2,614 research outputs found
Atmospheric Dynamics of Short-period Extra Solar Gas Giant Planets I: Dependence of Night-Side Temperature on Opacity
More than two dozen short-period Jupiter-mass gas giant planets have been
discovered around nearby solar-type stars in recent years, several of which
undergo transits, making them ideal for the detection and characterization of
their atmospheres. Here we adopt a three-dimensional radiative hydrodynamical
numerical scheme to simulate atmospheric circulation on close-in gas giant
planets. In contrast to the conventional GCM and shallow water algorithms, this
method does not assume quasi hydrostatic equilibrium and it approximates
radiation transfer from optically thin to thick regions with flux-limited
diffusion. In the first paper of this series, we consider
synchronously-spinning gas giants. We show that a full three-dimensional
treatment, coupled with rotationally modified flows and an accurate treatment
of radiation, yields a clear temperature transition at the terminator. Based on
a series of numerical simulations with varying opacities, we show that the
night-side temperature is a strong indicator of the opacity of the planetary
atmosphere. Planetary atmospheres that maintain large, interstellar opacities
will exhibit large day-night temperature differences, while planets with
reduced atmospheric opacities due to extensive grain growth and sedimentation
will exhibit much more uniform temperatures throughout their photosphere's. In
addition to numerical results, we present a four-zone analytic approximation to
explain this dependence.Comment: 35 Pages, 13 Figure
Magneto-Acoustic Spectroscopy in Superfluid 3He-B
We have used the recently discovered acoustic Faraday effect in superfluid
3He to perform high resolution spectroscopy of an excited state of the
superfluid condensate. With acoustic cavity interferometry we measure the
rotation of the plane of polarization of a transverse sound wave propagating in
the direction of magnetic field from which we determine the Zeeman energy of
the excited state. We interpret the Lande g-factor, combined with the
zero-field energies of the state, using the theory of Sauls and Serene to
calculate the strength of f -wave interactions in 3He.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PRL, Aug 30th, 200
Tidal Barrier and the Asymptotic Mass of Proto Gas-Giant Planets
Extrasolar planets found with radial velocity surveys have masses ranging
from several Earth to several Jupiter masses. While mass accretion onto
protoplanetary cores in weak-line T-Tauri disks may eventually be quenched by a
global depletion of gas, such a mechanism is unlikely to have stalled the
growth of some known planetary systems which contain relatively low-mass and
close-in planets along with more massive and longer period companions. Here, we
suggest a potential solution for this conundrum. In general, supersonic infall
of surrounding gas onto a protoplanet is only possible interior to both of its
Bondi and Roche radii. At a critical mass, a protoplanet's Bondi and Roche
radii are equal to the disk thickness. Above this mass, the protoplanets' tidal
perturbation induces the formation of a gap. Although the disk gas may continue
to diffuse into the gap, the azimuthal flux across the protoplanets' Roche lobe
is quenched. Using two different schemes, we present the results of numerical
simulations and analysis to show that the accretion rate increases rapidly with
the ratio of the protoplanet's Roche to Bondi radii or equivalently to the disk
thickness. In regions with low geometric aspect ratios, gas accretion is
quenched with relatively low protoplanetary masses. This effect is important
for determining the gas-giant planets' mass function, the distribution of their
masses within multiple planet systems around solar type stars, and for
suppressing the emergence of gas-giants around low mass stars
Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator Engineering Unit 2 Anomaly Investigation
The Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) Engineering Unit 2 (EU2) is the highest fidelity electrically heated Stirling radioisotope generator built to date. NASA Glenn Research Center completed the assembly of the ASRG EU2 in September 2014 using hardware from the now cancelled ASRG flight development project. The ASRG EU2 integrated the first pair of Sunpower's Advanced Stirling Convertors (ASCE3 #1 and #2) in an aluminum generator housing with Lockheed Martin's (LM's) Engineering Development Unit (EDU) 4 controller. After just 179 hr of EU2 generator operation, the first power fluctuation occurred on ASCE3 #1. The first power fluctuation occurred 175 hr later on ASCE3 #2. Over time, the power fluctuations became more frequent on both convertors and larger in magnitude. Eventually the EU2 was shut down in January 2015. An anomaly investigation was chartered to determine root cause of the power fluctuations and other anomalous observations. A team with members from Glenn, Sunpower, and LM conducted a thorough investigation of the EU2 anomalies. Findings from the EU2 disassembly identified proximate causes of the anomalous observations. Discussion of the team's assessment of the primary possible failure theories, root cause, and conclusions is provided. Recommendations are made for future Stirling generator development to address the findings from the anomaly investigation. Additional findings from the investigation are also discussed
LCG MCDB -- a Knowledgebase of Monte Carlo Simulated Events
In this paper we report on LCG Monte Carlo Data Base (MCDB) and software
which has been developed to operate MCDB. The main purpose of the LCG MCDB
project is to provide a storage and documentation system for sophisticated
event samples simulated for the LHC collaborations by experts. In many cases,
the modern Monte Carlo simulation of physical processes requires expert
knowledge in Monte Carlo generators or significant amount of CPU time to
produce the events. MCDB is a knowledgebase mainly dedicated to accumulate
simulated events of this type. The main motivation behind LCG MCDB is to make
the sophisticated MC event samples available for various physical groups. All
the data from MCDB is accessible in several convenient ways. LCG MCDB is being
developed within the CERN LCG Application Area Simulation project
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