95 research outputs found
Galaxy rotation curves: the effect of j x B force
Using the Galaxy as an example, we study the effect of j x B force on the
rotational curves of gas and plasma in galaxies. Acceptable model for the
galactic magnetic field and plausible physical parameters are used to fit the
flat rotational curve for gas and plasma based on the observed baryonic
(visible) matter distribution and j x B force term in the static MHD equation
of motion. We also study the effects of varied strength of the magnetic field,
its pitch angle and length scale on the rotational curves. We show that j x B
force does not play an important role on the plasma dynamics in the
intermediate range of distances 6-12 kpc from the centre, whilst the effect is
sizable for larger r (r > 15 kpc), where it is the most crucial.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Science (final
printed version, typos in proofs corrected
Do primordial Lithium abundances imply there's no Dark Energy?
Explaining the well established observation that the expansion rate of the
universe is apparently accelerating is one of the defining scientific problems
of our age. Within the standard model of cosmology, the repulsive 'dark energy'
supposedly responsible has no explanation at a fundamental level, despite many
varied attempts. A further important dilemma in the standard model is the
Lithium problem, which is the substantial mismatch between the theoretical
prediction for 7-Li from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and the value that we observe
today. This observation is one of the very few we have from along our past
worldline as opposed to our past lightcone. By releasing the untested
assumption that the universe is homogeneous on very large scales, both apparent
acceleration and the Lithium problem can be easily accounted for as different
aspects of cosmic inhomogeneity, without causing problems for other
cosmological phenomena such as the cosmic microwave background. We illustrate
this in the context of a void model.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. v2: minor rearrangements in the text, comments
and references expanded, results unchange
Gravitational anomalies signaling the breakdown of classical gravity
Recent observations for three types of astrophysical systems severely
challenge the GR plus dark matter scenario, showing a phenomenology which is
what modified gravity theories predict. Stellar kinematics in the outskirts of
globular clusters show the appearance of MOND type dynamics on crossing the
threshold. Analysis shows a ``Tully-Fisher'' relation in these systems,
a scaling of dispersion velocities with the fourth root of their masses.
Secondly, an anomaly has been found at the unexpected scales of wide binaries
in the solar neighbourhood. Binary orbital velocities cease to fall along
Keplerian expectations, and settle at a constant value, exactly on crossing the
threshold. Finally, the inferred infall velocity of the bullet cluster
is inconsistent with the standard cosmological scenario, where much smaller
limit encounter velocities appear. This stems from the escape velocity limit
present in standard gravity; the ``bullet'' should not hit the ``target'' at
more than the escape velocity of the joint system, as it very clearly did.
These results are consistent with extended gravity, but would require rather
contrived explanations under GR, each. Thus, observations now put us in a
situation where modifications to gravity at low acceleration scales cease to be
a matter of choice, to now become inevitable.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings 38,
4
Dark mammoth trunks in the merging galaxy NGC 1316 and a mechanism of cosmic double helices
NGC 1316 is a giant, elliptical galaxy containing a complex network of dark,
dust features. The morphology of these features has been examined in some
detail using a Hubble Space Telescope, Advanced Camera for Surveys image. It is
found that most of the features are constituted of long filaments. There also
exist a great number of dark structures protruding inwards from the filaments.
Many of these structures are strikingly similar to elephant trunks in H II
regions in the Milky Way Galaxy, although much larger. The structures, termed
mammoth trunks, generally are filamentary and often have shapes resembling the
letters V or Y. In some of the mammoth trunks the stem of the Y can be resolved
into two or more filaments, many of which showing signs of being intertwined. A
model of the mammoth trunks, related to a recent theory of elephant trunks, is
proposed. Based on magnetized filaments, the model is capable of giving an
account of the various shapes of the mammoth trunks observed, including the
twined structures.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc
Scenario of Accelerating Universe from the Phenomenological \Lambda- Models
Dark matter, the major component of the matter content of the Universe,
played a significant role at early stages during structure formation. But at
present the Universe is dark energy dominated as well as accelerating. Here,
the presence of dark energy has been established by including a time-dependent
term in the Einstein's field equations. This model is compatible with
the idea of an accelerating Universe so far as the value of the deceleration
parameter is concerned. Possibility of a change in sign of the deceleration
parameter is also discussed. The impact of considering the speed of light as
variable in the field equations has also been investigated by using a well
known time-dependent model.Comment: Latex, 9 pages, Major change
Landau Analog Levels for Dipoles in the Noncommutative Space and Phase Space
In the present contribution we investigate the Landau analog energy
quantization for neutral particles, that possesses a nonzero permanent magnetic
and electric dipole moments, in the presence of an homogeneous electric and
magnetic external fields in the context of the noncommutative quantum
mechanics. Also, we analyze the Landau--Aharonov--Casher and
Landau--He--McKellar--Wilkens quantization due to noncommutative quantum
dynamics of magnetic and electric dipoles in the presence of an external
electric and magnetic fields and the energy spectrum and the eigenfunctions are
obtained. Furthermore, we have analyzed Landau quantization analogs in the
noncommutative phase space, and we obtain also the energy spectrum and the
eigenfunctions in this context.Comment: 20 pages, references adde
Salerno's model of DNA reanalysed: could solitons have biological significance?
We investigate the sequence-dependent behaviour of localised excitations in a
toy, nonlinear model of DNA base-pair opening originally proposed by Salerno.
Specifically we ask whether ``breather'' solitons could play a role in the
facilitated location of promoters by RNA polymerase. In an effective potential
formalism, we find excellent correlation between potential minima and {\em
Escherichia coli} promoter recognition sites in the T7 bacteriophage genome.
Evidence for a similar relationship between phage promoters and downstream
coding regions is found and alternative reasons for links between AT richness
and transcriptionally-significant sites are discussed. Consideration of the
soliton energy of translocation provides a novel dynamical picture of sliding:
steep potential gradients correspond to deterministic motion, while ``flat''
regions, corresponding to homogeneous AT or GC content, are governed by random,
thermal motion. Finally we demonstrate an interesting equivalence between
planar, breather solitons and the helical motion of a sliding protein
``particle'' about a bent DNA axis.Comment: Latex file 20 pages, 5 figures. Manuscript of paper to appear in J.
Biol. Phys., accepted 02/09/0
Re-examining the relationship between audiometric profile and tinnitus pitch
Objective: We explored the relationship between audiogram shape and tinnitus pitch to answer questions arising from neurophysiological models of tinnitus: ‘Is the dominant tinnitus pitch associated with the edge of hearing loss?’ and ‘Is such a relationship more robust in people with narrow tinnitus bandwidth or steep sloping hearing loss?’ Design: A broken-stick fitting objectively quantified slope, degree and edge of hearing loss up to 16 kHz. Tinnitus pitch was characterized up to 12 kHz. We used correlation and multiple regression analyses for examining relationships with many potentially predictive audiometric variables. Study Sample: 67 people with chronic bilateral tinnitus (43 men and 24 women, aged from 22 to 81 years). Results: In this ample of 67 subjects correlation failed to reveal any relationship between the tinnitus pitch and the edge frequency. The tinnitus pitch generally fell within the area of hearing loss. The pitch of the tinnitus in a subset of subjects with a narrow tinnitus bandwidth (n = 23) was associated with the audiometric edge. Conclusions: Our findings concerning subjects with narrow tinnitus bandwidth suggest that this can be used as an a priori inclusion criterion. A large group of such subjects should be tested to confirm these results
Bianchi II with time varying constants. Self-similar approach
We study a perfect fluid Bianchi II models with time varying constants under
the self-similarity approach. In the first of the studied model, we consider
that only vary and The obtained solution is more general that
the obtained one for the classical solution since it is valid for an equation
of state while in the classical solution
Taking into account the current observations, we conclude
that must be a growing time function while is a positive
decreasing function. In the second of the studied models we consider a variable
speed of light (VSL). We obtain a similar solution as in the first model
arriving to the conclusions that must be a growing time function if
is a positive decreasing function.Comment: 10 pages. RevTeX
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