Two-plane balance and slip-ring design

A 3.25 cm (1.28 in.) two plane balance and eight channel slip ring assembly has been designed to measure and transmit the thrust (667-N;150-lb) and torque (135-N-m;100-lb-ft) components produced by wind tunnel model turboprops and drive motors operating at 300 Hz

Soft Pomerons and the Forward LHC Data

Recent data from LHC13 by the TOTEM Collaboration on $\sigma_{tot}$ and $\rho$ have indicated disagreement with all the Pomeron model predictions by the COMPETE Collaboration (2002). On the other hand, as recently demonstrated by Martynov and Nicolescu (MN), the new $\sigma_{tot}$ datum and the unexpected decrease in the $\rho$ value are well described by the maximal Odderon dominance at the highest energies. Here, we discuss the applicability of Pomeron dominance through fits to the \textit{most complete set} of forward data from $pp$ and $\bar{p}p$ scattering. We consider an analytic parametrization for $\sigma_{tot}(s)$ consisting of non-degenerated Regge trajectories for even and odd amplitudes (as in the MN analysis) and two Pomeron components associated with double and triple poles in the complex angular momentum plane. The $\rho$ parameter is analytically determined by means of dispersion relations. We carry out fits to $pp$ and $\bar{p}p$ data on $\sigma_{tot}$ and $\rho$ in the interval 5 GeV - 13 TeV (as in the MN analysis). Two novel aspects of our analysis are: (1) the dataset comprises all the accelerator data below 7 TeV and we consider \textit{three independent ensembles} by adding: either only the TOTEM data (as in the MN analysis), or only the ATLAS data, or both sets; (2) in the data reductions to each ensemble, uncertainty regions are evaluated through error propagation from the fit parameters, with 90 \% CL. We argument that, within the uncertainties, this analytic model corresponding to soft Pomeron dominance, does not seem to be excluded by the \textit{complete} set of experimental data presently available.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Two paragraphs and four references added. Accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

XMM-Newton EPIC and OM observation of Nova Centauri 1986 (V842 Cen)

We report the results from the temporal and spectral analysis of an XMM-Newton observation of Nova Centauri 1986 (V842 Cen). We detect a period at 3.51$\pm$0.4 h in the EPIC data and at 4.0$\pm$0.8 h in the OM data. The X-ray spectrum is consistent with the emission from an absorbed thin thermal plasma with a temperature distribution given by an isobaric cooling flow. The maximum temperature of the cooling flow model is $kT_{max}=43_{-12}^{+23}$ keV. Such a high temperature can be reached in a shocked region and, given the periodicity detected, most likely arises in a magnetically-channelled accretion flow characteristic of intermediate polars. The pulsed fraction of the 3.51 h modulation decreases with energy as observed in the X-ray light curves of magnetic CVs, possibly due either to occultation of the accretion column by the white dwarf body or phase-dependent to absorption. We do not find the 57 s white dwarf spin period, with a pulse amplitude of 4 mmag, reported by Woudt et al. (2009) either in the Optical Monitor (OM) data, which are sensitive to pulse amplitudes $\gtrsim$ 0.03 magnitudes, or the EPIC data, sensitive to pulse fractions $p \gtrsim$ 14 $\pm$2%.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; MNRAS, accepte

Topological Vertex, String Amplitudes and Spectral Functions of Hyperbolic Geometry

We discuss the homological aspects of the connection between quantum string generating function and the formal power series associated to the dimensions of chains and homologies of suitable Lie algebras. Our analysis can be considered as a new straightforward application of the machinery of modular forms and spectral functions (with values in the congruence subgroup of $SL(2,{\mathbb Z})$) to the partition functions of Lagrangian branes, refined vertex and open string partition functions, represented by means of formal power series that encode Lie algebra properties. The common feature in our examples lies in the modular properties of the characters of certain representations of the pertinent affine Lie algebras and in the role of Selberg-type spectral functions of an hyperbolic three-geometry associated with $q$-series in the computation of the string amplitudes.Comment: Revised version. References added, results remain unchanged. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:hep-th/0701156, arXiv:1105.4571, arXiv:1206.0664 by other author

Spherical orbit closures in simple projective spaces and their normalizations

Let G be a simply connected semisimple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic 0 and let V be a rational simple G-module of finite dimension. If G/H \subset P(V) is a spherical orbit and if X is its closure, then we describe the orbits of X and those of its normalization. If moreover the wonderful completion of G/H is strict, then we give necessary and sufficient combinatorial conditions so that the normalization morphism is a homeomorphism. Such conditions are trivially fulfilled if G is simply laced or if H is a symmetric subgroup.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX. v4: Final version, to appear in Transformation Groups. Simplified some proofs and corrected minor mistakes, added references. v3: major changes due to a mistake in previous version

On the nature of transverse coronal waves revealed by wavefront dislocations

Coronal waves are an important aspect of the dynamics of the plasma in the corona. Wavefront dislocations are topological features of most waves in nature and also of magnetohydrodynamic waves. Are there dislocations in coronal waves? The finding and explanation of dislocations may shed light on the nature and characteristics of the propagating waves, their interaction in the corona and in general on the plasma dynamics. We positively identify dislocations in coronal waves observed by the Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP) as singularities in the Doppler shifts of emission coronal lines. We study the possible singularities that can be expected in coronal waves and try to reproduce the observed dislocations in terms of localization and frequency of appearance. The observed dislocations can only be explained by the interference of a kink and a sausage wave modes propagating with different frequencies along the coronal magnetic field. In the plane transverse to the propagation, the cross-section of the oscillating plasma must be smaller than the spatial resolution, and the two waves result in net longitudinal and transverse velocity components that are mixed through projection onto the line of sight. Alfv\'en waves can be responsible of the kink mode, but a magnetoacoustic sausage mode is necessary in all cases. Higher (flute) modes are excluded. The kink mode has a pressure amplitude that is smaller than the pressure amplitude of the sausage mode, though its observed velocity is larger. This concentrates dislocations on the top of the loop. To explain dislocations, any model of coronal waves must include the simultaneous propagation and interference of kink and sausage wave modes of comparable but different frequencies, with a sausage wave amplitude much smaller than the kink one.Comment: 11 pages. 5 figures. Accepted for publication in A&