599 research outputs found
Application of the direct Liapunov method to the problem of symmetric stability in the atmosphere
The problem of symmetric stability is examined within the context of the direct Liapunov method. The sufficient conditions for stability derived by Fjørtoft are shown to imply finite-amplitude, normed stability. This finite-amplitude stability theorem is then used to obtain rigorous upper bounds on the saturation amplitude of disturbances to symmetrically unstable flows.By employing a virial functional, the necessary conditions for instability implied by the stability theorem are shown to be in fact sufficient for instability. The results of Ooyama are improved upon insofar as a tight two-sided (upper and lower) estimate is obtained of the growth rate of (modal or nonmodal) symmetric instabilities.The case of moist adiabatic systems is also considered
Comparison of particle trajectories and collision operators for collisional transport in nonaxisymmetric plasmas
In this work, we examine the validity of several common simplifying
assumptions used in numerical neoclassical calculations for nonaxisymmetric
plasmas, both by using a new continuum drift-kinetic code and by considering
analytic properties of the kinetic equation. First, neoclassical phenomena are
computed for the LHD and W7-X stellarators using several versions of the
drift-kinetic equation, including the commonly used incompressible-ExB-drift
approximation and two other variants, corresponding to different effective
particle trajectories. It is found that for electric fields below roughly one
third of the resonant value, the different formulations give nearly identical
results, demonstrating the incompressible ExB-drift approximation is quite
accurate in this regime. However, near the electric field resonance, the models
yield substantially different results. We also compare results for various
collision operators, including the full linearized Fokker-Planck operator. At
low collisionality, the radial transport driven by radial gradients is nearly
identical for the different operators, while in other cases it is found to be
important that collisions conserve momentum
Site of semen deposition and fertility in lactating beef cows synchronized with GnRH and PGF2α
Our objective was to determine the effect of site of semen deposition on pregnancy rate in beef cows inseminated at a fixed time or after observed estrus. Cows were synchronized with a combination of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) prostaglandin-F α (PGF). GnRH was injected 7 days before PGF (day 0; first of breeding season). The trial was conducted at two locations, one in Kansas (147 cows) and one in Colorado (313 cows). At each location, cows were assigned to be inseminated after observed estrus (ESTRUS-AI) or at a fixed time (TIMED-AI). Within these two groups, cows either were inseminated in the uterine body (BODY-bred) or in both uterine horns (HORN-bred). Cows in the ESTRUS-AI group were observed for estrus each morning and evening until day 5 afterPGF and then inseminated 12 hr after first detected estrus. Cows in the TIMED-AI group received a second dose of GnRH on day 2 and were inseminated at that time (48 to 56 hr after PGF). Heat response, AI conception rate, and pregnancy rate were analyzed for BODY-bred and HORN-bred cows within each treatment at each location. No differences in these variables occurred between locations, so the results were combined. Within the ESTRUS-AI group, neither conception rate (70% vs. 73%) nor pregnancy rate (39% vs. 40%) was different between BODY-bred and HORN-bred cows respectively. Pregnancy rate within the TIMED-AI group tended (P=.09) to be greater for BODY-bred (53%) compared to HORN-bred (42%) cows. When BODY-bred and HORN-bred treatments were combined, the pregnancy rate of TIMED-AI cows (48%) tended (P=.07) to be greater than that of ESTRUS-AI cows (39%). Timed-insemination resulted in a greater pregnancy rate than inseminating cows according to estrus. No advantage was seen in conception rates when semen was deposited in the uterine horns compared to the uterine body
Energetic ion loss diagnostic for the Wendelstein 7-AS stellarator
A diagnostic to measure the loss of energetic ions from the Wendelstein 7-AS (W7-AS) stellarator has been built. It is capable of measuring losses of both neutral beam ions and energetic ions arising from ion cyclotron resonant heating. The probe can measure losses of both clockwise and counterclockwise-going energetic ions simultaneously, and accepts a wide range of pitch angles in both directions. Initial measurements by the diagnostic are reported
Q2237+0305 in X-rays: spectra and variability with XMM-Newton
X-ray observations of gravitationally lensed quasars may allow us to probe
the inner structure of the central engine of a quasar. Observations of
Q2237+0305 (Einstein Cross) in X-rays may be used to constrain the inner
structure of the X-ray emitting source. Here we analyze the XMM-Newton
observation of the quasar in the gravitational lens system Q2237+0305 taken
during 2002. Combined spectra of the four images of the quasar in this system
were extracted and modelled with a power-law model. Statistical analysis was
used to test the variability of the total flux. The total X-ray flux from all
the images of this quadruple gravitational lens system is 6 x 10^{-13}
erg/cm2/s in the range 0.2-10 keV, showing no significant X-ray spectral
variability during almost 42 ks of the observation time. Fitting of the cleaned
source spectrum yields a photon power-law index of Gamma=1.82+0.07/-0.08. The
X-ray lightcurves obtained after background subtraction are compatible with the
hypothesis of a stationary flux from the source.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, accepted by A&
Measuring transverse velocities in gravitationally lensed extragalactic systems using an annual parallax effect
A parallax method to determine transverse velocity in a gravitationally
lensed system is described. Using the annual motion of the Earth around the Sun
allows us to probe the local structure of the magnification map that, under
certain assumptions, can be used to infer the effective transverse velocity.
The method is applied to OGLE data for QSO2237+0305 and the velocity value is
estimated to be about (15 +/- 10) km/s if attributed to the lensing galaxy or
about (420 +/- 300) km/s if attributed to the quasar. We find this estimate
unreasonably small and conclude that we have not measured a parallax effect. We
give a short list of properties that a system should possess to allow a
successful implementation of this method.Comment: v2: journal reference update
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