Temperature dependence of attitude sensor coalignments on the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM)

Results are presented on the temperature correlation of the relative coalignment between the fine pointing sun sensor (FPSS) and fixed head star trackers (FHSTs) on the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM). This correlation can be caused by spacecraft electronic and mechanical effects. Routine daily measurements reveal a time dependent sensor coalignment variation. The magnitude of the alignment variation is on the order of 120 arc seconds (arc sec), which greatly exceeds the prelaunch thermal structural analysis estimate of 15 acr sec. Differences between FPSS-only and FHST-only yaw solutions as a function of mission day are correlated with the relevant spacecraft temperature. If unaccounted for, the sensor misalignments due to thermal effects are a significant source of error in attitude determination accuracy. Prominent sources of temperature variation are identified and correlated with the temperature profile observed on the SMM. It was determined that even relatively small changes in spacecraft temperature can affect the coalignments between the attitude hardware on the SMM and the science instrument support plate and that frequent recalibration of sensor alignments is necessary to compensate for this effect. An alterntive to frequent recalibration is to model the variation of alignments as a function of temperature and use this to maintain accurate ground or onboard alignment estimates. These flight data analysis results may be important consierations for prelaunch analysis of future missions

COBE ground segment attitude determination

The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft was launched in November 1989 by NASA to survey the sky for primordial radiation left from the Big Bang explosion. The success of the mission requires an accurate determination of the spacecraft attitude. While the accuracy of the attitude obtained from the attitude sensors is adequate for two of the experiments, the higher accuracy required by the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) is obtained by using the DIRBE instrument as a special type of star sensor. Presented here is an overview of the attitude processing algorithms used at the Cosmology Data Analysis Center (CDAC) and the results obtained from the flight data

COBE ground segment gyro calibration

Discussed here is the calibration of the scale factors and rate biases for the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft gyroscopes, with the emphasis on the adaptation for COBE of an algorithm previously developed for the Solar Maximum Mission. Detailed choice of parameters, convergence, verification, and use of the algorithm in an environment where the reference attitudes are determined form the Sun, Earth, and star observations (via the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) are considered. Results of some recent experiments are given. These include tests where the gyro rate data are corrected for the effect of the gyro baseplate temperature on the spacecraft electronics

Quantum Codes for Controlling Coherent Evolution

Control over spin dynamics has been obtained in NMR via coherent averaging, which is implemented through a sequence of RF pulses, and via quantum codes which can protect against incoherent evolution. Here, we discuss the design and implementation of quantum codes to protect against coherent evolution. A detailed example is given of a quantum code for protecting two data qubits from evolution under a weak coupling (Ising) term in the Hamiltonian, using an ``isolated'' ancilla which does not evolve on the experimental time scale. The code is realized in a three-spin system by liquid-state NMR spectroscopy on 13C-labelled alanine, and tested for two initial states. It is also shown that for coherent evolution and isolated ancillae, codes exist that do not require the ancillae to initially be in a (pseudo-)pure state. Finally, it is shown that even with non-isolated ancillae quantum codes exist which can protect against evolution under weak coupling. An example is presented for a six qubit code that protects two data spins to first order.Comment: Reformatted single spaced with figures incorporated into text (18 pages, 6 figures, PDF only, submitted to J. Chem. Phys.

A Study of Quantum Error Correction by Geometric Algebra and Liquid-State NMR Spectroscopy

Quantum error correcting codes enable the information contained in a quantum state to be protected from decoherence due to external perturbations. Applied to NMR, quantum coding does not alter normal relaxation, but rather converts the state of a ``data'' spin into multiple quantum coherences involving additional ancilla spins. These multiple quantum coherences relax at differing rates, thus permitting the original state of the data to be approximately reconstructed by mixing them together in an appropriate fashion. This paper describes the operation of a simple, three-bit quantum code in the product operator formalism, and uses geometric algebra methods to obtain the error-corrected decay curve in the presence of arbitrary correlations in the external random fields. These predictions are confirmed in both the totally correlated and uncorrelated cases by liquid-state NMR experiments on 13C-labeled alanine, using gradient-diffusion methods to implement these idealized decoherence models. Quantum error correction in weakly polarized systems requires that the ancilla spins be prepared in a pseudo-pure state relative to the data spin, which entails a loss of signal that exceeds any potential gain through error correction. Nevertheless, this study shows that quantum coding can be used to validate theoretical decoherence mechanisms, and to provide detailed information on correlations in the underlying NMR relaxation dynamics.Comment: 33 pages plus 6 figures, LaTeX article class with amsmath & graphicx package

A Seesaw Mechanism in the Higgs Sector

In this letter we revisit the seesaw Higgs mechanism. We show how a seesaw mechanism in a two Higgs doublets model can trigger the electroweak symmetry breaking if at least one of the eigenvalues of the squared mass matrix is negative. We then consider two special cases of interest. In the decoupling scenario, there is only one scalar degree of freedom in the low energy regime. In the degenerate scenario, all five degrees of freedom are in the low energy regime and will lead to observables effects at the LHC. Furthermore, in that scenario, it is possible to impose a discrete symmetry between the doublets that makes the extra neutral degrees of freedom stable. These are thus viable dark matter candidates. We find an interesting relation between the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism and dark matter.Comment: 10 page

Adaptation in integrated assessment modeling: where do we stand?

Adaptation is an important element on the climate change policy agenda. Integrated assessment models, which are key tools to assess climate change policies, have begun to address adaptation, either by including it implicitly in damage cost estimates, or by making it an explicit control variable. We analyze how modelers have chosen to describe adaptation within an integrated framework, and suggest many ways they could improve the treatment of adaptation by considering more of its bottom-up characteristics. Until this happens, we suggest, models may be too optimistic about the net benefits adaptation can provide, and therefore may underestimate the amount of mitigation they judge to be socially optimal. Under some conditions, better modeling of adaptation costs and benefits could have important implications for defining mitigation targets. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009