556 research outputs found
SK2 channels are required for function and long-term survival of efferent synapses on mammalian outer hair cells
Cochlear hair cells use SK2 currents to shape responses to cholinergic efferent feedback from the brain. Using SK2-/- mice, we demonstrate that, in addition to their previously defined role in modulating hair cell membrane potentials, SK2 channels are necessary for long-term survival of olivocochlear fibers and synapses. Loss of the SK2 gene also results in loss of electrically driven olivocochlear effects in vivo, and down regulation of ryanodine receptors involved in calcium-induced calcium release, the main inducer of nAChR evoked SK2 activity. Generation of double-null mice lacking both the α10 nAChR gene, loss of which results in hypertrophied olivocochlear terminals, and the SK2 gene, recapitulates the SK2-/- synaptic phenotype and gene expression, and also leads to down regulation of α9 nAChR gene expression. The data suggest a hierarchy of activity necessary to maintain early olivocochlear synapses at their targets, with SK2 serving an epistatic, upstream, role to the nAChRs.Fil: Murthy, Vidya. Tufts University; Estados UnidosFil: Maison, StĂ©phane F.. Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary; Estados Unidos. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Taranda, Julian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en IngenierĂa GenĂ©tica y BiologĂa Molecular "Dr. HĂ©ctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Tufts University; Estados UnidosFil: Haque, Nadeem. University of Notre Dame; Estados UnidosFil: Bond, Chris T.. Oregon Health Sciences University; Estados UnidosFil: Elgoyhen, Ana Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en IngenierĂa GenĂ©tica y BiologĂa Molecular "Dr. HĂ©ctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Adelman, John P.. Oregon Health Sciences University; Estados UnidosFil: Liberman, M. Charles. Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary; Estados Unidos. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Vetter, Douglas E.. Tufts University; Estados Unido
Critical phenomena in Newtonian gravity
We investigate the stability of self-similar solutions for a gravitationally
collapsing isothermal sphere in Newtonian gravity by means of a normal mode
analysis. It is found that the Hunter series of solutions are highly unstable,
while neither the Larson-Penston solution nor the homogeneous collapse one have
an analytic unstable mode. Since the homogeneous collapse solution is known to
suffer the kink instability, the present result and recent numerical
simulations strongly support a proposition that the Larson-Penston solution
will be realized in astrophysical situations. It is also found that the Hunter
(A) solution has a single unstable mode, which implies that it is a critical
solution associated with some critical phenomena which are analogous to those
in general relativity. The critical exponent is calculated as
. In contrast to the general relativistic case, the order
parameter will be the collapsed mass. In order to obtain a complete picture of
the Newtonian critical phenomena, full numerical simulations will be needed.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Harrison transformation of hyperelliptic solutions and charged dust disks
We use a Harrison transformation on solutions to the stationary axisymmetric
Einstein equations to generate solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell equations. The
case of hyperelliptic solutions to the Ernst equation is studied in detail.
Analytic expressions for the metric and the multipole moments are obtained. As
an example we consider the transformation of a family of counter-rotating dust
disks. The resulting solutions can be interpreted as disks with currents and
matter with a purely azimuthal pressure or as two streams of freely moving
charged particles. We discuss interesting limiting cases as the extreme limit
where the charge becomes identical to the mass, and the ultrarelativistic limit
where the central redshift diverges.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure
On critical behaviour in gravitational collapse
We give an approach to studying the critical behaviour that has been observed
in numerical studies of gravitational collapse. These studies suggest, among
other things, that black holes initially form with infinitesimal mass. We show
generally how a black hole mass formula can be extracted from a transcendental
equation.
Using our approach, we give an explicit one parameter set of metrics that are
asymptotically flat and describe the collapse of apriori unspecified but
physical matter fields. The black hole mass formula obtained from this metric
exhibits a mass gap - that is, at the onset of black hole formation, the mass
is finite and non-zero.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex, 2 figures (available from VH
Polar Perturbations of Self-gravitating Supermassive Global Monopoles
Spontaneous global symmetry breaking of O(3) scalar field gives rise to
point-like topological defects, global monopoles. By taking into account
self-gravity,the qualitative feature of the global monopole solutions depends
on the vacuum expectation value v of the scalar field. When v < sqrt{1 / 8 pi},
there are global monopole solutions which have a deficit solid angle defined at
infinity. When sqrt{1 / 8 pi} <= v < sqrt{3 / 8 pi}, there are global monopole
solutions with the cosmological horizon, which we call the supermassive global
monopole. When v >= sqrt{3 / 8 pi}, there is no nontrivial solution. It was
shown that all of these solutions are stable against the spherical
perturbations. In addition to the global monopole solutions, the de Sitter
solutions exist for any value of v. They are stable against the spherical
perturbations when v sqrt{3 / 8 pi}.
We study polar perturbations of these solutions and find that all
self-gravitating global monopoles are stable even against polar perturbations,
independently of the existence of the cosmological horizon, while the de Sitter
solutions are always unstable.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, corrected some type mistakes (already corrected
in PRD version
Criticality and convergence in Newtonian collapse
We study through numerical simulation the spherical collapse of isothermal
gas in Newtonian gravity. We observe a critical behavior which occurs at the
threshold of gravitational instability leading to core formation. For a given
initial density profile, we find a critical temperature, which is of the same
order as the virial temperature of the initial configuration. For the exact
critical temperature, the collapse converges to a self-similar form, the first
member in Hunter's family of self-similar solutions. For a temperature close to
the critical value, the collapse first approaches this critical solution. Later
on, in the supercritical case, the collapse converges to another self-similar
solution, which is called the Larson-Penston solution. In the subcritical case,
the gas bounces and disperses to infinity. We find two scaling laws: one for
the collapsed mass in the supercritical case and the other for the maximum
density reached before dispersal in the subcritical case. The value of the
critical exponent is measured to be in the supercritical case,
which agrees well with the predicted value . These critical
properties are quite similar to those observed in the collapse of a radiation
fluid in general relativity. We study the response of the system to temperature
fluctuation and discuss astrophysical implications for the insterstellar medium
structure and for the star formation process. Newtonian critical behavior is
important not only because it provides a simple model for general relativity
but also because it is relevant for astrophysical systems such as molecular
clouds.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in PRD, figures 1 and 3
at lower resolution than in journal version, typos correcte
Black Hole Critical Phenomena Without Black Holes
Studying the threshold of black hole formation via numerical evolution has
led to the discovery of fascinating nonlinear phenomena. Power-law mass
scaling, aspects of universality, and self-similarity have now been found for a
large variety of models. However, questions remain. Here I briefly review
critical phenomena, discuss some recent results, and describe a model which
demonstrates similar phenomena without gravity.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures; Submission for the proceedings of ICGC 2000 in
the journal Preman
Perturbations and Critical Behavior in the Self-Similar Gravitational Collapse of a Massless Scalar Field
This paper studies the perturbations of the continuously self-similar
critical solution of the gravitational collapse of a massless scalar field
(Roberts solution). The perturbation equations are derived and solved exactly.
The perturbation spectrum is found to be not discrete, but occupying continuous
region of the complex plane. The renormalization group calculation gives the
value of the mass-scaling exponent equal to 1.Comment: 12 pages, RevTeX 3.1, 1 figur
Bound monopoles in Brans-Dicke theory
We consider axially symmetric SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs (YMH) multimonopoles in
Brans-Dicke theory for winding number n > 1. In analogy to the spherically
symmetric n=1 solutions, we find that the axially symmetric solutions exist for
higher values of the gravitational coupling than in the pure Einstein gravity
case. For large values of the gravitational coupling, the solutions collapse to
form a black hole which outside the horizon can be described by an extremal
Reissner-Nordstrom solution. Similarly as in the pure Einstein gravity case,
like-charged monopoles reside in an attractive phase in a limited domain of
parameter space. However, we find that the strength of attraction is decreasing
for decreasing Brans-Dicke parameter.Comment: 9 Revtex pages + 4 ps-figures; reference added, conclusions extende
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