Astrophysics and Space Science

A method for the determination of the background radiation temperature in earlier cosmological epochs at redshiftsz>2 is discussed in detail. The method is based on the fact that in the clouds situated at cosmological distances at redshiftz the background radiation temperature must be (1+z) times more than in the modern epoch (z=0). This shall affect the level populations of the atoms, ions and molecules and, consequently, the parameters of the absorption lines observed in quasar absorption spectra. It is proposed to use the transition3 P 0−3 P 1 ofCi (λ=610 μ) for the measurement of the background radiation temperature. Atz>2 this absorption line shifts to the millimeter radio region and can be observed by radioastronomical methods.

Physical conditions prevalent in a degenerate carbon plasma lead to the enhancement of the carbon-carbon thermonuclear reaction rates. Nuclear energy generation rate in the carbon core is thereby augmented. The possible dissipation of energy due to pair-annihilation neutrinos, plasma neutrinos and neutrino bremsstrahlung are considered. Neutral current contribution to these weak processes are also taken into account. It is suggested that the enhanced nuclear gene-ration rate in the evolved core might halt the core collapse for a time, thus necessitating a reassessment of the phenomenon of core collapse as a precursor of carbon detonation supernova events.

The Sawtooth instability is a familiar feature in Tokamak plasmas. It appears as a regularly recurring reorganisation of the core plasma. A brief survey of the experimental observations on many Tokamaks is presented. A qualitative description of the relevant theoretical ideas and of how they have evolved from early magnetic reconnection models in response to increasingly detailed experimental data, is also presented.

It is shown that radio emission from the jet of the galactic source SS433 as well as the variability of its flux density could be accounted for by the inelastic collision model. Variability in the jet flux is attributed mainly to the variability in the thermal proton number density available in the jet regions.

We compute the detailed optical properties over the waveband 0.8 μm−1≲λ≲10 μm−1 for the bacterial grain model which we have discussed earlier. A model comprised of three biologically derived components, modified under interstellar conditions, is shown to be in close correspondence with the observed properties of interstellar dust. Data on interstellar extinction and polarization may be accounted for by this model.

This work investigates the basic features of Nonlinear Ion Acoustic Solitary waves (NIASWs) and their dynamical behaviours in an unmagnetized relativistic collisionless plasma system via the Schamel Korteweg-de Vries (SKdV) equation. Such plasma is composed by the generalized distributed electrons, Boltzmann distributed positrons and relativistic warm ions. The influences of plasma parameters on NIASWs and their dynamical behaviours are investigated by comparing 26−term expansion of relativistic Lorentz factor (RLF) with both of weakly (2−term expansion of RLF) and highly (3−term expansion of RLF) regimes. It is found that the 26−term expansion of RLF are significantly changed NIASWs instead of both weakly and highly relativistic regimes. Therefore, the theoretical results would be very useful for understanding the nature (amplitude, width, polarity, etc.) of wave dynamics not only in astrophysical and space environments but also in further laboratory studies, where the proposed plasma assumptions are existed.

It is shown that quantum vacuum fluctuations give rise to a curvature of space-time equivalent to a cosmological constant, that is a homogeneous energy density ρ and pressure p fulfilling −p=ρ>0. The fact that the fluctuations produce curvature, even if the vacuum expectation of the energy vanishes, is a consequence of the non-linear character of the Einstein equation. A calculation is made, involving plausible hypotheses within quantized gravity, which establishes a relation between the two-point correlation of the vacuum fluctuations and the space-time curvature. Arguments are given which suggest that the density ρ might be of order the “dark energy” density currently assumed to explain the observed accelerated expansion of the universe.

The Franck-Condon (FC) factors (transition probabilities) and r-centroids have been evaluated by the reliable numerical integration procedure for the bands of the A 3 φ4 →X 3 φ4 system of astrophysical molecule CoH, using a suitable potential. The dissociation energy D 0 0 = 2.5 ± 0.05 eV for the electronic ground state of CoH has been estimated by fitting Hulburt-Hirschfelder function to the experimental potential energy curve, using the correlation coefficient.

Nearby luminous galaxies serve as templates to gain insight into the building blocks of the most luminous galaxies in the distant universe. In this conference I have shown that the most luminous galaxies in the Local Universe are mergers of evolved gas-rich galaxies that radiate the bulk of their energy in the mid and far-infrared. The most important implication for future studies on the formation of galaxies at early cosmological timescales is that they will appear as luminous sub-millimeter sources.