4,329 research outputs found
The NASA integrated test facility and its impact on flight research
The Integrated Test Facility (ITF), being built at NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, will provide new test capabilities for emerging research aircraft. An overview of the ITF and the challenges being addressed by this unique facility are outlined. The current ITF capabilities, being developed with the X-29 Forward Swept Wing Program, are discussed along with future ITF activities
The Role of Crystal Symmetry in the Magnetic Instabilities of -YbAlB and -YbAlB
Density functional theory methods are applied to investigate the properties
of the new superconductor -YbAlB and its polymorph
-YbAlB. We utilize the generalized gradient approximation + Hubbard
U (GGA+U) approach with spin-orbit(SO) coupling to approximate the effects of
the strong correlations due to the open shell of Yb. We examine closely
the differences in crystal bonding and symmetry of -YbAlB and
-YbAlB. The in-plane bonding structure amongst the dominant
itinerant electrons in the boron sheets is shown to differ significantly. Our
calculations indicate that, in both polymorphs, the localized 4 electrons
hybridize strongly with the conduction sea when compared to the related
materials YbRhSi and YbB. Comparing -YbAlB to the
electronic structure of related crystal structures indicates a key role of the
7-member boron coordination of the Yb ion in -YbAlB in producing its
enhanced Kondo scale and superconductivity. The Kondo scale is shown to depend
strongly on the angle between the B neighbors and the Yb ion, relative to the
plane, which relates some of the physical behavior to structural
characteristics.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, 2 table
Laboratory measurements and theoretical calculations of O_2 A band electric quadrupole transitions
Frequency-stabilized cavity ring-down spectroscopy was utilized to measure electric quadrupole transitions within the ^(16)O_2 A band, b^1Σ^+_g ← X^3Σ^-_g(0,0). We report quantitative measurements (relative uncertainties in intensity measurements from 4.4% to 11%) of nine ultraweak transitions in the ^NO, ^PO, ^RS, and ^TS branches with line intensities ranging from 3×10^(−30) to 2×10^(−29) cm molec.^(−1). A thorough discussion of relevant noise sources and uncertainties in this experiment and other cw-cavity ring-down spectrometers is given. For short-term averaging (t<100 s), we estimate a noise-equivalent absorption of 2.5×10^(−10) cm^(−1) Hz^(−1/2). The detection limit was reduced further by co-adding up to 100 spectra to yield a minimum detectable absorption coefficient equal to 1.8×10^(−11) cm^(−1), corresponding to a line intensity of ~2.5×10^(−31) cm molec.^(−1). We discuss calculations of electric quadrupole line positions based on a simultaneous fit of the ground and upper electronic state energies which have uncertainties <3 MHz, and we present calculations of electric quadrupole matrix elements and line intensities. The electric quadrupole line intensity calculations and measurements agreed on average to 5%, which is comparable to our average experimental uncertainty. The calculated electric quadrupole band intensity was 1.8(1)×10^(−27) cm molec.−1 which is equal to only ~8×10^(−6) of the magnetic dipole band intensity
Pressure-Induced Simultaneous Metal-Insulator and Structural-Phase Transitions in LiH: a Quasiparticle Study
A pressure-induced simultaneous metal-insulator transition (MIT) and
structural-phase transformation in lithium hydride with about 1% volume
collapse has been predicted by means of the local density approximation (LDA)
in conjunction with an all-electron GW approximation method. The LDA wrongly
predicts that the MIT occurs before the structural phase transition. As a
byproduct, it is shown that only the use of the generalized-gradient
approximation together with the zero-point vibration produces an equilibrium
lattice parameter, bulk modulus, and an equation of state that are in excellent
agreement with experimental results.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Europhysics Letter
THE EFFECTS OF ISOPROPYL N-PHENYL CARBAMATE ON THE GREEN ALGA OEDOGONIUM CARDIACUM : I. Cell Division
Cell division in vegetative filaments of the green alga Oedogonium cardiacum is presented as an experimental system. We report on how we have used this system to study the effects of isopropyl N-phenylcarbamate (IPC) on the mitotic apparatus and on the phycoplast, a planar array of cytokinetic microtubules. Polymerization of microtubules was prevented when filaments, synchronized by a light/dark regime and chilled (2°C) while in metaphase or just before phycoplast formation, were exposed to 5.5 x 10-4 M IPC and then returned to room temperature. Spindles reformed or phycoplasts formed when these filaments were transferred to growth medium free of IPC. However, the orientation of both microtubular systems was disturbed: the mitotic apparatus often contained three poles, frequently forming three daughter nuclei upon karyokinesis; the phycoplast was often stellate rather than planar, and it sometimes was displaced to the side of both daughter nuclei, resulting in a binucleate and an anucleate cell upon cytokinesis. Our results suggest that IPC (a) prevents the assembly of microtubules, (b) increases the number of functional polar bodies, and (c) affects the orientation of microtubules in O. cardiacum. High voltage (1,000 kV) electron microscopy of 0.5-µm thick sections allowed us to visualize the polar structures, which were not discernible in thin sections
Suprathermal plasma observed on STS-3 Mission by plasma diagnostics package
Artificially produced electron beams were used extensively during the past decade as a means of probing the magnetosphere, and more recently as a means of actively controlling spacecraft potential. Experimentation in these areas has proven valuable, yet at times confusing, due to the interaction of the electron beam with the ambient plasma. The OSS-1/STS-3 Mission in March 1982 provided a unique opportunity to study beam-plasma interactions at an altitude of 240 km. On board for this mission was a Fast Pulse Electron Generator (FPEG). Measurements made by the Plasma Diagnostics Package (PDP) while extended on the Orbiter RMS show modifications of the ion and electron energy distributions during electron beam injection. Observations made by charged particle detectors are discussed and related to measurements of Orbiter potential. Several of the PDP instruments, the joint PDP/FPEG experiment, and observations made during electron beam injection are described
Electronic Structure of ZnCNi3
According to a recent report by Park et al, ZnCNi3 is isostructural and
isovalent to the superconducting (Tc = 8 K) anti-perovskite, MgCNi3, but shows
no indication of a superconducting transition down to 2K. A comparison of
calculated electronic structures shows that the main features of MgCNi3,
particularly the van Hove singularity near the Fermi energy, are preserved in
ZnCNi3. Thus the reported lack of superconductivity in ZnCNi3 is not
explainable in terms of Tc being driven to a very low value by a small Fermi
level density of states. We propose that the lack of superconductivity, the
small value of the linear specific heat coefficient, gamma, and the discrepancy
between theoretical and experimental lattice constants can all be explained if
the material is assumed to be a C-deficient alpha-ZnCNi3 similar to the
analogous non-superconducting phase of MgCNi3
Responses of Russian Wheat Aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) to Aphid Alarm Pheromone
In a series of laboratory tests, Russian wheat aphids, Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko), responded to synthetic aphid alarm pheromone, (E)-β-farnesene, by removing stylets and leaving feeding sites or by crawling out of test arenas. Late instars and adults were more responsive than early instars. In dose-response assays, EC50 estimates ranged from 0.94 to 8.95 mg/ml among 3 experiments. In arenas, D. noxia also responded to the proximity of cornicle-damaged nymphs of either the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), or of D. noxia, which suggests endogenous production of alarm pheromone by D. noxia. Combinations of (E)-β-farnesene and the aphid-pathogenic fungus Paecilomyces fumosoroseus (Wize) Brown & Smith did not enhance aphid mortality relative to controls treated with fungus only. Further studies involving appropriate formulations of (E)-β-farnesene are necessary before practical biorational strategies can be devised combining this semiochemical and biological control agent
Multipoint investigation of the source region of storm-time chorus
International audienceIn this case study we investigate the source region of whistler-mode chorus located close to the geomagnetic equator at a radial distance of 4.4 Earth radii. We use measurements from the four Cluster spacecraft at separations of less than a few hundreds of km, recorded during the geomagnetic storm of 18 April 2002. The waveforms of the electric field fluctuations were obtained by the WBD instruments in the frequency range 50Hz-9.5kHz. Using these data, we calculate linear and rank correlation coefficients of the frequency averaged power-spectral density measured by the different spacecraft. Those coefficients have been recently shown to decrease with spacecraft separation distance perpendicular to the static magnetic field cchor03 with a characteristic scale length of 100km. We find this characteristic scale varying between 60 and 200km for different data intervals inside the source region. We examine possible explanations for the observed large scatter of the correlation coefficients, and we suggest a simultaneously acting effect of random positions of locations at which the individual chorus wave packets are generated. The statistical properties of the observations are approximately reproduced by a simple 2-D model of the source region, assuming a perpendicular half-width of 35km (approximately one wavelength of the whistler-mode waves) for the distribution of power radiated from individual active areas
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