62 research outputs found
Observation of magnetocoriolis waves in a liquid metal Taylor-Couette experiment
The first observation of fast and slow magnetocoriolis (MC) waves in a
laboratory experiment is reported. Rotating nonaxisymmetric modes arising from
a magnetized turbulent Taylor-Couette flow of liquid metal are identified as
the fast and slow MC waves by the dependence of the rotation frequency on the
applied field strength. The observed slow MC wave is damped but the observation
provides a means for predicting the onset of the Magnetorotational Instability
Laboratory Study of Magnetorotational Instability and Hydrodynamic Stability at Large Reynolds Numbers
Two plausible mechanisms have been proposed to explain rapid angular momentum transport during accretion processes in astrophysical disks: nonlinear hydrodynamic instabilities and magnetorotational instability (MRI). A laboratory experiment in a short Taylor-Couette flow geometry has been constructed in Princeton to study both mechanisms, with novel features for better controls of the boundary-driven secondary flows (Ekman circulation). Initial results on hydrodynamic stability have shown negligible angular momentum transport in Keplerian-like flows with Reynolds numbers approaching one million, casting strong doubt on the viability of nonlinear hydrodynamic instability as a source for accretion disk turbulence
Stability of the Submillimeter Brightness of the Atmosphere Above Mauna Kea, Chajnantor and the South Pole
The summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the area near Cerro Chajnantor in Chile,
and the South Pole are sites of large millimeter or submillimeter wavelength
telescopes. We have placed 860 GHz sky brightness monitors at all three sites
and present a comparative study of the measured submillimeter brightness due to
atmospheric thermal emission. We report the stability of that quantity at each
site.Comment: 6 figure
The Influence of Horizontal Boundaries on Ekman Circulation and Angular Momentum Transport in a Cylindrical Annulus
We present numerical simulations of circular Couette flow in axisymmetric and
fully three-dimensional geometry of a cylindrical annulus inspired by Princeton
MRI liquid gallium experiment. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are
solved with the spectral element code Nek5000 incorporating realistic
horizontal boundary conditions of differentially rotating rings. We investigate
the effect of changing rotation rates (Reynolds number) and of the horizontal
boundary conditions on flow structure, Ekman circulation and associated
transport of angular momentum through the onset of unsteadiness and
three-dimensionality. A mechanism for the explanation of the dependence of the
Ekman flows and circulation on horizontal boundary conditions is proposed.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures; to be published in the Topical Issue of the
Physica Scripta in 200
Contrasting sensitivity of lake sediment n-alkanoic acids and n-alkanes to basin-scale vegetation and regional-scale precipitation δ2H in the Adirondack Mountains, NY (USA)
The hydrogen isotope values of plant waxes (δ2Hwax) primarily reflect plant source water. δ2Hwax preserved in lake sediments has therefore been widely used to investigate past hydroclimate. The processes by which plant waxes are integrated at regional and catchment scales are poorly understood and may affect the δ2Hwax values recorded in sediments. Here, we assess the variability of sedimentary δ2Hwax for two plant wax compound classes (n-alkanes and n-alkanoic acids) across 12 lakes in the Adirondack Mountains that receive similar regional precipitation δ2H but vary at the catchment-scale in terms of vegetation structure and basin morphology. Total long-chain (n-C27 to n-C35) alkane concentrations were similar across all sites (191 ± 53 µg/g TOC) while total long-chain (n-C28 and n-C30) alkanoic acid concentrations were more variable (117 ± 116 µg/g TOC) and may reflect shoreline vegetation composition. Lakes with shorelines dominated by evergreen gymnosperm plants had significantly higher concentrations of long-chain n-alkanoic acids relative to n-alkanes, consistent with our observations that deciduous angiosperms produced more long-chain n-alkanes than evergreen gymnosperms (471 and 33 µg/g TOC, respectively). In sediments, the most abundant chain lengths in each compound class were n-C29 alkane and n-C28 alkanoic acid, which had mean δ2H values of −188 ± 6‰ and −164 ± 9‰, respectively. Across sites, the range in sedimentary n-C29 alkane (22‰) and n-C28 alkanoic acid δ2H (35‰) was larger than expected based on the total range in modeled mean annual precipitation δ2H (4‰). We observed larger mean εapp (based on absolute values) for n-alkanes (−123‰) than for n-alkanoic acids (−97‰). Across sites, the δ2H offset between n-C29 alkane and the biosynthetic precursor n-C30 alkanoic acid (εC29-C30) ranged from −8 to −58‰, which was more variable than expected based on observations in temperate trees (−20 to −30‰). Sediments with greater aquatic organic matter contributions (lower C/N ratios) had significantly larger (absolute) εC29-C30 values, which may reflect long-chain n-alkanoic acids from aquatic sources. Concentration and δ2Hwax data in Adirondack lakes suggest that long-chain n-alkanes are more sensitive to regional-scale precipitation signals, while n-alkanoic acids are more sensitive to basin-scale differences in catchment vegetation and wax sourcing
Stability of quasi-Keplerian shear flow in a laboratory experiment
Context: Subcritical transition to turbulence has been proposed as a source
of turbulent viscosity required for the associated angular momentum transport
for fast accretion in Keplerian disks. Previously cited laboratory experiments
in supporting this hypothesis were performed either in a different type of flow
than Keplerian or without quantitative measurements of angular momentum
transport and mean flow profile, and all of them appear to suffer from Ekman
effects, secondary flows induced by nonoptimal axial boundary conditions. Such
Ekman effects are expected to be absent from astronomical disks, which probably
have stress-free vertical boundaries unless strongly magnetized. Aims: To
quantify angular momentum transport due to subcritical hydrodynamic turbulence,
if exists, in a quasi-Keplerian flow with minimized Ekman effects. Methods: We
perform a local measurement of the azimuthal--radial component of the Reynolds
stress tensor in a novel laboratory apparatus where Ekman effects are minimized
by flexible control of axial boundary conditions. Results: We find significant
Ekman effects on angular momentum transport due to nonoptimal axial boundary
conditions in quasi-Keplerian flows. With the optimal control of Ekman effects,
no statistically meaningful angular momentum transport is detected in such
flows at Reynolds number up to two millions. Conclusions: Either a subcritical
transition does not occur, or, if a subcritical transition does occur, the
associated radial transport of angular momentum in optimized quasi-Keplerian
laboratory flows is too small to directly support the hypothesis that
subcritical hydrodynamic turbulence is responsible for accretion in
astrophysical disks. Possible limitations in applying laboratory results to
astrophysical disks due to experimental geometry are discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, published in Astron. Astrophy
Angular momentum transport and turbulence in laboratory models of Keplerian flows
We present angular momentum transport (torque) measurements in two recent
experimental studies of the turbulent flow between independently rotating
cylinders. In addition to these studies, we reanalyze prior torque measurements
to expand the range of control parameters for the experimental Taylor-Couette
flows. We find that the torque may be described as a product of functions that
depend only on the Reynolds number, which describes the turbulent driving
intensity, and the rotation number, which characterizes the effects of global
rotation. For a given Reynolds number, the global angular momentum transport
for Keplerian-like flow profiles is approximately 14% of the maximum achievable
transport rate. We estimate that this level of transport would produce an
accretion rate of in astrophysical disks. We
argue that this level of transport from hydrodynamics alone could be
significant.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics
(2011
Hydrodynamic turbulence cannot transport angular momentum effectively in astrophysical disks
The most efficient energy sources known in the Universe are accretion disks.
Those around black holes convert 5 -- 40 per cent of rest-mass energy to
radiation. Like water circling a drain, inflowing mass must lose angular
momentum, presumably by vigorous turbulence in disks, which are essentially
inviscid. The origin of the turbulence is unclear. Hot disks of electrically
conducting plasma can become turbulent by way of the linear magnetorotational
instability. Cool disks, such as the planet-forming disks of protostars, may be
too poorly ionized for the magnetorotational instability to occur, hence
essentially unmagnetized and linearly stable. Nonlinear hydrodynamic
instability often occurs in linearly stable flows (for example, pipe flows) at
sufficiently large Reynolds numbers. Although planet-forming disks have extreme
Reynolds numbers, Keplerian rotation enhances their linear hydrodynamic
stability, so the question of whether they can be turbulent and thereby
transport angular momentum effectively is controversial. Here we report a
laboratory experiment, demonstrating that non-magnetic quasi-Keplerian flows at
Reynolds numbers up to millions are essentially steady. Scaled to accretion
disks, rates of angular momentum transport lie far below astrophysical
requirements. By ruling out purely hydrodynamic turbulence, our results
indirectly support the magnetorotational instability as the likely cause of
turbulence, even in cool disks.Comment: 12 pages and 4 figures. To be published in Nature on November 16,
2006, available at
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7117/abs/nature05323.htm
Stability and instability of hydromagnetic Taylor–Couette flows
Decades ago S. Lundquist, S. Chandrasekhar, P. H. Roberts and R. J. Tayler first posed questions about the stability of Taylor–Couette flows of conducting material under the influence of large-scale magnetic fields. These and many new questions can now be answered numerically where the nonlinear simulations even provide the instability-induced values of several transport coefficients. The cylindrical containers are axially unbounded and penetrated by magnetic background fields with axial and/or azimuthal components. The influence of the magnetic Prandtl number Pm on the onset of the instabilities is shown to be substantial. The potential flow subject to axial fields becomes unstable against axisymmetric perturbations for a certain supercritical value of the averaged Reynolds number Rm¯=√Re⋅Rm (with Re the Reynolds number of rotation, Rm its magnetic Reynolds number). Rotation profiles as flat as the quasi-Keplerian rotation law scale similarly but only for Pm≫1 while for Pm≪1 the instability instead sets in for supercritical Rm at an optimal value of the magnetic field. Among the considered instabilities of azimuthal fields, those of the Chandrasekhar-type, where the background field and the background flow have identical radial profiles, are particularly interesting. They are unstable against nonaxisymmetric perturbations if at least one of the diffusivities is non-zero. For Pm≪1 the onset of the instability scales with Re while it scales with Rm¯ for Pm≫1. Even superrotation can be destabilized by azimuthal and current-free magnetic fields; this recently discovered nonaxisymmetric instability is of a double-diffusive character, thus excluding Pm=1. It scales with Re for Pm→0 and with Rm for Pm→∞.
The presented results allow the construction of several new experiments with liquid metals as the conducting fluid. Some of them are described here and their results will be discussed together with relevant diversifications of the magnetic instability theory including nonlinear numerical studies of the kinetic and magnetic energies, the azimuthal spectra and the influence of the Hall effect
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