arXiv subjects

Gelu M. Nita

Publications and source records attributed to Gelu M. Nita.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

The Generalized Spectral Kurtosis Estimator

Due to its conceptual simplicity and its proven effectiveness in real-time detection and removal of radio frequency interference (RFI) from radio astronomy data, the Spectral Kurtosis (SK) estimator is likely to become a standard tool of a new generation of radio telescopes. However, the SK estimator in its original form must be developed from instantaneous power spectral density (PSD) estimates, and hence cannot be employed as an RFI excision tool downstream of the data pipeline in existing instruments where any time averaging is performed. In this letter, we develop a generalized estimator with wider applicability for both instantaneous and averaged spectral data, which extends its practical use to a much larger pool of radio instruments.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2009

Dynamic Magnetography of Solar Flaring Loops

We develop a practical forward fitting method based on the SIMPLEX algorithm with shaking, which allows the derivation of the magnetic field and other parameters along a solar flaring loop using microwave imaging spectroscopy of gyrosynchrotron emission. We illustrate the method using a model loop with spatially varying magnetic field, filled with uniform ambient density and an evenly distributed fast electron population with an isotropic, power-law energy distribution.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2007

Transition radiation in turbulent astrophysical medium. Application to solar radio bursts

Modern observations and models of various astrophysical objects suggest that many of their physical parameters fluctuate substantially at different spatial scales. The rich variety of the emission processes, including Transition Radiation but not limited to it, arising in such turbulent media constitutes the scope of Stochastic Theory of Radiation. We review general approaches applied in the stochastic theory of radiation and specific methods used to calculate the transition radiation produced by fast particles in the magnetized randomly inhomogeneous plasma. The importance of the theory of transition radiation for astrophysics is illustrated by one example of its detailed application to a solar radio burst, including specially designed algorithms of the spectral forward fitting.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Spatial Evidence for Transition Radiation in a Solar Radio Burst

Microturbulence, i.e. enhanced fluctuations of plasma density, electric and magnetic fields, is of great interest in astrophysical plasmas, but occurs on spatial scales far too small to resolve by remote sensing, e.g., at ~ 1-100 cm in the solar corona. This paper reports spatially resolved observations that offer strong support for the presence in solar flares of a suspected radio emission mechanism, resonant transition radiation, which is tightly coupled to the level of microturbulence and provides direct diagnostics of the existence and level of fluctuations on decimeter spatial scales. Although the level of the microturbulence derived from the radio data is not particularly high, <Δn^2 >/n^2 ~ 10^{-5}$, it is large enough to affect the charged particle diffusion and give rise to effective stochastic acceleration. This finding has exceptionally broad astrophysical implications since modern sophisticated numerical models predict generation of much stronger turbulence in relativistic objects, e.g., in gamma-ray burst sources.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Modulation of the nucleation rate pre-exponential in a low-temperature Ising system

A metastable lattice gas with nearest-neighbor interactions and continuous-time dynamics is studied using a generalized Becker-Doring approach in the multidimensional space of cluster configurations. The pre-exponential of the metastable state lifetime (inverse of nucleation rate) is found to exhibit distinct peaks at integer values of the inverse supersaturation. Peaks are unobservable (infinitely narrow) in the strict limit T->0, but become detectable and eventually dominate at higher temperatures.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗