Time domain phase measuring apparatus

The phase and/or period stability of a device is determined by connecting the device in one orthogonal arm of a phase detector having a mixer. In the other arm is an adjustable, variable phase shift device. The output of the mixer is fed through an active low pass filter to derive a DC voltage indicative of the phase shift. The variable phase device is adjusted so that the DC voltage will nullify the phase shift of the tested device under normal conditions. The DC voltage level is converted into a time interval indicative of the phase change of the tested device by determining when the level equals the amplitude of a low frequency ramp voltage. The interval between adjacent equality points can be measured or the period between a reference point on the ramp voltage and the quality be measured

Flexible bulb large storage box hydrogen maser

The principal limitation on the accuracy of the hydrogen maser as a primary frequency standard has been the irreproducibility of the frequency shift caused by collisions of the radiating atoms with the walls of the vessel containing them. The flexible bulb-large storage box hydrogen maser allows correction for this wall shift within a single device, sidestepping the reproducibility problem, and reducing the frequency error from the wall shift to the level imposed by the device's stability. The principles of the device are discussed including the flexible bulb technique and the complications caused by a multiple region storage bulb. The stability of the device is discussed including a comparison with an ordinary hydrogen maser. Data is presented from a working flexible bulb-large storage box hydrogen maser demonstrating the feasibility of the device and showing some of its operating characteristics. The flexibility of the device is demonstrated by showing how the device's added degrees of freedom allow measurement of parameters unmeasurable in an ordinary hydrogen maser

Frequency stability requirements for two way range rate tracking

Accuracy limitations to two way range rate Doppler tracking due to master (reference) oscillator frequency instabilities are discussed. Theory is developed to treat both the effects of random and nonrandom oscillator instabilities. The nonrandom instabilities treated are drift, environmental effects, and coherent phase modulation. The effects of random instabilities on range rate accuracy are shown to be describable in terms of sigma y (2, T, tau). For the typical noise processes encountered in precision oscillators, range rate error is related to the more familiar sigma y (tau) and script L (f). Three examples are discussed to show how to determine range rate error from given sigma y (tau) or script L (f) curves, and approximations are developed to simplify the treatment of complex systems. An error analysis of range determined from rate data is also given

Variable volume maser techniques

The frequency stability of hydrogen masers in variable volume storage bulbs is discussed in terms of wall shift. Variable volume devices discussed include: Brenner flexible bulb, Debely device, and the concertina hydrogen maser. A flexible cone variable volume element outside the cavity is described

High stability amplifier

An electrical RF signal amplifier for providing high temperature stability and RF isolation and comprised of an integrated circuit voltage regulator, a single transistor, and an integrated circuit operational amplifier mounted on a circuit board such that passive circuit elements are located on side of the circuit board while the active circuit elements are located on the other side is described. The active circuit elements are embedded in a common heat sink so that a common temperature reference is provided for changes in ambient temperature. The single transistor and operational amplifier are connected together to form a feedback amplifier powered from the voltage regulator with transistor implementing primarily the desired signal gain while the operational amplifier implements signal isolation. Further RF isolation is provided by the voltage regulator which inhibits cross-talk from other like amplifiers powered from a common power supply. Input and output terminals consisting of coaxial connectors are located on the sides of a housing in which all the circuit components and heat sink are located

External bulb variable volume maser

A maser functioning as a frequency standard stable to one part in 10 to the 14th power includes a variable volume, constant surface area storage bulb having a fixed volume portion located in a resonant cavity from which the frequency standard is derived. A variable volume portion of the bulb, exterior to the resonant cavity, has a maximum volume on the same order of magnitude as the fixed volume bulb portion. The cavity has a length to radius ratio of at least 3:1 so that the operation is attained without the need for a feedback loop. A baffle plate, between the fixed and variable volume bulb portions, includes apertures for enabling hydrogen atoms to pass between the two bulb portions and is an electromagnetic shield that prevents coupling of the electromagnetic field of the cavity into the variable volume bulb portion

A simple technique for high resolution time domain phase noise measurement

A new time domain phase comparator is described. The device uses a novel technique to allow time domain phase measurements to be made with period and time interval counters without the use of offset reference oscillators. The device uses a single reference oscillator and allows measurements with a phase resolution greater than the noise floor of the reference. Data is presented showing a phase resolution of 0.02ps at 5 MHz with a crystal reference. The device has application in measuring the phase stability of systems where approximate phase quadrature can be maintained

The performance of NASA research hydrogen masers

Field operable hydrogen masers based on prior maser designs are presented. These units incorporate improvements in magnetic shielding, lower noise electronics, better thermal control, and have a microprocessor for operation, monitoring, and diagnostic functions. They are ruggedly built for transportability and ease of service anywhere in the world

Natural Slow-Roll Inflation

It is shown that the non-perturbative dynamics of a phase change to the non-trivial phase of $\lambda\varphi^4$-theory in the early universe can give rise to slow-rollover inflation without recourse to unnaturally small couplings.Comment: 14 LaTex pages (3 figures available on request), UNITUE-THEP-15-199

Relativistic effects of the rotation of the earth on remote clock synchronization

A treatment is given of relativistic clock synchronization effects due to the rotation of the earth. Unlike other approaches, the point of view of an earth fixed coordinate system is used which offers insight to many problems. An attempt is made to give the reader an intuitive grasp of the subject as well as to provide formulae for his use. Specific applications to global timekeeping, navigation, VLBI, relativistic clock experiments, and satellite clock synchronization are discussed. The question of whether atomic clocks are ideal clocks is also treated