Development of a flash, bang, and smoke simulation of a shell burst

A large number of experiments (cue test firings) were performed in the definition of the cue concepts and packaging configurations. A total of 344 of these experiments were recorded with instrumentation photography to allow a quantitative analysis of the smoke cloud to be made as a function of time. These analyses were predominantly made using a short test site. Supplementary long range visibility tests were conducted to insure the required 3 kilometer visibility of the smoke signature

A Hamilton-Jacobi approach to non-slow-roll inflation

I describe a general approach to characterizing cosmological inflation outside the standard slow-roll approximation, based on the Hamilton-Jacobi formulation of scalar field dynamics. The basic idea is to view the equation of state of the scalar field matter as the fundamental dynamical variable, as opposed to the field value or the expansion rate. I discuss how to formulate the equations of motion for scalar and tensor fluctuations in situations where the assumption of slow roll is not valid. I apply the general results to the simple case of inflation from an ``inverted'' polynomial potential, and to the more complicated case of hybrid inflation.Comment: 21 pages, RevTeX (minor revisions to match published version

Development of a test and flight engineering oriented language. Phase 1: Oral presentation material

The material used in an oral presentation of the phase 1 study effort is given. Phase 1 was directed at the examination of existing related languages and their applications

Life test, 8000-hour, of an electron bombardment mercury ion thruster system for SERT 2 Final report

Operational performance of electron bombardment mercury ion thruster system during life testing in space simulation for SERT

Olivine-FeS Partial-Melt

The figure shows Fe-S-filled melt channels in olivine created at high temperature and pressure. The 3D image was obtained on Beamline 8.3.2 at the Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, with a spatial resolution of better than two microns (bar is 10 microns). Permeability of Fe-S melts in olivine at high temperatures and pressures provides an important constraint on models of planetary core formation. Permeability must be inferred from empirical relationships based on microstructure. To date, estimates of permeability have varied by more than five orders of magnitude. To provide more accurate constraints, we used high-resolution synchrotron radiation computed tomography to image the three-dimensional network of melt-containing pores in an olivine matrix, and calculated the permeability directly by solving the equations of Stokes flow through the actual pore network using a lattice-Boltzmann approach. These calculations provide an independent constraint on models of planetary core formation

Exceptional Indices

Recently a prescription to compute the superconformal index for all theories of class S was proposed. In this paper we discuss some of the physical information which can be extracted from this index. We derive a simple criterion for the given theory of class S to have a decoupled free component and for it to have enhanced flavor symmetry. Furthermore, we establish a criterion for the "good", the "bad", and the "ugly" trichotomy of the theories. After interpreting the prescription to compute the index with non-maximal flavor symmetry as a residue calculus we address the computation of the index of the bad theories. In particular we suggest explicit expressions for the superconformal index of higher rank theories with E_n flavor symmetry, i.e. for the Hilbert series of the multi-instanton moduli space of E_n.Comment: 33 pages, 11 figures, v2: minor correction

Constraints on the Nature of Terrestrial Core-Forming Melts: Ultra-High Pressure Transport Property Measurements and X-Ray Computed Tomography Final Report

A key issue in models of planetary core formation is the interconnectness and potential percolation of iron-sulfide melts in contact with silicates at high temperature and pressure. To address this issue an integrated study of the electrical conductivity-texture-permeability relationships of olivine-sulfide partial-melt samples was performed. This work has application to the interpretation of high conductivity zones in the Earth as revealed by electromagnetic studies and to the origin and development of the Earth's core. The project consisted of three main tasks. (1) Synthesis and characterization of olivine-sulfide partial-melts. (2) Electrical conductivity measurements of the partial-melt and the individual melt and crystalline phases. (3) X-ray microtomographic determination of the 3-D structure and interconnectedness of the melt phase. The results are used to determine a model of permeability of a partially molten solid that incorporates the melt distribution, a goal that has never before been achieved. Material synthesis was accomplished in the piston cylinder apparatus and electrical conductivity measurements were performed at one atmosphere. X-ray computed tomography was performed on recovered samples at the ALS. This work makes use of and further enhances LLNL's strengths in high-pressure material properties, x-ray micro- and nanoscale imaging and development of transport theory

Completing Natural Inflation

If the inflaton is a pseudo-scalar axion, the axion shift symmetry can protect the flatness of its potential from too large radiative corrections. This possibility, known as natural inflation, requires an axion scale which is greater than the (reduced) Planck scale. It is unclear whether such a high value is compatible with an effective field theoretical description, and if the global axionic symmetry survives quantum gravity effects. We propose a mechanism which provides an effective large axion scale, although the original one is sub-Planckian. The mechanism is based on the presence of two axions, with a potential provided by two anomalous gauge groups. The effective large axion scale is due to an almost exact symmetry between the couplings of the axions to the anomalous groups. We also comment on a possible implementation in heterotic string theory.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Investigation of shock waves in explosive blasts using fibre optic pressure sensors

The published version of this article may be accessed at the link below. Copyright @ IOP Publishing, 2006.We describe miniature all-optical pressure sensors, fabricated by wafer etching techniques, less than 1 mm(2) in overall cross-section with rise times in the mu s regime and pressure ranges typically 900 kPa (9 bar). Their performance is suitable for experimental studies of the pressure-time history for test models exposed to shocks initiated by an explosive charge. The small size and fast response of the sensors promises higher quality data than has been previously available from conventional electrical sensors, with potential improvements to numerical models of blast effects. Results from blast tests are presented in which up to six sensors were multiplexed, embedded within test models in a range of orientations relative to the shock front.Support from the UK Engineering&Physical Sciences Research Council and Dstl Fort Halstead through the MoD Joint Grants Scheme are acknowledged. WN MacPherson is supported by an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship

Ribbons on the CBR Sky: A Powerful Test of a Baryon Symmetric Universe

If the Universe consists of domains of matter and antimatter, annihilations at domain interfaces leave a distinctive imprint on the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR) sky. The signature is anisotropies in the form of long, thin ribbons of width $\theta_W\sim 0.1^\circ$, separated by angle $\theta_L\simeq 1^\circ(L/100h^{-1}{Mpc})$ where L is the characteristic domain size, and y-distortion parameter $y \approx 10^{-6}$. Such a pattern could potentially be detected by the high-resolution CBR anisotropy experiments planned for the next decade, and such experiments may finally settle the question of whether or not our Hubble volume is baryon symmetric.Comment: LaTeX, 10 pages, 4 figures in epsf. Revised version corrects a couple of relevant mistake