Atmospheric Circulation of Exoplanets (2009)
Showman, Adam P., Cho, James Y-K., Menou, Kristen
We survey the basic principles of atmospheric dynamics relevant to explaining existing and future observations of exoplanets, both gas giant and terrestrial. Given the paucity of data on exoplanet...
Radiation-Hydrodynamics of Hot Jupiter Atmospheres (2009)
Menou, Kristen, Rauscher, Emily
Radiative transfer in planetary atmospheres is usually treated in the static limit, i.e., neglecting atmospheric motions. We argue that hot Jupiter atmospheres, with possibly fast (sonic) wind...
Three Dimensional Modeling of Hot Jupiter Atmospheric Flows (2009)
Rauscher, Emily, Menou, Kristen
We present a three dimensional hot Jupiter model, extending from 200 bar to 1 mbar, using the Intermediate General Circulation Model from the University of Reading. Our horizontal spectral resolution...
Yang, Chao-Chin, Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark, Menou, Kristen
The dynamics of planetesimals and planetary cores may be strongly influenced by density perturbations driven by magneto-rotational turbulence in their natal protoplanetary gas disks. Using the local...
Rayleigh Adjustment of Narrow Barriers in Protoplanetary Discs (2009)
Yang, Chao-Chin, Menou, Kristen
Sharp density features in protoplanetary discs, for instance at the edge of a magnetically dead zone, have recently been proposed as effective barriers to slow down or even stop the problematically...
Haiman, Zoltán, Kocsis, Bence, Menou, Kristen
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) in galactic nuclei are thought to be a common by-product of major galaxy mergers. We use simple disk models for the circumbinary gas and for the binary-disk...
Bloom, Joshua S., Holz, Daniel E., Hughes, Scott A., Menou, Kristen, Adams, Allan, Anderson, Scott F., ...
It is widely expected that the coming decade will witness the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs). The ground-based LIGO and Virgo GW observatories are being upgraded to advanced...
Haiman, Zoltán, Kocsis, Bence, Menou, Kristen, Lippai, Zoltán, Frei, Zsolt
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) with masses in the range 10^4-10^7 M_sun/(1+z), produced in galaxy mergers, are thought to complete their coalescence due to the emission of gravitational...
Long period planets from dynamical relaxation (2008)
Recent imaging campaigns indicate the likely existence of massive planets (~ 1-10 MJ) on ~1000 year orbits about a few percent of stars. Such objects are not easily explained in most current planet...
Atmospheric Circulation of Hot Jupiters: A Shallow Three-Dimensional Model (2008)
Menou, Kristen, Rauscher, Emily
Remote observing of exoplanetary atmospheres is now possible, offering us access to circulation regimes unlike any of the familiar Solar System cases. Atmospheric circulation models are being...
Haiman, Zoltán, Kocsis, Bence, Menou, Kristen
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) produced in galaxy mergers are thought to complete their coalescence, below separations of r_GW=10^{-3} (M_BH/10^8 M_sun)^{3/4} pc, as their orbit decays due...
Habitable Climates: The Influence of Obliquity (2008)
Spiegel, David S., Menou, Kristen, Scharf, Caleb A.
Extrasolar terrestrial planets with the potential to host life might have large obliquities or be subject to strong obliquity variations. We revisit the habitability of oblique planets with an energy...
Microphysical dissipation, turbulence and magnetic fields in hyper-accreting discs (2008)
Rossi, Elena M., Armitage, Philip J., Menou, Kristen
Hyper-accreting discs occur in compact-object mergers and collapsars, and may power gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We calculate the microscopic viscosity and resistivity of plasma in these discs, and...
Cosmological Physics with Black Holes (and Possibly White Dwarfs) (2008)
Menou, Kristen, Haiman, Zoltan, Kocsis, Bence
The notion that microparsec-scale black holes can be used to probe gigaparsec-scale physics may seem counterintuitive, at first. Yet, the gravitational observatory LISA will detect...
On Signatures of Atmospheric Features in Thermal Phase Curves of Hot Jupiters (2007)
Rauscher, Emily, Menou, Kristen, Cho, James Y-K., Seager, Sara, Hansen, Brad
Turbulence is ubiquitous in Solar System planetary atmospheres. In hot Jupiter atmospheres, the combination of moderately slow rotation and thick pressure scale height may result in dynamical weather...
Kocsis, Bence, Haiman, Zoltan, Menou, Kristen
Electromagnetic (EM) counterparts to supermassive black hole binary mergers observed by LISA can be localized to within the field of view of astronomical instruments ~10 deg^2 hours to weeks prior to...
Spiegel, David S., Menou, Kristen, Scharf, Caleb A.
According to the standard liquid-water definition, the Earth is only partially habitable. We reconsider planetary habitability in the framework of energy-balance models, the simplest seasonal models...
Atmospheric Circulation of Hot Jupiters: A Review of Current Understanding (2007)
Showman, Adam P., Menou, Kristen, Cho, James Y-K.
Hot Jupiters are new laboratories for the physics of giant planet atmospheres. Subject to unusual forcing conditions, the circulation regime on these planets may be unlike anything known in the Solar...
Probing Gravity with Spacetime Sirens (2007)
Deffayet, Cedric, Menou, Kristen
A gravitational observatory such as LISA will detect coalescing pairs of massive black holes, accurately measure their luminosity distance and help identify a host galaxy or an electromagnetic...
The Origin of Solar Activity in the Tachocline (2007)
Parfrey, Kyle P., Menou, Kristen
Solar active regions, produced by the emergence of tubes of strong magnetic field in the photosphere, are restricted to within 35 degrees of the solar equator. The nature of the dynamo processes that...
Turbulent Torques on Protoplanets in a Dead Zone (2007)
Oishi, Jeffrey S., Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark, Menou, Kristen
Migration of protoplanets in their gaseous host disks may be largely responsible for the observed orbital distribution of extrasolar planets. Recent simulations have shown that the magnetorotational...
Kocsis, Bence, Haiman, Zoltán, Menou, Kristen, Frei, Zsolt
The continuous improvement in localization errors (sky position and distance) in real time as LISA observes the gradual inspiral of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary can be of great help in...
Toward Eclipse Mapping of Hot Jupiters (2006)
Rauscher, Emily, Menou, Kristen, Seager, Sara, Deming, Drake, Cho, James Y-K., Hansen, Brad
Recent Spitzer infrared measurements of hot Jupiter eclipses suggest that eclipse mapping techniques could be used to spatially resolve the day-side photospheric emission of these planets using...
Hot Jupiter Variability in Eclipse Depth (2006)
Rauscher, Emily, Menou, Kristen, Cho, James Y-K., Seager, Sara, Hansen, Brad
Physical conditions in the atmospheres of tidally-locked, slowly-rotating hot Jupiters correspond to dynamical circulation regimes with Rhines scales and Rossby deformation radii comparable to the...
Cho, James Y-K., Menou, Kristen, Hansen, Brad, Seager, Sara
We present results from a set of over 300 pseudospectral simulations of atmospheric circulation on extrasolar giant planets with circular orbits. The simulations are of high enough resolution (up to...
Magneto-Rotational Transport in the Early Sun (2006)
Angular momentum transport must have occurred in the Sun's radiative zone to explain its current solid body rotation. We survey the stability of the early Sun's radiative zone with respect to...
Hot Accretion With Conduction: Spontaneous Thermal Outflows (2006)
Tanaka, Takamitsu, Menou, Kristen
Motivated by the low-collisionality of gas accreted onto black holes in Sgr A* and other nearby galactic nuclei, we study a family of 2D advective accretion solutions with thermal conduction. While...
Diffusive Migration of Low-Mass Proto-planets in Turbulent Disks (2006)
Johnson, Eric T., Goodman, Jeremy, Menou, Kristen
Torque fluctuations due to magnetorotational turbulence in proto-planetary disks may greatly influence the migration patterns and survival probabilities of nascent planets. Provided that the...
All Quiet in Globular Clusters (2005)
Dobrotka, Andrej, Lasota, Jean-Pierre, Menou, Kristen
Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) should be present in large numbers in Globular Clusters (GCs). Numerous low-luminosity X-ray sources identified over the past few years as candidate CVs in GCs support...
Hot Accretion With Saturated Conduction (2005)
Observations of the hot gas surrounding Sgr A* and a few other nearby galactic nuclei imply electron and proton mean free paths comparable to the gas capture radius: hot accretion likely proceeds...
Golden Binary Gravitational-Wave Sources: Robust Probes of Strong-Field Gravity (2004)
Hughes, Scott A., Menou, Kristen
Space-born gravitational-wave interferometers such as {\it LISA} will detect the gravitational wave (GW) signal from the inspiral, plunge and ringdown phases of massive black hole binary mergers at...
On The Dark Side of Quasar Evolution (2004)
Menou, Kristen, Haiman, Zoltan
Recent improved determinations of the mass density rho_BH of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the local universe have allowed accurate comparisons of rho_BH with the amount of light received from...
The Mass Budget of Merging Quasars (2004)
Menou, Kristen, Haiman, Zoltan
Two spectacular results emerging from recent studies of nearby dead quasars and distant active quasars are (i) the existence of tight relations between the masses of black holes (BHs) and the...
Differential Rotation in Weakly-Magnetized Neutron Star Atmospheres (2004)
The atmospheres of weakly-magnetized neutron stars expand hydrostatically and rotate differentially during thermonuclear X-ray bursts. Differential rotation is probably related to the frequency...
Menou, Kristen, Balbus, Steven A., Spruit, Henk C.
We study the local stability of stratified, differentially-rotating fluids to axisymmetric perturbations in the presence of a weak magnetic field and of finite resistivity, viscosity and heat...
Low-Mass Proto-Planet Migration in T-Tauri Alpha-Disks (2003)
Menou, Kristen, Goodman, Jeremy
We present detailed estimates of ''type-I'' migration rates for low-mass proto-planets embedded in steady-state T-Tauri alpha-disks, based on Lindblad torque calculations ignoring feedback on the...
Chandra Observations of the Dwarf Nova WX Hyi in Quiescence (2003)
Perna, Rosalba, McDowell, Jonathan, Menou, Kristen, Raymond, John, Medvedev, Mikhail
We report Chandra observations of the dwarf nova WX Hyi in quiescence. The X-ray spectrum displays strong and narrow emission lines of N, O, Mg, Ne, Si, S and Fe. The various ionization states...
Black Hole Accretion Disks On The Edge (2003)
The local axisymmetric stability of hydrodynamical and magnetized, nearly-Keplerian gaseous accretion disks around non-rotating black holes is examined in the vicinity of the classical...
Probing Distant Massive Black Holes with LISA (2003)
Idealized models are used to illustrate the potential of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) as a probe of the largely unknown population of cosmologically-distant Massive Black Holes...
"Weather" Variability Of Close-in Extrasolar Giant Planets (2002)
Menou, Kristen, Cho, James Y-K., Seager, Sara, Hansen, Brad
Shallow-water numerical simulations show that the atmospheric circulation of the close-in extrasolar giant planet (EGP) HD 209458b is characterized by moving circumpolar vortices and few bands/jets...
Dynamical Habitability of Known Extrasolar Planetary Systems (2002)
Menou, Kristen, Tabachnik, Serge
Habitability is usually defined as the requirement for a terrestrial planet's atmosphere to sustain liquid water. This definition can be complemented by the dynamical requirement that other planets...
Changing Face of the Extrasolar Giant Planet, HD 209458b (2002)
Cho, James Y-K., Menou, Kristen, Hansen, Brad, Seager, Sara
High-resolution atmospheric flow simulations of the tidally-locked extrasolar giant planet, HD 209458b, show large-scale spatio-temporal variability. This is in contrast to the simple, permanent...
The Giant X-Ray Flare of NGC 5905: Tidal Disruption of a Star, a Brown Dwarf, or a Planet? (2002)
Li, Li-Xin, Narayan, Ramesh, Menou, Kristen
We model the 1990 giant X-ray flare of the quiescent galaxy NGC 5905 as the tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole. From the observed rapid decline of the luminosity, over a...
Ivezic, Zeljko, Menou, Kristen, Knapp, Gillian R., Strauss, Michael A., Lupton, Robert H., Vanden Berk, Daniel E., ...
We discuss the optical and radio properties of similar to30,000 FIRST (radio, 20 cm, sensitive to 1 mJy) sources positionally associated within 1."5 with a Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) (optical,...
Sloan Digital Sky Survey: early data release (2002)
Stoughton, Chris, Lupton, Robert H., Bernardi, Mariangela, Blanton, Michael R., Burles, Scott M., Castander, Francisco J., ...
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is an imaging and spectroscopic survey that will eventually cover approximately one-quarter of the celestial sphere and collect spectra of ≈ 106 galaxies,...
Sloan Digital Sky Survey: early data release (2002)
Stoughton, Chris, Lupton, Robert H., Bernardi, Mariangela, Blanton, Michael R., Burles, Scott M., Castander, Francisco J., ...
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is an imaging and spectroscopic survey that will eventually cover approximately one-quarter of the celestial sphere and collect spectra of ≈ 106 galaxies,...
Hot Accretion onto White Dwarfs in Quiescent Dwarf Novae (2001)
Medvedev, Mikhail V., Menou, Kristen
We present dynamically consistent solutions for hot accretion onto unmagnetized, rotating white dwarfs (WDs) in five quiescent dwarf novae. The measured WD rotation rates (and other system...
Hydrogen-Poor Disks in Compact X-Ray Binaries (2001)
Menou, Kristen, Perna, Rosalba, Hernquist, Lars
We show that accretion disks in several compact X-ray binaries with hydrogen-depleted donors are likely subject to a thermal ionization instability, unless they are strongly irradiated. These disks...
Black Hole Accretion in Transient X-Ray Binaries (2001)
Recent work on the modes of accretion onto black holes (BHs) in Soft X-Ray Transients (SXTs) is reviewed, with an emphasis on uncertainties affecting models of accretion during quiescence (inner hot...
Activity From Tidal Disruptions in Galactic Nuclei (2001)
Menou, Kristen, Quataert, Eliot
The tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole is expected to lead to a short bright flare followed by an extended period of low-level emission. Existing models of the late-time...
The Quiescence of Dwarf Novae and X-ray Transients (2001)
Our understanding of the structure and properties of accretion disks in quiescent Dwarf Novae and X-ray Transients is very limited. Observations during quiescence challenge some of the standard Disk...
Accretion-Assisted Spindown of Young Radio Pulsars (2001)
Menou, Kristen, Perna, Rosalba, Hernquist, Lars
We present a model for the spindown of young radio pulsars in which the neutron star loses rotational energy not only by emitting magnetic dipole radiation but also by torquing a surrounding...
Stability and Evolution of Supernova Fallback Disks (2001)
Menou, Kristen, Perna, Rosalba, Hernquist, Lars
We show that thin accretion disks made of Carbon or Oxygen are subject to the same thermal ionization instability as Hydrogen and Helium disks. We argue that the instability applies to disks of any...
Broad Absorption Line Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with VLA-FIRST Radio Detections (2001)
Menou, Kristen, Berk, Daniel E. Vanden, Ivezic, Zeljko, Kim, Rita S. J., Knapp, Gillian R., Richards, Gordon T., ...
We present 13 Broad Absorption Line (BAL) quasars, including 12 new objects, which were identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and matched within 2'' to sources in the FIRST radio survey...
The Merger History of Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxies (2001)
Menou, Kristen, Haiman, Zoltan, Narayanan, Vijay K.
The ubiquity of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the centers of nearby luminous galaxies can arise from the multiple mergers experienced by dark matter halos in hierarchical structure formation...
Menou, Kristen, McClintock, Jeffrey E.
We use the observed optical-UV and X-ray emission spectrum of Cen X-4 during quiescence to constrain models for the accretion flow in this system. We argue that the optical-UV emission is not due to...
Optical Spectroscopy Of The X-Ray Transient XTE J1118+480 In Outburst (2000)
Dubus, Guillaume, Kim, Rita S. J., Menou, Kristen, Szkody, Paula, Bowen, David V.
We report on optical spectroscopic observations of the X-ray Transient XTE J1118+480 covering the period from April 7, 2000 to July 4, 2000. The spectrum is characterized by weak, broad,...
Viscosity Mechanisms in Accretion Disks (2000)
The self-sustained turbulence which develops in magnetized accretion disks is suppressed in the weakly-ionized, quiescent disks of close binary stars. Because accretion still proceeds during...
Menou, Kristen, Quataert, Eliot
We consider the combined role of the thermal ionization, magneto-rotational and gravitational instabilities in thin accretion disks around supermassive black holes. We find that in the portions of...
X-Ray Lines from Hot Flows around White Dwarfs. Application to SS Cygni (2000)
Menou, Kristen, Perna, Rosalba, Raymond, John
Rather than accreting via a disk, some White Dwarfs (WDs) in quiescent Dwarf Novae (DN) could accrete via an Advection-Dominated Accretion Flow (ADAF) possibly responsible for the X-ray...
Advection-Dominated Accretion Onto Weakly-Magnetized White Dwarfs (2000)
The boundary layers of weakly-magnetized white dwarfs (WDs) accreting at rates
Menou, Kristen, Hameury, Jean-Marie, Lasota, Jean-Pierre, Narayan, Ramesh
We construct time-dependent models of accretion discs around black holes and neutron stars. We investigate the effect of evaporating the disc inner regions during quiescence on the predictions of the...
Disc instability models, evaporation and radius variations (1999)
Hameury, Jean-Marie, Dubus, Guillaume, Lasota, Jean-Pierre, Menou, Kristen
We show that the outcome of disc instability models is strongly influenced by boundary conditions such as the position of the inner and outer disc edges. We discuss other sources of uncertainties,...
Structure and properties of transition fronts in accretion discs (1998)
Menou, Kristen, Hameury, Jean-Marie, Stehle, Rudolf
We use high-resolution time-dependent numerical simulations of accretion discs around white dwarfs to study the structure and properties of transition fronts in the context of the thermal-viscous...
On the Cosmological Evolution of the Luminosity Function and the Accretion Rate of Quasars (1998)
Haiman, Zoltan, Menou, Kristen
We consider a class of models for the redshift evolution (between $0\lsim z \lsim 4$) of the observed optical and X-ray quasar luminosity functions (LFs), with the following assumptions: (i) the...
Black Hole and Neutron Star Transients in Quiescence (1998)
Menou, Kristen, Esin, Ann A., Narayan, Ramesh, Garcia, Michael R., Lasota, Jean-Pierre, McClintock, Jeffrey E.
We consider the X-ray luminosity difference between neutron star and black hole soft X-ray transients (NS and BH SXTs) in quiescence. The current observational data suggest that BH SXTs are...
A Population of Faint Non-Transient Low Mass Black Hole Binaries (1998)
Menou, Kristen, Narayan, Ramesh, Lasota, Jean-Pierre
We study the thermal and viscous stability of accretion flows in Low Mass Black Hole Binaries (LMBHBs). We consider a model in which an inner advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) is surrounded...
Accretion disc outbursts: a new version of an old model (1998)
Hameury, Jean-Marie, Menou, Kristen, Dubus, Guillaume, Lasota, Jean-Pierre, Hure, Jean-Marc
We have developed 1D time-dependent numerical models of accretion discs, using an adaptive grid technique and an implicit numerical scheme, in which the disc size is allowed to vary with time. The...
Astrophysical Evidence for Black Hole Event Horizons (1998)
Menou, Kristen, Quataert, Eliot, Narayan, Ramesh
Astronomers have discovered many potential black holes in X-ray binaries and galactic nuclei. These black holes are usually identified by the fact that they are too massive to be neutron stars. Until...
Kristen Menou, Ann A. Esin, Ramesh Narayan, Michael R. Garcia, Jeffrey E. Mcclintock
We consider the X-ray luminosity di†erence between neutron star and black hole soft X-ray transients (NS and BH SXTs) in quiescence. The current observational data suggest that BH SXTs are...
On the origin of episodic accretion in Dwarf Novae (1997)
Gammie, Charles F., Menou, Kristen
We show that dwarf nova disks in quiescence have rather low magnetic Reynolds number, of order 10^3. Numerical simulations of magnetized accretion disks suggest that under these conditions...