62 research outputs found
An instability criterion for a finite amplitude localized disturbance in a shear flow of electrically conducting fluids
The stability of shear flows of electrically conducting fluids, with respect
to finite amplitude three-dimensional localized disturbances is considered. The
time evolution of the fluid impulse integral, characterizing such disturbances,
for the case of low magnetic Reynolds number is obtained by integrating
analytically the vorticity equation. Analysis of the resulted equation reveals
a new instability criterion.Comment: 10 pages in LaTex, no figures, accepted in Phys. Fluid
Nonlinear Electron Oscillations in a Viscous and Resistive Plasma
New non-linear, spatially periodic, long wavelength electrostatic modes of an
electron fluid oscillating against a motionless ion fluid (Langmuir waves) are
given, with viscous and resistive effects included. The cold plasma
approximation is adopted, which requires the wavelength to be sufficiently
large. The pertinent requirement valid for large amplitude waves is determined.
The general non-linear solution of the continuity and momentum transfer
equations for the electron fluid along with Poisson's equation is obtained in
simple parametric form. It is shown that in all typical hydrogen plasmas, the
influence of plasma resistivity on the modes in question is negligible. Within
the limitations of the solution found, the non-linear time evolution of any
(periodic) initial electron number density profile n_e(x, t=0) can be
determined (examples). For the modes in question, an idealized model of a
strictly cold and collisionless plasma is shown to be applicable to any real
plasma, provided that the wavelength lambda >> lambda_{min}(n_0,T_e), where n_0
= const and T_e are the equilibrium values of the electron number density and
electron temperature. Within this idealized model, the minimum of the initial
electron density n_e(x_{min}, t=0) must be larger than half its equilibrium
value, n_0/2. Otherwise, the corresponding maximum n_e(x_{max},t=tau_p/2),
obtained after half a period of the plasma oscillation blows up. Relaxation of
this restriction on n_e(x, t=0) as one decreases lambda, due to the increase of
the electron viscosity effects, is examined in detail. Strong plasma viscosity
is shown to change considerably the density profile during the time evolution,
e.g., by splitting the largest maximum in two.Comment: 16 one column pages, 11 figures, Abstract and Sec. I, extended, Sec.
VIII modified, Phys. Rev. E in pres
Propagation of Light in the Field of Stationary and Radiative Gravitational Multipoles
Extremely high precision of near-future radio/optical interferometric
observatories like SKA, Gaia, SIM and the unparalleled sensitivity of LIGO/LISA
gravitational-wave detectors demands more deep theoretical treatment of
relativistic effects in the propagation of electromagnetic signals through
variable gravitational fields of the solar system, oscillating and precessing
neutron stars, coalescing binary systems, exploding supernova, and colliding
galaxies. Especially important for future gravitational-wave observatories is
the problem of propagation of light rays in the field of multipolar
gravitational waves emitted by a localized source of gravitational radiation.
Present paper suggests physically-adequate and consistent mathematical solution
of this problem in the first post-Minkowskian approximation of General
Relativity which accounts for all time-dependent multipole moments of an
isolated astronomical system.Comment: 36 pages, no figure
Cooling of a mirror by radiation pressure
We describe an experiment in which a mirror is cooled by the radiation
pressure of light. A high-finesse optical cavity with a mirror coated on a
mechanical resonator is used as an optomechanical sensor of the Brownian motion
of the mirror. A feedback mechanism controls this motion via the radiation
pressure of a laser beam reflected on the mirror. We have observed either a
cooling or a heating of the mirror, depending on the gain of the feedback loop.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, RevTe
Stochastic Flux-Freezing and Magnetic Dynamo
We argue that magnetic flux-conservation in turbulent plasmas at high
magnetic Reynolds numbers neither holds in the conventional sense nor is
entirely broken, but instead is valid in a novel statistical sense associated
to the "spontaneous stochasticity" of Lagrangian particle tra jectories. The
latter phenomenon is due to the explosive separation of particles undergoing
turbulent Richardson diffusion, which leads to a breakdown of Laplacian
determinism for classical dynamics. We discuss empirical evidence for
spontaneous stochasticity, including our own new numerical results. We then use
a Lagrangian path-integral approach to establish stochastic flux-freezing for
resistive hydromagnetic equations and to argue, based on the properties of
Richardson diffusion, that flux-conservation must remain stochastic at infinite
magnetic Reynolds number. As an important application of these results we
consider the kinematic, fluctuation dynamo in non-helical, incompressible
turbulence at unit magnetic Prandtl number. We present results on the
Lagrangian dynamo mechanisms by a stochastic particle method which demonstrate
a strong similarity between the Pr = 1 and Pr = 0 dynamos. Stochasticity of
field-line motion is an essential ingredient of both. We finally consider
briefly some consequences for nonlinear MHD turbulence, dynamo and reconnectionComment: 29 pages, 10 figure
Gravitational instability of a dilute fully ionized gas in the presence of the Dufour effect
The gravitational instability of a fully ionized gas is analyzed within the
framework of linear irreversible thermodynamics. In particular, the presence of
a heat flux corresponding to generalized thermodynamic forces is shown to
affect the properties of the dispersion relation governing the stability of
this kind of system in certain problems of interest.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Testing the Principle of Equivalence by Solar Neutrinos
We discuss the possibility of testing the principle of equivalence with solar
neutrinos. If there exists a violation of the equivalence principle quarks and
leptons with different flavors may not universally couple with gravity. The
method we discuss employs a quantum mechanical phenomenon of neutrino
oscillation to probe into the non-universality of the gravitational couplings
of neutrinos. We develop an appropriate formalism to deal with neutrino
propagation under the weak gravitational fields of the sun in the presence of
the flavor mixing. We point out that solar neutrino observation by the next
generation water Cherenkov detectors can improve the existing bound on
violation of the equivalence principle by 3-4 orders of magnitude if the
nonadiabatic Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein mechanism is the solution to the
solar neutrino problem.Comment: Latex, 17 pages + 6 uuencoded postscript figures, KEK-TH-396,
TMUP-HEL-9402 (unnecessary one reference was removed
Updated Electron-Conduction Opacities: The Impact on Low-Mass Stellar Models
We review the theory of electron-conduction opacity, a fundamental ingredient
in the computation of low-mass stellar models; shortcomings and limitations of
the existing calculations used in stellar evolution are discussed. We then
present new determinations of the electron-conduction opacity in stellar
conditions for an arbitrary chemical composition, that improve over previous
works and, most importantly, cover the whole parameter space relevant to
stellar evolution models (i.e., both the regime of partial and high electron
degeneracy). A detailed comparison with the currently used tabulations is also
performed. The impact of our new opacities on the evolution of low-mass stars
is assessed by computing stellar models along both the H- and He-burning
evolutionary phases, as well as Main Sequence models of very low-mass stars and
white dwarf cooling tracks.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, ApJ in pres
Theory of Pseudomodes in Quantum Optical Processes
This paper deals with non-Markovian behaviour in atomic systems coupled to a
structured reservoir of quantum EM field modes, with particular relevance to
atoms interacting with the field in high Q cavities or photonic band gap
materials. In cases such as the former, we show that the pseudo mode theory for
single quantum reservoir excitations can be obtained by applying the Fano
diagonalisation method to a system in which the atomic transitions are coupled
to a discrete set of (cavity) quasimodes, which in turn are coupled to a
continuum set of (external) quasimodes with slowly varying coupling constants
and continuum mode density. Each pseudomode can be identified with a discrete
quasimode, which gives structure to the actual reservoir of true modes via the
expressions for the equivalent atom-true mode coupling constants. The quasimode
theory enables cases of multiple excitation of the reservoir to now be treated
via Markovian master equations for the atom-discrete quasimode system.
Applications of the theory to one, two and many discrete quasimodes are made.
For a simple photonic band gap model, where the reservoir structure is
associated with the true mode density rather than the coupling constants, the
single quantum excitation case appears to be equivalent to a case with two
discrete quasimodes
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