Origin and Evolution of Saturn's Ring System

The origin and long-term evolution of Saturn's rings is still an unsolved problem in modern planetary science. In this chapter we review the current state of our knowledge on this long-standing question for the main rings (A, Cassini Division, B, C), the F Ring, and the diffuse rings (E and G). During the Voyager era, models of evolutionary processes affecting the rings on long time scales (erosion, viscous spreading, accretion, ballistic transport, etc.) had suggested that Saturn's rings are not older than 100 My. In addition, Saturn's large system of diffuse rings has been thought to be the result of material loss from one or more of Saturn's satellites. In the Cassini era, high spatial and spectral resolution data have allowed progress to be made on some of these questions. Discoveries such as the ''propellers'' in the A ring, the shape of ring-embedded moonlets, the clumps in the F Ring, and Enceladus' plume provide new constraints on evolutionary processes in Saturn's rings. At the same time, advances in numerical simulations over the last 20 years have opened the way to realistic models of the rings's fine scale structure, and progress in our understanding of the formation of the Solar System provides a better-defined historical context in which to understand ring formation. All these elements have important implications for the origin and long-term evolution of Saturn's rings. They strengthen the idea that Saturn's rings are very dynamical and rapidly evolving, while new arguments suggest that the rings could be older than previously believed, provided that they are regularly renewed. Key evolutionary processes, timescales and possible scenarios for the rings's origin are reviewed in the light of tComment: Chapter 17 of the book ''Saturn After Cassini-Huygens'' Saturn from Cassini-Huygens, Dougherty, M.K.; Esposito, L.W.; Krimigis, S.M. (Ed.) (2009) 537-57

Measurements of the Mass and Full-Width of the ηc\eta_c Meson

In a sample of 58 million $J/\psi$ events collected with the BES II detector, the process J/$\psi\to\gamma\eta_c$ is observed in five different decay channels: $\gamma K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-$, $\gamma\pi^+\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$, $\gamma K^\pm K^0_S \pi^\mp$ (with $K^0_S\to\pi^+\pi^-$), $\gamma \phi\phi$ (with $\phi\to K^+K^-$) and $\gamma p\bar{p}$. From a combined fit of all five channels, we determine the mass and full-width of $\eta_c$ to be $m_{\eta_c}=2977.5\pm1.0 ({stat.})\pm1.2 ({syst.})$ MeV/$c^2$ and $\Gamma_{\eta_c} = 17.0\pm3.7 ({stat.})\pm7.4 ({syst.})$ MeV/$c^2$.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures and 4 table. Submitted to Phys. Lett.

Anomalous Heat Conduction and Anomalous Diffusion in Low Dimensional Nanoscale Systems

Thermal transport is an important energy transfer process in nature. Phonon is the major energy carrier for heat in semiconductor and dielectric materials. In analogy to Ohm's law for electrical conductivity, Fourier's law is a fundamental rule of heat transfer in solids. It states that the thermal conductivity is independent of sample scale and geometry. Although Fourier's law has received great success in describing macroscopic thermal transport in the past two hundreds years, its validity in low dimensional systems is still an open question. Here we give a brief review of the recent developments in experimental, theoretical and numerical studies of heat transport in low dimensional systems, include lattice models, nanowires, nanotubes and graphenes. We will demonstrate that the phonon transports in low dimensional systems super-diffusively, which leads to a size dependent thermal conductivity. In other words, Fourier's law is breakdown in low dimensional structures

Measurement of the Atmospheric Muon Spectrum from 20 to 3000 GeV

The absolute muon flux between 20 GeV and 3000 GeV is measured with the L3 magnetic muon spectrometer for zenith angles ranging from 0 degree to 58 degree. Due to the large exposure of about 150 m2 sr d, and the excellent momentum resolution of the L3 muon chambers, a precision of 2.3 % at 150 GeV in the vertical direction is achieved. The ratio of positive to negative muons is studied between 20 GeV and 500 GeV, and the average vertical muon charge ratio is found to be 1.285 +- 0.003 (stat.) +- 0.019 (syst.).Comment: Total 32 pages, 9Figure

Multiwavelength studies of MHD waves in the solar chromosphere: An overview of recent results

The chromosphere is a thin layer of the solar atmosphere that bridges the relatively cool photosphere and the intensely heated transition region and corona. Compressible and incompressible waves propagating through the chromosphere can supply significant amounts of energy to the interface region and corona. In recent years an abundance of high-resolution observations from state-of-the-art facilities have provided new and exciting ways of disentangling the characteristics of oscillatory phenomena propagating through the dynamic chromosphere. Coupled with rapid advancements in magnetohydrodynamic wave theory, we are now in an ideal position to thoroughly investigate the role waves play in supplying energy to sustain chromospheric and coronal heating. Here, we review the recent progress made in characterising, categorising and interpreting oscillations manifesting in the solar chromosphere, with an impetus placed on their intrinsic energetics.Comment: 48 pages, 25 figures, accepted into Space Science Review

HighP–TNano-Mechanics of Polycrystalline Nickel

We have conducted highP–Tsynchrotron X-ray and time-of-flight neutron diffraction experiments as well as indentation measurements to study equation of state, constitutive properties, and hardness of nanocrystalline and bulk nickel. Our lattice volume–pressure data present a clear evidence of elastic softening in nanocrystalline Ni as compared with the bulk nickel. We show that the enhanced overall compressibility of nanocrystalline Ni is a consequence of the higher compressibility of the surface shell of Ni nanocrystals, which supports the results of molecular dynamics simulation and a generalized model of a nanocrystal with expanded surface layer. The analytical methods we developed based on the peak-profile of diffraction data allow us to identify “micro/local” yield due to high stress concentration at the grain-to-grain contacts and “macro/bulk” yield due to deviatoric stress over the entire sample. The graphic approach of our strain/stress analyses can also reveal the corresponding yield strength, grain crushing/growth, work hardening/softening, and thermal relaxation under highP–Tconditions, as well as the intrinsic residual/surface strains in the polycrystalline bulks. From micro-indentation measurements, we found that a low-temperature annealing (T < 0.4 Tm) hardens nanocrystalline Ni, leading to an inverse Hall–Petch relationship. We explain this abnormal Hall–Petch effect in terms of impurity segregation to the grain boundaries of the nanocrystalline Ni

Main Cause of the Poloidal Plasma Motion Inside a Magnetic Cloud Inferred from Multiple-Spacecraft Observations

Although the dynamical evolution of magnetic clouds (MCs) has been one of the foci of interplanetary physics for decades, only few studies focus on the internal properties of large-scale MCs. Recent work by Wang et al. (J. Geophys. Res.120, 1543, 2015) suggested the existence of the poloidal plasma motion in MCs. However, the main cause of this motion is not clear. In order to find it, we identify and reconstruct the MC observed by the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)-A, Wind, and STEREO-B spacecraft during 19 – 20 November 2007 with the aid of the velocity-modified cylindrical force-free flux-rope model. We analyze the plasma velocity in the plane perpendicular to the MC axis. It is found that there was evident poloidal motion at Wind and STEREO-B, but this was not clear at STEREO-A, which suggests a local cause rather than a global cause for the poloidal plasma motion inside the MC. The rotational directions of the solar wind and MC plasma at the two sides of the MC boundary are found to be consistent, and the values of the rotational speeds of the solar wind and MC plasma at the three spacecraft show a rough correlation. All of these results illustrate that the interaction with ambient solar wind through viscosity might be one of the local causes of the poloidal motion. Additionally, we propose another possible local cause: the existence of a pressure gradient in the MC. The significant difference in the total pressure at the three spacecraft suggests that this speculation is perhaps correct

Lactate released by inflammatory bone marrow neutrophils induces their mobilization via endothelial GPR81 signaling.

Neutrophils provide first line of host defense against bacterial infections utilizing glycolysis for their effector functions. How glycolysis and its major byproduct lactate are triggered in bone marrow (BM) neutrophils and their contribution to neutrophil mobilization in acute inflammation is not clear. Here we report that bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) or Salmonella Typhimurium triggers lactate release by increasing glycolysis, NADPH-oxidase-mediated reactive oxygen species and HIF-1α levels in BM neutrophils. Increased release of BM lactate preferentially promotes neutrophil mobilization by reducing endothelial VE-Cadherin expression, increasing BM vascular permeability via endothelial lactate-receptor GPR81 signaling. GPR81-/- mice mobilize reduced levels of neutrophils in response to LPS, unless rescued by VE-Cadherin disrupting antibodies. Lactate administration also induces release of the BM neutrophil mobilizers G-CSF, CXCL1 and CXCL2, indicating that this metabolite drives neutrophil mobilization via multiple pathways. Our study reveals a metabolic crosstalk between lactate-producing neutrophils and BM endothelium, which controls neutrophil mobilization under bacterial infection

Measurement of Branching Ratios for ηc\eta_c Hadronic Decays

In a sample of 58 million $J/\psi$ events collected with the BES II detector, the process J/$\psi\to\gamma\eta_c$ is observed in five decay channels: $\eta_c \to K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-$, $\pi^+\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$, $K^\pm K^0_S \pi^\mp$ (with $K^0_S\to\pi^+\pi^-$), $\phi\phi$ (with $\phi\to K^+K^-$) and $p\bar{p}$. From these signals, we determine $Br(J/\psi\to\gamma\eta_c)\times Br(\eta_c\to K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-)$ $=(1.5\pm0.2\pm0.2)\times10^{-4}$, $Br(J/\psi\to\gamma\eta_c)\times Br(\eta_c\to \pi^+\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-)$ $=(1.3\pm0.2\pm0.4)\times10^{-4}$, $Br(J/\psi\to\gamma\eta_c)\times Br(\eta_c\to K^\pm K_{S}^{0}\pi^\mp)$ $=(2.2\pm0.3\pm0.5)\times10^{-4}$, $Br(J/\psi\to\gamma\eta_c)\times Br(\eta_c\to \phi\phi)$ $=(3.3\pm0.6\pm0.6)\times10^{-5}$ and $Br(J/\psi\to\gamma\eta_c)\times Br(\eta_c\to p\bar{p})$ $=(1.9\pm0.3\pm0.3)\times10^{-5}$.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figures and 4 table. Submitted to Phys. Lett.