A model for the formation of the active region corona driven by magnetic flux emergence

We present the first model that couples the formation of the corona of a solar active region to a model of the emergence of a sunspot pair. This allows us to study when, where, and why active region loops form, and how they evolve. We use a 3D radiation MHD simulation of the emergence of an active region through the upper convection zone and the photosphere as a lower boundary for a 3D MHD coronal model. The latter accounts for the braiding of the magnetic fieldlines, which induces currents in the corona heating up the plasma. We synthesize the coronal emission for a direct comparison to observations. Starting with a basically field-free atmosphere we follow the filling of the corona with magnetic field and plasma. Numerous individually identifiable hot coronal loops form, and reach temperatures well above 1 MK with densities comparable to observations. The footpoints of these loops are found where small patches of magnetic flux concentrations move into the sunspots. The loop formation is triggered by an increase of upwards-directed Poynting flux at their footpoints in the photosphere. In the synthesized EUV emission these loops develop within a few minutes. The first EUV loop appears as a thin tube, then rises and expands significantly in the horizontal direction. Later, the spatially inhomogeneous heat input leads to a fragmented system of multiple loops or strands in a growing envelope.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, accepted to publication in A&

Magnetic Jam in the Corona of the Sun

The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, contains plasma at temperatures of more than a million K, more than 100 times hotter that solar surface. How this gas is heated is a fundamental question tightly interwoven with the structure of the magnetic field in the upper atmosphere. Conducting numerical experiments based on magnetohydrodynamics we account for both the evolving three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere and the complex interaction of magnetic field and plasma. Together this defines the formation and evolution of coronal loops, the basic building block prominently seen in X-rays and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images. The structures seen as coronal loops in the EUV can evolve quite differently from the magnetic field. While the magnetic field continuously expands as new magnetic flux emerges through the solar surface, the plasma gets heated on successively emerging fieldlines creating an EUV loop that remains roughly at the same place. For each snapshot the EUV images outline the magnetic field, but in contrast to the traditional view, the temporal evolution of the magnetic field and the EUV loops can be different. Through this we show that the thermal and the magnetic evolution in the outer atmosphere of a cool star has to be treated together, and cannot be simply separated as done mostly so far.Comment: Final version published online on 27 April 2015, Nature Physics 12 pages and 8 figure

The Estimation of Conditional Densities

We discuss a number of issues in the smoothed nonparametric estimation of kernel conditional probability density functions for stationary processes. The kernel conditional density estimate is a ratio of joint and marginal density estimates. We point out the different implications of leading choices of bandwidths in numerator and denominator for the ability of the estimate to integrate to one and to have finite moments. Again bearing in mind different bandwidth possibilities, we discuss asymptotic theory for the estimate: asymptotic bias and variance are calculated under various conditions, an extended discussion of bandwidth choice is included, and a central limit theorem is given.Conditional density estimation, serial dependence, bandwidth choice.

Coherent versus non-coherent decode-and-forward relaying aided cooperative space-time shift keying

Motivated by the recent concept of Space-Time Shift Keying (STSK), we propose a novel cooperative STSK family, which is capable of achieving a flexible rate-diversity tradeoff, in the context of cooperative space-time transmissions. More specifically, we first propose a Coherent cooperative STSK (CSTSK) scheme, where each Relay Node (RN) activates Decode-and-Forward (DF) transmissions, depending on the success or failure of Cyclic Redundancy Checking (CRC). We invoke a bitto- STSK mapping rule, where according to the input bits, one of the Q pre-assigned dispersion vectors is activated to implicitly convey log2(Q) bits, which are transmitted in combination with the classic log2(L)-bit modulated symbol. Additionally, we introduce a beneficial dispersion vector design, which enables us to dispense with symbol-level Inter-Relay Synchronization (IRS). Furthermore, the Destination Node (DN) is capable of jointly detecting the signals received from the source-destination and relay-destination links, using a low-complexity single-stream-based Maximum Likelihood (ML) detector, which is an explicit benefit of our Inter-Element Interference (IEI)-free system model. More importantly, as a benefit of its design flexibility, our cooperative CSTSK arrangement enables us to adapt the number of the RNs, the transmission rate as well as the achievable diversity order. Moreover, we also propose a Differentially-encoded cooperative STSK (DSTSK) arrangement, which dispenses with CSI estimation at any of the nodes, while retaining the fundamental benefits of the cooperative CSTSK scheme

A Ternary Lattice Boltzmann Model for Amphiphilic Fluids

A lattice Boltzmann model for amphiphilic fluid dynamics is presented. It is a ternary model, in that it conserves mass separately for each chemical species present (water, oil, amphiphile), and it maintains an orientational degree of freedom for the amphiphilic species. Moreover, it models fluid interactions at the microscopic level by introducing self-consistent forces between the particles, rather than by positing a Landau free energy functional. This combination of characteristics fills an important need in the hierarchy of models currently available for amphiphilic fluid dynamics, enabling efficient computer simulation and furnishing new theoretical insight. Several computational results obtained from this model are presented and compared to existing lattice-gas model results. In particular, it is noted that lamellar structures, which are precluded by the Peierls instability in two-dimensional systems with kinetic fluctuations, are not observed in lattice-gas models, but are easily found in the corresponding lattice Boltzmann models. This points out a striking difference in the phenomenology accessible to each type of model.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures included with graphic

First-principles method of propagation of tightly bound excitons: exciton band structure of LiF and verification with inelastic x-ray scattering

We propose a simple first-principles method to describe propagation of tightly bound excitons. By viewing the exciton as a composite object (an effective Frenkel exciton in Wannier orbitals), we define an exciton kinetic kernel to encapsulate the exciton propagation and decay for all binding energy. Applied to prototypical LiF, our approach produces three exciton bands, which we verified quantitatively via inelastic x-ray scattering. The proposed real-space picture is computationally inexpensive and thus enables study of the full exciton dynamics, even in the presence of surfaces and impurity scattering. It also provides intuitive understanding to facilitate practical exciton engineering in semiconductors, strongly correlated oxides, and their nanostructures.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted by PR

Constraints on the average magnetic field strength of relic radio sources 0917+75 and 1401-33 from XMM-Newton observations

We observed two relic radio sources, 0917+75 and 1401-33, with the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory. We did not detect any X-ray emission, thermal or non-thermal, in excess of the local background level from either target. This imposes new upper limits on the X-ray flux due to inverse Compton scattering of photons from the cosmic microwave background by relativistic electrons in the relic sources, and new lower limits on the magnetic field strength from the relative strength of the radio and X-ray emission. The combination of radio and X-ray observations provides a measure of the magnetic field independent of equipartition or minimum energy assumptions. Due to increasing sensitivity of radio observations, the known population of cluster relics has been growing; however, studies of non-thermal X-ray emission from relics remain scarce. Our study adds to the small sample of relics studied in X-rays. In both relics, our field strength lower limits are slightly larger than estimates of the equipartition magnetic field.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by MNRA

Direct observation of ultrafast thermal and non-thermal lattice deformation of polycrystalline Aluminum film

The dynamics of thermal and non-thermal lattice deformation of nanometer thick polycrystalline aluminum film has been studied by means of femtosecond (fs) time-resolved electron diffraction. We utilized two different pump wavelengths: 800 nm, the fundamental of Ti: sapphire laser and 1250 nm generated by a home-made optical parametric amplifier(OPA). Our data show that, although coherent phonons were generated under both conditions, the diffraction intensity decayed with the characteristic time of 0.9+/-0.3 ps and 1.7+/-0.3 ps under 800 nm and 1250 nm excitation, respectively. Because the 800 nm laser excitation corresponds to the strong interband transition of aluminum due to the 1.55 eV parallel band structure, our experimental data indicate the presence of non-thermal lattice deformation under 800 nm excitation, which occurs on a time-scale that is shorter than the thermal processes dominated by electron-phonon coupling under 1250 nm excitation