Quantum processes, space-time representation and brain dynamics

The recent controversy of applicability of quantum formalism to brain dynamics has been critically analysed. The prerequisites for any type of quantum formalism or quantum field theory is to investigate whether the anatomical structure of brain permits any kind of smooth geometric notion like Hilbert structure or four dimensional Minkowskian structure for quantum field theory. The present understanding of brain function clearly denies any kind of space-time representation in Minkowskian sense. However, three dimensional space and one time can be assigned to the neuromanifold and the concept of probabilistic geometry is shown to be appropriate framework to understand the brain dynamics. The possibility of quantum structure is also discussed in this framework.Comment: Latex, 28 page

Inner region accretion flows onto black holes

We examine here the inner region accretion flows onto black holes. A variety of models are presented. We also discuss viscosity mechanisms under a variety of circumstances, for standard accretion disks onto galactic black holes and supermassive black holes and hot accretion disks. Relevant work is presented here on unified aspects of disk accretion onto supermassive black holes and the possible coupling of thick disks to beams in the inner regions. We also explore other accretion flow scenarios. We conclude that a variety of scenarios yield high temperatures in the inner flows and that viscosity is likely not higher than alpha $\sim$ 0.01.Comment: to appear in "The Neutron Star - Black Hole Connection", proceedings of NATO Advanced Study Institute, 7 - 18 June 1999, Elounda, Crete, Greec

Saving the Physics II: Who Needs to be Saved? It Depends on Your Metaphysics

Physics does not need to be saved. If anything, physics was rescued in the early twentieth century with the advancement of both the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics. What needs to be saved is our world outlook or metaphysics because how a society acts and develops depends on what its belief systems are. Here we explore how a new metaphysics where consciousness is fundamental might just be what modern societies need

Multiwavelength Blazar Studies

The present report concerns the following projects 'High energy emission from hot accretion disks from active galactic nuclei'; 'OSSE spectral timing and monitoring observations of Cygnus X- 1'; 'OSSE observations of blazars'; and 'Search for correlated time variations of bright EGRET blazars'. The most favored model for the central engine inAGNs is the supermassive black hole hypothesis (Rees 1978). The observed luminosities range from approx. 10 logical and 44-45 erg /s for objects such as Mk 421 and Seyferts to as much as approx. 10logical and 47 for powerful QSOs such as 3C 273 and 3C 279, a large fraction of the observed bolometric luminosity being, in all likelihood, beamed. As such, these objects are strong X-ray emitters (cf. Makino et al. 1987) and often undergo gamma-ray flaring detected at the EGRET range (Hartman et al. 1992) and in the case of one of two known nearby BL Lacs, Mk 421, at TeV energies as well (Punch et al. 1992, Macomb et al. 1995). Previous campaigns emphasizing radio through X-ray and even gamma-ray observations have generally found that the multiwavelength spectrum is adequately fit by a standard synchrotron self-Compton (SSC-cf. Jones et al. 1974) model of a relativistic jet (e.g. Makino et al. 1987 and Macomb et al. 1995 for the BL Lac object Mk 421) or inhomogeneous relativistic jet (Mufson et al 1990). It also was examined the gamma-gamma transperency constraints inblazars

Multifrequency Studies

The present report concerns the following projects 'Multifrequency observations of the BL Lacertae object MK 421"; "EUVE and multifrequency observations of the quasars 3C 273 and 3C 279"; "EUVE observations of the symbiotic star RAquarii"; and "Morphology of the local HI void and ionization of He in the local ISM". The common theme of the above projects is UV observations and analysis of a wide range of astrophysical classes or objects, from the diffuse interstellar medium, to symbiotic stars (R Aqr), to active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Understanding the local (primarily neutral hydrogen or HI) interstellar medium is of great importance to detecting nearby EUV sources. Specifically, the ionization of helium is strongly influencing the extinction in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and the optical depth can vary almost by an order of magnitude depending on the degree of ionization of various species including neutral helium Vel ) and singly ionized helium (Hell). The local interstellar medium (ISM) contains a giant void. Understanding the local ISM and the extent of the HI void engulfing the Sun is crucial to our understanding of the EUV emission from nearby strongly EUV-emitting stars like R Aqr, as well as subtracting local absorption effects from absorption effects in distant sources themselves such as quasars, BL Lacertae objects and AGNs in general. A compilation of known properties of the local ISM with appropriate references has been performed. R Aqr is a symbiotic stellar system comprised of a mass-losing approx.1 - 2 solar mass Mira- like long period variable with a 387 day period and a approx. solar mass,) hot companion/accretion disk that is believed to give rise to the symmetrical jet seen at UV, optical radio wavelengths. Recent observations of R Aqr have been conducted at continuum wavelengths with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 7 mm that have resolved the stellar components in RAqr and a geometrical distance of approx. 200pc has been obtained, confirming that R Aqr is the nearest symbiotic star system to the Sun. The status of the local ISM is, therefore, of great importance in attempting to understand the UV properties of the hot companion in R Aqr and its prominent jet. Here a multifrequency approach is required from both ground observations (e.g. with the VLA) as well as from space-borne observations (with the International Ultraviolet Explorer-IUE; and the Hubble Space Telescope-HST). The R Aqr jet has been observed with the VLA B-configuration at two epochs separated by approx. 13.2 yr. Comparison of the resulting 6 cm continuum images show that the radio jet has undergone a lateral counterclockwise rotation of approx. 6 deg - 12 deg on the plane of the sky. Comparison of the most recent radio image with a nearly contemporaneous HSTIFOC ultraviolet image at approx 2330 A suggests that the UV emission lies along the leading edge of the rotating radio jet

Gamma Rays from Penrose Powered Black Holes in Centaurus A, 3C 273, and NGC 4151

Gamma-ray observations of active galaxies have important consequences for theories of the activity in their nuclei. The observations of Cen A, 3C 273, and NGC 4151 are examined under the assumption that Penrose collision processes in the ergospheres of massive black holes power their nuclei. The observed sharp break in the MeV region of the NGC 4151 spectrum cannot be due to the γ-γ pair production process. We attribute this break to the Penrose Compton scattering (PCS), in which γ-rays escape from the ergosphere as a result of Penrose processes involving electrons and lower energy X-ray photons in the ergosphere of the black hole. The absence of an MeV break in the spectra of Cen A and 3C 273 argues in favor of the Penrose pair production (PPP), in which high-energy pairs (a few GeV in energy) escape as result of Penrose processes involving protons and γ-rays that are present in any hot, optically thin, vertically extended accretion disk. An intrinsic break in the GeV region is predicted for both Cen A and 3C 273 as well as any other PPP powered nucleus. The mass of the black hole, the accretion rate, the efficiency of accretion, etc., are obtained self-consistently under the assumption that γ-γ scattering is unimportant below ~10-100 MeV. This assumption is very reasonably based on the observations. Central black hole masses of tens of millions solar masses for NGC 4151 and Cen A, and tens of billions solar masses for 3C 273, are obtained. Even though fewer Penrose produced pairs are emitted along the rotation axis of the hole, they suffer smaller energy losses in that direction, and therefore PPP has built into it the possibility of contributing to the explanation of the lobes of radio galaxies. The effect of aging of the active nucleus may account for some of the differences among different types of Seyferts (and presumably QSOs) since objects which are spinning close to the canonical value of af M = 0.998 would have Penrose processes but not those which have slowed down their spin. If PPP is important for QSOs and radio galaxies and some Seyferts, we expect powerful radio objects to be also powerful γ-ray objects. Nuclei in which the black hole is spinning slowly would still emit visible light, UV, and X-rays as result of accretion without Penrose processes but would be weak in radio or high-energy γ-rays. Future γ-ray observations should provide clues as to whether this scenario is correct. Besides spectral information at γ-ray frequencies, possible variability at γ-ray frequencies should be searched for

UV Properties of Symbiotic Stars

Observations of symbiotic stars in the far ultraviolet with the IUE are reported. Binary models with hot subdwarfs or accretion disks are considered for explaining the observations

Multifrequency Studies

The present report concerns the following projects \u27Multifrequency observations of the BL Lacertae object MK 421 ; EUVE and multifrequency observations of the quasars 3C 273 and 3C 279 ; EUVE observations of the symbiotic star RAquarii ; and Morphology of the local HI void and ionization of He in the local ISM . The common theme of the above projects is UV observations and analysis of a wide range of astrophysical classes or objects, from the diffuse interstellar medium, to symbiotic stars (R Aqr), to active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Understanding the local (primarily neutral hydrogen or HI) interstellar medium is of great importance to detecting nearby EUV sources. Specifically, the ionization of helium is strongly influencing the extinction in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and the optical depth can vary almost by an order of magnitude depending on the degree of ionization of various species including neutral helium Vel ) and singly ionized helium (Hell). The local interstellar medium (ISM) contains a giant void. Understanding the local ISM and the extent of the HI void engulfing the Sun is crucial to our understanding of the EUV emission from nearby strongly EUV-emitting stars like R Aqr, as well as subtracting local absorption effects from absorption effects in distant sources themselves such as quasars, BL Lacertae objects and AGNs in general. A compilation of known properties of the local ISM with appropriate references has been performed. R Aqr is a symbiotic stellar system comprised of a mass-losing approx.1 - 2 solar mass Mira- like long period variable with a 387 day period and a approx. solar mass,) hot companion/accretion disk that is believed to give rise to the symmetrical jet seen at UV, optical radio wavelengths. Recent observations of R Aqr have been conducted at continuum wavelengths with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 7 mm that have resolved the stellar components in RAqr and a geometrical distance of approx. 200pc has been obtained, confirming that R Aqr is the nearest symbiotic star system to the Sun. The status of the local ISM is, therefore, of great importance in attempting to understand the UV properties of the hot companion in R Aqr and its prominent jet. Here a multifrequency approach is required from both ground observations (e.g. with the VLA) as well as from space-borne observations (with the International Ultraviolet Explorer-IUE; and the Hubble Space Telescope-HST). The R Aqr jet has been observed with the VLA B-configuration at two epochs separated by approx. 13.2 yr. Comparison of the resulting 6 cm continuum images show that the radio jet has undergone a lateral counterclockwise rotation of approx. 6 deg - 12 deg on the plane of the sky. Comparison of the most recent radio image with a nearly contemporaneous HSTIFOC ultraviolet image at approx 2330 A suggests that the UV emission lies along the leading edge of the rotating radio jet

Time-Dependent Radiative Cooling of a Hot Low-Density Cosmic Gas

Detailed calculations are presented for the radiative cooling of a hot (10^4 K ≤ T ≤ 10^6 K) interstellar gas. Below 10^6 K such a gas is not in ionization equilibrium because it is cooling faster than it is recombining. The gas is more ionized at a particular temperature and emits harder radiation than a gas in equilibrium at the same temperature. Optical forbidden lines, particularly the [0 II], [0 III] lines, are much stronger than the hydrogen Balmer lines. Hydrogen lines, if observable, would show a Balmer decrement not very different from that of a radiatively excited nebula. Results are presented in three cases: the first two have initial conditions determined when a 40- or 100-eV photon burst suddenly ionizes the gas, corresponding to a fossil Stromgren sphere suddenly formed by an ultraviolet or soft X-ray supernova burst. In the third case the gas is cooling from steady-state ionic abundances at 10^6 K (e.g., a supernova shell that has reached the late radiative-cooling stage)