18317896
Long-term cycling of Kozai-Lidov cycles: extreme eccentricities and inclinations excited by a distant eccentric perturber.
The very long-term evolution of the hierarchical restricted three-body problem is calculated analytically for high inclinations. The Kozai-Lidov Cycles (KLCs) slowly evolve due to the octupole term in the perturber's potential and exhibit striking features, including extremely high eccentricities and the generation of retrograde orbits with respect to the perturber. These features were found in recent numerical experiments of the nonrestricted three-body problem and were attributed inaccurately to the comparable and low masses of the two orbiting companions. Our calculation is done by averaging for the first time the double averaged secular equations of motion over the KLCs and finding a new constant of the motion. These very long-term effects are likely to be important in various astrophysical systems thought to involve KLCs, such as hot Jupiters, irregular moons of planets, and many others.
119112522
Type Ia supernovae with bimodal explosions are common – possible smoking gun for direct collisions of white dwarfs
We discover clear doubly-peaked line profiles in 3 out of ~20 type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) with high-quality nebular-phase spectra. The profiles are consistently present in three well-separated Co/Fe emission features. The two peaks are respectively blue-shifted and red-shifted relative to the host galaxies and are separated by ~5000 km/s. The doubly-peaked profiles directly reflect a bi-modal velocity distribution of the radioactive Ni56 in the ejecta that powers the emission of these SNe. Due to their random orientations, only a fraction of SNe with intrinsically bi-modal velocity distributions will appear as doubly-peaked spectra. Therefore SNe with intrinsic bi-modality are likely common, especially among the SNe in the low-luminosity part on the Philips relation (\Delta m15(B) >~ 1.3; ~40% of all SNe Ia). Such bi-modality is naturally expected from direct collisions of white dwarfs (WDs) due to the detonation of both WDs and is demonstrated in a 3D 0.64 M_Sun-0.64 M_Sun WD collision simulation. In the future, with a large sample of nebular spectra and a comprehensive set of numerical simulations, the collision model can be unambiguously tested as the primary channel for type Ia SNe, and the distribution of nebular line profiles will either be a smoking gun or rule it out.
119257545
Head-on Collisions of White Dwarfs in Triple Systems Could Explain Type Ia Supernovae
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), thermonuclear explosions of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs (CO-WDs), are currently the best cosmological "standard candles," but the triggering mechanism of the explosion is unknown. It was recently shown that the rate of head-on collisions of typical field CO-WDs in triple systems may be comparable to the SNe Ia rate. Here we provide evidence supporting a scenario in which the majority of SNe Ia are the result of such head-on collisions of CO-WDs. In this case, the nuclear detonation is due to a well understood shock ignition, devoid of commonly introduced free parameters such as the deflagration velocity or transition to detonation criteria. By using two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations with a fully resolved ignition process, we show that zero-impact-parameter collisions of typical CO-WDs with masses 0.5-1 M ☉ result in explosions that synthesize 56Ni masses in the range of ~0.1-1 M ☉, spanning the wide distribution of yields observed for the majority of SNe Ia. All collision models yield the same late-time ( 60 days since explosion) bolometric light curve when normalized by 56Ni masses (to better than 30%), in agreement with observations. The calculated widths of the 56Ni-mass-weighted line-of-sight velocity distributions are correlated with the calculated 56Ni yield, agreeing with the observed correlation. The strong correlation, shown here for the first time, between 56Ni yield and total mass of the colliding CO-WDs (insensitive to their mass ratio), is suggestive as the source for the continuous distribution of observed SN Ia features, possibly including the Philips relation.
119233296
THE STATISTICS OF MULTI-PLANET SYSTEMS
We describe statistical methods for measuring the exoplanet multiplicity function (the fraction of host stars containing a given number of planets) and inclination distribution from transit and radial-velocity (RV) surveys. The analysis is based on the approximation of separability-that the distribution of planetary parameters in an n-planet system is the product of identical 1-planet distributions. We review the evidence that separability is a valid approximation for exoplanets and conclude that it captures many, but not all, of the known characteristics of multi-planet systems. We show how to relate the observable multiplicity function in surveys with similar host-star populations but different sensitivities. We also show how to correct for geometrical selection effects to derive the multiplicity function from transit surveys if the distribution of relative inclinations is known. Applying these tools to the Kepler transit survey and to RV surveys, we find that (1) the Kepler data alone do not constrain the mean inclination of multi-planet systems; even spherical distributions are allowed by the data but only if a small fraction of host stars contain large planet populations ({approx}> 30); (2) comparing the Kepler and RV surveys shows that the mean inclination of multi-planet systems is less than 5 Degree-Sign ;more » and (3) the multiplicity function of the Kepler planets is not well determined by the present data.« less
20954769
MOA-2009-BLG-387Lb: A massive planet orbiting an M dwarf
Aims. We report the discovery of a planet with a high planet-to-star mass ratio in the microlensing event MOA-2009-BLG-387, which exhibited pronounced deviations over a 12-day interval, one of the longest for any planetary event. The host is an M dwarf, with a mass in the range 0.07 M_⊙ < M_(host) < 0.49 M_⊙ at 90% confidence. The planet-star mass ratio q = 0.0132 ± 0.003 has been measured extremely well, so at the best-estimated host mass, the planet mass is m_p = 2.6 Jupiter masses for the median host mass, M = 0.19 M_⊙. Methods. The host mass is determined from two “higher order” microlensing parameters. One of these, the angular Einstein radius θ_E = 0.31 ± 0.03 mas has been accurately measured, but the other (the microlens parallax πE, which is due to the Earth’s orbital motion) is highly degenerate with the orbital motion of the planet. We statistically resolve the degeneracy between Earth and planet orbital effects by imposing priors from a Galactic model that specifies the positions and velocities of lenses and sources and a Kepler model of orbits. Results. The 90% confidence intervals for the distance, semi-major axis, and period of the planet are 3.5 kpc < D_L < 7.9 kpc, 1.1 AU < a < 2.7 AU, and 3.8 yr < P < 7.6 yr, respectively.
14062967
Probing ~100 AU Intergalactic Mg II Absorbing “Cloudlets” with Quasar Microlensing
Intergalactic Mg II absorbers are known to have structures down to scales ~102.5 pc, and there are now indications that they may be fragmented on scales 10-2.5 pc according to Hao and coworkers. When a lensed quasar is microlensed, the microimages of the quasar experience creation, destruction, distortion, and drastic astrometric changes during caustic crossings. I show that quasar microlensing can effectively probe Mg II and other absorption "cloudlets" with sizes ~10-4.0 to 10-2.0 pc by inducing significant spectral variability on timescales of months to years. With numerical simulations, I demonstrate the feasibility of applying this method to Q2237+0305, and I show that high-resolution spectra of this quasar in the near future would provide a clear test of the existence of such metal-line absorbing "cloudlets."
118042719
Levinson's Theorem for the Schrödinger Equation in One Dimension
Levinson's theorem for the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation with asymmetric potential which decays at infinity faster thanx−2 is established by theSturm-Liouville theorem. The critical case where the Schrödinger equation hasa finite zero-energy solution is also analyzed. It is demonstrated that the numberof bound states with even (odd) parityn+(n−) is related to the phase shift η+ (0)[η− (0)] of the scattering states with the same parity at zero momentum as η+ (0)+ π/2 =n+ π and η− (0) =n− πfor the noncritical case, and η+ (0) =n+ π andη− (0) − π/2 =n− π for the critical case.
116297185
Quantum Monodromy in the Spectrum of Schrödinger Equation with a Decatic Potential
In this study the spectral problem of the two-dimensional Schrödinger equation with the cylindrically symmetrical decatic potential is carried out. The concept of quantum monodromy is introduced to give insight into the energy levels of system with this potential. It is shown that quantum monodromy occurs at ρ = 0 in the distribution of eigenstates around a critical point on the spectrum at E = 0 with zero angular momentum, such that there can be no smoothly valid assignment of quantum number. Cases with the three-well and four-well potentials are presented to give rise to the double degeneracies with respect to energy except for the angular momentum m = 0.
14359559
Levinson's theorem for non-local interactions in two dimensions
In the light of the Sturm-Liouville theorem, the Levinson theorem for the Schrodinger equation with both local and non-local cylindrically symmetric potentials is studied. It is proved that the two-dimensional Levinson theorem holds for the case with both local and non-local cylindrically symmetric cut-off potentials, which is not necessarily separable. In addition, the problems related to the positive-energy bound states and the physically redundant state are also discussed.
15491159
Exact Solutions of the Two-Dimensional Schrödinger Equation with Certain Central Potentials
By applying an ansatz to the eigenfunction, an exact closed-form solution of theSchrödinger equation in two dimension is obtained with the potentials V(r) =ar2 + br4 + cr6,V(r) = ar + br2 + cr−1,and V(r) = ar2 + br−2+ cr−4 + dr−6,respectively. The restrictions on the parameters of the given potential andthe angular momentum m are obtained.
120777661
ANALYTICAL APPROXIMATIONS TO THE SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION FOR A SECOND PÖSCHL–TELLER-LIKE POTENTIAL WITH CENTRIFUGAL TERM
The bound state solutions of the Schrodinger equation for a second Poschl–Teller-like potential with the centrifugal term are obtained approximately. It is found that the solutions can be expressed in terms of the hypergeometric functions 2F1(a, b; c; z). To show the accuracy of our results, we calculate the eigenvalues numerically for arbitrary quantum numbers n and l. It is found that the results are in good agreement with those obtained by other method for short-range potential. Two special cases for l = 0 and V1 = V2 are also studied briefly.