Instrument calculates moments of inertia of complex plane figures

Instrument consisting of a narrow field scanner coupled with a simple preprogrammed computer calculates distributive-area properties of complex or irregular plane figures representing cross sections of structural members. The calculator obtains the properties quickly and with a high degree of accuracy

Adaptive guidance and control for future remote sensing systems

A unique approach to onboard processing was developed that is capable of acquiring high quality image data for users in near real time. The approach is divided into two steps: the development of an onboard cloud detection system; and the development of a landmark tracker. The results of these two developments are outlined and the requirements of an operational guidance and control system capable of providing continuous estimation of the sensor boresight position are summarized

Surface tension in a compressible liquid-drop model: Effects on nuclear density and neutron skin thickness

We examine whether or not the surface tension acts to increase the nucleon density in the nuclear interior within a compressible liquid-drop model. We find that it depends on the density dependence of the surface tension, which may in turn be deduced from the neutron skin thickness of stable nuclei.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Physical Review

Nuclear Ground-State Masses and Deformations

We tabulate the atomic mass excesses and nuclear ground-state deformations of 8979 nuclei ranging from $^{16}$O to $A=339$. The calculations are based on the finite-range droplet macroscopic model and the folded-Yukawa single-particle microscopic model. Relative to our 1981 mass table the current results are obtained with an improved macroscopic model, an improved pairing model with a new form for the effective-interaction pairing gap, and minimization of the ground-state energy with respect to additional shape degrees of freedom. The values of only 9 constants are determined directly from a least-squares adjustment to the ground-state masses of 1654 nuclei ranging from $^{16}$O to $^{263}$106 and to 28 fission-barrier heights. The error of the mass model is 0.669~MeV for the entire region of nuclei considered, but is only 0.448~MeV for the region above $N=65$.Comment: 50 pages plus 20 PostScript figures and 160-page table obtainable by anonymous ftp from t2.lanl.gov in directory masses, LA-UR-93-308

Liquid-Drop Model and Quantum Resistance Against Noncompact Nuclear Geometries

The importance of quantum effects for exotic nuclear shapes is demonstrated. Based on the example of a sheet of nuclear matter of infinite lateral dimensions but finite thickness, it is shown that the quantization of states in momentum space, resulting from the confinement of the nucleonic motion in the conjugate geometrical space, generates a strong resistance against such a confinement and generates restoring forces driving the system towards compact geometries. In the liquid-drop model, these quantum effects are implicitly included in the surface energy term, via a choice of interaction parameters, an approximation that has been found valid for compact shapes, but has not yet been scrutinized for exotic shapes.Comment: 9 pages with 3 figure

The ORSER System for the Analysis of Remotely Sensed Digital Data

The main effort of the University of Pennsylvania's Office for Remote Sensing of Earth Resources (ORSER) is the processing, analysis, and interpretation of multispectral data, most often supplied by NASA in the form of imagery and digital data. The facilities used for data reduction and image enhancement are described as well as the development of algorithms for producing a computer map showing various environmental and land use characteristics of data points in the analyzed scenes. The application of an (ORSER) capability for statewide monitoring of gypsy moth defoliation is discussed

Triaxial nuclear models and the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars

The properties and composition of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars are studied by applying the model of Baym, Pethick, and Sutherland (BPS) and taking into account for the first time triaxial deformations of nuclei. Two theoretical nuclear models, Hartree-Fock plus pairing in the BCS approximation (HF-BCS) with Skyrme SLy6 parametrization and Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov (HFB) with Gogny D1S force, are used to calculate the nuclear masses. The two theoretical calculations are compared concerning their neutron drip line, binding energies, magic neutron numbers, and the sequence of nuclei in the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars, with special emphasis on the effect of triaxial deformations. The BPS model is extended by the higher-order corrections for the atomic binding, screening, exchange and zero-point energies. The influence of the higher-order corrections on the sequence of the outer crust is investigated.Comment: 7 page

Stability of bubble nuclei through Shell-Effects

We investigate the shell structure of bubble nuclei in simple phenomenological shell models and study their binding energy as a function of the radii and of the number of neutron and protons using Strutinsky's method. Shell effects come about, on the one hand, by the high degeneracy of levels with large angular momentum and, on the other, by the big energy gaps between states with a different number of radial nodes. Shell energies down to -40 MeV are shown to occur for certain magic nuclei. Estimates demonstrate that the calculated shell effects for certain magic numbers of constituents are probably large enough to produce stability against fission, alpha-, and beta-decay. No bubble solutions are found for mass number A < 450.Comment: 9 pages and 9 figures in the eps format include