621 research outputs found
Interchange instability in an accretion disc with a poloidal magnetic field
We investigate the stability to nonaxisymmetric perturbations of an accretion
disc in which a poloidal magnetic field provides part of the radial support
against gravity. Interchange instability due to radial gradients in the
magnetic field are strongly stabilized by the shear flow in the disc. For
smooth field distributions this instability is restricted to discs in which the
magnetic energy is comparable to the gravitational energy. An incompressible
model for the instability akin to the Boussinesq approximation for convection
is given which predicts the behaviour of the instability accurately. Global
axisymmetric disturbances are also considered and found to be stable for a
certain class of models. The results indicate that accretion discs may be able
to support poloidal fields which are strong enough to suppress other forms of
magnetic instability. These strong and stable field distributions are likely to
be well suited for the magnetic acceleration of jets and winds.Comment: uuencoded gzip'ed postscript, 9 page
The role of Mie scattering in the seeding of matter-wave superradiance
Matter-wave superradiance is based on the interplay between ultracold atoms
coherently organized in momentum space and a backscattered wave. Here, we show
that this mechanism may be triggered by Mie scattering from the atomic cloud.
We show how the laser light populates the modes of the cloud, and thus imprints
a phase gradient on the excited atomic dipoles. The interference with the atoms
in the ground state results in a grating, that in turn generates coherent
emission, contributing to the backward light wave onset. The atomic recoil
'halos' created by the scattered light exhibit a strong anisotropy, in contrast
to single-atom scattering
Ad- and desorption of Rb atoms on a gold nanofilm measured by surface plasmon polaritons
Hybrid quantum systems made of cold atoms near nanostructured surfaces are
expected to open up new opportunities for the construction of quantum sensors
and for quantum information. For the design of such tailored quantum systems
the interaction of alkali atoms with dielectric and metallic surfaces is
crucial and required to be understood in detail. Here, we present real-time
measurements of the adsorption and desorption of Rubidium atoms on gold
nanofilms. Surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) are excited at the gold surface and
detected in a phase sensitive way. From the temporal change of the SPP phase
the Rubidium coverage of the gold film is deduced with a sensitivity of better
than 0.3 % of a monolayer. By comparing the experimental data with a Langmuir
type adsorption model we obtain the thermal desorption rate and the sticking
probability. In addition, also laser-induced desorption is observed and
quantified.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Instability of an accretion disk with a magnetically driven wind
We present a linear analysis of the stability of accretion disks in which
angular momentum is removed by the magnetic torque exerted by a centrifugally
driven wind. The effects of the dependence of the wind torque on field strength
and inclination, the sub-Keplerian rotation due to magnetic forces, and the
compression of the disk by the field are included. A WKB dispersion relation is
derived for the stability problem. We find that the disk is always unstable if
the wind torque is strong. At lower wind torques instability also occurs
provided the rotation is close to Keplerian. The growth time scale of the
instability can be as short as the orbital time scale. The instability is
mainly the result of the sensitivity of the mass flux to changes in the
inclination of the field at the disk surface. Magnetic diffusion in the disk
stabilizes if the wind torque is small.Comment: Submitted to A&
Cooperative Scattering by Cold Atoms
We have studied the interplay between disorder and cooperative scattering for
single scattering limit in the presence of a driving laser. Analytical results
have been derived and we have observed cooperative scattering effects in a
variety of experiments, ranging from thermal atoms in an optical dipole trap,
atoms released from a dark MOT and atoms in a BEC, consistent with our
theoretical predictions.Comment: submitted for special issue of PQE 201
Soft X-ray components in the hard state of accreting black holes
Recent observations of two black hole candidates (GX 339-4 and J1753.5-0127)
in the low-hard state (L_X/L_Edd ~ 0.003-0.05) suggest the presence of a cool
accretion disk very close to the innermost stable orbit of the black hole. This
runs counter to models of the low-hard state in which the cool disk is
truncated at a much larger radius. We study the interaction between a
moderately truncated disk and a hot inner flow. Ion-bombardment heats the
surface of the disk in the overlap region between a two-temperature
advection-dominated accretion flow and standard accretion disk, producing a hot
(kT_e ~70 keV) layer on the surface of the cool disk. The hard X-ray flux from
this layer heats the inner parts of the underlying cool disk, producing a soft
X-ray excess. Together with interstellar absorption these effects mimic the
thermal spectrum from a disk extending to the last stable orbit. The results
show that soft excesses in the low-hard state are a natural feature of
truncated disk models.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics, reference
added, minor typos correcte
Brown Dwarfs and the Cataclysmic Variable Period Minimum
Using improved, up-to-date stellar input physics tested against observations
of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs we calculate the secular evolution of
low-mass donor cataclysmic variables (CVs), including those which form with a
brown dwarf donor. Our models confirm the mismatch between the calculated
minimum period (Pmin ~ 70 min) and the observed short-period cut-off (~ 80 min)
in the CV period histogram. We find that tidal and rotational corrections
applied to the one-dimensional stellar structure equations have no significant
effect on the period minimum. Theoretical period distributions synthesized from
our model sequences always show an accumulation of systems at the minimum
period, a feature absent from the observed distribution. We suggest that
non-magnetic CVs become unobservable as they are effectively trapped in
permanent quiescence before they reach Pmin, and that small-number statistics
may hide the period spike for magnetic CVs.Comment: 10 pages; accepted for publication in MNRA
Black hole solutions in Euler-Heisenberg theory
We construct static and spherically symmetric black hole solutions in the
Einstein-Euler-Heisenberg (EEH) system which is considered as an effective
action of a superstring theory. We considered electrically charged,
magnetically charged and dyon solutions. We can solve analytically for the
magnetically charged case. We find that they have some remarkable properties
about causality and black hole thermodynamics depending on the coupling
constant of the EH theory and , though they have central singularity as
in the Schwarzschild black hole.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figures, figures corrected and some comments adde
Cooperative coupling of ultracold atoms and surface plasmons
Cooperative coupling between optical emitters and light fields is one of the
outstanding goals in quantum technology. It is both fundamentally interesting
for the extraordinary radiation properties of the participating emitters and
has many potential applications in photonics. While this goal has been achieved
using high-finesse optical cavities, cavity-free approaches that are broadband
and easy to build have attracted much attention recently. Here we demonstrate
cooperative coupling of ultracold atoms with surface plasmons propagating on a
plane gold surface. While the atoms are moving towards the surface they are
excited by an external laser pulse. Excited surface plasmons are detected via
leakage radiation into the substrate of the gold layer. A maximum Purcell
factor of is reached at an optimum distance of
from the surface. The coupling leads to the observation of
a Fano-like resonance in the spectrum.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
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