10,995 research outputs found
Electrostatic trapping and in situ detection of Rydberg atoms above chip-based transmission lines
Beams of helium atoms in Rydberg-Stark states with principal quantum number
and electric dipole moments of 4600~D have been decelerated from a mean
initial longitudinal speed of 2000~m/s to zero velocity in the laboratory-fixed
frame-of-reference in the continuously moving electric traps of a
transmission-line decelerator. In this process accelerations up to
~m/s were applied, and changes in kinetic energy of
~J (~meV) per atom were achieved. Guided and decelerated atoms, and those
confined in stationary electrostatic traps, were detected in situ by pulsed
electric field ionisation. The results of numerical calculations of particle
trajectories within the decelerator have been used to characterise the observed
deceleration efficiencies, and aid in the interpretation of the experimental
data.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
Light-like Signals in General relativity and Cosmology
The modelling of light-like signals in General Relativity taking the form of
impulsive gravitational waves and light-like shells of matter is examined.
Systematic deductions from the Bianchi identities are made. These are based
upon Penrose's hierarchical classification of the geometry induced on the null
hypersurface history of the surface by its imbedding in the space-times to the
future and to the past of it. The signals are not confined to propagate in a
vacuum and thus their interaction with matter (a burst of radiation propagating
through a cosmic fluid, for example) is also studied. Results are accompanied
by illustrative examples using cosmological models, vacuum space-times, the de
sitter univers and Minkowskian space-time.Comment: 21 pages, latex, no figure
Collision of High Frequency Plane Gravitational and Electromagnetic Waves
We study the head-on collision of linearly polarized, high frequency plane
gravitational waves and their electromagnetic counterparts in the
Einstein-Maxwell theory. The post-collision space-times are obtained by solving
the vacuum Einstein-Maxwell field equations in the geometrical optics
approximation. The head-on collisions of all possible pairs of these systems of
waves is described and the results are then generalised to non-linearly
polarized waves which exhibit the maximum two degrees of freedom of
polarization.Comment: Latex file, 17 pages, accepted for publication in International
Journal of Modern Physics
The rodent research animal holding facility as a barrier to environmental contamination
The rodent Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF), developed by NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) to separately house rodents in a Spacelab, was verified as a barrier to environmental contaminants during a 12-day biocompatibility test. Environmental contaminants considered were solid particulates, microorganisms, ammonia, and typical animal odors. The 12-day test conducted in August 1988 was designed to verify that the rodent RAHF system would adequately support and maintain animal specimens during normal system operations. Additional objectives of this test were to demonstrate that: (1) the system would capture typical particulate debris produced by the animal; (2) microorganisms would be contained; and (3) the passage of animal odors was adequately controlled. In addition, the amount of carbon dioxide exhausted by the RAHF system was to be quantified. Of primary importance during the test was the demonstration that the RAHF would contain particles greater than 150 micrometers. This was verified after analyzing collection plates placed under exhaust air ducts and rodent cages during cage maintenance operations, e.g., waste tray and feeder changeouts. Microbiological testing identified no additional organisms in the test environment that could be traced to the RAHF. Odor containment was demonstrated to be less than barely detectable. Ammonia could not be detected in the exhaust air from the RAHF system. Carbon dioxide levels were verified to be less than 0.35 percent
Peeling properties of lightlike signals in General Relativity
The peeling properties of a lightlike signal propagating through a general
Bondi-Sachs vacuum spacetime and leaving behind another Bondi-Sachs vacuum
space-time are studied. We demonstrate that in general the peeling behavior is
the conventional one which is associated with a radiating isolated system and
that it becomes unconventional if the asymptotically flat space-times on either
side of the history of the light-like signal tend to flatness at future null
infinity faster than the general Bondi-Sachs space-time. This latter situation
occurs if, for example, the space-times in question are static Bondi-Sachs
space- times.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX2
Southern hemispheric halon trends and global halon emissions, 1978â2011
The atmospheric records of four halons, H-1211 (CBrClF2), H-1301 (CBrF3), H-2402 (CBrF2CBrF2) and H-1202 (CBr2F2), measured from air collected at Cape Grim, Tasmania, between 1978 and 2011, are reported. Mixing ratios of H-1211, H-2402 and H-1202 began to decline in the early to mid-2000s, but those of H-1301 continue to increase up to mid-2011. These trends are compared to those reported by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Experiment). The observations suggest that the contribution of the halons to total tropospheric bromine at Cape Grim has begun to decline from a peak in 2008 of about 8.1 ppt. An extrapolation of halon mixing ratios to 2060, based on reported banks and predicted release factors, shows this decline becoming more rapid in the coming decades, with a contribution to total tropospheric bromine of about 3 ppt in 2060. Top-down global annual emissions of the halons were derived using a two-dimensional atmospheric model. The emissions of all four have decreased since peaking in the late 1980sâmid-1990s, but this decline has slowed recently, particularly for H-1301 and H-2402 which have shown no decrease in emissions over the past five years. The UEA (University of East Anglia) top-down model-derived emissions are compared to those reported using a top-down approach by NOAA and AGAGE and the bottom-up estimates of HTOC (Halons Technical Options Committee). The implications of an alternative set of steady-state atmospheric lifetimes are discussed. Using a lifetime of 14 yr or less for H-1211 to calculate top-down emissions estimates would lead to small, or even negative, estimated banks given reported production data. Finally emissions of H-1202, a product of over-bromination during the production process of H-1211, have continued despite reported production of H-1211 ceasing in 2010. This raises questions as to the source of these H-1202 emissions
A photoelectron diffraction investigation of vanadyl phthalocyanine on Au(1 1 1)
Scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction using the O 1s and V 2p emission perpendicular to the surface has been used to investigate the orientation and internal conformation of vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc) adsorbed on Au(1 1 1). The results confirm earlier indications from scanning tunnelling microscopy that the Vdouble bond; length as m-dashO vanadyl bond points out of, and not into, the surface. The Vdouble bond; length as m-dashO bondlength is 1.60 Âą 0.04 Ă
, not significantly different from its value in bulk crystalline VOPc. However, the V atom in the adsorbed molecule is almost coplanar with the surrounding N atoms and is thus pulled down into the approximately planar region defined by the N and C atoms by 0.52 (+0.14/â0.10) Ă
, relative to its location in crystalline VOPc. This change must be attributed to the bonding interaction between the molecule and the underlying metal surface
Radio Signatures of HI at High Redshift: Mapping the End of the ``Dark Ages''
The emission of 21-cm radiation from a neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) at
high redshift is discussed in connection with the thermal and ionization
history of the universe. The physical mechanisms that make such radiation
detectable against the cosmic microwave background include Ly_alpha coupling of
the hydrogen spin temperature to the kinetic temperature of the gas and
preheating of the IGM by the first generation of stars and quasars. Three
different signatures are investigated in detail: (a) the fluctuations in the
redshifted 21-cm emission induced by the gas density inhomogeneities that
develop at early times in cold dark matter (CDM) dominated cosmologies; (b) the
sharp absorption feature in the radio sky due to the rapid rise of the Ly_alpha
continuum background that marks the birth of the first UV sources in the
universe; and (c) the 21-cm emission and absorption shells that are generated
on several Mpc scales around the first bright quasars. Future radio
observations with projected facilities like the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope
and the Square Kilometer Array may shed light on the power spectrum of density
fluctuations at z>5, and map the end of the "dark ages", i.e. the transition
from the post-recombination universe to one populated with radiation sources.Comment: LateX, 19 pages, 5 figures, significantly revised version to be
published in the Ap
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