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At least 703 records · Page 39

THE COSMIC BATTERY IN ASTROPHYSICAL ACCRETION DISKS

The aberrated radiation pressure at the inner edge of the accretion disk around an astrophysical black hole imparts a relative azimuthal velocity on the electrons with respect to the ions which gives rise to a ring electric current that generates large-scale poloidal magnetic field loops. This is the Cosmic Battery established by Contopoulos and Kazanas in 1998. In the present work we perform realistic numerical simulations of this important astrophysical mechanism in advection-dominated accretion flows, ADAFs. We confirm the original prediction that the inner parts of the loops are continuously advected toward the central black hole and contribute to the growth of the large-scale magnetic field, whereas the outer parts of the loops are continuously diffusing outward through the turbulent accretion flow. This process of inward advection of the axial field and outward diffusion of the return field proceeds all the way to equipartition, thus generating astrophysically significant magnetic fields on astrophysically relevant timescales. We confirm that there exists a critical value of the magnetic Prandtl number between unity and 10 in the outer disk above which the Cosmic Battery mechanism is suppressed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

General Relativistic Radiation MHD Simulations of Supercritical Accretion onto a Magnetized Neutron Star: Modeling of Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsars

By performing 2.5-dimensional general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we demonstrate supercritical accretion onto a non-rotating, magnetized neutron star, where the magnetic field strength of dipole fields is 10{sup 10} G on the star surface. We found the supercritical accretion flow consists of two parts: the accretion columns and the truncated accretion disk. The supercritical accretion disk, which appears far from the neutron star, is truncated at around ≃3 R {sub *} ( R {sub *} = 10{sup 6} cm is the neutron star radius), where the magnetic pressure via the dipole magnetic fields balances with the radiation pressure of the disks. The angular momentum of the disk around the truncation radius is effectively transported inward through magnetic torque by dipole fields, inducing the spin up of a neutron star. The evaluated spin-up rate, ∼−10{sup −11} s s{sup −1}, is consistent with the recent observations of the ultraluminous X-ray pulsars. Within the truncation radius, the gas falls onto a neutron star along the dipole fields, which results in a formation of accretion columns onto the northern and southern hemispheres. The net accretion rate and the luminosity of the column are ≃66 L {sub Edd}/ c {sup 2} and ≲10 L {sub Edd}, where L {sub Edd} is the Eddington luminosity and c is the light speed. Our simulations support a hypothesis whereby the ultraluminous X-ray pulsars are powered by the supercritical accretion onto the magnetized neutron stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DYNAMICS OF ON-DISK PLUMES AS OBSERVED WITH THE INTERFACE REGION IMAGING SPECTROGRAPH, THE ATMOSPHERIC IMAGING ASSEMBLY, AND THE HELIOSEISMIC AND MAGNETIC IMAGER

We examine the role of small-scale transients in the formation and evolution of solar coronal plumes. We study the dynamics of plume footpoints seen in the vicinity of a coronal hole using the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) images, the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager magnetogram on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory and spectroscopic data from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). Quasi-periodic brightenings are observed in the base of the plumes and are associated with magnetic flux changes. With the high spectral and spatial resolution of IRIS, we identify the sources of these oscillations and try to understand what role the transients at the footpoints can play in sustaining the coronal plumes. IRIS “sit-and-stare” observations provide a unique opportunity to study the evolution of footpoints of the plumes. We notice enhanced line width and intensity, and large deviation from the average Doppler shift in the line profiles at specific instances, which indicate the presence of flows at the footpoints of plumes. We propose that outflows (jet-like features) as a result of small-scale reconnections affect the line profiles. These jet-like features may also be responsible for the generation of propagating disturbances (PDs) within the plumes, which are observed to be propagating to larger distances as recorded from multiple AIA channels. These PDs can be explained in terms of slow magnetoacoustic waves.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Magnetic fields and massive star formation

Massive stars (M > 8 M {sub ☉}) typically form in parsec-scale molecular clumps that collapse and fragment, leading to the birth of a cluster of stellar objects. We investigate the role of magnetic fields in this process through dust polarization at 870 μm obtained with the Submillimeter Array (SMA). The SMA observations reveal polarization at scales of ≲0.1 pc. The polarization pattern in these objects ranges from ordered hour-glass configurations to more chaotic distributions. By comparing the SMA data with the single dish data at parsec scales, we found that magnetic fields at dense core scales are either aligned within 40° of or perpendicular to the parsec-scale magnetic fields. This finding indicates that magnetic fields play an important role during the collapse and fragmentation of massive molecular clumps and the formation of dense cores. We further compare magnetic fields in dense cores with the major axis of molecular outflows. Despite a limited number of outflows, we found that the outflow axis appears to be randomly oriented with respect to the magnetic field in the core. This result suggests that at the scale of accretion disks (≲ 10{sup 3} AU), angular momentum and dynamic interactions possibly due to close binary or multiple systems dominate over magnetic fields. With this unprecedentedly large sample of massive clumps, we argue on a statistical basis that magnetic fields play an important role during the formation of dense cores at spatial scales of 0.01-0.1 pc in the context of massive star and cluster star formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

ON THE NON-KOLMOGOROV NATURE OF FLARE-PRODUCTIVE SOLAR ACTIVE REGIONS

A magnetic power spectral analysis is performed on 53 solar active regions, observed from 2011 August to 2012 July. Magnetic field data obtained from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, inverted as Active Region Patches, are used to study the evolution of the magnetic power index as each region rotates across the solar disk. Active regions are classified based on the numbers and sizes of solar flares they produce in order to study the relationship between flare productivity and the magnetic power index. The choice of window size and inertial range plays a key role in determining the correct magnetic power index. The overall distribution of magnetic power indices has a range of 1.0–2.5. Flare-quiet regions peak at a value of 1.6. However, flare-productive regions peak at a value of 2.2. Overall, the histogram of the distribution of power indices of flare-productive active regions is well separated from flare-quiet active regions. Only 12% of flare-quiet regions exhibit an index greater than 2, whereas 90% of flare-productive regions exhibit an index greater than 2. Flare-quiet regions exhibit a high temporal variance (i.e., the index fluctuates between high and low values), whereas flare-productive regions maintain an index greater than 2 for several days. This shows the importance of including the temporal evolution of active regions in flare prediction studies, and highlights the potential of a 2–3 day prediction window for space weather applications.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A global three-dimensional radiation magneto-hydrodynamic simulation of super-eddington accretion disks

We study super-Eddington accretion flows onto black holes using a global three-dimensional radiation magneto-hydrodynamical simulation. We solve the time-dependent radiative transfer equation for the specific intensities to accurately calculate the angular distribution of the emitted radiation. Turbulence generated by the magneto-rotational instability provides self-consistent angular momentum transfer. The simulation reaches inflow equilibrium with an accretion rate ∼220 L {sub Edd}/c {sup 2} and forms a radiation-driven outflow along the rotation axis. The mechanical energy flux carried by the outflow is ∼20% of the radiative energy flux. The total mass flux lost in the outflow is about 29% of the net accretion rate. The radiative luminosity of this flow is ∼10 L {sub Edd}. This yields a radiative efficiency ∼4.5%, which is comparable to the value in a standard thin disk model. In our simulation, vertical advection of radiation caused by magnetic buoyancy transports energy faster than photon diffusion, allowing a significant fraction of the photons to escape from the surface of the disk before being advected into the black hole. We contrast our results with the lower radiative efficiencies inferred in most models, such as the slim disk model, which neglect vertical advection. Our inferred radiative efficiencies also exceed published results from previous global numerical simulations, which did not attribute a significant role to vertical advection. We briefly discuss the implications for the growth of supermassive black holes in the early universe and describe how these results provided a basis for explaining the spectrum and population statistics of ultraluminous X-ray sources.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

EFFECTS OF THE NON-RADIAL MAGNETIC FIELD ON MEASURING MAGNETIC HELICITY TRANSPORT ACROSS THE SOLAR PHOTOSPHERE

It is generally believed that the evolution of magnetic helicity has a close relationship with solar activity. Before the launch of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), earlier studies had mostly used Michelson Doppler Imager/SOHO line of sight (LOS) magnetograms and assumed that magnetic fields are radial when calculating the magnetic helicity injection rate from photospheric magnetograms. However, this assumption is not necessarily true. Here we use the vector magnetograms and LOS magnetograms, both taken by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on SDO, to estimate the effects of the non-radial magnetic field on measuring the magnetic helicity injection rate. We find that: (1) the effect of the non-radial magnetic field on estimating tangential velocity is relatively small; (2) when estimating the magnetic helicity injection rate, the effect of the non-radial magnetic field is strong when active regions are observed near the limb and is relatively weak when active regions are close to disk center; and (3) the effect of the non-radial magnetic field becomes minor if the amount of accumulated magnetic helicity is the only concern.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A Rotation Rate for the Planetary-mass Companion DH Tau b

DH Tau b is a young planetary-mass companion orbiting at a projected separation of 320 au from its ∼2 Myr old host star DH Tau. With an estimated mass of 8–22 M{sub Jup} this object straddles the deuterium-burning limit, and might have formed via core or pebble accretion, disk instability, or molecular cloud fragmentation. To shed light on the formation history of DH Tau b, we obtain the first measurement of rotational line broadening for this object using high-resolution (R ∼ 25,000) near-infrared spectroscopy from Keck/NIRSPEC. We measure a projected rotational velocity (v sin i) of 9.6 ± 0.7 km s{sup −1}, corresponding to a rotation rate that is between 9% and 15% of DH Tau b’s predicted breakup speed. This low rotation rate is in good agreement with scenarios in which magnetic coupling between the companion and its circumplanetary disk during the late stages of accretion reduces angular momentum and regulates spin. We compare the rotation rate of DH Tau b to published values for other planetary-mass objects with masses between 0.3 and 20 M{sub Jup} and find no evidence of a correlation between mass and rotation rate in this mass regime. Finally, we search for evidence of individual molecules in DH Tau b’s spectrum and find that it is dominated by CO and H{sub 2}O, with no evidence of the presence of CH{sub 4}. This agrees with expectations given DH Tau b’s relatively high effective temperature (∼2300 K).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Disk instability and the spectral evolution of the 1992 outburst of the intermediate polar GK Persei

The disk instability model can explain the previous history of dwarf-nova-like outbursts in the intermediate polar GK Per, which occur about once every three years. Disk models that reproduce the recurrence time and outburst light curves suggest that GK Per has a large effective inner disk radius (approx. 30-40 white dwarf radii) truncated by a strong magnetic field (10(exp 7) G). In this context, the effective radius is that of the portion of the disk that participates in the disk thermal instability. The radius derived is larger than the corotation radius, which must be an upper limit on the true dynamical inner radius of the disk. Disk instability models with this large effective inner radius predict that the ultraviolet continuum should be rather flat. Here we compare the predictions of the disk instability model to IUE observations of the 1981 outburst and to IUE and ROSAT observations of the recent 1992 outburst of GK Per. The model disk continuum spectral evolution is consistent with the observed UV and optical spectra, especially at maximum and in the early decay phase of the outburst. The consistency of the model with the observed UV spectra suggests that the effective inner radius of the disk is almost constant, independent of mass accretion rate, and that whatever structure lies between the effective inner radius and the corotation radius neither participates in the disk instability nor radiates substantially in the UV. The related physics of the inner disk region will be briefly discussed.

Kim, S.-W.↗

Magnetic Field Strength Effects on Nucleosynthesis from Neutron Star Merger Outflows

Abstract Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence drives the central engine of post-merger remnants, potentially powering both a nucleosynthetically active disk wind and the relativistic jet behind a short gamma-ray burst. We explore the impact of the magnetic field on this engine by simulating three post-merger black hole accretion disks using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics with Monte Carlo neutrino transport, in each case varying the initial magnetic field strength. We find increasing ejecta masses associated with increasing magnetic field strength. We find that a fairly robust main r -process pattern is produced in all three cases, scaled by the ejected mass. Changing the initial magnetic field strength has a considerable effect on the geometry of the outflow and hints at complex central engine dynamics influencing lanthanide outflows. We find that actinide production is especially sensitive to magnetic field strength, with the overall actinide mass fraction calculated at 1 Gyr post-merger increasing by more than a factor of 6 with a tenfold increase in magnetic field strength. This hints at a possible connection to the variability in actinide enhancements exhibited by metal-poor, r -process-enhanced stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

3D WHOLE-PROMINENCE FINE STRUCTURE MODELING

We present the first 3D whole-prominence fine structure model. The model combines a 3D magnetic field configuration of an entire prominence obtained from nonlinear force-free field simulations, with a detailed description of the prominence plasma. The plasma is located in magnetic dips in hydrostatic equilibrium and is distributed along multiple fine structures within the 3D magnetic model. Through the use of a novel radiative transfer visualization technique for the Hα line such plasma-loaded magnetic field model produces synthetic images of the modeled prominence comparable with high-resolution observations. This allows us for the first time to use a single technique to consistently study, in both emission on the limb and absorption against the solar disk, the fine structures of prominences/filaments produced by a magnetic field model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Expansion of a superbubble in a uniform magnetic field

The effects of interstellar magnetic fields on the evolution and structure of superbubbles are investigated. First, the governing equations for propagation of a radiative shock are derived and solved analytically in the limit of high expansion velocity. A numerical code able to solve them in the general case and discuss the numerical results is then presented. It is found that magnetic fields of the strength present in the Galactic disk do not significantly modify the overall shape and dimensions of a superbubble. They reduce the volume of the interior cavity by one-third on average during the expansion phase. The shell elongates slightly in the direction of the external field. Magnetic pressure dominates over gas pressure in most of the shell and forces it to thicken substantially. Finally, because of the transverse mass motions which take place from the magnetic poles to the equator, the column density at the poles is reduced by typically a factor of 10.

Ferriere, Katia M.↗

Tailored Micromagnet Sorting Gate for Simultaneous Multiple Cell Screening in Portable Magnetophoretic Cell‐On‐Chip Platforms

Abstract Conventional magnetophoresis techniques for manipulating biocarriers and cells predominantly rely on large‐scale electromagnetic systems, which is a major obstacle to the development of portable and miniaturized cell‐on‐chip platforms. Herein, a novel magnetic engineering approach by tailoring a nanoscale notch on a disk micromagnet using two‐step optical and thermal lithography is developed. Versatile manipulations are demonstrated, such as separation and trapping, of carriers and cells by mediating changes in the magnetic domain structure and discontinuous movement of magnetic energy wells around the circumferential edge of the micromagnet caused by a locally fabricated nano‐notch in a low magnetic field system. The motion of the magnetic energy well is regulated by the configuration of the nanoscale notch and the strength and frequency of the magnetic field, accompanying the jump motion of the carriers. The proposed concepts demonstrate that multiple carriers and cells can be manipulated and sorted using optimized nanoscale multi‐notch gates for a portable magnetophoretic system. This highlights the potential for developing cost‐effective point‐of‐care testing and lab‐on‐chip systems for various single‐cell‐level diagnoses and analyses.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Magnetic nanostructuring and overcoming Brown's paradox to realize extraordinary high-temperature energy products

Nanoscience has been one of the outstanding driving forces in technology recently, arguably more so in magnetism than in any other branch of science and technology. Due to nanoscale bit size, a single computer hard disk is now able to store the text of 3,000,000 average-size books, and today’s high-performance permanent magnets—found in hybrid cars, wind turbines, and disk drives—are nanostructured to a large degree. The nanostructures ideally are designed from Co- and Fe-rich building blocks without critical rare-earth elements, and often are required to exhibit high coercivity and magnetization at elevated temperatures of typically up to 180 6C for many important permanent-magnet applications. Here we achieve this goal in exchange-coupled hard-soft composite films by effective nanostructuring of high-anisotropy HfCo7 nanoparticles with a high-magnetization Fe65Co35 phase. An analysis based on a model structure shows that the soft-phase addition improves the performance of the hard-magnetic material by mitigating Brown’s paradox in magnetism, a substantial reduction of coercivity from the anisotropy field. The nanostructures exhibit a high room-temperature energy product of about 20.3 MGOe (161.5 kJ/m3 ), which is a record for a rare earth- or Pt-free magnetic material and retain values as high as 17.1 MGOe (136.1 kJ/m3 ) at 1806C.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Element-specific visualization of dynamic magnetic coupling in a Co/Py bilayer microstructure

We present the element-specific and time resolved visualization of uniform ferromagnetic resonance excitations of a Permalloy (Py) disk–Cobalt (Co) stripe bilayer microstructure. The transverse high frequency component of the resonantly excited magnetization is sampled in the ps regime by a combination of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM-FMR) recording snapshots of the local magnetization precession of Py and Co with nanometer spatial resolution. The approach allows us to individually image the resonant dynamic response of each element, and we find that angular momentum is transferred from the Py disk to the Co stripe and vice versa at their respective resonances. The integral (cavity) FMR spectrum of our sample shows an unexpected additional third resonance. This resonance is observed in the STXM-FMR experiments as well. Our microscopic findings suggest that it is governed by magnetic exchange between Py and Co, showing for the Co stripe a difference in relative phase of the magnetization due to stray field influence.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Thermodynamic evidence for the Bose glass transition in twinned YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 - δ crystals

We used a micromechanical torsional o scillator to measure the magnetic response of a twinned YBaBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ single crystal disk near the Bose glass transition. We observe an anomaly in the temperature dependence of the magnetization consistent with the appearance of a magnetic shielding perpendicular to the correlated pinning of the twin boundaries. This effect is related to the thermodynamic transition from the vortex liquid phase to a Bose glass state.

Pérez-Morelo, D. J.↗

Electrical switching of the magnetic vortex circulation in artificial multiferroic structure of Co/Cu/PMN-PT(011)

For this research, Co films and micron sized disks were grown on top of piezoelectric PMN-PT(011) and Cu/PMN-PT(001) substrates and investigated by the Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect and Photoemission Electron Microscopy. By applying an electric field in the surface normal direction, we find that the strain of the ferroelectric PMN-PT(011) substrate induces an in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in the Co overlayer. Under specific conditions, the Co magnetic vortex could be switched between clockwise and counter-clockwise circulations. The variations of the Co vortex switching were attributed to the variations of the ferroelectric domains under the Co disks. Lastly, we speculate that the switching of the magnetic vortex circulation is a dynamical process which may involve pulses of appropriate magnitude and duration of the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy delivered to the magnetic vortex.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DIVERGENT HORIZONTAL SUB-SURFACE FLOWS WITHIN ACTIVE REGION 11158

We measure the horizontal subsurface flow in a fast emerging active region (AR; NOAA 11158) using the ring-diagram technique and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager high spatial resolution Dopplergrams. This AR had a complex magnetic structure and displayed significant changes in morphology during its disk passage. Over a period of six days from 2011 February 11 to 16, the temporal variation in the magnitude of the total velocity is found to follow the trend of magnetic field strength. We further analyze regions of individual magnetic polarity within AR 11158 and find that the horizontal velocity components in these sub-regions have significant variation with time and depth. The leading and trailing polarity regions move faster than the mixed-polarity region. Furthermore, both zonal and meridional components have opposite signs for trailing and leading polarity regions at all depths showing divergent flows within the AR. We also find a sharp decrease in the magnitude of total horizontal velocity in deeper layers around major flares. It is suggested that the re-organization of magnetic fields during flares, combined with the sunspot rotation, decreases the magnitude of horizontal flows or that the flow kinetic energy has been converted into the energy released by flares. After the decline in flare activity and sunspot rotation, the flows tend to follow the pattern of magnetic activity. We also observe less variation in the velocity components near the surface but these tend to increase with depth, further demonstrating that the deeper layers are more affected by the topology of ARs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗