26,212 research outputs found
A new instrument to measure charged and neutral cometary dust particles at low and high impact velocities
A new class of dust particle detector, the PVDF dust detector, was designed for space missions such as the Halley Comet missions where the particle impact velocity is very high. It is demonstrated that this same PVDF detector (operating in a different mode) also has the capability of detecting dust particles having low velocity (approx. 100 m/s). This low velocity detection capability is extremely important in terms of planned missions requiring measurement of low velocity dust particles such as comet rendezvous missions. An additional detecting element (charge induction cylinder) was also developed which, when combined with a PVDF detector, yields a system which will measure the charge (magnitude and sign) carried by a cometary particle as well as the particle velocity and mass for impact velocities in the range 100 to 500 m/s. Since the cylinder-PVDF detector system has a relatively small geometry factors, an array of PVDF detectors was included having a total sensing area of 0.1 sq m for measurements in regions of space where the dust flux is expected to be low. The characteristics of the detectors in this array have been chosen to provide optimum mass sensitivity for both low-velocity cometary dust as well as high-velocity asteroid associated and interplanetary dust
Nuclear quadrupole resonances in compact vapor cells: the crossover from the NMR to the NQR interaction regimes
We present the first experimental study that maps the transformation of
nuclear quadrupole resonances from the pure nuclear quadrupole regime to the
quadrupole-perturbed Zeeman regime. The transformation presents an interesting
quantum-mechanical problem, since the quantization axis changes from being
aligned along the axis of the electric-field gradient tensor to being aligned
along the magnetic field. We achieve large nuclear quadrupole shifts for I =
3/2 131-Xe by using a 1 mm^3 cubic cell with walls of different materials. When
the magnetic and quadrupolar interactions are of comparable size, perturbation
theory is not suitable for calculating the transition energies. Rather than use
perturbation theory, we compare our data to theoretical calculations using a
Liouvillian approach and find excellent agreement.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Magnetic induction mapping of magnetite chains in magnetotactic bacteria at room temperature and close to the Verwey transition using electron holography
Off-axis electron holography in the transmission electron microscope is used to record magnetic induction maps of closely spaced magnetite crystals in magnetotactic bacteria at room temperature and after cooling the sample using liquid nitrogen. The magnetic microstructure is related to the morphology and crystallography of the particles, and to interparticle interactions. At room temperature, the magnetic signal is dominated by interactions and shape anisotropy, with highly parallel and straight field lines following the axis of each chain of crystals closely. In contrast, at low temperature the magnetic induction undulates along the length of the chain. This behaviour may result from a competition between interparticle interactions and an easy axis of magnetisation that is no longer parallel to the chain axis. The quantitative nature of electron holography also allows the change in magnetisation in the crystals with temperature to be measured
Investigation of land use of northern megalopolis using ERTS-1 imagery
Primary objective was to produce a color-coded land use map and digital data base for the northern third of Megalopolis. Secondary objective was to investigate possible applications of ERTS products to land use planning. Many of the materials in this report already have received national, dissemination as a result of unexpected interest in land use surveys from ERTS. Of special historical interest is the first comprehensive urban-type land use map from space imagery, which covered the entire state of Rhode Island and was made from a single image taken on 28 July 1972
Constraints on radiative decay of the 17-keV neutrino from COBE Measurements
It is shown that, for a nontrivial radiative decay channel of the 17-keV
neutrino, the photons would distort the microwave background radiation through
ionization of the universe. The constraint on the branching ratio of such
decays from COBE measurements is found to be more stringent than that from
other considerations. The limit on the branching ratio in terms of the Compton
parameter is for an
universe.Comment: 7 pages. (figures will be sent on request) (To appear in Phys. Rev.
D.
Study of the stress intensity factors in the bulk of the material with synchrotron diffraction
Artículo de Proceedings de Congreso Internacional Fatigue2017In this work we present the results of a hybrid experimental and
analytical approach for estimating the stress intensity factor. It uses the
elastic strains within the bulk obtained by synchrotron X-ray diffraction
data. The stress intensity factor is calculated using a multi-point overdeterministic
method where the number of experimental data points is
higher than the number of unknowns describing the elastic field
surrounding the crack-tip. The tool is tested on X-ray strain
measurements collected on a bainitic steel. In contrast to surface
techniques the approach provides insights into the crack tip mechanics
deep within the sample.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. The authors are grateful to the ESRF for ID15 beamtime awarded under MA-1483. Financial
support of Universidad de Malaga through Plan Propio, Junta de Andalucía through Proyectos de
Excelencia grant reference TEP-3244, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEIMAR)
and Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad through grant reference MAT2016-76951-C2-2-P is
also acknowledged. PJW acknowledges an ERC advanced grant
Two-population replicator dynamics and number of Nash equilibria in random matrix games
We study the connection between the evolutionary replicator dynamics and the
number of Nash equilibria in large random bi-matrix games. Using techniques of
disordered systems theory we compute the statistical properties of both, the
fixed points of the dynamics and the Nash equilibria. Except for the special
case of zero-sum games one finds a transition as a function of the so-called
co-operation pressure between a phase in which there is a unique stable fixed
point of the dynamics coinciding with a unique Nash equilibrium, and an
unstable phase in which there are exponentially many Nash equilibria with
statistical properties different from the stationary state of the replicator
equations. Our analytical results are confirmed by numerical simulations of the
replicator dynamics, and by explicit enumeration of Nash equilibria.Comment: 9 pages, 2x2 figure
Notes and Discussion Piece: Status of the Topeka Shiner in Iowa
The Topeka shiner Notropis topeka is native to Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota and has been federally listed as endangered since 1998. Our goals were to determine the present distribution and qualitative status of Topeka shiners throughout its current range in Iowa and characterize the extent of decline in relation to its historic distribution. We compared the current (2016–2017) distribution to distributions portrayed in three earlier time periods. In 2016–2017 Topeka shiners were found in 12 of 20 HUC10 watersheds where they occurred historically. Their status was classified as stable in 21% of the HUC10 watersheds, possibly stable in 25%, possibly recovering in 8%, at risk in 33%, and possibly extirpated in 13% of the watersheds. The increasing trend in percent decline evident in earlier time periods reversed, going from 68% in 2010–11 to 40% in the most recent surveys. Following decades of decline, the status of Topeka shiners in Iowa appears to be improving. One potential reason for the reversal in the distributional decline of Topeka shiners in Iowa is the increasing number of oxbow restorations. Until a standardized monitoring program is established for Iowa, periodic status assessments such as this will be necessary to chronicle progress toward conserving this endangered fish species
Population Dynamics with Threshold Effects Give Rise to a Diverse Family of Allee Effects
The Allee effect describes populations that deviate from logistic growth models and arises in applications including ecology and cell biology. A common justification for incorporating Allee effects into population models is that the population in question has altered growth mechanisms at some critical density, often referred to as a threshold effect. Despite the ubiquitous nature of threshold effects arising in various biological applications, the explicit link between local threshold effects and global Allee effects has not been considered. In this work, we examine a continuum population model that incorporates threshold effects in the local growth mechanisms. We show that this model gives rise to a diverse family of Allee effects and we provide a comprehensiv
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