110 research outputs found
Torsion pendulum facility for direct force measurements of LISA GRS related disturbances
A four mass torsion pendulum facility for testing of the LISA GRS is under
development in Trento. With a LISA-like test mass suspended off-axis with
respect to the pendulum fiber, the facility allows for a direct measurement of
surface force disturbances arising in the GRS. We present here results with a
prototype pendulum integrated with very large-gap sensors, which allows an
estimate of the intrinsic pendulum noise floor in the absence of sensor related
force noise. The apparatus has shown a torque noise near to its mechanical
thermal noise limit, and would allow to place upper limits on GRS related
disturbances with a best sensitivity of 300 fN/Hz^(1/2) at 1mHz, a factor 50
from the LISA goal. Also, we discuss the characterization of the gravity
gradient noise, one environmental noise source that could limit the apparatus
performances, and report on the status of development of the facility.Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of the 6th International LISA Symposium, AIP
Conference Proceedings 200
Gas damping force noise on a macroscopic test body in an infinite gas reservoir
We present a simple analysis of the force noise associated with the
mechanical damping of the motion of a test body surrounded by a large volume of
rarefied gas. The calculation is performed considering the momentum imparted by
inelastic collisions against the sides of a cubic test mass, and for other
geometries for which the force noise could be an experimental limitation. In
addition to arriving at an accurated estimate, by two alternative methods, we
discuss the limits of the applicability of this analysis to realistic
experimental configurations in which a test body is surrounded by residual gas
inside an enclosure that is only slightly larger than the test body itself.Comment: 8 pages. updated with correct translational damping coefficient for
cylinder on axis. added cylinder orthogonal to symmetry axis, force and
torque. slightly edited throughou
Thermal gradient-induced forces on geodetic reference masses for LISA
The low frequency sensitivity of space-borne gravitational wave observatories
will depend critically on the geodetic purity of the trajectories of orbiting
test masses. Fluctuations in the temperature difference across the enclosure
surrounding the free-falling test mass can produce noisy forces through several
processes, including the radiometric effect, radiation pressure, and
outgassing. We present here a detailed experimental investigation of thermal
gradient-induced forces for the LISA gravitational wave mission and the LISA
Pathfinder, employing high resolution torsion pendulum measurements of the
torque on a LISA-like test mass suspended inside a prototype of the LISA
gravitational reference sensor that will surround the test mass in orbit. The
measurement campaign, accompanied by numerical simulations of the radiometric
and radiation pressure effects, allows a more accurate and representative
characterization of thermal-gradient forces in the specific geometry and
environment relevant to LISA free-fall. The pressure dependence of the measured
torques allows clear identification of the radiometric effect, in quantitative
agreement with the model developed. In the limit of zero gas pressure, the
measurements are most likely dominated by outgassing, but at a low level that
does not threaten the LISA sensitivity goals.Comment: 21 pages, 16 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Density functional theory studies of MTSL nitroxide side chain conformations attached to an activation loop
A quantum-mechanical (QM) method rooted on density functional theory (DFT) linked to the Stochastic Liouville equation (SLE) in the Fokker Planck (FP) form has been employed for the first time to sample the methane-thiosulfonate spin label (MTSL) conformational space attached to the Aurora-A kinase activation loop and to calculate the EPR spectrum. The features of the calculated energy surface allowed us to describe the system in a limited number of rotamers stabilized by interactions of the MTSL side chain and neighbouring residues. The relevant magnetic parameters and the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum were subsequently calculated from the trajectories of the spin probe in the protein environment. The comparison between theoretical and experimental continuous wave (CW) EPR spectra revealed some small differences in the EPR line shape which arises from the combinations of g- and A-values obtained from the conformations selected. The theoretical approach adopted in this work can be used to recognise the contribution of MTSL rotamers to the EPR spectrum in order to help extract structural/dynamics properties of protein from the experimental data
Brownian force noise from molecular collisions and the sensitivity of advanced gravitational wave observatories
We present an analysis of Brownian force noise from residual gas damping of
reference test masses as a fundamental sensitivity limit in small force
experiments. The resulting acceleration noise increases significantly when the
distance of the test mass to the surrounding experimental apparatus is smaller
than the dimension of the test mass itself. For the Advanced LIGO
interferometric gravitational wave observatory, where the relevant test mass is
a suspended 340 mm diameter cylindrical end mirror, the force noise power is
increased by roughly a factor 40 by the presence of a similarly shaped reaction
mass at a nominal separation of 5 mm. The force noise, of order 20 fN\rthz\ for
Pa of residual H gas, rivals quantum optical
fluctuations as the dominant noise source between 10 and 30 Hz. We present here
a numerical and analytical analysis for the gas damping force noise for
Advanced LIGO, backed up by experimental evidence from several recent
measurements. Finally, we discuss the impact of residual gas damping on the
gravitational wave sensitivity and possible mitigation strategies.Comment: 13 pages with 9 figures (fixed typos found in proofs
Transport of Po Valley aerosol pollution to the northwestern Alps â Part 1: Phenomenology
Mountainous regions are often considered pristine environments;
however they can be affected by pollutants emitted in more populated and
industrialised areas, transported by regional winds. Based on experimental
evidence, further supported by modelling tools, here we demonstrate and quantify
the impact of air masses transported from the Po Valley, a European
atmospheric pollution hotspot, to the northwestern Alps. This is achieved
through a detailed investigation of the phenomenology of near-range (a few
hundred kilometres), trans-regional transport, exploiting synergies of
multi-sensor observations mainly focussed on particulate matter. The explored
dataset includes vertically resolved data from atmospheric profiling
techniques (automated lidar ceilometers, ALCs), vertically integrated aerosol
properties from ground (sun photometer) and space, and in situ measurements
(PM10 and PM2.5, relevant chemical analyses, and aerosol
size distribution). During the frequent advection episodes from the Po basin,
all the physical quantities observed by the instrumental setup are found to
significantly increase: the scattering ratio from ALC reaches values >30,
aerosol optical depth (AOD) triples, surface PM10 reaches
concentrations >100 ”gâmâ3 even in rural areas, and
contributions to PM10 by secondary inorganic compounds such as
nitrate, ammonium, and sulfate increase up to 28 %, 8 %, and 17 %,
respectively. Results also indicate that the aerosol advected from the Po
Valley is hygroscopic, smaller in size, and less light-absorbing compared to
the aerosol type locally emitted in the northwestern Italian Alps. In this
work, the phenomenon is exemplified through detailed analysis and discussion
of three case studies, selected for their clarity and relevance within the
wider dataset, the latter being fully exploited in a companion paper
quantifying the impact of this phenomenology over the long-term
(Diémoz et al., 2019). For the three case studies investigated, a high-resolution
numerical weather prediction model (COSMO) and a Lagrangian tool (LAGRANTO)
are employed to understand the meteorological mechanisms favouring
transport and to demonstrate the Po Valley origin of the air masses. In
addition, a chemical transport model (FARM) is used to further support the
observations and to partition the contributions of local and non-local
sources. Results show that the simulations are important to the understanding
of the phenomenon under investigation. However, in quantitative terms,
modelled PM10 concentrations are 4â5 times lower than the ones
retrieved from the ALC and maxima are anticipated in time by 6â7 h.
Underestimated concentrations are likely mainly due to deficiencies in the
emission inventory and to water uptake of the advected particles not fully
reproduced by FARM, while timing mismatches are likely an effect of
suboptimal simulation of up-valley and down-valley winds by COSMO. The
advected aerosol is shown to remarkably degrade the air quality of the Alpine
region, with potential negative effects on human health, climate, and
ecosystems, as well as on the touristic development of the investigated area.
The findings of the present study could also help design mitigation
strategies at the trans-regional scale in the Po basin and suggest an
observation-based approach to evaluate the outcome of their implementation.</p
Length Sensing and Control in the Virgo Gravitational Wave Interferometer
The gravitational wave detector Virgo is presently being commissioned. A significant part of last year was spent in setting up the cavity length control system. This work was carried out with steps of increasing complexity: locking a simple Fabry-Perot cavity, then a Michelson interferometer with Fabry-Perot cavities in both arms, and finally recycling the light beam into the interferometer. The applied strategy and the main results obtained are describe
The Virgo interferometric gravitational antenna
Submitted to: Class. Quantum Grav.The interferometric gravitational wave detectors represent the ultimate evolution of the classical Michelson interferometer. In order to measure the signal produced by the passage of a gravitational wave, they aim to reach unprecedent sensitivities in measuring the relative displacements of the mirrors. One of them , the 3-km-long Virgo gravitational wave antenna, which will be particularly sensitive in the low frequency range (10-100 Hz), is presently in its commissioning phase. In this paper the various techniques developed in order to reach its target extreme performance are outlined
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