972 research outputs found
The supercluster--void network III. The correlation function as a geometrical statistic
We investigate properties of the correlation function of clusters of galaxies
using geometrical models. On small scales the correlation function depends on
the shape and the size of superclusters. On large scales it describes the
geometry of the distribution of superclusters. If superclusters are distributed
randomly then the correlation function on large scales is featureless. If
superclusters and voids have a tendency to form a regular lattice then the
correlation function on large scales has quasi-regularly spaced maxima and
minima of decaying amplitude; i.e., it is oscillating. The period of
oscillations is equal to the step size of the grid of the lattice.
We calculate the power spectrum for our models and compare the geometrical
information of the correlation function with other statistics. We find that
geometric properties (the regularity of the distribution of clusters on large
scales) are better quantified by the correlation function. We also analyse
errors in the correlation function and the power spectrum by generating random
realizations of models and finding the scatter of these realizations.Comment: MNRAS LaTex style, 12 pages, 7 PostScript figures embedded, accepted
by MNRA
Persistent Magnetic Wreaths in a Rapidly Rotating Sun
When our Sun was young it rotated much more rapidly than now. Observations of
young, rapidly rotating stars indicate that many possess substantial magnetic
activity and strong axisymmetric magnetic fields. We conduct simulations of
dynamo action in rapidly rotating suns with the 3-D MHD anelastic spherical
harmonic (ASH) code to explore the complex coupling between rotation,
convection and magnetism. Here we study dynamo action realized in the bulk of
the convection zone for a system rotating at three times the current solar
rotation rate. We find that substantial organized global-scale magnetic fields
are achieved by dynamo action in this system. Striking wreaths of magnetism are
built in the midst of the convection zone, coexisting with the turbulent
convection. This is a surprise, for it has been widely believed that such
magnetic structures should be disrupted by magnetic buoyancy or turbulent
pumping. Thus, many solar dynamo theories have suggested that a tachocline of
penetration and shear at the base of the convection zone is a crucial
ingredient for organized dynamo action, whereas these simulations do not
include such tachoclines. We examine how these persistent magnetic wreaths are
maintained by dynamo processes and explore whether a classical mean-field
-effect explains the regeneration of poloidal field.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, 1 appendix, emulateapj format; published version
of sections 3-4, 7 and appendix from arXiv:0906.240
A Blind Search for Magnetospheric Emissions from Planetary Companions to Nearby Solar-type Stars
This paper reports a blind search for magnetospheric emissions from planets
around nearby stars. Young stars are likely to have much stronger stellar winds
than the Sun, and because planetary magnetospheric emissions are powered by
stellar winds, stronger stellar winds may enhance the radio luminosity of any
orbiting planets. Using various stellar catalogs, we selected nearby stars (<~
30 pc) with relatively young age estimates (< 3 Gyr). We constructed different
samples from the stellar catalogs, finding between 100 and several hundred
stars. We stacked images from the 74-MHz (4-m wavelength) VLA Low-frequency Sky
Survey (VLSS), obtaining 3\sigma limits on planetary emission in the stacked
images of between 10 and 33 mJy. These flux density limits correspond to
average planetary luminosities less than 5--10 x 10^{23} erg/s. Using recent
models for the scaling of stellar wind velocity, density, and magnetic field
with stellar age, we estimate scaling factors for the strength of stellar
winds, relative to the Sun, in our samples. The typical kinetic energy carried
by the stellar winds in our samples is 15--50 times larger than that of the
Sun, and the typical magnetic energy is 5--10 times larger. If we assume that
every star is orbited by a Jupiter-like planet with a luminosity larger than
that of the Jovian decametric radiation by the above factors, our limits on
planetary luminosities from the stacking analysis are likely to be a factor of
10--100 above what would be required to detect the planets in a statistical
sense. Similar statistical analyses with observations by future instruments,
such as the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) and the Long Wavelength Array (LWA),
offer the promise of improvements by factors of 10--100.Comment: 11 pages; AASTeX; accepted for publication in A
Fluctuation relations and coarse-graining
We consider the application of fluctuation relations to the dynamics of
coarse-grained systems, as might arise in a hypothetical experiment in which a
system is monitored with a low-resolution measuring apparatus. We analyze a
stochastic, Markovian jump process with a specific structure that lends itself
naturally to coarse-graining. A perturbative analysis yields a reduced
stochastic jump process that approximates the coarse-grained dynamics of the
original system. This leads to a non-trivial fluctuation relation that is
approximately satisfied by the coarse-grained dynamics. We illustrate our
results by computing the large deviations of a particular stochastic jump
process. Our results highlight the possibility that observed deviations from
fluctuation relations might be due to the presence of unobserved degrees of
freedom.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, very minor change
FK Comae Berenices, King of Spin: The COCOA-PUFS Project
COCOA-PUFS is an energy-diverse, time-domain study of the ultra-fast
spinning, heavily spotted, yellow giant FK Com (HD117555; G4 III). This single
star is thought to be a recent binary merger, and is exceptionally active by
measure of its intense ultraviolet and X-ray emissions, and proclivity to
flare. COCOA-PUFS was carried out with Hubble Space Telescope in the UV
(120-300 nm), using mainly its high-performance Cosmic Origins Spectrograph,
but also high-precision Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph; Chandra X-ray
Observatory in the soft X-rays (0.5-10 keV), utilizing its High-Energy
Transmission Grating Spectrometer; together with supporting photometry and
spectropolarimetry in the visible from the ground. This is an introductory
report on the project.
FK Com displayed variability on a wide range of time scales, over all
wavelengths, during the week-long main campaign, including a large X-ray flare;
"super-rotational broadening" of the far-ultraviolet "hot-lines" (e.g., Si IV
139 nm (T~80,000 K) together with chromospheric Mg II 280 nm and C II 133 nm
(10,000-30,000 K); large Doppler swings suggestive of bright regions
alternately on advancing and retreating limbs of the star; and substantial
redshifts of the epoch-average emission profiles. These behaviors paint a
picture of a highly extended, dynamic, hot (10 MK) coronal magnetosphere around
the star, threaded by cooler structures perhaps analogous to solar prominences,
and replenished continually by surface activity and flares. Suppression of
angular momentum loss by the confining magnetosphere could temporarily postpone
the inevitable stellar spindown, thereby lengthening this highly volatile stage
of coronal evolution.Comment: to be published in ApJ
Confirmation of the Planet Hypothesis for the Long-period Radial Velocity Variations of Beta Geminorum
We present precise stellar radial velocity measurements for the K giant star
Beta Gem spanning over 25 years. These data show that the long period low
amplitude radial velocity variations found by Hatzes & Cochran (1993) are
long-lived and coherent. An examination of the Ca II K emission, spectral line
shapes from high resolution data (R = 210,000), and Hipparcos photometry show
no significant variations of these quantities with the RV period. These data
confirm the planetary companion hypothesis suggested by Hatzes & Cochran
(1993). An orbital solution assuming a stellar mass of 1.7 M_sun yields a
period, P = 589.6 days, a minimum mass of 2.3 M_Jupiter, and a semi-major axis,
and a = 1.6 AU. The orbit is nearly circular (e = 0.02). Beta Gem is the
seventh intermediate mass star shown to host a sub-stellar companion and
suggests that planet-formation around stars much more massive than the sun may
common.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, Astronomy and Astrophysics, in pres
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