Lensed Arcs and Inner Structure of Abell 697

We present new optical observations of the z=0.282 cluster Abell 697 from the Keck II telescope. Images show an unusual disturbed structure in the cD halo and a previously unknown faint gravitational lens arc. A spectrum of the arc did not yield a redshift, but its spectrum and colors suggest it lies at z>1.3. We construct models to reproduce the arc that show the potential is likely to be highly elliptical. We suggest that this cluster may have undergone a recent merger and is in the process of forming its cD galaxy. Analysis of X-ray data from ROSAT and ASCA suggests that the merging process is sufficiently advanced that the gas in the cluster has relaxed, and A697 lies near the L_x-T_x relation for normal clusters.Comment: LaTeX; 12 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ Letter

The time evolution of marginally trapped surfaces

In previous work we have shown the existence of a dynamical horizon or marginally trapped tube (MOTT) containing a given strictly stable marginally outer trapped surface (MOTS). In this paper we show some results on the global behavior of MOTTs assuming the null energy condition. In particular we show that MOTSs persist in the sense that every Cauchy surface in the future of a given Cauchy surface containing a MOTS also must contain a MOTS. We describe a situation where the evolving outermost MOTS must jump during the coalescence of two seperate MOTSs. We furthermore characterize the behavior of MOTSs in the case that the principal eigenvalue vanishes under a genericity assumption. This leads to a regularity result for the tube of outermost MOTSs under the genericity assumption. This tube is then smooth up to finitely many jump times. Finally we discuss the relation of MOTSs to singularities of a space-time.Comment: 21 pages. This revision corrects some typos and contains more detailed proofs than the original versio

Experimental Observation of a Fundamental Length Scale of Waves in Random Media

Waves propagating through a weakly scattering random medium show a pronounced branching of the flow accompanied by the formation of freak waves, i.e., extremely intense waves. Theory predicts that this strong fluctuation regime is accompanied by its own fundamental length scale of transport in random media, parametrically different from the mean free path or the localization length. We show numerically how the scintillation index can be used to assess the scaling behavior of the branching length. We report the experimental observation of this scaling using microwave transport experiments in quasi-two-dimensional resonators with randomly distributed weak scatterers. Remarkably, the scaling range extends much further than expected from random caustics statistics.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

The oxidation and sublimation of graphite in simulated re-entry environments

Graphite oxidation and sublimation in simulated reentry environment

The formation of high-field magnetic white dwarfs from common envelopes

The origin of highly-magnetized white dwarfs has remained a mystery since their initial discovery. Recent observations indicate that the formation of high-field magnetic white dwarfs is intimately related to strong binary interactions during post-main-sequence phases of stellar evolution. If a low-mass companion, such as a planet, brown dwarf, or low-mass star is engulfed by a post-main-sequence giant, the hydrodynamic drag in the envelope of the giant leads to a reduction of the companion's orbit. Sufficiently low-mass companions in-spiral until they are shredded by the strong gravitational tides near the white dwarf core. Subsequent formation of a super-Eddington accretion disk from the disrupted companion inside a common envelope can dramatically amplify magnetic fields via a dynamo. Here, we show that these disk-generated fields are sufficiently strong to explain the observed range of magnetic field strengths for isolated, high-field magnetic white dwarfs. A higher-mass binary analogue may also contribute to the origin of magnetar fields.Comment: Accepted to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Under PNAS embargo until time of publicatio

Relating prepotentials and quantum vacua of N=1 gauge theories with different tree-level superpotentials

We consider N=1 supersymmetric U(N) gauge theories with Z_k symmetric tree-level superpotentials W for an adjoint chiral multiplet. We show that (for integer 2N/k) this Z_k symmetry survives in the quantum effective theory as a corresponding symmetry of the effective superpotential W_eff(S_i) under permutations of the S_i. For W(x)=^W(h(x)) with h(x)=x^k, this allows us to express the prepotential F_0 and effective superpotential W_eff on certain submanifolds of the moduli space in terms of an ^F_0 and ^W_eff of a different theory with tree-level superpotential ^W. In particular, if the Z_k symmetric polynomial W(x) is of degree 2k, then ^W is gaussian and we obtain very explicit formulae for F_0 and W_eff. Moreover, in this case, every vacuum of the effective Veneziano-Yankielowicz superpotential ^W_eff is shown to give rise to a vacuum of W_eff. Somewhat surprisingly, at the level of the prepotential F_0(S_i) the permutation symmetry only holds for k=2, while it is anomalous for k>2 due to subtleties related to the non-compact period integrals. Some of these results are also extended to general polynomial relations h(x) between the tree-level superpotentials.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures, modified version to appear in JHEP, discussion of the physical meaning of the Z_k symmetry adde

New calibration procedures for airborne turbulence measurements and accuracy of the methane fluxes during the AirMeth campaigns

Low-level flights over tundra wetlands in Alaska and Canada have been conducted during the Airborne Measurements of Methane Emissions (AirMeth) campaigns to measure turbulent methane fluxes in the atmosphere. In this paper we describe the instrumentation and new calibration procedures for the essential pressure parameters required for turbulence sensing by aircraft that exploit suitable regular measurement flight legs without the need for dedicated calibration patterns. We estimate the accuracy of the mean wind and the turbulence measurements. We show that airborne measurements of turbulent fluxes of methane and carbon dioxide using cavity ring-down spectroscopy trace gas analysers together with established turbulence equipment achieve a relative accuracy similar to that of measurements of sensible heat flux if applied during low-level flights over natural area sources. The inertial subrange of the trace gas fluctuations cannot be resolved due to insufficient high-frequency precision of the analyser, but, since this scatter is uncorrelated with the vertical wind velocity, the covariance and thus the flux are reproduced correctly. In the covariance spectra the −7∕3 drop-off in the inertial subrange can be reproduced if sufficient data are available for averaging. For convective conditions and flight legs of several tens of kilometres we estimate the flux detection limit to be about 4mgm−2d−1 for w′CH4′, 1.4gm−2d−1 for w′CO2′ and 4.2Wm−2 for the sensible heat flux

Reformulating atmospheric aerosol thermodynamics and hygroscopic growth into fog, haze and clouds

International audienceModeling atmospheric aerosol and cloud microphysics is rather complex, even if chemical and thermodynamical equilibrium is assumed. We show, however, that the thermodynamics can be considerably simplified by reformulating equilibrium to consistently include water, and transform laboratory-based concepts to atmospheric conditions. We generalize the thermodynamic principles that explain hydration and osmosis ? merely based on solute solubilities ? to explicitly account for the water mass consumed by hydration. As a result, in chemical and thermodynamical equilibrium the relative humidity (RH) suffices to determine the saturation molality, including solute and solvent activities (and activity coefficients), since the water content is fixed by RH for a given aerosol concentration and type. As a consequence, gas/liquid/solid aerosol equilibrium partitioning can be solved analytically and non-iteratively. Our new concept enables an efficient and accurate calculation of the aerosol water mass and directly links the aerosol hygroscopic growth to fog, haze and cloud formation. We apply our new concept in the 3rd Equilibrium Simplified Aerosol Model (EQSAM3) for use in regional and global chemistry-transport and climate models. Its input is limited to the species' solubilities from which a newly introduced stoichiometric coefficient for water is derived. Analogously, we introduce effective stoichiometric coefficients for the solutes to account for complete or incomplete dissociation. We show that these coefficients can be assumed constant over the entire activity range and calculated for various inorganic, organic and non-electrolyte compounds, including alcohols, sugars and dissolved gases. EQSAM3 calculates the aerosol composition and gas/liquid/solid partitioning of mixed inorganic/organic multicomponent solutions and the associated water uptake for almost 100 major compounds. It explicitly accounts for particle hygroscopic growth by computing aerosol properties such as single solute molalities, molal based activities, including activity coefficients for volatile compounds, efflorescence and deliquescence relative humidities of single solute and mixed solutions. Various applications and a model inter-comparison indicate that a) the application is not limited to dilute binary solutions, b) sensitive aerosol properties such as hygroscopic growth and the pH of binary and mixed inorganic/organic salt solutions up to saturation can be computed accurately, and c) aerosol water is central in modeling atmospheric chemistry, visibility, weather and climate

Surface Profiling of Natural Dust Devils

We present results from the first high-resolution near-surface profiles conducted on dust devil wind fields. These results are integrated with extensive geologic mapping to understand the factors that influence vortex generation and erosive efficacy

Death is not a success: reflections on business exit

This article is a critical evaluation of claims that business exits should not be seen as failures, on the grounds that may constitute voluntary liquidation, or because they are learning opportunities. This can be seen as further evidence of bias affecting entrepreneurship research, where failures are repackaged as successes. This article reiterates that the majority of business exits are unsuccessful. Drawing on ideas from the organisational life course, it is suggested that business ‘death’ is a suitable term for describing business closure. Even cases of voluntary ‘harvest liquidation’ such as retirement can be meaningfully described as business deaths