Multicolor pyrometer for materials processing in space

This report documents the work performed by Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), under contract to NASA JPL, during a 2.5-year SBIR Phase 2 Program. The program goals were to design, construct, and program a prototype passive imaging pyrometer capable of measuring, as accurately as possible, and controlling the temperature distribution across the surface of a moving object suspended in space. These goals were achieved and the instrument was delivered to JPL in November 1989. The pyrometer utilizes an optical system which operates at short wavelengths compared to the peak of the black-body spectrum for the temperature range of interest, thus minimizing errors associated with a lack of knowledge about the heated sample's emissivity. To cover temperatures from 900 to 2500 K, six wavelengths are available. The preferred wavelength for measurement of a particular temperature decreases as the temperature increases. Images at all six wavelengths are projected onto a single CCD camera concurrently. The camera and optical system have been calibrated to relate the measured intensity at each pixel to the temperature of the heated object. The output of the camera is digitized by a frame grabber installed in a personal computer and analyzed automatically to yield temperature information. The data can be used in a feedback loop to alter the status of computer-activated switches and thereby control a heating system

Entropic Tightening of Vibrated Chains

We investigate experimentally the distribution of configurations of a ring with an elementary topological constraint, a ``figure-8'' twist. Using vibrated granular chains, which permit controlled preparation and direct observation of such a constraint, we show that configurations where one of the loops is tight and the second is large are strongly preferred. This agrees with recent predictions for equilibrium properties of topologically-constrained polymers. However, the dynamics of the tightening process weakly violate detailed balance, a signature of the nonequilibrium nature of this system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Elastic turbulence in curvilinear flows of polymer solutions

Following our first report (A. Groisman and V. Steinberg, \sl Nature $\bf 405$, 53 (2000)) we present an extended account of experimental observations of elasticity induced turbulence in three different systems: a swirling flow between two plates, a Couette-Taylor (CT) flow between two cylinders, and a flow in a curvilinear channel (Dean flow). All three set-ups had high ratio of width of the region available for flow to radius of curvature of the streamlines. The experiments were carried out with dilute solutions of high molecular weight polyacrylamide in concentrated sugar syrups. High polymer relaxation time and solution viscosity ensured prevalence of non-linear elastic effects over inertial non-linearity, and development of purely elastic instabilities at low Reynolds number (Re) in all three flows. Above the elastic instability threshold, flows in all three systems exhibit features of developed turbulence. Those include: (i)randomly fluctuating fluid motion excited in a broad range of spatial and temporal scales; (ii) significant increase in the rates of momentum and mass transfer (compared to those expected for a steady flow with a smooth velocity profile). Phenomenology, driving mechanisms, and parameter dependence of the elastic turbulence are compared with those of the conventional high Re hydrodynamic turbulence in Newtonian fluids.Comment: 23 pages, 26 figure

Photonic superdiffusive motion in resonance line radiation trapping - partial frequency redistribution effects

The relation between the jump length probability distribution function and the spectral line profile in resonance atomic radiation trapping is considered for Partial Frequency Redistribution (PFR) between absorbed and reemitted radiation. The single line Opacity Distribution Function [M.N. Berberan-Santos et.al. J.Chem.Phys. 125, 174308 (2006)] is generalized for PFR and used to discuss several possible redistribution mechanisms (pure Doppler broadening, combined natural and Doppler broadening and combined Doppler, natural and collisional broadening). It is shown that there are two coexisting scales with a different behavior: the small scale is controlled by the intricate PFR details while the large scale is essentially given by the atom rest frame redistribution asymptotic. The pure Doppler and combined natural, Doppler and collisional broadening are characterized by both small and large scale superdiffusive Levy flight behaviors while the combined natural and Doppler case has an anomalous small scale behavior but a diffusive large scale asymptotic. The common practice of assuming complete redistribution in core radiation and frequency coherence in the wings of the spectral distribution is incompatible with the breakdown of superdiffusion in combined natural and Doppler broadening conditions

Turbulence and Multiscaling in the Randomly Forced Navier Stokes Equation

We present an extensive pseudospectral study of the randomly forced Navier-Stokes equation (RFNSE) stirred by a stochastic force with zero mean and a variance $\sim k^{4-d-y}$, where $k$ is the wavevector and the dimension $d = 3$. We present the first evidence for multiscaling of velocity structure functions in this model for $y \geq 4$. We extract the multiscaling exponent ratios $\zeta_p/\zeta_2$ by using extended self similarity (ESS), examine their dependence on $y$, and show that, if $y = 4$, they are in agreement with those obtained for the deterministically forced Navier-Stokes equation ($3d$NSE). We also show that well-defined vortex filaments, which appear clearly in studies of the $3d$NSE, are absent in the RFNSE.Comment: 4 pages (revtex), 6 figures (postscript

Open Clusters IC 4665 and Cr 359 and a Probable Birthplace of the Pulsar PSR B1929+10

Based on the epicyclic approximation, we have simulated the motion of the young open star clusters IC 4665 and Collinder 359. The separation between the cluster centers is shown to have been minimal 7 Myr ago, 36 pc. We have established a close evolutionary connection between IC 4665 and the Scorpius-Centaurus association -- the separation between the centers of these structures was $\approx200$ pc 15 Myr ago. In addition, the center of IC 4665 at this time was near two well-known regions of coronal gas: the Local Bubble and the North Polar Spur. The star HIP 86768 is shown to be one of the candidates for a binary (in the past) with the pulsar PSR B1929+10. At the model radial velocity of the pulsar $V_r= 2\pm50$ km s$^{-1}$, a close encounter of this pair occurs in the vicinity of IC 4665 at a time of -1.1 Myr. At the same time, using currently available data for the pulsar B1929+10 at its model radial velocity $V_r=200\pm50$ km s$^{-1}$, we show that the hypothesis of Hoogerwerf et al. (2001) about the breakup of the $\zeta$Oph--B1929+10 binary in the vicinity of Upper Scorpius (US) about 0.9 Myr ago is more plausible.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Wave Propagation in Stochastic Spacetimes: Localization, Amplification and Particle Creation

Here we study novel effects associated with electromagnetic wave propagation in a Robertson-Walker universe and the Schwarzschild spacetime with a small amount of metric stochasticity. We find that localization of electromagnetic waves occurs in a Robertson-Walker universe with time-independent metric stochasticity, while time-dependent metric stochasticity induces exponential instability in the particle production rate. For the Schwarzschild metric, time-independent randomness can decrease the total luminosity of Hawking radiation due to multiple scattering of waves outside the black hole and gives rise to event horizon fluctuations and thus fluctuations in the Hawking temperature.Comment: 26 pages, 1 Postscript figure, submitted to Phys. Rev. D on July 29, 199

Inclusive jet cross section in pˉp{\bar p p} collisions at s=1.8\sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV

The inclusive jet differential cross section has been measured for jet transverse energies, $E_T$, from 15 to 440 GeV, in the pseudorapidity region 0.1$\leq | \eta| \leq$0.7. The results are based on 19.5 pb$^{-1}$ of data collected by the CDF collaboration at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The data are compared with QCD predictions for various sets of parton distribution functions. The cross section for jets with $E_T>200$ GeV is significantly higher than current predictions based on O($\alpha_s^3$) perturbative QCD calculations. Various possible explanations for the high-$E_T$ excess are discussed.Comment: 8 pages with 2 eps uu-encoded figures Submitted to Physical Review Letter