8,077 research outputs found
Extracting black-hole rotational energy: The generalized Penrose process
In the case involving particles the necessary and sufficient condition for
the Penrose process to extract energy from a rotating black hole is absorption
of particles with negative energies and angular momenta. No torque at the
black-hole horizon occurs. In this article we consider the case of arbitrary
fields or matter described by an unspecified, general energy-momentum tensor
and show that the necessary and sufficient condition for
extraction of a black hole's rotational energy is analogous to that in the
mechanical Penrose process: absorption of negative energy and negative angular
momentum. We also show that a necessary condition for the Penrose process to
occur is for the Noether current (the conserved energy-momentum density vector)
to be spacelike or past directed (timelike or null) on some part of the
horizon. In the particle case, our general criterion for the occurrence of a
Penrose process reproduces the standard result. In the case of relativistic
jet-producing "magnetically arrested disks" we show that the negative energy
and angular-momentum absorption condition is obeyed when the Blandford-Znajek
mechanism is at work, and hence the high energy extraction efficiency up to
found in recent numerical simulations of such accretion flows
results from tapping the black hole's rotational energy through the Penrose
process. We show how black-hole rotational energy extraction works in this case
by describing the Penrose process in terms of the Noether current.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, version published in Phys. Rev.
The slimming effect of advection on black-hole accretion flows
At super-Eddington rates accretion flows onto black holes have been described
as slim (aspect ratio ) or thick (H/R >1) discs, also known as
tori or (Polish) doughnuts. The relation between the two descriptions has never
been established, but it was commonly believed that at sufficiently high
accretion rates slim discs inflate, becoming thick. We wish to establish under
what conditions slim accretion flows become thick. We use analytical equations,
numerical 1+1 schemes, and numerical radiative MHD codes to describe and
compare various accretion flow models at very high accretion rates.We find that
the dominant effect of advection at high accretion rates precludes slim discs
becoming thick. At super-Eddington rates accretion flows around black holes can
always be considered slim rather than thick.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Astronomy & Astrophysics, in pres
P53 tumour-suppressor gene mutations are mainly localised on exon 7 in human primary and metastatic prostate cancer.
Mutations in the p53 tumour-suppressor gene are among the most common genetic alterations in human cancers. In the present study we analysed the mutations in the p53 tumor-suppressor gene in 25 primary and 20 metastatic human prostate cancer specimens. DNA extracted from the paraffin-embedded sections was amplified by hot-start polymerase chain reaction, and p53 gene mutations in the conserved mid-region (exons 4-9) were examined using single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and immunohistochemistry. In the present study, we used a novel hot-start PCR-SSCP technique using DNA Taq polymerase antibody, which eliminates primer-dimers and non-specific products. Because of this new technique, the results of PCR-SSCP showed very high resolution. Polymerase chain reaction products were sequenced directly for point mutations for the p53 gene. Mutations were found in 2 out of 25 primary prostate cancers (8%) and 4 out of 20 metastatic cancers (20%). Mutations were observed exclusively in exon 7 and not in exons 4, 5, 6, 8 or 9. Nuclear accumulation of p53 protein, determined by immunohistochemistry, correlated with the degree of metastasis in prostatic cancer
Bypass to Turbulence in Hydrodynamic Accretion Disks: An Eigenvalue Approach
Cold accretion disks such as those in star-forming systems, quiescent
cataclysmic variables, and some active galactic nuclei, are expected to have
neutral gas which does not couple well to magnetic fields. The turbulent
viscosity in such disks must be hydrodynamic in origin, not
magnetohydrodynamic. We investigate the growth of hydrodynamic perturbations in
a linear shear flow sandwiched between two parallel walls. The unperturbed flow
is similar to plane Couette flow but with a Coriolis force included. Although
there are no exponentially growing eigenmodes in this system, nevertheless,
because of the non-normal nature of the eigenmodes, it is possible to have a
large transient growth in the energy of perturbations. For a constant angular
momentum disk, we find that the perturbation with maximum growth has a
wave-vector in the vertical direction. The energy grows by more than a factor
of 100 for a Reynolds number R=300 and more than a factor of 1000 for R=1000.
Turbulence can be easily excited in such a disk, as found in previous numerical
simulations. For a Keplerian disk, on the other hand, similar vertical
perturbations grow by no more than a factor of 4, explaining why the same
simulations did not find turbulence in this system. However, certain other
two-dimensional perturbations with no vertical structure do exhibit modest
growth. For the optimum two-dimensional perturbation, the energy grows by a
factor of ~100 for R~10^4.5 and by a factor of 1000 for R~10^6. It is
conceivable that these two-dimensional disturbances might lead to
self-sustained turbulence. The Reynolds numbers of cold astrophysical disks are
much larger even than 10^6, therefore, hydrodynamic turbulence may be possible
in disks.Comment: 39 pages including 9 figures; Final version to appear in The
Astrophysical Journa
Universality of One-Dimensional Heat Conductivity
We show analytically that the heat conductivity of oscillator chains diverges
with system size N as N^{1/3}, which is the same as for one-dimensional fluids.
For long cylinders, we use the hydrodynamic equations for a crystal in one
dimension. This is appropriate for stiff systems such as nanotubes, where the
eventual crossover to a fluid only sets in at unrealistically large N. Despite
the extra equation compared to a fluid, the scaling of the heat conductivity is
unchanged. For strictly one-dimensional chains, we show that the dynamic
equations are those of a fluid at all length scales even if the static order
extends to very large N. The discrepancy between our results and numerical
simulations on Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chains is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Time Dependent Cosmologies and Their Duals
We construct a family of solutions in IIB supergravity theory. These are time
dependent or depend on a light-like coordinate and can be thought of as
deformations of AdS_5 x S^5. Several of the solutions have singularities. The
light-like solutions preserve 8 supersymmetries. We argue that these solutions
are dual to the N=4 gauge theory in a 3+1 dimensional spacetime with a metric
and a gauge coupling that is varying with time or the light-like direction
respectively. This identification allows us to map the question of singularity
resolution to the dual gauge theory.Comment: 13 pages REVTeX and AMSLaTeX. v2: corrected typos and made some
clarifications; reference added; v3: more clarifications, references adde
In-situ integrated processing and characterization of thin films of high temperature superconductors, dielectrics and semiconductors by MOCVD
In this strategy of depositing the basic building blocks of superconductors, semiconductors, and dielectric having common elements, researchers deposited superconducting films of Y-Ba-Cu-O, semiconductor films of Cu2O, and dielectric films of BaF2 and Y2O3 by metal oxide chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). By switching source materials entering the chamber, and by using direct writting capability, complex device structures like three-terminal hybrid semiconductors/superconductors transistors can be fabricated. The Y-Ba-Cu-O superconducting thin films on BaF2/YSZ substrates show a T(sub c) of 80 K and are textured with most of the grains having their c-axis or a-axis perpendicular to the substrate. Electrical characteristics as well as structural characteristics of superconductors and related materials obtained by x-ray defraction, electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray analysis are discussed
In-situ integrated processing and characterization of thin films of high temperature superconductors, dielectrics and semiconductors by MOCVD
In this strategy of depositing the basic building blocks of superconductors, semiconductors, and dielectrics having common elements, researchers deposited superconducting films of Y-Ba-Cu-O, semiconductor films of Cu2O, and dielectric films of BaF2 and Y2O3 by metal oxide chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). By switching source materials entering the chamber, and by using direct writing capability, complex device structures like three terminal hybrid semiconductor/superconductor transistors can be fabricated. The Y-Ba-Cu-O superconducting thin films on BaF2/YSZ substrates show a T(sub c) of 80 K and are textured with most of the grains having their c-axis or a-axis perpendicular to the substrate. Electrical characteristics as well as structural characteristics of superconductors and related materials obtained by x-ray deffraction, electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray analysis are discussed
Observational Prospects for Afterglows of Short Duration Gamma-ray Bursts
If the efficiency for producing -rays is the same in short duration
(\siml 2 s) Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) as in long duration GRBs, then the
average kinetic energy of short GRBs must be times less than that of
long GRBs. Assuming further that the relativistic shocks in short and long
duration GRBs have similar parameters, we show that the afterglows of short
GRBs will be on average 10--40 times dimmer than those of long GRBs. We find
that the afterglow of a typical short GRB will be below the detection limit
(\siml 10 \microJy) of searches at radio frequencies. The afterglow would be
difficult to observe also in the optical, where we predict R \simg 23 a few
hours after the burst. The radio and optical afterglow would be even fainter if
short GRBs occur in a low-density medium, as expected in NS-NS and NS-BH merger
models. The best prospects for detecting short-GRB afterglows are with early
(\siml 1 day) observations in X-rays.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to ApJ lette
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