14,126 research outputs found
Guide Field Dependence of 3D X-Line Spreading During Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection
Theoretical arguments and large-scale two-fluid simulations are used to study
the spreading of reconnection X-lines localized in the direction of the current
as a func- tion of the strength of the out-of-plane (guide) magnetic field. It
is found that the mech- anism causing the spreading is different for weak and
strong guide fields. In the weak guide field limit, spreading is due to the
motion of the current carriers, as has been pre- viously established. However,
spreading for strong guide fields is bi-directional and is due to the
excitation of Alfv\'en waves along the guide field. In general, we suggest that
the X-line spreads bi-directionally with a speed governed by the faster of the
two mecha- nisms for each direction. A prediction on the strength of the guide
field at which the spread- ing mechanism changes is formulated and verified
with three-dimensional simulations. Solar, magnetospheric, and laboratory
applications are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, Submitted to JG
On the existence of dyons and dyonic black holes in Einstein-Yang-Mills theory
We study dyonic soliton and black hole solutions of the
Einstein-Yang-Mills equations in asymptotically anti-de Sitter space. We prove
the existence of non-trivial dyonic soliton and black hole solutions in a
neighbourhood of the trivial solution. For these solutions the magnetic gauge
field function has no zeros and we conjecture that at least some of these
non-trivial solutions will be stable. The global existence proof uses local
existence results and a non-linear perturbation argument based on the (Banach
space) implicit function theorem.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures. Minor revisions; references adde
Comparison of Secondary Islands in Collisional Reconnection to Hall Reconnection
Large-scale resistive Hall-magnetohydrodynamic (Hall-MHD) simulations of the
transition from Sweet-Parker (collisional) to Hall (collisionless) magnetic
reconnection are presented, the first to separate effects of secondary islands
from collisionless effects. Three main results are described. There exists a
regime in which secondary islands occur without collisionless effects when the
thickness of the dissipation regions exceed ion gyroscales. The reconnection
rate with secondary islands is faster than Sweet-Parker but significantly
slower than Hall reconnection. This implies that secondary islands are not the
cause of the fastest reconnection rates. Because Hall reconnection is much
faster, its onset causes the ejection of secondary islands from the vicinity of
the X-line. These results imply that most of the energy release occurs during
Hall reconnection. Coronal applications are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Accepted to Phy. Rev. Letters, June 201
On INM's Use of Corrected Net Thrust for the Prediction of Jet Aircraft Noise
The Federal Aviation Administration s (FAA) Integrated Noise Model (INM) employs a prediction methodology that relies on corrected net thrust as the sole correlating parameter between aircraft and engine operating states and aircraft noise. Thus aircraft noise measured for one set of atmospheric and aircraft operating conditions is assumed to be applicable to all other conditions as long as the corrected net thrust remains constant. This hypothesis is investigated under two primary assumptions: (1) the sound field generated by the aircraft is dominated by jet noise, and (2) the sound field generated by the jet flow is adequately described by Lighthill s theory of noise generated by turbulence
On the Cause of Supra-Arcade Downflows in Solar Flares
A model of supra-arcade downflows (SADs), dark low density regions also known
as tadpoles that propagate sunward during solar flares, is presented. It is
argued that the regions of low density are flow channels carved by
sunward-directed outflow jets from reconnection. The solar corona is
stratified, so the flare site is populated by a lower density plasma than that
in the underlying arcade. As the jets penetrate the arcade, they carve out
regions of depleted plasma density which appear as SADs. The present
interpretation differs from previous models in that reconnection is localized
in space but not in time. Reconnection is continuous in time to explain why
SADs are not filled in from behind as they would if they were caused by
isolated descending flux tubes or the wakes behind them due to temporally
bursty reconnection. Reconnection is localized in space because outflow jets in
standard two-dimensional reconnection models expand in the normal (inflow)
direction with distance from the reconnection site, which would not produce
thin SADs as seen in observations. On the contrary, outflow jets in spatially
localized three-dimensional reconnection with an out-of-plane (guide) magnetic
field expand primarily in the out-of-plane direction and remain collimated in
the normal direction, which is consistent with observed SADs being thin.
Two-dimensional proof-of-principle simulations of reconnection with an
out-of-plane (guide) magnetic field confirm the creation of SAD-like depletion
regions and the necessity of density stratification. Three-dimensional
simulations confirm that localized reconnection remains collimated.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, accepted to Astrophysical Journal Letters in
August, 2013. This version is the accepted versio
Internuclear gene silencing in Phytophthora infestans is established through chromatin remodelling
In the plant pathogen Phytophthora infestans, nuclear integration of inf1 transgenic DNA sequences results in internuclear gene silencing of inf1. Although silencing is regulated at the transcriptional level, it also affects transcription from other nuclei within heterokaryotic cells of the mycelium. Here we report experiments exploring the mechanism of internuclear gene silencing in P. infestans. The DNA methylation inhibitor 5-azacytidine induced reversion of the inf1-silenced state. Also, the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin-A was able to reverse inf1 silencing. inf1-expression levels returned to the silenced state when the inhibitors were removed except in non-transgenic inf1-silenced strains that were generated via internuclear gene silencing, where inf1 expression was restored permanently. Therefore, inf1-transgenic sequences are required to maintain the silenced state. Prolonged culture of non-transgenic inf1-silenced strains resulted in gradual reactivation of inf1 gene expression. Nuclease digestion of inf1-silenced and non-silenced nuclei showed that inf1 sequences in silenced nuclei were less rapidly degraded than non-silenced inf1 sequences. Bisulfite sequencing of the endogenous inf1 locus did not result in detection of any cytosine methylation. Our findings suggest that the inf1-silenced state is based on chromatin remodelling
Investigation of the effect of electrode geometry on spark ignition
High-speed schlieren visualization and numerical simulations are used to study the fluid mechanics following a spark discharge and the effect on the ignition process in a hydrogen–air mixture. A two-dimensional axisymmetric model of spark discharge in air and spark ignition was developed using the non-reactive and reactive Navier–Stokes equations including mass and heat diffusion. The numerical method employs structured adaptive mesh refinement software to produce highly-resolved simulations, which is critical for accurate resolution of all the physical scales of the complex fluid mechanics and chemistry. The simulations were performed with three different electrode geometries to investigate the effect of the geometry on the fluid mechanics of the evolving spark kernel and on flame formation. The computational results were compared with high-speed schlieren visualization of spark and ignition kernels. It was shown that the spark channel emits a blast wave that is spherical near the electrode surfaces and cylindrical near the center of the spark gap, and thus is highly influenced by the electrode geometry. The ensuing competition between spherical and cylindrical expansion in the spark gap and the boundary layer on the electrode surface both generate vorticity, resulting in the toroidal shape of the hot gas kernel and enhanced mixing. The temperature and rate of cooling of the hot kernel and mixing region are significantly effected by the electrode geometry and will have a critical impact on ignition. In the flanged electrode configuration the viscous effects generate a multidimensional flow field and lead to a curved flame front, a result not seen in previous work. Also, the high level of confinement by the flanges results in higher gas temperatures, suggesting that a lower ignition energy would be required. The results of this work provide new insights on the roles of the various physical phenomena in spark kernel formation and ignition, in particular the important effects of viscosity, pressure gradients, electrode geometry, and hot gas confinement
Characterizing asymptotically anti-de Sitter black holes with abundant stable gauge field hair
In the light of the "no-hair" conjecture, we revisit stable black holes in
su(N) Einstein-Yang-Mills theory with a negative cosmological constant. These
black holes are endowed with copious amounts of gauge field hair, and we
address the question of whether these black holes can be uniquely characterized
by their mass and a set of global non-Abelian charges defined far from the
black hole. For the su(3) case, we present numerical evidence that stable black
hole configurations are fixed by their mass and two non-Abelian charges. For
general N, we argue that the mass and N-1 non-Abelian charges are sufficient to
characterize large stable black holes, in keeping with the spirit of the
"no-hair" conjecture, at least in the limit of very large magnitude
cosmological constant and for a subspace containing stable black holes (and
possibly some unstable ones as well).Comment: 33 pages, 13 figures, minor change
A Sample of Low Redshift BL Lacs. I. The Radio Data
We present a new sample of 30 nearby (z<0.2) BL Lacs, selected to study the
nuclear as well as the large scale properties of low power radio sources. In
this first paper, we show and discuss new radio data taken with the VLA (19
objects at 1.4 GHz, either in A or C configuration, or both) as well as with
the VLBA (15 sources at 5 GHz). On the kiloparsec scale, all objects exhibit a
compact core and a variety of radio morphologies (jets, halos, secondary
compact components). On the parsec scale, we find weak cores and a few short,
one-sided, jets. From the jet/counter-jet ratio, core dominance, and
synchrotron self Compton model we estimate the intrinsic orientation and
velocity of the jets. The resulting properties of BL Lacs are similar to those
of a parent population composed of FR I radio galaxies.Comment: 46 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
VSOP observation of the quasar PKS 2215+020: a new laboratory for core-jet physics at z=3.572
We report results of a VSOP (VLBI Space Observatory Programme) observation of
a high redshift quasar PKS 2215+020 (z=3.572). The ~1 milliarcsecond resolution
image of the quasar reveals a prominent `core-jet' structure on linear scales
from 5/h to 300/h pc ($H_0=100*h km/(s*Mpc). The brightness temperatures and
sizes of bright features identified in the jet are consistent with emission
from relativistic shocks dominated by adiabatic energy losses. The jet is
powered by the central black hole with estimated mass of ~4*10^9 solar masses.
Comparisons with VLA and ROSAT observations indicate a possible presence of an
extended radio/X-ray halo surrounding 2215+020.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, aastex macros; accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journal, V.546, N.2 *(January 10 2001
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