315 research outputs found
Migration of Interplanetary Dust
We numerically investigate the migration of dust particles with initial
orbits close to those of the numbered asteroids, observed trans-Neptunian
objects, and Comet Encke. The fraction of silicate asteroidal particles that
collided with the Earth during their lifetime varied from 1.1% for 100 micron
particles to 0.008% for 1 micron particles. Almost all asteroidal particles
with diameter d>4 microns collided with the Sun. The peaks in the migrating
asteroidal dust particles' semi-major axis distribution at the n:(n+1)
resonances with Earth and Venus and the gaps associated with the 1:1 resonances
with these planets are more pronounced for larger particles. The probability of
collisions of cometary particles with the Earth is smaller than for asteroidal
particles, and this difference is greater for larger particles.Comment: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 15 pages, 8 Figures,
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Optical Spin Orientation in Strained Superlattices
Optical orientation in the strained semiconductor superlattices is
investigated theoretically. The dependence of the features in spin-polarization
spectra on the structure parameters is clarified. The value of polarization in
the first polarization maximum in the SL structures is shown to grow with the
splitting between the hh- and lh- states of the valence band, the joint strain
and confinement effects on the hh1- lh1 splitting being strongly influenced by
the tunneling in the barriers. In strained structures with high barriers for
the holes initial polarization can exceed 95 %. Calculated polarization spectra
are close to the experimental spectra of polarized electron emission.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure
Simultaneous Triggered Collapse of the Presolar Dense Cloud Core and Injection of Short-Lived Radioisotopes by a Supernova Shock Wave
Cosmochemical evidence for the existence of short-lived radioisotopes (SLRI)
such as Al and Fe at the time of the formation of primitive
meteorites requires that these isotopes were synthesized in a massive star and
then incorporated into chondrites within yr. A supernova shock wave
has long been hypothesized to have transported the SLRI to the presolar dense
cloud core, triggered cloud collapse, and injected the isotopes. Previous
numerical calculations have shown that this scenario is plausible when the
shock wave and dense cloud core are assumed to be isothermal at K,
but not when compressional heating to K is assumed. We show here
for the first time that when calculated with the FLASH2.5 adaptive mesh
refinement (AMR) hydrodynamics code, a 20 km/sec shock wave can indeed trigger
the collapse of a 1 cloud while simultaneously injecting shock wave
isotopes into the collapsing cloud, provided that cooling by molecular species
such as HO, CO, and H is included. These calculations imply that
the supernova trigger hypothesis is the most likely mechanism for delivering
the SLRI present during the formation of the solar system.Comment: 12 pages, 4 color figures. Astrophysical Journal Letters (in press
Simulator for Microlens Planet Surveys
We summarize the status of a computer simulator for microlens planet surveys.
The simulator generates synthetic light curves of microlensing events observed
with specified networks of telescopes over specified periods of time.
Particular attention is paid to models for sky brightness and seeing,
calibrated by fitting to data from the OGLE survey and RoboNet observations in
2011. Time intervals during which events are observable are identified by
accounting for positions of the Sun and the Moon, and other restrictions on
telescope pointing. Simulated observations are then generated for an algorithm
that adjusts target priorities in real time with the aim of maximizing planet
detection zone area summed over all the available events. The exoplanet
detection capability of observations was compared for several telescopes.Comment: Proc. IAU Symp. No. 293 "Formation, detection, and characterization
of extrasolar habitable planets", ed. by N. Haghighipour. 4 pages, in pres
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