arXiv subjects

V. G. Gurzadyan

Publications and source records attributed to V. G. Gurzadyan.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

Probing the Light Speed Anisotropy with respect to the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation Dipole

We have studied the angular fluctuations in the speed of light with respect to the apex of the dipole of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation using the experimental data obtained with GRAAL facility, located at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble. The measurements were based on the stability of the Compton edge of laser photons scattered on the 6 GeV monochromatic electron beam. The results enable to obtain a conservative constraint on the anisotropy in the light speed variations Δc(θ)/c < 3 10^{-12}, i.e. with higher precision than from previous experiments.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Kolmogorov and Aleksandrov in Sevan Monastery, Armenia, 1929

In the summer of 1929 Andrei Kolmogorov and Pavel Aleksandrov visited lake Sevan in Armenia and lived in a cell in the monastery on the island. During about a month they not only enjoyed the beauties of the lake, but actively continued their research, Alexandrov working on "Aleksandrov-Hopf" (P.Alexandroff, H.Hopf, Topologie, Berlin, 1935), Kolmogorov on the paper "On analytic methods in the theory of probability". Both mathematicians mentioned Sevan in their memoirs many decades later. They visited also other sites of Armenia and climbed Mt.Aragatz.

math.HO↗

arXiv2004

Halley's comet of 87 BC on the coins of Armenian king Tigranes?

Coins of Armenian king Tigranes II the Great (95-55 BC), silver and copper-bronze tetradrachms and drachms, clearly reveal a star with a tail on the royal tiara which may be associated with the Halley's comet passage of 87 BC. If so, one has another case when astronomical events can be useful for historical chronological problems, this would be a far earlier record of Halley in Armenia than was previously known from chronicles and also one of the earliest known images of Halley's comet.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2004

Chaotic Phenomena in Astrophysics and Cosmology

Chaos as typical property of non-linear systems has revealed its crucial role in various problems of astrophysics and cosmology. The problems discussed at these lectures include planetary dynamics, galactic dynamics, reconstruction of the substructure of clusters of galaxies, instability in Wheeler-DeWitt superspace. The choice of the problems aimed to show also the diversity of approaches and mathematical tools, which include the geometric criterion (Ricci) of relative instability in many dimensional systems, the estimation of Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, the hyperbolicity in pseudo-Riemannian spaces, etc.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

WMAP confirming the ellipticity in BOOMERanG and COBE CMB maps

The recent study of BOOMERanG 150 GHz Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation maps have detected ellipticity of the temperature anisotropy spots independent on the temperature threshold. The effect has been found for spots up to several degrees in size, where the biases of the ellipticity estimator and of the noise are small. To check the effect, now we have studied, with the same algorithm and in the same sky region, the WMAP maps. We find ellipticity of the same average value also in WMAP maps, despite of the different sensitivity of the two experiments to low multipoles. Large spot elongations had been detected also for the COBE-DMR maps. If this effect is due to geodesic mixing and hence due to non precisely zero curvature of the hyperbolic Universe, it can be linked to the origin of WMAP low multipoles anomaly.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Kolmogorov Complexity, Cosmic Background Radiation and Irreversibility

We discuss the algorithmic information approach to the analysis of the observational data on the Universe. Kolmogorov complexity is proposed as a descriptor of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation maps. An algorithm of computation of the complexity is described, applied, first, to toy models and then, to the data of the Boomerang experiment. The sky maps obtained via the summing of two independent Boomerang channels reveal threshold independent behavior of the mean ellipticity of the anisotropies, thus indicating correlations present in the sky signal and possibly carrying crucial information on the curvature and the non-Friedmannian, i.e. accelerated expansion of the Universe. Similar effect has been detected for COBE-DMR 4 year maps. Finally, as another application of these concepts, we consider the possible link between the CMB properties, curvature of the Universe and arrows of time.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Is there a common origin for the WMAP low multipole and for the ellipticity in BOOMERanG CMB maps?

We have measured the ellipticity of several degree scale anisotropies in the BOOMERanG maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at 150 GHz. The average ellipticity is around 2.6-2.7. The biases of the estimator of the ellipticity and for the noise are small in this case. Large spot elongation had been detected also for COBE-DMR maps. If this effect is due to geodesic mixing, it would indicate a non precisely zero curvature of the Universe which is among the discussed reasons of the WMAP low multipole anomaly. Both effects are related to the diameter of the Universe: the geodesics mixing through hyperbolic geometry, low multipoles through boundary conditions.This common reason can also be related with the origin of the the cosmological constant: the modes of vacuum fluctuations conditioned by the boundary conditions lead to a value of the cosmological constant being in remarkable agreement with the supernovae observations.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Astronomy and the Fall of Babylon

This illustrated article represents a popular account of the study of the Babylonian astronomical records of Enuma Anu Enlil tablet series i.e. of the Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa and of two lunar eclipses linked with the IIIrd dynasty of Ur, having resulted in the proposal of Ultra-Low chronology of the Near East in II millennium B.C. The emerged Ultra-Low chronology is by 96 years shorter than the conventional Middle chronology and by now is supported by various independent studies. Tables of relative chronologies of principal kingdoms of Mesopotamia are given, along with some dates associated with the fall of Babylon in II millennium B.C. The technical details are given in the book by H.Gasche, J.A.Armstrong, S.W.Cole and V.G.Gurzadyan, "Dating the Fall of Babylon" (Mesopotamian History and Environment, Series II, University of Ghent and Chicago Press, 1998) and in subsequent articles.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2003

Ellipticity analysis of the BOOMERanG CMB maps

The properties of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) maps carry valuable cosmological information. Here we report the results of the analysis hot and cold CMB anisotropy spots in the BOOMERanG 150 GHz map in terms of number, area, ellipticity, vs. temperature threshold. We carried out this analysis for the map obtained by summing independent measurement channels (signal plus noise map) and for a comparison map (noise only map) obtained by differencing the same channels. The anisotropy areas (spots) have been identified for both maps for various temperature thresholds and a catalog of the spots has been produced. The orientation (obliquity) of the spots is random for both maps. We computed the mean elongation of spots obtained from the maps at a given temperature threshold using a simple estimator. We found that for the sum map there is a region of temperature thresholds where the average elongation is not dependent on the threshold. Its value is ~ 2.3 for cold areas and ~ 2.2 for hot areas. This is a non-trivial result. The bias of the estimator is less than 0.4 for areas of size less than 30', and smaller for larger areas. The presence of noise also biases the ellipticity by less than 0.3. These biases have not been subtracted in the results quoted above. The threshold independent and random obliquity behaviour in the sum map is stable against pointing reconstruction accuracy and noise level of the data, thus confirming that these are actual properties of the dataset. The data used here give a hint of high ellipticity for the largest spots. Analogous elongation properties of CMB anisotropies had been detected for COBE-DMR 4-year data. If this is due to geodesics mixing, it would point to a non zero curvature of the Universe.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

On the Astronomical Records and Babylonian Chronology

We outline the priority of high quality data of astronomical content as our strategy for the analysis of the ancient astronomical records in the search of the absolute chronology of the Near East in II millennium BC. The correspondingly defined set of data for two lunar eclipses of EAE 20 and 21 tablets linked to Ur III period enables us the choice of eclipses of 27 June 1954 BC and 17 March 1912 BC; here the information on the exit position of the darkening of the lunar disk acts as a crucial informator survived in the records. We then discuss why the 56/64 year Venus cycle cannot be traced in the Venus Tablet and therefore cannot serve as an anchor for the search of chronologies. The month length method is discussed as well. In sum the available data support the Ultra-Low Chronology proposed in the book by H.Gasche, J.A.Armstrong, S.W.Cole and V.G.Gurzadyan, "Dating the Fall of Babylon" (1998) and, particularly, leave no astronomical background for the High Chronology. Ultra-Low Chronology is supported also by archaeological, dendrochronological, Assyrian king lists and other data as summarized at the Intern. Colloquium on Ancient Near Eastern Chronology (Ghent, July, 2000).

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2003

The Venus Tablet and Refraction

It is shown that the refraction near the horizon is introducing an additional bias into the Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa, which is able to influence the interpretation of the data. We then discuss the attempts to link certain solar eclipses to the birth of Shamshi-Adad and conclude that a record of a single solar eclipse without description of details and/or unambiguous historical links, can hardly act as a reliable anchor.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2003

A physicist's view of stellar dynamics: dynamical instability of stellar systems

I argue that the widely adopted framework of stellar dynamics survived since 1940s, is not fitting the current knowledge on non-linear systems. Borrowed from plasma physics when several fundamental features of perturbed non-linear systems were unknown, that framework ignores the difference in the role of perturbations in two different classes of systems, in plasma with Debye screening and gravitating systems with no screening. Now, when the revolutionary role of chaotic effects is revealed even in planetary dynamics i.e. for nearly integrable systems, one would expect that for stellar systems, i.e. non-integrable systems, their role have to be far more crucial. Indeed, ergodic theory tools already enabled to prove that spherical stellar systems are exponentially instable due to N-body interactions, while the two-body encounters, contrary to existing belief, are not the dominating mechanism of their relaxation. Chaotic effects distinguish morphological and other properties of galaxies. Using the Ricci curvature criterion, one can also show that a central massive object (nucleus) makes the N-body gravitating system more instable (chaotic), while systems with double nuclei are even more instable than those with a single one.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

On the Evolution of Nonlinear N-body systems: Substructure of a Distant Galaxy Cluster

The graph-theoretical S-tree technique developed for the study of the nonlinear N-body systems, is used for the study for the first time of the substructure of a high redshift cluster of galaxies, namely of MS 1054-03, z\simeq 0.8. Nearby galaxy clusters studied via the same S-tree code reveal several clearly distinguished subgroups with significant bulk velocities. Therefore the study of distant clusters can enable to trace the evolution of their dynamics over cosmological time scales. The study of the MS 1054-03 showed a different structure, i.e. no evidence of merging subgroups but only of a core of galaxies with velocity dispersion about 700 km s^{-1} while the velocity dispersion of the main cluster 1870 km s^{-1}. Further study of samples of high redshift clusters will enable to conclude whether this discrepancy in the structure and dynamics between nearby and distant galaxy clusters is a genuine evolutionary effect.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

On the estimation of the current value of the cosmological constant

We advance the viewpoint that only relevant modes of the vacuum fluctuations, namely, with wavelengths conditioned by the size, homogeneity, geometry and topology of the Universe, do contribute into the cosmological constant. A formula is derived which relates the cosmological constant with the size of the Universe and the three fundamental constants: the velocity of light, Planck and Newton gravitational constants. Then the current value of the cosmological constant remarkably agrees with the value indicated by distant supernovae observations, i.e. is of the order of the critical density. Thus the cosmological constant had to be smaller than the matter density in the past and will be bigger in the future.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

From Fermi-Pasta-Ulam Problem to Galaxies: The Quest for Relaxation

The major problem posed by the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam work was the relaxation (thermalization) of a many-body system. We review two approaches to this problem, the ergodic theory and Langevin (stochastic) equation ones, which have been applied for the description of statistical mechanics of stellar systems. Among the particular problems that we consider, are 1-dimensional long-range interacting systems and iterated maps and 3-dimensional N-body gravitating systems.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Arrows of Time and Chaotic Properties of the Cosmic Background Radiation

We advance a new viewpoint on the connection between the the thermodynamical and cosmological arrows of time, which can be traced via the properties of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. We show that in the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker Universe with negative curvature there is a necessary ingredient for the existence of the thermodynamical arrow of time. It is based on the dynamical instability of motion along null geodesics in a hyperbolic space. Together with special (de-correlated) initial conditions, this mechanism is sufficient for the thermodynamical arrow, whereas the special initial conditions alone are able to generate only a pre-arrow of time. Since the negatively curved space will expand forever, this provides a direct connection between the thermodynamical and cosmological arrows of time. The structural stability of the geodesic flows on hyperbolic spaces and hence the robustness of the proposed mechanism is especially stressed. We then point out that the main relations of equilibrium statistical thermodynamics (including the second law) do not necessarily depend on any arrow of time. Finally we formulate a {\it curvature anthropic principle}, which stipulates the negative curvature as a necessary condition for the time asymmetric Universe with an observer. CMB has to carry the signature of this principle as well.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

Recovering the Internal Dynamics and the Shapes of Galaxy Clusters: Virgo Cluster

We describe a method for recovering of the substructure, internal dynamics and geometrical shapes of clusters of galaxies. Applying the method to the Virgo cluster, we, first, reveal the substructure of the central 4 arc degree field of the Virgo cluster by means of S-tree technique. The existence of three main subgroups of galaxies is revealed and their dynamical characteristics are estimated. Then, using the previously suggested technique (Gurzadyan and Rauzy 1997), the bulk flow velocities of the subgroups are evaluated based on the distribution of the redshifts of the galaxies. The results enable us also to obtain a secure indication of the elongation of the Virgo cluster and its positional inclination.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

Galaxy Associations within the Coma Cluster

The mean redshift of the core of the Coma cluster - cz = 6953 km s^{-1} and its dispersion σ=949 km s^{-1} are obtained by means of the analysis of the substructures of this cluster by using the S-tree method. The existence of three subgroups of galaxies is revealed, one of them is associated with the cD galaxy NGC 4874, the other -- with NGC 4889. It is argued that these subgroups are {\it galaxy associations}, i.e. galactic dynamical entities moving within the main cluster. Thus we conclude that the non-stationarity of the dynamical processes ongoing in the Coma core is due to the merging of small-scale galaxy associations, rather than of two equal sized clusters. We provide the lists of the galaxies of the associations, the observational study of which can be of particular interest.

astro-ph↗