A possible route to spontaneous reduction of the heat conductivity by a temperature gradient driven instability in electron-ion plasmas

We have shown that there exists low-frequency growing modes driven by a global temperature gradient in electron and ion plasmas, by linear perturbation analysis within the frame work of plasma Kinetic theory. The driving force of the instability is the local deviation of the distribution function from the Maxwell-Boltzmann due to global temperature gradient. Application to the intracluster medium shows that scattering of the particles due to waves excited by the instability is possible to reduce mean free paths of electron and ion down to five to seven order of magnitude than the mean free paths due to Coulomb collisions. This may provide a hint to explain why hot and cool gas can co-exist in the intracluster medium in spite of the very short evaporation time scale due to thermal conduction if the conductivity is the classical Spitzer value. Our results suggest that the realization of the global thermal equilibrium is postponed by the local instability which is induced for quicker realization of local thermal equilibrium state in plasmas. The instability provides a new possibility to create and grow cosmic magnetic fields without any seed magnetic field.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ: 16 pages, 1figur

Short-wavelength stability analysis of thin vortex rings

The linear stability of thin vortex rings are studied by short-wavelength stability analysis. The modified Hill–Schrödinger equation for vortex rings, which incorporates curvature effect, is derived. It is used to evaluate growth rates analytically. The growth rates are also evaluated by numerical calculation and they agree well with analytical values for small which is the ratio of core radius to ring radius. Two types of vortex rings are considered: Kelvin's vortex ring and a Gaussian vortex ring. For Kelvin's vortex ring the maximum first-order growth rate is found to be 1.65/2.56. For the Gaussian vortex ring the first-order growth rate is larg

X-ray observations and mass determinations in the cluster of galaxies Cl0024+17

We present a detailed analysis of the mass distribution in the rich and distant cluster of galaxies Cl0024+17. X-ray data come from both a deep ROSAT/HRI image of the field (Bohringer et al. 1999) and ASCA spectral data. Using a wide field CCD image of the cluster, we optically identify all the faint X-ray sources, whose counts are compatible with deep X-ray number counts. In addition we marginally detect the X-ray counter-part of the gravitational shear perturbation detected by Bonnet et al. (1994) at a 2.5 $\sigma$ level. A careful spectral analysis of ASCA data is also presented. In particular, we extract a low resolution spectrum of the cluster free from the contamination by a nearby point source located 1.2 arcmin from the center. The X-ray temperature deduced from this analysis is $T_X = 5.7 ^{+4.9}_{-2.1}$ keV at the 90% confidence level. The comparison between the mass derived from a standard X-ray analysis and from other methods such as the Virial Theorem or the gravitational lensing effect lead to a mass discrepancy of a factor 1.5 to 3. We discuss all the possible sources of uncertainties in each method of mass determination and give some indications on the way to reduce them. A complementary study of optical data is in progress and may solve the X-ray/optical discrepancy through a better understanding of the dynamics of the cluster.Comment: Revised version, accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics (Main Journal). Few changes in the discussio

Anisotropic magnetic fluctuations in the ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe studied by angle-resolved ^{59}Co NMR

We have carried out direction-dependent ^{59}Co NMR experiments on a single crystal sample of the ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe in order to study the magnetic properties in the normal state. The Knight shift and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate measurements provide microscopic evidence that both static and dynamic susceptibilities are ferromagnetic with strong Ising anisotropy. We discuss that superconductivity induced by these magnetic fluctuations prefers spin-triplet pairing state.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Realization of Strong Coupling Fixed Point in Multilevel Kondo Models

Impurity four- and six-level Kondo model, in which an ion is tunneling among four- and six-stable points and interacting with surrounding conduction electrons, are investigated by using the perturbative and numerical renormalization group methods. It is shown that purely orbital Kondo effects occur at low temperatures in these systems which are direct generalizations of the Kondo effect in the so-called two-level system. This result offers a good explanation for the enhanced and magnetically robust Sommerfeld coefficient observed in SmOs_4Sb_12 and some other filled-skutterudites.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, for proceedings of ASR-WYP-2005. To be published in Journal of Physical Society Japan supplemen

Spin Susceptibility in the Superconducting state of Ferromagnetic Superconductor UCoGe

In order to determine the superconducting paring state in the ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe, ^{59}Co NMR Knight shift, which is directly related to the microscopic spin susceptibility, was measured in the superconducting state under magnetic fields perpendicular to spontaneous magnetization axis: ^{59}K^{a, b}. ^{59}K^{a, b} shows to be constant, but does not decrease below a superconducting transition. These behaviors as well as the invariance of the internal field at the Co site in the superconducting state exclude the spin-singlet pairing, and can be interpreted with the equal-spin pairing state with a large exchange field along the c axis, which was studied by Mineev [Phys. Rev. B 81, 180504 (2010)].Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be appear in PR

Superconductivity induced by longitudinal ferromagnetic fluctuations in UCoGe

From detailed angle-resolved NMR and Meissner measurements on a ferromagnetic (FM) superconductor UCoGe (T_Curie ~ 2.5 K and T_SC ~ 0.6 K), we show that superconductivity in UCoGe is tightly coupled with longitudinal FM spin fluctuations along the c axis. We found that magnetic fields along the c axis (H || c) strongly suppress the FM fluctuations and that the superconductivity is observed in the limited magnetic field region where the longitudinal FM spin fluctuations are active. These results combined with model calculations strongly suggest that the longitudinal FM spin fluctuations tuned by H || c induce the unique spin-triplet superconductivity in UCoGe. This is the first clear example that FM fluctuations are intimately related with superconductivity.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to appear in PR