2,717 research outputs found
Optimum earth re-entry corridors
Steepest ascent optimization procedure for reentry trajectory of manned aerospace vehicle
An investigation of rooftop STOL port aerodynamics
An investigation into aerodynamic problems associated with large building rooftop STOLports was performed. Initially, a qualitative flow visualization study indicated two essential problems: (1) the establishment of smooth, steady, attached flow over the rooftop, and (2) the generation of acceptable crosswind profile once (1) has been achieved. This study indicated that (1) could be achieved by attaching circular-arc rounded edge extensions to the upper edges of the building and that crosswind profiles could be modified by the addition of porous vertical fences to the lateral edges of the rooftop. Important fence parameters associated with crosswind alteration were found to be solidity, fence element number and spacing. Large scale building induced velocity fluctuations were discovered for most configurations tested and a possible explanation for their occurrence was postulated. Finally, a simple equation relating fence solidity to the resulting velocity profile was developed and tested for non-uniform single element fences with 30 percent maximum solidity
Counts-in-Cylinders in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with Comparisons to N-body Simulations
Environmental statistics provide a necessary means of comparing the
properties of galaxies in different environments and a vital test of models of
galaxy formation within the prevailing, hierarchical cosmological model. We
explore counts-in-cylinders, a common statistic defined as the number of
companions of a particular galaxy found within a given projected radius and
redshift interval. Galaxy distributions with the same two-point correlation
functions do not necessarily have the same companion count distributions. We
use this statistic to examine the environments of galaxies in the Sloan Digital
Sky Survey, Data Release 4. We also make preliminary comparisons to four models
for the spatial distributions of galaxies, based on N-body simulations, and
data from SDSS DR4 to study the utility of the counts-in-cylinders statistic.
There is a very large scatter between the number of companions a galaxy has and
the mass of its parent dark matter halo and the halo occupation, limiting the
utility of this statistic for certain kinds of environmental studies. We also
show that prevalent, empirical models of galaxy clustering that match observed
two- and three-point clustering statistics well fail to reproduce some aspects
of the observed distribution of counts-in-cylinders on 1, 3 and 6-Mpc/h scales.
All models that we explore underpredict the fraction of galaxies with few or no
companions in 3 and 6-Mpc/h cylinders. Roughly 7% of galaxies in the real
universe are significantly more isolated within a 6 Mpc/h cylinder than the
galaxies in any of the models we use. Simple, phenomenological models that map
galaxies to dark matter halos fail to reproduce high-order clustering
statistics in low-density environments.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures. Accepted, Ap
A Regression Model of the Interactions Between Higher Education and High-tech Industries in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia
This study examined the interactions--(1) research grants and contracts, (2) faculty consultation, (3) employee training, (4) student internships and co-ops, (5) universities sharing firm facilities, and (6) firms sharing university facilities--between higher education and high-tech industries in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia using multiple regression modeling. The purpose of the study was the development of a vision of what the future could be and the strategies to successfully overcome the threats and enrich the opportunities that exist between higher education and high-tech industries. Data were collected from the engineering and engineering technology faculty at Tennessee Technological University, East Tennessee State University, Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and selected high-tech firms in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The analytical process included four phases: (1) data collection and preparation, (2) reduction of independent variables, (3) model refinement, and (4) model validation. The analysis suggested that large universities with well-defined organizational channels seemed to have an advantage in obtaining research grants and contracts from large firms that were strongly involved in research and development. Likewise, faculty members seemed to use the facilities of large high-tech firms that were near to the university. More importantly, the study emphasized the mutual benefits that universities and industries could share through university-industry interactions if each could overcome formidable barriers that have been established through tradition, culture, and bureaucratic processes
Faint, Evolving Radio AGN in SDSS Luminous Red Galaxies
We detect and study the properties of faint radio AGN in Luminous Red
Galaxies (LRGs). The LRG sample comprises 760,000 objects from a catalog of LRG
photometric redshifts constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)
imaging data, and 65,000 LRGs from the SDSS spectroscopic sample. These
galaxies have typical 1.4 GHz flux densities in the 10s-100s of microJy, with
the contribution from a low-luminosity AGN dominating any contribution from
star formation. To probe the radio properties of such faint objects, we employ
a stacking technique whereby FIRST survey image cutouts at each optical LRG
position are sorted by the parameter of interest and median-combined within
bins. We find that median radio luminosity scales with optical luminosity
(L_opt) as L_1.4 GHz ~ L_opt^(beta), where beta appears to decrease from beta ~
1 at z = 0.4 to beta ~ 0 at z = 0.7, a result which could be indicative of AGN
cosmic downsizing. We also find that the overall LRG population, which is
dominated by low-luminosity AGN, experiences significant cosmic evolution
between z = 0.2 and z = 0.7. This implies a considerable increase in total AGN
heating for these massive ellipticals with redshift. By matching against the
FIRST catalog, we investigate the incidence and properties of LRGs associated
with double-lobed (FR I/II) radio galaxies. (Abridged)Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by A
The Environments of Low and High Luminosity Radio Galaxies at Moderate Redshifts
In the local Universe, high-power radio galaxies live in lower density
environments than low-luminosity radio galaxies. If this trend continues to
higher redshifts, powerful radio galaxies would serve as efficient probes of
moderate redshift groups and poor clusters. Photometric studies of radio
galaxies at 0.3 < z < 0.5 suggest that the radio luminosity-environment
correlation disappears at moderate redshifts, though this could be the result
of foreground/background contamination affecting the photometric measures of
environment. We have obtained multi-object spectroscopy of in the fields of 14
lower luminosity (L_1.4GHz
1.2x10^25 W/Hz) radio galaxies at z ~ 0.3 to spectroscopically investigate the
link between the environment and the radio luminosity of radio galaxies at
moderate redshifts. Our results support the photometric analyses; there does
not appear to be a correlation between the luminosity of a radio galaxy and its
environment at moderate redshifts. Hence, radio galaxies are not efficient
signposts for group environments at moderate redshifts.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in A
How Common are the Magellanic Clouds?
We introduce a probabilistic approach to the problem of counting dwarf
satellites around host galaxies in databases with limited redshift information.
This technique is used to investigate the occurrence of satellites with
luminosities similar to the Magellanic Clouds around hosts with properties
similar to the Milky Way in the object catalog of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
Our analysis uses data from SDSS Data Release 7, selecting candidate
Milky-Way-like hosts from the spectroscopic catalog and candidate analogs of
the Magellanic Clouds from the photometric catalog. Our principal result is the
probability for a Milky-Way-like galaxy to host N_{sat} close satellites with
luminosities similar to the Magellanic Clouds. We find that 81 percent of
galaxies like the Milky Way are have no such satellites within a radius of 150
kpc, 11 percent have one, and only 3.5 percent of hosts have two. The
probabilities are robust to changes in host and satellite selection criteria,
background-estimation technique, and survey depth. These results demonstrate
that the Milky Way has significantly more satellites than a typical galaxy of
its luminosity; this fact is useful for understanding the larger cosmological
context of our home galaxy.Comment: Updated to match published version. Added referenc
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