179 research outputs found
Motion Parameters Determination of the SC and Phobos in the Project Phobos-Grunt
The SC "Phobos-Grunt" flight is planned to 2009 in Russia with the purpose to deliver to the Earth the soil samples of the Mars satellite Phobos. The mission will pass under the following scheme [1-4]: the SC flight from the Earth to the Mars, the SC transit on the Mars satellite orbit, the motion round the Mars on the observation orbit and on the quasi-synchronous one [5], landing on Phobos, taking of a ground and start in the direction to the Earth. The implementation of complicated dynamical operations in the Phobos vicinity is foreseen by the project. The SC will be in a disturbance sphere of gravitational fields from the Sun, the Mars and the Phobos. The SC orbit determination is carried out on a totality of trajectory measurements executed from ground tracking stations and measurements of autonomous systems onboard space vehicle relatively the Phobos. As ground measurements the radio engineering measurements of range and range rate are used. There are possible as onboard optical observations of the Phobos by a television system and ranges from the SC up to the Phobos surface by laser locator. As soon as the Phobos orbit accuracy is insufficient for a solution of a problem of landing its orbit determination will be carried out together with determination of the SC orbit. Therefore the algorithms for joint improving of initial conditions of the SC and the Phobos are necessary to determine parameters of the SC relative the Phobos motion within a single dynamical motion model. After putting on the martial satellite orbit, on the Phobos observation orbit, on the quasi-synchronous orbit in the Phobos vicinity the equipment guidance and the following process of the SC orbit determination relatively Phobos requires a priori knowledge of the Phobos orbit parameters with sufficiently high precision. These parameters should be obtained beforehand using both all modern observations and historical ones
Modeling of Interstellar Scintillation Arcs from Pulsar B1133+16
The parabolic arc phenomenon visible in the Fourier analysis of the
scintillation spectra of pulsars provides a new method of investigating the
small scale structure in the ionized interstellar medium (ISM). We report
archival observations of the pulsar B1133+16 showing both forward and reverse
parabolic arcs sampled over 14 months. These features can be understood as the
mutual interference between an assembly of discrete features in the scattered
brightness distribution. By model-fitting to the observed arcs at one epoch we
obtain a ``snap-shot'' estimate of the scattered brightness, which we show to
be highly anisotropic (axial ratio >10:1), to be centered significantly off
axis and to have a small number of discrete maxima, which are coarser the
speckle expected from a Kolmogorov spectrum of interstellar plasma density. The
results suggest the effects of highly localized discrete scattering regions
which subtend 0.1-1 mas, but can scatter (or refract) the radiation by angles
that are five or more times larger.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Astrophysical Journa
Observation of a narrow baryon resonance with positive strangeness formed in Xe collisions
The charge-exchange reaction K^+ Xe --> K^0 p Xe' is investigated using the
data of the DIANA experiment. The distribution of the pK^0 effective mass shows
a prominent enhancement near 1538 MeV formed by \sim 80 events above the
background, whose width is consistent with being entirely due to the
experimental resolution. Under the selections based on a simulation of K^+Xe
collisions, the statistical significance of the signal reaches 5.5\sigma. We
interpret this observation as strong evidence for formation of a pentaquark
baryon with positive strangeness, \Theta^+(uudd\bar{s}), in the charge-exchange
reaction K^+ n --> K^0 p on a bound neutron. The mass of the \Theta^+ baryon is
measured as m(\Theta^+) = 1538+-2 MeV. Using the ratio between the numbers of
resonant and non-resonant charge-exchange events in the peak region, the
intrinsic width of this baryon resonance is determined as \Gamma(\Theta^+) =
0.34+-0.10 MeV.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure
Interstellar Plasma Turbulence Spectrum Toward the Pulsars PSR B0809+74 and B0950+08
Interstellar scintillations of pulsars PSR B0809+74 and B0950+08 have been
studied using observations at low frequencies (41, 62, 89, and 112 MHz).
Characteristic temporal and frequency scales of diffractive scintillations at
these frequencies have been determined. The comprehensive analysis of the
frequency and temporal structure functions reduced to the same frequency has
shown that the spectrum of interstellar plasma inhomogeneities toward both
pulsars is described by a power law. The exponent of the spectrum of
fluctuations of interstellar plasma inhomogeneities toward PSR B0950+08 (n =
3.00 +- 0.05) appreciably differs from the Kolmogorov exponent. Toward PSR
B0809+74 the spectrum is a power law with an exponent n = 3.7 +- 0.1. A strong
angular refraction has been detected toward PSR B0950+08. The distribution of
inhomogeneities along the line of sight has been analyzed; it has been shown
that the scintillations of PSR B0950+08 take place on a turbulent layer with
enhanced electron density, which is localized at approximately 10 pc from the
observer. For PSR B0809+74 the distribution of inhomogeneities is
quasi-uniform. Mean-square fluctuations of electron density on inhomogeneities
with a characteristic scale rho_0 = 10^7 m toward four pulsars have been
estimated. On this scale the local turbulence level in the 10-pc layer is 20
times higher than in an extended region responsible for the scintillations of
PSR B0809+74.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure
Observation of a baryon resonance with positive strangeness in K+ collisions with Xe nuclei
The status of our investigation of low-energy Xe collisions in the Xenon
bubble chamber DIANA is reported. In the charge-exchange reaction the spectrum of effective mass shows a resonant enhancement
with MeV/c and ^24.4\sigma$. The mass and width of the
observed resonance are consistent with expectations for the lightest member of
the anti-decuplet of exotic pentaquark baryons, as predicted in the framework
of the chiral soliton model.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Further evidence for formation of a narrow baryon resonance with positive strangeness in K+ collisions with Xe nuclei
We have continued our investigation of the charge-exchange reaction K^+ Xe
--> K^0 p Xe' in the bubble chamber DIANA. In agreement with our previous
results based on part of the present statistics, formation of a narrow p K^0
resonance with mass of 1537+-2 MeV/c^2 is observed in the elementary transition
K^+ n --> K^0 p on a neutron bound in the Xenon nucleus. Visible width of the
peak is consistent with being entirely due to instrumental resolution and
allows to place an upper limit on its intrinsic width: \Gamma < 9 MeV/c^2. A
more precise estimate of the resonance intrinsic width, \Gamma = 0.36+-0.11
MeV/c^2, is obtained from the ratio between the numbers of resonant and
non-resonant charge-exchange events. The signal is observed in a restricted
interval of incident K^+ momentum, that is consistent with smearing of a narrow
p K^0 resonance by Fermi motion of the target neutron. Statistical significance
of the signal is some 7.3, 5.3, and 4.3 standard deviations for the estimators
S/sqrt{B}, S/sqrt{S+B}, and S/sqrt{S+2B}, respectively. This observation
confirms and reinforces our earlier results, and offers strong evidence for
formation of a pentaquark baryon with positive strangeness in the
charge-exchange reaction K^+ n --> K^0 p on a bound neutron.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, some chenges in text and references, more
precise estimate of Theta(1540) to add, submitted to Phys.Atom.Nucl(Yad.Fiz.
Experimental search for radiative decays of the pentaquark baryon \Theta^+(1540)
The data on the reactions K^+Xe --> K^0 \gamma X and K^+Xe --> K^+ \gamma X,
obtained with the bubble chamber DIANA, have been analyzed for possible
radiative decays of the \Theta^+(1540) baryon: \Theta^+ --> K^0 p \gamma and
\Theta^+ --> K^+ n \gamma. No signals have been observed, and we derive the
upper limits \Gamma(\Theta^+ --> K^0 p \gamma) / \Gamma(\Theta^+ --> K^0 p) <
0.032 and \Gamma(\Theta^+ --> K^+ n \gamma) / \Gamma(\Theta^+ --> K^+ n) <
0.041 which, using our previous measurement of \Gamma(\Theta^+ --> KN) =
(0.39+-0.10) MeV, translate to \Gamma(\Theta^+ --> K^0 p \gamma) < 8 keV and
\Gamma(\Theta^+ --> K^+ n \gamma) < 11 keV at 90% confidence level. We have
also measured the cross sections of K^+ -induced reactions involving emission
of a neutral pion: \sigma(K^+n --> K^0 p \pi^0) = (68+-18) \mub and \sigma(K^+N
--> K^+ N \pi^0) = (30+-8) \mub for incident K^+ momentum of 640 MeV.Comment: 8 page
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