28,958 research outputs found
Infrared emission from the atmosphere above 200 km
The infrared radiation over the range from 4 to 1000 microns from atoms and molecules in the earth's atmosphere, between 200 and 400 km, was calculated. Only zenith lines of sight were considered. The excitation of the atoms and molecules is due to collisions with other molecules and to absorption of radiation from the earth and sun. In some cases, the abundances of the molecules had to be estimated. The most important lines are the forbidden lines from atomic oxygen at 63.1 and 147 micron, and the vibration-rotation band of nitric oxide at 5.3 micron. These lines can have intensities as high as a few times 0.001 ergs/sq cm/sec/steradian at 200 km altitude. In addition, the vibration-rotation bands of NO(+) at 4.3 micron and CO at 4.7 micron and the pure rotation lines of NO and NO(+) could be detected by infrared telescopes in space
Vacuum-UV negative photoion spectroscopy of gas-phase polyatomic molecules
This Review describes recent experiments to detect anions following vacuum-UV photoexcitation of gas-phase polyatomic molecules. Using synchrotron radiation in the range 10-35 eV at a resolution down to 0.02 eV, negative ions formed are detected by mass spectrometry. The molecules studied in detail include CF, SF and CH; the CFX series where X = Cl,Br,I; the CHY series where Y = F,Cl,Br; and SFZ where Z = CF,Cl. Spectra and raw data only are reported for other members of the CHF, CHCl including CCl, and CFCl series where (+) = 4; and saturated and unsaturated members of the CH and CF series up to m = 3. Anions detected range from atomic species such as H-, F- and Cl- through to heavier polyatomics such as SF, CF and CHCl. The majority of anions display a linear dependence of signal with pressure, showing that they arise from unimolecular ion-pair dissociation, generically written as ABC + h D + E + neutral(s). In a few cases, the anion signal increases much more rapidly than a linear dependence with pressure, suggesting that anions now form via a multi-step process such as dissociative electron attachment. Cross sections for ion-pair formation can be put on to an absolute scale by calibrating the signal strength with those of F from SF and CF, although there are difficulties associated with the determination of H cross sections from hydrogen-containing molecules unless this anion is dominant. Following normalisation to total vacuum-UV absorption cross sections (where data are available), quantum yields for anion production are obtained. Cross sections in the range ca. 10 to 10 cm , and quantum yields in the range ca. 10 to 10 are reported. The Review describes the two ion-pair mechanisms of indirect and direct formation and their differing characteristics, and the properties needed for anion formation by dissociative electron attachment. From this huge quantity of data, attempts are made to rationalise the circumstances needed for favourable formation of anions, and which anions have the largest cross section for their formation. Since most anions form indirectly via predissociation of an initially-excited Rydberg state of the parent molecule by an ion-pair continuum, it appears that the dynamics of this curve crossing is the dominant process which determines which anions are formed preferentially. The thermochemistry of the different exit channels and the microscopic properties of the anion formed do not appear to be especially significant. Finally, for the reaction ABC + h A + BC , the appearance energy of A can be used to determine an upper limit to the bond dissociation energy of AB (to A + BC), or an upper limit to that of ABC (to A + BC). Where known, the data are in excellent agreement with literature values
Vacuum-Ultraviolet negative photoion spectroscopy of SF5Cl
Using vacuum-UV radiation from a synchrotron, gas-phase negative ions are detected by mass spectrometry following photoexcitation of SFCl. F, Cl and SFare observed, and their ion yields recorded in the range 8-30 eV. F and Cl show a linear dependence of signal with pressure, showing that they arise from unimolecular ion-pair dissociation, generically written AB + h C + D (+ neutral(s)). F is the strongest signal, and absolute cross sections are determined by calibrating the signal intensity with that of F from SF and CF. Resonances are observed, and assigned to transitions to Rydberg states of SFCl. The Cl signal is much weaker, despite the S-Cl bond being significantly weaker than the S-F bond. Appearance energies for F and Cl of 12.7 ± 0.2 and 10.6 ± 0.2 eV are determined. The spectra suggest that these ions form indirectly by crossing of Rydberg states of SFCl onto an ion-pair continuum
Rotating gravity currents: small-scale and large-scale laboratory experiments and a geostrophic model
Laboratory experiments simulating gravity-driven coastal surface currents produced by estuarine fresh-water discharges into the ocean are discussed. The currents are generated inside a rotating tank filled with salt water by the continuous release of buoyant fresh water from a small source at the fluid surface. The height, the width and the length of the currents are studied as a function of the background rotation rate, the volumetric discharge rate and the density difference at the source. Two complementary experimental data sets are discussed and compared with each other. One set of experiments was carried out in a tank of diameter 1 m on a small-scale rotating turntable. The second set of experiments was conducted at the large-scale Coriolis Facility (LEGI, Grenoble) which has a tank of diameter 13 m. A simple geostrophic model predicting the current height, width and propagation velocity is developed. The experiments and the model are compared with each other in terms of a set of non-dimensional parameters identified in the theoretical analysis of the problem. These parameters enable the corresponding data of the large-scale and the small-scale experiments to be collapsed onto a single line. Good agreement between the model and the experiments is found
Reversible signal transmission in an active mechanical metamaterial
Mechanical metamaterials are designed to enable unique functionalities, but
are typically limited by an initial energy state and require an independent
energy input to function repeatedly. Our study introduces a theoretical active
mechanical metamaterial that incorporates a biological reaction mechanism to
overcome this key limitation of passive metamaterials. Our material allows for
reversible mechanical signal transmission, where energy is reintroduced by the
biologically motivated reaction mechanism. By analysing a coarse grained
continuous analogue of the discrete model, we find that signals can be
propagated through the material by a travelling wave. Analysis of the continuum
model provides the region of the parameter space that allows signal
transmission, and reveals similarities with the well-known FitzHugh-Nagumo
system. We also find explicit formulae that approximate the effect of the
timescale of the reaction mechanism on the signal transmission speed, which is
essential for controlling the material.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure
Determination of the Telluric Water Vapor Absorption Correction for Astronomical Data Obtained from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory
The amount of telluric water vapor along the line of sight of the Kuiper Airborne Observatory telescope as obtained concommitantly on 23 flights is compared with the NASA-Ames Michelson interferometer and with the NOAA-Boulder radiometer. A strong correlation between the two determinations exists, and a method for computing the atmospheric transmission for a given radiometer reading is established
Vacuum-UV negative photoion spectroscopy of CH3F, CH3Cl and CH3Br
Using tunable vacuum-UV radiation from a synchrotron, negative ions are detected by quadrupolar mass spectrometry following photoexcitation of three gaseous halogenated methanes CHX (X = F,Cl,Br). The anions X, H, CX, CHX and CHX are observed, and their ion yields recorded in the range 8-35 eV. The anions show a linear dependence of signal with pressure, showing that they arise from unimolecular ion-pair dissociation, generically described as AB + h A + B (+ neutrals). Absolute cross sections for ion-pair formation are obtained by calibrating the signal intensities with those of F from both SF and CF. The cross sections for formation of X + CH are much greater than for formation of CHX + H. In common with many quadrupoles, the spectra of / 1 (H) anions show contributions from all anions, and only for CHBr is it possible to perform the necessary subtraction to obtain the true H spectrum. The anion cross sections are normalised to vacuum-UV absorption cross sections to obtain quantum yields for their production. The appearance energies of X and CHX are used to calculate upper limits to 298 K bond dissociation energies for D (HC-X) and D (XHC-H) which are consistent with literature values. The spectra suggest that most of the anions are formed indirectly by crossing of Rydberg states of the parent molecule onto an ion-pair continuum. The one exception is the lowest-energy peak of F from CHF at 13.4 eV, where its width and lack of structure suggest it may correspond to a direct ion-pair transition
Cryogenic propellant venting under low pressure conditions Final report
Wall temperatures and heat transfer coefficients for solid-vapor mixtures of para hydrogen and nitrogen venting under low pressur
Two quantum Simpson's paradoxes
The so-called Simpson's "paradox", or Yule-Simpson (YS) effect, occurs in
classical statistics when the correlations that are present among different
sets of samples are reversed if the sets are combined together, thus ignoring
one or more lurking variables. Here we illustrate the occurrence of two
analogue effects in quantum measurements. The first, which we term
quantum-classical YS effect, may occur with quantum limited measurements and
with lurking variables coming from the mixing of states, whereas the second,
here referred to as quantum-quantum YS effect, may take place when coherent
superpositions of quantum states are allowed. By analyzing quantum measurements
on low dimensional systems (qubits and qutrits), we show that the two effects
may occur independently, and that the quantum-quantum YS effect is more likely
to occur than the corresponding quantum-classical one. We also found that there
exist classes of superposition states for which the quantum-classical YS effect
cannot occur for any measurement and, at the same time, the quantum-quantum YS
effect takes place in a consistent fraction of the possible measurement
settings. The occurrence of the effect in the presence of partial coherence is
discussed as well as its possible implications for quantum hypothesis testing.Comment: published versio
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