Engineering topics

Soker, Noam

Publications and source records attributed to Soker, Noam.

27 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS1990

On the formation of ansae in planetary nebulae

Formation mechanisms for the two optical bright knots in planetary nebulae, 'ansae', are investigated. Adiabatic two-dimensional numerical simulations of the interacting winds flow at early stages of the planetary nebulae evolution are performed. It is found that no real focusing of the shocked fast wind material toward the symmetry axis occurs, and thus the interaction of winds by itself will not form the ansae. A model is proposed, in which jets from the central star form the ansae. These jets are presumably being formed during the few hundred years in the period between the end of the slow wind and the beginning of the fast wind. It is shown that a companion to the progenitor red giant can lead to the degree of asymmetry observed in elliptical planetary nebulae.

Soker, Noam↗

NASA NTRS1990

The role of magnetic fields in cluster cooling flows

An investigation is made of the dynamical effects of the intracluster magnetic field, whose radial inflow and shear can produce a dramatic increase in the field's strength while rendering it more radial, with cooling flows. It is found that field reconnection is the most likely dominant-loss mechanism, so that buoyancy effects are probably not important. Attention is given to the effect of the magnetic field on thermal instabilities. The most important observable effect of the magnetic field in cooling flows will probably be very strong Faraday rotation of the polarization of radio sources within or behind the cooling flow.

Soker, Noam↗

NASA NTRS1989

Theory of local thermal instability in spherical systems

The gasdynamical properties of local thermal instability in optically thin astrophysical plasmas as it occurs in spherical accretion and winds is investigated. In a medium characterized by both thermal and hydrostatic equilibrium, if the cooling function is not an explicit function of position and does not display isentropic thermal instability, then isobaric thermal instability by the Field criterion is present if and only if convective instability is present by the Schwarzschild criterion. In this case, thermal overstability cannot occur. Convective instability by the Schwarzschild criterion will also occur in accretion flows locally dominated by external heating or in marginally unbound, radiatively cooling outflows. A very general Lagrangian equation for the development of nonradial thermal instability in flows with spherical symmetry is derived and is solved analytically in certain regimes. The results are applied to cluster X-ray cooling flows.

Balbus, Steven A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Asymmetric envelope expansion of supernova 1987A

Analytic models for the spherically symmetric expansion of SN 1987 A are discussed. The SN model includes a bend in the expanded density profiles at a velocity of about 4000 km/s and employs an asymmetric initial density distribution or energy deposition on the assumption of radial flow. The calculations show that there is a tendency for the flow to become more spherical during the expansion phase, and that the sense of density asymmetry changes across the bend in the density profile.

Chevalier, Roger A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Early shaping of asymmetrical planetary nebulae

It is suggested that the shape of a young asymmetrical planetary nebulae may be influenced by a close binary-star located at its center. This binary is a relic of the common envelope phase, presumably through which the asymmetrical planetary nebula evolved. It is assumed that, for a short period of time, shortly after the cessation of the slow wind and long before the fast wind becomes effective, the binary ejects a small amount of mass, mainly in the equatorial plane. By using two-dimensional hydrodynamics it is found that, at late times, the high-density region has a 'horsehoe' shape, as viewed in the symmetry plane. There is an instability in the maximum density region, which shows up as a high-density knot. The exact scale of the knot is determined by the numerics. The applications of the results to observations are discussed.

Soker, Noam↗

NASA NTRS1989

Interacting winds and the shaping of planetary nebulae

Using two-dimensional hydrodynamics, the problem of shaping of planetary nebulae by the interacting winds model is studied. The shock structure is obtained and it is shown that interacting winds are capable of producing morphologies similar to the ones observed in planetary nebulae, provided that a density contrast exists between the equatorial and polar directions. This confirms recent suggestions by Balick. Mechanisms that can produce the required density contrast are discussed and it is shown that binary central stars provide the most natural mechanism, especially via common envelope evolution. It is not yet entirely clear whether stellar rotation is sufficient to generate the required contrast in the case of single central stars.

Soker, Noam↗

NASA NTRS1989

On the stream-accretion disk interaction - Response to increased mass transfer rate

The time-dependent interaction between the stream of mass from the inner Lagrangian point and the accretion disk, resulting from an increasing mass transfer rate is calculated. The calculation is fully three-dimensional, using a pseudoparticle description of the hydrodynamics. It is demonstrated that the results of such calculations, when combined with specific observations, have the potential of both determining essential parameters, such as the viscosity parameter alpha, and can distinguish between different models of dwarf nova eruptions.

Dgani, Ruth↗

NASA NTRS1988

Numerical simulations of the bending of narrow-angle-tail radio jets by ram pressure or pressure gradients

Three-dimensional numerical hydrodynamic simulations are used to study the bending of radio jets. The simulations are compared with observations of jets in narrow-angle-tail radio sources. Two mechanisms for the observed bending are considered: direct bending of quasi-continuous jets by ram pressure from intergalactic gas and bending by pressure gradients in the interstellar gas of the host galaxy, the pressure gradients themselves being the result of ram pressure by intergalactic gas. It is shown that the pressure gradients are much less effective in bending jets, implying that the jets have roughly 30 times lower momentum fluxes if they are bent by this mechanism. Ram-pressure bending produces jets with 'kidney-shaped' cross sections; when observed from the side, these jets appear to have diffuse extensions on the downstream side. On the other hand, pressure-gradient bending causes the jets to be densest near their upstream side.

Soker, Noam↗

NASA NTRS1988

Cooling flows and the stability of radio jets

This paper considers what happens to radio jets which, propagating out from the nucleus of an elliptical galaxy, encounters a point at which the ambient gas pressure increases very rapidly. The pressure variation within the sonic radius of a cooling flow is calculated, and a semianalytical calculation of the stability of a jet which encounters a rapidly increasing pressure gradient is given. The results of numerical hydrodynamic simulations which test the results of the analytic calculations are shown. The case where the jet encounters the sonic region at an oblique angle is considered, and it is suggested that this may provide an explanation for jets which are bent on small scales. These results are applied to radio sources associated with central dominant cluster galaxies and with more normal elliptical galaxies.

Soker, Noam↗