Non-axisymmetric relativistic Bondi–Hoyle accretion on to a Schwarzschild black hole

We present the results of an exhaustive numerical study of fully relativistic non-axisymmetric Bondi–Hoyle accretion on to a moving Schwarzschild black hole. We have solved the equations of general relativistic hydrodynamics with a high-resolution shock-capturing numerical scheme based on a linearized Riemann solver. The numerical code was previously used to study axisymmetric flow configurations past a Schwarzschild black hole. We have analysed and discussed the flow morphology for a sample of asymptotically high Mach number models. The results of this work reveal that initially asymptotic uniform flows always accrete on to the hole in a stationary way, which closely resembles the previous axisymmetric patterns. This is in contrast with some Newtonian numerical studies where violent flip-flop instabilities were found. As discussed in the text, the reason can be found in the initial conditions used in the relativistic regime, as they cannot exactly duplicate the previous Newtonian setups where the instability appeared. The dependence of the final solution on the inner boundary condition as well as on the grid resolution has also been studied. Finally, we have computed the accretion rates of mass and linear and angular momentum.     

Resonant tidal disruption in galactic nuclei

It has recently been shown by Rauch 38 Tremaine that the rate of angular momentum relaxation in nearly Keplerian star clusters is greatly increased by a process termed 'resonant relaxation'; it was also argued, via a series of scaling arguments, that tidal disruption of stars in galactic nuclei containing massive black holes could be noticeably enhanced by this process. We describe here the results of numerical simulations of resonant tidal disruption which quantitatively test the predictions made by Rauch 38 Tremaine. The simulation method is based on an N -body routine incorporating cloning of stars near the loss cone and a semirelativistic symplectic integration scheme. Normalized disruption rates for resonant and non-resonant nuclei are derived at orbital energies both above and below the critical energy, and the corresponding angular momentum distribution functions are found. The black hole mass above which resonant tidal disruption is quenched by relativistic precession is determined. We also briefly describe the discovery of chaos in the Wisdom–Holman symplectic integrator applied to highly eccentric orbits and propose a modified integration scheme that remains robust under these conditions. We find that resonant disruption rates exceed their non-resonant counterparts by an amount consistent with the predictions; in particular, we estimate the net tidal disruption rate for a fully resonant cluster to be about twice that of its non-resonant counterpart. No significant enhancement in rates is observed outside the critical radius. Relativistic quenching of the effect is found to occur for hole masses M  >  M _Q  = (8 ± 3) × 10⁷  M . The numerical results combined with the observed properties of galactic nuclei indicate that for most galaxies the resonant enhancement to tidal disruption rates will be very small.     

Foreground separation methods for satellite observations of the cosmic microwave background

A maximum entropy method (MEM) is presented for separating the emission resulting from different foreground components from simulated satellite observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). In particular, the method is applied to simulated observations by the proposed Planck Surveyor satellite. The simulations, performed by Bouchet &38; Gispert, include emission from the CMBR and the kinetic and thermal Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) effects from galaxy clusters, as well as Galactic dust, free–free and synchrotron emission. We find that the MEM technique performs well and produces faithful reconstructions of the main input components. The method is also compared with traditional Wiener filtering and is shown to produce consistently better results, particularly in the recovery of the thermal SZ effect.     

Precise laboratory wavelengths of the Mg I and Mg II resonance transitions at 2853, 2803 and 2796 Å

Strong ultraviolet resonance transitions are observed routinely both in the Galactic interstellar medium and in quasar absorption systems. The quality of the astronomical spectroscopic data now available demands more precise laboratory rest wavelengths. Of particular interest is the accuracy with which one can constrain space–time variations in fundamental constants using quasar spectra. A recent analysis by Webb et al. of 25 quasar spectra using Mg and Fe transitions tentatively suggests that the fine-structure constant was smaller at earlier epochs. To permit a check on this result, and to allow further more extensive investigations, we have carried out a new determination of the laboratory wavelengths of Mg  i  2853 Å, Mg  II  2796 Å and Mg  II  2803 Å by high-resolution Fourier transform spectroscopy. Our results for Mg  II  2796 Å are consistent with the value measured independently by two other groups. To our knowledge, no previous measurements of comparable precision exist for Mg  I  2853 Å and Mg  II  2803 Å.     

Problems in the calibration of an acoustic device for the observation of bedload transport

Developments in theoretical and empirical modelling of bedload transport processes are hindered by the lack of an adequate data base for testing or establishing the models. Conventional methods of measuring bedload transport rates fail to provide the necessary continuous or frequent record of variations at a single section. Acoustic techniques have the potential to overcome this deficiency, but their application has been very limited. Some of the problems of calibrating an acoustic device in the field and in a laboratory flume are discussed, and a possible circuit design described which might minimize calibration difficulties by automatically subtracting the noise generated by flow turbulence.     

PLAN FORM AND PROFILE FORM OF HILLSLOPES

For 27 hillslope profiles located within four first-order drainage basins on the dip slope of the South Downs in East Sussex, contour curvature (P), measured in degrees per 100 m, is highly variable within any one hillslope. Hillslopes may be described as wholly concave in plan where P is less than ?40, wholly convex in plan where P is greater than +40 and convexo-concave in plan where P lies between ?40 and +40. One measure of P taken at the profile sampling line is found to give a better estimate of P than measuring P at the steepest point on the hillslope. P is found to be significantly negatively correlated with slope in 38 per cent of cases, correlated with distance from the divide in 55 per cent of cases (positively where P <0 and negatively where P <0) and positively correlated with profile curvature in 70 per cent of cases. Implications of these correlations for hillslope process-response models are discussed.     

NEAR-FAULT DISPLACEMENT AND DEFORMATION OBTAINED FROM ONE-KILOMETER-LONG FAULT-CROSSING BASELINE MEASUREMENTS-A PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENT AT 2 SITES ON THE EASTERN BOUNDARY OF THE SICHUAN-YUNNAN BLOCK

The current and conventional fault-crossing short baseline measurement has a relatively high precision, but its measurement arrays usually fail to or cannot completely span major active fault zones due to the short length of the baselines, which are only tens to 100 meters. GNSS measurement has relatively low resolution on near-fault deformation and hence is not suitable for monitoring those faults with low motion and deformation rates, due to sparse stations and relatively low accuracy of the GNSS observation. We recently built up two experimental sites on the eastern boundary of the active Sichuan-Yunnan block, one crossing the Daqing section of the Zemuhe Fault and the other crossing the Longshu section of the Zhaotong Fault, aiming to test the measurement of near-fault motion and deformation by using fault-crossing arrays of one-kilometer-long baselines. In this paper, from a three-year-long data set we firstly introduce the selection of the sites and the methods of the measurement. We then calculate and analyze the near-field displacement and strain of the two sites by using three hypothetical models, the rigid body, elastic and composed models, proposed by previous researchers. In the rigid body model, we assume that an observed fault is located between two rigid blocks and the observed variances in baseline lengths result from the relative motion of the blocks. In the elastic model, we assume that a fault deforms uniformly within the fault zone over which a baseline array spans, and in the array baselines in different directions may play roles as strainmeters whose observations allow us to calculate three components of near-fault horizontal strain. In the composed model, we assume that both displacement and strain are accumulated within the fault zone that a baseline array spans, and both contribute to the observed variances in baseline lengths. Our results show that, from the rigid body model, variations in horizontal fault-parallel displacement component of the Zemuhe Fault at the Daqing site fluctuate within 3mm without obvious tendencies. The displacement variation in the fault-normal component keeps dropping in 2015 and 2016 with a cumulative decrease of 6mm, reflecting transverse horizontal compression, and it turns to rise slightly(suggesting extension)in 2017. From the elastic model, the variation in horizontal fault-normal strain component of the fault at Daqing shows mainly compression, with an annual variation close to 10^-5, and variations in the other two strain components are at the order of 10^-6. For the Longshu Fault, the rigid-body displacement of the fault varies totally within a few millimeters, but shows a dextral strike-slip tendency that is consistent with the fault motion known from geological investigation, and the observed dextral-slip rate is about 0.7mm/a on average. The fault-parallel strain component of the Longshu Fault is compressional within 2×10^-6, and the fault-normal strain component is mainly extensional. Restricted by the assumption of rigid-body model, we have to ignore homolateral deformation on either side of an observed fault and attribute such deformation to the fault displacement, resulting in an upper limit estimate of the fault displacement. The elastic model emphasizes more the deformation on an observed fault zone and may give us information about localizations of near-fault strain. The results of the two sites from the composed model suggest that it needs caution when using this model due to that big uncertainty would be introduced in solving relevant equations. Level surveying has also been carried out at the meantime at the two sites. The leveling series of the Daqing site fluctuates within 4mm and shows no tendency, meaning little vertical component of fault motion has been observed at this site; while, from the rigid-body model, the fault-normal motion shows transverse-horizontal compression of up to 6mm, indicating that the motion of the Zemuhe Fault at Daqing is dominantly horizontal. The leveling series of the Longshu site shows a variation with amplitude comparable with that observed from the baseline series here, suggesting a minor component of thrust faulting; while the baseline series of the same site do not present tendencies of fault-normal displacement. Since the steep-dip faults at the two sites are dominantly strike-slip in geological time scale, we ignore probable vertical movement temporarily. In addition, lengths of homolateral baselines on either side of the faults change somewhat over time, and this makes us consider the existence of minor faults on either side of the main faults. These probable minor faults may not reach to the surface and have not been identified through geological mapping; they might result in the observed variances in lengths of homolateral baselines, fortunately such variations are small relative to those in fault-crossing baselines. In summary, the fault-crossing measurement using arrays with one-kilometer-long baselines provides us information about near-fault movement and strain, and has a slightly higher resolution relative to current GNSS observation at similar time and space scales, and therefore this geodetic technology will be used until GNSS networks with dense near-fault stations are available in the future.     

机载成像光谱仪的外定标方法

该文描述了基于反射率方法的机载中分辨率成像光谱仪（AMODIS）外定标方法。可见光和近红外波段的17个通道定标结果表明,成像光谱仪两个飞行高度测值的外定标系数是非常吻合的,其相对差为0.19%～3.89%;成像光谱仪关于草地航测的反演值与地面实测值比较,结果也是比较接近的。     

Combined use of spot samples and continuous integrated sampling in a study of storm runoff from a lowland catchment in the south of England

We have used two different sampling techniques to study the geochemical response of a small lowland rural catchment to episodic storm runoff. The first method involves traditional daily spot sampling and has been used to develop a standard end‐member mixing analysis (EMMA) of the relative contributions of ground water flow and surface runoff to the total stream flow. The second method utilizes a continuous sampling device, powered by an osmotic pump, to produce an integrated 24‐h sample of the stream flow. When combined with the EMMA results from the spot samples, analyses of the integrated samples reveal the presence of a third component that makes a significant contribution to the dissolved NO₃, Ca and K export from the catchment during the rising limb of the hydrographic profile of a storm event following a prolonged dry period. The storm occurred in the middle of the night, so that the response of the stream chemistry was not captured by the daily samples. We hypothesize that this third component is derived from the flushing of stored soil water that contains the geochemical signature of decaying vegetation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.