Simulating coronal condensation dynamics in 3D

We present numerical simulations in 3D settings where coronal rain phenomena take place in a magnetic configuration of a quadrupolar arcade system. Our simulation is a magnetohydrodynamic simulation including anisotropic thermal conduction, optically thin radiative losses, and parametrised heating as main thermodynamical features to construct a realistic arcade configuration from chromospheric to coronal heights. The plasma evaporation from chromospheric and transition region heights eventually causes localised runaway condensation events and we witness the formation of plasma blobs due to thermal instability, that evolve dynamically in the heated arcade part and move gradually downwards due to interchange type dynamics. Unlike earlier 2.5D simulations, in this case there is no large scale prominence formation observed, but a continuous coronal rain develops which shows clear indications of Rayleigh-Taylor or interchange instability, that causes the denser plasma located above the transition region to fall down, as the system moves towards a more stable state. Linear stability analysis is used in the non-linear regime for gaining insight and giving a prediction of the system's evolution. After the plasma blobs descend through interchange, they follow the magnetic field topology more closely in the lower coronal regions, where they are guided by the magnetic dips.Comment: 47 pages, 59 figure

Statistical Analysis of Filament Features Based on the H{\alpha} Solar Images from 1988 to 2013 by Computer Automated Detection Method

We improve our filament automated detection method which was proposed in our previous works. It is then applied to process the full disk H$\alpha$ data mainly obtained by Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) from 1988 to 2013, spanning nearly 3 solar cycles. The butterfly diagrams of the filaments, showing the information of the filament area, spine length, tilt angle, and the barb number, are obtained. The variations of these features with the calendar year and the latitude band are analyzed. The drift velocities of the filaments in different latitude bands are calculated and studied. We also investigate the north-south (N-S) asymmetries of the filament numbers in total and in each subclass classified according to the filament area, spine length, and tilt angle. The latitudinal distribution of the filament number is found to be bimodal. About 80% of all the filaments have tilt angles within [0{\deg}, 60{\deg}]. For the filaments within latitudes lower (higher) than 50{\deg} the northeast (northwest) direction is dominant in the northern hemisphere and the southeast (southwest) direction is dominant in the southern hemisphere. The latitudinal migrations of the filaments experience three stages with declining drift velocities in each of solar cycles 22 and 23, and it seems that the drift velocity is faster in shorter solar cycles. Most filaments in latitudes lower (higher) than 50{\deg} migrate toward the equator (polar region). The N-S asymmetry indices indicate that the southern hemisphere is the dominant hemisphere in solar cycle 22 and the northern hemisphere is the dominant one in solar cycle 23.Comment: 51 pages, 12 tables, 25 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Mapping Topographic Structure in White Matter Pathways with Level Set Trees

Fiber tractography on diffusion imaging data offers rich potential for describing white matter pathways in the human brain, but characterizing the spatial organization in these large and complex data sets remains a challenge. We show that level set trees---which provide a concise representation of the hierarchical mode structure of probability density functions---offer a statistically-principled framework for visualizing and analyzing topography in fiber streamlines. Using diffusion spectrum imaging data collected on neurologically healthy controls (N=30), we mapped white matter pathways from the cortex into the striatum using a deterministic tractography algorithm that estimates fiber bundles as dimensionless streamlines. Level set trees were used for interactive exploration of patterns in the endpoint distributions of the mapped fiber tracks and an efficient segmentation of the tracks that has empirical accuracy comparable to standard nonparametric clustering methods. We show that level set trees can also be generalized to model pseudo-density functions in order to analyze a broader array of data types, including entire fiber streamlines. Finally, resampling methods show the reliability of the level set tree as a descriptive measure of topographic structure, illustrating its potential as a statistical descriptor in brain imaging analysis. These results highlight the broad applicability of level set trees for visualizing and analyzing high-dimensional data like fiber tractography output

Negative Refraction Induced by M\"obius Topology

We theoretically show the negative refraction existing in M\"{o}bius molecules. The negative refractive index is induced by the non-trivial topology of the molecules. With the M\"{o}bius boundary condition, the effective electromagnetic fields felt by the electron in a M\"{o}bius ring is spatially inhomogeneous. In this regard, the $D_{N}$ symmetry is broken in M\"{o}bius molecules and thus the magnetic response is induced through the effective magnetic field. Our findings open up a new architecture for negative refractive index materials based on the non-trivial topology of M\"{o}bius molecules.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Information of Structures in Galaxy Distribution

We introduce an information-theoretic measure, the Renyi information, to describe the galaxy distribution in space. We discuss properties of the information measure, and demonstrate its relationship with the probability distribution function and multifractal descriptions. Using the First Look Survey galaxy samples observed by the Infrared Array Camera onboard Spitzer Space Telescope, we present measurements of the Renyi information, as well as the counts-in-cells distribution and multifractal properties of galaxies in mid-infrared wavelengths. Guided by multiplicative cascade simulation based on a binomial model, we verify our measurements, and discuss the spatial selection effects on measuring information of the spatial structures. We derive structure scan functions at scales where selection effects are small for the Spitzer samples. We discuss the results, and the potential of applying the Renyi information to measuring other spatial structures.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, submitted to ApJ; To appear in The Astrophysical Journal 2006, 644, 678 (June 20th

Can We Determine the Filament Chirality by the Filament Footpoint Location or the Barb-bearing?

We attempt to propose a method for automatically detecting the solar filament chirality and barb bearing. We first introduce the unweighted undirected graph concept and adopt the Dijkstra shortest-path algorithm to recognize the filament spine. Then, we use the polarity inversion line (PIL) shift method for measuring the polarities on both sides of the filament, and employ the connected components labeling method to identify the barbs and calculate the angle between each barb and the spine to determine the bearing of the barbs, i.e., left or right. We test the automatic detection method with H-alpha filtergrams from the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) H-alpha archive and magnetograms observed with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Four filaments are automatically detected and illustrated to show the results. The barbs in different parts of a filament may have opposite bearings. The filaments in the southern hemisphere (northern hemisphere) mainly have left-bearing (right-bearing) barbs and positive (negative) magnetic helicity, respectively. The tested results demonstrate that our method is efficient and effective in detecting the bearing of filament barbs. It is demonstrated that the conventionally believed one-to-one correspondence between filament chirality and barb bearing is not valid. The correct detection of the filament axis chirality should be done by combining both imaging morphology and magnetic field observations.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in RA