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At least 181 records · Page 10

MODELING KEPLER OBSERVATIONS OF SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS IN THE RED GIANT STAR HD 186355

We have analyzed oscillations of the red giant star HD 186355 observed by the NASA Kepler satellite. The data consist of the first five quarters of science operations of Kepler, which cover about 13 months. The high-precision time-series data allow us to accurately extract the oscillation frequencies from the power spectrum. We find that the frequency of the maximum oscillation power, {nu}{sub max}, and the mean large frequency separation, {Delta}{nu}, are around 106 and 9.4 {mu}Hz, respectively. A regular pattern of radial and non-radial oscillation modes is identified by stacking the power spectra in an echelle diagram. We use the scaling relations of {Delta}{nu} and {nu}{sub max} to estimate the preliminary asteroseismic mass, which is confirmed with the modeling result (M = 1.45 {+-} 0.05 M{sub Sun }) using the Yale Rotating stellar Evolution Code (YREC7). In addition, we constrain the effective temperature, luminosity, and radius from comparisons between observational constraints and models. A number of mixed l = 1 modes are also detected and taken into account in our model comparisons. We find a mean observational period spacing for these mixed modes of about 58 s, suggesting that this red giant branch star is in the shell hydrogen-burning phase.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Detection and Interpretation of Long-lived X-Ray Quasi-Periodic Pulsations in the X-Class Solar Flare on 2013 May 14

Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPP) seen in the time derivative of the GOES soft X-ray light curves are analyzed for the X3.2 event on 2013 May 14. The pulsations are apparent for a total of at least two hours from the impulsive phase to well into the decay phase, with a total of 163 distinct pulses evident to the naked eye. A wavelet analysis shows that the characteristic timescale of these pulsations increases systematically from approx. 25 s at 01:10 UT, the time of the GOES peak, to approx. 100 s at 02:00 UT. A second ridge in the wavelet power spectrum, most likely associated with flaring emission from a different active region, shows an increase from approx. 40 s at 01:40 UT to approx. 100 s at 03:10 UT. We assume that the QPP that produced the first ridge result from vertical kink-mode oscillations of the newly formed loops following magnetic reconnection in the coronal current sheet. This allows us to estimate the magnetic field strength as a function of altitude given the density, loop length, and QPP timescale as functions of time determined from the GOES light curves and Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) images. The calculated magnetic field strength of the newly formed loops ranges from approx. 500 G at an altitude of 24Mm to a low value of approx. 10 G at 60 Mm, in general agreement with the expected values at these altitudes. Fast sausage-mode oscillations are also discussed and cannot be ruled out as an alternate mechanism for producing the QPP.

Dennis, Brian R.↗

KOI-54: THE KEPLER DISCOVERY OF TIDALLY EXCITED PULSATIONS AND BRIGHTENINGS IN A HIGHLY ECCENTRIC BINARY

Kepler observations of the star HD 187091 (KIC 8112039, hereafter KOI-54) revealed a remarkable light curve exhibiting sharp periodic brightening events every 41.8 days with a superimposed set of oscillations forming a beating pattern in phase with the brightenings. Spectroscopic observations revealed that this is a binary star with a highly eccentric orbit, e = 0.83. We are able to match the Kepler light curve and radial velocities with a nearly face-on (i = 5.{sup 0}5) binary star model in which the brightening events are caused by tidal distortion and irradiation of nearly identical A stars during their close periastron passage. The two dominant oscillations in the light curve, responsible for the beating pattern, have frequencies that are the 91st and 90th harmonic of the orbital frequency. The power spectrum of the light curve, after removing the binary star brightening component, reveals a large number of pulsations, 30 of which have a signal-to-noise ratio {approx}>7. Nearly all of these pulsations have frequencies that are either integer multiples of the orbital frequency or are tidally split multiples of the orbital frequency. This pattern of frequencies unambiguously establishes the pulsations as resonances between the dynamic tides at periastron and the free oscillation modes of one or both of the stars. KOI-54 is only the fourth star to show such a phenomenon and is by far the richest in terms of excited modes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Higher-Order Approximations for Stabilizing Zero-Energy Modes in Peridynamics Crystal Plasticity Models with Large Horizon Interactions

The non-ordinary state-based peridynamics theory combines non-local dynamic techniques with a desirable correspondence material principle, allowing for the use of continuum mechanics constitutive models. Such an approach presents a unique capability for solving problems involving discontinuities (e.g., strain localization, fracture, and fragmentation). However, the correspondence-based peridynamics models often suffer from zero-energy mode instabilities in numerical implementation, primarily due to the approximations of the non-local deformation gradient tensor. This paper focuses on a computational scheme for eliminating the zero-energy mode oscillations using a choice of influence functions that improve the truncation error in a higher-order Taylor series expansion of the deformation gradient. The novelty here is a tensor-based derivation of the linear constraint equations, which can be used to systematically identify the particle interaction weight functions for various user-specified horizon radii. In this paper, the proposed higher-order stabilization scheme is demonstrated for multi-dimensional examples involving polycrystalline and composite microstructures, along with comparisons against conventional finite element methods. The proposed stabilization scheme is shown to be highly effective in suppressing the spurious zero-energy mode oscillations in all numerical examples while enabling efficient simulations of strain localizations across material interfaces.

Non-Ordinary State-Based Peridynamics↗

Sunspot Light Walls Suppressed by Nearby Brightenings

Light walls, as ensembles of oscillating bright structures rooted in sunspot light bridges, have not been well studied, although they are important for understanding sunspot properties. Using the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and Solar Dynamics Observatory observations, here we study the evolution of two oscillating light walls each within its own active region (AR). The emission of each light wall decays greatly after the appearance of adjacent brightenings. For the first light wall, rooted within AR 12565, the average height, amplitude, and oscillation period significantly decrease from 3.5 Mm, 1.7 Mm, and 8.5 minutes to 1.6 Mm, 0.4 Mm, and 3.0 minutes, respectively. For the second light wall, rooted within AR 12597, the mean height, amplitude, and oscillation period of the light wall decrease from 2.1 Mm, 0.5 Mm, and 3.0 minutes to 1.5 Mm, 0.2 Mm, and 2.1 minutes, respectively. Particularly, a part of the second light wall even becomes invisible after the influence of a nearby brightening. These results reveal that the light walls are suppressed by nearby brightenings. Considering the complex magnetic topology in light bridges, we conjecture that the fading of light walls may be caused by a drop in the magnetic pressure, where the flux is canceled by magnetic reconnection at the site of the nearby brightening. Another hypothesis is that the wall fading is due to the suppression of driver source ( p -mode oscillation), resulting from the nearby avalanche of downward particles along reconnected brightening loops.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Microturbulence-mediated route for energetic ion transport and Alfvénic mode amplitude oscillations in tokamaks

The new regimes of Alfvén eigenmode (AE) induced fast ion transport in tokamak plasmas are reported, in which microturbulence plays the role of a mediator of fast ion relaxation. Coulomb collisional scattering alone leads to small AE amplitudes and does not reproduce the steady state regimes observed in experiments. We show that in nonlinear regimes the sufficiently large effective pitch angle scattering due to microturbulence can lead to steady state AE amplitude evolution. This indicates a new route for fast ion losses, which is beyond the scenarios described in “Energetic ion transport by microturbulence is insignificant in tokamaks”. As a result, microturbulence can significantly increase the amplitude of AEs in predictive simulations of burning plasma experiments such as ITER.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Magnetic island and plasma rotation under external resonant magnetic perturbation in the T-10 tokamak

Experimental comparison of the m = 2, n = 1 mode and plasma rotation velocities at q = 2 magnetic surface in a wide range of the mode amplitudes is presented. Phase velocity of the mode rotation is measured with a set of poloidal magnetic field sensors located at the inner side of the vacuum vessel wall. Plasma rotation velocity at the q = 2 magnetic surface in the direction of the mode phase velocity is measured with the heavy ion beam probe diagnostics. In the presence of a static Resonant Magnetic Perturbation (RMP), the rotation is irregular that appears as cyclical variations of the mode and plasma instantaneous velocities. The period of these variations is equal to the period of the mode oscillations. In the case of high mode amplitude, the rotation irregularity of the mode is consistent with the rotation irregularity of the resonant plasma layer. On the contrary, the observed rise of the mode rotation irregularity in the case of low mode amplitude occurs without an increase of the rotation irregularity of the resonant plasma layer. The experimental results are simulated and analyzed with the TEAR code based on the two-fluid MHD approximation. Calculated irregularities of the mode and plasma rotation depend on the mode amplitude similar to the experimental data. For large islands, the rotation irregularity is attributed to oscillations of the electromagnetic torque applied to the resonant plasma layer. For small islands, the deviation of the mode rotation velocity from the plasma velocity occurs due to the effect of finite plasma resistivity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

RADIAL VELOCITY MONITORING OF KEPLER HEARTBEAT STARS

Heartbeat stars (HB stars) are a class of eccentric binary stars with close periastron passages. The characteristic photometric HB signal evident in their light curves is produced by a combination of tidal distortion, heating, and Doppler boosting near orbital periastron. Many HB stars continue to oscillate after periastron and along the entire orbit, indicative of the tidal excitation of oscillation modes within one or both stars. These systems are among the most eccentric binaries known, and they constitute astrophysical laboratories for the study of tidal effects. We have undertaken a radial velocity (RV) monitoring campaign of Kepler HB stars in order to measure their orbits. We present our first results here, including a sample of 22 Kepler HB systems, where for 19 of them we obtained the Keplerian orbit and for 3 other systems we did not detect a statistically significant RV variability. Results presented here are based on 218 spectra obtained with the Keck/HIRES spectrograph during the 2015 Kepler observing season, and they have allowed us to obtain the largest sample of HB stars with orbits measured using a single instrument, which roughly doubles the number of HB stars with an RV measured orbit. The 19 systems measured here have orbital periods from 7 to 90 days and eccentricities from 0.2 to 0.9. We show that HB stars draw the upper envelope of the eccentricity–period distribution. Therefore, HB stars likely represent a population of stars currently undergoing high eccentricity migration via tidal orbital circularization, and they will allow for new tests of high eccentricity migration theories.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Drop Shapes Versus Fall Velocities in Rain: 2 Contrasting Examples

Rainfall retrievals from polarimetric radar measurements require the knowledge of four fundamental rain microstructure parameters, namely, drop size distribution, drop shape distribution, canting angles and drop fall velocities. Some recent measurements of all four parameters in natural rain are summarized in [1]. In this paper, we perform an in-depth analysis of two events, using two co-located 2D video disdrometers (2DVD; see [2]) both with high calibration accuracy, and a C-band polarimetric radar [3], located 15 km away. The two events, which occurred 7 days apart (on the 18th and the 25th of Dec 2009), had moderate-to-intense rainfall rates, but the second event had an embedded convection line within the storm. The line had passed over the 2DVD site, thus enabling the shapes and fall velocities to be determined as the line crossed the site. The first event was also captured in a similar manner by both the 2DVDs as well as the C-band radar. Drop fall velocity measurements for, say, the 3 mm drops show noticeable differences between the two events. Whereas for the first event, the velocity distribution showed a narrow and symmetric distribution, with a mode at the expected value (7.95 m/s, as given by the formula in [4]), the second event produced a wider distribution with a significant skewness towards lower velocities (although its mode too was close to the expected value). Moreover, the slower 3 mm drops in the second event occurred when the convection line was directly over the 2DVD site (03:35-03:45 utc), and not before nor after. A similar trend was observed in terms of the horizontal dimensions of the 3 mm drops, i.e. large fluctuations during the same time period, but not outside the period. Vertical dimensions of the drops also fluctuated but not to the same extent. Interestingly, the horizontal dimensions tended towards larger values during the 10-minute period, implying an increase in drop oblateness, which in turn indicates the possibility of the horizontal mode oscillation, one of the three fundamental modes of drop oscillations [5], albeit the most difficult one to excite.

Thurai, M.↗

SOLVING THE MODE IDENTIFICATION PROBLEM IN ASTEROSEISMOLOGY OF F STARS OBSERVED WITH KEPLER

Asteroseismology of F-type stars has been hindered by an ambiguity in identification of their oscillation modes. The regular mode pattern that makes this task trivial in cooler stars is masked by increased line widths. The absolute mode frequencies, encapsulated in the asteroseismic variable {epsilon}, can help solve this impasse because the values of {epsilon} implied by the two possible mode identifications are distinct. We find that the correct {epsilon} can be deduced from the effective temperature and the line widths and we apply these methods to a sample of solar-like oscillators observed with Kepler.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Oscillations of rotating neutron stars

A perturbation technique is used to compute the rotational corrections to the nonradial oscillation spectrum of a realistic neutron star model. The l = l(0) oscillations are coupled to l = l(0) + or - 1 oscillations by the Coriolis force. To calculate the rotational corrections to the quadrupole, l(0) = 2, oscillation modes, previous calculations of the nonradial oscillation spectrum of this neutron star model are extended to include l(0) = 1 and l(0) = 3 modes, as well as many higher overtones at each value of l(o). As an example of this technique, the rotational corrections to two quadrupole toroidal modes are computed. For these modes the coupling to the spheroidal class of oscillations produced by the Coriolis force introduces a nonzero radial component to the velocity field, as well as a nonvanishing Lagrangian density perturbation. This result is used to compute the neutrino damping rates for these toroidal modes of a rotating neutron star. The neutrino damping time can approach the gravitational radiation damping time in rotating neutron stars if the central temperature is high enough. The rotationally induced coupling of spheroidal oscillations to toroidal modes can also produce significant displacements at the stellar surface in some of the toroidal modes. The damping rates due to this process for the rotationally corrected toroidal modes are estimated. The coupling of surface motions to the toroidal modes also have interesting implications for channeling energy, e.g., that associated with a glitch in the crust, to the surface of the star. Perhaps this might produce observable effects in the pulsar emission process or a gamma-ray burst event.

Strohmayer, Tod E.↗

Quasinormal g-modes of neutron stars with quarks

Quasinormal oscillation modes of neutron stars provide a means to probe their interior composition using gravitational wave astronomy. We compute the frequencies and damping times of composition-dependent core 𝑔-modes of neutron stars containing quark matter employing linearized perturbative equations of general relativity. We find that ignoring background metric perturbations due to the oscillating fluid, as in the Cowling approximation, underestimates the 𝑔-mode frequency by up to 10% for higher mass stars, depending on the parameters of the nuclear equation of state and how the mixed phase is constructed. The 𝑔-mode frequencies are well described by a linear scaling with the central lepton (or combined lepton and quark) fraction for nucleonic (hybrid) stars. Furthermore, our findings suggest that neutron stars with and without quarks are manifestly different with regards to their quasinormal 𝑔-mode spectrum, and may thus be distinguished from one another in future observations of gravitational waves from merging neutron stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

THE ORIGIN OF TYPE I SPICULE OSCILLATIONS

We use images of high spatial and temporal resolution, obtained with the Rapid Oscillations in the Solar Atmosphere instrument at the Dunn Solar Telescope, to reveal how the generation of transverse waves in Type I spicules is a direct result of longitudinal oscillations occurring in the photosphere. Here we show how pressure oscillations, with periodicities in the range of 130-440 s, manifest in small-scale photospheric magnetic bright points, and generate kink waves in the Sun's outer atmosphere with transverse velocities approaching the local sound speed. Through comparison of our observations with advanced two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we provide evidence for how magnetoacoustic oscillations, generated at the solar surface, funnel upward along Type I spicule structures, before undergoing longitudinal-to-transverse mode conversion into waves at twice the initial driving frequency. The resulting kink modes are visible in chromospheric plasma, with periodicities of 65-220 s, and amplitudes often exceeding 400 km. A sausage mode oscillation also arises as a consequence of the photospheric driver, which is visible in both simulated and observational time series. We conclude that the mode conversion and period modification is a direct consequence of the 90 Degree-Sign phase shift encompassing opposite sides of the photospheric driver. The chromospheric energy flux of these waves are estimated to be Almost-Equal-To 3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 5} W m{sup -2}, which indicates that they are sufficiently energetic to accelerate the solar wind and heat the localized corona to its multi-million degree temperatures.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

THE INTERNAL ROTATION PROFILE OF THE B-TYPE STAR KIC 10526294 FROM FREQUENCY INVERSION OF ITS DIPOLE GRAVITY MODES

The internal angular momentum distribution of a star is the key to determining its evolution. Fortunately, stellar internal rotation can be probed through studies of rotationally split nonradial oscillation modes. In particular, the detection of nonradial gravity modes (g modes) in massive young stars has recently become feasible thanks to the Kepler space mission. Our goal is to derive the internal rotation profile of the Kepler B8V star KIC 10526294 through asteroseismology. We interpret the observed rotational splittings of its dipole g modes using four different approaches based on the best seismic models of the star and their rotational kernels. We show that these kernels can resolve differential rotation within the radiative envelope if a smooth rotational profile is assumed and if the observational errors are small. Based on Kepler data, we find that the rotation rate near the core-envelope boundary is well constrained to 163 ± 89 nHz. The seismic data are consistent with rigid rotation but a profile with counter-rotation within the envelope has a statistical advantage over constant rotation. Our study should be repeated for other massive stars with a variety of stellar parameters in order to determine the physical conditions that control the internal rotation profile of young massive stars, with the aim of improving the input physics of their models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗