Cloud-top meridional momentum transports on Saturn and Jupiter

Cloud-tracked wind measurements reported by Sromovsky et al. were analyzed to determine meridional momentum transports in Saturn's northern middle latitudes. Results are expressed in terms of eastward and northward velocity components (u and v), and eddy components u and v. At most latitudes between 13 and 44 deg N (planetocentric), the transport by the mean flow () is measurably southward, tending to support Saturn's large equatorial jet, and completely dominating the eddy transport. Meridional velocities are near zero at the peak of the relatively weak westward jet; along the flanks of that jet, measurements indicate divergent flow out of the jet. In this region the dominant eddy transport () is northward on the north side of the jet, but not resolvable on the south side. Eddy transports at most other latitudes are not significantly different from measurement error. The conversion of eddy kinetic energy to mean kinetic energy, indicated by the correlation between and d/dy (where y is meridional distance) is clearly smaller than various values reported for Jupiter, and not significantly different from zero. Both Jovian and Saturnian results may be biased by the tendency for cloud tracking to favor high contrast features, and thus may not be entirely representative of the cloud level motions as a whole

Oligomeric reaction products by the polymerization of ethylene with chromium surface compounds

Nach kurzzeitiger Polymerisation von Äthylen an Cr(II)- bzw. Cr(VI)-Oberflächenverbindungen auf oxydischen Trägern und anschließender Protolyse lassen sich oligomere Reaktionsprodukte fassen, die zumindest teilweise durch Zersetzung eines löslichen Chrom-organischen Komplexes entstanden sind. Je nach Katalysatortyp entstehen dabei verschiedene homologe Reihen: mit Cr(II)-Kontakten erhält man -Olefine (bei Ablösung nach O2-Zutritt die entsprechenden n-Aldehyde), mit Cr(VI)-Kontakten die geradkettigen Methylketone. Während die Aldehyd-Bildung durch eine Sekundär-Reaktion erfolgt, entsteht die CH3CO-Endgruppe offenbar durch primäre Oxydation des C2H4 durch O\u27fl.Cr(VI). Auf Grund der Protolyseprodukte läßt sich ein Polymerisationsverlauf diskutieren, bei dem die Alken- bzw. Acetyl-Endgruppen an den nicht an Cr gebundenen Kettenenden eingebaut werden.Short time polymerization of ethylene with Cr(II) and Cr(VI) surface species on oxide carriers produces oligomeric reaction products, when followed by protonolysis, that originate, at least in part, from the decomposition of a soluble organochromium complex. Different homologous series result according to the type of heterogeneous catalyst employed: with Cr(II) contact -olefines are obtained (in presence of O2 the corresponding n-aldehydes are formed), Cr(VI) contacts give straightchain methylketones. Whereas the aldehyde formation occurs in secondary reactions the CH3CO endgroup is produced evidently through the primary oxidation of C2H4 with surface Cr(VI). A polymerization sequence is then discussed in terms of protonolysis products wherein the alkene and acetyl endgroups are attached at that chain end which is not bound to chromium

Surface compounds of transition metals. - Part XIII : Nature of the polymer to chromium bond in Phillips catalysts

Two independent experiments show that in polymerization catalysts of the Phillips type the growing hydrocarbon chain is attached to the metal via a bond

Hybrid Inflation and Particle Physics

The prototype hybrid SUSY SU(5) inflation models, while well motivated from particle physics, and while allowing an acceptable inflationary phase with little or no fine tuning, are shown to have two fundamental phenomenological problems. (1) They inevitably result in the wrong vacuum after inflation is over; and (2) they do not solve the monopole problem. In order to get around the first problem the level of complexity of these models must be increased. One can also avoid the second problem in this way. We also demonstate another possibility by proposing a new general mechanism to avoid the monopole problem with, or without inflation

The Cosmological Constant is Back

A diverse set of observations now compellingly suggest that Universe possesses a nonzero cosmological constant. In the context of quantum-field theory a cosmological constant corresponds to the energy density of the vacuum, and the wanted value for the cosmological constant corresponds to a very tiny vacuum energy density. We discuss future observational tests for a cosmological constant as well as the fundamental theoretical challenges---and opportunities---that this poses for particle physics and for extending our understanding of the evolution of the Universe back to the earliest moments.Comment: latex, 8 pages plus one ps figure available as separate compressed uuencoded fil

Hysteresis phenomenon in deterministic traffic flows

We study phase transitions of a system of particles on the one-dimensional integer lattice moving with constant acceleration, with a collision law respecting slower particles. This simple deterministic ``particle-hopping'' traffic flow model being a straightforward generalization to the well known Nagel-Schreckenberg model covers also a more recent slow-to-start model as a special case. The model has two distinct ergodic (unmixed) phases with two critical values. When traffic density is below the lowest critical value, the steady state of the model corresponds to the ``free-flowing'' (or ``gaseous'') phase. When the density exceeds the second critical value the model produces large, persistent, well-defined traffic jams, which correspond to the ``jammed'' (or ``liquid'') phase. Between the two critical values each of these phases may take place, which can be interpreted as an ``overcooled gas'' phase when a small perturbation can change drastically gas into liquid. Mathematical analysis is accomplished in part by the exact derivation of the life-time of individual traffic jams for a given configuration of particles.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, corrected and improved version, to appear in the Journal of Statistical Physic

Probing the equation of state of the early universe with a space laser interferometer

We propose a method to probe the equation of state of the early universe and its evolution, using the stochastic gravitational wave background from inflation. A small deviation from purely radiation dominated universe ($w= 1/3$) would be clearly imprinted on the gravitational wave spectrum $\Omega_{GW}(f)$ due to the nearly scale invariant nature of inflationary generated waves.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

Laudatores Temporis Acti, or Why Cosmology is Alive and Well - A Reply to Disney

A recent criticism of cosmological methodology and achievements by Disney (2000) is assessed. Some historical and epistemological fallacies in the said article have been highlighted. It is shown that---both empirically and epistemologically---modern cosmology lies on sounder foundations than it is portrayed. A brief historical account demonstrates that this form of unsatisfaction with cosmology has had a long tradition, and rather meagre results in the course of the XX century.Comment: 11 pages, no figures; a criticism of astro-ph/0009020; Gen. Rel. Grav., accepted for publicatio

Contribution of Long Wavelength Gravitational Waves to the CMB Anisotropy

We present an in depth discussion of the production of gravitational waves from an inflationary phase that could have occurred in the early universe, giving derivations for the resulting spectrum and energy density. We also consider the large-scale anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background radiation coming from these waves. Assuming that the observed quadrupole anisotropy comes mostly from gravitational waves (consistent with the predictions of a flat spectrum of scalar density perturbations and the measured dipole anisotropy) we describe in detail how to derive a value for the scale of inflation of $(1.5-5)\times 10^{16}$GeV, which is at a particularly interesting scale for particle physics. This upper limit corresponds to a 95\% confidence level upper limit on the scale of inflation assuming only that the quadrupole anisotropy from gravitational waves is not cancelled by another source. Direct detection of gravitational waves produced by inflation near this scale will have to wait for the next generation of detectors.Comment: (LaTeX 16 pages), 2 figures not included, YCTP-P16-9