Search results for "Free expansion"
showing 5 items of 5 documents
1.6 GHz VLBI observations of SN 1979C: almost-free expansion
2009
We report on 1.6 GHz Very-Long-Baseline-Interferometry (VLBI) observations of supernova SN 1979C made on 18 November 2002. We derive a model-dependent supernova size. We also present a reanalysis of VLBI observations made by us on June 1999 and by other authors on February 2005. We conclude that, contrary to our earlier claim of strong deceleration in the expansion, SN 1979C has been undergoing almost-free expansion ($m = 0.91\pm0.09$; $R \propto t^m$) for over 25 years.
Strongly decelerated expansion of SN 1979C
2002
We observed SN1979C in M100 on 4 June 1999, about twenty years after explosion, with a very sensitive four-antenna VLBI array at the wavelength of 18cm. The distance to M100 and the expansion velocities are such that the supernova cannot be fully resolved by our Earth-wide array. Model-dependent sizes for the source have been determined and compared with previous results. We conclude that the supernova shock was initially in free expansion for 6 +/- 2 yrs and then experienced a very strong deceleration. The onset of deceleration took place a few years before the abrupt trend change in the integrated radio flux density curves. We estimate the shocked swept-up mass to be about 1.6 solar masse…
Phase coherence of an atomic Mott insulator
2005
International audience; We investigate the phase coherence properties of ultracold Bose gases in optical lattices, with special emphasis on the Mott insulating phase. We show that phase coherence on short length scales persists even deep in the insulating phase, preserving a finite visibility of the interference pattern observed after free expansion. This behavior can be attributed to a coherent admixture of particle/hole pairs to the perfect Mott state for small but finite tunneling. In addition, small but reproducible ``kinks'' are seen in the visibility, in a broad range of atom numbers. We interpret them as signatures for density redistribution in the shell structure of the trapped Mott…
Angular Energy Distribution of Collapsar-Jets
2008
Collapsars are fast-spinning, massive stars, whose core collapse liberates an energy, that can be channeled in the form of ultrarelativistic jets. These jets transport the energy from the collapsed core to large distances, where it is dissipated in the form of long-duration gamma-ray bursts. In this paper we study the dynamics of ultrarelativistic jets produced in collapsars. Also we extrapolate our results to infer the angular energy distribution of the produced outflows in the afterglow phase. Our main focus is to look for global energetical properties which can be imprinted by the different structure of different progenitor stars. Thus, we employ a number of pre-supernova, stellar models…
Spontaneous polarization induced by natural thermalization of incoherent light
2008
We analyze theoretically the polarization properties of a partially coherent optical field that propagates in a nonlinear Kerr medium. We consider the standard model of two resonantly coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations, which account for a wave-vector mismatch between the orthogonal polarization components. We show that such a phase-mismatch is responsible for the existence of a spontaneous repolarization process of the partially incoherent optical field during its nonlinear propagation. The repolarization process is characterized by an irreversible evolution of the unpolarized beam towards a highly polarized state, without any loss of energy. This unexpected result contrasts with the …