Chemical interactions in Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

Although several observations of material changes on-orbit have been reported, mechanistic understanding has not yet become clear because new sets of non-intuitive processes are occurring on orbit. Reactant kinetic energy, low collision rates and surface/adsorbate interactions must be considered in the analysis of these observations. The specific example of oxide formation of elemental materials is examined in terms of thermodynamics and possible reaction pathways. On the basis of this approach, a rational trend emerges from the orbital behavior of these samples. The role of reactant kinetic energy as opposed to internal energy in chemiluminescent product formation is also presented. Development of a systematic thermochemical approach may be useful in making screening predictions of long-term material behavior on-orbit

Color enhancement of landsat agricultural imagery: JPL LACIE image processing support task

Color enhancement techniques were applied to LACIE LANDSAT segments to determine if such enhancement can assist analysis in crop identification. The procedure involved increasing the color range by removing correlation between components. First, a principal component transformation was performed, followed by contrast enhancement to equalize component variances, followed by an inverse transformation to restore familiar color relationships. Filtering was applied to lower order components to reduce color speckle in the enhanced products. Use of single acquisition and multiple acquisition statistics to control the enhancement were compared, and the effects of normalization investigated. Evaluation is left to LACIE personnel

String Bit Models for Superstring

We extend the model of string as a polymer of string bits to the case of superstring. We mainly concentrate on type II-B superstring, with some discussion of the obstacles presented by not II-B superstring, together with possible strategies for surmounting them. As with previous work on bosonic string we work within the light-cone gauge. The bit model possesses a good deal less symmetry than the continuous string theory. For one thing, the bit model is formulated as a Galilei invariant theory in $(D-2)+1$ dimensional space-time. This means that Poincar\'e invariance is reduced to the Galilei subgroup in $D-2$ space dimensions. Naturally the supersymmetry present in the bit model is likewise dramatically reduced. Continuous string can arise in the bit models with the formation of infinitely long polymers of string bits. Under the right circumstances (at the critical dimension) these polymers can behave as string moving in $D$ dimensional space-time enjoying the full $N=2$ Poincar\'e supersymmetric dynamics of type II-B superstring.Comment: 43 pages, phyzzx require

Eisenstein series for higher-rank groups and string theory amplitudes

Scattering amplitudes of superstring theory are strongly constrained by the requirement that they be invariant under dualities generated by discrete subgroups, E_n(Z), of simply-laced Lie groups in the E_n series (n<= 8). In particular, expanding the four-supergraviton amplitude at low energy gives a series of higher derivative corrections to Einstein's theory, with coefficients that are automorphic functions with a rich dependence on the moduli. Boundary conditions supplied by string and supergravity perturbation theory, together with a chain of relations between successive groups in the E_n series, constrain the constant terms of these coefficients in three distinct parabolic subgroups. Using this information we are able to determine the expressions for the first two higher derivative interactions (which are BPS-protected) in terms of specific Eisenstein series. Further, we determine key features of the coefficient of the third term in the low energy expansion of the four-supergraviton amplitude (which is also BPS-protected) in the E_8 case. This is an automorphic function that satisfies an inhomogeneous Laplace equation and has constant terms in certain parabolic subgroups that contain information about all the preceding terms.Comment: Latex. 38 pages. 1 figure. v2: minor changes and clarifications. v3: minor corrections, version to appear in Communications in Number Theory and Physics. v4: corrections to table

Spectral identification/elimination of molecular species in spacecraft glow

Computer models of molecular electronic and vibrational emission intensities were developed. Known radiative emission rates (Einstein coefficients) permit the determination of relative excited state densities from spectral intensities. These codes were applied to the published spectra of glow above shuttle surface and to the Spacelab 1 results of Torr and Torr. The theoretical high-resolution spectra were convolved with the appropriate instrumental slit functions to allow accurate comparison with data. The published spacelab spectrum is complex but N2+ Meinel emission can be clearly identified in the ram spectrum. M2 First Positive emission does not correlate well with observed features, nor does the CN Red System. Spectral overlay comparisons are presented. The spectrum of glow above shuttle surfaces, in contrast to the ISO data, is not highly structured. Diatomic molecular emission was matched to the observed spectral shape. Source excitation mechanisms such as (oxygen atom)-(surface species) reaction product chemiluminescence, surface recombination, or resonance fluorescent re-emission will be discussed for each tentative assignment. These assignments are the necessary first analytical step toward mechanism identification. Different glow mechanisms will occur above surfaces under different orbital conditions

The Standard Model on a D-brane

We present a consistent string theory model which reproduces the Standard Model, consisting of a D3-brane at a simple orbifold singularity. We study some simple features of the phenomenology of the model. We find that the scale of stringy physics must be in the multi-TeV range. There are natural hierarchies in the fermion spectrum and there are several possible experimental signatures of the model.Comment: 8 pages Latex, 1 fig. v2: discussion improved, added new reference

Remarks on the Classical Size of D-Branes

We discuss different criteria for `classical size' of extremal Dirichlet p-branes in type-II supergravity. Using strong-weak coupling duality, we find that the size of the strong-coupling region at the core of the (p<3)-branes, is always given by the asymptotic string scale, if measured in the weakly coupled dual string metric. We also point out how the eleven-dimensional Planck scale arises in the classical 0-brane solution, as well as the ten-dimensional Planck scale in the D-instanton solution.Comment: 8 pp, harvma