26,035 research outputs found
Hypervelocity impact facility for simulating materials exposure to impact by space debris
As a result of man's venturing into space, the local debris contributed by his presence exceeds, at some orbital altitudes, that of the natural component. Man's contribution ranges from fuel residue to large derelect satellites that weigh many kilograms. Current debris models are able to predict the growth of the problem and suggest that spacecraft must employ armor or bumper shields for some orbital altitudes now, and that, the problem will become worse as a function of time. The practical upper limit to the velocity distribution is on the order of 40 km/s and is associated with the natural environment. The maximum velocity of the man-made component is in the 14-16 km/s range. The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) has verified that the 'high probability of impact' particles are in the microgram to milligram range. These particles can have significant effects on coatings, insulators, and thin metallic layers. The surface of thick materials becomes pitted and the local debris component is enhanced by ejecta from the debris spectrum in a controlled environment. The facility capability is discussed in terms of drive geometry, energetics, velocity distribution, diagnostics, and projectile/debris loading. The facility is currently being used to study impact phenomena on Space Station Freedom's solar array structure, other solar array materials, potential structural materials for use in the station, electrical breakdown in the space environment, and as a means of clarifying or duplicating the impact phenomena on the LDEF surfaces. The results of these experiments are described in terms of the mass/velocity distribution incident on selected samples, crater dynamics, and sample geometry
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Observations of the J = 2→1 transitions of <sup>12</sup>C<sup>16</sup>O and <sup>12</sup>C<sup>18</sup>O towards galactic H II regions
Observations are reported of the J = 2→1 transitions of CO and 12C18O at 230 and 219 GHz respectively from a number of galactic sources. A map of the central 1/2° × 1/2° of the Orion A molecular cloud is presented. The spectra are interpreted to derive molecular densities and abundance ratios in the molecular clouds observed
Explicitly correlated Gaussian functions with shifted-center and projection techniques in pre-Born-Oppenheimer calculations
Numerical projection methods are elaborated for the calculation of
eigenstates of the non-relativistic many-particle Coulomb Hamiltonian with
selected rotational and parity quantum numbers employing shifted explicitly
correlated Gaussian functions, which are, in general, not eigenfunctions of the
total angular momentum and parity operators. The increased computational cost
of numerically projecting the basis functions onto the irreducible
representations of the three dimensional rotation-inversion group is the price
to pay for the increased flexibility of the basis functions. This increased
flexibility allowed us to achieve a substantial improvement for the variational
upper bound to the Pauli-allowed ground-state energy of the
Hpppee molecular ion treated as an explicit
five-particle system. We compare our pre-Born-Oppenheimer result for this
molecular ion with rovibrational results including non-adiabatic corrections.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures, 4 table
Time evolution of the Partridge-Barton Model
The time evolution of the Partridge-Barton model in the presence of the
pleiotropic constraint and deleterious somatic mutations is exactly solved for
arbitrary fecundity in the context of a matricial formalism. Analytical
expressions for the time dependence of the mean survival probabilities are
derived. Using the fact that the asymptotic behavior for large time is
controlled by the largest matrix eigenvalue, we obtain the steady state values
for the mean survival probabilities and the Malthusian growth exponent. The
mean age of the population exhibits a power law decayment. Some Monte
Carlo simulations were also performed and they corroborated our theoretical
results.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, 1 postscript figure, published in Phys. Rev. E 61,
5664 (2000
The shaping of knowledge transfer from UK universities: an exploration of influences and motivations
Industrial innovation can lead to economic benefits for a nation. Sources of such innovation are therefore important to governments. Over the last decade in the UK there has been a growth in government funding of knowledge transfer (KT) activities from UK universities, as they have been considered a relatively untapped source of innovation. European and regional funding tends to target work relating with SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises) within specific geographical areas. UK national government funding however, can encompass support for a very wide variety of university knowledge and technology transfer activities. This study examines why UK universities undertake knowledge transfer activities and how this work is shaped at individual institutions. Evolutionary theory is used to examine differences at a range of universities, using contextual information about each university’s history and influences
Flux through a hole from a shaken granular medium
We have measured the flux of grains from a hole in the bottom of a shaken
container of grains. We find that the peak velocity of the vibration, vmax,
controls the flux, i.e., the flux is nearly independent of the frequency and
acceleration amplitude for a given value of vmax. The flux decreases with
increasing peak velocity and then becomes almost constant for the largest
values of vmax. The data at low peak velocity can be quantitatively described
by a simple model, but the crossover to nearly constant flux at larger peak
velocity suggests a regime in which the granular density near the container
bottom is independent of the energy input to the system.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. to appear in Physical Review
The Heumann-Hotzel model for aging revisited
Since its proposition in 1995, the Heumann-Hotzel model has remained as an
obscure model of biological aging. The main arguments used against it were its
apparent inability to describe populations with many age intervals and its
failure to prevent a population extinction when only deleterious mutations are
present. We find that with a simple and minor change in the model these
difficulties can be surmounted. Our numerical simulations show a plethora of
interesting features: the catastrophic senescence, the Gompertz law and that
postponing the reproduction increases the survival probability, as has already
been experimentally confirmed for the Drosophila fly.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Creation and manipulation of Feshbach resonances with radio-frequency radiation
We present a simple technique for studying collisions of ultracold atoms in
the presence of a magnetic field and radio-frequency radiation (rf). Resonant
control of scattering properties can be achieved by using rf to couple a
colliding pair of atoms to a bound state. We show, using the example of 6Li,
that in some ranges of rf frequency and magnetic field this can be done without
giving rise to losses. We also show that halo molecules of large spatial extent
require much less rf power than deeply bound states. Another way to exert
resonant control is with a set of rf-coupled bound states, linked to the
colliding pair through the molecular interactions that give rise to
magnetically tunable Feshbach resonances. This was recently demonstrated for
87Rb [Kaufman et al., Phys. Rev. A 80:050701(R), 2009]. We examine the
underlying atomic and molecular physics which made this possible. Lastly, we
consider the control that may be exerted over atomic collisions by placing
atoms in superpositions of Zeeman states, and suggest that it could be useful
where small changes in scattering length are required. We suggest other species
for which rf and magnetic field control could together provide a useful tuning
mechanism.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, submitted to New Journal of Physic
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