5,925 research outputs found
On Essential Incompleteness of Hertz's Experiments on Propagation of Electromagnetic Interactions
The historical background of the 19th century electromagnetic theory is
revisited from the standpoint of the opposition between alternative approaches
in respect to the problem of interactions. The 19th century electrodynamics
became the battle-field of a paramount importance to test existing conceptions
of interactions. Hertz's experiments were designed to bring a solid
experimental evidence in favor of one of them. The modern scientific method
applied to analyze Hertz's experimental approach as well as the analysis of his
laboratory notes, dairy and private letters show that Hertz's
"\textit{crucial}" experiments cannot be considered as conclusive at many
points as it is generally implied. We found that alternative Helmholtz's
electrodynamics did not contradict any of Hertz's experimental observations of
transverse components as Maxwell's theory predicted. Moreover, as we now know
from recently published Hertz's dairy and private notes, his first experimental
results indicated clearly on infinite rate of propagation. Nevertheless,
Hertz's experiments provided no further explicit information on non-local
longitudinal components which were such an essential feature of Helmholtz's
theory. Necessary and sufficient conditions for a decisive choice on the
adequate account of electromagnetic interactions are discussed from the
position of modern scientific method
On the core-halo distribution of dark matter in galaxies
We investigate the distribution of dark matter in galaxies by solving the
equations of equilibrium of a self-gravitating system of massive fermions
(`inos') at selected temperatures and degeneracy parameters within general
relativity. Our most general solutions show, as a function of the radius, a
segregation of three physical regimes: 1) an inner core of almost constant
density governed by degenerate quantum statistics; 2) an intermediate region
with a sharply decreasing density distribution followed by an extended plateau,
implying quantum corrections; 3) an asymptotic, classical
Boltzmann regime fulfilling, as an eigenvalue problem, a fixed value of the
flat rotation curves. This eigenvalue problem determines, for each value of the
central degeneracy parameter, the mass of the ino as well as the radius and
mass of the inner quantum core. Consequences of this alternative approach to
the central and halo regions of galaxies, ranging from dwarf to big spirals,
for SgrA*, as well as for the existing estimates of the ino mass, are outlined.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication by MNRA
Spectral atlas of dwarf novae in outburst
Up to now, only a very small number of dwarf novae have been studied during
their outburst state (~30 per cent in the Northern hemisphere). In this paper
we present the first comprehensive atlas of outburst spectra of dwarf novae. We
study possible correlations between the emission and absorption lines seen in
the spectra and some fundamental parameters of the binaries. We find that out
of the 48 spectra presented, 12 systems apart from IP Peg show strong HeII in
emission: SS Aur, HL CMa, TU Crt, EM Cyg, SS Cyg, EX Dra, U Gem, HX Peg, GK
Per, KT Per, V893 Sco, IY UMa, and 7 others less prominently: FO And, V542 Cyg,
BI Ori, TY Psc, VZ Pyx, ER UMa, and SS UMi. We conclude that these systems are
good targets for finding spiral structure in their accretion discs during
outburst if models of Smak (2001) and Ogilvie (2001) are correct. This is
confirmed by the fact that hints of spiral asymmetries have already been found
in the discs of SS Cyg, EX Dra and U Gem.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures. To be published in MNRA
Strong-field gravitational-wave emission in Schwarzschild and Kerr geometries: some general considerations
We show how the concurrent implementation of the exact solutions of the
Einstein equations, of the equations of motion of the test particles, and of
the relativistic estimate of the emission of gravitational waves from test
particles, can establish a priori constraints on the possible phenomena
occurring in Nature. Two examples of test particles starting at infinite
distance or from finite distance in a circular orbit around a Kerr black hole
are considered: the first leads to a well defined gravitational wave burst the
second to a smooth merging into the black hole. This analysis is necessary for
the study of the waveforms in merging binary systems.Comment: Resubmitted to PRD after Referee repor
- …