Modeling Magnetic Tower Jets in the Laboratory

The twisting of magnetic fields threading an accretion system can lead to the generation on axis of toroidal field loops. As the magnetic pressure increases, the toroidal field inflates, producing a flow. Collimation is due to a background corona, which radially confines this axially growing “magnetic tower”. We investigate the possibility of studying in the laboratory the dynamics, confinement and stability of magnetic tower jets. We present two-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations of radial arrays, which consist of two concentric electrodes connected radially by thin metallic wires. In the laboratory, a radial wire array is driven by a 1 MA current which produces a hot, low density background plasma. During the current discharge a low plasma beta (β < 1), magnetic cavity develops in the background plasma (β is the ratio of thermal to magnetic pressure). This laboratory magnetic tower is driven by the magnetic pressure of the toroidal field and it is surrounded by a shock envelope. On axis, a high density column is produced by the pinch effect. The background plasma has >rsim1, and in the radial direction the magnetic tower is confined mostly by the thermal pressure. In contrast, in the axial direction the pressure rapidly decays and an elongated, well collimated magnetic-jet develops. This is later disrupted by the development of m = 0 instabilities arising in the axial column.     

Experimental Design for the Laboratory Simulation of Magnetized Astrophysical Jets

Concepts of several experimental configurations for the investigation of magnetized jets and their interaction with magnetized environments are presented. In the planned experiments, the plasma jets will be created by laser ablation of shaped targets, while magnetic and electric fields with the required configurations will be produced independently by a pulsed power generator. In particular, the recently coupled Terawatt laser Tomcat and Terawatt pulsed power generator Zebra will be used for experiments.     

Formation of Working Surfaces in Radiatively Cooled Laboratory Jets

Whilst observations provide many examples of collimated outflows or jets from astrophysical bodies, there remain unresolved questions relating to their formation, propagation and stability. The ability to form scaled jets in the laboratory has provided many useful insights. Experiments (Lebedev et al.: 2002, ApJ 564, 113) using conical arrays of fine metallic wires on the MAGPIE generator (1MA in 240 ns) have produced radiatively cooled collimated jets in vacuum using the redirection of convergent flows by a conical shock. Here we present results of a jet produced by this method propagating through a photo-ionized, quasi-stationary gas cloud. A working surface is observed at the head of the jet. The velocity of this working surface is lower than the velocity of a jet tip in vacuum.     

An iterative method for simultaneously computing the synthesis of light and heavy elements

We propose an iterative algorithm for computing the synthesis of heavy elements through the rapid capture of neutrons (r-process) and, at sufficiently high temperatures, protons by simultaneously using two distinct computer codes. One of the codes describes the kinetics of nuclear reactions between light and intermediate chemical elements, which are the source of free neutrons and protons used by the second code to synthesize heavy elements from seed nuclides (isotopes near the iron peak of the cosmic abundance curve). The two codes interact through the neutron and proton reaction channels. We demonstrate the efficiency of our method with an example of the nucleosynthesis in a supernova’s helium shell triggered by the evaporation of neutrons and protons from α particles exposed to the neutrino flux from a collapsing stellar core. In this case, three or four iterations are enough to obtain an almost exact self-consistent solution.     

On the production of chemical elements beyond the iron peak

Astronomy Letters - We discuss the possibility of elements heavier than iron being produced in the cooling central part of a low-mass supernova remnant in terms of a consistent kinetic model that...     

Magnetic Reconnection, Turbulence, and Collisionless Shock

A short summary of recent progress in measuring and understanding turbulence during magnetic reconnection in laboratory plasmas is given. Magnetic reconnection is considered as a primary process to dissipate magnetic energy in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. A central question concerns why the observed reconnection rates are much faster than predictions made by classical theories, such as the Sweet–Parker model based on MHD with classical Spitzer resistivity. Often, the local resistivity is conjectured to be enhanced by turbulence to accelerate reconnection rates either in the context of the Sweet–Parker model or by facilitating setup of the Pestchek model. Measurements at a dedicated laboratory experiment, called MRX or Magnetic Reconnection Experiment, have indicated existence of strong electromagnetic turbulence in current sheets undergoing fast reconnection. The origin of the turbulence has been identified as right-hand polarized whistler waves, propagating obliquely to the reconnecting field, with a phase velocity comparable to the relative drift velocity. These waves are consistent with an obliquely propagating electromagnetic lower-hybrid drift instability driven by drift speeds large compared to the Alfven speed in high-beta plasmas. Interestingly, this instability may explain electromagnetic turbulence also observed in collisionless shocks, which are common in energetic astrophysical phenomena.     

What path the <Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-process takes: Extreme cases and comparison with observations

The concept of the r-process path is considered from the standpoint of a dynamic model. Rapid nucleosynthesis is shown to proceed not along certain preferential lines called the r-process paths but in the region of nuclei bounded on the one side by the existing nuclei and on the other side by nuclei upon reaching which the r-process enters a cooling phase. This view is shown to account for the main heavy-element abundance patterns.     

高能量密度实验室天体物理近年来的一些进展

近年来,随着用于高能量密度物理研究的实验装置如大功率激光器、磁力箍缩装置和托克马克等的发展,人们在实验室中可以使毫米尺度的物质达到极端高温、高压、高密度的状态,这使得在实验室环境中可以模拟天体物理环境中的物理条件及某些物理过程,从而推动了一个新兴科学领域--高能量密度实验室天体物理的发展。高能量密度实验室天体物理有很多重要的研究方向,包括超新星爆发过程中剧烈激波引发的非线性流体动力学不稳定性及其演化,原初恒星的喷流和高马赫数喷流,黑洞、中子星等致密天体周围的光致电离星风,不透明度的测量和天体磁场的重联现象等。在此选取高能量密度实验室天体物理中近年来几个研究方向的进展,对其进行系统地介绍,并对此领域的发展做出展望。     

Fission and the <Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-process: The rates of induced and delayed fission

The most recent fission-barrier calculations based on improved mass formulas indicate that the adopted values are underestimated. We analyze the dependence of the fission rates on the fission barrier and show that an increase in the fission barriers leads not so much to a decrease in the importance of fission as to the possible synthesis of heavier elements in the r-process. The rates of induced fission of most isotopes with Z>80 at astrophysical energies have been calculated for the first time for fission barriers obtained from different theoretical models.     

A numerical and experimental study of the time-evolution of a low Mach number jet

We present a comparison between a plasma-generated 'starting jet' experiment and an axisymmetric numerical simulation of the flow. The experimental flow and the numerical simulation give results that agree both qualitatively and quantitatively, showing that the complex vortical structures arising in the flow are surprisingly well reproduced by the numerical model. This result inspires confidence in the accuracy of astrophysical jet numerical simulations. Also, even though the Mach number of our laboratory jet is somewhat low ( M ∼0.5), the dimensionless parameters of this jet are not very far from those expected for Faranoff–Riley class I radio jets.     

Fission and the <Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-process: Competition between neutron-induced and beta-delayed fission

We show that for the discussed scenario of a neutron-star merger in highly neutronized ejecta (Y _e ?0.1), neutron-induced fission plays a major role in the r-process cycling and is the main obstacle to the formation of superheavy elements. At the final stage of the r-process, when the free-neutron density is already too low to maintain rapid nucleosynthesis and only beta-decay and beta-delayed fission take place, the leading role in forming the final abundances of chemical elements passes to delayed fission. The latter ultimately changes the abundances of individual isotopes in the region before the second peak and heavier than lead, which, in particular, affects the determination of the age of the Galaxy.     

Study on the Properties of Blazar Jets

The multi-wavelength quasi-simultaneous data of 55 Fermi blazars are fitted by using the conical jet model, and the physical properties of blazar jets are also investigated. Through the X²-minimization fitting procedure, the best-fit parameters of the conical jet model are obtained. Combined with the other parameters we collected, a statistical analysis is performed. The results of statistical analysis are summarized as follows: (1) The jet power obtained by the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting is larger than the jet power calculated by using the extended radio luminosity; (2) There is no correlation between the Doppler factor 5 and the magnetic field strength B; (3) There is a correlation between the jet power and the accretion disk luminosity, and the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) mechanism can well explain the energy source of BL Lac jets rather than Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs); (4) The jet power is significantly correlated with the black hole mass.     

等离子体湍动电场对Stark致宽函数的贡献

过去在用Stark效应研究天体活动过程的光谱时,一般仅考虑Holtsmark场的作用,所得出的电子密度只是一个上限。近来的研究表明,等离子体湍动电场在其中也起着重要的作用,而且当计及这种场的作用时,电子密度减小很多。本文给出Balmer线从H_3—H_(30)的Stark致宽函数S(α,α),它们是考虑到Holtsmark场和湍动场的联合作用以及对两者的不同比值而计算的,所给出的结果与Underhill等和Galdetskii等分别对纯Holtsmark场和纯湍动场而得到的类似数值不同。由于除了极少数外,大部分太阳耀斑和爆发日珥以及其他天体活动过程可能都处于弱或中等等离子体湍动状态,因而所算出的S(α,α)值可用于这些过程的氢线轮廓或半宽的分析。     

A Multiwavelength Study of the Jets in FR-I Radio Galaxies： I. Data and Analysis

We compile a sample of 11 Fanaroff-Riley type I Radio Galaxies(FR-I RGs)with multi-wavelength observations to address the dynamic behavior of jets in these objects.Optical images acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope(HST)are carefully analyzed.The method and reduction procedure are described in detail. Unresolved optical cores emerge after having properly removed starlight from the host galaxies in eight of the FR-I RGs,of which five are new identifications.Broad band spectral properties of these newly identified compact cores are compared with that previously found in FR-I RGs,as well as the low-energy-peaked BL Lac objects. The similarity between them argues for the same non-thermal synchrotron origin. Well-resolved optical jets with knotty morphologies are found in three FR-I RGs in our sample,namely 3C 15,3C 66B and B20755 37.The optical counterparts to the inner radio/X-ray jets are identified and a clear one-to-one correspondence between the optical,radio and X-ray knots is found.The structure and information on the optical jets are discussed.Physical parameters such as the knots position,flux and size are also presented.Detailed comparison between the multi-wavelength data and radiative and dynamic models of jet will be made in a forthcoming paper.     

Distinguishing Propagation vs. Launch Physics of Astrophysical Jets and the Role of Experiments

The absence of other viable momentum sources for collimated flows leads to the likelihood that magnetic fields play a fundamental role in jet launch and/or collimation in astrophysical jets. To best understand the physics of jets, it is useful to distinguish between the launch region where the jet is accelerated and the larger scales where the jet propagates as a collimated structure. Observations presently resolve jet propagation, but not the launch region. Simulations typically probe the launch and propagation regions separately, but not both together. Here, I IDentify some of the physics of jet launch vs. propagation and what laboratory jet experiments to date have probed. Reproducing an astrophysical jet in the lab is unrealistic, so maximizing the benefit of the experiments requires clarifying the astrophysical connection.     

Radiative Shocks in Astrophysics and the Laboratory

This paper explores the variations in radiative shock behavior originating from the properties of the system containing the shock. Specifically, the optical depth of the upstream region and the downstream region both affect the behavior of radiative shocks. Optically thick systems such as stellar interiors or supernovae permit only limited shock-induced increases in density. At the other limit, the radiation and shock dynamics in optically thin systems permits the post-shock density to reach arbitrarily large values. The theory of the shock structure is summarized for systems in which the upstream region is optically thin, common to some astrophysical systems and a number of experiments.     

Jets from black hole X-ray binaries: testing, refining and extending empirical models for the coupling to X-rays

In this paper we study the relation of radio emission to X-ray spectral and variability properties for a large sample of black hole X-ray binary systems. This is done to test, refine and extend – notably into the timing properties – the previously published 'unified model' for the coupling of accretion and ejection in such sources. In 14 outbursts from 11 different sources we find that in every case the peak radio flux, on occasion directly resolved into discrete relativistic ejections, is associated with the bright hard to soft state transition near the peak of the outburst. We also note the association of the radio flaring with periods of X-ray flaring during this transition in most, but not all, of the systems. In the soft state, radio emission is in nearly all cases either undetectable or optically thin, consistent with the suppression of the core jet in these states and 'relic' radio emission from interactions of previously ejected material and the ambient medium. However, these data cannot rule out an intermittent, optically thin, jet in the soft state. In attempting to associate X-ray timing properties with the ejection events we find a close, but not exact, correspondence between phases of very low integrated X-ray variability and such ejections. In fact the data suggest that there is not a perfect one-to-one correspondence between the radio, X-ray spectral or X-ray timing properties, suggesting that they may be linked simply as symptoms of the underlying state change and not causally to one another. We further study the sparse data on the reactivation of the jet during the transition back to the hard state in decay phase of outbursts, and find marginal evidence for this in one case only. In summary we find no strong evidence against the originally proposed model, confirming and extending some aspects of it with a much larger sample, but note that several aspects remain poorly tested.     

实验室模拟磁力线重联的初步结果

在中国科学技术大学的线性磁化等离子体装置上,通过对两个平行电流板施加同向电流,实现重联磁场位型的构造,进而开展实验室等离子体中磁力线重联过程的研究.利用发射探针测量了重联过程中的平行(轴向)电场,实验验证了重联电流与通行粒子的依赖关系.利用磁探针测量了磁场通量的演化,未发现通量堆积现象,与数值预言相符.     

Modelling the April 15 spectrum of Supernova 1993 J

We present the modeling of the ultraviolet and optical spectra obtained simultaneously on 1993 April 15 with the HST and at Lick Observatory. A Monte Carlo code is employed in the modeling and a comparison is made between models reported by different groups. With an atmosphere similar to the Sun in chemical composition, the observed spectral lines are well reproduced by a power law density structure of index around 20 except the strong H and HeI λ5876 lines which have peculiar absorption profiles. The photospheric velocity is found to be 9500 km/s and the blackbody temperature of the spectrum is 7990 K. For H and HeI λ5876, we suggest a two-component density structure which has a smoother layer located immediately outside the steeply decreasing inner envelope. The power law indices are most probably 20 and 3, respectively, with the transition point at about 13 000 km/s. In addition, this outer smooth layer serves to flatten the far UV spectrum as observed.