A new model of dark matter distribution in galaxies

In the absence of the physical understanding of the phenomenon, different empirical laws have been used as approximation for distribution of dark matter in galaxies and clusters of galaxies. We suggest a new profile which is not empirical in nature, but motivated with the physical idea that what we call dark matter is essentially the gravitational polarization of the quantum vacuum (containing virtual gravitational dipoles) by the immersed baryonic matter. It is very important to include this new profile in forthcoming studies of dark matter halos and to reveal how well it performs in comparison with empirical profiles. A good agreement of the profile with observational findings would be the first sign of unexpected gravitational properties of the quantum vacuum.     

Regional Flood Frequency Analysis Based on L-Moment Approach (Case Study Tisza River Basin)

Water Resources - Floods are one of the most common natural hazards and as such, they are causing a great loss of human life as well as great economic damages. Flood frequency analysis (FFA) is...     

Direct Formation of Burkeite in the Geothermal Waters at Vranjska Banja,Serbia

Natural Resources Research - There are no available data about direct burkeite formation on the geothermal waters pipelines in Europe. Data about accompanying minerals of burkeite are also scarce....     

Acceleration Phase of Coronal Mass Ejections: I. Temporal and Spatial Scales

We study kinematics of 22 coronal mass ejections (CMEs) whose motion was traced from the gradual pre-acceleration phase up to the post-acceleration stage. The peak accelerations in the studied sample range from 40, up to 7000 m s⁻², and are inversely proportional to the acceleration phase duration and the height range involved. Accelerations and velocities are, on average, larger in CMEs launched from a compact source region. The acceleration phase duration is proportional to the source region dimensions; i.e., compact CMEs are accelerated more impulsively. Such behavior is interpreted as a consequence of stronger Lorentz force and shorter Alfvén time scales involved in compact CMEs (with stronger magnetic field and larger Alfvén speed being involved at lower heights). CMEs with larger accelerations and velocities are on average wider, whereas the widths are not related to the source region dimensions. Such behavior is explained in terms of the field pile-up ahead of the erupting structure, which is more effective in the case of a strongly accelerated structure.     

Petrology of alkali basalts of Zlot, Timok Magmatic Complex (Eastern Serbia)

Alkali basalts were discovered in the Timok Magmatic Complex only in a borehole near Zlot. They are composed of plagioclase and clinopyroxene phenocrysts lying in intersertal to pilotaxitic groundmass. The characteristic feature of these rocks is the high content of needle shaped magnetite.

Various disequilibrium features in alkali basalt of Zlot reflect complex convection effects and recharge, most probably in a shallow magma chamber. Major and trace elements data indicate that alkali basalts of Zlot originated from magmas deriving from metasomatized mantle wedge above a subducting and dehydrating plate. However the investigated rocks did not originate from primary magmas, but from a magma which has undergone considerable fractional crystallization.     

Quantum vacuum and virtual gravitational dipoles: the solution to the dark energy problem?

The cosmological constant problem is the principal obstacle in the attempt to interpret dark energy as the quantum vacuum energy. We suggest that the obstacle can be removed, i.e. that the cosmological constant problem can be resolved by assuming that the virtual particles and antiparticles in the quantum vacuum have the gravitational charge of the opposite sign. The corresponding estimates of the cosmological constant, dark energy density and the equation of state for dark energy are in the intriguing agreement with the observed values in the present day Universe. However, our approach and the Standard Cosmology lead to very different predictions for the future of the Universe; the exponential growth of the scale factor, predicted by the Standard Cosmology, is suppressed in our model.     

Do we live in the universe successively dominated by matter and antimatter?

We wonder if a cyclic universe may be dominated alternatively by matter and antimatter. Such a scenario demands a mechanism for transformation of matter to antimatter (or antimatter to matter) during the final stage of a big crunch. By giving an example, we have shown that in principle such a mechanism is possible. Our mechanism is based on a hypothetical repulsion between matter and antimatter, existing at least deep inside the horizon of a black hole. When universe is reduced to a supermassive black hole of a small size, a very strong field of the conjectured force might create (through a Schwinger type mechanism) particle-antiparticle pairs from the quantum vacuum. The amount of antimatter created from the vacuum is equal to the decrease of mass of the black hole and violently repelled from it. When the size of the black hole is sufficiently small, the creation of antimatter may become so fast, that matter of our Universe might be transformed to antimatter in a fraction of second. Such a fast conversion of matter into antimatter may look as a Big Bang. Our mechanism prevents a singularity; a new cycle might start with an initial size more than 30 orders of magnitude greater than the Planck length, suggesting that there is no need for inflationary scenario in Cosmology. In addition, there is no need to invoke CP violation for explanation of matter-antimatter asymmetry. Simply, our present day Universe is dominated by matter, because the previous universe was dominated by antimatter.