Search for microscopic black holes and string balls in final states with leptons and jets with the ATLAS detector at √s = 8 TeV

A search for an excess of events with multiple high transverse momentum objects including charged leptons and jets is presented, using 20.3 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 8TeV. No excess of events beyond Standard Model expectations is observed. Using extra-dimensional models for black hole and string ball production and decay, exclusion contours are determined as a function of the mass threshold for production and the fundamental gravity scale for two, four and six extra dimensions. For six extra dimensions, mass thresholds of 4.8–6.2TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level, depending on the fundamental gravity scale and model assumptions. Upper limits on the fiducial cross-sections for non-Standard Model production of these final states are set.

Transonic Properties of Accretion Disk Around Compact Objects

An accretion flow is necessarily transonic around a black hole.However, around a neutron star it may or may not be transonic, depending on the inner disk boundary conditions influenced by the neutron star. I will discuss various transonic behavior of the disk fluid in general relativistic (or pseudo general relativistic) framework. I will address that there are four types of sonic/critical point. possible to form in an accretion disk. It will be shown that how the fluid properties including location of sonic point's vary with angular momentum of the compact object which controls the overall disk dynamics and outflows.

Lopsided spiral galaxies

The light distribution in the disks of many galaxies is ‘lopsided’ with a spatial extent much larger along one half of a galaxy than the other, as seen in M101. Recent observations show that the stellar disk in a typical spiral galaxy is significantly lopsided, indicating asymmetry in the disk mass distribution. The mean amplitude of lopsidedness is 0.1, measured as the Fourier amplitude of the m=1 component normalized to the average value. Thus, lopsidedness is common, and hence it is important to understand its origin and dynamics. This is a new and exciting area in galactic structure and dynamics, in contrast to the topic of bars and two-armed spirals (m=2) which has been extensively studied in the literature. Lopsidedness is ubiquitous and occurs in a variety of settings and tracers. It is seen in both stars and gas, in the outer disk and the central region, in the field and the group galaxies. The lopsided amplitude is higher by a factor of two for galaxies in a group. The lopsidedness has a strong impact on the dynamics of the galaxy, its evolution, the star formation in it, and on the growth of the central black hole and on the nuclear fuelling. We present here an overview of the observations that measure the lopsided distribution, as well as the theoretical progress made so far to understand its origin and properties. The physical mechanisms studied for its origin include tidal encounters, gas accretion and a global gravitational instability. The related open, challenging problems in this emerging area are discussed.

On walls of marginal stability in N=2 string theories

We study the properties of walls of marginal stability for BPS decays in a class of N = 2 theories. These theories arise in N = 2 string compactifications obtained as freely acting orbifolds of N = 4 theories, such theories include the STU model and the FHSV model. The cross sections of these walls for a generic decay in the axion-dilaton plane reduce to lines or circles. From the continuity properties of walls of marginal stability we show that central charges of BPS states do not vanish in the interior of the moduli space. Given a charge vector of a BPS state corresponding to a large black hole in these theories, we show that all walls of marginal stability intersect at the same point in the lower half of the axion-dilaton plane. We isolate a class of decays whose walls of marginal stability always lie in a region bounded by walls formed by decays to small black holes. This enables us to isolate a region in moduli space for which no decays occur within this class. We then study entropy enigma decays for such models and show that for generic values of the moduli, that is when moduli are of order one compared to the charges, entropy enigma decays do not occur in these models.

Two temperature viscous accretion flows around rotating black holes: Description of under-fed systems to ultra-luminous X-ray sources

We discuss two temperature accretion disk flows around rotating black holes. As we know that to explain observed hard X-rays the choice of Keplerian angular momentum profile is not unique, we consider the sub-Keplerian regime of the disk. Without any strict knowledge of the magnetic field structure, we assume the cooling mechanism is dominated by bremsstrahlung process. We show that in a range of Shakura-Sunyaev viscosity parameter 0.2 greater than or similar to alpha greater than or similar to 0.0005, flow behavior varies widely, particularly by means of the size of disk, efficiency of cooling and corresponding temperatures of ions and electrons. We also show that the disk around a rotating black hole is hotter compared to that around a Schwarzschild black hole, rendering a larger difference between ion and electron temperatures in the former case. With all the theoretical solutions in hand, finally we reproduce the observed luminosities (L) of two extreme cases-the under-fed AGNs and quasars (e.g. Sgr A') with L greater than or similar to 10(33) erg/s to ultra-luminous X-ray sources with L similar to 10(41) erg/s, at different combinations of mass accretion rate, ratio of specific heats, Shakura-Sunyaev viscosity parameter and Kerr parameter, and conclude that Sgr A' may be an intermediate spinning black hole.

Transonic Properties of Accretion Disk Around Compact Objects

An accretion flow is necessarily transonic around a black hole. However, around a neutron star it may or may not be transonic, depending on the inner disk boundary conditions influenced by the neutron star. I will discuss various transonic behavior of the disk fluid in general relativistic (or pseudo general relativistic) framework. I will address that there are four types of sonic/critical point. possible to form in an accretion disk. It will be shown that how the fluid properties including location of sonic point's vary with angular momentum of the compact object which controls the overall disk dynamics and outflows.

Predicting spin of compact objects from their QPOs: A global QPO model

We establish a unified model to explain Quasi-Periodic-Oscillation (QPO) observed from black hole and neutron star systems globally. This is based on the accreting systems thought to be damped harmonic oscillators with higher order nonlinearity. The model explains multiple properties parallelly independent of the nature of the compact object. It describes QPOs successfully for several compact sources. Based on it, we predict the spin frequency of the neutron star Sco X-1 and the specific angular momentum of black holes GRO J1655-40, GRS 1915+105.

Disk-Outflow Coupling: Energetics Around Spinning BlacK Holes

The mechanism by which outflows and plausible jets are driven from black hole systems still remains observationally elusive. This notwithstanding, several observational evidences and deeper theoretical insights reveal that accretion and outflow/jet are strongly correlated. We model an advective disk-outflow coupled dynamics, incorporating explicitly the vertical flux. Inter-connecting dynamics of outflow andaccretion essentially upholds the conservation laws. We investigate the properties of the disk-outflow surface and its strong dependence on the rotation parameter of the black hole. The energetics of the disk outflow strongly depend on the mass, accretion rate, and spin of the black holes. The model clearly shows that the outflow power extracted from the disk increases strongly with the spin of the black hole, inferring that the power of the observed astrophysical jets has a proportional correspondence with the spin of the central object. In the case of blazars (BL Lacs and flat spectrum radio quasars, FSRQs), most of their emission are believed to be originated from their jets. It is observed that BL Lacs are relatively low luminous than FSRQs. The luminosity might be linked to the power of the jet, which in turn reflects that the nuclear regions of the BL Lac objects have a relatively low spinning black hole compared to that in the case of FSRQs. If extreme gravity is the source that powers strong outflows and jets, then the spin of the black hole, perhaps, might be the fundamental parameter to account for the observed astrophysical processes in an accretion powered system.

Parametrized tests of post-Newtonian theory using Advanced LIGO and Einstein Telescope

General relativity has very specific predictions for the gravitational waveforms from inspiralling compact binaries obtained using the post-Newtonian (PN) approximation. We investigate the extent to which the measurement of the PN coefficients, possible with the second generation gravitational-wave detectors such as the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the third generation gravitational-wave detectors such as the Einstein Telescope (ET), could be used to test post-Newtonian theory and to put bounds on a subclass of parametrized-post-Einstein theories which differ from general relativity in a parametrized sense. We demonstrate this possibility by employing the best inspiralling waveform model for nonspinning compact binaries which is 3.5PN accurate in phase and 3PN in amplitude. Within the class of theories considered, Advanced LIGO can test the theory at 1.5PN and thus the leading tail term. Future observations of stellar mass black hole binaries by ET can test the consistency between the various PN coefficients in the gravitational-wave phasing over the mass range of 11-44M(circle dot). The choice of the lower frequency cutoff is important for testing post-Newtonian theory using the ET. The bias in the test arising from the assumption of nonspinning binaries is indicated.

Trajectories of charged particles in the static Ernst space-time

The authors study the trajectories of charged particles in Ernst's space-time representing a static black hole immersed in a magnetic field. They find bound orbits always exist for realistic magnetic field strengths. A similar investigation is carried out for the case of Melvin's magnetic universe and for a corresponding test field superposed on a flat space-time.

Strong spin-two interaction and general relativity

The concept of short range strong spin-two (f) field (mediated by massive f-mesons) and interacting directly with hadrons was introduced along with the infinite range (g) field in early seventies. In the present review of this growing area (often referred to as strong gravity) we give a general relativistic treatment in terms of Einstein-type (non-abelian gauge) field equations with a coupling constant Gf reverse similar, equals 1038 GN (GN being the Newtonian constant) and a cosmological term λf ƒ;μν (ƒ;μν is strong gravity metric and λf not, vert, similar 1028 cm− is related to the f-meson mass). The solutions of field equations linearized over de Sitter (uniformly curves) background are capable of having connections with internal symmetries of hadrons and yielding mass formulae of SU(3) or SU(6) type. The hadrons emerge as de Sitter “microuniverses” intensely curved within (radius of curvature not, vert, similar10−14 cm).The study of spinor fields in the context of strong gravity has led to Heisenberg's non-linear spinor equation with a fundamental length not, vert, similar2 × 10−14 cm. Furthermore, one finds repulsive spin-spin interaction when two identical spin-Image particles are in parallel configuration and a connection between weak interaction and strong gravity.Various other consequences of strong gravity embrace black hole (solitonic) solutions representing hadronic bags with possible quark confinement, Regge-like relations between spins and masses, connection with monopoles and dyons, quantum geons and friedmons, hadronic temperature, prevention of gravitational singularities, providing a physical basis for Dirac's two metric and large numbers hypothesis and projected unification with other basic interactions through extended supergravity.

Hydrodynamics of R-charged D1-branes

We study the hydrodynamic properties of strongly coupled SU(N) Yang-Mills theory of the D1-brane at finite temperature and at a non-zero density of R-charge in the framework of gauge/gravity duality. The gravity dual description involves a charged black hole solution of an Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton system in 3 dimensions which is obtained by a consistent truncation of the spinning D1-brane in 10 dimensions. We evaluate thermal and electrical conductivity as well as the bulk viscosity as a function of the chemical potential conjugate to the R-charges of the D1-brane. We show that the ratio of bulk viscosity to entropy density is independent of the chemical potential and is equal to 1/4 pi. The thermal conductivity and bulk viscosity obey a relationship similar to the Wiedemann-Franz law. We show that at the boundary of thermodynamic stability, the charge diffusion mode becomes unstable and the transport coefficients exhibit critical behaviour. Our method for evaluating the transport coefficients relies on expressing the second order differential equations in terms of a first order equation which dictates the radial evolution of the transport coefficient. The radial evolution equations can be solved exactly for the transport coefficients of our interest. We observe that transport coefficients of the D1-brane theory are related to that of the M2-brane by an overall proportionality constant which sets the dimensions.

New Massive Gravity and AdS(4) Counterterms

We show that the recently proposed Dirac-Born-Infeld extension of new massive gravity emerges naturally as a counterterm in four-dimensional anti-de Sitter space (AdS(4)). The resulting on-shell Euclidean action is independent of the cutoff at zero temperature. We also find that the same choice of counterterm gives the usual area law for the AdS(4) Schwarzschild black hole entropy in a cutoff-independent manner. The parameter values of the resulting counterterm action correspond to a c = 0 theory in the context of the duality between AdS(3) gravity and two-dimensional conformal field theory. We rewrite this theory in terms of the gauge field that is used to recast 3D gravity as a Chern-Simons theory.

Thermal instability and the feedback regulation of hot haloes in clusters, groups and galaxies

We present global multidimensional numerical simulations of the plasma that pervades the dark matter haloes of clusters, groups and massive galaxies (the intracluster medium; ICM). Observations of clusters and groups imply that such haloes are roughly in global thermal equilibrium, with heating balancing cooling when averaged over sufficiently long time- and length-scales; the ICM is, however, very likely to be locally thermally unstable. Using simple observationally motivated heating prescriptions, we show that local thermal instability (TI) can produce a multiphase medium with similar to 104 K cold filaments condensing out of the hot ICM only when the ratio of the TI time-scale in the hot plasma (tTI) to the free-fall time-scale (tff) satisfies tTI/tff? 10. This criterion quantitatively explains why cold gas and star formation are preferentially observed in low-entropy clusters and groups. In addition, the interplay among heating, cooling and TI reduces the net cooling rate and the mass accretion rate at small radii by factors of similar to 100 relative to cooling-flow models. This dramatic reduction is in line with observations. The feedback efficiency required to prevent a cooling flow is similar to 10-3 for clusters and decreases for lower mass haloes; supernova heating may be energetically sufficient to balance cooling in galactic haloes. We further argue that the ICM self-adjusts so that tTI/tff? 10 at all radii. When this criterion is not satisfied, cold filaments condense out of the hot phase and reduce the density of the ICM. These cold filaments can power the black hole and/or stellar feedback required for global thermal balance, which drives tTI/tff? 10. In comparison to clusters, groups have central cores with lower densities and larger radii. This can account for the deviations from self-similarity in the X-ray luminositytemperature () relation. The high-velocity clouds observed in the Galactic halo can be due to local TI producing multiphase gas close to the virial radius if the density of the hot plasma in the Galactic halo is >rsim 10-5 cm-3 at large radii.

Cause and Effect of Feedback: Multiphase Gas in Cluster Cores Heated by AGN Jets

Multiwavelength data indicate that the X-ray-emitting plasma in the cores of galaxy clusters is not cooling catastrophically. To a large extent, cooling is offset by heating due to active galactic nuclei (AGNs) via jets. The cool-core clusters, with cooler/denser plasmas, show multiphase gas and signs of some cooling in their cores. These observations suggest that the cool core is locally thermally unstable while maintaining global thermal equilibrium. Using high-resolution, three-dimensional simulations we study the formation of multiphase gas in cluster cores heated by collimated bipolar AGN jets. Our key conclusion is that spatially extended multiphase filaments form only when the instantaneous ratio of the thermal instability and free-fall timescales (t(TI)/t(ff)) falls below a critical threshold of approximate to 10. When this happens, dense cold gas decouples from the hot intracluster medium (ICM) phase and generates inhomogeneous and spatially extended Ha filaments. These cold gas clumps and filaments ``rain'' down onto the central regions of the core, forming a cold rotating torus and in part feeding the supermassive black hole. Consequently, the self-regulated feedback enhances AGN heating and the core returns to a higher entropy level with t(TI)/t(ff) > 10. Eventually, the core reaches quasi-stable global thermal equilibrium, and cold filaments condense out of the hot ICM whenever t(TI)/t(ff) less than or similar to 10. This occurs despite the fact that the energy from AGN jets is supplied to the core in a highly anisotropic fashion. The effective spatial redistribution of heat is enabled in part by the turbulent motions in the wake of freely falling cold filaments. Increased AGN activity can locally reverse the cold gas flow, launching cold filamentary gas away from the cluster center. Our criterion for the condensation of spatially extended cold gas is in agreement with observations and previous idealized simulations.