Bulk viscosity of a gas of neutrinos and coupled scalar particles, in the era of recombination

Bulk viscosity may serve to damp sound waves in a system of neutrinos coupled to very light scalar particles, in the era after normal neutrino decoupling but before recombination. We calculate the bulk viscosity parameter in a minimal scheme involving the coupling of the two systems. We add some remarks on the bulk viscosity of a system of fully ionized hydrogen plus photons.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Derivation and test of elevated temperature thermal-stress-free fastener concept

Future aerospace vehicles must withstand high temperatures and be able to function over a wide temperature range. New composite materials are being developed for use in designing high-temperature lightweight structures. Due to the difference between coefficients of thermal expansion for the new composite materials and conventional high-temperature metallic fasteners, innovative joining techniques are needed to produce tight joints at all temperatures without excessive thermal stresses. A thermal-stress-free fastening technique is presented that can be used to provide structurally tight joints at all temperatures even when the fastener and joined materials have different coefficients of thermal expansion. The derivation of thermal-stress-free fasteners and joint shapes is presented for a wide variety of fastener materials and materials being joined together. Approximations to the thermal-stress-free shapes that result in joints with low-thermal-stresses and that simplify the fastener/joint shape are discussed. The low-thermal-stress fastener concept is verified by thermal and shear tests in joints using oxide-dispersion-strengthened alloy fasteners in carbon-carbon material. The test results show no evidence of thermal stress damage for temperatures up to 2000 F and the resulting joints carried shear loads at room temperature typical of those for conventional joints

A new quantity for studies of dijet azimuthal decorrelations

We introduce a new measurable quantity, $R_{\Delta \phi}$, for studies of the rapidity and transverse momentum dependence of dijet azimuthal decorrelations in hadron-hadron collisions. In pQCD, $R_{\Delta \phi}$ is computed as a ratio of three-jet and dijet cross sections in which the parton distribution functions cancel to a large extent. At the leading order, $R_{\Delta \phi}$ is proportional to $\alpha_s$, and the transverse momentum dependence of can therefore be exploited to determine $\alpha_s$. We compute the NLO pQCD theory predictions and non-perturbative corrections for $R_{\Delta \phi}$ at the LHC and the Tevatron and investigate the corresponding uncertainties. From this, we estimate the theory uncertainties for $\alpha_s$ determinations based on $R_{\Delta \phi}$ at both colliders. The potential of $R_{\Delta \phi}$ measurements for tuning Monte Carlo event generators is also demonstrated.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, submitted to JHE

Deployment and performance characteristics of 1.5-meter supersonic attached inflatable decelerators

Attached-inflatable-decelerator (AID) canopies fabricated from lightweight Nomex cloth and tapes were deployed in a supersonic stream from the base of a 140 deg conical aeroshell. Characteristics of the deceleration system were obtained over a wide range of Mach number, dynamic pressure, and pitch angle. All models deployed rapidly by ram air and experienced only mild deployment shock loads. Steady-state drag coefficients as high as 1.3 were obtained in the supersonic stream and were relatively insensitive to Mach number, dynamic pressure, and pitch angle. All models were free of fluttering motion. Results also showed that the AID is aerodynamically more efficient without a burble fence in a supersonic stream. Though measured meridian-tape loads were higher than those predicted by theory, the ram-air deployment rates and steady-state drag coefficients were in good agreement with theory. These results indicate that the AID is a stable, efficient decelerator in a supersonic stream and its performance is readily predictable

Many-Body Corrections to Charged-Current Neutrino Absorption Rates in Nuclear Matter

Including nucleon--nucleon correlations due to both Fermi statistics and nuclear forces, we have developed a general formalism for calculating the charged--current neutrino--nucleon absorption rates in nuclear matter. We find that at one half nuclear density many--body effects alone suppress the rates by a factor of two and that the suppression factors increase to $\sim$5 at $4\times10^{14}$ g cm$^{-3}$. The associated increase in the neutrino--matter mean--free--paths parallels that found for neutral--current interactions and opens up interesting possibilities in the context of the delayed supernova mechanism and protoneutron star cooling.Comment: 11 pages, APS REVTeX format, 1 PostScript figure, uuencoded compressed, and tarred, submitted to Physical Review Letter

On some singularities of the correlation functions that determine neutrino opacities

Certain perturbation graphs in the calculation of the effects of the medium on neutrino scattering in supernova matter have a nonintegrable singularity in a physical region. A number of papers have addressed the apparent pathology through an ansatz that invokes higher order (rescattering) effects. Taking the Gamow-Teller terms as an example, we display an expression for the spin-spin correlation function that determines the cross-sections. It is clear from the form that there are no pathologies in the order by order perturbation expansion. Explicit formulae are given for a simple case, leading to an answer that is very different from one given by other authors.Comment: 8 page

Effects of spaceflight on the proliferation of jejunal mucosal cells

The purpose of this project was to test the hypothesis that the generalized, whole body decrease in synthetic activity due to microgravity conditions encountered during spaceflight would be demonstrable in cells and tissues characterized by a rapid rate of turnover. Jejunal mucosal cells were chosen as a model since these cells are among the most rapidly proliferating in the body. Accordingly, the percentage of mitotic cells present in the crypts of Lieberkuhn in each of 5 rats flown on the COSMOS 2044 mission were compared to the percentage of mitotic cells present in the crypts in rats included in each of 3 ground control groups (i.e., vivarium, synchronous and caudal-elevated). No significant difference (p greater than .05) was detected in mitotic indices between the flight and vivarium group. Although the ability of jejunal mucosal cells to divide by mitosis was not impaired in flight group, there was, however, a reduction in the length of villi and depth of crypts. The concommitant reduction in villus length and crypth depth in the flight group probably reflects changes in connective tissue components within the core of villi