6,248 research outputs found
Binary Induced Neutron-Star Compression, Heating, and Collapse
We analyze several aspects of the recently noted neutron star collapse
instability in close binary systems. We utilize (3+1) dimensional and spherical
numerical general relativistic hydrodynamics to study the origin, evolution,
and parametric sensitivity of this instability. We derive the modified
conditions of hydrostatic equilibrium for the stars in the curved space of
quasi-static orbits. We examine the sensitivity of the instability to the
neutron star mass and equation of state. We also estimate limits to the
possible interior heating and associated neutrino luminosity which could be
generated as the stars gradually compress prior to collapse. We show that the
radiative loss in neutrinos from this heating could exceed the power radiated
in gravity waves for several hours prior to collapse. The possibility that the
radiation neutrinos could produce gamma-ray (or other electromagnetic) burst
phenomena is also discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure
Revised Relativistic Hydrodynamical Model for Neutron-Star Binaries
We report on numerical results from a revised hydrodynamic simulation of
binary neutron-star orbits near merger. We find that the correction recently
identified by Flanagan significantly reduces but does not eliminate the
neutron-star compression effect. Although results of the revised simulations
show that the compression is reduced for a given total orbital angular
momentum, the inner most stable circular orbit moves to closer separation
distances. At these closer orbits significant compression and even collapse is
still possible prior to merger for a sufficiently soft EOS. The reduced
compression in the corrected simulation is consistent with other recent studies
of rigid irrotational binaries in quasiequilibrium in which the compression
effect is observed to be small. Another significant effect of this correction
is that the derived binary orbital frequencies are now in closer agreement with
post-Newtonian expectations.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
On Rapidly Rotating Magnetic Core-Collapse Supernovae
We have analyzed the magnetic effects that may occur in rapidly rotating core
collapse supernovae. We consider effects from both magnetic turbulence and the
formation of magnetic bubbles. For magnetic turbulence we have made a
perturbative analysis for our spherically symmetric core-collapse supernova
model that incorporates the build up of magnetic field energy in the matter
accreting onto the proto-neutron star shortly after collapse and bounce. This
significantly modifies the pressure profile and increases the heating of the
material above the proto-neutron star resulting in an explosion even in
rotating stars that would not explode otherwise. Regarding magnetic bubbles we
show that a model with a modest initial uniform magnetic field and uniform
angular velocity of ~0.1 rad/s can form magnetic bubbles due to the very non
homologous nature of the collapse. It is estimated that the buoyancy of the
bubbles causes matter in the proto-neutron star to rise, carrying neutrino-rich
material to the neutron-star surface. This increases the neutrino luminosity
sufficiently at early times to achieve a successful neutrino-driven explosion.
Both magnetic mechanisms thus provide new means for initiating a Type II
core-collapse supernova.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure
Irrotational binary neutron stars in quasiequilibrium
We report on numerical results from an independent formalism to describe the
quasi-equilibrium structure of nonsynchronous binary neutron stars in general
relativity. This is an important independent test of controversial numerical
hydrodynamic simulations which suggested that nonsynchronous neutron stars in a
close binary can experience compression prior to the last stable circular
orbit. We show that, for compact enough stars the interior density increases
slightly as irrotational binary neutron stars approach their last orbits. The
magnitude of the effect, however, is much smaller than that reported in
previous hydrodynamic simulations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, revtex, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Finite temperature effects on cosmological baryon diffusion and inhomogeneous Big-Bang nucleosynthesis
We have studied finite temperature corrections to the baryon transport cross
sections and diffusion coefficients. These corrections are based upon the
recently computed renormalized electron mass and the modified state density due
to the background thermal bath in the early universe. It is found that the
optimum nucleosynthesis yields computed using our diffusion coefficients shift
to longer distance scales by a factor of about 3. We also find that the minimum
value of abundance decreases by while and
increase. Effects of these results on constraints from primordial
nucleosynthesis are discussed. In particular, we find that a large baryonic
contribution to the closure density (\Omega_b h_{50}^{2} \lsim 0.4) may be
allowed in inhomogeneous models corrected for finite temperature.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Effects of structure formation on the expansion rate of the Universe: An estimate from numerical simulations
General relativistic corrections to the expansion rate of the Universe arise
when the Einstein equations are averaged over a spatial volume in a locally
inhomogeneous cosmology. It has been suggested that they may contribute to the
observed cosmic acceleration. In this paper, we propose a new scheme that
utilizes numerical simulations to make a realistic estimate of the magnitude of
these corrections for general inhomogeneities in (3+1) spacetime. We then
quantitatively calculate the volume averaged expansion rate using N-body
large-scale structure simulations and compare it with the expansion rate in a
standard FRW cosmology. We find that in the weak gravitational field limit, the
converged corrections are slightly larger than the previous claimed 10^{-5}
level, but not large enough nor even of the correct sign to drive the current
cosmic acceleration. Nevertheless, the question of whether the cumulative
effect can significantly change the expansion history of the Universe needs to
be further investigated with strong-field relativity.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, improved version published in Phys. Rev.
A Genetic Algorithm solver for pest management control in Island systems
Island conservation management is a truly multidisciplinary problem that requires considerable knowledge of the characteristics of the ecosystem, species and their interactions. Nevertheless, this can be translated into an optimisation problem. Essentially, within a limited budget, a manager needs to select the conservation actions according to expected payoffs (in terms of protecting or restoring desired species) versus cost (the amount of resources/money) required for the actions. This paper presents the problem in terms of a knapsack formulation and develops optimisation techniques to solve it. From this, decision-support software is being developed, tailored to meet the needs of pest control on islands for conservation managers. The solver uses a Genetic Algorithm and incorporates a simplified model of the problem. The solver derives strategies that reduce the number of threats, allowing the preservation of desired species. However, the problem model needs further refinement to derive truly realistic options for conservation managers
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