Charged Particle Dynamics in the Field of a Slowly Rotating Compact Star

We study the dynamics of a charged particle in the field of a slowly rotating compact star in the gravitoelectromagnetic approximation to the geodesic equation . The star is assumed to be surrounded by an ideal, highly conducting plasma (taken as a magnetohydrodynamic fluid) with a stationary, axially symmetric electromagnetic field. The general relativistic Maxwell equations are solved to obtain the effects of the background spacetime on the electromagnetic field in the linearized Kerr spacetime. The equations of motion are then set up and solved numerically to incorporate the gravitational as well as the electromagnetic effects. The analysis shows that in the slow rotation approximation the frame dragging effects on the electromagnetic field are absent. However the particle is directly effected by the rotating gravitational source such that close to the star the gravitational and electromagnetic field produce contrary effects on the particle's trajectory.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures in B & W PostScript Forma

Gravitomagnetism in superconductors and compact stars

There are three experimentally observed effects in rotating superconductors that are so far unexplained. Some authors have tried to interpret such a phenomena as possible new gravitational properties of coherent quantum systems: in particular, they suggest that the gravitomagnetic field of that kind of matter may be many orders of magnitude stronger than the one expected in the standard theory. Here I show that this interpretation would be in conflict with the common belief that neutron stars have neutrons in superfluid state and protons in superconductive one.Comment: 9 pages, no figur

Gravitomagnetic Resonance Shift due to a Slowly Rotating Compact Star

The effect of a slowly rotating mass on a forced harmonic oscillator with two degrees of freedom is studied in the weak field approximation. It is found that according to the general theory of relativity there is a shift in the resonat frequency of the oscillator which depends on the density and rotational frequency of the gravitational source. The proposed shift is quite small under normal physical situations however it is estimated that for compact x-ray sources such as white dwarfs, pulsars, and neutron stars the shift is quite appreciable.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for Publication in Inter. Journal of Modern Physics

Light-cone fluctuations and the renormalized stress tensor of a massless scalar field

We investigate the effects of light-cone fluctuations over the renormalized vacuum expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of a real massless minimally coupled scalar field defined in a ($d+1$)-dimensional flat space-time with topology ${\cal R}\times {\cal S}^d$. For modeling the influence of light-cone fluctuations over the quantum field, we consider a random Klein-Gordon equation. We study the case of centered Gaussian processes. After taking into account all the realizations of the random processes, we present the correction caused by random fluctuations. The averaged renormalized vacuum expectation value of the stress-energy associated with the scalar field is presented

On the time delay in binary systems

The aim of this paper is to study the time delay on electromagnetic signals propagating across a binary stellar system. We focus on the antisymmetric gravitomagnetic contribution due to the angular momentum of one of the stars of the pair. Considering a pulsar as the source of the signals, the effect would be manifest both in the arrival times of the pulses and in the frequency shift of their Fourier spectra. We derive the appropriate formulas and we discuss the influence of different configurations on the observability of gravitomagnetic effects. We argue that the recently discovered PSR J0737-3039 binary system does not permit the detection of the effects because of the large size of the eclipsed region.Comment: 7 pages, 2 eps figures, RevTex, to appear in Physical Review

Chaotic Accretion in a Non-Stationary Electromagnetic Field of a Slowly Rotating Compact Star

We investigate charge accretion in vicinity of a slowly rotating compact star with a non-stationary electromagnetic field. Exact solutions to the general relativistic Maxwell equations are obtained for a star formed of a highly degenerate plasma with a gravitational field given by the linearized Kerr metric. These solutions are used to formulate and then to study numerically the equations of motion for a charged particle in star's vicinity using the gravitoelectromagnetic force law. The analysis shows that close to the star charge accretion does not always remain ordered. It is found that the magnetic field plays the dominant role in the onset of chaos near the star's surface.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

High-resolution DCE-MRI of the pituitary gland using radial k-space acquisition with compressed sensing reconstruction

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The pituitary gland is located outside of the blood-brain barrier. Dynamic T1 weighted contrast enhanced sequence is considered to be the gold standard to evaluate this region. However, it does not allow assessment of intrinsic permeability properties of the gland. Our aim was to demonstrate the utility of radial volumetric interpolated brain examination with the golden-angle radial sparse parallel technique to evaluate permeability characteristics of the individual components (anterior and posterior gland and the median eminence) of the pituitary gland and areas of differential enhancement and to optimize the study acquisition time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed in 52 patients (group 1, 25 patients with normal pituitary glands; and group 2, 27 patients with a known diagnosis of microadenoma). Radial volumetric interpolated brain examination sequences with goldenangle radial sparse parallel technique were evaluated with an ROI-based method to obtain signal-time curves and permeability measures of individual normal structures within the pituitary gland and areas of differential enhancement. Statistical analyses were performed to assess differences in the permeability parameters of these individual regions and optimize the study acquisition time. RESULTS: Signal-time curves from the posterior pituitary gland and median eminence demonstrated a faster wash-in and time of maximum enhancement with a lower peak of enhancement compared with the anterior pituitary gland (P .005). Time-optimization analysis demonstrated that 120 seconds is ideal for dynamic pituitary gland evaluation. In the absence of a clinical history, differences in the signal-time curves allow easy distinction between a simple cyst and a microadenoma. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study confirms the ability of the golden-angle radial sparse parallel technique to evaluate the permeability characteristics of the pituitary gland and establishes 120 seconds as the ideal acquisition time for dynamic pituitary gland imaging

A laser gyroscope system to detect the Gravito-Magnetic effect on Earth

Large scale square ring laser gyros with a length of four meters on each side are approaching a sensitivity of 1x10^-11 rad/s/sqrt(Hz). This is about the regime required to measure the gravitomagnetic effect (Lense Thirring) of the Earth. For an ensemble of linearly independent gyros each measurement signal depends upon the orientation of each single axis gyro with respect to the rotational axis of the Earth. Therefore at least 3 gyros are necessary to reconstruct the complete angular orientation of the apparatus. In general, the setup consists of several laser gyroscopes (we would prefer more than 3 for sufficient redundancy), rigidly referenced to each other. Adding more gyros for one plane of observation provides a cross-check against intra-system biases and furthermore has the advantage of improving the signal to noise ratio by the square root of the number of gyros. In this paper we analyze a system of two pairs of identical gyros (twins) with a slightly different orientation with respect to the Earth axis. The twin gyro configuration has several interesting properties. The relative angle can be controlled and provides a useful null measurement. A quadruple twin system could reach a 1% sensitivity after 3:2 years of data, provided each square ring has 6 m length on a side, the system is shot noise limited and there is no source for 1/f- noise.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. 2010 Honourable mention of the Gravity Research Foundation; to be published on J. Mod. Phys.

Evalaution and optimization of laser cutting parameters for plywood materials

Laser process parameters influence greatly the width of kerfs and quality of the cut edges. This article reports experiments on the laser plywood-cutting performance of a CW 1.5 kW CO2¬ Rofin laser, based on design of experiments (DOE). The laser was used to cut three thicknesses 3, 6 and 9 mm of plywood panels. The process factors investigated are: laser power, cutting speed, air pressure and focal point position. The aim of this work is to relate the cutting edge quality parameters namely: upper kerf (UK), lower kerf (LK), the ratio between upper to lower kerfs and the operating cost to the process parameters mentioned above. Mathematical models were developed to establish the relationship between the process parameters and the edge quality parameters, and special graphs were drawn for this purpose. Finally, a numerical optimization was performed to find out the optimal process setting at which both kerfs would lead to a ratio of about 1, and at which low cutting cost take place

The First 1 1/2 Years of TOTEM Roman Pot Operation at LHC

Since the LHC running season 2010, the TOTEM Roman Pots (RPs) are fully operational and serve for collecting elastic and diffractive proton-proton scattering data. Like for other moveable devices approaching the high intensity LHC beams, a reliable and precise control of the RP position is critical to machine protection. After a review of the RP movement control and position interlock system, the crucial task of alignment will be discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 6 figures; 2nd International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC 2011), San Sebastian, Spain; contribution MOPO01