Geometry of Deformed Boson Algebras

Phase-space realisations of an infinite parameter family of quantum deformations of the boson algebra in which the $q$-- and the $qp$--deformed algebras arise as special cases are studied. Quantum and classical models for the corresponding deformed oscillators are provided. The deformation parameters are identified with coefficients of non-linear terms in the normal forms expansion of a family of classical Hamiltonian systems. These quantum deformations are trivial in the sense that they correspond to non-unitary transformations of the Weyl algebra. They are non-trivial in the sense that the deformed commutators consistently quantise a class of non-canonical classical Poisson structures.Comment: 20 pages, late

Atmospheres and Spectra of Strongly Magnetized Neutron Stars II: Effect of Vacuum Polarization

We study the effect of vacuum polarization on the atmosphere structure and radiation spectra of neutron stars with surface magnetic fields B=10^14-10^15 G, as appropriate for magnetars. Vacuum polarization modifies the dielectric property of the medium and gives rise to a resonance feature in the opacity; this feature is narrow and occurs at a photon energy that depends on the plasma density. Vacuum polarization can also induce resonant conversion of photon modes via a mechanism analogous to the MSW mechanism for neutrino oscillation. We construct atmosphere models in radiative equilibrium with an effective temperature of a few \times 10^6 K by solving the full radiative transfer equations for both polarization modes in a fully ionized hydrogen plasma. We discuss the subtleties in treating the vacuum polarization effects in the atmosphere models and present approximate solutions to the radiative transfer problem which bracket the true answer. We show from both analytic considerations and numerical calculations that vacuum polarization produces a broad depression in the X-ray flux at high energies (a few keV \la E \la a few tens of keV) as compared to models without vacuum polarization; this arises from the density dependence of the vacuum resonance feature and the large density gradient present in the atmosphere. Thus the vacuum polarization effect softens the high energy tail of the thermal spectrum, although the atmospheric emission is still harder than the blackbody spectrum because of the non-grey opacities. We also show that the depression of continuum flux strongly suppresses the equivalent width of the ion cyclotron line and therefore makes the line more difficult to observe.Comment: 21 pages, 21 figures; MNRAS; corrected minor typo

Influence of high gas production during thermophilic anaerobic digestion in pilot-scale and lab-scale reactors on survival of the thermotolerant pathogens Clostridium perfringens and Campylobacter jejuni in piggery wastewater

Safe reuse of animal wastes to capture energy and nutrients, through anaerobic digestion processes, is becoming an increasingly desirable solution to environmental pollution. Pathogen decay is the most important safety consideration and is in general, improved at elevated temperatures and longer hydraulic residence times. During routine sampling to assess pathogen decay in thermophilic digestion, an inversely proportional relationship between levels of Clostridium perfringens and gas production was observed. Further samples were collected from pilot-scale, bench-scale thermophilic reactors and batch scale vials to assess whether gas production (predominantly methane) could be a useful indicator of decay of the thermotolerant pathogens C. perfringens and Campylobacter jejuni. Pathogen levels did appear to be lower where gas production and levels of methanogens were higher. This was evident at each operating temperature (50, 57, 65 °C) in the pilot-scale thermophilic digesters, although higher temperatures also reduced the numbers of pathogens detected. When methane production was higher, either when feed rate was increased, or pH was lowered from 8.2 (piggery wastewater) to 6.5, lower numbers of pathogens were detected. Although a number of related factors are known to influence the amount and rate of methane production, it may be a useful indicator of the removal of the pathogens C. perfringens and C. jejuni

Atmospheres and Spectra of Strongly Magnetized Neutron Stars

We construct atmosphere models for strongly magnetized neutron stars with surface fields $B\sim 10^{12}-10^{15}$ G and effective temperatures $T_{\rm eff}\sim 10^6-10^7$ K. The atmospheres directly determine the characteristics of thermal emission from isolated neutron stars, including radio pulsars, soft gamma-ray repeaters, and anomalous X-ray pulsars. In our models, the atmosphere is composed of pure hydrogen or helium and is assumed to be fully ionized. The radiative opacities include free-free absorption and scattering by both electrons and ions computed for the two photon polarization modes in the magnetized electron-ion plasma. Since the radiation emerges from deep layers in the atmosphere with \rho\ga 10^2 g/cm$^3$, plasma effects can significantly modify the photon opacities by changing the properties of the polarization modes. In the case where the magnetic field and the surface normal are parallel, we solve the full, angle-dependent, coupled radiative transfer equations for both polarization modes. We also construct atmosphere models for general field orientations based on the diffusion approximation of the transport equations and compare the results with models based on full radiative transport. In general, the emergent thermal radiation exhibits significant deviation from blackbody, with harder spectra at high energies. The spectra also show a broad feature (\Delta E/\Ebi\sim 1) around the ion cyclotron resonance \Ebi=0.63 (Z/A)(B/10^{14}{G}) keV, where $Z$ and $A$ are the atomic charge and atomic mass of the ion, respectively; this feature is particularly pronounced when \Ebi\ga 3k\Teff. Detection of the resonance feature would provide a direct measurement of the surface magnetic fields on magnetars.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures; corrected factor of 2 in He models: minor changes to figs 4 and 9 as a result; other very minor change