939 research outputs found
Propulsion Options for Primary Thrust and Attitude Control of Microspacecraft
Order of magnitude decreases in the size of scientific satellites and spacecraft could provide concurrent decreases in mission costs because of lower launch and fabrication costs. Although many subsystems are amenable to dramatic size reductions, miniaturization of the propulsion subsystems is not straightforward. There are a range of requirements for both primary and attitude control propulsion, dictated by mission requirements, satellite size, and power restrictions. Many of the established propulsion technologies can not currently be applied to microspacecraft. Because of this, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication technology is being explored as a path for miniaturization
Potential New Sensor for Use With Conventional Gas Carburizing
Diagnostics developed for in-situ monitoring of rocket combustion environments have been adapted for use in heat treating furnaces. Simultaneous, in-situ monitoring of the carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, water, nitrogen and hydrogen concentrations in the endothermic gas of a heat treating furnace has been demonstrated under a Space Act Agreement between NASA Lewis, the Heat Treating Network, and Akron Steel Treating Company. Equipment installed at the Akron Steel Treating Company showed the feasibility of the method. Clear and well-defined spectra of carbon monoxide, nitrogen and hydrogen were obtained by means of an optical probe mounted on the endothermic gas line of a gas generator inside the plant, with the data reduction hardware located in the basement laboratory. Signals to and from the probe were transmitted via optical fibers
Gaseous hydrogen/oxygen injector performance characterization
Results are presented of spontaneous Raman scattering measurements in the combustion chamber of a 110 N thrust class gaseous hydrogen/oxygen rocket. Temperature, oxygen number density, and water number density profiles at the injector exit plane are presented. These measurements are used as input profiles to a full Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. Predictions of this code while using the measured profiles are compared with predictions while using assumed uniform injector profiles. Axial and radial velocity profiles derived from both sets of predictions are compared with Rayleigh scattering measurements in the exit plane of a 33:1 area ratio nozzle. Temperature and number density Raman scattering measurements at the exit plane of a test rocket with a 1:1.36 area ratio nozzle are also compared with results from both sets of predictions
Channel kets, entangled states, and the location of quantum information
The well-known duality relating entangled states and noisy quantum channels
is expressed in terms of a channel ket, a pure state on a suitable tripartite
system, which functions as a pre-probability allowing the calculation of
statistical correlations between, for example, the entrance and exit of a
channel, once a framework has been chosen so as to allow a consistent set of
probabilities. In each framework the standard notions of ordinary (classical)
information theory apply, and it makes sense to ask whether information of a
particular sort about one system is or is not present in another system.
Quantum effects arise when a single pre-probability is used to compute
statistical correlations in different incompatible frameworks, and various
constraints on the presence and absence of different kinds of information are
expressed in a set of all-or-nothing theorems which generalize or give a
precise meaning to the concept of ``no-cloning.'' These theorems are used to
discuss: the location of information in quantum channels modeled using a
mixed-state environment; the (classical-quantum) channels introduced by
Holevo; and the location of information in the physical carriers of a quantum
code. It is proposed that both channel and entanglement problems be classified
in terms of pure states (functioning as pre-probabilities) on systems of parts, with mixed bipartite entanglement and simple noisy channels belonging
to the category , a five-qubit code to the category , etc.; then by
the dimensions of the Hilbert spaces of the component parts, along with other
criteria yet to be determined.Comment: Latex 32 pages, 4 figures in text using PSTricks. Version 3: Minor
typographical errors correcte
Power, Propulsion, and Communications for Microspacecraft Missions
The development of small sized, low weight spacecraft should lead to reduced scientific mission costs by lowering fabrication and launch costs. An order of magnitude reduction in spacecraft size can be obtained by miniaturizing components. Additional reductions in spacecraft weight, size, and cost can be obtained by utilizing the synergy that exists between different spacecraft systems. The state-of-the-art of three major systems, spacecraft power, propulsion, and communications is discussed. Potential strategies to exploit the synergy between these systems and/or the payload are identified. Benefits of several of these synergies are discussed
Minimum Decision Cost for Quantum Ensembles
For a given ensemble of independent and identically prepared particles,
we calculate the binary decision costs of different strategies for measurement
of polarised spin 1/2 particles. The result proves that, for any given values
of the prior probabilities and any number of constituent particles, the cost
for a combined measurement is always less than or equal to that for any
combination of separate measurements upon sub-ensembles. The Bayes cost, which
is that associated with the optimal strategy (i.e., a combined measurement) is
obtained in a simple closed form.Comment: 11 pages, uses RevTe
Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Harmonic Potential
We examine several features of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in an
external harmonic potential well. In the thermodynamic limit, there is a phase
transition to a spatial Bose-Einstein condensed state for dimension D greater
than or equal to 2. The thermodynamic limit requires maintaining constant
average density by weakening the potential while increasing the particle number
N to infinity, while of course in real experiments the potential is fixed and N
stays finite. For such finite ideal harmonic systems we show that a BEC still
occurs, although without a true phase transition, below a certain
``pseudo-critical'' temperature, even for D=1. We study the momentum-space
condensate fraction and find that it vanishes as 1/N^(1/2) in any number of
dimensions in the thermodynamic limit. In D less than or equal to 2 the lack of
a momentum condensation is in accord with the Hohenberg theorem, but must be
reconciled with the existence of a spatial BEC in D=2. For finite systems we
derive the N-dependence of the spatial and momentum condensate fractions and
the transition temperatures, features that may be experimentally testable. We
show that the N-dependence of the 2D ideal-gas transition temperature for a
finite system cannot persist in the interacting case because it violates a
theorem due to Chester, Penrose, and Onsager.Comment: 34 pages, LaTeX, 6 Postscript figures, Submitted to Jour. Low Temp.
Phy
Pair creation: back-reactions and damping
We solve the quantum Vlasov equation for fermions and bosons, incorporating
spontaneous pair creation in the presence of back-reactions and collisions.
Pair creation is initiated by an external impulse field and the source term is
non-Markovian. A simultaneous solution of Maxwell's equation in the presence of
feedback yields an internal current and electric field that exhibit plasma
oscillations with a period tau_pl. Allowing for collisions, these oscillations
are damped on a time-scale, tau_r, determined by the collision frequency.
Plasma oscillations cannot affect the early stages of the formation of a
quark-gluon plasma unless tau_r >> tau_pl and tau_pl approx. 1/Lambda_QCD
approx 1 fm/c.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure, REVTEX, epsfig.st
Mean Field Calculations of Bose-Einstein Condensation of 7Li Atoms In a Harmonic Trap
A self-consistent mean-field theory for bosons for T>0 is used to reconcile
predictions of collapse with recent observations of Bose-Einstein condensation
of 7Li. Eigenfunctions of a (non-separable) Hamiltonian that includes the
anisotropic external trap field and atom-atom interactions are obtained by an
iteration process. A sum over the Bose distribution, and the ``alternating
direction implicit'' algorithm are used. Near Tc, the ensemble exhibits a
localized condensate composed of atoms in the few lowest states. For lower T,
numerical instability indicates collapse to a more dense phase.Comment: 11 pages + 4 figure
Classical Equations for Quantum Systems
The origin of the phenomenological deterministic laws that approximately
govern the quasiclassical domain of familiar experience is considered in the
context of the quantum mechanics of closed systems such as the universe as a
whole. We investigate the requirements for coarse grainings to yield decoherent
sets of histories that are quasiclassical, i.e. such that the individual
histories obey, with high probability, effective classical equations of motion
interrupted continually by small fluctuations and occasionally by large ones.
We discuss these requirements generally but study them specifically for coarse
grainings of the type that follows a distinguished subset of a complete set of
variables while ignoring the rest. More coarse graining is needed to achieve
decoherence than would be suggested by naive arguments based on the uncertainty
principle. Even coarser graining is required in the distinguished variables for
them to have the necessary inertia to approach classical predictability in the
presence of the noise consisting of the fluctuations that typical mechanisms of
decoherence produce. We describe the derivation of phenomenological equations
of motion explicitly for a particular class of models. Probabilities of the
correlations in time that define equations of motion are explicitly considered.
Fully non-linear cases are studied. Methods are exhibited for finding the form
of the phenomenological equations of motion even when these are only distantly
related to those of the fundamental action. The demonstration of the connection
between quantum-mechanical causality and causalty in classical phenomenological
equations of motion is generalized. The connections among decoherence, noise,
dissipation, and the amount of coarse graining necessary to achieve classical
predictability are investigated quantitatively.Comment: 100pages, 1 figur
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