Primary cosmic radiation Status report for period ending Aug. 1968

High altitude balloon flights for detecting primary cosmic ray

Astronomy at sub-millimeter wavelengths

The first flight test of a gondola containing a Newtonian telescope with a 16 in. primary mirror is described. Bolometer tests were conducted along with gondola design studies, and changes were made in the mechanical system as a result. Parts of the system were rebuilt and tested, and it was found that the flight system had redundant data recording capabilities. In the total flight record, about 160 large signals were noted; about half of these appeared to have the correct shape for genuine signals, and the other were clearly noise spikes (they were large but the signal shape could not have been produced by the observation of a celestial object)

Sky survey at far infrared wavelengths using a balloon-borne telescope

Localized sources of far infrared radiation (approximately 50 microns) have been detected during a high altitude balloon flight with a 40 cm telescope and silicon detectors. The flight system is described and preliminary results are presented. A large area of the sky has been scanned for localized sources of far infrared radiation, using a balloon-borne system that was sensitive to wavelengths beyond about 55 microns. Two Molectron silicon bolometers were used, with a Newtonian telescope having a 40 cm primary. The telescope was driven in azimuth at a fixed elevation; this mode of scanning was carried out for the duration of each of two balloon flights. The flight system is described

A bacterial facultative parasite of Gracilaria conferta

Bacterial epiphytes of Gracilaria conferta were quantified. Saprophytic bacteria reached 350 times and agar degraders 25000 times higher numbers g-1 algal wet wt on tissues infected with the 'white tips disease', as compared to healthy tissues. A bacterial inducing agent of the 'white tips disease' was detected. Addition of 10(2) to 10(3) cells of this isolate ml-1 medium led to increased rates of infection. This effect did not occur if the isolate was autoclaved before addition. The virulent bacteria could always be isolated from infected tissues. It frequently, but not always, infected G. conferta and should be regarded as a facultative parasite. Several factors influenced the disease development. Temperatures above 20-degrees-C, in combination with photon flux densities of more than 200 muE m-2 s-1, increased the rate of infection. Relatively low amounts (more than 25 mug ml-1) of certain organic nutrients (peptone and yeast extract) led to strong manifestations of the disease. Addition of agar did not cause any symptoms, while 5 mg l-1 of the antibiotic rifampicin prevented the alga from being infected

The origin and propagation of VVH primary cosmic ray particles

Several source spectra were constructed from combinations of 4- and s-process nuclei to match the observed charge spectrum of VVH particles. Their propagation was then followed, allowing for interactions and decay, and comparisons were made between the calculated near-earth spectra and those observed during high altitude balloon flights. None of the models gave good agreement with observations

Primary cosmic ray particles with z 35 (VVH particles)

Large areas of nuclear emulsions and plastic detectors were exposed to the primary cosmic radiation during high altitude balloon flights. From the analysis of 141 particle tracks recorded during a total exposure of 1.3 x 10 to the 7th power sq m ster.sec., a charge spectrum of the VVH particles has been derived

Condensation phase transitions of symmetric conserved-mass aggregation model on complex networks

We investigate condensation phase transitions of symmetric conserved-mass aggregation (SCA) model on random networks (RNs) and scale-free networks (SFNs) with degree distribution $P(k) \sim k^{-\gamma}$. In SCA model, masses diffuse with unite rate, and unit mass chips off from mass with rate $\omega$. The dynamics conserves total mass density $\rho$. In the steady state, on RNs and SFNs with $\gamma>3$ for $\omega \neq \infty$, we numerically show that SCA model undergoes the same type condensation transitions as those on regular lattices. However the critical line $\rho_c (\omega)$ depends on network structures. On SFNs with $\gamma \leq 3$, the fluid phase of exponential mass distribution completely disappears and no phase transitions occurs. Instead, the condensation with exponentially decaying background mass distribution always takes place for any non-zero density. For the existence of the condensed phase for $\gamma \leq 3$ at the zero density limit, we investigate one lamb-lion problem on RNs and SFNs. We numerically show that a lamb survives indefinitely with finite survival probability on RNs and SFNs with $\gamma >3$, and dies out exponentially on SFNs with $\gamma \leq 3$. The finite life time of a lamb on SFNs with $\gamma \leq 3$ ensures the existence of the condensation at the zero density limit on SFNs with $\gamma \leq 3$ at which direct numerical simulations are practically impossible. At $\omega = \infty$, we numerically confirm that complete condensation takes place for any $\rho > 0$ on RNs. Together with the recent study on SFNs, the complete condensation always occurs on both RNs and SFNs in zero range process with constant hopping rate.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

A search for nuclear disintegrations produced by slow negative heavy mesons

This paper describes the preliminary results of a search for evidence of the nuclear interactions of negative heavy mesons. A qualitative analysis is given of the possible characteristics of their interactions and the appearance these might be expected to have in photographic emulsions. 37 ml. of emulsion, in which are recorded 10 000 stars and 1200 slow π-mesons, have been completely examined. In the conditions of exposure, such a volume should contain six examples, with good geometry, of the decay of heavy mesons. Mass measurements have been carried out, by the range/scattering method, on 417 tracks of σ-mesons. In addition, 1800 σ-mesons, observed in 42 ml. of emulsion, have been examined. No disintegrations which can be attributed to heavy mesons have been found. The results suggest that some of the negative heavy mesons, on being brought to rest in photographic emulsions, behave in a manner qualitatively different from that of negative π-particles. Possible explanations for this result are suggested