439 research outputs found
Almost-stationary motions and gauge conditions in General Relativity
An almost-stationary gauge condition is proposed with a view to Numerical
Relativity applications. The time lines are defined as the integral curves of
the timelike solutions of the harmonic almost-Killing equation. This vector
equation is derived by a variational principle, by minimizing the deviations
from isometry. The corresponding almost-stationary gauge condition allows one
to put the field equations in hyperbolic form, both in the free-evolution ADM
and in the Z4 formalisms.Comment: Talk presented at the Spanish Relativity Meeting, September 6-10 2005
Revised versio
Are gauge shocks really shocks?
The existence of gauge pathologies associated with the Bona-Masso family of
generalized harmonic slicing conditions is proven for the case of simple 1+1
relativity. It is shown that these gauge pathologies are true shocks in the
sense that the characteristic lines associated with the propagation of the
gauge cross, which implies that the name ``gauge shock'' usually given to such
pathologies is indeed correct. These gauge shocks are associated with places
where the spatial hypersurfaces that determine the foliation of spacetime
become non-smooth.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, REVTEX 4. Revised version, including corrections
suggested by referee
Understanding possible electromagnetic counterparts to loud gravitational wave events: Binary black hole effects on electromagnetic fields
In addition to producing loud gravitational waves (GW), the dynamics of a
binary black hole system could induce emission of electromagnetic (EM)
radiation by affecting the behavior of plasmas and electromagnetic fields in
their vicinity. We here study how the electromagnetic fields are affected by a
pair of orbiting black holes through the merger. In particular, we show how the
binary's dynamics induce a variability in possible electromagnetically induced
emissions as well as an enhancement of electromagnetic fields during the
late-merge and merger epochs. These time dependent features will likely leave
their imprint in processes generating detectable emissions and can be exploited
in the detection of electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational waves.Comment: 12 page
Robustness of the Blandford-Znajek mechanism
The Blandford-Znajek mechanism has long been regarded as a key ingredient in
models attempting to explain powerful jets in AGNs, quasars, blazzars etc. In
such mechanism, energy is extracted from a rotating black hole and dissipated
at a load at far distances. In the current work we examine the behaviour of the
BZ mechanism with respect to different boundary conditions, revealing the
mechanism robustness upon variation of these conditions. Consequently, this
work closes a gap in our understanding of this important scenario.Comment: 7 pages, accepted in CQ
Evolutions of Magnetized and Rotating Neutron Stars
We study the evolution of magnetized and rigidly rotating neutron stars
within a fully general relativistic implementation of ideal
magnetohydrodynamics with no assumed symmetries in three spatial dimensions.
The stars are modeled as rotating, magnetized polytropic stars and we examine
diverse scenarios to study their dynamics and stability properties. In
particular we concentrate on the stability of the stars and possible critical
behavior. In addition to their intrinsic physical significance, we use these
evolutions as further tests of our implementation which incorporates new
developments to handle magnetized systems.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Geometrically motivated hyperbolic coordinate conditions for numerical relativity: Analysis, issues and implementations
We study the implications of adopting hyperbolic driver coordinate conditions
motivated by geometrical considerations. In particular, conditions that
minimize the rate of change of the metric variables. We analyze the properties
of the resulting system of equations and their effect when implementing
excision techniques. We find that commonly used coordinate conditions lead to a
characteristic structure at the excision surface where some modes are not of
outflow-type with respect to any excision boundary chosen inside the horizon.
Thus, boundary conditions are required for these modes. Unfortunately, the
specification of these conditions is a delicate issue as the outflow modes
involve both gauge and main variables. As an alternative to these driver
equations, we examine conditions derived from extremizing a scalar constructed
from Killing's equation and present specific numerical examples.Comment: 9 figure
Coherence Resonance in Chaotic Systems
We show that it is possible for chaotic systems to display the main features
of coherence resonance. In particular, we show that a Chua model, operating in
a chaotic regime and in the presence of noise, can exhibit oscillations whose
regularity is optimal for some intermediate value of the noise intensity. We
find that the power spectrum of the signal develops a peak at finite frequency
at intermediate values of the noise. These are all signatures of coherence
resonance. We also experimentally study a Chua circuit and corroborate the
above simulation results. Finally, we analyze a simple model composed of two
separate limit cycles which still exhibits coherence resonance, and show that
its behavior is qualitatively similar to that of the chaotic Chua systemComment: 4 pages (including 4 figures) LaTeX fil
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