Light shift averaging in paraffin-coated alkali vapor cells

Light shifts are an important source of noise and systematics in optically pumped magnetometers. We demonstrate that the long spin coherence time in paraffin-coated cells leads to spatial averaging of the light shifts over the entire cell volume. This renders the averaged light shift independent, under certain approximations, of the light-intensity distribution within the sensor cell. These results and the underlying mechanism can be extended to other spatially varying phenomena in anti-relaxation-coated cells with long coherence times.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Search for plant biomagnetism with a sensitive atomic magnetometer

We report what we believe is the first experimental limit placed on plant biomagnetism. Measurements with a sensitive atomic magnetometer were performed on the Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) inflorescence, known for its fast bio-chemical processes while blooming. We find that the surface magnetic field from these processes, projected along the Earth's magnetic field, and measured at the surface of the plant, is less then ~0.6uG.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to be published - modified one sentence in abstract + reformatted fi

Study of the Amplitude of Pressure and Thrust Oscillations in a Lab-Scale Hybrid Rocket

Hybrid rockets are being studied as a potential replacement for the solid rocket boosters on the NASA space shuttle. One physical characteristic of hybrid rockets that must be understood and overcome is potentially severe pressure oscillations during combustion. Pressure oscillations inside the rocket combustion chamber lead to oscillations in the thrust of the rocket. These oscillations are damaging to potential human passengers and cargo and must be minimized. Current theories surmise that the oscillations are caused by combustion chamber geometry, oxygen feed line parameters, and/or fuel combustion characteristics. This study focuses on the role of the fuel characteristics in pressure and thrust oscillations. The standard hybrid rocket fuel is hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB). A fuel additive, guanidinium azo-tetrazolate (GAT), has been shown to increase thrust and impulse of the rocket when added as 15% by mass to the fuel. This study compares the amplitude of the pressure and thrust oscillations of the rocket when burning HTPB fuels and when burning GAT-added fuels. Data from several firings at oxygen flow rates from 0.018 kg/sec to 0.054 kg/sec are analyzed. Results show the GAT-added fuel combustion shows no significant increase or decrease in the amplitude of the pressure and thrust oscillations

Long-lived heteronuclear spin-singlet states

We report observation of long-lived spin-singlet states in a 13C-1H spin pair at zero magnetic field. In 13C-labeled formic acid, we observe spin-singlet lifetimes as long as 37 seconds, about a factor of three longer than the T1 lifetime of dipole polarization in the triplet state. We also observe that the lifetime of the singlet-triplet coherence, T2, is longer than T1. Moreover, we demonstrate that this singlet states formed by spins of a heteronucleus and a 1H nucleus, can exhibit longer lifetimes than the respective triplet states in systems consisting of more than two nuclear spins. Although long-lived homonuclear spin-singlet states have been extensively studied, this is the first experimental observation of analogous spin-singlets consisting of a heteronucleus and a proton.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure