X-rays from the Eclipsing Millisecond Pulsar PSR J1740-5340 in the Globular Cluster NGC 6397

The millisecond pulsar PSR J1740-5340 in the globular cluster NGC 6397 shows radio eclipses over ~40% of its binary orbit. A first Chandra observation revealed indications for the X-ray flux being orbit dependent as well. In this work we analysed five data sets of archival Chandra data taken between 2000 and 2007 in order to investigate the emission across the pulsar's binary orbit. Utilizing archival Chandra observations of PSR J1740-5340, we have performed a systematic timing and spectral analysis of this binary system. Using a chi-square-test the significance for intra-binary orbital modulation is found to be between 88.5% and 99.6%, depending on the number of phase bins used to construct the light curve. Applying the unbiased statistical Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test did not indicate any significant intra-binary orbital modulation, though. However, comparing the counting rates observed at different epochs a flux variability on times scales of days to years is indicated. The possible origin of the X-ray emission is discussed in a number of different scenarios.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Doppler lidar signal and turbulence study

Wind fields were measured with the ground-based NASA/MSFC lidar are compared with the in situ NASA RB-57 aircraft measurements. The mean wind fields, the turbulence intensities, and the turbulence spectra determined from measurements by both systems are in very good agreement. Turbulence intensities and spectra were calculated from the fluctuations with time in the radial wind speed component. The second moment or Doppler frequency spectral width of the lidar measurements was also compared with turbulence intensities measured by the aircraft. These second moments could only be resolved at the very low altitudes (in three range bins). Turbulence intensities estimated from the spectral width data were an order of magnitude higher than those measured by the aircraft. An interesting boundary layer evolved during the progress of the experiment. The breakup of a stable boundary layer resulted in winds blowing in one direction above 600 m msl and in the opposite direction below that level. Both the aircraft and the lidar systems clearly identified this unusual boundary layer flow and showed the identical trends

Test results of modified electrical charged particle generator for application to fog dispersal

Modifications to a charged particle generator for use in fog dispersal applications were made and additional testing carried out. The modified nozzle, however, did not work as planned, and reported results are the unmodified nozzle. The addition of a positive displacement pump to supply the liquid water was highly successful. Measurements of the generator output current were made with a cylindrical collector system as well as with the needle probe used in previous studies. Measurements with the cylindrical collector and the needle probe showed identical agreement within the variability of the experiment. A high-voltage prove was purchased, and measurements of the corona voltage as well as the voltage variation in the charged particle jet were made. Electric fields in the vertical direction on the order of 1,000,000 v/m were measured. The voltage distribution along the centerline of the jet was compared with the numerical solutions of the Poisson equation and showed very good agreement. Velocity measurements using a pitot tube were made. The resulting measurements were compared with theoretical and other reported experimental results. The measured data showed the appropriate trends and agreed well with reported results. Based on the measured current-to-mass ratio from the charged particle generator, a calculation of the average droplet size was made. Droplet sizes were estimated to range between 0.8 and 0.4 microns. Using measured data, an analysis of the height to which the droplet can be dispersed by the charged particle generator was made. Although the mathematical model is highly simplified, the results indicated that particles would achieve heights on the order of 80 m

Perturbative and non-perturbative QCD corrections to wide-angle Compton scattering

We investigate corrections to the handbag approach for wide-angle Compton scattering off protons at moderately large momentum transfer: the photon-parton subprocess is calculated to next-to-leading order QCD and contributions from the generalized parton distribution E} are taken into account. Photon and proton helicity flip amplitudes are non-zero due to these corrections which leads to a wealth of polarization phenomena in Compton scattering. Thus, for instance, the incoming photon asymmetry or the transverse polarization of the proton are non-zero although small.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures (using LATEX with epsfig

The breakage prediction for hydromechanical deep drawing based on local bifurcation theory

A criterion of sheet metal localized necking under plane stress was established based on the bifurcation theory and the characteristics theory of differential equation. In order to be capable to incorporate the directional dependence of the plastic strain rate on stress rate, Ito-Goya’s constitutive equation which gave a one to one relationship between stress rate component and plastic strain rate component was employed. The hydromechanical deep drawing process of a cylindrical cup part was simulated using the commercial software ABAQUS IMPLICIT. The onset of breakage of the part during the forming process was predicted by combining the simulation results with the local necking criterion. The proposed method is applied to the hydro-mechanical deep drawing process for A2219 aluminum alloy sheet metal to predict the breakage of the cylindrical cup part. The proposed method can be applied to the prediction of breakage in the forming of the automotive bodies

A Three-Pole Substrate Integrated Waveguide Bandpass Filter Using New Coupling Scheme

A novel three-pole substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) bandpass filter (BPF) using new coupling scheme is proposed in this paper. Two high order degenerate modes (TE102 and TE201) of a square SIW cavity and a dominant mode (TE101) of a rectangular SIW cavity are coupled to form a three-pole SIW BPF. The coupling scheme of the structure is given and analyzed. Due to the coupling between two cavities, as well as the coupling between source and load, three transmission zeros are created in the stopband of the filter. The proposed three-pole SIW BPF is designed and fabricated. Good agreement between simulated and measured results verifies the validity of the design methodology well

Evidence of Counter-Streaming Ions near the Inner Pole of the HERMeS Hall Thruster

NASA is continuing the development of a 12.5-kW Hall thruster system to support a phased exploration concept to expand human presence to cis-lunar space and eventually to Mars. The development team is transitioning knowledge gained from the testing of the government-built Technology Development Unit (TDU) to the contractor-built Engineering Test Unit (ETU). A new laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic was developed to obtain data for validating the Hall thruster models and for comparing the behavior of the ETU and TDU. Analysis of TDU LIF data obtained during initial deployment of the diagnostics revealed evidence of two streams of ions moving in opposite directions near the inner front pole. These two streams of ions were found to intersect the downstream surface of the front pole at large oblique angles. This data points to a possible explanation for why the erosion rate of polished pole covers were observed to decrease over the course of several hundred hours of thruster operation

Proton mass effects in wide-angle Compton scattering

We investigate proton mass effects in the handbag approach to wide-angle Compton scattering. We find that theoretical uncertainties due to the proton mass are significant for photon energies presently studied at Jefferson Lab. With the proposed energy upgrade such uncertainties will be clearly reduced.Comment: 4 pages, uses revtex, 3 figure

Remark on approximation in the calculation of the primordial spectrum generated during inflation

We re-examine approximations in the analytical calculation of the primordial spectrum of cosmological perturbation produced during inflation. Taking two inflation models (chaotic inflation and natural inflation) as examples, we numerically verify the accuracy of these approximations.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, to appear in PR