Infrared molecular emissions from comets

The possibility of detecting IR molecular line emission from cometary parent molecules is explored. Due to the non-LTE conditions in the inner coma and the large amount of near IR solar flux, IR fluorescence will be a significant source of cometary emission and, in fact, will dominate the grain radiation in a sufficiently high resolution instrument. The detection of this line emission will be difficult due to absorption in the terrestrial atmosphere, but it appears possible to measure cometary H2O emission from airplane altitudes. As IR molecular line emission represents one of the few promising methods of detecting cometary parent molecules directly, further research on this problem should be vigorously pursued

Solar pumped laser

A solar pumped laser is described in which the lasant is a gas that will photodissociate and lase when subjected to sunrays. Sunrays are collected and directed onto the gas lasant to cause it to lase. Applications to laser propulsion and laser power transmission are discussed

A preliminary training guide for utilizing high-altitude, color-infrared photography in compiling soil maps

Instruction for acquiring and analytically processing small-scale color-infrared photography to perform a soil resources inventory over forests of the southern U.S. is provided. Planning the project; acquiring aerial photography, materials, equipment and supplemental data; and preparing the photography for analysis are discussed. The procedures for preparing ancillary and primary component overlays are discussed. The use of correlation charts and dichotomous keys for mountain landforms, water regime, and vegetation is explained

On the area of the symmetry orbits in T2T^2 symmetric spacetimes with Vlasov matter

This paper treats the global existence question for a collection of general relativistic collisionless particles, all having the same mass. The spacetimes considered are globally hyperbolic, with Cauchy surface a 3-torus. Furthermore, the spacetimes considered are isometrically invariant under a two-dimensional group action, the orbits of which are spacelike 2-tori. It is known from previous work that the area of the group orbits serves as a global time coordinate. In the present work it is shown that the area takes on all positive values in the maximal Cauchy development.Comment: 27 pages, version 2 minor changes and correction

Magnetomotive drive and detection of clamped-clamped mechanical resonators in water

We demonstrate magnetomotive drive and detection of doubly clamped string resonators in water. A compact 1.9 T permanent magnet is used to detect the fundamental and higher flexural modes of $\mathrm{200 \mu m}$ long resonators. Good agreement is found between the magnetomotive measurements and optical measurements performed on the same resonator. The magnetomotive detection scheme can be used to simultaneously drive and detect multiple sensors or scanning probes in viscous fluids without alignment of detector beams.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Reply to "Comment on 'Precision measurement of the Casimir-Lifshitz force in a fluid'"

We have reviewed the Comment of Geyer et al. [arXiv:0708.1548] concerning our recent work [Phys. Rev. A 75, 060102 (R) (2007)], and while we disagree with their criticisms, we acknowledge them for giving us the opportunity to add interesting addition material and a more detailed description of our experiment. We describe further our calculation and explain why a more sophisticated model is not warranted. We also present detailed experiments on the effects of electrostatic forces in our measurements and show that the contribution due to work function differences is small and that the residual electrostatic force is dominated by trapped charges and external fields. Finally, we estimate the effect of double layer interactions. These additional calculations and measurements support our original conclusion that the experimental results are consistent with the Lifshitz theory

Planning the Kitchen

Provides a brief discussion of new trends in kitchen planning

Local Ferroelectricity in SrTiO_3 Thin Films

The temperature-dependent polarization of SrTiO_3 thin films is investigated using confocal scanning optical microscopy. A homogeneous out-of-plane and inhomogeneous in-plane ferroelectric phase are identified from images of the linear electrooptic response. Both hysteretic and non-hysteretic behavior are observed under a dc bias field. Unlike classical transitions in bulk ferroelectrics, local ferroelectricity is observed at temperatures far above the dielectric permittivity maximum. The results demonstrate the utility of local probe experiments in understanding inhomogeneous ferroelectrics.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in PR

Laser Doppler technology applied to atmospheric environmental operating problems

Carbon dioxide laser Doppler ground wind data were very favorably compared with data from standard anemometers. As a result of these measurements, two breadboard systems were developed for taking research data: a continuous wave velocimeter and a pulsed Doppler system. The scanning continuous wave laser Doppler velocimeter developed for detecting, tracking and measuring aircraft wake vortices was successfully tested at an airport where it located vortices to an accuracy of 3 meters at a range of 150 meters. The airborne pulsed laser Doppler system was developed to detect and measure clear air turbulence (CAT). This system was tested aboard an aircraft, but jet stream CAT was not encountered. However, low altitude turbulence in cumulus clouds near a mountain range was detected by the system and encountered by the aircraft at the predicted time