101,194 research outputs found
New energy conversion techniques in space, applicable to propulsion
The powering of aircraft with laser energy from a solar power satellite may be a promising new approach to the critical problem of the rising cost of fuel for aircraft transportation systems. The result is a nearly fuelless, pollution-free flight transportation system which is cost-competitive with the fuel-conservative airplane of the future. The major components of this flight system include a laser power satellite, relay satellites, laser-powered turbofans and a conventional airframe. The relay satellites are orbiting optical systems which intercept the beam from a power satellite and refocus and redirect the beam to its next target
Stomatal control of leaf fluxes of carbonyl sulfide and CO<sub>2</sub> in a <i>Typha</i> freshwater marsh
Carbonyl sulfide (COS) is an emerging tracer to constrain land photosynthesis at canopy to global scales, because leaf COS and CO2 uptake processes are linked through stomatal diffusion. The COS tracer approach requires knowledge of the concentration normalized ratio of COS uptake to photosynthesis, commonly known as the leaf relative uptake (LRU). LRU is known to increase under low light, but the environmental controls over LRU variability in the field are poorly understood due to scant leaf scale observations.Here we present the first direct observations of LRU responses to environmental variables in the field. We measured leaf COS and CO2 fluxes at a freshwater marsh in summer 2013. Daytime leaf COS and CO2 uptake showed similar peaks in the mid-morning and late afternoon separated by a prolonged midday depression, highlighting the common stomatal control on diffusion. At night, in contrast to CO2, COS uptake continued, indicating partially open stomata. LRU ratios showed a clear relationship with photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), converging to 1.0 at high PAR, while increasing sharply at low PAR. Daytime integrated LRU (calculated from daytime mean COS and CO2 uptake) ranged from 1 to 1.5, with a mean of 1.2 across the campaign, significantly lower than the previously reported laboratory mean value (∼ 1.6). Our results indicate two major determinants of LRU – light and vapor deficit. Light is the primary driver of LRU because CO2 assimilation capacity increases with light, while COS consumption capacity does not. Superimposed upon the light response is a secondary effect that high vapor deficit further reduces LRU, causing LRU minima to occur in the afternoon, not at noon. The partial stomatal closure induced by high vapor deficit suppresses COS uptake more strongly than CO2 uptake because stomatal resistance is a more dominant component in the total resistance of COS. Using stomatal conductance estimates, we show that LRU variability can be explained in terms of different patterns of stomatal vs. internal limitations on COS and CO2 uptake. Our findings illustrate the stomata-driven coupling of COS and CO2 uptake during the most photosynthetically active period in the field and provide an in situ characterization of LRU – a key parameter required for the use of COS as a photosynthetic tracer
Disentanglement in a quantum critical environment
We study the dynamical process of disentanglement of two qubits and two
qutrits coupled to an Ising spin chain in a transverse field, which exhibits a
quantum phase transition. We use the concurrence and negativity to quantify
entanglement of two qubits and two qutrits, respectively. Explicit connections
between the concurrence (negativity) and the decoherence factors are given for
two initial states, the pure maximally entangled state and the mixed Werner
state. We find that the concurrence and negativity decay exponentially with
fourth power of time in the vicinity of critical point of the environmental
system.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
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Generation of periodic surface structures on silica fibre surfaces using 405 nm CW diode lasers
Periodic surface structures have been observed on the end surfaces of synthetic silica fibres when they are exposed to long-term irradiation with light from a 405 nm CW diode laser. The surface structures are generated when the laser power is at a level which is three magnitudes of order lower than that of the damage threshold. They exhibit multiple bends, break-ups and bifurcations, unlike interference patterns but rather like the effect caused by short-pulsed laser irradiation on wide band-gap insulators. The detailed investigation undertaken in this work has concluded that the key parameters that contribute to the generation of the surface structures are power density, surface roughness, polarisation direction and the presence of ultraviolet defect centres
Assessment of the NPP VIIRS RVS for the Thermal Emissive Bands Using the First Pitch Maneuver Observations
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is a key sensor carried on Suomi NPP (National Polar-orbiting Partnership) satellite (http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/viirs.html) (launched in October 2011). VIIRS sensor design draws on heritage instruments including AVHRR, OLS, SeaWiFS and MODIS. It has on-board calibration components including a solar diffuser (SD) and a solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM) for the reflective solar bands (RSB), a V-groove blackbody for the thermal emissive bands (TEB), and a space view (SV) port for background subtraction. These on-board calibrators are located at fixed scan angles. The VIIRS response versus scan angle (RVS) was characterized prelaunch in lab ambient conditions and is currently used to characterize the on-orbit response for all scan angles relative to the calibrator scan angle (SD for RSB and blackbody for TEB). Since the RVS is vitally important to the quality of calibrated radiance products, several independent studies were performed to analyze the prelaunch RVS measurement data. A spacecraft level pitch maneuver was scheduled during the first three months of intensive Cal/Val. The NPP pitch maneuver provided a rare opportunity for VIIRS to make observations of deep space over the entire range of scan angles, which can be used to characterize the TEB RVS. This study will provide our analysis of the pitch maneuver data and assessment of the derived TEB RVS. A comparison between the RVS determined by the pitch maneuver observations and prelaunch lab tests will be conducted for each band, detector, and half angle mirror (HAM) sid
Strategy for designing broadband epsilon-near-zero metamaterial with loss compensation by gain media
A strategy is proposed to design the broadband gain-doped epsilon-near-zero
(GENZ) metamaterial. Based on the Milton representation of effective
permittivity, the strategy starts in a dimensionless spectral space, where the
effective permittivity of GENZ metamaterial is simply determined by a pole-zero
structure corresponding to the operating frequency range. The physical
structure of GENZ metamaterial is retrieved from the pole-zero structure via a
tractable inverse problem. The strategy is of great advantage in practical
applications and also theoretically reveals the cancellation mechanism
dominating the broadband near-zero permittivity phenomenon in the spectral
space
Disorder in DNA-Linked Gold Nanoparticle Assemblies
We report experimental observations on the effect of disorder on the phase
behavior of DNA-linked nanoparticle assemblies. Variation in DNA linker lengths
results in different melting temperatures of the DNA-linked nanoparticle
assemblies. We observed an unusual trend of a non-monotonic ``zigzag'' pattern
in the melting temperature as a function of DNAlinker length. Linker DNA
resulting in unequal DNA duplex lengths introduces disorder and lowers the
melting temperature of the nanoparticle system. Comparison with free DNA
thermodynamics shows that such an anomalous zigzag pattern does not exist for
free DNA duplex melting, which suggests that the disorder introduced by unequal
DNA duplex lengths results in this unusual collective behavior of DNA-linked
nanoparticle assemblies.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Phys.Rev.Lett. (2005), to appea
Anomalous Magnetic and Thermal Behavior in Some RMn2O5 Oxides
The RMn2O5 (R=Pr, Nd, Sm, and Eu) oxides showing magnetoelectric (ME)
behavior have been prepared in polycrystalline form by a standard citrate
route. The lattice parameters, obtained from the powder XRD analysis, follow
the rare-earth contraction indicating the trivalent character of the R ions.
Cusp-like anomalies in the magnetic susceptibility curve and sharp peaks in the
specific heat were reported at the corresponding temperatures in RMn2O5 (R=Pr,
Nd, Sm, and Eu) indicating the magnetic or electric ordering transitions.Comment: 2 pages, 1 table, 3 figures, will be published in the Proceedings of
the 24th International Conference on Low Temperature Physic
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