4 research outputs found
Characterization of Exoplanet Atmospheres with the Optical Coronagraph on WFIRST
WFIRST-CGI is a NASA technology demonstration mission that is charged with
demonstrating key technologies for future exo-Earth imaging missions in space.
In the process, it will obtain images and low-resolution spectra of a handful
to a dozen extrasolar planets and possibly protoplanetary disks. Its
unprecedented contrast levels in the optical will provide astronomers with
their first direct look at mature, Jupiter sized planets at moderate
separations. This paper addresses the question: what science can be done with
such data? An analytic noise model, which is informed by the ongoing
engineering developments, is used to compute maximum achievable signal-to-noise
ratios and scientifically viable integration times for hypothetical star planet
systems, as well as to investigate the constraining power of various
combinations of WFIRST-CGI photometric and spectral observations. This work
introduces two simple models for planetary geometric albedos, which are
inspired largely by the solar system's gas giants. The first planet model is a
hybrid Jupiter-Neptune model, which separately treats the short and long
wavelengths where chromophores and methane dominate absorption, respectively.
The second planet model fixes cloud and haze properties in CoolTLusty to match
Jupiter's albedo spectrum, it then perturbs only the metallicity. MCMC
retrievals performed on simulated observations are used to assess the precision
with which planet model parameters can be measured subject to different
exposure times and observing cases. Fit results for both models'
parameterizations of geometric albedo spectra demonstrate that a rough
indication of the metallicity or methane content should be possible for some
WFIRST-CGI targets. We conclude that real observations will likely be able to
differentiate between extreme cases using these models, but will lack the
precision necessary to uncover subtle trends.Comment: 29 pages, 25 figures, 2 table
Trans-Planckian censorship constraints on properties and cosmological applications of axion-like fields
We use the Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture (TCC) to constrain the decay
constants characterizing a set of N identical axion-like fields with cosine
potentials, improving upon the precision of other Swampland conjectures and
existing string-theoretic arguments. We find that consistency with the TCC
requires any such set of axion-like fields to satisfy , where is the reduced Planck mass. We show that this bound
makes models of axion-driven inflation incapable of simultaneously producing
the required number of e-foldings and the observed scalar spectral tilt. In
contrast, we find that models of axion quintessence can be simultaneously
compatible with the TCC and observational data, provided that the axions'
initial field values are set near the maxima of their potentials to within
roughly .Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Simulation of Cryogenic Buffer Gas Beams
The cryogenic buffer gas beam (CBGB) is an important tool in the study of cold and ultracold molecules. While there are known techniques to enhance desired beam properties, such as high flux, low velocity, or reduced divergence, they have generally not undergone detailed numerical optimization. Numerical simulation of buffer gas beams is challenging, as the relevant dynamics occur in regions where the density varies by orders of magnitude, rendering standard numerical methods unreliable or intractable. Here, we present a hybrid approach to simulating CBGBs that combines gas dynamics methods with particle tracing. The simulations capture important properties such as velocities and divergence across an assortment of designs, including two-stage slowing cells and de Laval nozzles. This approach should therefore be a useful tool for optimizing CBGB designs across a wide range of applications