Solar wind data from the MIT plasma experiments on Pioneer 6 and Pioneer 7

Hourly averages are presented of solar wind proton parameters obtained from experiments on the Pioneer 6 and Pioneer 7 spacecraft during the period December 16, 1965 to August 1971. The number of data points available on a given day depends upon the spacecraft-earth distance, the telemetry bit rate, and the ground tracking time allotted to each spacecraft. Thus, the data obtained earlier in the life of each spacecraft are more complete. The solar wind parameters are given in the form of plots and listings. Trajectory information is also given along with a detailed description of the analysis procedures used to extract plasma parameters from the measured data

Stress appraisal, coping, and work engagement among police recruits: an exploratory study.

This study investigated the influence of stress appraisal and coping on work engagement levels (Absorption, Vigour, and Dedication) of police recruits. Participants were 387 men, ages 20 to 33 yr. (M = 24.1, SD = 2.4), in their last month of academy training before becoming police officers. Partially in support of predictions, work engagement was associated with Stressor control perceived, but not Stress intensity experienced over a self-selected stressor. Although the three dimensions of work engagement were explained by Stressor control and coping, Absorption was the dimension better explained by these variables. Police recruits reporting higher Absorption, Vigour, and Dedication reported using more Active coping and less Behavioural disengagement. Results showed that stress appraisal and coping are important variables influencing work engagement among police recruits. Findings suggested that future applied interventions fostering work engagement among police recruits should reinforce perceptions of control over a stressor as well as Active coping strategies

Interaction of the solar wind with Venus

Two topics related to the interaction of the solar wind with Venus are considered. First, a short review of the experimental evidence with particular attention to plasma measurements carried out on Mariner-5 and Mariner-10 is given. Secondly, the results of some recent theoretical work on the interaction of the solar wind with the ionosphere of Venus are summarized

The rarity of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes

We report on the first search for Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) from altitudes where they are thought to be produced. The Airborne Detector for Energetic Lightning Emissions (ADELE), an array of gamma-ray detectors, was flown near the tops of Florida thunderstorms in August/September 2009. The plane passed within 10 km horizontal distance of 1213 lightning discharges and only once detected a TGF. If these discharges had produced TGFs of the same intensity as those seen from space, every one should have been seen by ADELE. Separate and significant nondetections are established for intracloud lightning, negative cloud-to-ground lightning, and narrow bipolar events. We conclude that TGFs are not a primary triggering mechanism for lightning. We estimate the TGF-to-flash ratio to be on the order of 10^(−2) to 10^(−3) and show that TGF intensities cannot follow the well-known power-law distribution seen in earthquakes and solar flares, due to our limits on the presence of faint events

The Distance to the Heliospheric VLF Emission Region

Two major episodes of heliospheric VLF emissions near 3 kHz have been observed by the Voyager spacecraft in 1983-1984 and 1992-1993. This higher-frequency component is apparently triggered by solar wind transients with sufficiently large spatial extents and energies to continue to propagate as shocks in the heliosheath. Entrainment of previously unshocked material and changed flow conditions in the heliosheath both tend to slow the shock propagation. The shock evolution is not self-similar. Rather, it is intermediate to two blast-wave similarity solutions in the moving solar wind frame. In one solution the shock moves as time to the 2/3 power and in the other as time to the 4/5 power. Using these models, the shock/Forbush decrease observed at Voyager 2 in September, 1991 and the turn-on of the 1992 emission is consistent with an emission region distance of approx. 130 AU (assuming no additional slowing of the shock in the heliosheath). If the termination shock was at approx. 70 AU when the transient shock collided with it, the true distance to the source region was probably closer to approx. 115 AU

Sensitive Search for a Permanent Muon Electric Dipole Moment

We are proposing a new method to carry out a dedicated search for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of the muon with a sensitivity at a level of 10^{-24} e cm. The experimental design exploits the strong motional electric field sensed by relativistic particles in a magnetic storage ring. As a key feature, a novel technique has been invented in which the g-2 precession is compensated with radial electric field. This technique will benefit greatly when the intense muon sources advocated by the developers of the muon storage rings and the muon colliders become available.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures. Submitted for publication in Proceedings of the International Workshop on High Intensity Muon Sources (HIMUS99), KEK, Japan, December 1-4 199

New apparatus for DTA at 2000 bar: thermodynamic studies on Au, Ag, Al and HTSC oxides

A new DTA (Differential Thermal Analysis) device was designed and installed in a Hot Isostatic Pressure (HIP) furnace in order to perform high-pressure thermodynamic investigations up to 2 kbar and 1200C. Thermal analysis can be carried out in inert or oxidising atmosphere up to p(O2) = 400 bar. The calibration of the DTA apparatus under pressure was successfully performed using the melting temperature (Tm) of pure metals (Au, Ag and Al) as standard calibration references. The thermal properties of these metals have been studied under pressure. The values of DV (volume variation between liquid and solid at Tm), ROsm (density of the solid at Tm) and ALPHAm (linear thermal expansion coefficient at Tm) have been extracted. A very good agreement was found with the existing literature and new data were added. This HP-DTA apparatus is very useful for studying the thermodynamics of those systems where one or more volatile elements are present, such as high TC superconducting oxides. DTA measurements have been performed on Bi,Pb(2223) tapes up to 2 kbar under reduced oxygen partial pressure (p(O2) = 0.07 bar). The reaction leading to the formation of the 2223 phase was found to occur at higher temperatures when applying pressure: the reaction DTA peak shifted by 49C at 2 kbar compared to the reaction at 1 bar. This temperature shift is due to the higher stability of the Pb-rich precursor phases under pressure, as the high isostatic pressure prevents Pb from evaporating.Comment: 6 figures, 3 tables, Thermodynamics, Thermal property, Bi-2223, fundamental valu

The noise properties of 42 millisecond pulsars from the European Pulsar Timing Array and their impact on gravitational wave searches

The sensitivity of Pulsar Timing Arrays to gravitational waves depends on the noise present in the individual pulsar timing data. Noise may be either intrinsic or extrinsic to the pulsar. Intrinsic sources of noise will include rotational instabilities, for example. Extrinsic sources of noise include contributions from physical processes which are not sufficiently well modelled, for example, dispersion and scattering effects, analysis errors and instrumental instabilities. We present the results from a noise analysis for 42 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) observed with the European Pulsar Timing Array. For characterising the low-frequency, stochastic and achromatic noise component, or "timing noise", we employ two methods, based on Bayesian and frequentist statistics. For 25 MSPs, we achieve statistically significant measurements of their timing noise parameters and find that the two methods give consistent results. For the remaining 17 MSPs, we place upper limits on the timing noise amplitude at the 95% confidence level. We additionally place an upper limit on the contribution to the pulsar noise budget from errors in the reference terrestrial time standards (below 1%), and we find evidence for a noise component which is present only in the data of one of the four used telescopes. Finally, we estimate that the timing noise of individual pulsars reduces the sensitivity of this data set to an isotropic, stochastic GW background by a factor of >9.1 and by a factor of >2.3 for continuous GWs from resolvable, inspiralling supermassive black-hole binaries with circular orbits.Comment: Accepted for publication by the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

A new measurement of K+(e4) decay and the s-wave pi-pi-scattering length a00

A sample of 400000 events from the decay K+->pi+pi-e+nu(e)(K(e4)) has been collected in experiment E865 at the Brookhaven AGS. The analysis of these data yields new measurements of the K(e4) branching ratio (4.11+-0.01+-0.11)*10**(-5)), the s-wave pi-pi scattering length a00=0.228+-0.012+-0.003, and the form factors F, G, and H of the hadronic current and their dependence on the invariant pi-pi mass

First observation of the decay K+ -> e+ nu mu+ mu-

Experiment 865 at the Brookhaven AGS has observed the decay K^+ -> e^+ nu mu^+ mu^-. The branching ratio extracted is (1.72 +/- 0.37(stat) +/- 0.17(syst) +/- 0.19(model)) x 10^{-8} where the third term in the error results from the use of a model to extrapolate into a kinematic region dominated by background.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Revtex4. Correction to figure and minor text change