Active cleaning technique for removing contamination from optical surfaces in space

An active cleaning technique for removing contaminants from optical surfaces in space was investigated with emphasis on the feasibility of using plasma exposure as a means of in-situ cleaning. The major work accomplished includes: (1) development of an in-situ reflectometer for use in conjunction with the contaminant film deposition/cleaning facility; (2) completion of Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) filter treatment experiments to assess the effects of plasma exposure on the UV transmittance; (3) attempts to correlate the atomic oxygen flux with cleaning rate; (4) completion of in-situ butadien contamination/plasma cleaning/UV reflectance measurement experiments; (5) carbon cleaning experiments using various gases; (6) completion of silicone contamination/cleaning experiments; and (7) experiments conducted at low chamber pressures to determine cleaning rate distribution and contamination of surfaces adjacent to those being cleaned

Quantum Electrodynamics vacuum polarization solver

The self-consistent modeling of vacuum polarization due to virtual electron-positron fluctuations is of relevance for many near term experiments associated with high intensity radiation sources and represents a milestone in describing scenarios of extreme energy density. We present a generalized finite-difference time-domain solver that can incorporate the modifications to Maxwell's equations due to vacuum polarization. Our multidimensional solver reproduced in one dimensional configurations the results for which an analytic treatment is possible, yielding vacuum harmonic generation and birefringence. The solver has also been tested for two-dimensional scenarios where finite laser beam spot sizes must be taken into account. We employ this solver to explore different types of counter-propagating configurations that can be relevant for future planned experiments aiming to detect quantum vacuum dynamics at ultra-high electromagnetic field intensities

Young Stars with SALT

We present a spectroscopic and kinematic analysis of 79 nearby M dwarfs in 77 systems. All are low-proper-motion southern hemisphere objects and were identified in a nearby star survey with a demonstrated sensitivity to young stars. Using low-resolution optical spectroscopy from the Red Side Spectrograph (RSS) on the South African Large Telescope (SALT), we have determined radial velocities, H-alpha, Lithium 6708\AA, and Potassium 7699\AA~equivalent widths linked to age and activity, and spectral types for all our targets. Combined with astrometric information from literature sources, we identify 44 young stars. Eighteen are previously known members of moving groups within 100 parsecs of the Sun. Twelve are new members, including one member of the TW Hydra moving group, one member of the 32 Orionis moving group, nine members of Tucana-Horologium, one member of Argus, and two new members of AB Doradus. We also find fourteen young star systems that are not members of any known groups. The remaining 33 star systems do not appear to be young. This appears to be evidence of a new population of nearby young stars not related to the known nearby young moving groups.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures, 6 tables. Accepted to Ap

Photon spectra from quark generation by WIMPs

In this work we provide the fitting formula valid for the simulated photon spectra from WIMP annihilation into light quark-anti quark (qq-) channels in a wide range of WIMP masses. We illustrate our results for the cc- channel.Comment: To appear in the AIP proceedings of "Quark Confinement and Hadron Spectrum IX" (QCHSIX), Madrid 30th August-3rd September 2010. 3 pages, 6 figure