arXiv subjects

A. L. Melott

Publications and source records attributed to A. L. Melott.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Ultra-heavy cosmic-ray science--Are r-process nuclei in the cosmic rays produced in supernovae or binary neutron star mergers?

The recent detection of 60Fe in the cosmic rays provides conclusive evidence that there is a recently synthesized component (few MY) in the GCRs (Binns et al. 2016). In addition, these nuclei must have been synthesized and accelerated in supernovae near the solar system, probably in the Sco-Cen OB association subgroups, which are about 100 pc distant from the Sun. Recent theoretical work on the production of r-process nuclei appears to indicate that it is difficult for SNe to produce the solar system abundances relative to iron of r-process elements with high atomic number (Z), including the actinides (Th, U, Np, Pu, and Cm). Instead, it is believed by many that the heaviest r-process nuclei, or perhaps even all r-process nuclei, are produced in binary neutron star mergers. Since we now know that there is at least a component of the GCRs that has been recently synthesized and accelerated, models of r-process production by SNe and BNSM can be tested by measuring the relative abundances of these ultra-heavy r-process nuclei, and especially the actinides, since they are radioactive and provide clocks that give the time interval from nucleosynthesis to detection at Earth. Since BNSM are believed to be much less frequent in our galaxy than SNe (roughly 1000 times less frequent, the ratios of the actinides, each with their own half-life, will enable a clear determination of whether the heaviest r-process nuclei are synthesized in SNe or in BNSM. In addition, the r-process nuclei for the charge range from 34 to 82 can be used to constrain models of r-process production in BNSM and SNe. Thus, GCRs become a multi-messenger component in the study of BNSM and SNe.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Terrestrial Effects Of Nearby Supernovae In The Early Pleistocene

Recent results have strongly confirmed that multiple supernovae happened at distances ~100 pc consisting of two main events: one at 1.7 to 3.2 million years ago, and the other at 6.5 to 8.7 million years ago. These events are said to be responsible for excavating the Local Bubble in the interstellar medium and depositing 60Fe on Earth and the Moon. Other events are indicated by effects in the local cosmic ray (CR) spectrum. Given this updated and refined picture, we ask whether such supernovae are expected to have had substantial effects on the terrestrial atmosphere and biota. In a first cut at the most probable cases, combining photon and cosmic ray effects, we find that a supernova at 100 pc can have only a small effect on terrestrial organisms from visible light and that chemical changes such as ozone depletion are weak. However, tropospheric ionization right down to the ground due to the penetration of $\geq$TeV cosmic rays will increase by nearly an order of magnitude for thousands of years, and irradiation by muons on the ground and in the upper ocean will increase 20-fold, which will approximately triple the overall radiation load on terrestrial organisms. Such irradiation has been linked to possible changes in climate and increased cancer and mutation rates. This may be related to a minor mass extinction around the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary, and further research on the effects is needed.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

A link between solar events and congenital malformations: Is ionizing radiation enough to explain it?

Cosmic rays are known to cause biological effects directly and through ionizing radiation produced by their secondaries. These effects have been detected in airline crews and other specific cases where members of the population are exposed to above average secondary fluxes. Recent work has found a correlation between solar particle events and congenital malformations. In this work we use the results of computational simulations to approximate the ionizing radiation from such events as well as longer term increases in cosmic ray flux. We find that the amounts of ionizing radiation produced by these events are insufficient to produce congenital malformations under the current paradigm regarding muon ionizing radiation. We believe that further work is needed to determine the correct ionizing radiation contribution of cosmogenic muons. We suggest that more extensive measurements of muon radiation effects may show a larger contribution to ionizing radiation dose than currently assumed.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2015

Low time resolution analysis of polar ice cores cannot detect impulsive nitrate events

Ice cores are archives of climate change and possibly large solar proton events (SPEs). Wolff et al. (2012) used a single event, a nitrate peak in the GISP2-H core, which McCracken et al. (2001a) time associated with the poorly quantified 1859 Carrington event, to discredit SPE-produced, impulsive nitrate deposition in polar ice. This is not the ideal test case. We critique the Wolff et al. analysis and demonstrate that the data they used cannot detect impulsive nitrate events because of resolution limitations. We suggest re-examination of the top of the Greenland ice sheet at key intervals over the last two millennia with attention to fine resolution and replicate sampling of multiple species. This will allow further insight into polar depositional processes on a sub-seasonal scale, including atmospheric sources, transport mechanisms to the ice sheet, post-depositional interactions, and a potential SPE association.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2014

Has the Earth been exposed to numerous supernovae within the last 300 kyr?

Firestone (2014) asserted evidence for numerous (23) nearby (d<300 pc) supernovae within the Middle and Late Pleistocene. If true, this would have strong implications for the irradiation of the Earth; at this rate, mass extinction level events due to supernovae would be more frequent than 100 Myr. However, there are numerous errors in the application of past research. The paper overestimates likely nitrate and 14C production from moderately nearby supernovae by about four orders of magnitude. Moreover, the results are based on wrongly selected (obsolete) nitrate and 14C datasets. The use of correct and up-to-date datasets does not confirm the claimed results. The claims in the paper are invalidated.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2012

Whilst this Planet Has Gone Cycling On: What Role for Periodic Astronomical Phenomena in Large Scale Patterns in the History of Life?

One of the longstanding debates in the history of paleontology focuses on the issue of whether or not there have been long term cycles (operating over tens of millions of years) in biodiversity and extinction. Here we consider the history of this debate by connecting the skein from Grabau up to 2008. We focus on the evidence for periodicity that has emerged thus far, and conclude that there is indeed some evidence that periodicity may be real, though of course more work is needed. We also comment on possible causal mechanisms, focusing especially on the motion of our solar system in the Galaxy. Moreover, we consider the reasons why some scientists have opposed periodicity over the years. Finally, we consider the significance of this for our understanding of evolution and the history of life.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2010

Atmospheric Consequences of Cosmic Ray Variability in the Extragalactic Shock Model II: Revised ionization levels and their consequences

It has been suggested that galactic shock asymmetry induced by our galaxy's infall toward the Virgo Cluster may be a source of periodicity in cosmic ray exposure as the solar system oscillates perpendicular to the galactic plane. Here we investigate a mechanism by which cosmic rays might affect terrestrial biodiversity, ionization and dissociation in the atmosphere, resulting in depletion of ozone and a resulting increase in the dangerous solar UVB flux on the ground, with an improved ionization background computation averaged over a massive ensemble (about 7 x 10^5) shower simulations. We study minimal and full exposure to the postulated extragalactic background. The atmospheric effects are greater than with our earlier, simplified ionization model. At the lower end of the range effects are too small to be of serious consequence. At the upper end of the range, ~6 % global average loss of ozone column density exceeds that currently experienced due to effects such as accumulated chlorofluorocarbons. The intensity is less than a nearby supernova or galactic gamma-ray burst, but the duration would be about 10^6 times longer. Present UVB enhancement from current ozone depletion ~3% is a documented stress on the biosphere, but a depletion of the magnitude found at the upper end of our range would double the global average UVB flux. For estimates at the upper end of the range of the cosmic ray variability over geologic time, the mechanism of atmospheric ozone depletion may provide a major biological stress, which could easily bring about major loss of biodiversity. Future high energy astrophysical observations will resolve the question of whether such depletion is likely.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2010

An ubiquitous ~62 Myr periodic fluctuation superimposed on general trends in fossil biodiversity

A 62 Myr periodicity is superimposed on other longer-term trends in fossil biodiversity. This cycle can be discerned in marine data based on the Sepkoski compendium, the Paleobiology Database, and the Fossil Record 2. The signal also exists in changes in sea level/sediment, but is much weaker than in biodiversity itself. A significant excess of 19 previously identified Phanerozoic mass extinctions occur on the declining phase of the 62 Myr cycle. appearance of the signal in sampling-standardized biodiversity data, it is likely not to be a sampling artifact, but either a consequence of sea-level changes or an additional effect of some common cause for them both. In either case, it is intriguing why both changes would have a regular pattern.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2007

Bone Cancer Rates in Dinosaurs Compared with Modern Vertebrates

Data on the prevalence of bone cancer in dinosaurs is available from past radiological examination of preserved bones. We statistically test this data for consistency with rates extrapolated from information on bone cancer in modern vertebrates, and find that there is no evidence of a different rate. Thus, this test provides no support for a possible role of ionizing radiation in the K-T extinction event.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2004

Ozone Abundance in a Nitrogen-Carbon Dioxide Dominated Terrestrial Paleoatmosphere

We compute the ozone distribution for a model terrestrial paleoatmosphere in which the present oxygen abundance is largely replaced by carbon dioxide, which we argue is a reasonable working assumption. In principle, the presence of carbon dioxide might supplement the ozone shield as compared with models based on nitrogen without high carbon dioxide abundance so that early life need not have been as UV-resistant as often assumed. An extrasolar planet with a high-CO2 atmosphere might contain enough O3 to be a source of false positive biomarkers. We find that the globally averaged O3 column density can be the same, or nearly four times higher (depending upon the O2 partial pressure) when CO2 is used in place of N2 as the replacement component for lowered O2 in a 1-atm terrestrial planet with solar radiation. The effect is important for making quantitative deductions from future data, but does not invalidate the use of O3 as a biomarker for free oxygen. These results make prospects for detection of extrasolar planetary O3 absorption somewhat better than before.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

Non-local scaling in two-dimensional gravitational clustering

Using an ensemble of high resolution 2D numerical simulations, we explore the scaling properties of cosmological density fluctuations in the non-linear regime. We study the scaling behaviour of the usual $N$--point volume-averaged correlations, and also examine the scaling of the entire probability density function (pdf) of the fluctuations. We focus on two important issues: (i) whether the scaling behaviour of 2D clustering is consistent with what one infer from radial collapse arguments; and (ii) whether there is any evidence from these high-resolution simulations that a regime of stable clustering is ever entered. We find that the answers are (i) yes and (ii) no. We further find that the behaviour of the highly non-linear regime in these simulations suggests the existence of a regime where the correlation function is independent of the initial power spectrum.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

Scaling in Gravitational Clustering, 2D and 3D Dynamics

Perturbation Theory (PT) applied to a cosmological density field with Gaussian initial fluctuations suggests a specific hierarchy for the correlation functions when the variance is small. In particular quantitative predictions have been made for the moments and the shape of the one-point probability distribution function (PDF) of the top-hat smoothed density. In this paper we perform a series of systematic checks of these predictions against N-body computations both in 2D and 3D with a wide range of featureless power spectra. In agreement with previous studies, we found that the reconstructed PDF-s work remarkably well down to very low probabilities, even when the variance approaches unity. Our results for 2D reproduce the features for the 3D dynamics. In particular we found that the PT predictions are more accurate for spectra with less power on small scales. The nonlinear regime has been explored with various tools, PDF-s, moments and Void Probability Function (VPF). These studies have been done with unprecedented dynamical range, especially for the 2D case, allowing in particular more robust determinations of the asymptotic behaviour of the VPF. We have also introduced a new method to determine the moments based on the factorial moments. Results using this method and taking into account the finite volume effects are presented.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

Temporal optimization of Lagrangian perturbation schemes

The Lagrangian perturbation theory on Friedmann-Lemaitre cosmologies is compared with numerical simulations (tree-, adaptive P$^3$M- and PM codes). In previous work we have probed the large-scale performance of the Lagrangian perturbation solutions up to the third order by studying their cross- correlations with N-body simulations for various power spectra (Buchert etal 1994, Melott etal 1995, Weiss etal 1996). Thereby, spatial optimization techniques were applied by (high-frequency-)filtering of the initial power spectra. In this work the novel method of temporal optimization [Shifted-Time- Approximation (STA) and Frozen-Time-Approximation (FTA)] is investigated and used. The method is designed to compensate the native property of Lagrangian perturbation solutions to delay the collapse of structures. The method can be treated analytically. Applying the STA and FTA prescriptions a significant improvement of the performance of Lagrangian perturbation schemes (as measured by cross-correlation statistics) is observed. Using this tool we investigate a local study of special clustering models of dark matter as candidates for typical elements of the large-scale structure in the Universe, and so also focus on the performance of the perturbation solutions on smaller scales at high-spatial resolution. The models analyzed were presented in (Buchert etal 1996) and allow studying typical features of the clustering process in the weakly non-linear regime. The spatial and temporal limits of applicability of the solutions at second and third order are determined and compared with the first-order solution, which is equivalent to the ``Zel'dovich approximation'' (Zel'dovich 1970, 1973) for the type of initial data analyzed.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

Demonstrating Discreteness and Collision Error in Cosmological N-body Simulations of Dark Matter Gravitational Clustering

Two-body scattering and other discreteness effects are unimportant in cosmological gravitational clustering in most scenarios, since the dark matter has a small particle mass. The collective field should determine evolution: Two-body scattering in simulations violates the Poisson-Vlasov equations. We test this in PM, P$^3$M, Tree, and NGPM codes, noting that a collisionless code will preserve the one-dimensional character of plane wave collapse. We find collisionality vanishing as the softening parameter approaches the mean interparticle separation. Solutions for the problem are suggested, involving greater computer power, PM-based nested grid codes, and a more conservative approach to resolution claims.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1996

A Test of the Particle Paradigm in N-Body Simulations

We present results of tests of the evolution of small ``fluid elements'' in cosmological N--body simulations, to examine the validity of their treatment as particles. We find that even very small elements typically collapse along one axis while expanding along another, often to twice or more their initial comoving diameter. This represents a possible problem for high--resolution uses of such simulations.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1995

On the Shape of the First Collapsed Objects

Since the early seventies, there was a conjecture that the first collapse of a selfgravitating dust--like medium (appropriate approximation for nonbaryonic dark matter) results in the formation of a ``pancake" object, that is a thin surface. The conjecture has been based on the Zel'dovich approximate solution of the nonlinear gravitational instability of a generic smooth density perturbation. Recent works cast doubt on the Zel'dovich conjecture, suggesting that the first collapse might be point--like or filament--like rather than pancake--like. Our $N$--body simulations show first pancake collapse. We can reject with 97\% confidence the Bayesian prior that the other kinds of collapse are more or equally probable.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1994

Optimized Lagrangian Approximations for Modelling Large--Scale Structure at Non--Linear Stages

Approximations to the exact solutions for gravitational instability in the expanding Universe are extremely useful for understanding the evolution of large--scale structure. We report on a series of tests of Newtonian Lagrangian perturbation schemes using N--body simulations for various power--spectra with scale--independent indices in the range $-3$ to $+1$. The models have been evolved deeply into the non--linear regime of structure formation in order to probe the dynamical and statistical performance of the Lagrangian perturbation schemes (whose first--order solution contains as a subset the celebrated ``Zel'dovich--approximation'', hereafter ZA). These tests reveal properties of the approximations at stages beyond the obvious validity of perturbation theory. Recently, another series of tests of different analytical and semi--numerical approximations for large--scale structure was conducted with the result that ZA displays the best dynamical performance in comparison with the N--body simulations, if the initial data were smoothed before evolving the model, i.e., a truncated form of ZA (TZA). We show in this contribution that the excellent performance of TZA can be further improved by going to second order in the Lagrangian perturbation approach. The truncated second--order Lagrangian scheme provides a useful improvement over TZA especially for negative power indices, which suggests it will be very useful for modelling standard scenarios such as ``Cold--'', ``Hot--'' and ``Mixed--Dark--Matter''.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1994

Gravitational instability in the strongly nonlinear regime: A study of various approximations

We study the development of gravitational instability in the strongly non-linear regime. For this purpose we use a number of statistical indicators such as filamentary statistics, spectrum of overdense/underdense regions and the void probability function, each of which probes a particular aspect of gravitational clustering. We use these statistical indicators to discriminate between different approximations to gravitational instability which we test against N-body simulations. The approximations which we test are, the truncated Zel'dovich approximation (TZ), the adhesion model (AM), and the frozen flow (FF) and linear potential (LP) approximations. Of these we find that FF and LP break down relatively early, soon after the non-linear length scale exceeds $R_*$ -- the mean distance between peaks of the gravitational potential. The reason for this break down is easy to understand, particles in FF are constrained to follow the streamlines of the initial velocity field. Shell crossing is absent in this case and structure gradually freezes as particles begin to collect near minima of the gravitational potential. In LP particles follow the lines of force of the primordial potential, oscillating about its minima at late times when the non-linear length scale $k_{\rm NL}^{-1}\simeq R_*$. Unlike FF and LP the adhesion model (and to some extent TZ) continues to give accurate results even at late times when $k_{\rm NL}^{-1} \ge R_*$. This is because both AM and TZ use

astro-ph↗