10,468 research outputs found
Centaur Propellant Thermal Conditioning Study
A wicking investigation revealed that passive thermal conditioning was feasible and provided considerable weight advantage over active systems using throttled vent fluid in a Centaur D-1s launch vehicle. Experimental wicking correlations were obtained using empirical revisions to the analytical flow model. Thermal subcoolers were evaluated parametrically as a function of tank pressure and NPSP. Results showed that the RL10 category I engine was the best candidate for boost pump replacement and the option showing the lowest weight penalty employed passively cooled acquisition devices, thermal subcoolers, dry ducts between burns and pumping of subcooler coolant back into the tank. A mixing correlation was identified for sizing the thermodynamic vent system mixer. Worst case mixing requirements were determined by surveying Centaur D-1T, D-1S, IUS, and space tug vehicles. Vent system sizing was based upon worst case requirements. Thermodynamic vent system/mixer weights were determined for each vehicle
Optical modeling of agricultural fields and rough-textured rock and mineral surfaces
Review was made of past models for describing the reflectance and/or emittance properties of agricultural/forestry and geological targets in an effort to select the best theoretical models. An extension of the six parameter Allen-Gayle-Richardson model was chosen as the agricultural plant canopy model. The model is used to predict the bidirectional reflectance of a field crop from known laboratory spectra of crop components and approximate plant geometry. The selected geological model is based on Mie theory and radiative transfer equations, and will assess the effect of textural variations of the spectral emittance of natural rock surfaces
The ionization structure of the Orion nebula: Infrared line observations and models
Observations of the (O III) 52 and 88 micron lines and the (N III) 57 micron line have been made at 6 positions and the (Ne III) 36 micron line at 4 positions in the Orion Nebula to probe its ionization structure. The measurements, made with a -40" diameter beam, were spaced every 45" in a line south from and including the Trapezium. The wavelength of the (Ne III) line was measured to be 36.013 + or - 0.004 micron. Electron densities and abundance ratios of N(++)/O(++) have been calculated and compared to other radio and optical observations. Detailed one component and two component (bar plus halo) spherical models were calculated for exciting stars with effective temperatures of 37 to 40,000K and log g = 4.0 and 4.5. Both the new infrared observations and the visible line measurements of oxygen and nitrogen require T sub eff approx less than 37,000K. However, the double ionized neon requires a model with T sub eff more than or equal to 39,000K, which is more consistent with that inferred from the radio flux or spectral type. These differences in T sub eff are not due to effects of dust on the stellar radiation field, but are probably due to inaccuracies in the assumed stellar spectrum. The observed N(++)/O(++) ratio is almost twice the N(+)/O(+) ratio. The best fit models give N/H = 8.4 x 10 to the -5 power, O/H = 4.0 x 10 to the -4 power, and Ne/H = 1.3 x 10 to the -4 power. Thus neon and nitrogen are approximately solar, but oxygen is half solar in abundance. From the infrared O(++) lines it is concluded that the ionization bar results from an increase in column depth rather than from a local density enhancement
't Hooft Expansion of 1/2 BPS Wilson Loop
We revisit the 't Hooft expansion of 1/2 BPS circular Wilson loop in N=4 SYM
studied by Drukker and Gross in hep-th/0010274. We find an interesting
recursion relation which relates different number of holes on the worldsheet.
We also argue that we can turn on the string coupling by applying a certain
integral transformation to the planar result.Comment: 21 pages; v2: minor correction
Spectra of Nearby Galaxies Measured with a New Very Broadband Receiver
Three-millimeter-wavelength spectra of a number of nearby galaxies have been
obtained at the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) using a new,
very broadband receiver. This instrument, which we call the Redshift Search
Receiver, has an instantaneous bandwidth of 36 GHz and operates from 74 to
110.5 GHz. The receiver has been built at UMass/FCRAO to be part of the initial
instrumentation for the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) and is intended
primarily for determination of the redshift of distant, dust-obscured galaxies.
It is being tested on the FCRAO 14m by measuring the 3mm spectra of a number of
nearby galaxies. There are interesting differences in the chemistry of these
galaxies.Comment: published in the Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
(2008), 4. Vol 251, pp 251-256 Cambridge University Pres
Novel steady state of a microtubule assembly in a confined geometry
We study the steady state of an assembly of microtubules in a confined
volume, analogous to the situation inside a cell where the cell boundary forms
a natural barrier to growth. We show that the dynamical equations for growing
and shrinking microtubules predict the existence of two steady states, with
either exponentially decaying or exponentially increasing distribution of
microtubule lengths. We identify the regimes in parameter space corresponding
to these steady states. In the latter case, the apparent catastrophe frequency
near the boundary was found to be significantly larger than that in the
interior. Both the exponential distribution of lengths and the increase in the
catastrophe frequency near the cell margin is in excellent agreement with
recent experimental observations.Comment: 8 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.
A theoretical approach to nursing assessment
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73763/1/j.1365-2648.1985.tb00500.x.pd
Inertial currents in isotropic plasma
The magnetospheric convection electric field contributes to Birkeland currents. The effects of the field are to polarize the plasma by displacing the bounce paths of the ions from those of electrons, to redistribute the pressure so that it is not constant along magnetic field lines, and to enhance the pressure gradient by the gradient of the bulk speed. Changes in the polarization charge during the convection of the plasma are neutralized by electrons in the form of field-aligned currents that close through the ionosphere. The pressure drives field-aligned currents through its gradient in the same manner as in quasi-static plasmas, but with modifications that are important if the bulk speed is of the order of the ion thermal speed; the variations in the pressure along field lines are maintained by a weak parallel potential drop. These effects are described in terms of the field-aligned currents in steady state, isotropic, MHD plasma. Solutions are developed by taking the MHD limit ot two-fluid solutions and illustrated in the special case of Maxwellian plasma for which the temperature is constant along magnetic field lines. The expression for the Birkeland current density is a generalization of Vasyliunas' expression for the field-aligned current density in quasi-static plasma and provides a unifying expression when both pressure gradients and ion inertia operate simultaneously as sources of field-aligned currents. It contains a full account of different aspects of the ion flow (parallel and perpendicular velocity and vorticity) that contribute to the currents. Contributions of ion inertia to field-aligned currents will occur in regions of strong velocity shear, electric field reversal, or large gradients in the parallel velocity or number density, and may be important in the low-latitude boundary layer, plasma sheet boundary layer, and the inner edge region of the plasma sheet
Spitzer IRS Observations of the Galactic Center: Shocked Gas in the Radio Arc Bubble
We present Spitzer IRS spectra (R ~600, 10 - 38 micron) of 38 positions in
the Galactic Center (GC), all at the same Galactic longitude and spanning
plus/minus 0.3 degrees in latitude. Our positions include the Arches Cluster,
the Arched Filaments, regions near the Quintuplet Cluster, the ``Bubble'' lying
along the same line-of-sight as the molecular cloud G0.11-0.11, and the diffuse
interstellar gas along the line-of-sight at higher Galactic latitudes. From
measurements of the [O IV], [Ne II], [Ne III], [Si II], [S III], [S IV], [Fe
II], [Fe III], and H_2 S(0), S(1), and S(2) lines we determine the gas
excitation and ionic abundance ratios. The Ne/H and S/H abundance ratios are ~
1.6 times that of the Orion Nebula. The main source of excitation is
photoionization, with the Arches Cluster ionizing the Arched Filaments and the
Quintuplet Cluster ionizing the gas nearby and at lower Galactic latitudes
including the far side of the Bubble. In addition, strong shocks ionize gas to
O^{+3} and destroy dust grains, releasing iron into the gas phase (Fe/H ~ 1.3
times 10^{-6} in the Arched Filaments and Fe/H ~ 8.8 times 10^{-6} in the
Bubble). The shock effects are particularly noticeable in the center of the
Bubble, but O is present in all positions. We suggest that the shocks
are due to the winds from the Quintuplet Cluster Wolf-Rayet stars. On the other
hand, the H_2 line ratios can be explained with multi-component models of warm
molecular gas in photodissociation regions without the need for H_2 production
in shocks.Comment: 51 pages, 17 figures To be published in the Astrophysical Journa
A High Throughput Workflow Environment for Cosmological Simulations
The next generation of wide-area sky surveys offer the power to place
extremely precise constraints on cosmological parameters and to test the source
of cosmic acceleration. These observational programs will employ multiple
techniques based on a variety of statistical signatures of galaxies and
large-scale structure. These techniques have sources of systematic error that
need to be understood at the percent-level in order to fully leverage the power
of next-generation catalogs. Simulations of large-scale structure provide the
means to characterize these uncertainties. We are using XSEDE resources to
produce multiple synthetic sky surveys of galaxies and large-scale structure in
support of science analysis for the Dark Energy Survey. In order to scale up
our production to the level of fifty 10^10-particle simulations, we are working
to embed production control within the Apache Airavata workflow environment. We
explain our methods and report how the workflow has reduced production time by
40% compared to manual management.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. V2 corrects an error in figure
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