159 research outputs found
NUV/Blue spectral observations of sprites in the 320-460 nm region: (2PG) Emissions
A near-ultraviolet (NUV) spectrograph (320-460 nm) was flown on the EXL98
aircraft sprite observation campaign during July 1998. In this wavelength range
video rate (60 fields/sec) spectrographic observations found the NUV/blue
emissions to be predominantly N2 (2PG). The negligible level of N2+ (1NG)
present in the spectrum is confirmed by observations of a co-aligned, narrowly
filtered 427.8 nm imager and is in agreement with previous ground-based
filtered photometer observations. The synthetic spectral fit to the
observations indicates a characteristic energy of ~1.8 eV, in agreement with
our other NUV observations.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, JGR Space Physics "Effects of
Thunderstorms and Lightning in the Upper Atmosphere" Special Sectio
Frequency evaluation of the doubly forbidden transition in bosonic Yb
We report an uncertainty evaluation of an optical lattice clock based on the
transition in the bosonic isotope Yb by use
of magnetically induced spectroscopy. The absolute frequency of the
transition has been determined through comparisons
with optical and microwave standards at NIST. The weighted mean of the
evaluations is (Yb)=518 294 025 309 217.8(0.9) Hz. The uncertainty
due to systematic effects has been reduced to less than 0.8 Hz, which
represents in fractional frequency.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure -Submitted to PRA Rapid Communication
Mapping auroral activity with Twitter
Twitter is a popular, publicly-accessible, social media service that has proven useful in mapping large-scale events in real-time. In this study, for the first time, the use of Twitter as a measure of auroral activity is investigated. Peaks in the number of aurora-related tweets are found to frequently coincide with geomagnetic disturbances (detection rate of 91%). Additionally, the number of daily aurora-related tweets is found to strongly correlate with several auroral strength proxies (ravg ≈ 0.7). An examination is made of the bias for location and time of day within Twitter data, and a first order correction of these effects is presented. Overall, the results suggest that Twitter can provide both specific details about an individual aurora and accurate real-time indication of when, and even from where, an aurora is visible
Testing the stability of fundamental constants with the 199Hg+ single-ion optical clock
Over a two-year duration, we have compared the frequency of the 199Hg+ 5d106s
2S 1/2 (F=0) 5d9 6s2 2D 5/2 (F=2) electric-quadrupole transition at 282 nm
with the frequency of the ground-state hyperfine splitting in neutral 133Cs.
These measurements show that any fractional time variation of the ratio
nu(Cs)/nu(Hg) between the two frequencies is smaller than +/- 7 10^-15 / yr (1
sigma uncertainty). According to recent atomic structure calculations, this
sets an upper limit to a possible fractional time variation of g(Cs) m_e / m_p
alpha^6.0 at the same level.Comment: 4 pages with 3 figures. RevTeX 4, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Zitterbewegung in External Magnetic Field: Classic versus Quantum Approach
We investigate variations of the Zitterbewegung frequency of electron due to
an external static and uniform magnetic field employing the expectation value
quantum approach, and compare our results with the classical model of spinning
particles. We demonstrate that these two so far compatible approaches are not
in agreement in the presence of an external uniform static magnetic field, in
which the classical approach breaks the usual symmetry of free particles and
antiparticles states, i.e. it leads to CP violation. Hence, regarding the
Zitterbewegung frequency of electron, the classical approach in the presence of
an external magnetic field is unlikely to correctly describe the spin of
electron, while the quantum approach does, as expected. We also show that the
results obtained via the expectation value are in close agreement with the
quantum approach of the Heisenberg picture derived in the literature. However,
the method we use is capable of being compared with the classical approach
regarding the spin aspects. The classical interpretation of spin produced by
the altered Zitterbewegung frequency, in the presence of an external magnetic
field, are discussed.Comment: 16 pages, no figure
Simultaneous observation of mesospheric gravity waves and sprites generated by a Midwestern thunderstorm
Abstract The present report investigates using simultaneous observations of coincident gravity waves and sprites to establish an upper limit on sprite-associated thermal energy deposition in the mesosphere. The University of Alaska operated a variety of optical imagers and photometers at two ground sites in support of the NASA Sprites99 balloon campaign. One site was atop a US Forest Service lookout tower on Bear Mt. in the Black Hills, in western South Dakota. On the night of 18 August 1999 we obtained from this site simultaneous images of sprites and OH airglow modulated by gravity waves emanating from a very active sprite producing thunderstorm over Nebraska, to the Southeast of Bear Mt. Using 25 s exposures with a bare CCD camera equipped with a red ÿlter, we were able to coincidentally record both short duration (¡10 ms) but bright (¿3 MR) N2 1PG red emissions from sprites and much weaker (∼1 kR), but persistent, OH Meinel nightglow emissions. A time lapse movie created from images revealed short period, complete 360 • concentric wave structures emanating radially outward from a central excitation region directly above the storm. During the initial stages of the storm outwardly expanding waves possessed a period of ≈10 min and wavelength ≈50 km. Over a 1 h interval the waves gradually changed to longer period ≈11 min and shorter wavelength ≈40 km. Over the full 2 h observation time, about two dozen bright sprites generated by the underlying thunderstorm were recorded near the center of the outwardly radiating gravity wave pattern. No distinctive OH brightness signatures uniquely associated with the sprites were detected at the level of 2% of the ambient background brightness, establishing an associated upper limit of approximately T . 0:5 K for a neutral temperature perturbation over the volume of the sprites. The corresponding total thermal energy deposited by the sprite is bounded by these measurements to be less than ∼1 GJ. This value is well above the total energy deposited into the medium by the sprite, estimated by several independent methods to be on the order of ∼1-10 MJ
New Science in Plain Sight : Citizen Scientists Lead to Discovery of Optical Structure in the Upper Atmosphere
A glowing ribbon of purple light running east-west in the night sky has recently been observed by citizen scientists. This narrow, subauroral, visible structure, distinct from the traditional auroral oval, was largely undocumented in the scientific literature and little was known about its formation. Amateur photo sequences showed colors distinctly different from common types of aurora and occasionally indicated magnetic field–aligned substructures. Observations from the Swarm satellite as it crossed the arc have revealed an unusual level of electron temperature enhancement and density depletion, along with a strong westward ion flow, indicating that a pronounced subauroral ion drift (SAID) is associated with this structure. These early results suggest the arc is an optical manifestation of SAID, presenting new opportunities for investigation of the dynamic SAID signatures from the ground. On the basis of the measured ion properties and original citizen science name, we propose to identify this arc as a Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE)
Evaluating and Minimizing Distributed Cavity Phase Errors in Atomic Clocks
We perform 3D finite element calculations of the fields in microwave cavities
and analyze the distributed cavity phase errors of atomic clocks that they
produce. The fields of cylindrical cavities are treated as an azimuthal Fourier
series. Each of the lowest components produces clock errors with unique
characteristics that must be assessed to establish a clock's accuracy. We
describe the errors and how to evaluate them. We prove that sharp structures in
the cavity do not produce large frequency errors, even at moderately high
powers, provided the atomic density varies slowly. We model the amplitude and
phase imbalances of the feeds. For larger couplings, these can lead to
increased phase errors. We show that phase imbalances produce a novel
distributed cavity phase error that depends on the cavity detuning. We also
design improved cavities by optimizing the geometry and tuning the mode
spectrum so that there are negligible phase variations, allowing this source of
systematic error to be dramatically reduced.Comment: To appear in Metrologi
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