1,247 research outputs found
Calorimetry of gamma-ray bursts: echos in gravitational waves
Black holes surrounded by a disk or torus may drive the enigmatic
cosmological gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Equivalence in poloidal topology to
pulsar magnetospheres shows a high incidence of the black hole-luminosity
into the surrounding magnetized matter. We argue that this emission is
re-radiated into gravitational waves at in frequencies of
order 1kHz, winds and, potentially, MeV neutrinos. The total energy budget and
input to the GRB from baryon poor jets are expected to be standard in this
scenario, consistent with recent analysis of afterglow data. Collimation of
these outflows by baryon rich disk or torus winds may account for the observed
spread in opening angles up to about . This model may be tested by future
LIGO/VIRGO observations.Comment: To appear in ApJ
Uniqueness in MHD in divergence form: right nullvectors and well-posedness
Magnetohydrodynamics in divergence form describes a hyperbolic system of
covariant and constraint-free equations. It comprises a linear combination of
an algebraic constraint and Faraday's equations. Here, we study the problem of
well-posedness, and identify a preferred linear combination in this divergence
formulation. The limit of weak magnetic fields shows the slow magnetosonic and
Alfven waves to bifurcate from the contact discontinuity (entropy waves), while
the fast magnetosonic wave is a regular perturbation of the hydrodynamical
sound speed. These results are further reported as a starting point for
characteristic based shock capturing schemes for simulations with
ultra-relativistic shocks in magnetized relativistic fluids.Comment: To appear in J Math Phy
Gravitational radiation from gamma-ray bursts as observational opportunities for LIGO and VIRGO
Gamma-ray bursts are believed to originate in core-collapse of massive stars.
This produces an active nucleus containing a rapidly rotating Kerr black hole
surrounded by a uniformly magnetized torus represented by two counter-oriented
current rings. We quantify black hole spin-interactions with the torus and
charged particles along open magnetic flux-tubes subtended by the event
horizon. A major output of Egw=4e53 erg is radiated in gravitational waves of
frequency fgw=500 Hz by a quadrupole mass-moment in the torus. Consistent with
GRB-SNe, we find (i) Ts=90s (tens of s, Kouveliotou et al. 1993), (ii)
aspherical SNe of kinetic energy Esn=2e51 erg (2e51 erg in SN1998bw, Hoeflich
et al. 1999) and (iii) GRB-energies Egamma=2e50 erg (3e50erg in Frail et al.
2001). GRB-SNe occur perhaps about once a year within D=100Mpc. Correlating
LIGO/Virgo detectors enables searches for nearby events and their spectral
closure density 6e-9 around 250Hz in the stochastic background radiation in
gravitational waves. At current sensitivity, LIGO-Hanford may place an upper
bound around 150MSolar in GRB030329. Detection of Egw thus provides a method
for identifying Kerr black holes by calorimetry.Comment: to appear in PRD, 49
Hyper- and suspended-accretion states of rotating black holes and the durations of gamma-ray bursts
We analyze the temporal evolution of accretion onto rotating black holes
subject to large-scale magnetic torques. Wind torques alone drive a disk
towards collapse in a finite time , where is the
initial free-fall time and is the ratio of kinetic-to-poloidal
magnetic energy. Additional spin-up torques from a rapidly rotating black hole
can arrest the disk's inflow. We associate short/long gamma-ray bursts with
hyperaccretion/suspended-accretion onto slowly/rapidly spinning black holes.
This model predicts afterglow emission from short bursts, and may be tested by
HETE-II.Comment: accepted for publication in the ApJ
Measurement of the ÎS=-ÎQ Amplitude from K_(e3)^0 Decay
We have measured the time distribution of the Ï^+e^-Îœ and Ï^-e^+Îœ modes from initial K^0's in a spark-chamber experiment performed at the Bevatron. From 1079 events between 0.2 and 7 K_S^0 lifetime, we find ReX=-0.069±0.036, ImX=+0.108_(-0.074)^(+0.092). This result is consistent with X=0 (relative probability = 0.25), but more than 4 standard deviations from the existing world average, +0.14 -0.13i
The Gowdy T3 Cosmologies revisited
We have examined, repeated and extended earlier numerical calculations of
Berger and Moncrief for the evolution of unpolarized Gowdy T3 cosmological
models. Our results are consistent with theirs and we support their claim that
the models exhibit AVTD behaviour, even though spatial derivatives cannot be
neglected. The behaviour of the curvature invariants and the formation of
structure through evolution both backwards and forwards in time is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, 6 figures, results and conclusions revised and
(considerably) expande
Exploring the effect of the core boundary curvature in hollow antiresonant fibers
Through numerical simulations, we systematically study the leakage loss properties of a simplified novel hollow antiresonant fiber in which the core is surrounded by semi-elliptical elements. These studies lead to new insight into the effect of the curvature of the core boundary in antiresonant fibers. We observe in particular that in our design, there exists an optimum curvature of the elementsâwhich we quantify simply through the aspect ratio of the ellipsesâfor which the fiberâs leakage loss is minimized. Furthermore, it is shown that elliptical elements can lead to orders of magnitude loss reduction as compared with similar fibers with circular ones
Reflecting photonics: reaching new audiences through new partnerships â IYL 2015 and the Royal Horticultural Society Flower Show
The âReflecting Photonicsâ show garden was exhibited at the 2015 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Flower Show in Tatton Park, UK, to celebrate the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies. Elks-Smith Garden Design alongside landscapers âTurf Nâ Earthâ collaborated with researchers, marketing and outreach professionals from the University of Southampton to design, construct and exhibit a photonics-themed garden. The garden and supporting exhibition united science and art to reach new audiences â particularly family groups alongside other key influencers to the young â and showcased the world-leading research in optical fibers at the university in an accessible manner. Researchers and a publicity professional, funded by the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Photonics, developed an integrated approach to the eventâs public engagement and marketing. The overarching aim was to influence a positive change in the attitude of the garden visitors towards physics and photonics, with additional focus on promoting careers for women in STEM. The show garden won an RHS Gold Medal award and the coveted âPeopleâs Choice Awardâ for the best large garden. The project subsequently won the South East England Physics Network Public Engagement Innovation Project Award. Approximately 80,000 visitors saw the garden, with a further three million television viewers on a popular British gardening show. There were also over 75,400 Tweet impressions on social media. This paper discusses the project aims, explores the design of the garden and its relationship with the research, describes the work of the public engagement team, and outlines the impact of the event
Localization, Coulomb interactions and electrical heating in single-wall carbon nanotubes/polymer composites
Low field and high field transport properties of carbon nanotubes/polymer
composites are investigated for different tube fractions. Above the percolation
threshold f_c=0.33%, transport is due to hopping of localized charge carriers
with a localization length xi=10-30 nm. Coulomb interactions associated with a
soft gap Delta_CG=2.5 meV are present at low temperature close to f_c. We argue
that it originates from the Coulomb charging energy effect which is partly
screened by adjacent bundles. The high field conductivity is described within
an electrical heating scheme. All the results suggest that using composites
close to the percolation threshold may be a way to access intrinsic properties
of the nanotubes by experiments at a macroscopic scale.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Electron-Positron Jets from a Critically Magnetized Black Hole
The curved spacetime surrounding a rotating black hole dramatically alters
the structure of nearby electromagnetic fields. The Wald field which is an
asymptotically uniform magnetic field aligned with the angular momentum of the
hole provides a convenient starting point to analyze the effects of radiative
corrections on electrodynamics in curved spacetime. Since the curvature of the
spacetime is small on the scale of the electron's Compton wavelength, the tools
of quantum field theory in flat spacetime are reliable and show that a rotating
black hole immersed in a magnetic field approaching the quantum critical value
of ~G cm is unstable. Specifically, a maximally rotating
three-solar-mass black hole immersed in a magnetic field of ~G would be a copious producer of electron-positron pairs with a
luminosity of erg s.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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