The dependence on system parameters of strange-mode instabilities in accretion discs

A systematic study of the dependence on disc parameters and input physics, such as opacity and the treatment of convection, of strange-mode instabilities in thin accretion discs, which have been discovered recently, is presented. The instabilities are found to exist for a wide range of parameters, are partly very robust, and their growth rates can reach the dynamical range. Even discs on galactic scales around massive black holes are affected by them. Two groups of instabilities can be distinguished, the first of which is related to the radiation-pressure-dominated part of the disc, and the second to helium/hydrogen ionization. By application of the NAR approximation, both of them can be shown to be of mechanical origin, and the classical κ -mechanism can be excluded as the instability mechanism. A heuristic model for strange-mode instabilities proposed in the context of stellar strange-mode instabilities in luminous stars seems to be applicable to the group associated with dominant radiation pressure.     

Thermal conduction between an accretion disc and a corona in active galactic nuclei: vertical structure of the transition layer

We study the vertical structure of the transition layer between an accretion disc and a corona in the context of the existence of a two-phase medium in thermally unstable regions. The disc is illuminated by hard X-ray radiation, and satisfies the condition of hydrostatic equilibrium. We take into account the energy exchange between the hot, Compton-heated corona (∼10⁸ K) and cool disc (∼10⁴ K) arising from both radiative processes and thermal conduction. In the case including thermal conduction, we perform a local stability analysis, and conclude that thermal conduction does not suppress thermal instability. In spite of the continuous temperature profile T ( τ ) there are regions of strong temperature gradient, in which spontaneous perturbations can lead to cloud condensation in the transition layer. We determine the minimum size λ _TC of such a perturbation.     

含平流双温吸积盘的振荡不稳定性研究

从流体动力学方程出发,用微扰法得出含平流双温吸积盘的径向、环向不稳定性的色散方程．并对平流和径向粘滞力对双温吸积盘的影响进行了较详细的讨论．结果表明：平流和径向粘滞力对声模有较大的影响,且不改变粘滞模和热模的稳定性质．而环向扰动对吸积盘的各种模有着较明显的作用．这一模型有利于解释活动天体的周期和准周期光变现象．     

Modelling the effect of rainfall on instabilities of slopes along highways

 During and after the very wet 1991/1992 winter experienced in Jordan, significant instabilities occurred in several sections of the new Irbid–Amman Highway in Jordan. A potential impact of surface and subsurface flow on the failed areas was noted. This paper is concerned with a hydrological study of the Irbid–Amman Highway, including watershed characteristics, hydrological data analysis, and hydraulic analysis of remedial works to failed areas and other parts of the highway drainage to minimize the impact of surface runoff and the effects of subsurface water with respect to the stability of the upslope and to limit the porewater pressure within the road formation. The study shows that the culvert capacity and the discharge velocity of the cross-highway drainage are deficient. Recommendations (e.g. gabion cascades) are therefore suggested to reduce drainage to the cross highway drainage structures. Grouting is suggested to stabilize the embankments above the inlets to culverts. Remedial drainage works are suggested for each major failed area. These include: culverts, table drain, drainage blanket beneath road formation, cut-off drains above cuttings, subsurface drains into the cut in the vicinity of springs, curtain drain beneath the lined table drain, and others. Received: 26 March 1997 · Accepted: 23 March 1998     

Post-noon two-minute period pulsating aurora and their relationship to the dayside convection pattern

Poleward-moving auroral forms, as observed by meridian-scanning photometers, in the vicinity of the cusp region are generally assumed to be the optical signature of flux transfer events. Another class of quasi-continuous, short period (1–2 min) wave-like auroral emission has been identified, closely co-located with the convection reversal boundary in the post-noon sector, which is similar in appearance to such cusp aurora. It is suggested that these short period wave-like auroral emissions, the optical signature of boundary plasma sheet precipitation in the region 1 field-aligned current system, are associated with ULF magnetohydrodynamic wave activity, which is observed simultaneously by ground magnetometer stations. This association with ULF wave activity is strengthened by the observation of several harmonic frequencies in the pulsation spectrum, each an overtone of the fundamental standing wave resonance frequency.     

Pc3 pulsations during variable IMF conditions

Pc3 geomagnetic field fluctuations detected at low latitude (L’Aquila, Italy) during the passage of a high velocity solar wind stream, characterized by variable interplanetary magnetic field conditions, are analyzed. Higher frequency resonant fluctuations and lower frequency phenomena are simultaneously observed; the intermittent appearance and the variable frequency of the longer period modes can be well interpreted in terms of the variable IMF elements; moreover their polarization characteristics are consistent with an origin related to external waves propagating in antisunward direction. A comparison with simultaneous observations performed at Terra Nova Bay (Antarctica) provides additional evidence for a clear relationship between the IMF and Pc3 pulsations also at very high latitudes.     

Nonlocal density wave theory for gravitational instability of protoplanetary disks without sharp boundaries

The stability of a self‐gravitating infinitesimally thin gaseous disk rotating around a central mass is studied. Our global linear analysis concerns marginal stability, i.e. it yields the critical temperature for the onset of instability for any given ratio of the disk mass to the central mass. Both axisymmetric and low‐m nonaxisymmetric excitations are analysed. When the fractional disk mass increases, the symmetry character of the instability changes from rings (m = 0) to one‐armed trailing spirals (m = 1). The distribution of the surface density along the spiral arms is not uniform, but describes a sequence of maxima that might be identified with forming planets. The number of the mass concentrations decreases with increasing fractional disk mass. We also obtain solutions in the form of global nonaxisymmetric vortices, which are, however, never excited.     

ELASTOPLASTIC RESPONSE OF PRESSURE SENSITIVE SOLIDS

Tensorially invariant constitutive relations are systematically derived for large strain elastoplastic response of geomaterials. The analysis centres on Mohr–Coulomb (MC) and Drucker–Prager (DP) models with arbitrary hardening and non-associated response. Both flow and deformation theories are constructed for each model with emphasis on linear incremental relations between the Eulerian strain rate tensor and the objective Jaumann stress rate tensor. Specifying the results for plane strain compression we find that deformation theory produces a much smaller tangent instantaneous shear modulus than flow theory. It follows that failure of ellipticity and onset of surface instabilities predicted by deformation theory for associated solids occur at much lower levels of strain than the corresponding flow theory results. On the other hand, flow theory predictions admit a considerable sensitivity to the level of non-associativity. In fact, at high levels of non-associativity flow theory predictions for loss of ellipticity can be at strains below those obtained from deformation theory. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.