10,312 research outputs found
The Roughness Properties of Small Ice-Bearing Craters at the South Pole of the Moon: Implications for Accessing Fresh Water Ice in Future Surface Operations
The lunar poles provide a fascinating thermal environment capable of cold-trapping water ice on geologic timescales [1]. While there have been many observations indicating the presence of water ice at the lunar surface [e.g., 24], it is still not clear when this ice was delivered to the Moon. The timing of volatile dep-osition provides important constraints on the origin of lunar ice because different delivery mechanisms have been active at different times throughout lunar history. We previously found that some small (<10 km) cra-ters at the south pole of the Moon have morphologies suggestive of relatively young ages, on the basis of crisp crater rims [5]. These craters are too small to date with robust cratering statistics [5], but the possibility of ice in young craters is intriguing because it suggests that there is some recent and perhaps ongoing mechanism that is delivering or redistributing water to polar cold traps. Therefore, understanding if these small, ice-bear-ing craters are indeed young is essential in understand-ing the age and source of volatiles on the Moon. Here we take a new approach to understand the ages of these small polar cold traps: analyzing the roughness properties of small ice-bearing craters. It is well under-stood that impact crater properties (e.g., morphology, rock abundance, and roughness) evolve with time due to a variety of geologic and space-weathering processes [611]. Topographic roughness is a measurement of the local deviation from the mean topography, providing a measurement of surface texture, and is a powerful tool for evaluating surface evolution over geologic time [e.g., 1114]. In this study we analyze the roughness of southern lunar craters (40S90S) from all geologic eras, and determine how the roughness of small (<10 km) ice-bearing craters compare. We discuss the implications of the ages of ice-bearing south polar craters, and potential strategies for accessing fresh ice on the Moon
Relaxation Phenomena in a System of Two Harmonic Oscillators
We study the process by which quantum correlations are created when an
interaction Hamiltonian is repeatedly applied to a system of two harmonic
oscillators for some characteristic time interval. We show that, for the case
where the oscillator frequencies are equal, the initial Maxwell-Boltzmann
distributions of the uncoupled parts evolve to a new equilibrium
Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution through a series of transient Maxwell-Boltzmann
distributions. Further, we discuss why the equilibrium reached when the two
oscillator frequencies are unequal, is not a thermal one. All the calculations
are exact and the results are obtained through an iterative process, without
using perturbation theory.Comment: 22 pages, 6 Figures, Added contents, to appear in PR
Design of a fault tolerant airborne digital computer. Volume 1: Architecture
This volume is concerned with the architecture of a fault tolerant digital computer for an advanced commercial aircraft. All of the computations of the aircraft, including those presently carried out by analogue techniques, are to be carried out in this digital computer. Among the important qualities of the computer are the following: (1) The capacity is to be matched to the aircraft environment. (2) The reliability is to be selectively matched to the criticality and deadline requirements of each of the computations. (3) The system is to be readily expandable. contractible, and (4) The design is to appropriate to post 1975 technology. Three candidate architectures are discussed and assessed in terms of the above qualities. Of the three candidates, a newly conceived architecture, Software Implemented Fault Tolerance (SIFT), provides the best match to the above qualities. In addition SIFT is particularly simple and believable. The other candidates, Bus Checker System (BUCS), also newly conceived in this project, and the Hopkins multiprocessor are potentially more efficient than SIFT in the use of redundancy, but otherwise are not as attractive
Quantum State Tomography Using Successive Measurements
We describe a quantum state tomography scheme which is applicable to a system
described in a Hilbert space of arbitrary finite dimensionality and is
constructed from sequences of two measurements. The scheme consists of
measuring the various pairs of projectors onto two bases --which have no
mutually orthogonal vectors--, the two members of each pair being measured in
succession. We show that this scheme implies measuring the joint
quasi-probability of any pair of non-degenerate observables having the two
bases as their respective eigenbases. The model Hamiltonian underlying the
scheme makes use of two meters initially prepared in an arbitrary given quantum
state, following the ideas that were introduced by von Neumann in his theory of
measurement.Comment: 12 Page
Weak Value in Wave Function of Detector
A simple formula to read out the weak value from the wave function of the
measuring device after the postselection with the initial Gaussian profile is
proposed. We apply this formula for the weak value to the classical experiment
of the realization of the weak measurement by the optical polarization and
obtain the weak value for any pre- and post-selections. This formula
automatically includes the interference effect which is necessary to yields the
weak value as an outcome of the weak measurement.Comment: 3 pages, no figures, Published in Journal of the Physical Society of
Japa
Uncollapsing the wavefunction by undoing quantum measurements
We review and expand on recent advances in theory and experiments concerning
the problem of wavefunction uncollapse: Given an unknown state that has been
disturbed by a generalized measurement, restore the state to its initial
configuration. We describe how this is probabilistically possible with a
subsequent measurement that involves erasing the information extracted about
the state in the first measurement. The general theory of abstract measurements
is discussed, focusing on quantum information aspects of the problem, in
addition to investigating a variety of specific physical situations and
explicit measurement strategies. Several systems are considered in detail: the
quantum double dot charge qubit measured by a quantum point contact (with and
without Hamiltonian dynamics), the superconducting phase qubit monitored by a
SQUID detector, and an arbitrary number of entangled charge qubits.
Furthermore, uncollapse strategies for the quantum dot electron spin qubit, and
the optical polarization qubit are also reviewed. For each of these systems the
physics of the continuous measurement process, the strategy required to ideally
uncollapse the wavefunction, as well as the statistical features associated
with the measurement is discussed. We also summarize the recent experimental
realization of two of these systems, the phase qubit and the polarization
qubit.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure
NASA space station automation: AI-based technology review
Research and Development projects in automation for the Space Station are discussed. Artificial Intelligence (AI) based automation technologies are planned to enhance crew safety through reduced need for EVA, increase crew productivity through the reduction of routine operations, increase space station autonomy, and augment space station capability through the use of teleoperation and robotics. AI technology will also be developed for the servicing of satellites at the Space Station, system monitoring and diagnosis, space manufacturing, and the assembly of large space structures
Self consistent theory of unipolar charge-carrier injection in metal/insulator/metal systems
A consistent device model to describe current-voltage characteristics of
metal/insulator/metal systems is developed. In this model the insulator and the
metal electrodes are described within the same theoretical framework by using
density of states distributions. This approach leads to differential equations
for the electric field which have to be solved in a self consistent manner by
considering the continuity of the electric displacement and the electrochemical
potential in the complete system. The model is capable of describing the
current-voltage characteristics of the metal/insulator/metal system in forward
and reverse bias for arbitrary values of the metal/ insulator injection
barriers. In the case of high injection barriers, approximations are provided
offering a tool for comparison with experiments. Numerical calculations are
performed exemplary using a simplified model of an organic semiconductor.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure
Distribution of Surface Water Ice on the Moon: An Analysis of Host Crater Ages Provides Insight into the Ages and Sources of Ice at the Lunar South Pole
No abstract availabl
Objective properties from subjective quantum states: Environment as a witness
We study the emergence of objective properties in open quantum systems. In
our analysis, the environment is promoted from a passive role of reservoir
selectively destroying quantum coherence, to an active role of amplifier
selectively proliferating information about the system. We show that only
preferred pointer states of the system can leave a redundant and therefore
easily detectable imprint on the environment. Observers who--as it is almost
always the case--discover the state of the system indirectly (by probing a
fraction of its environment) will find out only about the corresponding pointer
observable. Many observers can act in this fashion independently and without
perturbing the system: they will agree about the state of the system. In this
operational sense, preferred pointer states exist objectively.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, extensive changes, presentation improve
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