Computation of regions of constrained stability for nonlinear control systems

Computation of regions of constrained stability for nonlinear control system

Seismic effects from major basin formation on the Moon and Mercury

Grooved and hilly terrains are reported which occur at the antipode of major basins on the Moon (Imbrium, Orientale) and Mercury (Caloris). Order-of-magnitude calculations, for an Imbrium-size impact on the Moon, indicate P-wave-induced surface displacements of 10 m at the basin antipode that would arrive prior to secondary ejecta. Comparable surface waves are reported which would arrive subsequent to secondary ejecta impacts and would increase in magnitude as they converge at the antipode. Other seismically induced surface features include: subdued, furrowed crater walls produced by landslides and concomitant secondary impacts; emplacement and leveling of light plains units owing to seismically induced "fluidization" of slide material; knobby, pitted terrain around old basins from enhancement of seismic waves in ancient ejecta blankets; and the production and enhancement of deep-seated fractures that led to the concentration of farside lunar maria in the Apollo-Ingenii region

Impacts of free-floating objects: Unique space station experiments

The transfer of momentum and kinetic energy between planetary bodies forms the basis for wide ranging problems in planetary science ranging from the collective long term effects of minor perturbations to the catastrophic singular effect of a major collision. Although the collisional transfer of momentum and energy was discussed over the last two decades, major issues remain that largely reflect current limitations in Earth based experimental conditions and 3-D numerical codes. Two examples with potential applications in a Space Station laboratory, are presented: asteroid spin rates and orientations, and planetary disruption/spin rates. Asteroid spin rate and orientation experiments are needed wherein free floating nonspining and spining objects of varying strength, porosity, and volatility are impacted at varying velocities and angles. A space station platform also could provide an opportunity to test important facets of planetary disruption/spin rate models by allowing freely suspended spherical targets of varying viscosities, internal density gradients, and spin rates

The spatial distribution and time evolution of impact-generated magnetic fields

The production of magnetic fields was revealed by laboratory hypervelocity impacts in easily vaporized targets. As quantified by pressure measurements, high frame-rate photography, and electrostatic probes, these impacts tend to produce large quantities of slightly ionized vapor, which is referred to as impact-generated plasma. Nonaligned electron density and temperature gradients within this plasma may lead to production of the observed magnetic fields. Past experiments were limited to measuring a single component of the impact-generated magnetic fields at only a few locations about the developing impact crater and consequently gave little information about the field production mechanism. To understand this mechanism, the techniques were extended to map the three components of the magnetic field both in space and time. By conducting many otherwise identical experiments with arrayed magnetic detectors, a preliminary 3-D picture was produced of impact-generated magnetic fields as they develop through time

Impact decapitation from laboratory to basin scales

Although vertical hypervelocity impacts result in the annihilation (melting/vaporization) of the projectile, oblique impacts (less than 15 deg) fundamentally change the partitioning of energy with fragments as large as 10 percent of the original projectile surviving. Laboratory experiments reveal that both ductile and brittle projectiles produce very similar results where limiting disruption depends on stresses proportional to the vertical velocity component. Failure of the projectile at laboratory impact velocities (6 km/s) is largely controlled by stresses established before the projectile has penetrated a significant distance into the target. The planetary surface record exhibits numerous examples of oblique impacts with evidence fir projectile failure and downrange sibling collisions

Enhanced magnetic field production during oblique hypervelocity impacts

The natural remanent magnetization of the lunar surface as displayed in returned lunar samples and the data returned by the Apollo subsatellite magnetometer has an unexpectedly high magnitude and exhibits spatial variation at all scales. The origin of the lunar remanent fields may be due to crustal remanence of a core dynamo field occurring early in lunar history prior to extensive modification by impact or remanence of transient fields, particularly associated with impacts, occurring on a local scale throughout lunar history. The presence of an early core dynamo field would have strong consequences for the formation and early evolution of the Moon, yet to deconvolve the role that an internally generated core dynamo field may have had, it is necessary to understand how the magnetic state of the lunar surface has developed through time. Impact-induced magnetism may be an important component of the present magnetic state of the lunar surface. New theoretical considerations suggest that transient magnetic fields within plasma produced by hypervelocity meteorite impacts may have greater significance at larger scales than previously thought

Impacts of hemispherical granular targets: Implications for global impacts

As impact excavation diameters subtend a nontrivial fraction of a planetary body, both the excavation process and ejecta emplacement may depart form the classical description of impacts into a planar surface. Hemispherical particulate targets were impacted at the NASA-Ames Vertical Gun Range in order to trace the evolution of the ejecta curtain and to document the effects of slope and surface curvature on crater shape and cratering efficiency. The experiments suggest that basin size impacts or large craters on small bodies may be shallower than their counterparts on a planar surface but may have displaced a larger relative mass. Moreover, the increased ejecta curtain angle with distance may result in a change in ejecta emplacement style with distance. Although the ejecta curtain is vertical, ejecta within the curtain impact the surface at 45 deg and the time between first and last arrival within the curtain increases. This increased interaction time as the ejecta curtain density decreases should result in a more chaotic style of implacement

Tests of a full-scale annular ram-induction combustor for a Mach 3 cruise turbojet engine

Full-scale annular ram-induction combustor tests for Mach 3 cruise turbojet engin

Full scale tests of a short length, double annular ram induction turbojet combustor for supersonic flight

Performance tests and characteristics of short length, double annular ram induction turbojet combustion chambers for supersonic fligh

Raman fingerprints on the Bloch sphere of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate

We explore the geometric interpretation of a diabatic, two-photon Raman process as a rotation on the Bloch sphere for a pseudo-spin-1/2 system. The spin state of a spin-1/2 quantum system can be described by a point on the surface of the Bloch sphere, and its evolution during a Raman pulse is a trajectory on the sphere determined by properties of the optical beams: the pulse area, the relative intensities and phases, and the relative frequencies. We experimentally demonstrate key features of this model with a $^{87}$Rb spinor Bose-Einstein condensate, which allows us to examine spatially dependent signatures of the Raman beams. The two-photon detuning allows us to precisely control the spin density and imprinted relative phase profiles, as we show with a coreless vortex. With this comprehensive understanding and intuitive geometric interpretation, we use the Raman process to create and tailor as well as study and characterize exotic topological spin textures in spinor BECs.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, submitted to the Journal of Modern Optics "20 Years of Bose-Einstein condensates" Special Issu