Lossy radial diffusion of relativistic Jovian electrons

The radial diffusion equation with synchrotron losses was solved by the Laplace transform method for near-equatorially mirroring relativistic electrons. The evolution of a power law distribution function was found and the characteristics of synchrotron burn-off are stated in terms of explicit parameters for an arbitrary diffusion coefficient. Emissivity from the radiation belts of Jupiter was studied. Asymptotic forms for the distribution in the strong synchrotron loss regime are provided

Relativistic electrons and whistlers in Jupiter's magnetosphere

The path-integrated gain of parallel propagating whistlers driven unstable by an anisotropic distribution of relativistic electrons in the stable trapping region of Jupiter's inner magnetosphere was computed. The requirement that a gain of 3 e-foldings of power balance the power lost by imperfect reflection along the flux tube sets a stably-trapped flux of electrons which is close to the non-relativistic result. Comparison with measurements shows that observed fluxes are near the stably-trapped limit, which suggests that whistler wave intensities may be high enough to cause significant diffusion of electrons accounting for the observed reduction of phase space densities. A crude estimate of the wave intensity necessary to diffuse electrons on a radial diffusion time scale yields a lower limit for the magnetic field fluctuation intensity

The Physical State of the Intergalactic Medium or Can We Measure Y?

We present an argument for a {\it lower limit} to the Compton-$y$ parameter describing spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The absence of a detectable Gunn-Peterson signal in the spectra of high redshift quasars demands a high ionization state of the intergalactic medium (IGM). Given an ionizing flux at the lower end of the range indicated by the proximity effect, an IGM representing a significant fraction of the nucleosynthesis-predicted baryon density must be heated by sources other than the photon flux to a temperature \go {\rm few} \times 10^5\, K. Such a gas at the redshift of the highest observed quasars, $z\sim 5$, will produce a y\go 10^{-6}. This lower limit on $y$ rises if the Universe is open, if there is a cosmological constant, or if one adopts an IGM with a density larger than the prediction of standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis.Comment: Proceedings of `Unveiling the Cosmic Infrared Background', April 23-25, 1995, Maryland. Self-unpacking uuencoded, compressed tar file with two figures include

Stochastic acceleration of solar flare protons

The acceleration of solar flare protons is considered by cyclotron damping of intense Alfven wave turbulence in a magnetic trap. The energy diffusion coefficient is computed for a near-isotropic distribution of super-Alfvenic protons and a steady-state solution for the particle spectrum is found for both transit-time and diffusive losses out of the ends of the trap. The acceleration time to a characteristic energy approximately 20 Mev/nucl can be as short as 10 sec. On the basis of phenomenological arguments an omega/2 frequency dependence for the Alfven wave spectrum is inferred. The correlation time of the turbulence lies in the range .0005 less than tau/corr less than .05s

A novel evolutionary formulation of the maximum independent set problem

We introduce a novel evolutionary formulation of the problem of finding a maximum independent set of a graph. The new formulation is based on the relationship that exists between a graph's independence number and its acyclic orientations. It views such orientations as individuals and evolves them with the aid of evolutionary operators that are very heavily based on the structure of the graph and its acyclic orientations. The resulting heuristic has been tested on some of the Second DIMACS Implementation Challenge benchmark graphs, and has been found to be competitive when compared to several of the other heuristics that have also been tested on those graphs

Fundamental Plane of Sunyaev-Zeldovich clusters

Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) cluster surveys are considered among the most promising methods for probing dark energy up to large redshifts. However, their premise is hinged upon an accurate mass-observable relationship, which could be affected by the (rather poorly understood) physics of the intracluster gas. In this letter, using a semi-analytic model of the intracluster gas that accommodates various theoretical uncertainties, I develop a Fundamental Plane relationship between the observed size, thermal energy, and mass of galaxy clusters. In particular, I find that M ~ (Y_{SZ}/R_{SZ,2})^{3/4}, where M is the mass, Y_{SZ} is the total SZ flux or thermal energy, and R_{SZ,2} is the SZ half-light radius of the cluster. I first show that, within this model, using the Fundamental Plane relationship reduces the (systematic+random) errors in mass estimates to 14%, from 22% for a simple mass-flux relationship. Since measurement of the cluster sizes is an inevitable part of observing the SZ clusters, the Fundamental Plane relationship can be used to reduce the error of the cluster mass estimates by ~ 34%, improving the accuracy of the resulting cosmological constraints without any extra cost. I then argue why our Fundamental Plane is distinctly different from the virial relationship that one may naively expect between the cluster parameters. Finally, I argue that while including more details of the observed SZ profile cannot significantly improve the accuracy of mass estimates, a better understanding of the impact of non-gravitational heating/cooling processes on the outskirts of the intracluster medium (apart from external calibrations) might be the best way to reduce these errors.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, added an analytic derivation of the Fundametal Plane relation (which is distinctly different from the virial relation), submitted to Ap

Topics in Born-Infeld Electrodynamics

Classical version of Born-Infeld electrodynamics is recalled and its most important properties discussed. Then we analyze possible abelian and non-abelian generalizations of this theory, and show how certain soliton-like configurations can be obtained. The relationship with the Standard Model of electroweak interactions is also mentioned.Comment: (One new reference added). 15 pages, LaTeX. To be published in the Proceedings of XXXVII Karpacz Winter School edited in the Proceedings Series of American Mathematical Society, editors J. Lukierski and J. Rembielinsk

Cosmic microwave background constraints on the epoch of reionization

We use a compilation of cosmic microwave anisotropy data to constrain the epoch of reionization in the Universe, as a function of cosmological parameters. We consider spatially-flat cosmologies, varying the matter density $\Omega_0$ (the flatness being restored by a cosmological constant), the Hubble parameter $h$ and the spectral index $n$ of the primordial power spectrum. Our results are quoted both in terms of the maximum permitted optical depth to the last-scattering surface, and in terms of the highest allowed reionization redshift assuming instantaneous reionization. For critical-density models, significantly-tilted power spectra are excluded as they cannot fit the current data for any amount of reionization, and even scale-invariant models must have an optical depth to last scattering of below 0.3. For the currently-favoured low-density model with $\Omega_0 = 0.3$ and a cosmological constant, the earliest reionization permitted to occur is at around redshift 35, which roughly coincides with the highest estimate in the literature. We provide general fitting functions for the maximum permitted optical depth, as a function of cosmological parameters. We do not consider the inclusion of tensor perturbations, but if present they would strengthen the upper limits we quote.Comment: 9 pages LaTeX file with ten figures incorporated (uses mn.sty and epsf). Corrects some equation typos, superseding published versio