A ground-based experimental test program to duplicate and study the spacecraft glow phenomenon

The use of a plasma device, the Advanced Concepts Torus-I, for producing atoms and molecules to study spacecraft glow mechanisms is discussed. A biased metal plate, located in the plasma edge, is used to accelerate and neutralize plasma ions, thus generating a neutral beam with a flux approx. 5 x 10 to the 14th power/sq cm/sec at the end of a drift tube. Our initial experiments are to produce a 10 eV molecular and atomic nitrogen beam directed onto material targets. Photon emission in the spectral range 2000 to 9000 A from excited species formed on the target surface will be investigated

Numerical integration of variational equations

We present and compare different numerical schemes for the integration of the variational equations of autonomous Hamiltonian systems whose kinetic energy is quadratic in the generalized momenta and whose potential is a function of the generalized positions. We apply these techniques to Hamiltonian systems of various degrees of freedom, and investigate their efficiency in accurately reproducing well-known properties of chaos indicators like the Lyapunov Characteristic Exponents (LCEs) and the Generalized Alignment Indices (GALIs). We find that the best numerical performance is exhibited by the \textit{`tangent map (TM) method'}, a scheme based on symplectic integration techniques which proves to be optimal in speed and accuracy. According to this method, a symplectic integrator is used to approximate the solution of the Hamilton's equations of motion by the repeated action of a symplectic map $S$, while the corresponding tangent map $TS$, is used for the integration of the variational equations. A simple and systematic technique to construct $TS$ is also presented.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Avaliação dos impactos de produtos biofortificados: metodologia de referência.

A proposta apresentada neste estudo busca levantar os impactos preliminares da utilização de produtos biofortificados. Essa avaliação constitui-se numa preparação dos pesquisadores entrevistadores e dos agricultores adotantes para a realização de uma posterior avaliação ex-post de impactos, propriamente dita. Em suma, objetiva diagnosticar os primeiros impactos que a adoção de tais tecnologias causa sobre os aspectos econômicos, sociais e ambientais nas localidades adotantes

Avaliação da adoção de produtos biofortificados.

O projeto Biofort é uma iniciativa da Embrapa Agroindústria de Alimentos em parceria com várias outras unidades da Embrapa e outras instituições que busca desenvolver tecnologias e/ou produtos biofortificados. Para avaliar o impacto dos produtos desenvolvidos nesse projeto foi preciso desenvolver uma metodologia específica que captasse informações desde o momento da adoção. Assim, o objetivo desse estudo é apresentar a metodologia para monitoramento e avaliação da adoção de produtos biofortificados que será utilizada para levantamento de informações acerca desse processo de adoção, identificando o perfil do produtor interessado em plantar, consumir e/ou vender esses produtos diferenciados, bem como, identificar os fatores que levaram o produtor a adotar e consumir um produto biofortificado. O produto final desse estudo é apresentar uma metodologia organizada e padronizada de modo a atender a demanda de avaliação do projeto a ser aplicada em todas as comunidades que serão alvos da transferência dos produtos biofortificados

Interplay Between Chaotic and Regular Motion in a Time-Dependent Barred Galaxy Model

We study the distinction and quantification of chaotic and regular motion in a time-dependent Hamiltonian barred galaxy model. Recently, a strong correlation was found between the strength of the bar and the presence of chaotic motion in this system, as models with relatively strong bars were shown to exhibit stronger chaotic behavior compared to those having a weaker bar component. Here, we attempt to further explore this connection by studying the interplay between chaotic and regular behavior of star orbits when the parameters of the model evolve in time. This happens for example when one introduces linear time dependence in the mass parameters of the model to mimic, in some general sense, the effect of self-consistent interactions of the actual N-body problem. We thus observe, in this simple time-dependent model also, that the increase of the bar's mass leads to an increase of the system's chaoticity. We propose a new way of using the Generalized Alignment Index (GALI) method as a reliable criterion to estimate the relative fraction of chaotic vs. regular orbits in such time-dependent potentials, which proves to be much more efficient than the computation of Lyapunov exponents. In particular, GALI is able to capture subtle changes in the nature of an orbit (or ensemble of orbits) even for relatively small time intervals, which makes it ideal for detecting dynamical transitions in time-dependent systems.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures (minor typos fixed) to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Theo

Theoretical Investigation of the Deactivation of Ni Supported Catalysts for the Catalytic Deoxygenation of Palm Oil for Green Diesel Production

For the first time, a fully comprehensive heterogeneous computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model has been developed to predict the selective catalytic deoxygenation of palm oil to produce green diesel over an Ni/ZrO2 catalyst. The modelling results were compared to experimental data, and a very good validation was obtained. It was found that for the Ni/ZrO2 catalyst, the paraffin conversion increased with temperature, reaching a maximum value (>95%) at 300 °C. However, temperatures greater than 300 °C resulted in a loss of conversion due to the fact of catalyst deactivation. In addition, at longer times, the model predicted that the catalyst activity would decline faster at temperatures higher than 250 °C. The CFD model was able to predict this deactivation by relating the catalytic activity with the reaction temperature

Groundbased studies of spacecraft glow and erosion caused by impact of oxygen and nitrogen beams

To simulate surface reactions in the space environment a ground-based facility was developed that produces a very high flux 10(14) to 10(16)/sq cm/s of low energy (2 to 20 eV) neutral atoms and molecules. The neutral beams are created using a method involving neutralization and reflection of ions from a biased limiter, where the ions are extracted from a toroidal plasma source. The spectra of emission due to beam-solid interactions on targets of Chemglaze Z-306 optical paint and Kapton are presented. Erosion yields for carbon and Kapton targets with low energy (approx. 10 eV) nitrogen and oxygen beams were measured. The reaction rates and surface morphology for the erosion of Kapton are similar to those measured in experiments on STS-5

Observation of the 5p Rydberg states of sulfur difluoride radical by resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization spectroscopy

Sulfur difluoride radicals in their ground state have been produced by a "laser-free" pulsed dc discharge of the SF$_{6}$/Ar gas mixtures in a supersonic molecular beam and detected by mass-selective resonance-enhanced multilphoton ionization (REMPI) spectroscopy in the wavelength range of 408 - 420 nm. Analyses of the (3 + 1) REMPI excitation spectrum have enabled identification of three hitherto unknown Rydberg states of this radical. Following the Rydberg state labeling in our previous work [see J. Phys. Chem. A 102, 7233 (1998)], these we label the K(5p$_{1}$) [$nu_{0-0}$ = 71 837 cm$^{-1}$, $omega_{1}^{'}$(a$_{1}$ sym str) = 915 cm$^{-1}$], L(5p$_{2}$) [$nu_{0-0}$ = 72 134 cm$^{-1}$, $omega_{1}^{'}$(a$_{1}$ sym str) = 912 cm$^{-1}$], and M(5p$_{3}$) [$nu_{0-0}$ = 72 336 cm$^{-1}$, $omega_{1}^{'}$(a$_{1}$ sym str) = 926 cm$^{-1}$] Rydberg states, respectively. [Origins, relative to the lowest vibrational level of the X$^{1}$A$_{1}$ ground state, and vibrational frequencies of the symmetric S-F stretching mode are suggested by the numbers in brackets.] Photofragmentation process of SF$_{2}$$^{+}$--SF$^{+}$ + F that relates to the REMPI spectrum was discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 1 table, 2 figure

Samples for 3rd Harmonic Magnetometry Assessment of NbTiN-Based SIS Structures

In the quest for alternative superconducting materials to bring accelerator cavity performance beyond the bulk niobium (Nb) intrinsic limits, a promising concept uses superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) thin film structures that allows magnetic flux shielding in accelerator cavities to higher fields [1]. Candidate materials for such structures are NbTiN as the superconductor and AlN as the insulator. We have demonstrated high quality NbTiN and AlN deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering (DCMS), both for individual layers and multilayers. Interface quality has been assessed for bilayer stacks with 250 nm NbTiN layers and AlN thicknesses from 30 nm down to1 nm. These SIS structures show continued sharp interfaces with total average roughness under 2 nm. The Hfp enhancement of the films will be examined with a 3rd harmonic magnetometry. The system is being designed and built in a continuing collaboration with CEA Saclay. It can measure 25 to 50 mm samples on a temperature controlled stage. This contribution presents an overview of the design of the 3rd harmonic magnetometer and the material properties assessment of standalone films and multilayer nanostructures