1,843 research outputs found
A Demonstration of LISA Laser Communication
Over the past few years questions have been raised concerning the use of
laser communications links between sciencecraft to transmit phase information
crucial to the reduction of laser frequency noise in the LISA science
measurement. The concern is that applying medium frequency phase modulations to
the laser carrier could compromise the phase stability of the LISA fringe
signal. We have modified the table-top interferometer presented in a previous
article by applying phase modulations to the laser beams in order to evaluate
the effects of such modulations on the LISA science fringe signal. We have
demonstrated that the phase resolution of the science signal is not degraded by
the presence of medium frequency phase modulations.Comment: minor corrections found in the CQG versio
Optical interferometer in space
The present design concepts for a Laser Gravitational Wave Observatory in Space are described. Laser heterodyne distance measurements are made between test masses located in three spacecraft separated by roughly 10(exp 6) km. The major technology issues are: the reduction of spurious acceleration noise for the test masses to below 2 x 10(exp -15) cm/sq sec/Hz(0.5) from 10(exp -5) to 10(exp -3) Hz; and the measurement of changes in the difference of the antenna arm lengths to 5 x 10(exp -11) cm/Hz(0.5) from 10(exp -3) to 1 Hz with high reliability. The science objectives are: to measure discrete sinusoidal gravitational wave signals from individual sources with periods of 1 second to 1 day; to measure the stochastic background due to unresolved binaries; and to search for gravitational wave pulses with periods longer than 1 sec from possible exotic sources such as gravitational collapse of very massive objects
Local variations in spatial synchrony of influenza epidemics
Background: Understanding the mechanism of influenza spread across multiple geographic scales is not complete. While the mechanism of dissemination across regions and states of the United States has been described, understanding the determinants of dissemination between counties has not been elucidated. The paucity of high resolution spatial-temporal influenza incidence data to evaluate disease structure is often not available. Methodology and Findings: We report on the underlying relationship between the spread of influenza and human movement between counties of one state. Significant synchrony in the timing of epidemics exists across the entire state and decay with distance (regional correlation = 62%). Synchrony as a function of population size display evidence of hierarchical spread with more synchronized epidemics occurring among the most populated counties. A gravity model describing movement between two populations is a stronger predictor of influenza spread than adult movement to and from workplaces suggesting that non-routine and leisure travel drive local epidemics. Conclusions: These findings highlight the complex nature of influenza spread across multiple geographic scales. © 2012 Stark et al
Acceleration disturbances due to local gravity gradients in ASTROD I
The Astrodynamical Space Test of Relativity using Optical Devices (ASTROD)
mission consists of three spacecraft in separate solar orbits and carries out
laser interferometric ranging. ASTROD aims at testing relativistic gravity,
measuring the solar system and detecting gravitational waves. Because of the
larger arm length, the sensitivity of ASTROD to gravitational waves is
estimated to be about 30 times better than Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
(LISA) in the frequency range lower than about 0.1 mHz. ASTROD I is a simple
version of ASTROD, employing one spacecraft in a solar orbit. It is the first
step for ASTROD and serves as a technology demonstration mission for ASTROD. In
addition, several scientific results are expected in the ASTROD I experiment.
The required acceleration noise level of ASTROD I is 10^-13 m s^-2 Hz^{-1/2} at
the frequency of 0.1 mHz. In this paper, we focus on local gravity gradient
noise that could be one of the largest acceleration disturbances in the ASTROD
I experiment. We have carried out gravitational modelling for the current
test-mass design and simplified configurations of ASTROD I by using an
analytical method and the Monte Carlo method. Our analyses can be applied to
figure out the optimal designs of the test mass and the constructing materials
of the spacecraft, and the configuration of compensation mass to reduce local
gravity gradients.Comment: 6 pages, presented at the 6th Edoardo Amaldi Conference (Okinawa
Japan, June 2005); to be published in Journal of Physics: Conference Serie
Analytical modeling of large-angle CMBR anisotropies from textures
We propose an analytic method for predicting the large angle CMBR temperature
fluctuations induced by model textures. The model makes use of only a small
number of phenomenological parameters which ought to be measured from simple
simulations. We derive semi-analytically the -spectrum for together with its associated non-Gaussian cosmic variance error bars. A
slightly tilted spectrum with an extra suppression at low is found, and we
investigate the dependence of the tilt on the parameters of the model. We also
produce a prediction for the two point correlation function. We find a high
level of cosmic confusion between texture scenarios and standard inflationary
theories in any of these quantities. However, we discover that a distinctive
non-Gaussian signal ought to be expected at low , reflecting the prominent
effect of the last texture in these multipoles
Preliminary LISA Telescope Spacer Design
The Laser Interferometric Space Antenna (LISA) mission observes gravitational waves by measuring the separations between freely floating proof masses located 5 million kilometers apart with an accuracy of approximately 10 picometers. The separations are measured interferometrically. The telescope is an afocal Cassegrain style design with a magnification of 80x. The entrance pupil has a 40 cm diameter and will either be centered on-axis or de-centered off-axis to avoid obscurations. Its two main purposes are to transform the small diameter beam used on the optical bench to a diffraction limited collimated beam to efficiently transfer the metrology laser between spacecraft, and to receive the incoming light from the far spacecraft. It transmits and receives simultaneously. The basic optical design and requirements are well understood for a conventional telescope design for imaging applications, but the LISA design is complicated by the additional requirement that the total optical path through the telescope must remain stable at the picometer level over the measurement band during the mission to meet the measurement accuracy. This poster describes the requirements for the telescope and the preliminary work that has been done to understand the materials and mechanical issues associated with the design of a passive metering structure to support the telescope and to maintain the spacing between the primary and secondary mirrors in the LISA on-orbit environment. This includes the requirements flowdown from the science goals, thermal modeling of the spacecraft and telescope to determine the expected temperature distribution,layout options for the telescope including an on- and off-axis design, and plans for fabrication and testing
Characterization of disturbance sources for LISA: torsion pendulum results
A torsion pendulum allows ground-based investigation of the purity of
free-fall for the LISA test masses inside their capacitive position sensor.
This paper presents recent improvements in our torsion pendulum facility that
have both increased the pendulum sensitivity and allowed detailed
characterization of several important sources of acceleration noise for the
LISA test masses. We discuss here an improved upper limit on random force noise
originating in the sensor. Additionally, we present new measurement techniques
and preliminary results for characterizing the forces caused by the sensor's
residual electrostatic fields, dielectric losses, residual spring-like
coupling, and temperature gradients.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication Classical and Quantum
Gravit
Stability of string defects in models of non-Abelian symmetry breaking
In this paper we describe a new type of topological defect, called a homilia
string, which is stabilized via interactions with the string network. Using
analytical and numerical techniques, we investigate the stability and dynamics
of homilia strings, and show that they can form stable electroweak strings. In
SU(2)xU(1) models of symmetry breaking the intersection of two homilia strings
is identified with a sphaleron. Due to repulsive forces, the homilia strings
seperate, resulting in sphaleron annihilation. It is shown that electroweak
homilia string loops cannot stabilize as vortons, which circumvents the adverse
cosmological problems associated with stable loops. The consequences for GUT
scale homilia strings are also discussed.Comment: 15 pages, revtex, with 8 figures. Submitted to PR
- …