9,076 research outputs found
FTMP (Fault Tolerant Multiprocessor) programmer's manual
The Fault Tolerant Multiprocessor (FTMP) computer system was constructed using the Rockwell/Collins CAPS-6 processor. It is installed in the Avionics Integration Research Laboratory (AIRLAB) of NASA Langley Research Center. It is hosted by AIRLAB's System 10, a VAX 11/750, for the loading of programs and experimentation. The FTMP support software includes a cross compiler for a high level language called Automated Engineering Design (AED) System, an assembler for the CAPS-6 processor assembly language, and a linker. Access to this support software is through an automated remote access facility on the VAX which relieves the user of the burden of learning how to use the IBM 4381. This manual is a compilation of information about the FTMP support environment. It explains the FTMP software and support environment along many of the finer points of running programs on FTMP. This will be helpful to the researcher trying to run an experiment on FTMP and even to the person probing FTMP with fault injections. Much of the information in this manual can be found in other sources; we are only attempting to bring together the basic points in a single source. If the reader should need points clarified, there is a list of support documentation in the back of this manual
Aging in the Linear Harmonic Oscillator
The low temperature Monte Carlo dynamics of an ensemble of linear harmonic
oscillators shows some entropic barriers related to the difficulty of finding
the directions in configurational space which decrease the energy. This
mechanism is enough to observe some typical non-equilibrium features of glassy
systems like activated-type behavior and aging in the correlation function and
in the response function. Due to the absence of interactions the model only
displays a one-step relaxation process.Comment: 6 pages revtex including 3 figures in postscrip
Muon Detection of TeV Gamma Rays from Gamma Ray Bursts
Because of the limited size of the satellite-borne instruments, it has not
been possible to observe the flux of gamma ray bursts (GRB) beyond GeV energy.
We here show that it is possible to detect the GRB radiation of TeV energy and
above, by detecting the muon secondaries produced when the gamma rays shower in
the Earth's atmosphere. Observation is made possible by the recent
commissioning of underground detectors (AMANDA, the Lake Baikal detector and
MILAGRO) which combine a low muon threshold of a few hundred GeV or less, with
a large effective area of 10^3 m^2 or more. Observations will not only provide
new insights in the origin and characteristics of GRB, they also provide
quantitative information on the diffuse infrared background.Comment: Revtex, 12 pages, 3 postscript figures, uses epsfig.st
The very faint hard state of the persistent neutron star X-ray binary SLX 1737-282 near the Galactic centre
We report on a detailed study of the spectral and temporal properties of the
neutron star low mass X-ray binary SLX 1737-282, which is located only ~1degr
away from Sgr A. The system is expected to have a short orbital period, even
within the ultra-compact regime, given its persistent nature at low X-ray
luminosities and the long duration thermonuclear burst that it has displayed.
We have analysed a Suzaku (18 ks) observation and an XMM-Newton (39 ks)
observation taken 7 years apart. We infer (0.5-10 keV) X-ray luminosities in
the range 3-6 x10^35erg s-1, in agreement with previous findings. The spectra
are well described by a relatively cool (kTbb = 0.5 keV) black body component
plus a Comptonized emission component with {\Gamma} ~1.5-1.7. These values are
consistent with the source being in a faint hard state, as confirmed by the ~
20 per cent fractional root mean square amplitude of the fast variability (0.1
- 7 Hz) inferred from the XMM-Newton data. The electron temperature of the
corona is >7 keV for the Suzaku observation, but it is measured to be as low as
~2 keV in the XMM-Newton data at higher flux. The latter is significantly lower
than expected for systems in the hard state. We searched for X-ray pulsations
and imposed an upper limit to their semi-amplitude of 2 per cent (0.001 - 7
Hz). Finally, we investigated the origin of the low frequency variability
emission present in the XMM-Newton data and ruled out an absorption dip origin.
This constraint the orbital inclination of the system to 65 degr unless the
orbital period is longer than 11 hr (i.e. the length of the XMM-Newton
observation).Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Comparison of DAC and MONACO DSMC Codes with Flat Plate Simulation
Various implementations of the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method exist in academia, government and industry. By comparing implementations, deficiencies and merits of each can be discovered. This document reports comparisons between DSMC Analysis Code (DAC) and MONACO. DAC is NASA's standard DSMC production code and MONACO is a research DSMC code developed in academia. These codes have various differences; in particular, they employ distinct computational grid definitions. In this study, DAC and MONACO are compared by having each simulate a blunted flat plate wind tunnel test, using an identical volume mesh. Simulation expense and DSMC metrics are compared. In addition, flow results are compared with available laboratory data. Overall, this study revealed that both codes, excluding grid adaptation, performed similarly. For parallel processing, DAC was generally more efficient. As expected, code accuracy was mainly dependent on physical models employed
TeV Burst of Gamma-Ray Bursts and Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays
Some recent experiments detecting very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays above
10-20 TeV independently reported VHE bursts for some of bright gamma-ray bursts
(GRBs). If these signals are truly from GRBs, these GRBs must emit a much
larger amount of energy as VHE gamma-rays than in the ordinary photon energy
range of GRBs (keV-MeV). We show that such extreme phenomena can be reasonably
explained by synchrotron radiation of protons accelerated to \sim 10^{20-21}
eV, which has been predicted by Totani (1998a). Protons seem to carry about
(m_p/m_e) times larger energy than electrons, and hence the total energy
liberated by one GRB becomes as large as \sim 10^{56} (\Delta \Omega / 4 \pi)
ergs. Therefore a strong beaming of GRB emission is highly likely. Extension of
the VHE spectrum beyond 20 TeV gives a nearly model-independent lower limit of
the Lorentz factor of GRBs, as \gamma \gtilde 500. Furthermore, our model
gives the correct energy range and time variability of ordinary keV-MeV
gamma-rays of GRBs by synchrotron radiation of electrons. Therefore the VHE
bursts of GRBs strongly support the hypothesis that ultra high energy cosmic
rays observed on the Earth are produced by GRBs.Comment: Final version to appear in ApJ Lett. Emphasizing that the extremely
large energy required in this model is not theoretically impossible if GRB
emission is strongly beamed. References update
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