14,574 research outputs found
Apollo oxygen tank stratification analysis, volume 2
An analysis of flight performance of the Apollo 15 cryogenic oxygen tanks was conducted with the variable grid stratification math model developed earlier in the program. Flight conditions investigated were the CMP-EVA and one passive thermal control period which exhibited heater temperature characteristics not previously observed. Heater temperatures for these periods were simulated with the math model using flight acceleration data. Simulation results (heater temperature and tank pressure) compared favorably with the Apollo 15 flight data, and it was concluded that tank performance was nominal. Math model modifications were also made to improve the simulation accuracy. The modifications included the addition of the effects of the tank wall thermal mass and an improved system flow distribution model. The modifications improved the accuracy of simulated pressure response based on comparisons with flight data
A Heavy Fermion Can Create a Soliton: A 1+1 Dimensional Example
We show that quantum effects can stabilize a soliton in a model with no
soliton at the classical level. The model has a scalar field chirally coupled
to a fermion in 1+1 dimensions. We use a formalism that allows us to calculate
the exact one loop fermion contribution to the effective energy for a spatially
varying scalar background. This energy includes the contribution from
counterterms fixed in the perturbative sector of the theory. The resulting
energy is therefore finite and unambiguous. A variational search then yields a
fermion number one configuration whose energy is below that of a single free
fermion.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX, 2 figures composed from 4 .eps files; v2: fixed
minor errors, added reference; v3: corrected reference added in v
Background Independent Algebraic Structures in Closed String Field Theory
We construct a Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) algebra on moduli spaces of Riemann
surfaces. This algebra is background independent in that it makes no reference
to a state space of a conformal field theory. Conformal theories define a
homomorphism of this algebra to the BV algebra of string functionals. The
construction begins with a graded-commutative free associative algebra \C
built from the vector space whose elements are orientable subspaces of moduli
spaces of punctured Riemann surfaces. The typical element here is a surface
with several connected components. The operation of sewing two
punctures with a full twist is shown to be an odd, second order derivation that
squares to zero. It follows that (\C, \Delta) is a Batalin-Vilkovisky
algebra. We introduce the odd operator , where
is the boundary operator. It is seen that , and that
consistent closed string vertices define a cohomology class of . This
cohomology class is used to construct a Lie algebra on a quotient space of
\C. This Lie algebra gives a manifestly background independent description of
a subalgebra of the closed string gauge algebra.Comment: phyzzx.tex, MIT-CTP-234
The Legal Status of CGIAR Germplasm Collections and Related Issues
Paper prepared by two legal consultants for the CGIAR Secretariat on the control, ownership and legal status of CGIAR center germplasm collections, internationally and within their host countries. The document was considered at a joint meeting held in Rome January 30 to February 1, 1992, of the Center Directors Committee on Intellectual Property and the Center Directors/TAC Committee on Plant Genetic Resources, and served as a background document at TAC 57 to the discussion of CGIAR policy on intellectual property rights and related matters.A review of IARC constitutions and headquarters agreements revealed a general lack of provisions for the ownership of genetic material or for its devolution in the event an IARC ceases to operate. There was wide variation among cases depending on the legal status of the center, and the headquarters agreement in effect. In general, however, the consultants' view was that the germplasm collections would not pass automatically to the host government.The authors found potential benefit for IARCs to join the base collections network proposed by the FAO under the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources, as a means of establishing the international legal status of IARC genebank collections. Agenda document, TAC 57
Surface plasmon modes and the Casimir energy
We show the influence of surface plasmons on the Casimir effect between two
plane parallel metallic mirrors at arbitrary distances. Using the plasma model
to describe the optical response of the metal, we express the Casimir energy as
a sum of contributions associated with evanescent surface plasmon modes and
propagative cavity modes. In contrast to naive expectations, the plasmonic
modes contribution is essential at all distances in order to ensure the correct
result for the Casimir energy. One of the two plasmonic modes gives rise to a
repulsive contribution, balancing out the attractive contributions from
propagating cavity modes, while both contributions taken separately are much
larger than the actual value of the Casimir energy. This also suggests
possibilities to tailor the sign of the Casimir force via surface plasmons.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, revtex
`Operational' Energy Conditions
I show that a quantized Klein-Gordon field in Minkowski space obeys an
`operational' weak energy condition: the energy of an isolated device
constructed to measure or trap the energy in a region, plus the energy it
measures or traps, cannot be negative. There are good reasons for thinking that
similar results hold locally for linear quantum fields in curved space-times. A
thought experiment to measure energy density is analyzed in some detail, and
the operational positivity is clearly manifested.
If operational energy conditions do hold for quantum fields, then the
negative energy densities predicted by theory have a will-o'-the-wisp
character: any local attempt to verify a total negative energy density will be
self-defeating on account of quantum measurement difficulties. Similarly,
attempts to drive exotic effects (wormholes, violations of the second law,
etc.) by such densities may be defeated by quantum measurement problems. As an
example, I show that certain attempts to violate the Cosmic Censorship
principle by negative energy densities are defeated.
These quantum measurement limitations are investigated in some detail, and
are shown to indicate that space-time cannot be adequately modeled classically
in negative energy density regimes.Comment: 18 pages, plain Tex, IOP macros. Expanded treatment of measurement
problems for space-time, with implications for Cosmic Censorship as an
example. Accepted by Classical and Quantum Gravit
Thermodynamic Scaling of the Viscosity of Van Der Waals, H-Bonded, and Ionic Liquids
Viscosities and their temperature, T, and volume, V, dependences are reported
for 7 molecular liquids and polymers. In combination with literature viscosity
data for 5 other liquids, we show that the superpositioning of relaxation times
for various glass-forming materials when expressed as a function of TV^g, where
the exponent g is a material constant, can be extended to the viscosity. The
latter is usually measured to higher temperatures than the corresponding
relaxation times, demonstrating the validity of the thermodynamic scaling
throughout the supercooled and higher T regimes. The value of g for a given
liquid principally reflects the magnitude of the intermolecular forces (e.g.,
steepness of the repulsive potential); thus, we find decreasing g in going from
van der Waals fluids to ionic liquids. For strongly H-bonded materials, such as
low molecular weight polypropylene glycol and water, the superpositioning
fails, due to the non-trivial change of chemical structure (degree of
H-bonding) with thermodynamic conditions.Comment: 16 pages 7 figure
Resonant cavity photon creation via the dynamical Casimir effect
Motivated by a recent proposal for an experimental verification of the
dynamical Casimir effect, the macroscopic electromagnetic field within a
perfect cavity containing a thin slab with a time-dependent dielectric
permittivity is quantized in terms of the dual potentials. For the resonance
case, the number of photons created out of the vacuum due to the dynamical
Casimir effect is calculated for both polarizations (TE and TM). PACS:
42.50.Lc, 03.70.+k, 42.50.Dv, 42.60.Da.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Stress Tensor Correlators in the Schwinger-Keldysh Formalism
We express stress tensor correlators using the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism.
The absence of off-diagonal counterterms in this formalism ensures that the +-
and -+ correlators are free of primitive divergences. We use dimensional
regularization in position space to explicitly check this at one loop order for
a massless scalar on a flat space background. We use the same procedure to show
that the ++ correlator contains the divergences first computed by `t Hooft and
Veltman for the scalar contribution to the graviton self-energy.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX 2epsilon, no figures, revised for publicatio
Stochastic Spacetime and Brownian Motion of Test Particles
The operational meaning of spacetime fluctuations is discussed. Classical
spacetime geometry can be viewed as encoding the relations between the motions
of test particles in the geometry. By analogy, quantum fluctuations of
spacetime geometry can be interpreted in terms of the fluctuations of these
motions. Thus one can give meaning to spacetime fluctuations in terms of
observables which describe the Brownian motion of test particles. We will first
discuss some electromagnetic analogies, where quantum fluctuations of the
electromagnetic field induce Brownian motion of test particles. We next discuss
several explicit examples of Brownian motion caused by a fluctuating
gravitational field. These examples include lightcone fluctuations, variations
in the flight times of photons through the fluctuating geometry, and
fluctuations in the expansion parameter given by a Langevin version of the
Raychaudhuri equation. The fluctuations in this parameter lead to variations in
the luminosity of sources. Other phenomena which can be linked to spacetime
fluctuations are spectral line broadening and angular blurring of distant
sources.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures. Talk given at the 9th Peyresq workshop, June
200
- …