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Durisen, R. H.

Publications and source records attributed to Durisen, R. H..

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

Three-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Simulations of the Postimpact Proto-Earth

Astrophysical fluid configurations are susceptible to a variety of nonaxisymmetric instabilities under the combined effects of rotation, self-gravity, and thermal pressure. When strong enough, they can induce rapid transport of mass and angular momentum. Our own previous studies of nonaxisymmetric instabilities in model protostars and protostellar disks show that significant transport can occur on orbital timescales and that material can be ejected to large distances. In this contribution, we present three-dimensional simulations of the circumterrestrial debris belt that may have resulted from a giant impact. Our three-dimensional hydrodynamics code with self-gravity and artificial viscosity is fully second-order in space and time; the equations of hydrodynamics and the Poisson equation are solved on an Eulerian cylindrical grid. In the preliminary calculations presented here, we use a simplified EOS where the central proto-Earth is treated as an n = 1/2 polytropic fluid, surrounded by a more compressible, rapidly rotating, fluid disk that represents silicate vapor. Our initial disk parameters are generated from the endstate data of recent smoothed particle hydrodynamics giant-impact calculations. Ultimately, we wish to detennine under what conditions nonaxisymmetric instabilities grow in the postimpact disk and whether they facilitate the transport of material outside the proto-Earth's Roche Limit, leading to the formation of the Moon. In future work, we hope to include a more realistic EOS and the consequences of heating, cooling, and phase transitions.

Pickett, B. K.↗
NASA NTRS1987

X-ray and ultraviolet radiation from accreting white dwarfs. IV - Two-temperature treatment with electron thermal conduction

Results are reported from two-temperature calculations of the structures and X-ray spectra of radiation shocks generated by accretion onto nonmagnetic white dwarfs. The approach was necessitated by the domination of bremsstrahlung in the emission region by Compton cooling. Features of the shock model, which includes steady, spherical infall of fully ionized plasma and dominance of the stand-off shock by collisional processes, are summarized. A maximum hard X-ray temperature of about 50 keV and a maximum hard X-ray luminosity of 2 x 10 to the 36th ergs/sec were obtained. The results prove that the bulk of accretion energy cannot be transported to the star by electron thermal conduction, provided that bremsstrahlung cooling is dominant over cyclotron cooling.

Imamura, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A numerical study of the stability of radiative shocks

Attention is given to the oscillatory instability of optically thin radiative shocks in time-dependent numerical calculations of accretion flows onto degenerate dwarfs. The present nonlinear calculations yield good quantitative agreement with the linear results obtained for oscillation frequencies, damping rates, and critical alpha-values. The fundamental mode and the first overtone in the shock radius and luminosity variations can be clearly identified, and evidence is sometimes seen for the second overtone. Time-dependent calculations are also performed which include additional physics relevant to degenerate dwarf accretion, such as electron thermal conduction, unequal electron and ion temperatures, Compton cooling, and relativistic corrections to the bremsstrahlung cooling law. All oscillatory modes are found to be damped, and hence stable, in the case of a 1-solar mass white dwarf accreting in spherical symmetry.

Imamura, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Numerical simulations of fission

Hydrodynamic simulation techniques to the fission problem of the lunar origin were applied. It is indicated that, for fluids with the compressibility of stars, dynamic fission instabilities lead to spiral arm ejection of mass and angular momentum in the form of a ring or disk of debris, not as a single body. Some quantitative aspects of these results seem favorable to lunar origin by fission. Fission instabilities in fluid objects with a smaller degree of compressibility, more closely approximating terrestrial material are considered. Although the qualitative features are similar, there are significant quantitative differences for the stiffer equation of state. The implications of the results for the fission hypothesis of lunar origin are discussed. Evolutions illustrating possible approaches to instability are presented.

Durisen, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Particle erosion mechanisms and mass redistribution in Saturn's rings

A variety of physical processes can erode the surfaces of planetary ring particles. According to current estimates, the most efficient of these over the bulk of Saturn's rings is hypervelocity impact by 100 microns to one centimeter radius meteoroids. The atoms, molecules, and fragments ejected from ring particles by erosion arc across the rings along elliptical orbits to produce a tenuous halo of solid ejecta and an extensive gaseous atmosphere. Continuous exchange of ejecta between different ring regions can lead to net radial transport of mass and angular momentum. The equations governing this ballistic transport process are presented and discussed. Both numerical and analytic studies of idealized ring systems illustrate that ballistic transport can cause significant mass redistribution in the rings, especially near regions of high density contrast, such as the inner edges of the A and B rings. Ejecta exchanges can also alter local particle sizes and compositions and may produce pulverized regoliths at least several centimeters deep. The meteoroid erosion rate is so high that significant global torques and mass loss are possible on times shorter than a solar system life time.

Durisen, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Transport effects due to particle erosion mechanisms

Various processes can erode the surfaces of planetary ring particles. Recent estimates for Saturn's rings suggest that a centimeter-thick surface layer could be eroded from an isolated ring particle in less than 1000 yr by meteoroid impacts alone. The atoms, molecules, and chips ejected from ring particles by erosion will arc across the rings along elliptical orbits. For moderate ring optical depths, ejecta will be absorbed or inelastically scattered upon reintersecting the ring plane. Continuous exchange of ejecta between different ring regions can lead to net radial transport of mass and angular momentum, to changes in particle sizes, and to the buildup of chip regoliths several centimeters deep on the surfaces of ring particles. Because most of the erosional ejecta are not lost but merely exchanged over short distances, the net erosion rate of the surfaces of these ring particles will be much less than that estimated for an isolated particle. Numerical solutions for time-dependent ballistic transport under various assumptions suggest pile-up and spillover effects especially near regions of preexisting high optical depth contrast, such as the inner edges of A and B rings. Global redistribution could be significant over billions of years. Other features in planetary ring systems may be influenced by ballistic transport.

Durisen, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Saturn's electrostatic discharges - Could lightning be the cause?

It is proposed that Saturn's electrostatic discharges (SED) might be generated in the planet's equatorial atmosphere, perhaps as lightning from a storm system. The 10-h-10-min periodicity of the signal envelope duplicates that of Saturn's equatorial jet. The rings shield the atmosphere from solar EUV photons, and thereby substantially reduce the local ionospheric cutoff frequency to allow low-frequency SED to leak out. Many of the unusual properties of SED could be explained in terms of changes in the storm system, the relative spacecraft position in the beaming pattern of the source, local refraction of the signal by the highly disturbed ionosphere, and the influence of the ring particles on the highest frequency component of SED. A comparison of SED with planetary lightning on other planets shows that the two are similar in general character and some time behavior; the power output of SED may be higher than most planetary lightning, but that is unclear because of uncertainties in the measurements and variations in the signal's spectrum. It is suggested that lightning could be a viable source for SED and that exotic ring mechanisms are not necessarily required.

Burns, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Preferred orbit planes in the gravitational field of a tumbling spheroidal galaxy

An analytic method is described by means of which the preferred planes into which gas will settle by dissipative differential precession in a slightly nonspherical, nonstatic potential can be determined. Attention is given to the analysis of circular orbit precession in the external potential of a slightly prolate spheroidal mass that is tumbling about a short axis, providing a crude model for barred spiral galaxies as well as for prolate elliptical ones. The results obtained agree with previous work on the existence, orientation, and stability of periodic orbits in triaxial potentials. Depending on the source and injection geometry of the gas and on the nature of dissipation in the gas, the orbital dynamics presented could lead to enhanced, or even catastrophic, radial inflow and to steady state warped structures.

Durisen, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Globular cluster winds with central accretion by a massive compact object or subcluster

Steady-state isothermal wind flows are computed with accretion by a central mass concentration in spherically symmetric systems of gas-losing stars. Solutions are uniquely determined by two dimensionless parameters lambda and m, where lambda is approximately equal to the square of the ratio of the central escape velocity to the sound speed and m is approximately equal to the ratio of the central point mass to the cluster core mass. The models are applied to globular clusters for two types of central mass concentration - a single massive black hole and a subcluster of massive stars. A hard (greater than a keV) X-ray source due to a central black hole fed by clusterwide inflow does not provide a consistent model for globular cluster X-ray sources. However, in the case of hot (T being greater than or approximately equal to 2 x 10 to the 5th K) winds, gas trapping by a central subcluster of neutron stars or of binaries containing white dwarfs could explain recent UV and H-alpha observations. Similar applications to elliptical galaxies are discussed.

Durisen, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1979

On the 'thickness' of Saturn's rings caused by satellite and solar perturbations and by planetary precession

In the present paper, long-period and secular variations of the longitude of ascending node are derived for a particle orbiting an oblate precessing planet subjected to perturbation by an exterior satellite moving along a low-inclination orbit. It is shown that precession of Saturn under the solar torque, which causes the Laplace plane to be noninertial, is also effective in producing a forced inclination. The height above the Laplace plane associated with this variation is several meters for a particle located in the middle of the ring.

Burns, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1979

The vertical structure and thickness of Saturn's rings

An explanation for the vertical structure and thickness of Saturn's rings compatible with observational data is presented. The model of the rings as being many particles thick is shown to be possible, with random particle motions preventing the complete flattening of the system and a gaussian distribution of particle density with vertical displacement. The model prediction of a maximum ring thickness of tens of meters, however, is in conflict with observations of ring thickness of at least 0.8 km at ring-plane passage. It is shown that perturbations to ring particle orbits caused by the sun and Saturn's large satellites may produce long- and short-period coherent vertical ring displacements and a nonlinear displacement of the ring plane from the equatorial plane with radial distance, leading to an apparent edge-on thickness of a few hundred meters.

Cuzzi, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1979

The vertical structure and thickness of Saturn's rings

The steady state thickness and vertical structure of Saturn's rings are discussed with regard to whether a collapse to a monolayer due to particle collisions may be prevented by various mechanisms. The differences between thick rings and wavy monolayers are outlined and used to show that such coherent perturbations to the rings as satellite and solar gravitational effects would produce a wavy monolayer while such dispersive mechanisms as meteoroid impact, radiation pressure, Kepler shear and radial spreading, which would produce the random particle motions necessary to maintain a thick layer, are probably insignificant. Given a typical power law distribution of particle sizes, it is found that gravitational scattering of small particles by large ones would maintain a ring thickness of several times the radius of the largest particles. A steady state ring thickness of 20 to 50 meters, derived from energy considerations, would imply a maximum particle size of a few meters.

Cuzzi, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Incompressible fluid ellipsoids in halos. I - The second-harmonic oscillations of the Maclaurin spheroids

The structure and stability of Maclaurin spheroids embedded in rigid uniform-density oblate spheroidal halos are determined by the tensor virial-equation method. These spheroid-halo systems can be thought of as crude fluid analogs of disk galaxies with halos. The halos are assumed to have the same center, the same axis of symmetry, and the same equatorial radius as the Maclaurin spheroids. Only halos with lower eccentricity than the Maclaurin spheroids are considered. The dynamic instability of the toroidal (barlike) modes is suppressed when m, the ratio of the halo mass to Maclaurin spheroid mass, is greater than 3 pi/8 for spherical halos and when m is greater than 1/2 for halos congruent to the Maclaurin spheroids. Intermediate halo flattenings yield intermediate critical m-values. On the other hand, a neutral point of the toroidal modes in the rotating and inertial frames occurs for all m and for all allowed halo flattenings. Growth rates for secular instability beyond the neutral point are calculated, and the eigenfrequencies of all second-harmonic modes are given for select cases. The Ostriker-Peebles (1973) conjecture concerning the stability of disk galaxies against barlike perturbations appears to be incorrect.

Durisen, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Nova-driven winds in globular clusters

Recent sensitive searches for H-alpha emission from ionized intracluster gas in globular clusters have set upper limits that conflict with theoretical predictions. It is suggested that nova outbursts heat the gas, producing winds that resolve this discrepancy. The incidence of novae in globular clusters, the conversion of kinetic energy of the nova shell to thermal energy of the intracluster gas, and the characteristics of the resultant winds are discussed. Calculated emission from the nova-driven models does not conflict with any observations to date. Some suggestions are made concerning the most promising approaches for future detection of intracluster gas on the basis of these models. The possible relationship of nova-driven winds to globular cluster X-ray sources is also considered.

Scott, E. H.↗