the dorsomedial and dorsolateral side of the foot, and six weeks of immobilisation in plaster of Paris. Results. The postoperative period was without complications. The treatment improved the heel-toe steppage gait in all patients. None of the 10 patients who had used an orthosis preoperatively still used it at the time of the follow up. Fifty per cent of the patients acquired a dorsiflexion of the foot of more than 0°. The results were in accordance with those in the literature. Conclusion. Transposition of the tibial posterior tendon is a worthwhile alternative for those patients with a drop foot (and without important comorbidity) who cannot walk satisfactorily with an ankle-foot orthosis.</p
Transposition of the tendon of the M. tibialis posterior as an effective operative treatment of a drop foot
Objective. To evaluate the results of transposition of the tendon of the M. tibialis posterior in patients with a drop foot. Design. Descriptive, retrospective and follow-up investigation. Methods. Surgical treatment was carried out in 12 patients with a drop foot (9 women and 3 men, with an average age of 37 years) in the period 1986-1998. The aetiology of the drop foot was a traumatic or iatrogenic lesion of the peroneal nerve or sciatic nerve in 9 patients and in 3 patients spina bifida occulta, leprosy and a herniation of a lumbar disc respectively. None of the patients had important comorbidity. Treatment consisted of lengthening the Achilles tendon according to Huckstep, transposition of the tibial posterior tendon in two tails to the dorsomedial and dorsolateral side of the foot, and six weeks of immobilisation in plaster of Paris. Results. The postoperative period was without complications. The treatment improved the heel-toe steppage gait in all patients. None of the 10 patients who had used an orthosis preoperatively still used it at the time of the follow up. Fifty per cent of the patients acquired a dorsiflexion of the foot of more than 0°. The results were in accordance with those in the literature. Conclusion. Transposition of the tibial posterior tendon is a worthwhile alternative for those patients with a drop foot (and without important comorbidity) who cannot walk satisfactorily with an ankle-foot orthosis.</p
Transposition of the tendon of the M. tibialis posterior as an effective operative treatment of a drop foot
Transposition of the tendon of the M. tibialis posterior as an effective operative treatment of a drop foot
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