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Sidney A. Bludman

Publications and source records attributed to Sidney A. Bludman.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Solar Core Homology, Solar Neutrinos and Helioseismology

Precise numerical standard solar models (SSMs) now agree with one another and with helioseismological observations in the convective and outer radiative zones. Nevertheless these models obscure how luminosity, neutrino production and g-mode core helioseismology depend on such inputs as opacity and nuclear cross sections. Although the Sun is not homologous, its inner core by itself is chemically evolved and almost homologous, because of its compactness, radiative energy transport, and ppI-dominated luminosity production. We apply luminosity-fixed homology transformations to the core to estimate theoretical uncertainties in the SSM and to obtain a broad class of non-SSMs, parametrized by central temperature and density and purely radiative energy transport in the core.

astro-ph↗

Variational Principles for Stellar Structure

The four equations of stellar structure are reformulated as two alternate pairs of variational principles. Different thermodynamic representations lead to the same hydromechanical equations, but the thermal equations require, not the entropy, but the temperature as the thermal field variable. Our treatment emphasizes the hydrostatic energy and the entropy production rate of luminosity produced and transported. The conceptual and calculational advantages of integral over differential formulations of stellar structure are discussed along with the difficulties in describing stellar chemical evolution by variational principles.

astro-ph↗

Analytic Models for the Mechanical Structure of the Solar Core

All stars exhibit universal central behavior in terms of new homology variables (u,w). In terms of these variables, we obtain simple analytic fits to numerical standard solar models for the core and radiative zones of the ZAMS and present Suns, with a few global parameters. With these analytic fits, different theoretical models of the solar core, neutrino fluxes, and helioseismic observations can be parametrized and compared.

astro-ph↗

Vacuum Energy: If Not Now, Then When?

We review the cosmological evidence for a low matter density universe and a cosmological constant or dynamical vacuum energy and address the cosmolog$ coincidence problem: why is the matter density about one-half the vacuum energy {\em now}. This is reasonble, following the anthropic argument of Efstathiou and of Martel, Schapiro & Weinberg.

astro-ph↗

Cosmological and Astrophysical Bounds on Neutrino Masses and Lifetimes

The best upper bounds on the masses of stable and unstable light neutrinos derive from the upper bound on the total mass density, as inferred from the lower limit $t_0> 13$ Gyr on the dynamical age of the Universe: If the Universe is matter-dominated, $m_ν<35(23)\times$ max$ [1, (t_0/τ_ν)^{1/2}]$ eV, according as a cosmological constant is (is not) allowed. The best constraints on the radiative decay of light neutrinos derive from the failure to observe prompt gamma rays accompanying the neutrinos from Supernova 1987A: For any $m_ν > 630$ eV, this provides a stronger bound on the neutrino transition moment than that obtained from red giants or white dwarfs. For $m_ν> 250$ eV or $τ_ν< t_{rec}\sim 7\times 10^{12}$ sec, the upper limit on the radiative branching ratio is even smaller than that obtained from the limits on $μ$-distortion of the cosmic background radiation. Our results improve on earlier cosmological and radiative decay constraints by an overall factor twenty, and allow neutrinos more massive than 35 eV, only if they decay overwhelmingly into singlet majorons or other new particles.

hep-ph↗