11,235 research outputs found
The 3D structure of the Lagrangian acceleration in turbulent flows
We report experimental results on the three dimensional Lagrangian
acceleration in highly turbulent flows. Tracer particles are tracked optically
using four silicon strip detectors from high energy physics that provide high
temporal and spatial resolution. The components of the acceleration are shown
to be statistically dependent. The probability density function (PDF) of the
acceleration magnitude is comparable to a log-normal distribution. Assuming
isotropy, a log-normal distribution of the magnitude can account for the
observed dependency of the components. The time dynamics of the acceleration
components is found to be typical of the dissipation scales whereas the
magnitude evolves over longer times, possibly close to the integral time scale.Comment: accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter
Extremal Black Hole/CFT Correspondence in (Gauged) Supergravities
We extend the investigation of the recently proposed Kerr/CFT correspondence
to large classes of rotating black hole solutions in gauged and ungauged
supergravities. The correspondence, proposed originally for four-dimensional
Kerr black holes, asserts that the quantum states in the near-horizon region of
an extremal rotating black hole are holographically dual to a two-dimensional
chiral theory whose Virasoro algebra arises as an asymptotic symmetry of the
near-horizon geometry. In fact in dimension D there are [(D-1)/2] commuting
Virasoro algebras. We consider a general canonical class of near-horizon
geometries in arbitrary dimension D, and show that in any such metric, the
[(D-1)/2] central charges each imply, via the Cardy formula, a microscopic
entropy that agrees with the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the associated
extremal black hole. In the remainder of the paper we show for most of the
known rotating black hole solutions of gauged supergravity, and for the
ungauged supergravity solutions with four charges in D=4 and three charges in
D=5, that their extremal near-horizon geometries indeed lie within the
canonical form. This establishes that in all these examples, the microscopic
entropies of the dual CFTs agree with the Bekenstein-Hawking entropies of the
extremal rotating black holes.Comment: 32 pages, references added and minor typos fixe
Polyfluorene as a model system for space-charge-limited conduction
Ethyl-hexyl substituted polyfluorene (PF) with its high level of molecular
disorder can be described very well by one-carrier space-charge-limited
conduction for a discrete set of trap levels with energy 0.5 eV above
the valence band edge. Sweeping the bias above the trap-filling limit in the
as-is polymer generates a new set of exponential traps, which is clearly seen
in the density of states calculations. The trapped charges in the new set of
traps have very long lifetimes and can be detrapped by photoexcitation. Thermal
cycling the PF film to a crystalline phase prevents creation of additional
traps at higher voltages.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. Physical Review B (accepted, 2007
X-ray observations of highly obscured Ï_(9.7 ÎŒm) > 1 sources: an efficient method for selecting Compton-thick AGN?
Observations with the IRS spectrograph onboard Spitzer have found many sources with very deep Si features at 9.7 ÎŒm, that have optical depths of Ï > 1. Since it is believed that a few of these systems in the local Universe are associated with Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (hereafter AGN), we set out to investigate whether the presence of a strong Si absorption feature is a good indicator of a heavily obscured AGN. We compile X-ray spectroscopic observations available in the literature on the optically-thick (Ï_(9.7 ÎŒm) > 1) sources from the 12 ÎŒm IRAS Seyfert sample. We find that the majority of the high-Ï optically confirmed Seyferts (six out of nine)
in the 12 ÎŒm sample are probably Compton-thick. Thus, we provide direct evidence of a connection between mid-IR optically-thick galaxies and Compton-thick AGN, with the success rate being close to 70% in the local Universe. This is at least comparable to, if not better than, other rates obtained with photometric information in the mid to far-IR, or even mid-IR to X-rays. However, this technique cannot provide complete Compton-thick AGN samples, i.e., there are many Compton-thick AGN that do not display significant Si
absorption, with the most notable example being NGC1068. After assessing the validity of the high 9.7 ÎŒm optical-depth technique in the local Universe, we attempt to construct a sample of candidate Compton-thick AGN at higher redshifts. We compile a sample of seven high-Ï Spitzer sources in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) and five in the Spitzer First-Look Survey.
All these have been selected to have no PAH features (EW_(6.2 ÎŒm) 10^(42) erg s^(â1)) of the detected GOODS sources corroborates that these are AGN. For FLS, ancillary optical spectroscopy reveals hidden nuclei in two more sources. SED fitting can support the presence of an AGN in the vast majority of sources. Owing to the limited photon statistics, we cannot derive useful constraints from X-ray spectroscopy on whether these sources are Compton-thick. However, the low L_(X)/L_(6 ÎŒm) luminosity ratios, suggest that at least four out of the six detected sources in GOODS may be associated with Compton-thick AGN
Non-local interactions in hydrodynamic turbulence at high Reynolds numbers: the slow emergence of scaling laws
We analyze the data stemming from a forced incompressible hydrodynamic
simulation on a grid of 2048^3 regularly spaced points, with a Taylor Reynolds
number of Re~1300. The forcing is given by the Taylor-Green flow, which shares
similarities with the flow in several laboratory experiments, and the
computation is run for ten turnover times in the turbulent steady state. At
this Reynolds number the anisotropic large scale flow pattern, the inertial
range, the bottleneck, and the dissipative range are clearly visible, thus
providing a good test case for the study of turbulence as it appears in nature.
Triadic interactions, the locality of energy fluxes, and structure functions of
the velocity increments are computed. A comparison with runs at lower Reynolds
numbers is performed, and shows the emergence of scaling laws for the relative
amplitude of local and non-local interactions in spectral space. The scalings
of the Kolmogorov constant, and of skewness and flatness of velocity
increments, performed as well and are consistent with previous experimental
results. Furthermore, the accumulation of energy in the small-scales associated
with the bottleneck seems to occur on a span of wavenumbers that is independent
of the Reynolds number, possibly ruling out an inertial range explanation for
it. Finally, intermittency exponents seem to depart from standard models at
high Re, leaving the interpretation of intermittency an open problem.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Higher-spin strings and W minimal models
We study the spectrum of physical states for higher-spin generalisations of
string theory, based on two-dimensional theories with local spin-2 and spin-
symmetries. We explore the relation of the resulting effective Virasoro string
theories to certain minimal models. In particular, we show how the
highest-weight states of the minimal models decompose into Virasoro
primaries.Comment: 13 pages, CTP TAMU-43/93, KUL-TF-93/9
A qualitative meta-synthesis for a theory of interfaith/interreligious learning through dialogue
Interfaith/interreligious (IF/IR) dialogue offers a context through which individuals within various religious communities can learn from and with each other. There are unique aspects to this learning environment. First, learning through conversation. Second, learning through conversation about a difficult topic. And third, learning from and with a religious other. To best understand what learning through IF/IR dialogue is, researchers would benefit from a nuanced understanding of the complexities of the learning environment and the participants within it. In this qualitative meta-synthesis, we examine current research on IF/IR dialogue to outline a theory of dialogical IF/IR learning
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