4,993 research outputs found
Double layers above the aurora
Two different kinds of double layers were found in association with auroral precipitation. One of these is the so-called electrostatic shock, which is oriented at an oblique angle to the magnetic field in such a way that the perpendicular electric field is much larger than the parallel electric field. This type of double layer is often found at the edges of regions of upflowing ion beams and the direction of the electric fields in the shock points toward the ion beam. The potential drop through the shock can be several kV and is comparable to the total potential needed to produce auroral acceleration. Instabilities associated with the shock may generate obliquely propagating Alfven waves, which may accelerate electrons to produce flickering auroras. The flickering aurora provides evidence that the electrostatic shock may have large temporal fluctuations. The other kind of double layer is the small-amplitude double layer found in regions of upward flowing in beams, often in association with electrostatic ion cyclotron waves. The parallel and perpendicular electric fields in these structures are comparable in magnitude. The associated potentials are a few eV. Since many such double layers are found in regions of upward flowing ion beams, the combined potential drop through a set of these double layers can be substantial
Future perspectives for jet substructure techniques in LHC Run2
The increased pile-up expected in the LHC Run 2 and High Luminosity LHC creates a challenging environment for utilizing the jet-substructure techniques which were successfully demonstrated in the LHC Run 1. The ATLAS and CMS experiments are studying a range of methods to improve jet reconstruction to increase the resilience against high pile-up. Promising results are obtained in simulation but await validation on the first Run 2 data
Intelligent search for distributed information sources using heterogeneous neural networks
As the number and diversity of distributed information sources on the Internet exponentially increase, various search services are developed to help the users to locate relevant information. But they still exist some drawbacks such as the difficulty of mathematically modeling retrieval process, the lack of adaptivity and the indiscrimination of search. This paper shows how heteroge-neous neural networks can be used in the design of an intelligent distributed in-formation retrieval (DIR) system. In particular, three typical neural network models - Kohoren's SOFM Network, Hopfield Network, and Feed Forward Network with Back Propagation algorithm are introduced to overcome the above drawbacks in current research of DIR by using their unique properties. This preliminary investigation suggests that Neural Networks are useful tools for intelligent search for distributed information sources
Ion Larmor radius effects near a reconnection X line at the magnetopause: THEMIS observations and simulation comparison
We report a Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS-D) spacecraft crossing of a magnetopause reconnection exhaust ~9 ion skin depths (di) downstream of an X line. The crossing was characterized by ion jetting at speeds substantially below the predicted reconnection outflow speed. In the magnetospheric inflow region THEMIS detected (a) penetration of magnetosheath ions and the resulting flows perpendicular to the reconnection plane, (b) ion outflow extending into the magnetosphere, and (c) enhanced electron parallel temperature. Comparison with a simulation suggests that these signatures are associated with the gyration of magnetosheath ions onto magnetospheric field lines due to the shift of the flow stagnation point toward the low-density magnetosphere. Our observations indicate that these effects, ~2–3 di in width, extend at least 9 di downstream of the X line. The detection of these signatures could indicate large-scale proximity of the X line but do not imply that the spacecraft was upstream of the electron diffusion region
Intensity-Based Registration of Freehand 3D Ultrasound and CT-scan Images of the Kidney
This paper presents a method to register a pre-operative Computed-Tomography
(CT) volume to a sparse set of intra-operative Ultra-Sound (US) slices. In the
context of percutaneous renal puncture, the aim is to transfer planning
information to an intra-operative coordinate system. The spatial position of
the US slices is measured by optically localizing a calibrated probe. Assuming
the reproducibility of kidney motion during breathing, and no deformation of
the organ, the method consists in optimizing a rigid 6 Degree Of Freedom (DOF)
transform by evaluating at each step the similarity between the set of US
images and the CT volume. The correlation between CT and US images being
naturally rather poor, the images have been preprocessed in order to increase
their similarity. Among the similarity measures formerly studied in the context
of medical image registration, Correlation Ratio (CR) turned out to be one of
the most accurate and appropriate, particularly with the chosen non-derivative
minimization scheme, namely Powell-Brent's. The resulting matching transforms
are compared to a standard rigid surface registration involving segmentation,
regarding both accuracy and repeatability. The obtained results are presented
and discussed
New Insights into Dissipation in the Electron Layer During Magnetic Reconnection
Detailed comparisons are reported between laboratory observations of
electron-scale dissipation layers near a reconnecting X-line and direct
two-dimensional full-particle simulations. Many experimental features of the
electron layers, such as insensitivity to the ion mass, are reproduced by the
simulations; the layer thickness, however, is about 3-5 times larger than the
predictions. Consequently, the leading candidate 2D mechanism based on
collisionless electron nongyrotropic pressure is insufficient to explain the
observed reconnection rates. These results suggest that, in addition to the
residual collisions, 3D effects play an important role in electron-scale
dissipation during fast reconnection.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
Recent Plasma Observations Related to Magnetic Merging and the Low-Latitude Boundary Layer. Case Study by Polar, March 18, 2006
We have begun an investigation of the nature of the low-latitude boundary layer in the mid-altitude cusp region using data from the Polar spacecraft. Magnetosheath-like plasma is frequently observed deep (in terms of distance from the magnetopause and in invariant latitude) in the magnetosphere. One such case, taken during a long period of northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMP) on March 18, 2006, shows injected magnetosheath ions within the magnetosphere with velocity distributions resulting from two separate merging sites along the same field lines. Cold ionospheric ions were also observed counterstreaming along the field lines, evidence that these field lines were closed. Our results support the idea of double reconnection under northward IMP on the same group of field lines can provide a source for the LLBL. However, the flow direction of the accelerated magnetosheath ions antiparallel to the local magnetic field and given location of the spacecraft suggest that these two injection sites are located northward of the spacecraft position. Observed convection velocities of the magnetic field lines are inconsistent with those expected for double post-cusp reconnection in both hemispheres. These observations favor a scenario in which a group of newly closed field lines was created by a combination of high shear merging at high latitudes in the northern hemisphere and low shear merging at lower latitudes at the dayside magnetopause
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