4,236 research outputs found
Supermassive black holes or boson stars? Hair counting with gravitational wave detectors
The evidence for supermassive Kerr black holes in galactic centers is strong
and growing, but only the detection of gravitational waves will convincingly
rule out other possibilities to explain the observations. The Kerr spacetime is
completely specified by the first two multipole moments: mass and angular
momentum. This is usually referred to as the ``no-hair theorem'', but it is
really a ``two-hair'' theorem. If general relativity is the correct theory of
gravity, the most plausible alternative to a supermassive Kerr black hole is a
rotating boson star. Numerical calculations indicate that the spacetime of
rotating boson stars is determined by the first three multipole moments
(``three-hair theorem''). LISA could accurately measure the oscillation
frequencies of these supermassive objects. We propose to use these measurements
to ``count their hair'', unambiguously determining their nature and properties.Comment: 8 pages. This essay received an honorable mention in the Gravity
Research Foundation Essay Competition, 200
How to enhance crop production and nitrogen fluxes? A result-oriented scheme to evaluate best agri-environmental measures in Veneto Region, Italy
The cost-effectiveness of adopting agri-environmental measures (AEMs) in Europe, which combine agricultural productions with reduced N losses, is debated due to poorly targeted site-specific funding that is allocated regardless of local variability. An integrated DAYCENT model-GIS platform was developed combining pedo-climatic and agricultural systems information. The aim was to evaluate best strategies to improve N fluxes of agro-ecosystems within a perspective of sustainable intensification. Indicators of agronomic efficiency and environmental quality were considered. The results showed that agronomic benefits were observed with a continuous soil cover (conservation agriculture and cover crops), which enhanced nitrogen use efficiency (+17%) and crop yields (+34%), although in some cases these might be overestimated due to modelling limitations. An overall environmental improvement was found with continuous soil cover and long-term change from mineral to organic inputs (NLeach 45 Mg ha 121), which were effective in the sandy soils of western and eastern Veneto with low SOM, improving the soil-water balance and nutrients availability over time. Results suggest that AEM subsidies should be allocated at a site-specific level that includes pedo-climatic variability, following a result-oriented approach
Ultralight boson cloud depletion in binary systems
Ultralight scalars can extract rotational energy from astrophysical black
holes through superradiant instabilities, forming macroscopic boson clouds.
This process is most efficient when the Compton wavelength of the boson is
comparable to the size of the black hole horizon, i.e. when the "gravitational
fine structure constant" . If the black
hole/cloud system is in a binary, tidal perturbations from the companion can
produce resonant transitions between the energy levels of the cloud, depleting
it by an amount that depends on the nature of the transition and on the
parameters of the binary. Previous cloud depletion estimates considered
binaries in circular orbit and made the approximation . Here we
use black hole perturbation theory to compute instability rates and decay
widths for generic values of , and we show that this leads to much
larger cloud depletion estimates when . We also study
eccentric binary orbits. We show that in this case resonances can occur at all
harmonics of the orbital frequency, significantly extending the range of
frequencies where cloud depletion may be observable with gravitational wave
interferometers.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. v2: references added, matches published versio
Slowly Rotating Anisotropic Neutron Stars in General Relativity and Scalar-Tensor Theory
Some models (such as the Skyrme model, a low-energy effective field theory
for QCD) suggest that the high-density matter prevailing in neutron star
interiors may be significantly anisotropic. Anisotropy is known to affect the
bulk properties of nonrotating neutron stars in General Relativity. In this
paper we study the effects of anisotropy on slowly rotating stars in General
Relativity. We also consider one of the most popular extensions of Einstein's
theory, namely scalar-tensor theories allowing for spontaneous scalarization (a
phase transition similar to spontaneous magnetization in ferromagnetic
materials). Anisotropy affects the moment of inertia of neutron stars (a
quantity that could potentially be measured in binary pulsar systems) in both
theories. We find that the effects of scalarization increase (decrease) when
the tangential pressure is bigger (smaller) than the radial pressure, and we
present a simple criterion to determine the onset of scalarization by
linearizing the scalar-field equation. Our calculations suggest that binary
pulsar observations may constrain the degree of anisotropy or even, more
optimistically, provide evidence for anisotropy in neutron star cores.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Matches version in press in CQG. Fixed
small typo
Superkicks in ultrarelativistic encounters of spinning black holes
We study ultrarelativistic encounters of two spinning, equal-mass black holes
through simulations in full numerical relativity. Two initial data sequences
are studied in detail: one that leads to scattering and one that leads to a
grazing collision and merger. In all cases, the initial black hole spins lie in
the orbital plane, a configuration that leads to the so-called "superkicks". In
astrophysical, quasicircular inspirals, such kicks can be as large as ~3,000
km/s; here, we find configurations that exceed ~15,000 km/s. We find that the
maximum recoil is to a good approximation proportional to the total amount of
energy radiated in gravitational waves, but largely independent of whether a
merger occurs or not. This shows that the mechanism predominantly responsible
for the superkick is not related to merger dynamics. Rather, a consistent
explanation is that the "bobbing" motion of the orbit causes an asymmetric
beaming of the radiation produced by the in-plane orbital motion of the binary,
and the net asymmetry is balanced by a recoil. We use our results to formulate
some conjectures on the ultimate kick achievable in any black hole encounter.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
Fertimetro, a Principle and Device to Measure Soil Nutrient Availability for Plants by Microbial Degradation Rates on Differently-Spiked Buried Threads
A novel patented method (PCT/IB2012/001157: Squartini, Concheri, Tiozzo, University of Padova) and the corresponding application devices, suitable to measure soil fertility, are presented. The availability or deficiency of specific nutrients for crops is assessed by monitoring the kinetics of progressive weakening of cotton or silk threads due to in situ microbial activity. The method is based on a nutrient-primed incremented substrate degradation principle. Threads are buried as is or pre-impregnated with N or P solutions, and the acceleration of the degradation rate for the N-supplemented or P-supplemented thread, in comparison to the untreated thread, is proportional to the lack of the corresponding nutrient in that soil. Tests were validated on corn crops in plots receiving increasing fertilizer rates in a historical rotation that has been established since 1962. The measurement carried out in May significantly correlated with the subsequent crop yields recorded in October. The analysis allows an early, inexpensive, fast, and reproducible self-assessment at field level to improve fertilization rates. The device is envisaged as a user-friendly tool for agronomy, horticulture, and any environmental applications where organic matter cycling, soil quality, and specific nutrients excess or deficiency are critical considerations
Birkhoff Normal Form and Long Time Existence for Periodic Gravity Water Waves
We consider the gravity water waves system with a periodic one-dimensional interface in infinite depth and give a rigorous proof of a conjecture of Dyachenko-Zakharov [16] concerning the approximate integrability of these equations. More precisely, we prove a rigorous reduction of the water waves equations to its integrable Birkhoff normal form up to order 4. As a consequence, we also obtain a long-time stability result: periodic perturbations of a flat interface that are initially of size Δ remain regular and small up to times of order (Formula presented.). This time scale is expected to be optimal. © 2022 The Authors. Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC
Gravitational instabilities of superspinars
Superspinars are ultracompact objects whose mass M and angular momentum J
violate the Kerr bound (cJ/GM^2>1). Recent studies analyzed the observable
consequences of gravitational lensing and accretion around superspinars in
astrophysical scenarios. In this paper we investigate the dynamical stability
of superspinars to gravitational perturbations, considering either purely
reflecting or perfectly absorbing boundary conditions at the "surface" of the
superspinar. We find that these objects are unstable independently of the
boundary conditions, and that the instability is strongest for relatively small
values of the spin. Also, we give a physical interpretation of the various
instabilities that we find. Our results (together with the well-known fact that
accretion tends to spin superspinars down) imply that superspinars are very
unlikely astrophysical alternatives to black holes.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 1 table. v2: Fig. 8 and Section I improved. v3:
minor changes to match the published versio
Double Compact Objects III: Gravitational Wave Detection Rates
The unprecedented range of second-generation gravitational-wave (GW)
observatories calls for refining the predictions of potential sources and
detection rates. The coalescence of double compact objects (DCOs)---i.e.,
neutron star-neutron star (NS-NS), black hole-neutron star (BH-NS), and black
hole-black hole (BH-BH) binary systems---is the most promising source of GWs
for these detectors. We compute detection rates of coalescing DCOs in
second-generation GW detectors using the latest models for their cosmological
evolution, and implementing inspiral-merger-ringdown (IMR) gravitational
waveform models in our signal-to-noise ratio calculations. We find that: (1)
the inclusion of the merger/ringdown portion of the signal does not
significantly affect rates for NS-NS and BH-NS systems, but it boosts rates by
a factor for BH-BH systems; (2) in almost all of our models BH-BH
systems yield by far the largest rates, followed by NS-NS and BH-NS systems,
respectively, and (3) a majority of the detectable BH-BH systems were formed in
the early Universe in low-metallicity environments. We make predictions for the
distributions of detected binaries and discuss what the first GW detections
will teach us about the astrophysics underlying binary formation and evolution.Comment: published in ApJ, 19 pages, 11 figure
Gravity-dominated unequal-mass black hole collisions
We continue our series of studies of high-energy collisions of black holes
investigating unequal-mass, boosted head-on collisions in four dimensions. We
show that the fraction of the center-of-mass energy radiated as gravitational
waves becomes independent of mass ratio and approximately equal to at
large energies. We support this conclusion with calculations using black hole
perturbation theory and Smarr's zero-frequency limit approximation. These
results lend strong support to the conjecture that the detailed structure of
the colliding objects is irrelevant at high energies.This work was supported by the H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 Grant No. StronGrHEP- 690904, the SDSC Comet and TACC Stampede clusters through NSF-XSEDE Grant No. PHY-090003, STFC Consolidator Grant No. ST/L000636/1, and DiRACâs Cosmos Shared Memory system through BIS Grant No. ST/J005673/1 and STFC Grant Nos. ST/H008586/1, ST/K00333X/1. E.B. is supported by NSF CAREER Grant No. PHY-1055103 and by FCT contract IF/00797/2014/CP1214/CT0012 under the IF2014 Programme. V.C. thanks the Departament de FŽısica Fonamental at Universitat de Barcelona for hospitality while this work was being completed. V.C. and U.S. acknowledge financial support provided under the European Unionâs H2020 ERC Consolidator Grant âMatter and strong-field gravity: New frontiers in Einsteinâs theoryâ grant agreement no. MaGRaThâ646597. V.C. also acknowledges financial support from FCT under Sabbatical Fellowship nr. SFRH/BSAB/105955/2014. F.P. acknowledges financial support from the Simons Foundation and NSF grant PHY-1305682. This research was supported in part by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Research at Perimeter Institute is supported by the Government of Canada through Industry Canada and by the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Economic Development & Innovation.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from APS Physics via http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.93.04401
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