1,681 research outputs found
Can Thin Disks Produce Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars?
We investigate whether young neutron stars with fall-back disks can produce
Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars (AXPs) within timescales indicated by the ages of
associated supernova remnants. The system passes through a propeller stage
before emerging as an AXP or a radio pulsar. The evolution of the disk is
described by a diffusion equation which has self-similar solutions with either
angular momentum or total mass of the disk conserved. We associate these two
types of solutions with accretor and propeller regimes, respectively. Our
numerical calculations of thin disk models with changing inner radius take into
account the super-critical accretion at the early stages, and electron
scattering and bound-free opacities with rich metal content. Our results show
that, assuming a fraction of the mass inflow is accreted onto the neutron star,
the fall-back disk scenario can produce AXPs for acceptable parameters.Comment: 16 pages, 4 Figures, to be published in Astrophysical Journal Vol.
599, Dec. 1
Growth and migration of solids in evolving protostellar disks I: Methods and Analytical tests
This series of papers investigates the early stages of planet formation by
modeling the evolution of the gas and solid content of protostellar disks from
the early T Tauri phase until complete dispersal of the gas. In this first
paper, I present a new set of simplified equations modeling the growth and
migration of various species of grains in a gaseous protostellar disk evolving
as a result of the combined effects of viscous accretion and photo-evaporation
from the central star. Using the assumption that the grain size distribution
function always maintains a power-law structure approximating the average
outcome of the exact coagulation/shattering equation, the model focuses on the
calculation of the growth rate of the largest grains only. The coupled
evolution equations for the maximum grain size, the surface density of the gas
and the surface density of solids are then presented and solved
self-consistently using a standard 1+1 dimensional formalism. I show that the
global evolution of solids is controlled by a leaky reservoir of small grains
at large radii, and propose an empirically derived evolution equation for the
total mass of solids, which can be used to estimate the total heavy element
retention efficiency in the planet formation paradigm. Consistency with
observation of the total mass of solids in the Minimum Solar Nebula augmented
with the mass of the Oort cloud sets strong upper limit on the initial grain
size distribution, as well as on the turbulent parameter \alphat. Detailed
comparisons with SED observations are presented in a following paper.Comment: Submitted to ApJ. 23 pages and 13 figure
Evolution of Supermassive Black Hole Binary and Acceleration of Jet Precession in Galactic Nuclei
Supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) is expected with the hierarchical
galaxy formation model. Currently, physics processes dominating the evolution
of a SMBHB are unclear. An interesting question is whether we could
observationally determine the evolution of SMBHB and give constraints on the
physical processes. Jet precession have been observed in many AGNs and
generally attributed to disk precession. In this paper we calculate the time
variation of jet precession and conclude that jet precession is accelerated in
SMBHB systems but decelerated in others. The acceleration of jet precession
is related to jet precession timescale and
SMBHB evolution timescale , . Our calculations based on the models
for jet precession and SMBHB evolution show that can be as
high as about with a typical value -0.2 and can be easily detected. We
discussed the differential jet precession for NGC1275 observed in the
literature. If the observed rapid acceleration of jet precession is true, the
jet precession is due to the orbital motion of an unbound SMBHB with mass ratio
. When jets precessed from the ancient bubbles to the currently
active jets, the separation of SMBHB decrease from about to
with an averaged decreasing velocity and evolution timescale . However, if we assume a steady jet precession for many cycles,
the observations implies a hard SMBHB with mass ratio and
separation .Comment: 29 pages, no figure, Accepted for publication in Ap
On the Correlated X-ray and Optical Evolution of SS Cygni
We have analyzed the variability and spectral evolution of the prototype
dwarf nova system SS Cygni using RXTE data and AAVSO observations. A series of
pointed RXTE/PCA observations allow us to trace the evolution of the X-ray
spectrum of SS Cygni in unprecedented detail, while 6 years of optical AAVSO
and RXTE/ASM light curves show long-term patterns. Employing a technique in
which we stack the X-ray flux over multiple outbursts, phased according to the
optical light curve, we investigate the outburst morphology. We find that the
3-12 keV X-ray flux is suppressed during optical outbursts, a behavior seen
previously, but only in a handful of cycles. The several outbursts of SS Cygni
observed with the more sensitive RXTE/PCA also show a depression of the X-rays
during optical outburst. We quantify the time lags between the optical and
X-ray outbursts, and the timescales of the X-ray recovery from outburst. The
optical light curve of SS Cygni exhibits brief anomalous outbursts. During
these events the hard X-rays and optical flux increase together. The long-term
data suggest that the X-rays decline between outburst. Our results are in
general agreement with modified disk instability models (DIM), which invoke a
two-component accretion flow consisting of a cool optically thick accretion
disk truncated at an inner radius, and a quasi-spherical hot corona-like flow
extending to the surface of the white dwarf. We discuss our results in the
framework of one such model, involving the evaporation of the inner part of the
optically thick accretion disk, proposed by Meyer & Meyer-Hofmeister (1994).Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Ap
Disks Surviving the Radiation Pressure of Radio Pulsars
The radiation pressure of a radio pulsar does not necessarily disrupt a
surrounding disk. The position of the inner radius of a thin disk around a
neutron star can be estimated by comparing the electromagnetic energy density
generated by the neutron star with the kinetic energy density of the disk.
Inside the light cylinder, the near zone electromagnetic field is essentially
the dipole magnetic field, and the inner radius is the conventional Alfven
radius. Far outside the light cylinder, in the radiation zone, and the
electromagnetic energy density is where is the
Poynting vector. Shvartsman (1970) argued that a stable equilibrium can not be
found in the radiative zone because the electromagnetic energy density
dominates over the kinetic energy density, with the relative strength of the
electromagnetic stresses increasing with radius. In order to check whether this
is true also near the light cylinder, we employ global electromagnetic field
solutions for rotating oblique magnetic dipoles (Deutsch 1955). Near the light
cylinder the electromagnetic energy density increases steeply enough with
decreasing to balance the kinetic energy density at a stable equilibrium.
The transition from the near zone to the radiation zone is broad. The radiation
pressure of the pulsar can not disrupt the disk for values of the inner radius
up to about twice the light cylinder radius if the rotation axis and the
magnetic axis are orthogonal. This allowed range beyond the light cylinder
extends much further for small inclination angles. We discuss implications of
this result for accretion driven millisecond pulsars and young neutron stars
with fallback disks.Comment: Accepted by Astrophysical Journal, final version with a minor
correctio
Thermal Properties of Two-Dimensional Advection Dominated Accretion Flow
We study the thermal structure of the widely adopted two-dimensional
advection dominated accretion flow (ADAF) of Narayan & Yi (1995a). The critical
radius for a given mass accretion rate, outside of which the optically thin hot
solutions do not exist in the equatorial plane, agrees with one-dimensional
study. However, we find that, even within the critical radius, there always
exists a conical region of the flow, around the pole, which cannot maintain the
assumed high electron temperature, regardless of the mass accretion rate, in
the absence of radiative heating. This could lead to torus-like advection
inflow shape since, in general, the ions too will cool down. We also find that
Compton preheating is generally important and, if the radiative efficiency,
defined as the luminosity output divided by the mass accretion rate times the
velocity of light squared, is above sim 4x10^-3, the polar region of the flow
is preheated above the virial temperature by Compton heating and it may result
in time-dependent behaviour or outflow while accretion continues in the
equatorial plane. Thus, under most relevant circumstances, ADAF solutions may
be expected to be accompanied by polar outflow winds. While preheating
instabilities exist in ADAF, as for spherical flows, the former are to some
extent protected by their characteristically higher densities and higher
cooling rates, which reduce their susceptibility to Compton driven overheating.Comment: 18 pages including 4 figures. AASTEX. Submitted to Ap
Fluctuating Cu-O-Cu Bond model of high temperature superconductivity in cuprates
Twenty years of extensive research has yet to produce a general consensus on
the origin of high temperature superconductivity (HTS). However, several
generic characteristics of the cuprate superconductors have emerged as the
essential ingredients of and/or constraints on any viable microscopic model of
HTS. Besides a Tc of order 100K, the most prominent on the list include a
d-wave superconducting gap with Fermi liquid nodal excitations, a d-wave
pseudogap with the characteristic temperature scale T*, an anomalous
doping-dependent oxygen isotope shift, nanometer-scale gap inhomogeneity, etc..
The key role of planar oxygen vibrations implied by the isotope shift and other
evidence, in the context of CuO2 plane symmetry and charge constraints from the
strong intra-3d Coulomb repulsion U, enforces an anharmonic mechanism in which
the oxygen vibrational amplitude modulates the strength of the in-plane Cu-Cu
bond. We show, within a Fermi liquid framework, that this mechanism can lead to
strong d-wave pairing and to a natural explanation of the salient features of
HTS
Duties to Organizational Clients
Loyalty to an organizational client means fidelity to the substantive legal structure that constitutes it. Although this principle is not controversial in the abstract, it is commonly ignored in professional discourse and doctrine. This article explains the basic notion of organizational loyalty and identifies some mistaken tendencies in discourse and doctrine, especially the Managerialist Fallacy that leads lawyers to conflate the client organization with its senior managers. The article then applies the basic notion to some hard cases, concluding with a critical appraisal of the rationale for confidentiality with organizational clients
Entrances and exits: changing perceptions of primary teaching as a career for men
Original article can be found at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713640830~db=all Copyright Informa / Taylor and Francis. DOI: 10.1080/03004430802352087The number of men in teaching has always been small, particularly in early childhood, but those that do come into teaching usually do so for the same reasons as women, namely enjoyment of working with children, of wanting to teach and wanting to make a difference to children's lives. However, in two separate studies, the authors have shown that on beginning teacher training in 1998, and at the point of leaving the profession in 2005, men and women tend to emphasise different concerns. This article will explore those differences and seek possible explanations for how men's views of teaching might be changing over time.Peer reviewe
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