37,761 research outputs found
Finding the Origin of the Pioneer Anomaly
Analysis of radio-metric tracking data from the Pioneer 10/11 spacecraft at
distances between 20 - 70 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun has consistently
indicated the presence of an anomalous, small, constant Doppler frequency
drift. The drift can be interpreted as being due to a constant acceleration of
a_P= (8.74 \pm 1.33) x 10^{-8} cm/s^2 directed towards the Sun. Although it is
suspected that there is a systematic origin to the effect, none has been found.
As a result, the nature of this anomaly has become of growing interest. Here we
present a concept for a deep-space experiment that will reveal the origin of
the discovered anomaly and also will characterize its properties to an accuracy
of at least two orders of magnitude below the anomaly's size. The proposed
mission will not only provide a significant accuracy improvement in the search
for small anomalous accelerations, it will also determine if the anomaly is due
to some internal systematic or has an external origin. A number of critical
requirements and design considerations for the mission are outlined and
addressed. If only already existing technologies were used, the mission could
be flown as early as 2010.Comment: 21 SS pages, 4+1 figures. final changes for publicatio
Detection of OD towards the low-mass protostar IRAS16293-2422
Although water is an essential and widespread molecule in star-forming
regions, its chemical formation pathways are still not very well constrained.
Observing the level of deuterium fractionation of OH, a radical involved in the
water chemical network, is a promising way to infer its chemical origin. We aim
at understanding the formation mechanisms of water by investigating the origin
of its deuterium fractionation. This can be achieved by observing the abundance
of OD towards the low-mass protostar IRAS16293-2422, where the HDO distribution
is already known. Using the GREAT receiver on board SOFIA, we observed the
ground-state OD transition at 1391.5 GHz towards the low-mass protostar
IRAS16293-2422. We also present the detection of the HDO 111-000 line using the
APEX telescope. We compare the OD/HDO abundance ratio inferred from these
observations with the predictions of chemical models. The OD line is detected
in absorption towards the source continuum. This is the first detection of OD
outside the solar system. The SOFIA observation, coupled to the observation of
the HDO 111-000 line, provides an estimate of the abundance ratio OD/HDO ~
17-90 in the gas where the absorption takes place. This value is fairly high
compared with model predictions. This may be reconciled if reprocessing in the
gas by means of the dissociative recombination of H2DO+ further fractionates OH
with respect to water. The present observation demonstrates the capability of
the SOFIA/GREAT instrument to detect the ground transition of OD towards
star-forming regions in a frequency range that was not accessible before.
Dissociative recombination of H2DO+ may play an important role in setting a
high OD abundance. Measuring the branching ratios of this reaction in the
laboratory will be of great value for chemical models.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in A&A
SOFIA/GREAT special issu
The vortex dynamics of a Ginzburg-Landau system under pinning effect
It is proved that the vortices are attracted by impurities or inhomogeities
in the superconducting materials. The strong H^1-convergence for the
corresponding Ginzburg-Landau system is also proved.Comment: 23page
Nonclassical paths in the recurrence spectrum of diamagnetic atoms
Using time-independent scattering matrices, we study how the effects of
nonclassical paths on the recurrence spectra of diamagnetic atoms can be
extracted from purely quantal calculations. This study reveals an intimate
relationship between two types of nonclassical paths: exotic ghost orbits and
diffractive orbits. This relationship proves to be a previously unrecognized
reason for the success of semiclassical theories, like closed-orbit theory, and
permits a comprehensive reformulation of the semiclassical theory that
elucidates its convergence properties.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Nodeless superconductivity in the noncentrosymmetric MoRhN superconductor: a SR study
The noncentrosymmetric superconductor MoRhN, with K,
adopts a -Mn-type structure (space group 432), similar to that of
MoAlC. Its bulk superconductivity was characterized by magnetization
and heat-capacity measurements, while its microscopic electronic properties
were investigated by means of muon-spin rotation and relaxation (SR). The
low-temperature superfluid density, measured via transverse-field (TF)-SR,
evidences a fully-gapped superconducting state with , very close to 1.76 - the BCS gap value for
the weak coupling case, and a magnetic penetration depth nm.
The absence of spontaneous magnetic fields below the onset of
superconductivity, as determined by zero-field (ZF)-SR measurements, hints
at a preserved time-reversal symmetry in the superconducting state. Both TF-and
ZF-SR results evidence a spin-singlet pairing in MoRhN.Comment: 5 figures and 5 pages. Accepted for publication as a Rapid
Communication in Phys. Rev.
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