Related papers: Thermal Flipping of Interstellar Grains
Nine lectures reviewing the astrophysics of dust in interstellar clouds. Topics include: (1) Summary of observational evidence concerning interstellar dust: broadband extinction, scattering of starlight, polarization of starlight,…
The optical and magnetic properties of dust grains are reviewed, as they relate to the problem of interstellar grain alignment. Grain geometry plays an important role in determining the optical properties, and scattering and absorption of…
I discuss the role of self-gravity and radiative heating and cooling in shaping the nature of the turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) of our galaxy. The heating and cooling cause it to be highly compressible, and, in some regimes of…
Internal gravity waves propagate in stellar radiative zones and transport angular momentum throughout the evolution of stars, shaping the internal rotation pro le of these regions. We use the analytical study of Andre\'e et al. (2018) to…
We discuss the relative grain motions due to MHD turbulence in interstellar medium. It has been known for decades that turbulent drag is an efficient way to induce grain relative motions. However, earlier treatments disregarded magnetic…
Interstellar dust grains can be spun up by radiative torques, and the resulting centrifugal force may be strong enough to disrupt large dust grains. We examine the effect of this rotational disruption on the evolution of grain size…
A model of spheroidal particles is used to calculate the steady-state temperature of dust grains immersed in the interstellar radiation field. It is found that the temperature of non-spherical grains with the aspect ratios a/b <= 2 deviates…
The mechanism of thermal inflation, a relatively short period of accelerated expansion after primordial inflation, is a desirable ingredient for a certain class of particle physics models if they are not to be in contention with the…
Interstellar polarization in the optical/infrared has long been known to be due to asymmetrical dust grains aligned with the magnetic field and can potentially provide a resource effective way to probe both the topology and strength of the…
Interstellar medium is turbulent and this induces relative motions of dust grains. We calculate relative velocities of charged grains in a partially ionized magnetized gas. We account for anisotropy of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence,…
A new mechanism is described, analyzed and visualized, for the dissipation of suprathermal rotation energy of molecules in magnetic fields, a necessary condition for their alignment. It relies upon the Lorentz force perturbing the motion of…
This article reviews the current status of theoretical modeling of electric dipole radiation from spinning dust grains. The fundamentally simple problem of dust grain rotation appeals to a rich set of concepts of classical and quantum…
We present high resolution ($1024^3$) simulations of super-/hyper-sonic isothermal hydrodynamic turbulence inside an interstellar molecular cloud (resolving scales of typically 20 -- 100 AU), including a multi-disperse population of dust…
Gas clouds under the influence of gravitation in thermodynamic equilibrium cannot be isothermal due to the Dufour effect, the energy flux induced by density gradients. In galaxy clusters this effect may be responsible for most of the…
The problem of impulsive heating of dust grains in cold, dense interstellar clouds is revisited theoretically, with the aim to better understand leading mechanisms of the explosive desorption of icy mantles. It is rigorously shown that if…
In granular systems, thermal cycling causes compaction, creep, penetration of dense objects, and ratcheting of grains against each other. On asteroid surfaces, thermal cycling is high amplitude and can happen billions of times in a few…
The interaction of dust grains originating from the local interstellar cloud with the environment inside the heliosphere is investigated. As a consequence of this interaction the spatial distribution of interstellar dust grains changes with…
Dry granular materials consist of a vast ensemble of discrete solid particles, interacting through complex frictional forces at the contact points. The particles are so large that these systems are believed to be completely athermal. Here,…
We revisit the phenomenon of elements diffusion in the intergalactic medium (IGM) in clusters of galaxies. The diffusion is driven by gravity, concentration and temperature gradients. The latter cause thermal diffusion, which has been so…
In this letter, we report results on the effect of temperature variations on a granular assembly through Molecular Dynamic simulations of a 2D granular column. Periodic dilation of the grains are shown to perfectly mimic such thermal…