15,115 research outputs found
Ten past and ten future GAS/MAUS-payloads
MAUS (materials science autonomous experiments) is one out of a series of flight opportunities which the Space Program of West Germany offers to scientists from the disciplines of materials research and processing for performing materials science investigations under microgravity conditions. Up to now, ten MAUS experiments were flown which were dealing with the following scientific topics: decomposition of binary alloys with miscibility gap in the liquid state, interaction of a solidification front with dispersed particles, critical Marangoni number, investigation of the magnetic compound MnBi, shrinkage of gas bubbles in glass melts and slip casting. The ten future experiments are partly reflights with modification of the scientific objectives as well as new experiments in the fields of chemical reactions, heat transfer, glass technology and Ostwald ripening. Looking to ten flown payloads, the peculiarities of instrument technology in GAS-cans and its evolution is discussed with emphasis on structure, electronics and thermal design. A typical modern payload using 100 percent of the resource is presented
Future MAUS payload and the TWIN-MAUS configuration
The German MAUS project (materials science autonomous experiments in weightlessness) was initiated in 1979 for optimum utilization of NASA's Get Away Special (GAS) program. The standard MAUS system was developed to meet GAS requirements and can accommodate a wide variety of GAS-type experiments. The system offers a range of services to experimenters within the framework of standardized interfaces. Four MAUS payloads being prepared for future space shuttle flight opportunities are described. The experiments include critical Marangoni convection, oscillatory Marangoni convection, pool boiling, and gas bubbles in glass melts. Scientific objectives as well as equipment hardware are presented together with recent improvements to the MAUS standard system, e.g., a new experiment control and data management unit and a semiconductor memory. A promising means of increasing resources in the field of GAS experiments is the interconnection of GAS containers. This important feature has been studied to meet the challenge of future advanced payloads. In the TWIN-MAUS configuration, electrical power and data will be transferred between two containers mounted adjacent to each other
The Resonance Overlap and Hill Stability Criteria Revisited
We review the orbital stability of the planar circular restricted three-body
problem, in the case of massless particles initially located between both
massive bodies. We present new estimates of the resonance overlap criterion and
the Hill stability limit, and compare their predictions with detailed dynamical
maps constructed with N-body simulations. We show that the boundary between
(Hill) stable and unstable orbits is not smooth but characterized by a rich
structure generated by the superposition of different mean-motion resonances
which does not allow for a simple global expression for stability.
We propose that, for a given perturbing mass and initial eccentricity
, there are actually two critical values of the semimajor axis. All values
are
unstable in the Hill sense. The first limit is given by the Hill-stability
criterion and is a function of the eccentricity. The second limit is virtually
insensitive to the initial eccentricity, and closely resembles a new resonance
overlap condition (for circular orbits) developed in terms of the intersection
between first and second-order mean-motion resonances.Comment: 33 pages, 14 figures, accepte
Nuclear fusion induced by X-rays in a crystal
The nuclei that constitute a crystalline lattice, oscillate relative to each
other with a very low energy that is not sufficient to penetrate through the
Coulomb barriers separating them. An additional energy, which is needed to
tunnel through the barrier and fuse, can be supplied by external
electromagnetic waves (X-rays or the synchrotron radiation). Exposing to the
X-rays the solid compound LiD (lithium-deuteride) for the duration of 111
hours, we have detected 88 events of the nuclear fusion d+Li6 ---> Be8*. Our
theoretical estimate agrees with what we observed. One of possible applications
of the phenomenon we found, could be the measurements of the rates of various
nuclear reactions (not necessarily fusion) at extremely low energies
inaccessible in accelerator experiments.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. C on 28 October 201
Recombination dramatically speeds up evolution of finite populations
We study the role of recombination, as practiced by genetically-competent
bacteria, in speeding up Darwinian evolution. This is done by adding a new
process to a previously-studied Markov model of evolution on a smooth fitness
landscape; this new process allows alleles to be exchanged with those in the
surrounding medium. Our results, both numerical and analytic, indicate that for
a wide range of intermediate population sizes, recombination dramatically
speeds up the evolutionary advance
Visualisation Tools for Multi-Perspective, Cross-Sector, Long-Term Infrastructure Performance Evaluation
Across different infrastructure sectors there are systems that help to monitor the current and near-future operation
and performance of a particular system. Whilst Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are critical
to maintaining acceptable levels of functionality, they do not provide insights over the longer timescales across which
strategic investment decisions play out. To understand how individual or multiple, interdependent, infrastructure
sectors perform over longer timescales, capacity/demand modelling is required. However, the outputs of such
models are often a complex high-dimensionality result-set, and this complexity is further compounded when crosssector
evaluation is required. To maximise utility of such models, tools are required that can process and present
key outputs. In this paper we describe the development of prototype tools for infrastructure performance evaluation
in relation to different strategic decisions and the complex outputs generated from capacity and demand models of
five infrastructure sectors (energy, water, waste water, solid waste, transport) investigated within the UK Infrastructure
Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC). By constructing tools that expose various dimensions of the model outputs,
a user is able to take greater control over the knowledge discovery process
Physics of Quantum Relativity through a Linear Realization
The idea of quantum relativity as a generalized, or rather deformed, version
of Einstein (special) relativity has been taking shape in recent years.
Following the perspective of deformations, while staying within the framework
of Lie algebra, we implement explicitly a simple linear realization of the
relativity symmetry, and explore systematically the resulting physical
interpretations. Some suggestions we make may sound radical, but are arguably
natural within the context of our formulation. Our work may provide a new
perspective on the subject matter, complementary to the previous approach(es),
and may lead to a better understanding of the physics.Comment: 27 pages in Revtex, no figure; proof-edited version to appear in
Phys.Rev.
Photodetachment of cold OH- in a multipole ion trap
The absolute photodetachment cross section of OH- anions at a rotational and
translational temperature of 170K is determined by measuring the
detachment-induced decay rate of the anions in a multipole radio-frequency ion
trap. In comparison with previous results, the obtained cross section shows the
importance of the initial rotational state distribution. Using a tomography
scan of the photodetachment laser through the trapped ion cloud, the derived
cross section is model-independent and thus features a small systematic
uncertainty. The tomography also yields the column density of the OH- anions in
the 22-pole ion trap in good agreement with the expected trapping potential of
a large field free region bound by steep potential walls.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett., in pres
Analytic approach to the evolutionary effects of genetic exchange
We present an approximate analytic study of our previously introduced model
of evolution including the effects of genetic exchange. This model is motivated
by the process of bacterial transformation. We solve for the velocity, the rate
of increase of fitness, as a function of the fixed population size, . We
find the velocity increases with , eventually saturated at an which
depends on the strength of the recombination process. The analytical treatment
is seen to agree well with direct numerical simulations of our model equations
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