High-density Disk Research Articles

On the crown formation and cavity dynamics of free-falling thick disks

The water entry, crown formation, and cavity dynamics of gravity-driven thick solid and annular disks were studied by conducting a series of detailed laboratory experiments. Three different release conditions were examined to study the fully guarded and partially guarded release conditions on the cavity dynamics. The effects of aspect ratio, geometry, and density of disks on crown formation, interface impact, seal development, and air entrainment were investigated. Four crown shapes were identified, and the crown structure was classified based on the dimensionless moment of inertia, I*, and the impact Froude number, Fro. The effects of controlling parameters on variations of crown dimensions were investigated. It was found that the normalized crown diameter decreased with I* and crown geometries were found to be smaller in annular disks. Experimental observations have shown that high-density disks have larger pinch-off depth and form a deep seal in the ambient water. The normalized pinch-off depth increased with Fro and the normalized pinch-off depth in cylindrical thick disks were smaller than thin disks and spherical objects. The temporal variations of cavity indicated a non-linear correlation between the growth rate of normalized pinch-off depth and time. The disk's velocities in three different stages were measured, it was found that the settling velocities followed a linear relationship with I*, and it was affected by the release conditions. The velocity and vortex fields were extracted from the particle image velocimetry data. The velocity fields showed that the solid disks affected a greater surrounding ambient in comparison to the annular disks due to their higher initial momentum. Periodic vortex shedding was formed in the wake of annular disks, and the frequency of the vortex field was found to be proportional to the disk density.

Chemical Analysis of Single Graphene Overcoat and Lubricant For Next Generation High Density Magnetic Disk

Chemical Analysis of Single Graphene Overcoat and Lubricant For Next Generation High Density Magnetic Disk

High-density disc reflection spectroscopy of low-mass active galactic nuclei

ABSTRACTThe standard alpha-disc model predicts an anticorrelation between the density of the inner accretion disc and the black hole mass times square of the accretion rate, as seen in higher mass (MBH > 106 M⊙) active galactic nuclei (AGNs). In this work, we test the predictions of the alpha-disc model and study the properties of the inner accretion flow for the low-mass end (MBH ≈ 105–6 M⊙) of AGNs. We utilize a new high-density disc reflection model where the density parameter varies from ne = 1015 to 1020 cm−3 and apply it to the broad-band X-ray (0.3–10 keV) spectra of the low-mass AGN sample. The sources span a wide range of Eddington fractions and are consistent with being sub-Eddington or near-Eddington. The X-ray spectra reveal a soft X-ray excess below ∼1.5 keV which is well modelled by high-density reflection from an ionized accretion disc of density ne ∼ 1018 cm−3 on average. The results suggest a radiation pressure-dominated disc with an average of 70 per cent fraction of the disc power transferred to the corona, consistent with that observed in higher mass AGNs. We show that the disc density higher than 1015 cm−3 can result from the radiation pressure compression when the disc surface does not hold a strong magnetic pressure gradient. We find tentative evidence for a drop in black hole spin at low-mass regimes.

Study on Single Graphene Overcoat for Next Generation High Density Magnetic Disk

Study on Single Graphene Overcoat for Next Generation High Density Magnetic Disk

NuSTAR monitoring of MAXI J1348−630: evidence of high density disc reflection

ABSTRACT We present the broad-band spectral analysis of all the six hard, intermediate, and soft state NuSTAR observations of the recently discovered transient black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1348−630 during its first outburst in 2019. We first model the data with a combination of a multicolour disc and a relativistic blurred reflection, and, whenever needed, a distant reflection. We find that this simple model scheme is inadequate in explaining the spectra, resulting in a very high iron abundance. We therefore explore the possibility of reflection from a high-density disc. We use two different sets of models to describe the high-density disc reflection: relxill-based reflection models, and reflionx-based ones. The reflionx-based high-density disc reflection models bring down the iron abundance to around the solar value, while the density is found to be $10^{20.3-21.4}\, \rm cm^{-3}$. We also find evidence of a high-velocity outflow in the form of ∼7.3 keV absorption lines. The consistency between the best-fitting parameters for different epochs and the statistical significance of the corresponding model indicates the existence of high-density disc reflection in MAXI J1348−630.

Reflection Modeling of the Black Hole Binary 4U 1630–47: The Disk Density and Returning Radiation

Abstract We present the analysis of X-ray observations of the black hole binary 4U 1630−47 using relativistic reflection spectroscopy. We use archival data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array observatories, taken during different outbursts of the source between 1998 and 2015. Our modeling includes two relatively new advances in modern reflection codes: high-density disks, and returning thermal disk radiation. Accretion disks around stellar-mass black holes are expected to have densities well above the standard value assumed in traditional reflection models (i.e., n e ∼ 1015 cm−3). New high-density reflection models have important implications in the determination of disk truncation (i.e., the disk inner radius). This is because one must retain self-consistency in the irradiating flux and corresponding disk ionization state, which is a function of disk density and system geometry. We find that the disk density is n e ≥ 1020 cm−3 across all spectral states. This density, combined with our constraints on the ionization state of the material, implies an irradiating flux impinging on the disk that is consistent with the expected theoretical estimates. Returning thermal disk radiation—the fraction of disk photons that bend back to the disk producing additional reflection components—is expected predominantly in the soft state. We show that returning radiation models indeed provide a better fit to the soft-state data, reinforcing previous results that show that in the soft state, the irradiating continuum may be blackbody emission from the disk itself.

From spirals to lenticulars: Evidence from the rotation curves and mass models of three early-type galaxies

Rotation curves have traditionally been difficult to trace for early-type galaxies (ETGs) because they often lack a high-density disk of cold gas as in late-type galaxies (LTGs). In this work, we derive rotation curves for three lenticular galaxies from the ATLAS3D survey, combining CO data in the inner parts with deep HI data in the outer regions, extending out to 10−20 effective radii. We also use Spitzer photometry at 3.6 μm to decompose the rotation curves into the contributions of baryons and dark matter (DM). We find that (1) the rotation-curve shapes of these ETGs are similar to those of LTGs of a similar mass and surface brightness; (2) the dynamically-inferred stellar mass-to-light ratios are small for quiescent ETGs but similar to those of star-forming LTGs; (3) the DM halos follow the same scaling relations with galaxy luminosity as those of LTGs; and (4) one galaxy (NGC 3626) is poorly fit by cuspy DM profiles, suggesting that DM cores may exist in high-mass galaxies too. Our results indicate that these lenticular galaxies have recently transitioned from LTGs to ETGs without altering their DM halo structure (e.g., via a major merger), and they could be faded spirals. We also confirm that ETGs follow the same radial acceleration relation as LTGs, reinforcing the notion that this is a universal law for all galaxy types.

The Effect of Star–Disk Interactions on Highly Eccentric Stellar Orbits in Active Galactic Nuclei: A Disk Loss Cone and Implications for Stellar Tidal Disruption Events

Abstract Galactic center black holes appear to be nearly universally surrounded by dense stellar clusters. When these black holes go through an active accretion phase, the multiple components of the accretion disk, stellar cluster, and black hole system all coexist. We analyze the effect of drag forces on highly eccentric stellar orbits incurred as stars puncture through the disk plane. Disk crossings dissipate orbital energy, drawing eccentric stars into more circular orbits. For high surface density disks, such as those found around black holes accreting near the Eddington mass accretion limit, the magnitude of this energy dissipation can be larger than the mean scatterings that stars receive by two-body relaxation. One implication of this is the presence of a disk “loss cone” for highly eccentric stellar orbits where the dissipation from disk interaction outweighs scatter via two-body relaxation. The disk loss cone is larger than the tidal disruption loss cone for near-Eddington black hole accretion rates. Stellar orbits within the disk loss cone are lost from the overall cluster as stellar orbits are circularized and stars are potentially ablated by their high-velocity impacts with the disk. We find, however, that the presence of the disk loss cone has a minimal effect on the overall rate of stellar tidal disruptions. Stars are still efficiently fed to the black hole from more-distant stellar orbits that receive large-enough per-orbit scatter to jump over the disk loss cone and end up tidally disrupted.

A NuSTAR view of GRS 1716−249 in the hard and intermediate states

ABSTRACT We present a detailed analysis of the spectral properties of the black hole transient GRS 1716−249, based on the archival Swift and NuSTAR observations taken during the outburst of this source in 2016–2017. The first six NuSTAR observations show that the source is in a canonical hard state, where the spectrum is dominated by a power-law continuum. The seventh NuSTAR observation is taken during the intermediate state where both a disc thermal component and a power-law continuum are shown. All of our observations show a broad emission-line feature in the iron band and a Compton hump above 10 keV. We model the broad-band spectra using a high-density disc reflection model, where the soft X-ray emission in the hard state is interpreted as part of the disc reflection component. This model enables us to constrain the disc density parameter of GRS 1716−249 in the range of 1019–1020 cm−3. We only obtain an upper limit of the inner disc radius using high-density disc reflection spectroscopy and the results indicate either a non-truncated disc or a slightly truncated disc with Rin ≲ 20 rg.

High Density Reflection Spectroscopy – II. The density of the inner black hole accretion disc in AGN

ABSTRACT We present a high density disc reflection spectral analysis of a sample of 17 Seyfert 1 galaxies to study the inner disc densities at different black hole mass scales and accretion rates. All the available XMM–Newton observations in the archive are used. OM observations in the optical/UV band are used to estimate their accretion rates. We find that 65 per cent of sources in our sample show a disc density significantly higher than ne = 1015 cm−3, which was assumed in previous reflection-based spectral analyses. The best-fitting disc densities show an anticorrelation with black hole mass and mass accretion rate. High density disc reflection model can successfully explain the soft excess emission and significantly reduce inferred iron abundances. We also compare our black hole spin and disc inclination angle measurements with previous analyses.

Resonance capture and dynamics of three-planet systems

We present a series of dynamical maps for fictitious three-planet systems in initially circular coplanar orbits. These maps have unveiled a rich resonant structure involving two or three planets, as well as indicating possible migration routes from secular to double resonances or pure three-planet commensurabilities. These structures are then compared to the present-day orbital architecture of observed resonant chains. In a second part of the paper, we describe N-body simulations of type-I migration. Depending on the orbital decay time-scale, we show that three-planet systems may be trapped in different combinations of independent commensurabilities: (i) double resonances, (ii) intersection between a two-planet and a first-order three-planet resonances, and (iii) simultaneous libration in two first-order three-planet resonances. These latter outcomes are found for slow migrations, while double resonances are almost always the final outcome in high-density discs. Finally, we discuss an application to the TRAPPIST-1 system. We find that, for low migration rates and planetary masses of the order of the estimated values, most three-planet sub-systems are able to reach the observed double resonances after following evolutionary routes defined by pure three-planet resonances. The final orbital configuration shows resonance offsets comparable with present-day values without the need of tidal dissipation. For the 8/5 resonance proposed to dominate the dynamics of the two inner planets, we find little evidence of its dynamical significance; instead, we propose that this relation between mean motions could be a consequence of the interaction between a pure three-planet resonance and a two-planet commensurability between planets c and d.

A study of the effect of bulges on bar formation in disc galaxies

We use N-body simulations of bar formation in isolated galaxies to study the effect of bulge mass and bulge concentration on bar formation. Bars are global disk instabilities that evolve by transferring angular momentum from the inner to outer disks and to the dark matter halo. It is well known that a massive spherical component such as halo in a disk galaxy can make it bar stable. In this study we explore the effect of another spherical component, the bulge, on bar formation in disk galaxies. In our models we vary both the bulge mass and concentration. We have used two sets of models, one that has a dense bulge and high surface density disk. The second model has a less concentrated bulge and a lighter disk. In both models we vary the bulge to disk mass fraction from 0 to 0.7. Simulations of both the models show that there is an upper cutoff in bulge to disk mass ratio M b /M d above which bars cannot form; the cutoff is smaller for denser bulges( M b /M d = 0.2) compared to less denser ones (M b /M d = 0.5). We define a new criteria for bar formation in terms of bulge to disk radial force ratio (F b /F d ) at the disk scale lengths above which bars cannot form. We find that if F b /F d > 0.35, a disk is stable and a bar cannot form. Our results indicate that early type disk galaxies can still form strong bars in spite of having massive bulges.

Redissolution of Flower-Shaped Graphene Oxide Powder with High Density.

As a sort of scalable precursor of graphene, single-layer graphene oxide (GO) has received widespread attention. However, producing dried GO powder which can redisperse in solvents on a molecular level is still under challenge. Here, we have developed a strategy to obtain flower-shaped GO powder (fGO) via a low-temperature spray-drying method. Such GO powder can be redissolved in various solvents including water, with a concentration higher than 3 wt %. The excellent solubility of fGO is totally preserved even after being compressed into a high-density disk (1.26 g/cm(3)). The aqueous solution of fGO can form liquid crystals, which can be assembled into macroscopic graphene papers. By tracking the dissolution process of fGO, we reveal a "swelling-dissociation-stretching" behavior of the GO particles. For the first time, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) solution relaxation is applied to in situ monitor the degree of unfolding (DU) of fGO during dissolution. We discover that the classic polymer dissolution mechanism of linear polymer can extend to GO, a two-dimensional macromolecule. Our findings not only provide a solution for the problems in the transportation, storage and applications of GO, but also open a new way to adjust the microstructure of crumpled GO in large scale.

Globular clusters as the relics of regular star formation in ‘normal’ high-redshift galaxies

We present an end-to-end, two-phase model for the origin of globular clusters (GCs). In the model, populations of stellar clusters form in the high-pressure discs of high-redshift ($z>2$) galaxies (a rapid-disruption phase due to tidal perturbations from the dense interstellar medium), after which the galaxy mergers associated with hierarchical galaxy formation redistribute the surviving, massive clusters into the galaxy haloes, where they remain until the present day (a slow-disruption phase due to tidal evaporation). The high galaxy merger rates of $z>2$ galaxies allow these clusters to be `liberated' into the galaxy haloes before they are disrupted within the high-density discs. This physically-motivated toy model is the first to include the rapid-disruption phase, which is shown to be essential for simultaneously reproducing the wide variety of properties of observed GC systems, such as their universal characteristic mass-scale, the dependence of the specific frequency on metallicity and galaxy mass, the GC system mass-halo mass relation, the constant number of GCs per unit supermassive black hole mass, and the colour bimodality of GC systems. The model predicts that most of these observables were already in place at $z=1$-$2$, although under rare circumstances GCs may still form in present-day galaxies. In addition, the model provides important constraints on models for multiple stellar populations in GCs by putting limits on initial GC masses and the amount of pristine gas accretion. The paper is concluded with a discussion of these and several other predictions and implications, as well as the main open questions in the field.

Forbidden Calcium Lines as Disc Tracers

Forbidden emission lines are particularly valuable disc tracers, because their profiles reflect the kinematics within their formation region. Here we present a short excerpt from the results of a spectroscopic survey of evolved massive stars surrounded by high-density discs.

Effect of the intrinsic in-plane shape anisotropy on the oscillation characteristics of zero-field spin torque oscillator

The spin-torque oscillator, which can generate an AC voltage oscillation with the same frequency, have attracted considerable attention due to its potential applications in the frequency-tunable transmitters and receivers for wireless communication and the recording heads of high-density hard disk drives. However, from the energy-balance equation's point of view, in the absence of in-plane shape anisotropy of spin torque oscillator, the energy supplied by the spin torque is always larger than the energy dissipation due to the Gilbert damping, thus, a finite magnetic field applied perpendicular to the plane is required for a steady-state precession. This feature has limited its potential applications. In this paper, the influence of the intrinsic in-plane shape anisotropy on the magnetization dynamics of spin torque oscillator consisting of an in-plane polarizer and an out-of-plane free layer is studied numerically in terms of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert-Slonczewski equation. It is demonstrated that the additional in-plane shape anisotropy plays a significant role in the energy balance between the energy accumulation due to the spin torque and the energy dissipation due to Gilbert damping, which can stabilize a steady-state precession. Therefore, a stable self-oscillation in the absence of the applied magnetic field can be excited by introducing additional in-plane shape anisotropy. In particular, a relatively large current region with zero-field self-oscillation, in which the corresponding microwave frequency is increased while the threshold current still maintains an almost constant value, can be obtained by introducing a relatively large intrinsic in-plane shape anisotropy. Our results suggest that a tunable spin transfer oscillator without an applied magnetic field can be realized by adjusting the intrinsic in-plane shape anisotropy, and it may be a promising configuration in the future wireless communications.

Time-resolved infrared emission from radiation-driven central obscuring structures in active galactic nuclei

The central engines of Seyfert galaxies are thought to be enshrouded by geometrically thick gas and dust structures. In this article, we derive observable properties for a self-consistent model of such toroidal gas and dust distributions, where the geometrical thickness is achieved and maintained with the help of X-ray heating and radiation pressure due to the central engine. Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and images are obtained with the help of dust continuum radiative transfer calculations with RADMC-3D. For the first time, we are able to present time-resolved SEDs and images for a physical model of the central obscurer. Temporal changes are mostly visible at shorter wavelengths, close to the combined peak of the dust opacity as well as the central source spectrum and are caused by variations in the column densities of the generated outflow. Due to the three-component morphology of the hydrodynamical models -- a thin disc with high density filaments, a surrounding fluffy component (the obscurer) and a low density outflow along the rotation axis -- we find dramatic differences depending on wavelength: whereas the mid-infrared images are dominated by the elongated appearance of the outflow cone, the long wavelength emission is mainly given by the cold and dense disc component. Overall, we find good agreement with observed characteristics, especially for those models, which show clear outflow cones in combination with a geometrically thick distribution of gas and dust, as well as a geometrically thin, but high column density disc in the equatorial plane.

Recording characteristics of high-density thin optical disk using near-field optical recording

We report on the recording characteristics of a near-field optical recording thin optical disk (NFR-TOD). We proposed a new cooling-less-type write strategy for recording, applied it to the NFR-TOD experimental system, and also applied a partial response maximum likelihood (PRML) signal processing, which was evaluated and optimized the PR coefficient for playback signals of the prototype NFR-TOD. The NFR-TOD has a track pitch of 160 nm and improved recording characteristics. The experimental results of the prototype NFR-TOD and the system indicate sufficiently low bit error rates (bERs) for recorded data at a fourfold higher recording density than the current Blu-ray disk.

Acoustically Assisted Magnetic Recording: A New Paradigm in Magnetic Data Storage

A new paradigm in energy-assisted magnetic recording, acoustically assisted magnetic recording (AAMR), is investigated. In this approach, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) is applied to a magnetostrictive recording medium to temporarily lower its coercivity below the write field. Akin to other energy-assisted recording technologies, AAMR provides a strategy to enable writing on high-coercivity media required for thermal stability in high-density disk drives. Using a contact recording tester, it is demonstrated that the write current needed to record data on a galfenol film is reduced in the presence of SAWs. Further, it is shown that standing and focused acoustic waves can, respectively, be used to lower the coercivity in selected regions on the medium.

Large-scale solution-phase production of Bi₂Te₃ and PbTe nanowires using Te nanowire templates.

We report the first demonstration of large scale (>10 g) and high yield (>80%) production of ultrathin (<15 nm) PbTe and Bi₂Te₃ nanowires in a low-cost solution-based process using Te nanowire templates. The PbTe or Bi₂Te₃ nanowires can be compressed into high relative density disks with nanoscale grains.