A Statistical Model of Magnetic Islands in a Large Current Layer

We develop a statistical model describing the dynamics of magnetic islands in very large current layers that develop in space plasma. Two parameters characterize the island distribution: the flux contained in the island and the area it encloses. We derive an integro-differential evolution equation for this distribution function, based on rules that govern the small-scale generation of secondary islands, the rates of island growth, and island merging. Our numerical solutions of this equation produce island distributions relevant to the magnetosphere and corona. We also derive and analytically solve a differential equation for large islands that explicitly shows the role merging plays in island growth.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Solar Effects on Global Climate Due to Cosmic Rays and Solar Energetic Particles

Although the work reported here does not directly connect solar variability with global climate change, this research establishes a plausible quantitative causative link between observed solar activity and apparently correlated variations in terrestrial climate parameters. Specifically, we have demonstrated that ion-mediated nucleation of atmospheric particles is a likely, and likely widespread, phenomenon that relates solar variability to changes in the microphysical properties of clouds. To investigate this relationship, we have constructed and applied a new model describing the formation and evolution of ionic clusters under a range of atmospheric conditions throughout the lower atmosphere. The activation of large ionic clusters into cloud nuclei is predicted to be favorable in the upper troposphere and mesosphere, and possibly in the lower stratosphere. The model developed under this grant needs to be extended to include additional cluster families, and should be incorporated into microphysical models to further test the cause-and-effect linkages that may ultimately explain key aspects of the connections between solar variability and climate

On the propagation of bubbles in the geomagnetic tail

Using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we investigate the propagation of low-entropy magnetic flux tubes ("bubbles") in the magnetotail. Our simulations address fundamental properties of the propagation and dynamics of such flux tubes rather than the actual formation process. We find that the early evolution, after a sudden reduction of pressure and entropy on a localized flux tube, is governed by re-establishing the balance of the total pressure in the dawn-dusk and north-south directions through compression on a time scale less than about 20s for the typical magnetotail. The compression returns the equatorial pressure to its original unperturbed value, due to the fact that the magnetic field contributes only little to the total pressure, while farther away from the equatorial plane the magnetic field compression dominates. As a consequence the pressure is no longer constant along a flux tube. The subsequent evolution is characterized by earthward propagation at speeds of the order of 200-400km/s, depending on the initial amount of depletion and the cross-tail extent of a bubble. Simple acceleration without depletion does not lead to significant earthward propagation. It hence seems that both the entropy reduction and the plasma acceleration play an important role in the generation of fast plasma flows and their propagation into the near tail. Earthward moving bubbles are found to be associated with field-aligned current systems, directed earthward on the dawnward edge and tailward on the duskward edge. This is consistent with current systems attributed to observed bursty bulk flows and their auroral effects.<br><br><b>Key words.</b> Magnetospheric physics (magnetospheric configuration and dynamics; magnetotail; plasma sheet)nguage

Neurological Features and Enzyme Therapy in Patients With Endocrine and Exocrine Pancreas Dysfunction Due to CEL Mutations

OBJECTIVE—To further define clinical features associated with the syndrome of diabetes and pancreatic exocrine dysfunction due to mutations in the carboxyl-ester lipase (CEL) gene and to assess the effects of pancreatic enzyme substitution therapy

Resonance ionization spectroscopy of thorium isotopes - towards a laser spectroscopic identification of the low-lying 7.6 eV isomer of Th-229

In-source resonance ionization spectroscopy was used to identify an efficient and selective three step excitation/ionization scheme of thorium, suitable for titanium:sapphire (Ti:sa) lasers. The measurements were carried out in preparation of laser spectroscopic investigations for an identification of the low-lying Th-229m isomer predicted at 7.6 +- 0.5 eV above the nuclear ground state. Using a sample of Th-232, a multitude of optical transitions leading to over 20 previously unknown intermediate states of even parity as well as numerous high-lying odd parity auto-ionizing states were identified. Level energies were determined with an accuracy of 0.06 cm-1 for intermediate and 0.15 cm-1 for auto-ionizing states. Using different excitation pathways an assignment of total angular momenta for several energy levels was possible. One particularly efficient ionization scheme of thorium, exhibiting saturation in all three optical transitions, was studied in detail. For all three levels in this scheme, the isotope shifts of the isotopes Th-228, Th-229, and Th-230 relative to Th-232 were measured. An overall efficiency including ionization, transport and detection of 0.6 was determined, which was predominantly limited by the transmission of the mass spectrometer ion optics

Precision mass measurements of magnesium isotopes and implications on the validity of the Isobaric Mass Multiplet Equation

If the mass excess of neutron-deficient nuclei and their neutron-rich mirror partners are both known, it can be shown that deviations of the Isobaric Mass Multiplet Equation (IMME) in the form of a cubic term can be probed. Such a cubic term was probed by using the atomic mass of neutron-rich magnesium isotopes measured using the TITAN Penning trap and the recently measured proton-separation energies of $^{29}$Cl and $^{30}$Ar. The atomic mass of $^{27}$Mg was found to be within 1.6$\sigma$ of the value stated in the Atomic Mass Evaluation. The atomic masses of $^{28,29}$Mg were measured to be both within 1$\sigma$, while being 8 and 34 times more precise, respectively. Using the $^{29}$Mg mass excess and previous measurements of $^{29}$Cl we uncovered a cubic coefficient of $d$ = 28(7) keV, which is the largest known cubic coefficient of the IMME. This departure, however, could also be caused by experimental data with unknown systematic errors. Hence there is a need to confirm the mass excess of $^{28}$S and the one-neutron separation energy of $^{29}$Cl, which have both come from a single measurement. Finally, our results were compared to ab initio calculations from the valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group, resulting in a good agreement.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

The Origin of the Near-Earth Plasma Population During a Substorm on November 24, 1996

We investigate the origins and the transport of ions observed in the near-Earth plasma sheet during the growth and expansion phases of a magnetospheric substorm that occurred on November 24, 1996. Ions observed at Geotail were traced backward in time in time-dependent magnetic and electric fields to determine their origins and the acceleration mechanisms responsible for their energization. Results from this investigation indicate that, during the growth phase of the substorm, most of the ions reaching Geotail had origins in the low latitude boundary layer (LLBL) and had already entered the magnetosphere when the growth phase began. Late in the growth phase and in the expansion phase a higher proportion of the ions reaching Geotail had their origin in the plasma mantle. Indeed, during the expansion phase more than 90% of the ions seen by Geotail were from the mantle. The ions were accelerated enroute to the spacecraft; however, most of the ions' energy gain was achieved by non-adiabatic acceleration while crossing the equatorial current sheet just prior to their detection by Geotail. In general, the plasma mantle from both southern and northern hemispheres supplied non-adiabatic ions to Geotail, whereas the LLBL supplied mostly adiabatic ions to the distributions measured by the spacecraft. Distribution functions computed at the ion sources indicate that ionospheric ions reaching Geotail during the expansion phase were significantly heated. Plasma mantle source distributions indicated the presence of a high-latitude reconnection region that allowed ion entry into the magnetosphere when the IMF was northward. These ions reached Geotail during the expansion phase. Ions from the traditional plasma mantle had access to the spacecraft throughout the substorm

Taking piezoelectric microsystems from the laboratory to production

Reliable integration of piezoelectric thin films into silicon-based microsystems on an industrial scale is a key enabling technology for a wide range of future products. However, current knowledge in the field is mostly limited to the conditions and scale of academic laboratories. Thus, knowledge on performance, reliability and reproducibility of the films and methods at industrial level is scarce. The present study intends to contribute to the development of reliable technology for integration of piezoelectric thin films into MEMS on an industrial scale. A test wafer design that contained more than 500 multimorph cantilevers, bridges and membranes in the size range between 50 and 1,500 μm was developed. The active piezoelectric material was a ∼2 μm thin film of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) deposited by a state-of-the-art chemical solution deposition (CSD) procedure. Automated measurements of C(V) and dielectric dissipation factor at 1 kHz were made on more than 200 devices at various locations across the wafer surface. The obtained standard deviations were 4.5 and 11% for the permittivity and dissipation factor, respectively. Values for the transverse piezoelectric charge coefficient, e 31,f, of up to −15.1 C/m2 were observed. Fatigue tests with a 5 kHz signal applied to a typical cantilever at ± 25 V led to less than 10% reduction of the remanent polarisation after 2 × 107 bipolar cycles. Cantilever out-of-plane deflection at zero field measured after poling was less than 1.1% for a typical 800 μm cantilever

Three-dimensional magnetic flux rope structure formed by multiple sequential X-line reconnection at the magnetopause

On 14 June 2007, four Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms spacecraft observed a flux transfer event (FTE) on the dayside magnetopause, which has been previously proved to be generated by multiple, sequential X-line reconnection (MSXR) in a 2-D context. This paper reports a further study of the MSXR event to show the 3-D viewpoint based on additional measurements. The 3-D structure of the FTE flux rope across the magnetospheric boundary is obtained on the basis of multipoint measurements taken on both sides of the magnetopause. The flux rope's azimuthally extended section is found to lie approximately on the magnetopause surface and parallel to the X-line direction; while the axis of the magnetospheric branch is essentially along the local unperturbed magnetospheric field lines. In the central region of the flux rope, as distinct from the traditional viewpoint, we find from the electron distributions that two types of magnetic field topology coexist: opened magnetic field lines connecting the magnetosphere and the magnetosheath and closed field lines connecting the Southern and Northern hemispheres. We confirm, therefore, for the first time, the characteristic feature of the 3-D reconnected magnetic flux rope, formed through MSXR, through a determination of the field topology and the plasma distributions within the flux rope. Knowledge of the complex geometry of FTE flux ropes will improve our understanding of solar wind-magnetosphere interaction.Astronomy & AstrophysicsSCI(E)5ARTICLE51904-191111