3,050 research outputs found
Numerical simulations of the seasonal/latitudinal variations of atomic oxygen and nitric oxide in the lower thermosphere and mesosphere
A 2-Dimensional zonally-averaged thermospheric model and the global University College London (UCL) thermospheric model have been used to investigate the seasonal, solar activity and geomagnetic variation of atomic oxygen and nitric oxide. The 2-dimensional model includes detailed oxygen and nitrogen chemistry, with appropriate completion of the energy equation, by adding the thermal infrared cooling by O and NO. This solution includes solar and auroral production of odd nitrogen compounds and metastable species. This model has been used for three investigations; firstly, to study the interactions between atmospheric dynamics and minor species transport and density; secondly, to examine the seasonal variations of atomic oxygen and nitric oxide within the upper mesosphere and thermosphere and their response to solar and geomagnetic activity variations; thirdly, to study the factor of 7 to 8 peak nitric oxide density increase as solar F sub 10.7 cm flux increases from 70 to 240 reported from the Solar Mesospheric Explorer. Auroral production of NO is shown to be the dominant source at high latitudes, generating peak NO densities a factor of 10 greater than typical number densities at low latitudes. At low latitudes, the predicted variation of the peak NO density, near 110 km, with the solar F sub 10.7 cm flux is rather smaller than is observed. This is most likely due to an overestimate of the soft X-ray flux at low solar activity, for times of extremely low support number, as occurred in June 1986. As observed on pressure levels, the variation of O density is small. The global circulation during solstice and periods of elevated geomagnetic activity causes depletion of O in regions of upwelling, and enhancements in regions of downwelling
Reference manual for the Langley Research Center flight simulation computing system
The researchers at the Langley Research Center Flight Simulation Computing System are provided with an advanced real-time digital simulation capability. This capability is controlled at the user interface level by the Real Time Simulation Supervisor. The Supervisor is a group of subprograms loaded with a simulation application program. The Supervisor provides the interface between the application program and the operating system, and coordinates input and output to and from the simulation hardware. The Supervisor also performs various utility functions as required by a simulation application program
Control system designs for the shuttle infrared telescope facility
The Shuttle Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) image motion compensation system is described in detail and performance is analyzed with respect to system noise inputs, environmental disturbances, and error sources such as bending and feedforward scale factor. It is concluded that the SIRTF accuracy and stability requirements can be met with this design
Chandra observations of the HII complex G5.89-0.39 and TeV gamma-ray source HESSJ1800-240B
We present the results of our investigation, using a Chandra X-ray
observation, into the stellar population of the massive star formation region
G5.89-0.39, and its potential connection to the coincident TeV gamma-ray source
HESSJ1800-240B. G5.89-0.39 comprises two separate HII regions G5.89-0.39A and
G5.89-0.39B (an ultra-compact HII region). We identified 159 individual X-ray
point sources in our observation using the source detection algorithm
\texttt{wavdetect}. 35 X-ray sources are associated with the HII complex
G5.89-0.39. The 35 X-ray sources represent an average unabsorbed luminosity
(0.3-10\,keV) of \,erg/s, typical of B7-B5 type stars. The
potential ionising source of G5.89-0.39B known as Feldt's star is possibly
identified in our observation with an unabsorbed X-ray luminosity suggestive of
a B7-B5 star. The stacked energy spectra of these sources is well-fitted with a
single thermal plasma APEC model with kT5\,keV, and column density
N\,cm (A). The residual
(source-subtracted) X-ray emission towards G5.89-0.39A and B is about 30\% and
25\% larger than their respective stacked source luminosities. Assuming this
residual emission is from unresolved stellar sources, the total
B-type-equivalent stellar content in G5.89-0.39A and B would be 75 stars,
consistent with an earlier estimate of the total stellar mass of hot stars in
G5.89-0.39. We have also looked at the variability of the 35 X-ray sources in
G5.89-0.39. Ten of these sources are flagged as being variable. Further studies
are needed to determine the exact causes of the variability, however the
variability could point towards pre-main sequence stars. Such a stellar
population could provide sufficient kinetic energy to account for a part of the
GeV to TeV gamma-ray emission in the source HESSJ1800-240B.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figure
The re-emission spectrum of digital hardware subjected to EMI
The emission spectrum of digital hardware under the influence of external electromagnetic interference is shown to contain information about the interaction of the incident energy with the digital circuits in the system. The generation mechanism of the re-emission spectrum is reviewed, describing how nonlinear effects may be a precursor to the failure of the equipment under test. Measurements on a simple circuit are used to demonstrate how the characteristics of the re-emission spectrum may be correlated with changes to the digital waveform within the circuit. The technique is also applied to a piece of complex digital hardware where Similar, though more subtle, effects can be measured. It is shown that the re-emission spectrum can be used to detect the interaction of the interference with the digital devices at a level well below that which is able to cause static failures in the circuits. The utility of the technique as a diagnostic tool for immunity testing of digital hardware, by identifying which subsystems are being affected by external interference, is also demonstrated
Topological Qubit Design and Leakage
We examine how best to design qubits for use in topological quantum
computation. These qubits are topological Hilbert spaces associated with small
groups of anyons. Op- erations are performed on these by exchanging the anyons.
One might argue that, in order to have as many simple single qubit operations
as possible, the number of anyons per group should be maximized. However, we
show that there is a maximal number of particles per qubit, namely 4, and more
generally a maximal number of particles for qudits of dimension d. We also look
at the possibility of having topological qubits for which one can perform
two-qubit gates without leakage into non-computational states. It turns out
that the requirement that all two-qubit gates are leakage free is very
restrictive and this property can only be realized for two-qubit systems
related to Ising-like anyon models, which do not allow for universal quantum
computation by braiding. Our results follow directly from the representation
theory of braid groups which means they are valid for all anyon models. We also
make some remarks on generalizations to other exchange groups.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure
Water reuse for irrigated agriculture in Jordan: challenges of soil sustainability and the role of management strategies
Reclaimed water provides an important contribution to the water balance in water-scarce Jordan, but the quality of this water presents both benefits and challenges. Careful management of reclaimed water is required to maximize the nutrient benefits while minimizing the salinity risks. This work uses a multi-disciplinary research approach to show that soil response to irrigation with reclaimed water is a function of the management strategies adopted on the farm by the water user. The adoption of management methods to maintain soil productivity can be seen to be a result of farmers’ awareness to potentially plant-toxic ions in the irrigation water (70% of Jordan Valley farmers identified salinization as a hazard from irrigation with reclaimed water). However, the work also suggests that farmers’ management capacity is affected by the institutional management of water. About a third (35%) of farmers in the Jordan Valley claimed that their ability to manage salinization was limited by water shortages. Organizational interviews revealed that institutional awareness of soil management challenges was quite high (34% of interviewees described salinization as a risk from water reuse), but strategies to address this challenge at the institutional level require greater development
H.E.S.S. observations of galaxy clusters
Clusters of galaxies, the largest gravitationally bound objects in the
universe, are expected to contain a significant population of hadronic and
leptonic cosmic rays. Potential sources for these particles are merger and
accretion shocks, starburst driven galactic winds and radio galaxies.
Furthermore, since galaxy clusters confine cosmic ray protons up to energies of
at least 1 PeV for a time longer than the Hubble time they act as storehouses
and accumulate all the hadronic particles which are accelerated within them.
Consequently clusters of galaxies are potential sources of VHE (> 100 GeV)
gamma rays. Motivated by these considerations, promising galaxy clusters are
observed with the H.E.S.S. experiment as part of an ongoing campaign. Here,
upper limits for the VHE gamma ray emission for the Abell 496 and Coma cluster
systems are reported.Comment: Contribution to the 30th ICRC, Merida Mexico, July 200
Role of Quantum Confinement in Luminescence Efficiency of Group IV Nanostructures
Experimental results obtained previously for the photoluminescence efficiency
(PL) of Ge quantum dots (QDs) are theoretically studied. A
- plot of PL versus QD diameter () resulted in an
identical slope for each Ge QD sample only when . We
identified that above 6.2 nm: due to a changing
effective mass (EM), while below 4.6 nm: due to
electron/ hole confinement. We propose that as the QD size is initially
reduced, the EM is reduced, which increases the Bohr radius and interface
scattering until eventually pure quantum confinement effects dominate at small
- …