Accretion flows: the Role of the Outer Boundary Condition

We investigate the influences of the outer boundary conditions(OBCs) on the structure of an optically thin accretion flow. We find that OBC plays an important role in determining the topological structure and the profiles of the surface density and temperature of the solution, therefore it should be regarded as a new parameter in the accretion disk model.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, to appear in ApJ Letters, Vol. 521, L5

DIFFRACTION EFFECTS IN MICROLENSING OF Q2237+0305

Geometrical optics provides an excellent description for quasar images crossing caustics which are formed by gravitational microlensing of objects like Q2237+0305. Within this approximation the source size can be estimated from the maximum magnification reached at caustic crossings. We evaluate the limitations imposed by diffraction on caustics using the formalism developed by Ulmer & Goodman (1995). Close to a caustic a new characteristic length, smaller that the Fresnel length, enters the problem, limiting the angular resolution to about 0.2 pico arcsecond, or equivalently about 3*10^9 cm at the source. To achieve this resolution the brightness must be monitored at time intervals of a few seconds. If a significant fraction of quasar luminosity comes from sources smaller than those limits then interference effects would make the observed intensity oscillate, in a close analogy with a two slit experiment. The characteristic period of such oscillations is expected to be about one tenth of a minute. If such oscillations are detected then photometry carried out at a single site may permit the determination of the caustic transverse velocity, and therefore may permit a direct conversion of the time units of brightness variations to the linear units at the source. Subject headings: Gravitational lensing - dark matter - quasars: structure -quasars: Q2237+0305Comment: 10 pages, plain TEX file, no figures. Submitted to ApJ postscript available at by anonymous ftp at ftp://astro.princeton.edu/library/preprint/pop615.ps.

The Structure of Close Binaries in Two Dimensions

The structure and evolution of close binary stars has been studied using the two-dimensional (2D) stellar structure algorithm developed by Deupree (1995). We have calculated a series of solar composition stellar evolution sequences of binary models, where the mass of the 2D model is 8Msun with a point-mass 5Msun companion. We have also studied the structure of the companion in 2D, by considering the zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) structure of a 5Msun model with an 8Msun point-mass companion. In all cases the binary orbit was assumed to be circular and co-rotating with the rotation rate of the stars. We considered binary models with three different initial separations, a = 10, 14 and 20Rsun. These models were evolved through central hydrogen burning or until the more massive star expanded to fill its critical potential surface or Roche lobe. The calculations show that evolution of the deep interior quantities is only slightly modified from those of single star evolution. Describing the model surface as a Roche equipotential is also satisfactory until very close to the time of Roche lobe overflow, when the self gravity of the model about to lose mass develops a noticeable aspherical component and the surface time scale becomes sufficiently short that it is conceivable that the actual surface is not an equipotential.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Ap

Neutrino oscillations and gamma-ray bursts

If the ordinary neutrinos oscillate into a sterile flavor in a manner consistent with the Super-Kamiokande data on the zenith-angle dependence of atmospheric mu-neutrino flux, an energy sufficient to power a typical cosmic gamma-ray burst (GRB) (about 10^{52} erg) can be carried by sterile neutrinos away from the source and deposited in a region relatively free of baryons. Hence, ultra-relativistic bulk motion (required by the theory of and observations of GRBs and their afterglows) can easily be achieved in the vicinity of plausible sources of GRBs. Oscillations between sterile and ordinary neutrinos would thus provide a solution to the ``baryon-loading problem'' in the theory of GRBs

A novel method to construct stationary solutions of the Vlasov-Maxwell system : the relativistic case

A method to derive stationary solutions of the relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell system is explored. In the non-relativistic case, a method using the Hermite polynomial series to describe the deviation from the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution is found to be successful in deriving a few stationary solutions including two dimensional one. Instead of the Hermite polynomial series, two special orthogonal polynomial series, which are appropriate to expand the deviation from the Maxwell-J\"uttner distribution, are introduced in this paper. By applying this method, a new two-dimensional equilibrium is derived, which may provide an initial setup for investigations of three-dimensional relativistic collisionless reconnection of magnetic fields.Comment: 15pages, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Plasma

Role of shocked accretion flows in regulating the QPO of galactic black hole candidates

Using a generalized non-spherical, multi-transonic accretion flow model, we analytically calculate the normalized QPO frequency ${\bar {\bf {\nu}}}_{qpo}$ of galactic black hole candidates in terms of dynamical flow variables and self-consistently study the dependence of ${\bar {\bf {\nu}}}_{qpo}$ on such variables. Our results are in fairly close agreement with the observed QPO frequencies of GRS 1915+105. We find that ${\bar {\bf {\nu}}}_{qpo}$ is quite sensitive to various parameters describing the black hole accretion flow containing dissipative and non-dissipative shock waves. Thus the QPO phenomena is, {\it indeed}, regulated by `shocked' black hole accretion, and, for the first time, we establish a definitive connection between the QPO frequency and the properties of advective BH accretion flows. This information may provide the explanation of some important observations of galactic micro quasars.Comment: Final version accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJL). A considerable part of the paper is almost completely re-written, though the results and the final conclussions are the same. One can now ignore the previous version. 8 pages with four black and white figures. For high resolution Fig. 3, please mail the author <[email protected]