Acoustic Nonlinearities Produced by a Single Macroscopic Fracture in Granite

Strong nonlinear responses originating mainly from sliding on microfractures and open grain boundaries occur when rocks are strained above a threshold near 10−6 (1). We report here that introducing artificial tensile fractures in a brittle rock such as granite produces even stronger nonlinearities. By applying sufficient normal stress perpendicular to the fracture, the nonlinear response can be reduced to that typical of the intact rock. Our measurements are made by driving the sample in torsion at low frequency near 1 Hz. The nonlinear effects we observe are analogous to those caused by partially open fatigue cracks in metals, which generate harmonics when insonified at ultrasonic frequencies (2)

The Origin of Primordial Dwarf Stars and Baryonic Dark Matter

I present a scenario for the production of low mass, degenerate dwarfs of mass $>0.1 M_{\odot}$ via the mechanism of Lenzuni, Chernoff & Salpeter (1992). Such objects meet the mass limit requirements for halo dark matter from microlensing surveys while circumventing the chemical evolution constraints on normal white dwarf stars. I describe methods to observationally constrain this scenario and suggest that such objects may originate in small clusters formed from the thermal instability of shocked, heated gas in dark matter haloes, such as suggested by Fall & Rees (1985) for globular clusters.Comment: TeX, 4 pages plus 2 postscript figures. To appear in Astrophysical Journal Letter

Neutrons and Gamma Rays from the Alpha-Particle Bombardment of Be9, B10, B11, C13, and O18

Excitation curves at 0° and 90° were studied for neutrons and γ rays produced in bombardment of thin targets of Be9, B10, B11, C13, and O18 by α particles with energies of from 1.8 to 5.3 Mev. Resonances were observed in the Be9(α, n)C12 reaction at bombarding energies of 1.9, 2.3, 2.6, 3.98, 4.4, and 5.0 Mev. The C13(α, n)O16 reaction showed resonances at 2.09, 2.25, 2.42, 2.605, 2.69, 2.775, 2.825, 3.09, 3.33, 3.42, 3.67, 3.73, 4.125, 4.42, 4.50, 4.63, 4.75, and 5.05 Mev. The B10(α, n)N13 excitation curve has resonances at 2.16, 2.25, 2.90, 4.53, 4.85, and 5.36 Mev, while the γ-ray yield from the B10(α, pγ)C13 reaction showed all these as well as resonances at 3.6 and 3.95 Mev. The B11(α, n)C13 reaction has resonances at bombarding energies of 2.06, 2.60, 2.93, 2.97, 3.23, 3.54, 3.72, 3.92, 4.25, 4.34, and 5.00 Mev. The O18(α, n)Ne21 reaction was studied with a thicker target (90-130 kev). Resonances in the neutron yield were resolved at 2.21, 2.47, 2.57, 2.72, 2.94, 3.24, 3.63, 3.91, 4.12, 4.22, 4.33, 4.52, and 4.82 Mev. Cross sections and widths of the resonances in the various reactions were determined

The Nature of the Dense Core Population in the Pipe Nebula: Thermal Cores Under Pressure

In this paper we present the results of a systematic investigation of an entire population of starless dust cores within a single molecular cloud. Analysis of extinction data shows the cores to be dense objects characterized by a narrow range of density. Analysis of C18O and NH3 molecular-line observations reveals very narrow lines. The non-thermal velocity dispersions measured in both these tracers are found to be subsonic for the large majority of the cores and show no correlation with core mass (or size). Thermal pressure is thus the dominate source of internal gas pressure and support for most of the core population. The total internal gas pressures of the cores are found to be roughly independent of core mass over the entire range of the core mass function (CMF) indicating that the cores are in pressure equilibrium with an external source of pressure. This external pressure is most likely provided by the weight of the surrounding Pipe cloud within which the cores are embedded. Most of the cores appear to be pressure confined, gravitationally unbound entities whose nature, structure and future evolution are determined by only a few physical factors which include self-gravity, the fundamental processes of thermal physics and the simple requirement of pressure equilibrium with the surrounding environment. The observed core properties likely constitute the initial conditions for star formation in dense gas. The entire core population is found to be characterized by a single critical Bonnor-Ebert mass. This mass coincides with the characteristic mass of the Pipe CMF indicating that most cores formed in the cloud are near critical stability. This suggests that the mass function of cores (and the IMF) has its origin in the physical process of thermal fragmentation in a pressurized medium.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journa

Resonance production from jet fragmentation

Short lived resonances are sensitive to the medium properties in heavy-ion collisions. Heavy hadrons have larger probability to be produced within the quark gluon plasma phase due to their short formation times. Therefore heavy mass resonances are more likely to be affected by the medium, and the identification of early produced resonances from jet fragmentation might be a viable option to study chirality. The high momentum resonances on the away-side of a triggered di-jet are likely to be the most modified by the partonic or early hadronic medium. We will discuss first results of triggered hadron-resonance correlations in Cu+Cu heavy ion collisions.Comment: Hot Quarks Colorado 2008 Proceedings, 4 pages 5 figure

A Strategy for Interpretation of Microearthquake Tomography Results in the Salton Sea Geothermal Field Based upon Rock Physics Interpretations of State 2-14 Borehole Logs

We devise a strategy for analysis of Vp and Vs microearthquake tomography results in the Salton Sea geothermal field to identify important features of the geothermal reservoir. We first interpret rock properties in State 2-14 borehole based upon logged core through the reservoir. Then, we interpret seismic recordings in the well (Daley et al., 1988) to develop the strategy. We hypothesize that mapping Poisson's ratio has two applications for the Salton Sea geothermal reservoir: (1) to map the top of the reservoir, and (2) as a diagnostic for permeable zones. Poisson's ratio can be obtained from Vp and Vs. In the State 2-14 borehole, Poisson's ratio calculated from large scale averages ({approx} 150 m) shows a monotonic decrease with depth to about 1300 m, at which point it increases with depth. Our model is that the monotonic decrease is due to compaction, and the increase below 1300 m is due to the rocks being hydrothermally altered. We hypothesize we can map the depth to alteration by identifying the transition from decreasing to increasing values; and thus, map the top of the reservoir, which is associated with a known increase in sulfite, chlorite, and epidote alteration that may be indicative of hydrothermal activity. We also observe (from Daley et. al. plots) an anomalous drop in Poisson's ratio at a depth of about 900 m, within a sandstone formation. The sandstone has a P-wave velocity significantly higher than the siltstone above it but a lower velocity in the lower half of the formation relative to the upper half. We interpret the relative decrease in velocity to be due to fracturing and chemical alteration caused by permeability. We conclude that using Vp and Vs tomography results to obtain images of Poisson's ratio has the potential to identify significant features in the geothermal reservoir in this geologic setting. Seismic attenuation tomography results (mapped as Qp and Qs) should also be useful for evaluating geothermal reservoirs, but that is not addressed at this time

Spin gap in the Quasi-One-Dimensional S=1/2 Antiferromagnet: Cu2(1,4-diazacycloheptane)2Cl4

Cu_{2}(1,4-diazacycloheptane)_{2}Cl_{4} contains double chains of spin 1/2 Cu^{2+} ions. We report ac susceptibility, specific heat, and inelastic neutron scattering measurements on this material. The magnetic susceptibility, $\chi(T)$, shows a rounded maximum at T = 8 K indicative of a low dimensional antiferromagnet with no zero field magnetic phase transition. We compare the $\chi(T)$ data to exact diagonalization results for various one dimensional spin Hamiltonians and find excellent agreement for a spin ladder with intra-rung coupling $J_1 = 1.143(3)$ meV and two mutually frustrating inter-rung interactions: $J_2 = 0.21(3)$ meV and $J_3 = 0.09(5)$ meV. The specific heat in zero field is exponentially activated with an activation energy $\Delta = 0.89(1)$ meV. A spin gap is also found through inelastic neutron scattering on powder samples which identify a band of magnetic excitations for $0.8 < \hbar\omega < 1.5$ meV. Using sum-rules we derive an expression for the dynamic spin correlation function associated with non-interacting propagating triplets in a spin ladder. The van-Hove singularities of such a model are not observed in our scattering data indicating that magnetic excitations in Cu_{2}(1,4-diazacycloheptane)_{2}Cl_{4} are more complicated. For magnetic fields above $H_{c1} \simeq 7.2$ T specific heat data versus temperature show anomalies indicating a phase transition to an ordered state below T = 1 K.Comment: 9 pages, 8 postscript figures, LaTeX, Submitted to PRB 8/4/97, e-mail Comments to [email protected]

From 'River Cottage' to 'Chicken Run': Hugh Fearnley-Whttingstall and the class politics of ethical consumption

Lifestyle television provides a key site through which to explore the dilemmas of ethical consumption, as the genre shifts to consider the ethics of different consumption practices and taste cultures. UK television cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's TV programmes offer fertile ground not only for thinking about television personalities as lifestyle experts and moral entrepreneurs, but also for thinking about how the meanings and uses of their television image are inflected by genre. In this article we explore how the shift from the lifestyled downshifting narrative of the River Cottage series to the 'campaigning culinary documentary' Hugh's Chicken Run exposes issues of celebrity, class and ethics. While both series are concerned with ethical consumption, they work in different ways to reveal a distinction between 'ethical' and 'unethical' consumption practices and positions - positions that are inevitably classed

Compressional and Shear Wave Velocities for Artificial Granular Media Under Simulated Near Surface Conditions

Laboratory ultrasonic experiments were made on artificial soil samples in order to observe the effects of slight overburden, sand/clay ratio and pore fluid saturation on compressional and shear wave velocities. Up to several meters of overburden were simulated by applying low uniaxial stress of about 0.1 MPa to a restrained sample. Samples were fabricated from Ottawa sand mixed with a swelling clay (Wyoming bentonite). The amount of clay added was 1 to 40 percent by mass. Most measurements were made under room-dry conditions, but some measurements were made for fully-saturated sand-clay mixtures and for partially-saturated sand samples. For the dry sand-clay samples, compressional (P) velocities were low, ranging from about 200 to 500 m/s for the mixtures at low stress. Shear (S) velocities were about half of the compressional velocity, about 70 to 250 m/s. Dramatic increases in all velocities occurred with small uniaxial loads, indicating strong nonlinearity. Composition and grain packing control the mechanical response at grain contacts and the resulting nonlinear response at low stresses. P and S velocities are sensitive to the amount of clay added, even at low concentrations. At these low equivalent overburden conditions, adhesion and capillarity at grain contacts affect wave amplitudes, velocities, and frequency content in the partial saturation case

Could dark matter or neutrinos discriminate between the enantiomers of a chiral molecule?

We examine the effect of cold dark matter on the discrimination between the two enantiomers of a chiral molecule. We estimate the energy difference between the two enantiomers due to the interaction between fermionic WIMPs (weak interacting massive particles) and molecular electrons on the basis that electrons have opposite helicities in opposite enantiomers. It is found that this energy difference is completely negligible. Dark matter could then be discarded as an inductor of chiroselection between enantiomers and then of biological homochirality. However, the effect of cosmological neutrinos, revisited with the currently accepted neutrino density, would reach, in the most favorable case, an upper bound of the same order of magnitude as the energy difference obtained from the well known electroweak electron-nucleus interaction in some molecules