Inorganic glass ceramic slip rings

Prototypes of slip rings have been fabricated from ceramic glass, a material which is highly resistant to deterioration due to high temperature. Slip ring assemblies were not structurally damaged by mechanical tests and performed statisfactorily for 200 hours

Sensitivity of galaxy cluster dark energy constraints to halo modeling uncertainties

We perform a sensitivity study of dark energy constraints from galaxy cluster surveys to uncertainties in the halo mass function, bias and the mass-observable relation. For a set of idealized surveys, we evaluate cosmological constraints as priors on sixteen nuisance parameters in the halo modeling are varied. We find that surveys with a higher mass limit are more sensitive to mass-observable uncertainties while surveys with low mass limits that probe more of the mass function shape and evolution are more sensitive to mass function errors. We examine the correlations among nuisance and cosmological parameters. Mass function parameters are strongly positively (negatively) correlated with Omega_DE (w). For the mass-observable parameters, Omega_DE is most sensitive to the normalization and its redshift evolution while w is more sensitive to redshift evolution in the variance. While survey performance is limited mainly by mass-observable uncertainties, the current level of mass function error is responsible for up to a factor of two degradation in ideal cosmological constraints. For surveys that probe to low masses (10^13.5 h^-1 M_sun), even percent-level constraints on model nuisance parameters result in a degradation of ~ sqrt{2} (2) on Omega_DE (w) relative to perfect knowledge.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted by PR

Design investigation and development of design improvements for ST124-M stabilized platform slip ring capsules Final report

Eliminating insulating deposits on precious metal contacts in stabilized platform slip ring capsule

Optical/thermal analysis methodology for a space-qualifiable RTP furnace

A methodology to predict the coupled optical/thermal performance of a reflective cavity heating system was developed and a laboratory test to verify the method was carried out. The procedure was utilized to design a rapid thermal processing (RTP) furnace for the Robot-Operated Material Processing in Space (ROMPS) Program which is a planned STS HH-G canister experiment involving robotics and material processing in microgravity. The laboratory test employed a tungsten-halogen reflector/lamp to heat thin, p-type silicon wafers. Measurements instrumentation consisted of 5-mil Pt/Pt-Rh thermocouples and an optical pyrometer. The predicted results, utilizing an optical ray-tracing program and a lumped-capacitance thermal analyzer, showed good agreement with the measured data for temperatures exceeding 1300 C

Cosmological redshift distortion: deceleration, bias and density parameters from future redshift surveys of galaxies

The observed two-point correlation functions of galaxies in redshift space become anisotropic due to the geometry of the universe as well as due to the presence of the peculiar velocity field. On the basis of linear perturbation theory, we expand the induced anisotropies of the correlation functions with respect to the redshift $z$, and obtain analytic formulae to infer the deceleration parameter $q_0$, the density parameter $\Omega_0$ and the derivative of the bias parameter $d\ln b/dz$ at $z=0$ in terms of the observable statistical quantities. The present method does not require any assumption of the shape and amplitude of the underlying fluctuation spectrum, and thus can be applied to future redshift surveys of galaxies including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We also evaluate quantitatively the systematic error in estimating the value of $\beta_0 \equiv \Omega_0^{0.6}/b$ from a galaxy redshift survey on the basis of a conventional estimator for $\beta_0$ which neglects both the geometrical distortion effect and the time evolution of the parameter $\beta(z)$. If the magnitude limit of the survey is as faint as 18.5 (in B-band) as in the case of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the systematic error ranges between -20% and 10% depending on the cosmological parameters. Although such systematic errors are smaller than the statistical errors in the current surveys, they will dominate the expected statistical error for future surveys.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figs, aastex, ApJ in press, replaced version includes minor correction

The Phase-Space Density Profiles of Cold Dark Matter Halos

We examine the coarse-grained phase-space density profiles of a set of recent, high-resolution simulations of galaxy-sized Cold Dark Matter (CDM) halos. Over two and a half decades in radius the phase-space density closely follows a power-law, $\rho/\sigma^3 \propto r^{-\alpha}$, with $\alpha = 1.875$. This behaviour matches the self-similar solution obtained by Bertschinger for secondary infall in a uniformly expanding universe. On the other hand, the density profile corresponding to Bertschinger's solution (a power-law of slope $r^{2\alpha-6}$) differs significantly from the density profiles of CDM halos. We show that isotropic mass distributions with power-law phase-space density profiles form a one-parameter family of structures controlled by $\kappa$, the ratio of the velocity dispersion to the peak circular velocity. For $\kappa=\alpha=1.875$ one recovers the power-law solution $\rho \propto r^{2\alpha-6}$. For $\kappa$ larger than some critical value, $\kappa_{cr}$, solutions become non-physical, leading to negative densities near the center. The critical solution, $\kappa =\kappa_{cr}$, has the narrowest phase-space density distribution compatible with the power-law phase-space density stratification constraint. Over three decades in radius the critical solution is indistinguishable from an NFW profile. Our results thus suggest that the NFW profile is the result of a hierarchical assembly process that preserves the phase-space stratification of Bertschinger's infall model but which ``mixes'' the system maximally, perhaps as a result of repeated merging.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures; submitted to The Astrophysical Journa

The use of ERTS/LANDSAT imagery in relation to airborne remote sensing for terrain analysis in Western Queensland, Australia

The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT 1 and 2 imagery contrast the geology of the Cloncurry-Dobbyn and the Gregory River-Mt. Isa areas very clearly. Known major structural features and lithological units are clearly displayed while, hitherto unknown lineaments were revealed. Throughout this area, similar rock types produce similar spectral signatures, e.g. quartzites produce light signatures, iron rich rocks produce dark signatures. More geological data are discernible at the 1:50,000 scale than on the 1:250,000 scale. Ore horizons may be identified at the 1:50,000 scale, particularly where they are associated with iron rich rocks. On the level plains north of Cloncurry, distinctive spectral signatures produced by the combined reflectances of plant cover, soils, and geology, distinguish different types of superficial deposits. Existing and former channels of the Cloncurry and Williams Rivers are distinguished at the 1:50,000 scale on both the LANDSAT 1 and 2 imagery. On the Cloncurry Plains, fence lines are discernible on the 1:50,000 LANDSAT 2 imagery

Velocity bias in a LCDM model

We use N-body simulations to study the velocity bias of dark matter halos, the difference in the velocity fields of dark matter and halos, in a flat low- density LCDM model. The high force, 2kpc/h, and mass, 10^9Msun/h, resolution allows dark matter halos to survive in very dense environments of groups and clusters making it possible to use halos as galaxy tracers. We find that the velocity bias pvb measured as a ratio of pairwise velocities of the halos to that of the dark matter evolves with time and depends on scale. At high redshifts (z ~5) halos move generally faster than the dark matter almost on all scales: pvb(r)~1.2, r>0.5Mpc/h. At later moments the bias decreases and gets below unity on scales less than r=5Mpc/h: pvb(r)~(0.6-0.8) at z=0. We find that the evolution of the pairwise velocity bias follows and probably is defined by the spatial antibias of the dark matter halos at small scales. One-point velocity bias b_v, defined as the ratio of the rms velocities of halos and dark matter, provides a more direct measure of the difference in velocities because it is less sensitive to the spatial bias. We analyze b_v in clusters of galaxies and find that halos are ``hotter'' than the dark matter: b_v=(1.2-1.3) for r=(0.2-0.8)r_vir, where r_vir is the virial radius. At larger radii, b_v decreases and approaches unity at r=(1-2)r_vir. We argue that dynamical friction may be responsible for this small positive velocity bias b_v>1 found in the central parts of clusters. We do not find significant difference in the velocity anisotropy of halos and the dark matter. The dark matter the velocity anisotropy can be approximated as beta(x)=0.15 +2x/(x^2+4), where x is measured in units of the virial radius.Comment: 13 pages, Latex, AASTeXv5 and natbi

The synergistic effects of slip ring-brush design and materials

Synergistic effects of slip ring-brush design and fabrication for vacuum application determined by friction, wear, electrical noise, and dielectric strength dat

Coupling of phonons to a helium atom adsorbed on graphite

We compute the self-energy for a ^4He atom adsorbed on graphite to second order in the phonon coupling. The phonon contributions amount to several degrees Kelvin. The imaginary part corresponds to a lifetime of some 10^(-11) s