Accretion modes in collapsars - prospects for GRB production

We explore low angular momentum accretion flows onto black holes formed after the collapse of massive stellar cores. In particular, we consider the state of the gas falling quasi-spherically onto stellar-mass black holes in the hypercritical regime, where the accretion rates are in the range 0.001 - 0.5 solar masses per second and neutrinos dominate the cooling. Previous studies have assumed that in order to have a black hole switch to a luminous state, the condition l >> r_g c, where l is the specific orbital angular momentum of the infalling gas and r_g is the Schwarszchild radius, needs to be fulfilled. We argue that flows in hyperaccreting, stellar mass disks around black holes are likely to transition to a highly radiative state when their angular momentum is just above the threshold for disk formation, l ~ 2 r_g c. In a range where l lies between r_g c and 2 r_g c, a dwarf disk forms in which gas spirals rapidly into the black hole due to general relativistic effects, without any help from horizontal viscous stresses. For high rotation rates with l greater than 2 r_g c, the luminosity is supplied by large, hot equatorial bubbles around the black hole. The highest neutrino luminosities are obtained for l ~ 2 r_g c, and this value of angular momentum also produces the most energetic neutrinos, and thus also the highest energy deposition rates. Given the range of l explored in this work, we argue that, as long as l is greater than 2 r_g c, low angular momentum cores may in fact be better suited for producing neutrino--driven explosions following core collapse in supernovae and gamma ray bursts.Comment: Revised version following referee's comments. References added. Accepted for publication in Ap

Attosecond probing of instantaneous AC Stark shifts in helium atoms

Based on numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation for either one or two active electrons, we propose a method for observing instantaneous level shifts in an oscillating strong infrared (IR) field in time, using a single tunable attosecond pulse to probe excited states of the perturbed atom. The ionization probability in the combined fields depends on both, the frequency of the attosecond pulse and the time delay between both pulses, since the IR field shifts excited energy levels into and out of resonance with the attosecond probe pulse. We show that this method (i) allows the detection of instantaneous atomic energy gaps with sub-laser-cycle time resolution and (ii) can be applied as an ultrafast gate for more complex processes such as non-sequential double-ionization

Features of the Extension of a Statistical Measure of Complexity to Continuous Systems

We discuss some aspects of the extension to continuous systems of a statistical measure of complexity introduced by Lopez-Ruiz, Mancini and Calbet (LMC) [Phys. Lett. A 209 (1995) 321]. In general, the extension of a magnitude from the discrete to the continuous case is not a trivial process and requires some choice. In the present study, several possibilities appear available. One of them is examined in detail. Some interesting properties desirable for any magnitude of complexity are discovered on this particular extension.Comment: 22 pages, 0 figure

Cooperative Learning for Disaggregated Delay Modeling in Multidomain Networks

Accurate delay estimation is one of the enablers of future network connectivity services, as it facilitates the application layer to anticipate network performance. If such connectivity services require isolation (slicing), such delay estimation should not be limited to a maximum value defined in the Service Level Agreement, but to a finer-grained description of the expected delay in the form of, e.g., a continuous function of the load. Obtaining accurate end-to-end (e2e) delay modeling is even more challenging in a multi-operator (Multi-AS) scenario, where the provisioning of e2e connectivity services is provided across heterogeneous multi-operator (Multi-AS or just domains) networks. In this work, we propose a collaborative environment, where each domain Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller models intra-domain delay components of inter-domain paths and share those models with a broker system providing the e2e connectivity services. The broker, in turn, models the delay of inter-domain links based on e2e monitoring and the received intra-domain models. Exhaustive simulation results show that composing e2e models as the summation of intra-domain network and inter-domain link delay models provides many benefits and increasing performance over the models obtained from e2e measurements

Unveiling the mechanisms of solid-state dewetting in Solid Oxide Cells with novel 2D electrodes

During the operation of Solid Oxide Cell (SOC) fuel electrodes, the mobility of nickel can lead to significant changes in electrode morphology, with accompanying degradation in electrochemical performance. In this work, the dewetting of nickel films supported on yttriastabilized zirconia (YSZ), hereafter called 2D cells, is studied by coupling in-situ environmental scanning electron microscopy (E-SEM), image analysis, cellular automata simulation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Analysis of experimental E-SEM images shows that Ni dewetting causes an increase in active triple phase boundary (aTPB) length up to a maximum, after which a sharp decrease in aTPB occurs due to Ni de-percolation. This microstructural evolution is consistent with the EIS response, which shows a minimum in polarization resistance followed by a rapid electrochemical degradation. These results reveal that neither evaporation-condensation nor surface diffusion of Ni are the main mechanisms of dewetting at 560-800 °C. Rather, the energy barrier for pore nucleation within the dense Ni film appears to be the most important factor. This sheds light on the relevant mechanisms and interfaces that must be controlled to reduce the electrochemical degradation of SOC electrodes induced by Ni dewetting

Quark-Meson Coupling Model for a Nucleon

The quark-meson coupling model for a nucleon is considered. The model describes a nucleon as an MIT bag, in which quarks are coupled to scalar and vector mesons. A set of coupled equations for the quark and the meson fields are obtained and are solved in a self-consistent way. It is shown that the mass of a nucleon as a dressed MIT bag interacting with sigma- and omega-meson fields significantly differs from the mass of a free MIT bag. A few sets of model parameters are obtained so that the mass of a dressed MIT bag becomes the nucleon mass. The results of our calculations imply that the self-energy of the bag in the quark-meson coupling model is significant and needs to be considered in doing the nuclear matter calculations.Comment: 3 figure

Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), the Optical Counterpart to a Gravitational Wave Source

On 2017 August 17, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo interferometer detected gravitational waves emanating from a binary neutron star merger, GW170817. Nearly simultaneously, the Fermi and INTEGRAL telescopes detected a gamma-ray transient, GRB 170817A. 10.9 hours after the gravitational wave trigger, we discovered a transient and fading optical source, Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), coincident with GW170817. SSS17a is located in NGC 4993, an S0 galaxy at a distance of 40 megaparsecs. The precise location of GW170817 provides an opportunity to probe the nature of these cataclysmic events by combining electromagnetic and gravitational-wave observations.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, published today in Scienc

Quasinormal modes of gravitational perturbation around a Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by quintessence

In this paper, the quasinormal modes of gravitational perturbation around a Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by quintessence were evaluated by using the third-order WKB approximation. Due to the presence of quintessence, the gravitational wave damps more slowly

Sequestered Dark Matter

We show that hidden-sector dark matter is a generic feature of the type IIB string theory landscape and that its lifetime may allow for a discovery through the observation of very energetic gamma-rays produced in the decay. Throats or, equivalently, conformally sequestered hidden sectors are common in flux compactifications and the energy deposited in these sectors can be calculated if the reheating temperature of the standard model sector is known. Assuming that throats with various warp factors are available in the compact manifold, we determine which throats maximize the late-time abundance of sequestered dark matter. For such throats, this abundance agrees with cosmological data if the standard model reheating temperature was 10^10 - 10^11 GeV. In two distinct scenarios, the mass of dark matter particles, i.e. the IR scale of the throat, is either around 10^5 GeV or around 10^10 GeV. The lifetime and the decay channels of our dark matter candidates depend crucially on the fact that the Klebanov-Strassler throat is supersymmetric. Furthermore, the details of supersymmetry breaking both in the throat and in the visible sector play an essential role. We identify a number of scenarios where this type of dark matter can be discovered via gamma-ray observations.Comment: 36 pages, 3 figures; v2: references added, v3: introduction extended and typos correcte

The Gamma Ray Burst section of the White Paper on the Status and Future of Very High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy: A Brief Preliminary Report

Original paper can be found at: http://proceedings.aip.org/proceedings/ Copyright American Institute of Physics DOI: 10.1063/1.2943545otherPeer reviewe