arXiv subjects

Peter L. Biermann

Publications and source records attributed to Peter L. Biermann.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

A graviton statistics approach to dark energy, inflation and black holes

We derive two new equations of quantum gravity and combine them with reinterpretations of previously proposed concepts of dark energy, inflation and black holes into a theory which may be a first step toward a comprehensive description of all three phenomena. The resulting theory also predicts new tests which can be experimentally checked within just a few years. The two new equations are : A) a creation equation to give stimulated emission for any surface filled with gravitons, pulling energy from a background, and B) the association of an outgoing soliton wave of gravitons, a "shell front" with a large Lorentz factor derived from the uncertainties in both space and time. These new equations are combined with the common notions of an all-pervasive background of gravitons at the Planck limit, the "Planck sea"; the identification of the thermodynamic limit with the emission of gravitons in a "shell front", i.e. what is usually called the entropy of black holes is identified with the outgoing gravitons; the concept of black holes as a membrane full of gravitons at a large Lorentz factor, the "Planck shell"; the emission of gravitons created in a "horizon shell" during inflation. These equations result in stimulated emission of gravitons by the interaction with the background, the "Planck sea", to describe dark energy, black holes, the inflationary period of the universe, and the arrow of time. These proposals lead to gravitational waves constituting dark energy. These waves should be detectable within a few years with pulsar timing arrays. These gravitational waves can be characterized as uncorrelated solitons, and should also be detectable with ultra-high precision lunar laser ranging, as well as with correspondingly precise clocks. The extremely high, but finite Lorentz factor for signal propagation may be expected to have further consequences in particle interactions.

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arXiv2013

A Comprehensive Model of Dark Energy, Inflation AND Black Holes

We derive two new equations of quantum gravity and combine them with reinterpretations of previously proposed concepts of dark energy, black holes, inflation, the arrow of time and the energy at which rest-mass first manifests itself into a theory which may be a first step toward a comprehensive description of all these phenomena. The resulting theory also predicts new tests which can be experimentally checked within a few years.

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arXiv2012

The typical mass ratio and typical final spin in supermassive black hole mergers

We prove that merging supermassive black holes (SMBHs) typically have neither equal masses, nor is their mass ratio too extreme. The majority of such mergers fall into the mass ratio range of 1:30 to 1:3, implying a spin flip during the inspiral. We also present a simple expression for the final spin $χ_{f}$ of the emerging SMBH, as function of the mass ratio, initial spin magnitudes, and orientation of the spins with respect to the orbital plane and each other. This formula approximates well more cumbersome expressions obtained from the fit with numerical simulations. By integrating over all equally likely orientations for precessing mergers we determine a lower approximant to the final spin distribution as function of the mass ratio alone. By folding this with the derived mass ratio dependent merger rate we derive a lower bound to the typical final spin value after mergers. We repeat the procedure deriving an upper bound for the typical spin in the case when the spins are aligned to the orbital angular momentum, such that there is no precession in the system. Both slopes of $χ_{f}$ as function of the initial spins being smaller than one lead to two attractors at $χ_{f}^{prec}=0.2$ and $χ_{f}^{align}=0.45$, respectively. Real mergers, biased toward partial alignment by interactions with the environment (accretion, host galaxy, etc.) would generate a typical final spin lying between these two limiting values. These are the typical values of the spin after the merger, starting from which the spin can built up by further gaseous accretion.

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arXiv2012

Active Galactic Nuclei Jets and Multiple Oblique Shock Acceleration: Starved Spectra

Shocks in jets and hot spots of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are one prominent class of possible sources of very high energy cosmic ray particles (above 10^18eV). Extrapolating their spectrum to their plausible injection energy from some shock, implies an enormous hidden energy for a spectrum of index ~-2. Some analyzes suggest the particles' injection spectrum at source to be as steep as -2.4 to -2.7, making the problem much worse, by a factor of order 10^6. Nevertheless, it seems implausible that more than at the very best 1/3 of the jet energy, goes into the required flux of energetic particles thus, one would need to allow for the possibility that there is an energy problem, which we would like to address in this work. Sequences of consecutive oblique shock features, or conical shocks, have been theorized and eventually observed in many AGN jets. Based on that, we use by analogy the 'Comptonisation' effect and we propose a scenario of a single injection of particles which are accelerated consecutively by several oblique shocks along the axis of an AGN jet. We use detailed test-particle approximation Monte Carlo simulations in order to calculate particle spectra by acceleration at such a shock pattern while monitoring the efficiency of acceleration, calculating differential spectra. We find that the first shock of a sequence of oblique shocks, establishes a low energy power-law spectrum with ~E^-2.7. The consecutive shocks push the spectrum up in energy, rendering flatter distributions with steep cut-offs and characteristic depletion at low energies, an effect which could explain the puzzling apparent extra source power as well as the flat or inverted spectra from distant flaring sources.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

Spectrum and ionization rate of low energy Galactic cosmic rays

We consider the rate of ionization of diffuse and molecular clouds in the interstellar medium by Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) in order to constrain its low energy spectrum. We extrapolate the GCR spectrum obtained from PAMELA at high energies ($\ge 200$ GeV/ nucleon) and a recently derived GCR proton flux at $1\hbox{--}200$ GeV from observations of gamma rays from molecular clouds, and find that the observed average Galactic ionization rate can be reconciled with this GCR spectrum if there is a low energy cutoff for protons at $10\hbox{--}100$ MeV. We also identify the flattening below a few GeV as being due to (a) decrease of the diffusion coefficient and dominance of convective loss at low energy and (b) the expected break in energy spectrum for a constant spectral index in momentum. We show that the inferred CR proton spectrum of $Φ\propto E_{kin}^{-1.7\pm0.2}$ for $E_{kin} \le$ few GeV, is consistent with a power-law spectrum in momentum $p^{-2.45\pm0.4}$, which we identify as the spectrum at source. Diffusion loss at higher energies then introduces a steepening by $E^{-α}$ with $α\sim 1/3$, making it consistent with high energy measurements.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

Centaurus A: the one extragalactic source of cosmic rays with energies above the knee

The origin of cosmic rays at all energies is still uncertain. In this paper we present and explore an astrophysical scenario to produce cosmic rays with energy ranging from below $10^{15}$ o $3 \times 10^{20}$ eV. We show here that just our Galaxy and the radio galaxy Cen A, each with their own galactic cosmic ray particles, but with those from the radio galaxy pushed up in energy by a relativistic shock in the jet emanating from the active black hole, are sufficient to describe the most recent data in the energy range PeV to near ZeV. Data are available over this entire energy range from the experiments KASCADE, KASCADE-Grande and Pierre Auger Observatory. The energy spectrum calculated here correctly reproduces the measured spectrum beyond the knee, and contrary to widely held expectations, no other extragalactic source population is required to explain the data, even at energies far below the general cutoff expected at $6 \times 10^{19}$ eV, the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin turn-off due to interaction with the cosmological microwave background. We present several predictions for the source population, the cosmic ray composition and the propagation to Earth which can be tested in the near future.

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arXiv2011

Predicted power in ultra high energy cosmic rays from active galaxies

Context: As more and more data are collected by cosmic ray experiments such as the Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array (TA), the search for the sources of the Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) continues. Already we have some hints about the sources or type of sources involved and more work is required to confirm any of this. Aims: We intend to predict the UHECR fluxes and the maximal energies of particles from two complete samples of nearby active galaxies, selected at radio and far-infrared frequencies. Also, we investigate the magnetic scattering of the UHECR path in the intervening cosmic space. Methods: We propose here a new method of searching for the sources of the UHECR in three steps, first we model the activity of the type of sources and get the flux of UHECR and a maximal energy for particle acceleration, then we model the interaction and angle deflection in the intergalactic space and finally we simulate the distribution of the cosmic rays events that can be statistically compared with future data of the cosmic rays observatories. Results: We analyzed two classes of sources, gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and Radio Galaxies (RGs). Ordering by the UHECR flux, few RGs are viable candidates, as for GRB many sources are viable candidates, requiring less scattering of the particles along their path to Earth to interpret the presently observed sky distribution. Most of the flux from RGs comes from the Southern sky, and most of the flux of particles from GRB comes from the North, although the differences are so small as to require large statistics to confirm this. The intergalactic and Galactic magnetic fields may help to distinguish the two extreme cases, also pure protons from heavy nuclei at the same energy. As a consequence flat spectrum radio sources such as 3C279 should confirm the production of UHECR in this class of sources through energetic neutrinos.

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arXiv2011

On the origin of X-shaped radio galaxies

After a brief, critical review of the leading explanations proposed for the small but important subset of radio galaxies showing an X-shaped morphology (XRGs) we propose a generalized model, based on the jet-shell interaction and spin-flip hypotheses. The most popular scenarios for this intriguing phenomenon invoke either hydrodynamical backflows and over-pressured cocoons or rapid jet reorientations, presumably from the spin-flips of central engines following the mergers of pairs of galaxies, each of which contains a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We confront these models with a number of key observations and thus argue that none of the models is capable of explaining the entire range of salient observational properties of XRGs, although some of the arguments raised in the literature against the spin-flip scenario are probably not tenable. We then propose here a new scenario which also involves galactic mergers but would allow the spin of the central engine to maintain its direction. Motivated by the detailed multi-band observations of the nearest radio galaxy, Centaurus A, this new model emphasizes the role of interactions between the jets and the shells of stars and gas that form and rotate around the merged galaxy and can cause temporary deflections of the jets, occasionally giving rise to an X-shaped radio structure. Although each of the models is likely to be relevant to a subset of XRGs, the bulk of the evidence indicates that most of them are best explained by the jet-shell interaction or spin-flip hypotheses.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Maximal spin and energy conversion efficiency in a symbiotic system of black hole, disk and jet

We study a combined model of black hole - accretion disk - magnetosphere - jet symbiosis, applicable for supermassive black holes. We quantify the mass and spin evolution and we analyze how the limiting value of the spin parameter and the conversion efficiency of accreted mass into radiation depend on the interplay of electromagnetic radiation reaction, magnetosphere characteristics and truncation radius of radiation. The dominant effect comes from the closed magnetic field line region, which reduces the spin limit to values ~0.89 (instead ~0.99 in its absence). Therefore observations on black hole spins could favour or disfavour the existence of the closed magnetic field line region (or its coupling to the disk). We also find that the suppression of radiation from the innermost part of the accretion disk, inferred from observations, and a collimated jet both increase the spin limit and the energy conversion efficiency.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

The catalog of nearby black hole candidates

Context. In order to study the association of the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with active galactic nuclei (AGN) at all levels of their activity we require an unbiased sample of black holes. Aims. Here we describe such a sample, of about 6 000 black holes, within the local Universe, inside the GZK (Greisen Zatsepin Kuzmin) limit, around 100 Mpc. Methods. The starting point is the 2 micron all sky survey, with the next steps as: test its com- pleteness down to low flux densities, confine it to redshifts z < 0.025, limit it to early Hubble type galaxies, test with B-V colors and with the FIR/Radio ratio the possible separation in classes of sources for the ultra high energy cosmic rays, use the spheroidal stellar component - black hole mass relationship to derive black hole masses, and test them with known black hole masses. Results. The statistics are consistent with the mass function of black hole masses, with a rel- atively flat distribution to about 10^8 Msol, and thereafter a very steep spectrum. Our sample cuts off just below 10^7 Msol, indicating a gap for lower masses, below somewhere near 10^6 Msol. We construct the sky distribution for all black holes above 10^7 Msol, 10^8 Msol, and 3 x 10^8 Msol, and also show the sky distribution for the five redshift ranges 0.0 - 0.005, 0.005 - 0.0010, 0.010 - 0.015, 0.015 - 0.020, and 0.020 to 0.025.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2011

A supersymmetric model for triggering Supernova Ia in isolated white dwarfs

We propose a model for supernovae Ia explosions based on a phase transition to a supersymmetric state which becomes the active trigger for the deflagration starting the explosion in an isolated sub-Chandrasekhar white dwarf star. With two free parameters we fit the rate and several properties of type Ia supernovae and address the gap in the supermassive black hole mass distribution. One parameter is a critical density fit to about $3 \cdot 10^7$ g/cc while the other has the units of a space time volume and is found to be of order $0.05\,$ Gyr $R_E^3$ where $R_E$ is the earth radius. The model involves a phase transition to an exact supersymmetry in a small core of a dense star.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

The origin of cosmic rays: Explosions of massive stars with magnetic winds and their supernova mechanism

One prediction of particle acceleration in the supernova remnants in the magnetic wind of exploding Wolf Rayet and Red Super Giant stars is that the final spectrum is a composition of a spectrum $E^{-7/3}$ and a polar cap component of $E^{-2}$ at the source. This polar cap component contributes to the total energy content with only a few percent, but dominates the spectrum at higher energy. The sum of both components gives spectra which curve upwards. The upturn was predicted to occur always at the same rigidity. An additional component of cosmic rays from acceleration by supernovae exploding into the Inter-Stellar Medium (ISM) adds another component for Hydrogen and for Helium. After transport the predicted spectra $J(E)$ for the wind-SN cosmic rays are $E^{-8/3}$ and $E^{-7/3}$; the sum leads to an upturn from the steeper spectrum. An upturn has now been seen. Here, we test the observations against the predictions, and show that the observed properties are consistent with the predictions. Hydrogen can be shown to also have a noticeable wind-SN-component. The observation of the upturn in the heavy element spectra being compatible with the same rigidity for all heavy elements supports the magneto-rotational mechanism for these supernovae. This interpretation predicts the observed upturn to continue to curve upwards and approach the $E^{-7/3}$ spectrum. If confirmed, this would strengthen the case that supernovae of very massive stars with magnetic winds are important sources of Galactic cosmic rays.

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arXiv2010

Supermassive black hole spin-flip during the inspiral

During post-Newtonian evolution of a compact binary, a mass ratio different from 1 provides a second small parameter, which can lead to unexpected results. We present a statistics of supermassive black hole candidates, which enables us first to derive their mass distribution, then to establish a logarithmically even probability of the mass ratios at their encounter. In the mass ratio range (1/30,1/3) of supermassive black hole mergers representing 40% of all possible cases, the combined effect of spin-orbit precession and gravitational radiation leads to a spin-flip of the dominant spin during the inspiral phase of the merger. This provides a mechanism for explaining a large set of observations on X-shaped radio galaxies. In another 40%, with mass ratios (1/30,1/1000) a spin-flip never occurs, while in the remaining 20% of mergers with mass ratios (1/3,1) it may occur during the plunge. We analyze the magnitude of the spin-flip angle occurring during the inspiral as function of the mass ratio and original relative orientation of the spin and orbital angular momentum. We also derive a formula for the final spin at the end of the inspiral in this mass ratio range.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays from Centaurus A: Jet Interaction with Gaseous Shells

Ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), with energies above ~6 x 10^19 eV, seem to show a weak correlation with the distribution of matter relatively near to us in the universe. It has earlier been proposed that UHECRs could be accelerated in either the nucleus or the outer lobes of the nearby radio galaxy Cen A. We show that UHECR production at a spatially intermediate location about 15 kpc northeast from the nucleus, where the jet emerging from the nucleus is observed to strike a large star-forming shell of gas, is a plausible alternative. A relativistic jet is capable of accelerating lower-energy heavy seed cosmic rays (CRs) to UHECRs on timescales comparable to the time it takes the jet to pierce the large gaseous cloud. In this model many CRs arising from a starburst, with a composition enhanced in heavy elements near the knee region around PeV, are boosted to ultra-high energies by the relativistic shock of a newly oriented jet. This model matches the overall spectrum shown by the Auger data and also makes a prediction for the chemical composition as a function of particle energy. We thus predict an observable anisotropy in the composition at high energy in the sense that lighter nuclei should preferentially be seen toward the general direction of Cen A. Taking into consideration the magnetic field models for the Galactic disk and a Galactic magnetic wind, this scenario may resolve the discrepancy between HiRes and Auger results concerning the chemical composition of UHECRs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

The mass function of nearby black hole candidates

The mass function of super-massive black holes in our cosmic neighborhood is required to understand the statistics of their activity and consequently the origin of the ultra high energy particles. We determine a mass function of black hole candidates from the entire sky except for the Galactic plane. Using the 2MASS catalogue as a starting point, and the well established correlation between black hole mass and the bulge of old population of stars, we derive a list of nearby black hole candidates within the redshift range z < 0.025, then do a further selection based on the Hubble-type, and give this as a catalogue elsewhere. The final list of black hole candidates above a mass of M_BH > 3*10^{6} M_sol has 5,829 entries; moreover doing a further Hubble type correction to account for the selection effects cuts down the number to 2,919 black hole candidates. We also correct for volume, so that this mass function is a volume limited distribution to redshift 0.025 The differential mass function of nearby black hole candidates is a curved function, with a straight simple power-law of index -3 above 10^{8} M_sol, growing progressively flatter towards lower masses, turning off towards a gap below 3*10^{6} M_sol, and then extending into the range where nuclear star clusters replace black holes. The shape of this mass function can be explained in a simple merger picture. Integrating this mass function over the redshift range, from which it has been derived, gives a total number of black holes with z < 0.025, and M_BH > 10^{7} M_sol of about 2.4*10^{4}, or, if we just average uniformly, 0.6 for every square degree on the sky. In different models many of these are candidates for ultra high energy particles sources. If a very small fraction of the super-massive black holes produces ultra high energy cosmic rays, this should be enough to observe the highly inhomogeneous distribution of the galaxies.

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arXiv2009

The WMAP haze from the Galactic Center region due to massive star explosions and a reduced cosmic ray scale height

One important prediction of acceleration of particles in the supernova caused shock in the magnetic wind of exploding Wolf Rayet and Red Super Giant stars is the production of an energetic particle component with an E^-2 spectrum, at a level of a few percent in flux at injection. After allowing for transport effects, so steepening the spectrum to E^-7/3, this component of electrons produces electromagnetic radiation and readily explains the WMAP haze from the Galactic Center region in spectrum, intensity and radial profile. This requires the diffusion time scale for cosmic rays in the Galactic Center region to be much shorter than in the Solar neighborhood: the energy for cosmic ray electrons at the transition between diffusion dominance and loss dominance is shifted to considerably higher particle energy. We predict that more precise observations will find a radio spectrum of ν^-2/3, at higher frequencies ν^-1, and at yet higher frequencies finally ν^-3/2.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

No observational constraints from hypothetical collisions of hypothetical dark halo primordial black holes with galactic objects

It was suggested by several authors that hypothetical primordial black holes (PBHs) may contribute to the dark matter in our Galaxy. There are strong constraints based on the Hawking evaporation that practically exclude PBHs with masses m~1e15-1e16g and smaller as significant contributors to the Galactic dark matter. Similarly, PBHs with masses greater than about 1e26g are practically excluded by the gravitational lensing observation. The mass range between 10e16g<m<10e26g is unconstrained. In this paper, we examine possible observational signatures in the unexplored mass range, investigating hypothetical collisions of PBHs with main sequence stars, red giants, white dwarfs, and neutron stars in our Galaxy. This has previously been discussed as possibly leading to an observable photon eruption due to shock production during the encounter. We find that such collisions are either too rare to be observed (if the PBH masses are typically larger than about 1e20g), or produce too little power to be detected (if the masses are smaller than about 1e20g).

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arXiv2009

Renormalized spin coefficients in the accumulated orbital phase for unequal mass black hole binaries

We analyze galactic black hole mergers and their emitted gravitational waves. Such mergers have typically unequal masses with mass ratio of the order 1/10. The emitted gravitational waves carry the inprint of spins and mass quadrupoles of the binary components. Among these contributions, we consider here the quasi-precessional evolution of the spins. A method of taking into account these third post-Newtonian (3PN) effects by renormalizing (redefining) the 1.5 PN and 2PN accurate spin contributions to the accumulated orbital phase is developed.

gr-qc↗