119438463
Toy model for the magnetic connection between a black hole and a disk
A magnetic field connecting a Kerr black hole to a disk rotating around it can extract energy and angular momentum from the black hole and transfer them to the disk if the black hole rotates faster than the disk. The energy can be dissipated and radiated away by the disk, which makes the disk shine without the need of accretion. In this paper we present a toy model for the magnetic connection: A single electric current flowing around a Kerr black hole in the equatorial plane generates a poloidal magnetic field which connects the black hole to the disk. The rotation of the black hole relative to the disk generates an electromotive force which in turn generates a poloidal electric current flowing through the black hole and the disk and produces a power on the disk. We will consider two cases: (1) The toroidal current flows on the inner boundary of the disk, which generates a poloidal magnetic field connecting the horizon of the black hole to a region of the disk beyond the inner boundary; (2) the toroidal current flows on a circle inside the inner boundary of the disk but outside the horizon of the black hole, which generates a poloidal magnetic field connecting a portion of the horizon of the black hole to the whole disk. We will calculate the power produced by the magnetic connection and the resulting radiation flux of the disk in the absence of accretion, and compare them with that produced by accretion.
11692409
Electromagnetic energy for a charged Kerr black hole in a uniform magnetic field
With the Komar mass formula we calculate the electromagnetic energy for a charged Kerr black hole in a uniform magnetic field. We find that the total electromagnetic energy takes the minimum when the Kerr black hole possesses a nonzero net charge $Q=2\ensuremath{\xi}{B}_{0}{J}_{H}$ where ${B}_{0}$ is the strength of the magnetic field, ${J}_{H}$ is the angular momentum of the black hole, and $\ensuremath{\xi}$ is a dimensionless parameter determined by the spin of the black hole. However, the Wald state with ${Q=2B}_{0}{J}_{H}$ does not minimize the electromagnetic energy.
118518653
Constraining fast radio burst progenitors with gravitational lensing
Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are new transient radio sources discovered recently. Because of the angular resolution restriction in radio surveys, no optical counter part has been identified yet so it is hard to determine the progenitor of FRBs. In this paper we propose to use radio lensing survey to constrain FRB progenitors. We show that, different types of progenitors lead to different probabilities for a FRB to be gravitationally lensed by dark matter halos in foreground galaxies, since different type progenitors result in different redshift distributions of FRBs. For example, the redshift distribution of FRBs arising from double stars shifts toward lower redshift than of the FRBs arising from single stars, because double stars and single stars have different evolution timescales. With detailed calculations, we predict that the FRB sample size for producing one lensing event varies significantly for different FRB progenitor models. We argue that this fact can be used to distinguish different FRB models and also discuss the practical possibility of using lensing observation in radio surveys to constrain FRB progenitors.
39373169
Can the universe create itself
The question of first-cause has troubled philosophers and cosmologists alike. Now that it is apparent that our universe began in a Big Bang explosion, the question of what happened before the Big Bang arises. Inflation seems like a very promising answer, but as Borde and Vilenkin have shown, the inflationary state preceding the Big Bang must have had a beginning also. Ultimately, the difficult question seems to be how to make something out of nothing. This paper explores the idea that this is the wrong question --- that that is not how the Universe got here. Instead, we explore the idea of whether there is anything in the laws of physics that would prevent the Universe from creating itself. Because spacetimes can be curved and multiply connected, general relativity allows for the possibility of closed timelike curves (CTCs). Thus, tracing backwards in time through the original inflationary state we may eventually encounter a region of CTCs giving no first-cause. This region of CTCs, may well be over by now (being bounded toward the future by a Cauchy horizon). We illustrate that such models --- with CTCs --- are not necessarily inconsistent by demonstrating self-consistent vacuums for Misner space and a multiply connected de Sitter space in which the renormalized energy-momentum tensor does not diverge as one approaches the Cauchy horizon and solves Einstein's equations. We show such a Universe can be classically stable and self-consistent if and only if the potentials are retarded, giving a natural explanation of the arrow of time. Some specific scenarios (out of many possible ones) for this type of model are described. For example: an inflationary universe gives rise to baby universes, one of which turns out to be itself. Interestingly, the laws of physics may allow the Universe to be its own mother.
11909154
The X‐ray transient 080109 in NGC 2770: an X‐ray flash associated with a normal core‐collapse supernova
Although it is generally thought that long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) are associated with core-collapse supernovae (SNe), so far only four pairs of GRBs and SNe with firmly established connection have been found. All the four GRB-SNe belong to special class of Type Ic – called the broad-lined SNe indicative of a large explosion energy, suggesting that only a small fraction of SNe Ibc have GRBs associated with them. This scheme has been refreshed by the discovery of a bright X-ray transient in NGC 2770 on 2008 January 9, which was followed by a rather normal Type Ib SN 2008D. In this paper, I argue that the transient 080109 is an X-ray flash (XRF, the soft version of a GRB) because of the following evidence. (1) The transient cannot be interpreted as a SN shock breakout event. (2) The GRB X-ray flare interpretation is not supported by the high-energy observation. I then show that XRF 080109 satisfies the well-known relation between the isotropic-equivalent energy and the peak spectral energy for LGRBs, which highly strengthens the XRF interpretation. Finally, I point out that the peak spectral energy of XRF 080109 and the maximum bolometric luminosity of SN 2008D agree with the E γ, peak–LSN,max relationship of Li, strengthening the validity of the relationship. I speculate that events like XRF 080109 may occur at a rate comparable to SNe Ibc, and a soft X-ray telescope devoted to surveying for nearby X-ray flares will be very fruitful in discovering them.
10326293
New light on time machines: Against the chronology protection conjecture.
I construct a spacetime with closed timelike curves and without closed causal geodesics. There is a noncompactly generated Cauchy horizon separating the region with closed timelike curves from that without closed causal curves. This spacetime might be stable against the vacuum fluctuation of matter fields. Whether such a spacetime is stable against the vacuum fluctuation of a gravitational field is an open question.
100860790
A curve-based material recognition method in MeV dual-energy X-ray imaging system
High-energy dual-energy X-ray digital radiography imaging is mainly used in the material recognition of cargo inspection. We introduce the development history and principle of the technology and describe the data process flow of our system. The system corrects original data to get a dual-energy transparence image. Material categories of all points in the image are identified by the classification curve, which is related to the X-ray energy spectrum. For the calibration of classification curve, our strategy involves a basic curve calibration and a real-time correction devoted to enhancing the classification accuracy. Image segmentation and denoising methods are applied to smooth the image. The image contains more information after colorization. Some results show that our methods achieve the desired effect.
118459896
Correlating Quasi{Electron Relaxation with Quantum Femtosecond Magnetism in the Order Parameter Dynamics of Insulating Manganites
Institute of Electronic Structure & Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology{Hellas,Vassilika Vouton, 71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece(Dated: September 8, 2014)Femtosecond (fs){resolved simultaneous measurements of charge and spin dynamics reveal the co-existence of two di erent quasi{particle excitations in colossal magneto-resistive (CMR) manganites,with fs and ps relaxation times respectively. Their populations reverse size above a photoexcitation{intensity{threshold coinciding with a \sudden" antiferro{to{ferromagnetic switching during <100 fslaser pulses. We present evidence that fast, metallic, mobile quasi{electrons dressed by quantum spinuctuations coexist with slow, localized, polaronic charge carriers in non{equilibrium phases. Thismay be central to CMR transition and leads to a laser{driven charge reorganization simultaneouslywith quantum fs magnetism via an emergent quantum{spin/charge/lattice transient coupling.
118373072
Pulsar wind model for the spin-down behavior of intermittent pulsars
Intermittent pulsars are part-time radio pulsars. They have higher slow down rates in the on state (radio-loud) than in the off state (radio-quiet). This gives evidence that particle wind may play an important role in pulsar spindown. The effect of particle acceleration is included in modeling the rotational energy loss rate of the neutron star. Applying the pulsar wind model to the three intermittent pulsars (PSR B1931+24, PSR J1841–0500, and PSR J1832+0029) allows their magnetic fields and inclination angles to be calculated simultaneously. The theoretical braking indices of intermittent pulsars are also given. In the pulsar wind model, the density of the particle wind can always be the Goldreich-Julian density. This may ensure that different on states of intermittent pulsars are stable. The duty cycle of particle wind can be determined from timing observations. It is consistent with the duty cycle of the on state. Inclination angle and braking index observations of intermittent pulsars may help to test different models of particle acceleration. At present, the inverse Compton scattering induced space charge limited flow with field saturation model can be ruled out.
119155218
A holographic p-wave superconductor model
A bstractWe study a holographic p-wave superconductor model in a four dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-complex vector field theory with a negative cosmological constant. The complex vector field is charged under the Maxwell field. We solve the full coupled equations of motion of the system and find black hole solutions with the vector hair. The vector hairy black hole solutions are dual to a thermal state with the U(1) symmetry as well as the spatial rotational symmetry broken spontaneously. Depending on two parameters, the mass and charge of the vector field, we find a rich phase structure: zeroth order, first order and second order phase transitions can happen in this model. We also find “retrograde condensation” in which the hairy black hole solution exists only for the temperatures above a critical value with the free energy much larger than the one of the black hole without the vector hair. We construct the phase diagram for this system in terms of the temperature and charge of the vector field.
119285015
P-V criticality in the extended phase space of Gauss-Bonnet black holes in AdS space
A bstractWe study the P − V criticality and phase transition in the extended phase space of charged Gauss-Bonnet black holes in anti-de Sitter space, where the cosmological constant appears as a dynamical pressure of the system and its conjugate quantity is the thermodynamic volume of the black holes. The black holes can have a Ricci flat (k = 0), spherical (k = 1), or hyperbolic (k = −1) horizon. We find that for the Ricci flat and hyperbolic Gauss-Bonnet black holes, no P − V criticality and phase transition appear, while for the black holes with a spherical horizon, even when the charge of the black hole is absent, the P − V criticality and the small black hole/large black hole phase transition will appear, but it happens only in d = 5 dimensions; when the charge does not vanish, the P − V criticality and the small black hole/large phase transition always appear in d = 5 dimensions; in the case of d ≥ 6, to have the P − V criticality and the small black hole/large black hole phase transition, there exists an upper bound for the parameter $ b=\widetilde{\alpha }{{\left| Q \right|}^{{{-2 \left/ {{\left( {d-3} \right)}} \right.}}}} $, where $ \widetilde{\alpha } $ is the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient and Q is the charge of the black hole. We calculate the critical exponents at the critical point and find that for all cases, they are the same as those in the van der Waals liquid-gas system.