Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy Commons^™

New Foundation In The Sciences: Physics Without Sweeping Infinities Under The Rug, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto, Robert Neil Boyd

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

It is widely known among the Frontiers of physics, that “sweeping under the rug” practice has been quite the norm rather than exception. In other words, the leading paradigms have strong tendency to be hailed as the only game in town. For example, renormalization group theory was hailed as cure in order to solve infinity problem in QED theory. For instance, a quote from Richard Feynman goes as follows: “What the three Nobel Prize winners did, in the words of Feynman, was "to get rid of the infinities in the calculations. The infinities are still there, but now they can …

A Global View Of The Inner Accretion And Ejection Flow Around Super Massive Black Holes, Margherita Giustini, Daniel Proga

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

Context. Understanding the physics and geometry of accretion and ejection around super massive black holes (SMBHs) is important to understand the evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and therefore of the large scale structures of the Universe. Aims. We aim at providing a simple, coherent, and global view of the sub-parsec accretion and ejection flow in AGN with varying Eddington ratio, ṁ, and black hole mass, MBH. Methods. We made use of theoretical insights, results of numerical simulations, as well as UV and X-ray observations to review the inner regions of AGN by including different accretion and ejection modes, with …

Wallaby Early Science − V. Askap Hi Imaging Of The Lyon Group Of Galaxies 351, B. Q. For, L. Staveley-Smith, T. Westmeier, M. Whiting, S. -H. Oh, B. Koribalski, J. Wang, O. I. Wong, G. Bekiaris, Juan P. Madrid

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present an HI study of the galaxy group LGG 351 usingWidefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind Survey (WALLABY) early science data observed with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). LGG 351 resides behind the M 83 group at a velocity range (cz) of ∼3500–4800 km s−1 within the rich Hydra-Centaurus overdensity region. We detect 40 sources with the discovery of a tidally interacting galaxy pair and two new HI sources that are not presented in previous optical catalogues. 23 out of 40 sources have new redshifts derived from the new HI data. This study is the largest WALLABY …

Photoionization Calculations Of The Radiation Force Due To Spectral Lines In Agns, Randall C. Dannen, Daniel Proga, Timothy R. Kallman, Tim Waters

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

One of the main mechanisms that could drive mass outflows in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is radiation pressure due to spectral lines. Although straightforward to understand, the actual magnitude of the radiation force is challenging to compute because the force depends on the physical conditions in the gas, as well as the strength, spectral energy distribution (SED), and geometry of the radiation field. We present results from our photoionization and radiation transfer calculations of the force multiplier, M(ξ, t), using the same radiation field to compute the gas photoionization and thermal balance. We assume low gas density (n = 104 …

Viewing Angle Constraints On S190425z And S190426c And The Joint Gravitational-Wave/Gamma-Ray Detection Fractions For Binary Neutron Star Mergers, Hao-Ran Song, Shun-Ke Ai, Min-Hao Wang, Nan Xing, He Gao, Bing Zhang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo scientific collaboration (LVC) detected two binary neutron star (BNS) merger candidates, S190425z and S190426c. The Fermi-Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) observed 55.6% (for S190425z) and 100% (for S190426c) of the probability regions of both events at the respective merger times, but no gamma-ray burst (GRB) was detected in either case. The derived luminosity upper limits suggest that a short GRB similar to GRB 170817A would not be detectable for both cases due to their distances, which are larger than that of GW170817. Assuming that the jet profile obtained from GW170817/GRB 170817A is quasi-universal …

One-Note-Samba Approach To Cosmology, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Inspired by One Note Samba, a standard jazz repertoire, we present an outline of Bose-Einstein Condensate Cosmology. Although this approach seems awkward and a bit off the wall at first glance, it is not impossible to connect altogether BEC, Scalar Field Cosmology and Feshbach Resonance with Ermakov-Pinney equation. We also briefly discuss possible link with our previous paper which describes Newtonian Universe with Vortex in terms of Ermakov equation.

Cosmology-Independent Estimate Of The Fraction Of Baryon Mass In The Igm From Fast Radio Burst Observations, Zhengxiang Li, He Gao, Jun-Jie Wei, Yuan-Pei Yang, Bing Zhang, Zong-Hong Zhu

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

The excessive dispersion measure (DM) of fast radio bursts (FRBs) has been proposed to be a powerful tool to study intergalactic medium (IGM) and to perform cosmography. One issue is that the fraction of baryons in the IGM, f IGM, is not properly constrained. Here, we propose a method of estimating f IGM using a putative sample of FRBs with the measurements of both DM and luminosity distance d L. The latter can be obtained if the FRB is associated with a distance indicator (e.g., a gamma-ray burst or a gravitational-wave event), or the redshift z of the FRB is …

Determination Of Multi-Messenger Signals From Matter Outflows Of Merger Systems, Ronny Nguyen

Honors Theses and Capstones

In 2017, LIGO detected gravitational waves from GW170817. This presented for the first time, gravitational waves originating from a neutron star - neutron star merger. Studies of neutron star mergers are significant because the multi-messenger signals in the form of gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves can inform us on the nuclear physics of neutron stars and the creation of heavy elements in the universe. Matter is ejected in the merging process and forms the outflow which provides a neutron-rich environment for rapid neutron capture (r-process) to occur leading to the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements. What we detect on Earth are …

The Discovery Of A Lifetime: Gravitational-Waves, Maria I Dominguez Barraza

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

This presentation offers an insight to one of the biggest discoveries made in science. The discovery of gravitational-waves had been a long journey to achieve for physicists and scientist. Now gravitational-waves are helping scientists study the universe in a more efficient way never seen before. The discovery of gravitational-waves is a sign that a new era of astronomy and physics is about to open doors for many scientists and astrophysicists.

● Gravitational-waves are energycarrying waves propagating through a gravitational field, produced when a massive body is accelerated or otherwise disturbed. ● Gravitational-waves prove the existence of Black Holes. ● Laser …

A Few Calculations Of Receding Moon From Spherical Kinetic Dynamics, Receding Planetary Orbits, And The Quantization Of Celestial Motions, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto, Robert Neil Boyd

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

The present article discusses some interesting phenomena including the Lense-Thirring type anomalous precession, using a known spherical kinetic dynamics approach. Other implications include a plausible revised version of the celestial quantization equation described by Nottale and Rubcic & Rubcic. If the proposition described herein corresponds to the facts, then this kinetic dynamics interpretation of ‘frame-dragging’ effect could be viewed as a step to unification between GTR-type phenomena and QM. Further observation to verify or refute this conjecture is recommended, plausibly using LAGEOS type satellites.

On The New Concept Creatio Ex-Rotatione, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

It is known that the Big Bang theory was based on the concept of creation ex nihilo, after ancient Greek philosophers. In this paper, we discuss the concept of creatio ex nihilo, as well as two other approaches - Intelligent Design and Emergence Theory. We argue that beside the above three approaches, a new concept called creatio ex-rotatione offers a resolution to the long standing disputes between beginning and eternity of the Universe. We agree with Vaas: [h]ow a conceptual and perhaps physical solution of the temporal aspect of Immanuel Kant’s “first antinomy of pure reason” is possible, i.e., how …

Expected And Achievable Accuracy In Estimating Parameters Of Standing Accretion Shock Instability (Sasi) Fluctuations From Neutrinos And Gravitational Wave Oscillations, Colter Richardson, Jonathan Westhouse

Undergraduate Research Symposium - Prescott

Core collapse supernovae are one of the most interesting sources of gravitational waves. When the progenitor star is particularly massive, hydrodynamic instability called standing accretion shock instability can develop and it is characterized by deterministic oscillations in the gravitational wave signal as well as in the neutrino luminosity with frequencies of 100hz. In this talk we will review current efforts to extract physical information from the SASI components of the gravitational wave and enhance the detectability of gravitational waves with such components both using laser interferometers and neutrino detectors.

Modeling And Detectability Of Gravitational Wave Waveform Memory From Core Collapse Supernovae, Pedro Jesus Quinonez, Emily Grimes

Undergraduate Research Symposium - Prescott

Ever since the discovery of gravitational waves by LIGO, studying these waves have become of utmost importance. This is because gravitational waves have the potential to carry information that have remain unseen by physicist in the past. For example, take the case of a core collapse supernovae. Any information transferred through electromagnetic waves that attempts to escape the inner core of a dying star is blocked out by the intense radiation of its outer shell. For this reason, astronomers have been unable to truly study what goes in the core. However, this is not the case for gravitational waves, which …

A Derivation Of Fluidic Maxwell-Proca Equations For Electrodynamics Of Superconductors & Its Implication To Chiral Cosmology Model, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto, Yunita Umniyati

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Mario Liu described a hydrodynamic Maxwell equations [3] and, also discussed potential implications of these new approaches to superconductors which were made after Tajmar’s paper [4]. In this paper, we present for the first time a derivation of fluidic Maxwell-Proca equations. The name of fluidic Maxwell-Proca is proposed because the equations were based on modifying Maxwell-Proca and Hirsch’s theory of electrodynamics of superconductor. It is hoped that this paper may stimulate further investigations and experiments in superconductor. It may be expected to have some impact to cosmology modeling too, for instance we consider a hypothetical argument that photon mass can …

On Some Metaphysical Problems Of Many Worlds Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto, Yunita Umniyati

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Despite its enormous practical success, many physicists and philosophers alike agree that the quantum theory is full of contradictions and paradoxes which are difficult to solve consistently. Even after 90 years, the experts themselves still do not all agree what to make of it. The area of disagreement centers primarily around the problem of describing observations. Formally, the socalled quantum measurement problem can be defined as follows: the result of a measurement is a superposition of vectors, each representing the quantity being observed as having one of its possible values. The question that has to be answered is : how …

Remark On Vacuum Fluctuation As The Cause Of Universe Creation: Or How Neutrosophic Logic And Material Point Method May Resolve Dispute On The Origin Of The Universe Through Re-Reading Gen. 1:1-2, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Questions regarding the formation of the Universe and what was there before the existence of Early Universe have been great interest to mankind of all times. In recent decades, the Big Bang as described by the Lambda CDMStandard Model Cosmology has become widely accepted by majority of physics and cosmology communities. Among other things, we can cite A.A. Grib Pavlov who pointed out some problems of heavy particles creation out of vacuum and also other proposal of Creatio ex nihilo theory (CET). But the philosophical problems remain, as Vaas pointed out: Did the universe have a beginning or does it …

Direct Collapse To Supermassive Black Hole Seeds With Radiative Transfer: Isolated Halos, Yang Luo, Kazem Ardaneh, Isaac Shlosman, Kentaro Nagamine, John H. Wise, Mitchell C. Begelman

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Direct collapse within dark matter haloes is a promising path to form supermassive black hole seeds at high redshifts. The outer part of this collapse remains optically thin. However, the innermost region of the collapse is expected to become optically thick and requires to follow the radiation field in order to understand its evolution. So far, the adiabatic approximation has been used exclusively for this purpose. We apply radiative transfer in the flux-limited diffusion (FLD) approximation to solve the evolution of coupled gas and radiation for isolated haloes. We find that (1) the photosphere forms at 10⁻⁶ pc and …

Thinking Out Loud On Primeval Atom, Big Bang & Biblical Account Of Creation, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In recent years, the Big Bang as described by the Lambda CDM-Standard Model Cosmology has become widely accepted by majority of physics and cosmology communities. Some people even have concluded that it has no serious alternative in horizon. Is that true? First, as we argued elsewhere, Big Bang relies on singularity, so, when we are able to describe the observed data without invoking singularity, then Big Bang model is no longer required. In this paper, we explore a few alternatives other than Big Bang which most cosmologists believe is the closest to biblical account of creation. We argue that re-reading …

Thinking Out Loud On Early Creation Through The Lens Of Hermeneutics Of Sherlock Holmes (Towards A Model Of Universe Based On Turbulence-Generated Sound Theory), Victor Christianto, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In recent years, apparently the Big Bang as described by the Lambda CDM-Standard Model Cosmology has become widely accepted by majority of physics and cosmology communities. Even some people have concluded that it has no serious alternative in horizon. Is that true? First, as we argued elsewhere, Big Bang story relies on singularity. In other words, when we are able to describe the observed data without invoking singularity, then Big Bang model is no longer required. Therefore, here we explore a few alternative stories other than Big Bang story, which most cosmologists believe it is the nearest to Biblical account …

Multi-Telescope Radio Observations For Low Frequency Gravitational Wave Astrophysics, Megan L. Jones

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) has the principal goal of detecting gravitational waves (GWs) in the nanohertz part of the spectrum using pulsar timing. This thesis presents results from radio campaigns at frequencies from 322 MHz to 10 GHz aimed at both multi-messenger constraints on GW sources and improving the timing sensitivity. The primary expected source of GWs at the nanohertz frequencies to which pulsar timing is sensitive are supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. We investigate a purported SMBH displaced from the galactic photocenter in NGC 3115. We explore the possibilities that the source is a …

Nonlinear Gravity Wave Forcing As A Source Of Acoustic Waves In The Mesosphere, Thermosphere, And Ionosphere, J. B. Snively

Publications

Numerical simulations demonstrate theoretical predictions that gravity waves with short periods (∼4–8 min) in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere may force secondary acoustic waves, with harmonic periods (∼2-4 minutes), that can reach detectable amplitudes in the thermosphere and ionosphere. The mechanism is through their vertical fluxes of vertical momentum, which lead to forcing as they are disrupted by varying stratification or instability. This is shown likely to occur where horizontally or radially opposing gravity waves interact at large amplitudes, such as above large convective sources, and after overturning. Evanescence and reflection of the waves can lead to further enhancements of …

Discovery Of Very-High-Energy Emission From Rgb J2243+203 And Derivation Of Its Redshift Upper Limit, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al

Physical Sciences Publications

Very-high-energy (VHE; > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission from the blazar RGB J2243+203 was discovered with the VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array, during the period between 2014 December 21 and 24. The VERITAS energy spectrum from this source can be fitted by a power law with a photon index of 4.6 ± 0.5, and a flux normalization at 0.15 TeV of . The integrated Fermi-LAT flux from 1 to 100 GeV during the VERITAS detection is , which is an order of magnitude larger than the four-year-averaged flux in the same energy range reported in the 3FGL catalog, (). The detection with …

Magnetospherically-Trapped Dust And A Possible Model For The Unusual Transits At Wd1145+017, J. Farihi, Ted Von Hippel, J. E. Pringle

Publications

The rapidly evolving dust and gas extinction observed towardsWD1145+017 has opened a real-time window onto the mechanisms for destruction-accretion of planetary bodies onto white dwarf stars, and has served to underline the importance of considering the dynamics of dust particles around such objects. Here it is argued that the interaction between (charged) dust grains and the stellar magnetic field is an important ingredient in understanding the physical distribution of infrared emitting particles in the vicinity of such white dwarfs. These ideas are used to suggest a possible model for WD 1145+017 in which the unusual transit shapes are caused by …

The Ages Of The Thin Disk, Thick Disk, And The Halo From Nearby White Dwarfs, Mukremin Kilic, Ted Von Hippel, Jeffrey A. Munn, Hugh C. Harris, James W. Liebert, Et Al.

Publications

We present a detailed analysis of the white dwarf luminosity functions derived from the local 40 pc sample and the deep proper motion catalog of Munn et al. (2014, 2017). Many of the previous studies ignored the contribution of thick disk white dwarfs to the Galactic disk luminosity function, which results in an erronous age measurement. We demonstrate that the ratio of thick/thin disk white dwarfs is roughly 20% in the local sample. Simultaneously fitting for both disk components, we derive ages of 6.8-7.0 Gyr for the thin disk and 8.7 ± 0.1 Gyr for the thick disk from the …

Edgar Allan Poe’S Cosmology And Natural Theology: A Constructive Postmodern Appreciation, Theodore Walker

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

Contrary to some literary classifications, Edgar Allan Poe’s book-length prose poem Eureka is not intended to be fiction. In Eureka Poe was seriously attempting to advance ‘truth’ about the universe. Poe was doing natural science and poetry in the tradition of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and other natural philosophers. Poe’s prose poem is natural scientific astronomy and cosmology, plus natural theology, not science fiction.

Possible Evolution Of Supermassive Black Holes From Fri Quasars, Matthew I. Kim, Damian J. Christian, David Garofalo, Jaclyn D'Avanzo

Faculty Articles

We explore the question of the rapid buildup of black hole mass in the early universe employing a growing black hole mass-based determination of both jet and disc powers predicted in recent theoretical work on black hole accretion and jet formation. Despite simplified, even artificial assumptions about accretion and mergers, we identify an interesting low probability channel for the growth of one billion solar mass black holes within hundreds of millions of years of the big bang without appealing to super Eddington accretion. This result is made more compelling by the recognition of a connection between this channel and an …

Studying Solar Limb Darkening In H-Alpha With A Coronado Pst, Jessica N. Farrell, Jennifer Birriel

Celebration of Student Scholarship Poster Sessions Archive

No abstract provided.

Topics In The Detection Of Gravitational Waves From Compact Binary Inspirals, Shasvath Jagat Kapadia

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Orbiting compact binaries - such as binary black holes, binary neutron stars and neutron star-black hole binaries - are among the most promising sources of gravitational waves observable by ground-based interferometric detectors. Despite numerous sophisticated engineering techniques, the gravitational wave signals will be buried deep within noise generated by various instrumental and environmental processes, and need to be extracted via a signal processing technique referred to as matched filtering.

Matched filtering requires large banks of signal templates that are faithful representations of the true gravitational waveforms produced by astrophysical binaries. The accurate and efficient production of templates is thus crucial …

A Search For Brief Optical Flashes Associated With The Seti Target Kic 8462852, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al

Physical Sciences Publications

The F-type star KIC 8462852 has recently been identified as an exceptional target for search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) observations. We describe an analysis methodology for optical SETI, which we have used to analyze nine hours of serendipitous archival observations of KIC 8462852 made with the VERITAS gamma-ray observatory between 2009 and 2015. No evidence of pulsed optical beacons, above a pulse intensity at the Earth of approximately , is found. We also discuss the potential use of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays in searching for extremely short duration optical transients in general.

Exceptionally Bright Tev Flares From The Binary Ls I+61 Degrees 303, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al

Physical Sciences Publications

The TeV binary system LS I +61° 303 is known for its regular, non-thermal emission pattern that traces the orbital period of the compact object in its 26.5 day orbit around its B0 Ve star companion. The system typically presents elevated TeV emission around apastron passage with flux levels between 5% and 15% of the steady flux from the Crab Nebula (>300 GeV). In this article, VERITAS observations of LS I +61° 303 taken in late 2014 are presented, during which bright TeV flares around apastron at flux levels peaking above 30% of the Crab Nebula flux were detected. …