1,887 research outputs found
On the radial distribution of Galactic cosmic rays
The spectrum and morphology of the diffuse Galactic gamma-ray emission
carries valuable information on cosmic ray (CR) propagation. Recent results
obtained by analyzing Fermi-LAT data accumulated over seven years of
observation show a substantial variation of the CR spectrum as a function of
the distance from the Galactic Center. The spatial distribution of the CR
density in the outer Galaxy appears to be weakly dependent upon the
galactocentric distance, as found in previous studies as well, while the
density in the central region of the Galaxy was found to exceed the value
measured in the outer Galaxy. At the same time, Fermi-LAT data suggest a
gradual spectral softening while moving outward from the center of the Galaxy
to its outskirts. These findings represent a challenge for standard
calculations of CR propagation based on assuming a uniform diffusion
coefficient within the Galactic volume. Here we present a model of non-linear
CR propagation in which transport is due to particle scattering and advection
off self-generated turbulence. We find that for a realistic distribution of CR
sources following the spatial distribution of supernova remnants and the space
dependence of the magnetic field on galactocentric distance, both the spatial
profile of CR density and the spectral softening can easily be accounted for.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publivation to MNRAS letter
Cosmic ray driven Galactic winds
The escape of cosmic rays from the Galaxy leads to a gradient in the cosmic
ray pressure that acts as a force on the background plasma, in the direction
opposite to the gravitational pull. If this force is large enough to win
against gravity, a wind can be launched that removes gas from the Galaxy,
thereby regulating several physical processes, including star formation. The
dynamics of these cosmic ray driven winds is intrinsically non-linear in that
the spectrum of cosmic rays determines the characteristics of the wind
(velocity, pressure, magnetic field) and in turn the wind dynamics affects the
cosmic ray spectrum. Moreover, the gradient of the cosmic ray distribution
function causes excitation of Alfven waves, that in turn determine the
scattering properties of cosmic rays, namely their diffusive transport. These
effects all feed into each other so that what we see at the Earth is the result
of these non-linear effects. Here we investigate the launch and evolution of
such winds, and we determine the implications for the spectrum of cosmic rays
by solving together the hydrodynamical equations for the wind and the transport
equation for cosmic rays under the action of self-generated diffusion and
advection with the wind and the self-excited Alfven waves.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication to MNRAS main journa
A strategy to compute convective timescales of the Indian monsoon with the WRF model
The Indian monsoon brings around 80% of the annual rainfall over the summer
months June--September to the Indian subcontinent. The timing of the monsoon
onset and the associated rainfall has a large impact on agriculture, thus
impacting the livelihoods of over one billion people. To improve forecasting
the monsoon on sub-seasonal timescales, global climate models are in continual
development. One of the key issues is the representation of convection, which
is typically parametrised. Different convection schemes offer varying degrees
of performance, depending on the model and scenario. Here, we propose a method
to compute a convective timescale, which could be used as a metric for
comparison across different models and convection schemes. The method involves
the determination of a vertical convective flux between the lower and upper
troposphere through moisture budget analysis, and then relating this to the
total column moisture content. The method is applied to a WRF model simulation
of the 2016 Indian monsoon, giving convective timescales that are reduced by a
factor of 2 when the onset of the monsoon occurs. The convective timescale can
also be used as an indicator of monsoon transitions from pre-onset to full
phase of the monsoon, and to assess changes in monsoon phases under future
climate scenarios.Comment: 21 pages, 9 Figures plus 10 Supplementary Figure
Ultrafast Electrochemical Self-Doping of Anodic Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes for Enhanced Electroanalytical and Photocatalytic Performance
This study explores an ultrarapid electrochemical self-doping procedure applied to anodic titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotube arrays in an alkaline solution to boost their performance for electroanalytical and photocatalytic applications. The electrochemical self-doping process (i.e., the creation of surface Ti3+ states by applying a negative potential) is recently emerging as a simpler and cleaner way to improve the electronic properties of TiO2 compared to traditional chemical and high-temperature doping strategies. Here, self-doping was carried out through varying voltages and treatment times to identify the most performing materials without compromising their structural stability. Interestingly, cyclic voltammetry characterization revealed that undoped TiO2 shows negligible activity, whereas all self-doped materials demonstrate their suitability as electrode materials: an outstandingly short 10 s self-doping treatment leads to the highest electrochemical activity. The electrochemical detection of hydrogen peroxide was assessed as well, demonstrating a good sensitivity and a linear detection range of 3–200 µM. Additionally, the self-doped TiO2 nanotubes exhibited an enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to the untreated substrate: the degradation potential of methylene blue under UV light exposure increased by 25% in comparison to undoped materials. Overall, this study highlights the potential of ultrafast electrochemical self-doping to unleash and improve TiO2 nanotubes performances for electroanalytical and photocatalytic applications
Spin Echo Decay in a Stochastic Field Environment
We derive a general formalism with which it is possible to obtain the time
dependence of the echo size for a spin in a stochastic field environment. Our
model is based on ``strong collisions''. We examine in detail three cases
where: (I) the local field is Ising-like, (II) the field distribution is
continuous and has a finite second moment, and (III) the distribution is
Lorentzian. The first two cases show a T2 minimum effect and are exponential in
time cubed for short times. The last case can be approximated by a
phenomenological stretched exponential.Comment: 11 pages + 3 postscript figure
Dependence of the energy resolution of a scintillating crystal on the readout integration time
The possibilty of performing high-rate calorimetry with a slow scintillating crystal is studied. In this experimental situation, to avoid pulse pile-up, it can be necessary to base the energy measurement on only a fraction of the emitted light, thus spoiling the energy resolution. This effect was experimentally studied with a BGO crystal and a photomultiplier followed by an integrator, by measuring the maximum amplitude of the signals. The experimental data show that the energy resolution is exclusively due to the statistical fluctuations of the number of photoelectrons contributing to the maximum amplitude. When such number is small its fluctuations are even smaller than those predicted by Poisson statistics. These results were confirmed by a Monte Carlo simulation which allows to estimate, in a general case, the energy resolution, given the total number of photoelectrons, the scintillation time and the integration time
Relative influence of the adeno-associated virus (AAV) type 2 p5 element for recombinant AAV vector site-specific integration.
The p5 promoter region of the adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV-2) rep gene has been described as essential for Rep-mediated site-specific integration (RMSSI) of plasmid sequences in human chromosome 19. We report here that insertion of a full-length or minimal p5 element between the viral inverted terminal repeats does not significantly increase RMSSI of a recombinant AAV (rAAV) vector after infection of growth-arrested or proliferating human cells. This result suggests that the p5 element may not improve RMSSI of rAAV vectors in vivo
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