Behavior of the sonic boom shock wave near the sonic cutoff altitude

Behavior of sonic boom shock wave near sonic cutoff altitud

The Narrow-band Ultraviolet Imaging Experiment for Wide-field Surveys (NUVIEWS)-I: Dust scattered continuum

We report on the first results of the Narrow-band Ultraviolet Imaging Experiment for Wide-field Surveys (NUVIEWS), a sounding rocket experiment designed to map the far-ultraviolet background in four narrow bands. This is the first imaging measurement of the UV background to cover a substantial fraction of the sky. The narrow band responses (145, 155, 161, and 174 nm, 7-10 nm wide) allow us to isolate background contributions from dust-scattered continuum, H2 fluorescence, and CIV 155 nm emission. In our first flight, we mapped one quarter of the sky with 5-10 arcminute imaging resolution. In this paper, we model the dominant contribution of the background, dust-scattered continuum. Our data base consists of a map of over 10,000 sq. degrees with 468 independent measurements in 6.25 by 6.25 sq. degree bins. Stars and instrumental stellar halos are removed from the data. We present a map of the continuum background obtained in the 174 nm telescope. We use a model that follows Witt, Friedman, and Sasseen (1997: WFS) to account for the inhomogeneous radiation field and multiple scattering effects in clouds. We find that the dust in the diffuse interstellar medium displays a moderate albedo (a=0.55+/-0.1) and highly forward scattering phase function parameter (g=0.75+/-0.1) over a large fraction of the sky, similar to dust in star forming regions. We also have discovered a significant variance from the model.Comment: 16 pages, 3 ps figures, submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letter

Decay rate and other properties of the positronium negative ion

A new method for detecting the positronium minus ion is described, and the possibility of a long positronium mean free path in a solid is discussed

Third Earth Resources Technology Satellite Symposium. Volume 3: Discipline summary reports

Presentations at the conference covered the following disciplines: (1) agriculture, forestry, and range resources; (2) land use and mapping; (3) mineral resources, geological structure, and landform surveys; (4) water resources; (5) marine resources; (6) environment surveys; and (7) interpretation techniques

Third Earth Resources Technology Satellite Symposium. Volume 2: Summary of results

Summaries are provided of significant results taken from presentations at the symposium along with some typical examples of the applications of ERTS-1 data for solving resources management problems at the national, state, and local levels

Neutron activation analysis traces copper artifacts to geographical point of origin

Impurities remaining in the metallic copper are identified and quantified by spectrographic and neutron activation analysis. Determination of the type of ore used for the copper artifact places the geographic point of origin of the artifact

Path Integrals, Density Matrices, and Information Flow with Closed Timelike Curves

Two formulations of quantum mechanics, inequivalent in the presence of closed timelike curves, are studied in the context of a soluable system. It illustrates how quantum field nonlinearities lead to a breakdown of unitarity, causality, and superposition using a path integral. Deutsch's density matrix approach is causal but typically destroys coherence. For each of these formulations I demonstrate that there are yet further alternatives in prescribing the handling of information flow (inequivalent to previous analyses) that have implications for any system in which unitarity or coherence are not preserved.Comment: 25 pages, phyzzx, CALT-68-188

Combinatorial Games with a Pass: A dynamical systems approach

By treating combinatorial games as dynamical systems, we are able to address a longstanding open question in combinatorial game theory, namely, how the introduction of a "pass" move into a game affects its behavior. We consider two well known combinatorial games, 3-pile Nim and 3-row Chomp. In the case of Nim, we observe that the introduction of the pass dramatically alters the game's underlying structure, rendering it considerably more complex, while for Chomp, the pass move is found to have relatively minimal impact. We show how these results can be understood by recasting these games as dynamical systems describable by dynamical recursion relations. From these recursion relations we are able to identify underlying structural connections between these "games with passes" and a recently introduced class of "generic (perturbed) games." This connection, together with a (non-rigorous) numerical stability analysis, allows one to understand and predict the effect of a pass on a game.Comment: 39 pages, 13 figures, published versio

Topology Change and Causal Continuity

The result that, for a scalar quantum field propagating on a ``trousers'' topology in 1+1 dimensions, the crotch singularity is a source for an infinite burst of energy has been used to argue against the occurrence of topology change in quantum gravity. We draw attention to a conjecture due to Sorkin that it may be the particular type of topology change involved in the trousers transition that is problematic and that other topology changes may not cause the same difficulties. The conjecture links the singular behaviour to the existence of ``causal discontinuities'' in the spacetime and relies on a classification of topology changes using Morse theory. We investigate various topology changing transitions, including the pair production of black holes and of topological geons, in the light of these ideas.Comment: Latex, 28 pages, 10 figures, small changes in text (one figure removed), conclusions remain unchanged. Accepted for publication in Physical Review