7,921 research outputs found
Eccentricity evolution of giant planet orbits due to circumstellar disk torques
The extrasolar planets discovered to date possess unexpected orbital
elements. Most orbit their host stars with larger eccentricities and smaller
semi-major axes than similarly sized planets in our own solar system do. It is
generally agreed that the interaction between giant planets and circumstellar
disks (Type II migration) drives these planets inward to small radii, but the
effect of these same disks on orbital eccentricity, e, is controversial.
Several recent analytic calculations suggest that disk-planet interactions can
excite eccentricity, while numerical studies generally produce eccentricity
damping. This paper addresses this controversy using a quasi-analytic approach,
drawing on several preceding analytic studies. This work refines the current
treatment of eccentricity evolution by removing several approximations from the
calculation of disk torques. We encounter neither uniform damping nor uniform
excitation of orbital eccentricity, but rather a function de/dt that varies in
both sign and magnitude depending on eccentricity and other solar system
properties. Most significantly, we find that for every combination of disk and
planet properties investigated herein, corotation torques produce negative
values of de/dt for some range in e within the interval [0.1, 0.5]. If
corotation torques are saturated, this region of eccentricity damping
disappears, and excitation occurs on a short timescale of less than 0.08 Myr.
Thus, our study does not produce eccentricity excitation on a timescale of a
few Myr -- we obtain either eccentricity excitation on a short time scale, or
eccentricity damping on a longer time scale. Finally, we discuss the
implications of this result for producing the observed range in extrasolar
planet eccentricity.Comment: 24 pages including 13 figures; accepted to ICARU
Giant Planet Migration through the Action of Disk Torques and Planet Scattering
This paper presents a parametric study of giant planet migration through the
combined action of disk torques and planet-planet scattering. The torques
exerted on planets during Type II migration in circumstellar disks readily
decrease the semi-major axes, whereas scattering between planets increases the
orbital eccentricities. This paper presents a parametric exploration of the
possible parameter space for this migration scenario using two (initial)
planetary mass distributions and a range of values for the time scale of
eccentricity damping (due to the disk). For each class of systems, many
realizations of the simulations are performed in order to determine the
distributions of the resulting orbital elements of the surviving planets; this
paper presents the results of 8500 numerical experiments. Our goal is to study
the physics of this particular migration mechanism and to test it against
observations of extrasolar planets. The action of disk torques and
planet-planet scattering results in a distribution of final orbital elements
that fills the a-e plane, in rough agreement with the orbital elements of
observed extrasolar planets. In addition to specifying the orbital elements, we
characterize this migration mechanism by finding the percentages of ejected and
accreted planets, the number of collisions, the dependence of outcomes on
planetary masses, the time spent in 2:1 and 3:1 resonances, and the effects of
the planetary IMF. We also determine the distribution of inclination angles of
surviving planets and the distribution of ejection speeds for exiled planets.Comment: 46 pages including 15 figures; accepted to ICARU
Substellar companions and isolated planetary mass objects from protostellar disc fragmentation
Self-gravitating protostellar discs are unstable to fragmentation if the gas
can cool on a time scale that is short compared to the orbital period. We use a
combination of hydrodynamic simulations and N-body orbit integrations to study
the long term evolution of a fragmenting disc with an initial mass ratio to the
star of M_disc/M_star = 0.1. For a disc which is initially unstable across a
range of radii, a combination of collapse and subsequent accretion yields
substellar objects with a spectrum of masses extending (for a Solar mass star)
up to ~0.01 M_sun. Subsequent gravitational evolution ejects most of the lower
mass objects within a few million years, leaving a small number of very massive
planets or brown dwarfs in eccentric orbits at moderately small radii. Based on
these results, systems such as HD 168443 -- in which the companions are close
to or beyond the deuterium burning limit -- appear to be the best candidates to
have formed via gravitational instability. If massive substellar companions
originate from disc fragmentation, while lower-mass planetary companions
originate from core accretion, the metallicity distribution of stars which host
massive substellar companions at radii of ~1 au should differ from that of
stars with lower mass planetary companions.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA
Analysis of symmetries in models of multi-strain infections
In mathematical studies of the dynamics of multi-strain diseases caused by antigenically diverse pathogens, there is a substantial interest in analytical insights. Using the example of a generic model of multi-strain diseases with cross-immunity between strains, we show that a significant understanding of the stability of steady states and possible dynamical behaviours can be achieved when the symmetry of interactions between strains is taken into account. Techniques of equivariant bifurcation theory allow one to identify the type of possible symmetry-breaking Hopf bifurcation, as well as to classify different periodic solutions in terms of their spatial and temporal symmetries. The approach is also illustrated on other models of multi-strain diseases, where the same methodology provides a systematic understanding of bifurcation scenarios and periodic behaviours. The results of the analysis are quite generic, and have wider implications for understanding the dynamics of a large class of models of multi-strain diseases
Gerbes, M5-Brane Anomalies and E_8 Gauge Theory
Abelian gerbes and twisted bundles describe the topology of the NS-NS 3-form
gauge field strength H. We review how they have been usefully applied to study
and resolve global anomalies in open string theory. Abelian 2-gerbes and
twisted nonabelian gerbes describe the topology of the 4-form field strength G
of M-theory. We show that twisted nonabelian gerbes are relevant in the study
and resolution of global anomalies of multiple coinciding M5-branes. Global
anomalies for one M5-brane have been studied by Witten and by Diaconescu, Freed
and Moore. The structure and the differential geometry of twisted nonabelian
gerbes (i.e. modules for 2-gerbes) is defined and studied. The nonabelian
2-form gauge potential living on multiple coinciding M5-branes arises as
curving (curvature) of twisted nonabelian gerbes. The nonabelian group is in
general , the central extension of the E_8 loop group. The
twist is in general necessary to cancel global anomalies due to the
nontriviality of the 11-dimensional 4-form G field strength and due to the
possible torsion present in the cycles the M5-branes wrap. Our description of
M5-branes global anomalies leads to the D4-branes one upon compactification of
M-theory to Type IIA theory.Comment: 19 page
CGC, QCD Saturation and RHIC data (Kharzeev-Levin-McLerran-Nardi point of view)
This is the talk given at the Workshop:"Focus on Multiplicitioes", Bari,
Italy, 17-19 June,2004.. In this talk, we are going to discuss ion-ion and
deuteron - nucleus RHIC data and show that they support, if not more, the idea
of the new QCD phase: colour glass condensate with saturated parton density. .Comment: 26 pages with 33 figure
‘Sons of athelings given to the earth’: Infant Mortality within Anglo-Saxon Mortuary Geography
FOR 20 OR MORE YEARS early Anglo-Saxon archaeologists have believed children are underrepresented in the cemetery evidence. They conclude that excavation misses small bones, that previous attitudes to reporting overlook the very young, or that infants and children were buried elsewhere. This is all well and good, but we must be careful of oversimplifying compound social and cultural responses to childhood and infant mortality. Previous approaches have offered methodological quandaries in the face of this under-representation. However, proportionally more infants were placed in large cemeteries and sometimes in specific zones. This trend is statistically significant and is therefore unlikely to result entirely from preservation or excavation problems. Early medieval cemeteries were part of regional mortuary geographies and provided places to stage events that promoted social cohesion across kinship systems extending over tribal territories. This paper argues that patterns in early Anglo-Saxon infant burial were the result of female mobility. Many women probably travelled locally to marry in a union which reinforced existing social networks. For an expectant mother, however, the safest place to give birth was with experience women in her maternal home. Infant identities were affected by personal and legal association with their mother’s parental kindred, so when an infant died in childbirth or months and years later, it was their mother’s identity which dictated burial location. As a result, cemeteries central to tribal identities became places to bury the sons and daughters of a regional tribal aristocracy
Highly Active Ice-Nucleating Particles at the Summer North Pole
The amount of ice versus supercooled water in clouds is important for their radiative properties and role in climate feedbacks. Hence, knowledge of the concentration of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) is needed. Generally, the concentrations of INPs are found to be very low in remote marine locations allowing cloud water to persist in a supercooled state. We had expected the concentrations of INPs at the North Pole to be very low given the distance from open ocean and terrestrial sources coupled with effective wet scavenging processes. Here we show that during summer 2018 (August and September) high concentrations of biological INPs (active at\ua0>−20\ub0C) were sporadically present at the North Pole. In fact, INP concentrations were sometimes as high as those recorded at mid-latitude locations strongly impacted by highly active biological INPs, in strong contrast to the Southern Ocean. Furthermore, using a balloon borne sampler we demonstrated that INP concentrations were often different at the surface versus higher in the boundary layer where clouds form. Back trajectory analysis suggests strong sources of INPs near the Russian coast, possibly associated with wind-driven sea spray production, whereas the pack ice, open leads, and the marginal ice zone were not sources of highly active INPs. These findings suggest that primary ice production, and therefore Arctic climate, is sensitive to transport from locations such as the Russian coast that are already experiencing marked climate change
Theoretical Overview Quark Matter '04
The much wider transverse-momentum range accessible in heavy-ion collisions
at RHIC and at the LHC allows us to disentangle the dynamics of partonic
equilibration from the dynamics of delayed hadronization. This provides a novel
tool for testing the equilibration mechanisms underlying QCD thermodynamics.
Here, I argue, on the basis of simple formation-time arguments, why this is so,
and I review recent theoretical developments in this context.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 3 eps figures, invited introductory talk at Quark
Matter 2004, Oakland, January 11-17, 200
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