Vibrational stability of stars in thermal imbalance: A solution in terms of asymptotic expansions

The solution of the partial differential equation describing the ‘non-isentropic’ oscillations of a star in thermal imbalance has been obtained in terms of asymptotic expansions up to the first order in the parameterII/t _s, whereII is the adiabatic pulsation period for the fundamental mode andt _s , a secular time scale of the order of the Kelvin-Helmholtz time. Use has been made of the zeroth order ‘isentopic’ solution derived in I. The solution obtained allows one to derive unambiguously a general integral expression for the coefficient of vibrational stability for arbitrary stellar models in thermal imbalance. The physical interpretation of this stability coefficient is discussed and its generality and its simplicity are stressed. Application to some simple analytic stellar models in homologous and nonhomologous contraction enables one to recover, in a more straightforward manner, results obtained by Coxet al. (1973). Aizenman and Cox (1974) and Davey (1974). Finally, we emphasize that the inclusion of the effects of thermal imbalance in the stability calculations of realistic evolutionary sequences of stellar models, not considered up to now by the other authors, is quite easy and straightforward with the simple formula derived here.     

The cascading of cosmic-ray nuclei in various media

More than a thousand interactions of primary heavy nuclei of the cosmic radiation with charge ≥10 and energy >1 GeV nucleon^?1 in nuclear emulsion have been studied with emphasis on how the primary nucleus fragments. It has been determined that the cases of multiple successive fragmentations that have been observed do not occur more frequently than expected. The fragmentation ofZ>20 nuclei does depend on the target nucleus to some extent so it is important to try to separate the interactions in emulsion by theirN _h (number of evaporation prongs). The fragmentation of ₈ ¹⁶ O at 2.1 GeV nucleon^?1 measured at the Bevalac shows a similar dependence on target nucleus. By using data from these new interactions combined with published data we have simulated on a computer nuclear cascades in both emulsion and air. Results on these cascades are given for both primary silicon and primary iron nuclei. These results are used to discuss the fluctuations expected in extensive air showers produced by heavy primary nuclei.     

Inductive electric field of a time-dependent ring current

The inductive electric field generated by a time-dependent symmetric ring current has been investigated. The symmetric ring current was modelled by a population of protons drifting in a magnetic dipole field. The interaction of these protons with ion-cyclotron waves was assumed to be the dominant energy loss process for the ring current protons, at least under certain conditions. The calculation, with spectral densities for the ion-cyclotron waves that are based on experimental data, showed that an azimuthal inductive electric field of as much as 0.25 mV/m can be produced by this mechanism. Furthermore there is evidence that if the spectral density of the waves is substantially larger than the one adopted here, the electric field might increase to the order of 1.0 mV/m or more.     

Putative Meteoritic Craters in Río Cuarto (Central Argentina) Interpreted as Eolian Structures

Ten oblong aligned depressions in the Río Cuarto area (provincia de Córdoba, Argentina) were supposed to be the result of very-low-angle Holocene meteoroid impacts. However, we consider that authors that studied the structures did not demonstrated their extraterrestrial origin. We suggest that an eolian origin for the structures of Río Cuarto is more likely. Actually, these landforms integrate large systems of similar deflation/accumulation geoforms aligned according to predominant winds during different periods.     

Does the plasma composition affect the long-term evolution of relativistic jets?

We study the influence of the matter content of extragalactic jets on their morphology, dynamics and emission properties. For this purpose we consider jets of extremely different compositions, including pure leptonic and baryonic plasmas. Our work is based on two-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of the long-term evolution of powerful extragalactic jets propagating into a homogeneous environment. The equation of state used in the simulations accounts for an arbitrary mixture of electrons, protons and electron–positron pairs. Using the hydrodynamic models, we have also computed synthetic radio maps and the thermal bremsstrahlung X-ray emission from their cavities.
Although there is a difference of about three orders of magnitude in the temperatures of the cavities inflated by the simulated jets, we find that both the morphology and the dynamic behaviour are almost independent of the assumed composition of the jets. Their evolution proceeds in two distinct epochs. During the first one, multidimensional effects are unimportant and the jets propagate ballistically. The second epoch starts when the first larger vortices are produced near the jet head, causing the beam cross-section to increase and the jet to decelerate. The evolution of the cocoon and cavity is in agreement with a simple theoretical model. The beam velocities are relativistic  ( Γ ≃4)  at kiloparsec scales, supporting the idea that the X-ray emission of several extragalactic jets may be due to relativistically boosted CMB photons. The radio emission of all models is dominated by the contribution of the hotspots. All models exhibit a depression in the X-rays surface brightness of the cavity interior, in agreement with recent observations.     

Harmonic analysis of cosmic microwave background data – I. Ring reductions and point-source catalogue

We present a harmonic model for the data analysis of an all-sky cosmic microwave background survey, such as Planck , where the survey is obtained through ring-scans of the sky. In this model, resampling and pixelization of the data are avoided. The spherical transforms of the sky at each frequency, in total intensity and polarization, as well as the bright-point-source catalogue, are derived directly from the data reduced on to the rings. Formal errors and the most significant correlation coefficients for the spherical transforms of the frequency maps are preserved. A clean and transparent path from the original samplings in the time domain to the final scientific products is thus obtained. The data analysis is largely based on Fourier analysis of rings; the positional stability of the instrument's spin axis during these scans is a requirement for the data model and is investigated here for the Planck satellite. Brighter point sources are recognized and extracted as part of the ring reductions and, on the basis of accumulated data, used to build the bright-point-source catalogue. The analysis of the rings is performed in an iterative loop, involving a range of geometric and detector response calibrations. The geometric calibrations are used to reconstruct the paths of the detectors over the sky during a scan and the phase offsets between scans of different detectors; the response calibrations eliminate short- and long-term variations in detector response. Point-source information may allow the reconstruction of the beam profile. The reconstructed spherical transforms of the sky in each frequency channel form the input to the subsequent analysis stages. Although the methods in this paper were developed with the data processing for the Planck satellite in mind, there are many aspects which have wider implementation possibilities, including the construction of real-space pixelized maps.     

On the mass of M31

Recent work by several groups has established the properties of the dwarf satellites to M31. We reexamine the reported kinematics of this group employing a fresh technique we have developed previously. By calculating the distribution of a χ statistic (which we define in the paper) for the M31 system, we conclude that the total mass (disc plus halo) of the primary is unlikely to be as great as that of our own Milky Way. In fact the χ distribution for M31 indicates that, like NGC 3992, it does not have a massive halo. In contrast, the analysis of the satellites of NGC 1961 and NGC 5084 provides strong evidence for massive haloes surrounding both spiral galaxies.