Ten past and ten future GAS/MAUS-payloads

MAUS (materials science autonomous experiments) is one out of a series of flight opportunities which the Space Program of West Germany offers to scientists from the disciplines of materials research and processing for performing materials science investigations under microgravity conditions. Up to now, ten MAUS experiments were flown which were dealing with the following scientific topics: decomposition of binary alloys with miscibility gap in the liquid state, interaction of a solidification front with dispersed particles, critical Marangoni number, investigation of the magnetic compound MnBi, shrinkage of gas bubbles in glass melts and slip casting. The ten future experiments are partly reflights with modification of the scientific objectives as well as new experiments in the fields of chemical reactions, heat transfer, glass technology and Ostwald ripening. Looking to ten flown payloads, the peculiarities of instrument technology in GAS-cans and its evolution is discussed with emphasis on structure, electronics and thermal design. A typical modern payload using 100 percent of the resource is presented

Future MAUS payload and the TWIN-MAUS configuration

The German MAUS project (materials science autonomous experiments in weightlessness) was initiated in 1979 for optimum utilization of NASA's Get Away Special (GAS) program. The standard MAUS system was developed to meet GAS requirements and can accommodate a wide variety of GAS-type experiments. The system offers a range of services to experimenters within the framework of standardized interfaces. Four MAUS payloads being prepared for future space shuttle flight opportunities are described. The experiments include critical Marangoni convection, oscillatory Marangoni convection, pool boiling, and gas bubbles in glass melts. Scientific objectives as well as equipment hardware are presented together with recent improvements to the MAUS standard system, e.g., a new experiment control and data management unit and a semiconductor memory. A promising means of increasing resources in the field of GAS experiments is the interconnection of GAS containers. This important feature has been studied to meet the challenge of future advanced payloads. In the TWIN-MAUS configuration, electrical power and data will be transferred between two containers mounted adjacent to each other

The Resonance Overlap and Hill Stability Criteria Revisited

We review the orbital stability of the planar circular restricted three-body problem, in the case of massless particles initially located between both massive bodies. We present new estimates of the resonance overlap criterion and the Hill stability limit, and compare their predictions with detailed dynamical maps constructed with N-body simulations. We show that the boundary between (Hill) stable and unstable orbits is not smooth but characterized by a rich structure generated by the superposition of different mean-motion resonances which does not allow for a simple global expression for stability. We propose that, for a given perturbing mass $m_1$ and initial eccentricity $e$, there are actually two critical values of the semimajor axis. All values $a a_{\rm unstable}$ are unstable in the Hill sense. The first limit is given by the Hill-stability criterion and is a function of the eccentricity. The second limit is virtually insensitive to the initial eccentricity, and closely resembles a new resonance overlap condition (for circular orbits) developed in terms of the intersection between first and second-order mean-motion resonances.Comment: 33 pages, 14 figures, accepte

Nuclear fusion induced by X-rays in a crystal

The nuclei that constitute a crystalline lattice, oscillate relative to each other with a very low energy that is not sufficient to penetrate through the Coulomb barriers separating them. An additional energy, which is needed to tunnel through the barrier and fuse, can be supplied by external electromagnetic waves (X-rays or the synchrotron radiation). Exposing to the X-rays the solid compound LiD (lithium-deuteride) for the duration of 111 hours, we have detected 88 events of the nuclear fusion d+Li6 ---> Be8*. Our theoretical estimate agrees with what we observed. One of possible applications of the phenomenon we found, could be the measurements of the rates of various nuclear reactions (not necessarily fusion) at extremely low energies inaccessible in accelerator experiments.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. C on 28 October 201

Recombination dramatically speeds up evolution of finite populations

We study the role of recombination, as practiced by genetically-competent bacteria, in speeding up Darwinian evolution. This is done by adding a new process to a previously-studied Markov model of evolution on a smooth fitness landscape; this new process allows alleles to be exchanged with those in the surrounding medium. Our results, both numerical and analytic, indicate that for a wide range of intermediate population sizes, recombination dramatically speeds up the evolutionary advance

Visualisation Tools for Multi-Perspective, Cross-Sector, Long-Term Infrastructure Performance Evaluation

Across different infrastructure sectors there are systems that help to monitor the current and near-future operation and performance of a particular system. Whilst Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are critical to maintaining acceptable levels of functionality, they do not provide insights over the longer timescales across which strategic investment decisions play out. To understand how individual or multiple, interdependent, infrastructure sectors perform over longer timescales, capacity/demand modelling is required. However, the outputs of such models are often a complex high-dimensionality result-set, and this complexity is further compounded when crosssector evaluation is required. To maximise utility of such models, tools are required that can process and present key outputs. In this paper we describe the development of prototype tools for infrastructure performance evaluation in relation to different strategic decisions and the complex outputs generated from capacity and demand models of five infrastructure sectors (energy, water, waste water, solid waste, transport) investigated within the UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC). By constructing tools that expose various dimensions of the model outputs, a user is able to take greater control over the knowledge discovery process

Physics of Quantum Relativity through a Linear Realization

The idea of quantum relativity as a generalized, or rather deformed, version of Einstein (special) relativity has been taking shape in recent years. Following the perspective of deformations, while staying within the framework of Lie algebra, we implement explicitly a simple linear realization of the relativity symmetry, and explore systematically the resulting physical interpretations. Some suggestions we make may sound radical, but are arguably natural within the context of our formulation. Our work may provide a new perspective on the subject matter, complementary to the previous approach(es), and may lead to a better understanding of the physics.Comment: 27 pages in Revtex, no figure; proof-edited version to appear in Phys.Rev.

Photodetachment of cold OH- in a multipole ion trap

The absolute photodetachment cross section of OH- anions at a rotational and translational temperature of 170K is determined by measuring the detachment-induced decay rate of the anions in a multipole radio-frequency ion trap. In comparison with previous results, the obtained cross section shows the importance of the initial rotational state distribution. Using a tomography scan of the photodetachment laser through the trapped ion cloud, the derived cross section is model-independent and thus features a small systematic uncertainty. The tomography also yields the column density of the OH- anions in the 22-pole ion trap in good agreement with the expected trapping potential of a large field free region bound by steep potential walls.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett., in pres

Analytic approach to the evolutionary effects of genetic exchange

We present an approximate analytic study of our previously introduced model of evolution including the effects of genetic exchange. This model is motivated by the process of bacterial transformation. We solve for the velocity, the rate of increase of fitness, as a function of the fixed population size, $N$. We find the velocity increases with $\ln N$, eventually saturated at an $N$ which depends on the strength of the recombination process. The analytical treatment is seen to agree well with direct numerical simulations of our model equations