Intermediate energy Coulomb excitation as a probe of nuclear structure at radioactive beam facilities

The effects of retardation in the Coulomb excitation of radioactive nuclei in intermediate energy collisions (Elab ~100 MeV/nucleon) are investigated. We show that the excitation cross sections of low-lying states in 11Be, {38,40,42}S and {44,46}Ar projectiles incident on gold and lead targets are modified by as much as 20% due to these effects. The angular distributions of decaying gamma-rays are also appreciably modified.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Rev. C, in pres

Effect of boundary conditions on diffusion in two-dimensional granular gases

We analyze the influence of boundary conditions on numerical simulations of the diffusive properties of a two dimensional granular gas. We show in particular that periodic boundary conditions introduce unphysical correlations in time which cause the coefficient of diffusion to be strongly dependent on the system size. On the other hand, in large enough systems with hard walls at the boundaries, diffusion is found to be independent of the system size. We compare the results obtained in this case with Langevin theory for an elastic gas. Good agreement is found. We then calculate the relaxation time and the influence of the mass for a particle of radius $R_s$ in a sea of particles of radius $R_b$. As granular gases are dissipative, we also study the influence of an external random force on the diffusion process in a forced dissipative system. In particular, we analyze differences in the mean square velocity and displacement between the elastic and inelastic cases.Comment: 15 figures eps figures, include

Long-Time Behavior of Velocity Autocorrelation Function for Interacting Particles in a Two-Dimensional Disordered System

The long-time behavior of the velocity autocorrelation function (VACF) is investigated by the molecular dynamics simulation of a two-dimensional system which has both a many-body interaction and a random potential. With strengthening the random potential by increasing the density of impurities, a crossover behavior of the VACF is observed from a positive tail, which is proportional to t^{-1}, to a negative tail, proportional to -t^{-2}. The latter tail exists even when the density of particles is the same order as the density of impurities. The behavior of the VACF in a nonequilibrium steady state is also studied. In the linear response regime the behavior is similar to that in the equilibrium state, whereas it changes drastically in the nonlinear response regime.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Stanford Aerospace Research Laboratory research overview

Over the last ten years, the Stanford Aerospace Robotics Laboratory (ARL) has developed a hardware facility in which a number of space robotics issues have been, and continue to be, addressed. This paper reviews two of the current ARL research areas: navigation and control of free flying space robots, and modelling and control of extremely flexible space structures. The ARL has designed and built several semi-autonomous free-flying robots that perform numerous tasks in a zero-gravity, drag-free, two-dimensional environment. It is envisioned that future generations of these robots will be part of a human-robot team, in which the robots will operate under the task-level commands of astronauts. To make this possible, the ARL has developed a graphical user interface (GUI) with an intuitive object-level motion-direction capability. Using this interface, the ARL has demonstrated autonomous navigation, intercept and capture of moving and spinning objects, object transport, multiple-robot cooperative manipulation, and simple assemblies from both free-flying and fixed bases. The ARL has also built a number of experimental test beds on which the modelling and control of flexible manipulators has been studied. Early ARL experiments in this arena demonstrated for the first time the capability to control the end-point position of both single-link and multi-link flexible manipulators using end-point sensing. Building on these accomplishments, the ARL has been able to control payloads with unknown dynamics at the end of a flexible manipulator, and to achieve high-performance control of a multi-link flexible manipulator

Liquid-Solid Phase Transition of the System with Two particles in a Rectangular Box

We study the statistical properties of two hard spheres in a two dimensional rectangular box. In this system, the relation like Van der Waals equation loop is obtained between the width of the box and the pressure working on side walls. The auto-correlation function of each particle's position is calculated numerically. By this calculation near the critical width, the time at which the correlation become zero gets longer according to the increase of the height of the box. Moreover, fast and slow relaxation processes like $\alpha$ and $\beta$ relaxations observed in supper cooled liquid are observed when the height of the box is sufficiently large. These relaxation processes are discussed with the probability distribution of relative position of two particles.Comment: 6 figure

On ‘Organized Crime’ in the illicit antiquities trade: moving beyond the definitional debate

The extent to which ‘organized crime’ is involved in illicit antiquities trafficking is unknown and frequently debated. This paper explores the significance and scale of the illicit antiquities trade as a unique transnational criminal phenomenon that is often said to be perpetrated by and exhibit traits of so-called ‘organized crime.’ The definitional debate behind the term ‘organized crime’ is considered as a potential problem impeding our understanding of its existence or extent in illicit antiquities trafficking, and a basic progression-based model is then suggested as a new tool to move beyond the definitional debate for future research that may help to elucidate the actors, processes and criminal dynamics taking place within the illicit antiquities trade from source to market. The paper concludes that researchers should focus not on the question of whether organized criminals- particularly in a traditionally conceived, mafia-type stereotypical sense- are involved in the illicit antiquities trade, but instead on the structure and progression of antiquities trafficking itself that embody both organized and criminal dynamics

Coulomb corrected eikonal description of the breakup of halo nuclei

The eikonal description of breakup reactions diverges because of the Coulomb interaction between the projectile and the target. This divergence is due to the adiabatic, or sudden, approximation usually made, which is incompatible with the infinite range of the Coulomb interaction. A correction for this divergence is analysed by comparison with the Dynamical Eikonal Approximation, which is derived without the adiabatic approximation. The correction consists in replacing the first-order term of the eikonal Coulomb phase by the first-order of the perturbation theory. This allows taking into account both nuclear and Coulomb interactions on the same footing within the computationally efficient eikonal model. Excellent results are found for the dissociation of 11Be on lead at 69 MeV/nucleon. This Coulomb Corrected Eikonal approximation provides a competitive alternative to more elaborate reaction models for investigating breakup of three-body projectiles at intermediate and high energies.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Structure Effects on Coulomb Dissociation of 8^8B

Coulomb Dissociation provides an alternative method for determining the radiative capture cross sections at astrophysically relevant low relative energies. For the breakup of $^8$B on $^{58}$Ni, we calculate the total Coulomb Dissociation cross section and the angular distribution for E1, E2 and M1. Our calculations are performed first within the standard first order semiclassical theory of Coulomb Excitation, including the correct three body kinematics, and later including the projectile-target nuclear interactions.Comment: 6 pages, proceedings from International Workshop on RNB, Puri, India, January 1998 - to be published in J. Phys.

Colors of Inner Disk Classical Kuiper Belt Objects

We present new optical broadband colors, obtained with the Keck 1 and Vatican Advanced Technology telescopes, for six objects in the inner classical Kuiper Belt. Objects in the inner classical Kuiper Belt are of interest as they may represent the surviving members of the primordial Kuiper Belt that formed interior to the current position of the 3:2 resonance with Neptune, the current position of the plutinos, or, alternatively, they may be objects formed at a different heliocentric distance that were then moved to their present locations. The six new colors, combined with four previously published, show that the 10 inner belt objects with known colors form a neutral clump and a reddish clump in B-R color. Nonparametric statistical tests show no significant difference between the B-R color distribution of the inner disk objects compared to the color distributions of Centaurs, plutinos, or scattered disk objects. However, the B-R color distribution of the inner classical Kuiper belt objects does differ significantly from the distribution of colors in the cold (low inclination) main classical Kuiper belt. The cold main classical objects are predominately red, while the inner classical belt objects are a mixture of neutral and red. The color difference may reveal the existence of a gradient in the composition and /or surface processing history in the primordial Kuiper Belt, or indicate that the inner disk objects are not dynamically analogous to the cold main classical belt objects.Comment: Accepted for publication in A

Global Equation of State of two-dimensional hard sphere systems

Hard sphere systems in two dimensions are examined for arbitrary density. Simulation results are compared to the theoretical predictions for both the low and the high density limit, where the system is either disordered or ordered, respectively. The pressure in the system increases with the density, except for an intermediate range of volume fractions $0.65 \le \nu \le 0.75$, where a disorder-order phase transition occurs. The proposed {\em global equation of state} (which describes the pressure {\em for all densities}) is applied to the situation of an extremely dense hard sphere gas in a gravitational field and shows reasonable agreement with both experimental and numerical data.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure