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Bernstein, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Bernstein, J..

A Bayesian analysis of nuclear deformation properties with Skyrme energy functionals

In spite of numerous scientific and practical applications, there is still no comprehensive theoretical description of the nuclear fission process based solely on protons, neutrons and their interactions. Furthermore, the most advanced simulations of fission are currently carried out within nuclear density functional theory (DFT). In spite of being fully quantum-mechanical and rooted in the theory of nuclear forces, DFT still depends on a dozen or so parameters characterizing the energy functional. Calibrating these parameters on experimental data results in uncertainties that must be quantified for applications. This task is very challenging because of the high computational cost of DFT calculations for fission. In this paper, we use Gaussian processes to build emulators of DFT models in order to quantify and propagate statistical uncertainties of theoretical predictions for a range of nuclear deformations relevant to describing the fission process.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Combining Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data with near-infrared data from the ESO VISTA Hemisphere Survey

We present the combination of optical data from the Science Verification phase of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) with near-infrared (NIR) data from the European Southern Observatory VISTA Hemisphere Survey (VHS). The deep optical detections from DES are used to extract fluxes and associated errors from the shallower VHS data. Joint seven-band ( grizYJK ) photometric catalogues are produced in a single 3 sq-deg dedicated camera field centred at 02h26m-04d36m where the availability of ancillary multiwavelength photometry and spectroscopy allows us to test the data quality. Dual photometry increases the number of DES galaxies with measured VHS fluxes by a factor of ~4.5 relative to a simple catalogue level matching and results in a ~1.5 mag increase in the 80 per cent completeness limit of the NIR data. Almost 70 per cent of DES sources have useful NIR flux measurements in this initial catalogue. Photometric redshifts are estimated for a subset of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts and initial results, although currently limited by small number statistics, indicate that the VHS data can help reduce the photometric redshift scatter at both z < 0.5 and z > 1. We present example DES+VHS colour selection criteria for high-redshift luminous red galaxies (LRGs) at z ~ 0.7 as well as luminous quasars. Using spectroscopic observations in this field we show that the additional VHS fluxes enable a cleaner selection of both populations with <10 per cent contamination from galactic stars in the case of spectroscopically confirmed quasars and <0.5 per cent contamination from galactic stars in the case of spectroscopically confirmed LRGs. The combined DES+VHS data set, which will eventually cover almost 5000 sq-deg, will therefore enable a range of new science and be ideally suited for target selection for future wide-field spectroscopic surveys.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Deployable antenna phase A study

Applications for large deployable antennas were re-examined, flight demonstration objectives were defined, the flight article (antenna) was preliminarily designed, and the flight program and ground development program, including the support equipment, were defined for a proposed space transportation system flight experiment to demonstrate a large (50 to 200 meter) deployable antenna system. Tasks described include: (1) performance requirements analysis; (2) system design and definition; (3) orbital operations analysis; and (4) programmatic analysis.

Schultz, J.↗

A space-based public service platform for terrestrial rescue operations

The space-based Public Service Platform (PSP) is a multibeam, high-gain communications relay satellite that can provide a variety of functions for a large number of people on earth equipped with extremely small, very low cost transceivers. This paper describes the PSP concept, the rationale used to derive the concept, the criteria for selecting specific communication functions to be performed, and the advantages of performing such functions via satellite. The discussion focuses on the benefits of using a PSP for natural disaster warning; control of attendant rescue/assistance operations; and rescue of people in downed aircraft, aboard sinking ships, lost or injured on land.

Fleisig, R.↗

The Pioneer 10/11 and Helios A/B cosmic ray instruments

This paper describes the design and performance of a set of cosmic-ray particle experiments for the Pioneer 10/11 and Helios A/B space missions. These experiments had to be very light-weight, low-power and electronically sophisticated in order to meet the spacecraft and scientific requirements. Both sets of missions use several solid-state detector telescopes to measure protons from 100 KeV to 800 MeV and heavier ions up to Neon at 200 MeV per nucleon. Good performance is required for 7-8 years, and the system must tolerate large vibration loads and ionizing radiation doses up to 500,000 rads.

Stilwell, D. E.↗