18,109 research outputs found
Soft X-ray emission in kink-unstable coronal loops
Solar flares are associated with intense soft X-ray emission generated by the
hot flaring plasma. Kink unstable twisted flux-ropes provide a source of
magnetic energy which can be released impulsively and account for the flare
plasma heating. We compute the temporal evolution of the thermal X-ray emission
in kink-unstable coronal loops using MHD simulations and discuss the results of
with respect to solar flare observations. The model consists of a highly
twisted loop embedded in a region of uniform and untwisted coronal magnetic
field. We let the kink instability develop, compute the evolution of the plasma
properties in the loop (density, temperature) without accounting for mass
exchange with the chromosphere. We then deduce the X-ray emission properties of
the plasma during the whole flaring episode. During the initial phase of the
instability plasma heating is mostly adiabatic. Ohmic diffusion takes over as
the instability saturates, leading to strong and impulsive heating (> 20 MK),
to a quick enhancement of X-ray emission and to the hardening of the thermal
X-ray spectrum. The temperature distribution of the plasma becomes broad, with
the emission measure depending strongly on temperature. Significant emission
measures arise for plasma at temperatures T > 9 MK. The magnetic flux-rope then
relaxes progressively towards a lower energy state as it reconnects with the
background flux. The loop plasma suffers smaller sporadic heating events but
cools down conductively. The total thermal X-ray emission slowly fades away
during this phase, and the high temperature component of emission measure
distribution converges to the power-law distribution . The
amount of twist deduced directly from the X-ray emission patterns is
considerably lower than the maximum magnetic twist in the simulated flux-ropes.Comment: submitted to A&
Covariant Bardeen Perturbation Formalism
In a previous work we obtained a set of necessary conditions for the linear
approximation in cosmology. Here we discuss the relations of this approach with
the so called covariant perturbations. It is often argued in the literature
that one of the main advantages of the covariant approach to describe
cosmological perturbations is that the Bardeen formalism is coordinate
dependent. In this paper we will reformulate the Bardeen approach in a
completely covariant manner. For that, we introduce the notion of pure and
mixed tensors, which yields an adequate language to treat both perturbative
approaches in a common framework. We then stress that in the referred covariant
approach one necessarily introduces an additional hyper-surface choice to the
problem. Using our mixed and pure tensors approach, we were able to construct a
one-to-one map relating the usual gauge dependence of the Bardeen formalism
with the hyper-surface dependence inherent to the covariant approach. Finally,
through the use of this map, we define full non-linear tensors that at first
order correspond to the three known gauge invariant variables ,
and , which are simultaneously foliation and gauge invariant. We then
stress that the use of the proposed mixed tensors allows one to construct
simultaneously gauge and hyper-surface invariant variables at any order.Comment: 15 pages, no figures, revtex4-1, accepted for publication in PRD,
typos fixed, improved discussion about higher order gauge and foliation
invarianc
Energy-momentum Density of Gravitational Waves
In this paper, we elaborate the problem of energy-momentum in general
relativity by energy-momentum prescriptions theory. Our aim is to calculate
energy and momentum densities for the general form of gravitational waves. In
this connection, we have extended the previous works by using the prescriptions
of Bergmann and Tolman. It is shown that they are finite and reasonable. In
addition, using Tolman prescription, exactly, leads to same results that have
been obtained by Einstein and Papapetrou prescriptions.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages, 1 table: added reference
Substrate induced proximity effect in superconducting niobium nanofilms
Structural and superconducting properties of high quality Niobium nanofilms
with different thicknesses are investigated on silicon oxide and sapphire
substrates. The role played by the different substrates and the superconducting
properties of the Nb films are discussed based on the defectivity of the films
and on the presence of an interfacial oxide layer between the Nb film and the
substrate. The X-ray absorption spectroscopy is employed to uncover the
structure of the interfacial layer. We show that this interfacial layer leads
to a strong proximity effect, specially in films deposited on a SiO
substrate, altering the superconducting properties of the Nb films. Our results
establish that the critical temperature is determined by an interplay between
quantum-size effects, due to the reduction of the Nb film thicknesses, and
proximity effects
On the Electronic Transport Mechanism in Conducting Polymer Nanofibers
Here, we present theoretical analysis of electron transport in polyaniline
based (PANi) nanofibers assuming the metalic state of the material. To build up
this theory we treat conducting polymers as a special kind of granular metals,
and we apply the quantum theory of conduction in mesoscopic systems to describe
the transport between metallic-like granules. Our results show that the concept
of resonance electron tunneling as the predominating mechanism providing charge
transport between the grains is supported with recent experiments on the
electrical characterization of single PANi nanofibers. By contacting the
proposed theory with the experimental data we estimate some important
parameters characterizing the electron transport in these materials. Also, we
discuss the origin of rectifying features observed in current-voltage
characteristics of fibers with varying cross-sectional areas.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B, Vol.72,
xxxx (2005
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