Superluminal electromagnetic solitary waves in electron-positron plasmas

The propagation of an electromagnetic wave packet in an electron-positron plasma, in the form of coupled localized electromagnetic excitations, is investigated, from first principles. By means of the Poincare section method, a special class of superluminal localized nonlinear stationary solutions, existing along a separatrix curve, are proposed as intrinsic electromagnetic modes in a relativistic electron-positron plasma. The ratio of the envelope time scale to the carrier wave time scale of these envelope solitary waves critically depends on the carrier's phase velocity. In the strongly superluminal regime, v(ph)/c >> 1, the large difference between the envelope and carrier time scales enables us to carry out a multiscale perturbative analysis resulting in an analytical form of the solution envelope. The analytical prediction thus obtained is shown to be in agreement with the solution obtained via a direct numerical integration. Copyright (c) EPLA, 2012

Generation of scaled protogalactic seed magnetic fields in laser-produced shock waves

The standard model for the origin of galactic magnetic fields is through the amplification of seed fields via dynamo or turbulent processes to the level consistent with present observations. Although other mechanisms may also operate, currents from misaligned pressure and temperature gradients (the Biermann battery process) inevitably accompany the formation of galaxies in the absence of a primordial field. Driven by geometrical asymmetries in shocks associated with the collapse of protogalactic structures, the Biermann battery is believed to generate tiny seed fields to a level of about 10 gauss (refs 7, 8). With the advent of high-power laser systems in the past two decades, a new area of research has opened in which, using simple scaling relations, astrophysical environments can effectively be reproduced in the laboratory. Here we report the results of an experiment that produced seed magnetic fields by the Biermann battery effect. We show that these results can be scaled to the intergalactic medium, where turbulence, acting on timescales of around 700 million years, can amplify the seed fields sufficiently to affect galaxy evolution.

GIANT LOBES OF CENTAURUS A RADIO GALAXY OBSERVED WITH THE SUZAKU X-RAY SATELLITE

We report on Suzaku observations of selected regions within the southern giant lobe of the radio galaxy Centaurus A. In our analysis we focus on distinct X-ray features detected with the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer within the range 0.5-10 keV, some of which are likely associated with fine structure of the lobe revealed by recent high-quality radio intensity and polarization maps. With the available photon statistics, we find that the spectral properties of the detected X-ray features are equally consistent with thermal emission from hot gas with temperatures kT > 1 keV, or with a power-law radiation continuum characterized by photon indices Gamma similar to 2.0 +/- 0.5. However, the plasma parameters implied by these different models favor a synchrotron origin for the analyzed X-ray spots, indicating that a very efficient acceleration of electrons up to greater than or similar to 10 TeV energies is taking place within the giant structure of Centaurus A, albeit only in isolated and compact regions associated with extended and highly polarized radio filaments. We also present a detailed analysis of the diffuse X-ray emission filling the whole field of view of the instrument, resulting in a tentative detection of a soft excess component best fitted by a thermal model with a temperature of kT similar to 0.5 keV. The exact origin of the observed excess remains uncertain, although energetic considerations point to thermal gas filling the bulk of the volume of the lobe and mixed with the non-thermal plasma, rather than to the alternative scenario involving a condensation of the hot intergalactic medium around the edges of the expanding radio structure. If correct, this would be the first detection of the thermal content of the extended lobes of a radio galaxy in X-rays. The corresponding number density of the thermal gas in such a case is n(g) similar to 10(-4) cm(-3), while its pressure appears to be in almost exact equipartition with the volume-averaged non-thermal pressure provided by the radio-emitting electrons and the lobes' magnetic field. A prominent large-scale fluctuation of the Galactic foreground emission, resulting in excess foreground X-ray emission aligned with the lobe, cannot be ruled out. Although tentative, our findings potentially imply that the structure of the extended lobes in active galaxies is likely to be highly inhomogeneous and non-uniform, with magnetic reconnection and turbulent acceleration processes continuously converting magnetic energy to internal energy of the plasma particles, leading to possibly significant spatial and temporal variations in the plasma beta parameter around the volume-averaged equilibrium condition beta similar to 1.

Cosmic ray acceleration at oblique shocks

We show that the diffusion approximation breaks down for particle acceleration at oblique shocks with velocities typical of young supernova remnants. Higher order anisotropies flatten the spectral index at quasi-parallel shocks and steepen the spectral index at quasi-perpendicular shocks. We compare the theory with observed spectral indices.

Novel Radio Link Buffer Management Schemes for End-User Multi-class Traffic in High Speed Packet Access Networks

The requirement to provide multimedia services with QoS support in mobile networks has led to standardization and deployment of high speed data access technologies such as the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) system. HSDPA improves downlink packet data and multimedia services support in WCDMA-based cellular networks. As is the trend in emerging wireless access technologies, HSDPA supports end-user multi-class sessions comprising parallel flows with diverse Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, such as real-time (RT) voice or video streaming concurrent with non real-time (NRT) data service being transmitted to the same user, with differentiated queuing at the radio link interface. Hence, in this paper we present and evaluate novel radio link buffer management schemes for QoS control of multimedia traffic comprising concurrent RT and NRT flows in the same HSDPA end-user session. The new buffer management schemes—Enhanced Time Space Priority (E-TSP) and Dynamic Time Space Priority (D-TSP)—are designed to improve radio link and network resource utilization as well as optimize end-to-end QoS performance of both RT and NRT flows in the end-user session. Both schemes are based on a Time-Space Priority (TSP) queuing system, which provides joint delay and loss differentiation between the flows by queuing (partially) loss tolerant RT flow packets for higher transmission priority but with restricted access to the buffer space, whilst allowing unlimited access to the buffer space for delay-tolerant NRT flow but with queuing for lower transmission priority. Experiments by means of extensive system-level HSDPA simulations demonstrates that with the proposed TSP-based radio link buffer management schemes, significant end-to-end QoS performance gains accrue to end-user traffic with simultaneous RT and NRT flows, in addition to improved resource utilization in the radio access network.

Electromagnetic rogue waves in beam-plasma interactions

The occurrence of rogue waves (freak waves) associated with electromagnetic pulse propagation interacting with a plasma is investigated, from first principles. A multiscale technique is employed to solve the fluid Maxwell equations describing weakly nonlinear circularly polarized electromagnetic pulses in magnetized plasmas. A nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) type equation is shown to govern the amplitude of the vector potential. A set of non-stationary envelope solutions of the NLS equation are considered as potential candidates for the modeling of rogue waves (freak waves) in beam-plasma interactions, namely in the form of the Peregrine soliton, the Akhmediev breather and the Kuznetsov-Ma breather. The variation of the structural properties of the latter structures with relevant plasma parameters is investigated, in particular focusing on the ratio between the (magnetic field dependent) cyclotron (gyro-)frequency and the plasma frequency. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Behavioural context of multi-scale species distribution models assessed by radio-tracking

Incorporating ecological processes and animal behaviour into Species Distribution Models (SDMs) is difficult. In species with a central resting or breeding place, there can be conflict between the environmental requirements of the 'central place' and foraging habitat. We apply a multi-scale SDM to examine habitat trade-offs between the central place, roost sites, and foraging habitat in . Myotis nattereri. We validate these derived associations using habitat selection from behavioural observations of radio-tracked bats. A Generalised Linear Model (GLM) of roost occurrence using land cover variables with mixed spatial scales indicated roost occurrence was positively associated with woodland on a fine scale and pasture on a broad scale. Habitat selection of radio-tracked bats mirrored the SDM with bats selecting for woodland in the immediate vicinity of individual roosts but avoiding this habitat in foraging areas, whilst pasture was significantly positively selected for in foraging areas. Using habitat selection derived from radio-tracking enables a multi-scale SDM to be interpreted in a behavioural context. We suggest that the multi-scale SDM of . M. nattereri describes a trade-off between the central place and foraging habitat. Multi-scale methods provide a greater understanding of the ecological processes which determine where species occur and allow integration of behavioural processes into SDMs. The findings have implications when assessing the resource use of a species at a single point in time. Doing so could lead to misinterpretation of habitat requirements as these can change within a short time period depending on specific behaviour, particularly if detectability changes depending on behaviour. © 2011 Gesellschaft für ökologie.

Generation of hemispherical fast electron waves in the presence of preplasma in ultraintense laser-matter interaction

Hemispherical electron plasma waves generated from ultraintense laser interacting with a solid target having a subcritical preplasma is studied using particle-in-cell simulation. As the laser pulse propagates inside the preplasma, it becomes self-focused due to the response of the plasma electrons to the ponderomotive force. The electrons are mainly heated via betatron resonance absorption and their thermal energy can become higher than the ponderomotive energy. The hot electrons easily penetrate through the thin solid target and appear behind it as periodic hemispherical shell-like layers separated by the laser wavelength.

Observations of ubiquitous compressive waves in the Sun's chromosphere

The details of the mechanism(s) responsible for the observed heating and dynamics of the solar atmosphere still remain a mystery. Magnetohydrodynamic waves are thought to have a vital role in this process. Although it has been shown that incompressible waves are ubiquitous in off-limb solar atmospheric observations, their energy cannot be readily dissipated. Here we provide, for the first time, on-disk observation and identification of concurrent magnetohydrodynamic wave modes, both compressible and incompressible, in the solar chromosphere. The observed ubiquity and estimated energy flux associated with the detected magnetohydrodynamic waves suggest the chromosphere is a vast reservoir of wave energy with the potential to meet chromospheric and coronal heating requirements. We are also able to propose an upper bound on the flux of the observed wave energy that is able to reach the corona based on observational constraints, which has important implications for the suggested mechanism(s) for quiescent coronal heating. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.