411 research outputs found
Turbulent convection model in the overshooting region: II. Theoretical analysis
Turbulent convection models are thought to be good tools to deal with the
convective overshooting in the stellar interior. However, they are too complex
to be applied in calculations of stellar structure and evolution. In order to
understand the physical processes of the convective overshooting and to
simplify the application of turbulent convection models, a semi-analytic
solution is necessary.
We obtain the approximate solution and asymptotic solution of the turbulent
convection model in the overshooting region, and find some important properties
of the convective overshooting:
I. The overshooting region can be partitioned into three parts: a thin region
just outside the convective boundary with high efficiency of turbulent heat
transfer, a power law dissipation region of turbulent kinetic energy in the
middle, and a thermal dissipation area with rapidly decreasing turbulent
kinetic energy. The decaying indices of the turbulent correlations ,
, and are only determined by the parameters of the
TCM, and there is an equilibrium value of the anisotropic degree .
II. The overshooting length of the turbulent heat flux is
about ().
III. The value of the turbulent kinetic energy at the convective boundary
can be estimated by a method called \textsl{the maximum of diffusion}.
Turbulent correlations in the overshooting region can be estimated by using
and exponentially decreasing functions with the decaying indices.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by The Astrophysical Journa
Light Induced Melting of Colloidal Crystals in Two Dimensions
We demonstrate that particles confined to two dimensions (2d) and subjected
to a one-dimensional (1d) periodic potential exhibit a rich phase diagram, with
both ``locked floating solids'' and smectic phases. The resulting phases and
phase transitions are studied as a function of temperature and potential
strength. We find reentrant melting as a function of the potential strength.
Our results lead to universal predictions consistent with recent experiments on
2d colloids in the presence of a laser-induced 1d periodic potential.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, also available at http://cmtw.harvard.edu/~fre
Rotation profiles of solar-like stars with magnetic fields
The aim of this work is to investigate rotation profile of solar-like stars
with magnetic fields. A diffusion coefficient of magnetic angular momentum
transport is deduced. Rotating stellar models with different mass are computed
under the effect of the coefficient. Then rotation profiles are obtained from
the theoretical stellar models. The total angular momentum of solar model with
only hydrodynamic instabilities is about 13 times larger than that of the Sun
at the age of the Sun, and this model can not reproduce quasi-solid rotation in
the radiative region. However, not only can the solar model with magnetic
fields reproduce an almost uniform rotation in the radiative region, but its
total angular momentum is consistent with helioseismic result at the level of 3
at the age of the Sun. The rotation of solar-like stars with magnetic
fields is almost uniform in the radiative region. But there is an obvious
transition region of angular velocity between the convective core and the
radiative region of models with 1.2 - 1.5 , where angular velocity
has a sharp radial change, which is different from the rotation profile of the
Sun and massive stars with magnetic fields. Moreover the changes of the angular
velocity in the transition region increase with the increasing in the age and
mass.Comment: Accepted for publication in ChjA
Understanding the nature of "superhard graphite"
Numerous experiments showed that on cold compression graphite transforms into
a new superhard and transparent allotrope. Several structures with different
topologies have been proposed for this phase. While experimental data are
consistent with these models, the only way to solve this puzzle is to find
which structure is kinetically easiest to form. Using state-of-the-art
molecular-dynamics transition path sampling simulations, we investigate kinetic
pathways of the pressure-induced transformation of graphite to various
superhard candidate structures. Unlike hitherto applied methods for elucidating
nature of superhard graphite, transition path sampling realistically models
nucleation events necessary for physically meaningful transformation kinetics.
We demonstrate that nucleation mechanism and kinetics lead to -carbon as the
final product. -carbon, initially competitor to -carbon, is ruled out by
phase growth. Bct-C structure is not expected to be produced by cold
compression due to less probable nucleation and higher barrier of formation
Phase Transitions of Hard Disks in External Periodic Potentials: A Monte Carlo Study
The nature of freezing and melting transitions for a system of hard disks in
a spatially periodic external potential is studied using extensive Monte Carlo
simulations. Detailed finite size scaling analysis of various thermodynamic
quantities like the order parameter, its cumulants etc. are used to map the
phase diagram of the system for various values of the density and the amplitude
of the external potential. We find clear indication of a re-entrant liquid
phase over a significant region of the parameter space. Our simulations
therefore show that the system of hard disks behaves in a fashion similar to
charge stabilized colloids which are known to undergo an initial freezing,
followed by a re-melting transition as the amplitude of the imposed, modulating
field produced by crossed laser beams is steadily increased. Detailed analysis
of our data shows several features consistent with a recent dislocation
unbinding theory of laser induced melting.Comment: 36 pages, 16 figure
Elastic moduli, dislocation core energy and melting of hard disks in two dimensions
Elastic moduli and dislocation core energy of the triangular solid of hard
disks of diameter are obtained in the limit of vanishing dislocation-
antidislocation pair density, from Monte Carlo simulations which incorporates a
constraint, namely that all moves altering the local connectivity away from
that of the ideal triangular lattice are rejected. In this limit, we show that
the solid is stable against all other fluctuations at least upto densities as
low as . Our system does not show any phase transition so
diverging correlation lengths leading to finite size effects and slow
relaxations do not exist. The dislocation pair formation probability is
estimated from the fraction of moves rejected due to the constraint which
yields, in turn, the core energy E_c and the (bare) dislocation fugacity y.
Using these quantities, we check the relative validity of first order and
Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young (KTHNY) melting scenarios and obtain
numerical estimates of the typical expected transition densities and pressures.
We conclude that a KTHNY transition from the solid to a hexatic phase preempts
the solid to liquid first order transition in this system albeit by a very
small margin, easily masked by crossover effects in unconstrained
``brute-force'' simulations with small number of particles.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure
Phase Transitions of Soft Disks in External Periodic Potentials: A Monte Carlo Study
The nature of freezing and melting transitions for a system of model colloids
interacting by a DLVO potential in a spatially periodic external potential is
studied using extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Detailed finite size scaling
analyses of various thermodynamic quantities like the order parameter, its
cumulants etc. are used to map the phase diagram of the system for various
values of the reduced screening length and the amplitude of the
external potential. We find clear indication of a reentrant liquid phase over a
significant region of the parameter space. Our simulations therefore show that
the system of soft disks behaves in a fashion similar to charge stabilized
colloids which are known to undergo an initial freezing, followed by a
re-melting transition as the amplitude of the imposed, modulating field
produced by crossed laser beams is steadily increased. Detailed analysis of our
data shows several features consistent with a recent dislocation unbinding
theory of laser induced melting
Modeling the System Parameters of 2M1533+3759: A New Longer-Period Low-Mass Eclipsing sdB+dM Binary
We present new photometric and spectroscopic observations for 2M 1533+3759 (=
NSVS 07826147). It has an orbital period of 0.16177042 day, significantly
longer than the 2.3--3.0 hour periods of the other known eclipsing sdB+dM
systems. Spectroscopic analysis of the hot primary yields Teff = 29230 +/- 125
K, log g = 5.58 +/- 0.03 and log N(He)/N(H) = -2.37 +/- 0.05. The sdB velocity
amplitude is K1 = 71.1 +/- 1.0 km/s. The only detectable light contribution
from the secondary is due to the surprisingly strong reflection effect. Light
curve modeling produced several solutions corresponding to different values of
the system mass ratio, q(M2/M1), but only one is consistent with a core helium
burning star, q=0.301. The orbital inclination is 86.6 degree. The sdB primary
mass is M1 = 0.376 +/- 0.055 Msun and its radius is R1 = 0.166 +/- 0.007 Rsun.
2M1533+3759 joins PG0911+456 (and possibly also HS2333+3927) in having an
unusually low mass for an sdB star. SdB stars with masses significantly lower
than the canonical value of 0.48 Msun, down to as low as 0.30 Msun, were
theoretically predicted by Han et al. (2002, 2003), but observational evidence
has only recently begun to confirm the existence of such stars. The existence
of core helium burning stars with masses lower than 0.40--0.43 Msun implies
that at least some sdB progenitors have initial main sequence masses of
1.8--2.0 Msun or more, i.e. they are at least main sequence A stars. The
secondary is a main sequence M5 star.Comment: 47 pages, 7 figure
Novel Phases and Reentrant Melting of Two Dimensional Colloidal Crystals
We investigate two-dimensional (2d) melting in the presence of a
one-dimensional (1d) periodic potential as, for example, realized in recent
experiments on 2d colloids subjected to two interfering laser beams. The
topology of the phase diagram is found to depend primarily on two factors: the
relative orientation of the 2d crystal and the periodic potential troughs,
which select a set of Bragg planes running parallel to the troughs, and the
commensurability ratio p= a'/d of the spacing a' between these Bragg planes to
the period d of the periodic potential. The complexity of the phase diagram
increases with the magnitude of the commensurabilty ratio p. Rich phase
diagram, with ``modulated liquid'', ``floating'' and ``locked floating'' solid
and smectic phases are found. Phase transitions between these phases fall into
two broad universality classes, roughening and melting, driven by the
proliferation of discommensuration walls and dislocations, respectively. We
discuss correlation functions and the static structure factor in these phases
and make detailed predictions of the universal features close to the phase
boundaries. We predict that for charged systems with highly screened
short-range interactions these melting transitions are generically reentrant as
a function of the strength of the periodic potential, prediction that is in
accord with recent 2d colloid experiments. Implications of our results for
future experiments are also discussed.Comment: 37 pages, 24 figure
Searching for star-planet magnetic interaction in CoRoT observations
Close-in massive planets interact with their host stars through tidal and
magnetic mechanisms. In this paper, we review circumstantial evidence for
star-planet interaction as revealed by the photospheric magnetic activity in
some of the CoRoT planet-hosting stars, notably CoRoT-2, CoRoT-4, and CoRoT-6.
The phenomena are discussed in the general framework of activity-induced
features in stars accompanied by hot Jupiters. The theoretical mechanisms
proposed to explain the activity enhancements possibly related with hot Jupiter
are also briefly reviewed with an emphasis on the possible effects at
photospheric level. The unique advantages of CoRoT and Kepler observations to
test these models are pointed out.Comment: Invited review paper accepted by Astrophysics and Space Science, 13
pages, 5 figure
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