Propagation of radiation in astrophysical media: Gravitational lenses and astrophysical masers
type: CreativeWork
description: In Part I the time variability of the radiation emitted by astrophysical masers is studied by numerically solving the system of time dependent non-linear partial differential equations of radiative transfer through a masing gas. The calculations demonstrate for the first time how oscillations, with periods which are comparable to the light travel time through the maser, might develop as a result of radiative instabilities. In addition, we perform a linear stability analysis of the radiative transfer equations and the rate equations for the molecular populations of the masing transition. We use this stability analysis to determine the conditions and parameters for which an astrophysical maser would become unstable. Our results are in agreement with recent observations of astrophysical masers in which fluctuations are found on time scales as short as one thousand seconds.
abstract: In Part I the time variability of the radiation emitted by astrophysical masers is studied by numerically solving the system of time dependent non-linear partial differential equations of radiative transfer through a masing gas. The calculations demonstrate for the first time how oscillations, with periods which are comparable to the light travel time through the maser, might develop as a result of radiative instabilities. In addition, we perform a linear stability analysis of the radiative transfer equations and the rate equations for the molecular populations of the masing transition. We use this stability analysis to determine the conditions and parameters for which an astrophysical maser would become unstable. Our results are in agreement with recent observations of astrophysical masers in which fluctuations are found on time scales as short as one thousand seconds.
author: Scappaticci, Gerardo Angelo
language: eng
keywords: Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics
date published: 2011-05-07T13:20:12Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:25:18Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/21822