Trace element abundance determinations by Synchrotron X Ray Fluorescence (SXRF) on returned comet nucleus mineral grains

Trace element analyses were performed on bulk cosmic dust particles by Proton Induced X Ray Emission (PIXE) and Synchrotron X Ray Fluorescence (SXRF). When present at or near chondritic abundances the trace elements K, Ti, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, Se, and Br are presently detectable by SXRF in particles of 20 micron diameter. Improvements to the SXRF analysis facility at the National Synchrotron Light Source presently underway should increase the range of detectable elements and permit the analysis of smaller samples. In addition the Advanced Photon Source will be commissioned at Argonne National Laboratory in 1995. This 7 to 8 GeV positron storage ring, specifically designed for high-energy undulator and wiggler insertion devices, will be an ideal source for an x ray microprobe with one micron spatial resolution and better than 100 ppb elemental sensitivity for most elements. Thus trace element analysis of individual micron-sized grains should be possible by the time of the comet nucleus sample return mission

Spectral isolation of bi-invariant metrics on compact Lie groups

We show that a bi-invariant metric on a compact connected Lie group $G$ is spectrally isolated within the class of left-invariant metrics. In fact, we prove that given a bi-invariant metric $g_0$ on $G$ there is a positive integer $N$ such that, within a neighborhood of $g_0$ in the class of left-invariant metrics of at most the same volume, $g_0$ is uniquely determined by the first $N$ distinct non-zero eigenvalues of its Laplacian (ignoring multiplicities). In the case where $G$ is simple, $N$ can be chosen to be two.Comment: 10 pages, new title, revised abstract and introduction, minor typos corrected, to appear in Ann. Inst. Fourier (Grenoble

Plans for the LIGO–TAMA joint search for gravitational wave bursts

We describe the plans for a joint search for unmodelled gravitational wave bursts being carried out by the LIGO and TAMA Collaborations using data collected during February–April 2003. We take a conservative approach to detection, requiring candidate gravitational wave bursts to be seen in coincidence by all four interferometers. We focus on some of the complications of performing this coincidence analysis, in particular the effects of the different alignments and noise spectra of the interferometers

Trajectory computational techniques emphasizing existence, uniqueness, and construction of solutions to boundary problems for ordinary differential equations Final report

Trajectory computational techniques emphasizing existence, uniqueness, and construction of solutions to boundary problems for ordinary differential equation

Robust Bayesian detection of unmodelled bursts

A Bayesian treatment of the problem of detecting an unmodelled gravitational wave burst with a global network of gravitational wave observatories reveals that several previously proposed statistics have implicit biases that render them sub-optimal for realistic signal populations.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, submitted to CQG Amaldi proceedings special issu