10,250 research outputs found
Reduction, Symmetry and Phases in Mechanics
Various holonomy phenomena are shown to be instances of the reconstruction procedure
for mechanical systems with symmetry. We systematically exploit this point of view for fixed
systems (for example with controls on the internal, or reduced, variables) and for slowly moving
systems in an adiabatic context. For the latter, we obtain the phases as the holonomy for a
connection which synthesizes the Cartan connection for moving mechanical systems with the
Hannay-Berry connection for integrable systems. This synthesis allows one to treat in a natural
way examples like the ball in the slowly rotating hoop and also non-integrable mechanical systems
Constraining the Surface Inhomogeneity and Settling Times of Metals on Accreting White Dwarfs
Due to the short settling times of metals in DA white dwarf atmospheres, any
white dwarfs with photospheric metals must be actively accreting. It is
therefore natural to expect that the metals may not be deposited uniformly on
the surface of the star. We present calculations showing how the temperature
variations associated with white dwarf pulsations lead to an observable
diagnostic of the surface metal distribution, and we show what constraints
current data sets are able to provide. We also investigate the effect that
time-variable accretion has on the metal abundances of different species, and
we show how this can lead to constraints on the gravitational settling times.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal Letters, updated reference
Important factors in the maximum likelihood analysis of flight test maneuvers
The information presented is based on the experience in the past 12 years at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center of estimating stability and control derivatives from over 3500 maneuvers from 32 aircraft. The overall approach to the analysis of dynamic flight test data is outlined. General requirements for data and instrumentation are discussed and several examples of the types of problems that may be encountered are presented
Laboratory Measurements Of White Dwarf Photospheric Spectral Lines: H Beta
We spectroscopically measure multiple hydrogen Balmer line profiles from laboratory plasmas to investigate the theoretical line profiles used in white dwarf (WD) atmosphere models. X-ray radiation produced at the Z Pulsed Power Facility at Sandia National Laboratories initiates plasma formation in a hydrogen-filled gas cell, replicating WD photospheric conditions. Here we present time-resolved measurements of H beta and fit this line using different theoretical line profiles to diagnose electron density, n(e), and n = 2 level population, n2. Aided by synthetic tests, we characterize the validity of our diagnostic method for this experimental platform. During a single experiment, we infer a continuous range of electron densities increasing from n(e) similar to 4 to similar to 30 x 10(16) cm(-3) throughout a 120-ns evolution of our plasma. Also, we observe n(2) to be initially elevated with respect to local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE); it then equilibrates within similar to 55 ns to become consistent with LTE. This supports our electrontemperature determination of T-e similar to 1.3 eV (similar to 15,000 K) after this time. At n(e) greater than or similar to 10(17) cm(-3), we find that computer-simulation-based line-profile calculations provide better fits (lower reduced chi(2)) than the line profiles currently used in the WD astronomy community. The inferred conditions, however, are in good quantitative agreement. This work establishes an experimental foundation for the future investigation of relative shapes and strengths between different hydrogen Balmer lines.Laboratory Directed Research and Development programUnited States Department of Energy DE-AC04-94AL85000, DE-SC0010623National Science Foundation DGE-1110007Astronom
Destroying Aliases from the Ground and Space: Super-Nyquist ZZ Cetis in K2 Long Cadence Data
With typical periods of order 10 minutes, the pulsation signatures of ZZ Ceti
variables (pulsating hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarf stars) are severely
undersampled by long-cadence (29.42 minutes per exposure) K2 observations.
Nyquist aliasing renders the intrinsic frequencies ambiguous, stifling
precision asteroseismology. We report the discovery of two new ZZ Cetis in
long-cadence K2 data: EPIC 210377280 and EPIC 220274129. Guided by 3-4 nights
of follow-up, high-speed (<=30 s) photometry from McDonald Observatory, we
recover accurate pulsation frequencies for K2 signals that reflected 4-5 times
off the Nyquist with the full precision of over 70 days of monitoring (~0.01
muHz). In turn, the K2 observations enable us to select the correct peaks from
the alias structure of the ground-based signals caused by gaps in the
observations. We identify at least seven independent pulsation modes in the
light curves of each of these stars. For EPIC 220274129, we detect three
complete sets of rotationally split ell=1 (dipole mode) triplets, which we use
to asteroseismically infer the stellar rotation period of 12.7+/-1.3 hr. We
also detect two sub-Nyquist K2 signals that are likely combination (difference)
frequencies. We attribute our inability to match some of the K2 signals to the
ground-based data to changes in pulsation amplitudes between epochs of
observation. Model fits to SOAR spectroscopy place both EPIC 210377280 and EPIC
220274129 near the middle of the ZZ Ceti instability strip, with Teff =
11590+/-200 K and 11810+/-210 K, and masses 0.57+/-0.03 Msun and 0.62+/-0.03
Msun, respectively.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 7 tables; accepted for publication in Ap
Kinetic modelling and molecular dynamics simulation of ultracold neutral plasmas including ionic correlations
A kinetic approach for the evolution of ultracold neutral plasmas including
interionic correlations and the treatment of ionization/excitation and
recombination/deexcitation by rate equations is described in detail. To assess
the reliability of the approximations inherent in the kinetic model, we have
developed a hybrid molecular dynamics method. Comparison of the results reveals
that the kinetic model describes the atomic and ionic observables of the
ultracold plasma surprisingly well, confirming our earlier findings concerning
the role of ion-ion correlations [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 68}, 010703]. In addition,
the molecular dynamics approach allows one to study the relaxation of the ionic
plasma component towards thermodynamical equilibrium
Measuring ^{12}C(&alpha,&gamma)^{16}O from White Dwarf Asteroseismology
During helium burning in the core of a red giant, the relative rates of the
3&alpha and ^{12}C(&alpha,&gamma)^{16}O reactions largely determine the final
ratio of carbon to oxygen in the resulting white dwarf star. The uncertainty in
the 3&alpha reaction at stellar energies due to the extrapolation from
high-energy laboratory measurements is relatively small, but this is not the
case for the ^{12}C(&alpha,&gamma)^{16}O reaction. Recent advances in the
analysis of asteroseismological data on pulsating white dwarf stars now make it
possible to obtain precise measurements of the central ratio of carbon to
oxygen, providing a more direct way to measure the ^{12}C(&alpha,&gamma)^{16}O
reaction rate at stellar energies. We assess the systematic uncertainties of
this approach and quantify small shifts in the measured central oxygen
abundance originating from the observations and from model settings that are
kept fixed during the optimization. Using new calculations of white dwarf
internal chemical profiles, we find a rate for the ^{12}C(&alpha,&gamma)^{16}O
reaction that is significantly higher than most published values. The accuracy
of this method may improve as we modify some of the details of our description
of white dwarf interiors that were not accessible through previous
model-fitting methods.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, uses emulateapj5.sty, Accepted for
publication in the Astrophysical Journa
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