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At least 685 records · Page 38

Occurrence characteristics of VLF bursts in the nightside ionosphere of Venus

Many of the impulsive VLF signals observed by the Pioneer Venus orbiter electric field detector (OEFD) in the nightside ionosphere have been interpreted as arising from lightning in the Venus atmosphere. In order to determine the characteristics of the source, and to compare with terrestrial lightning, the normalized occurrence rate for individual bursts at Venus are determined, as opposed to previous studies of activity in 30-s intervals. Burst identification criteria are determined which take into account the decay constant of the instrument to calculate the burst rate. Under the assumption that all OEFD observations in the nightside ionosphere are due to impulsive signals, it is found that the 100-Hz channel has the highest burst rate, about 0.20/s in the altitude range 150-180 km and in the postmidnight local time sector. The burst occurrence rates for all four frequency channels decrease with increasing altitude. Burst rates at frequencies above 100 Hz are greater in the premidnight hours while 100-Hz signals peak after midnight; however, these burst rates vary from orbit to orbit. The 100-Hz low-frequency burst rate has a stronger dependence on the magnetic field strength than the higher-frequency rates. Most 100-Hz bursts are closely spaced and occur independently of signals at higher frequencies. These dependences suggest that the low- and high-frequency signals have different propagation mechanisms. The properties of the bursts are generally consistent with a lightning source, and the planet-wide burst rate at Venus may be comparable to or larger than the terrestrial lightning rate.

Ho, C.-M.↗

Shock metamorphism of ordinary chondrites

This study proposes a revised petrographic classification of progressive stages of shock metamorphism of 26 ordinary chondrites. Six stages of shock (S1 to S6) are defined on the basis of shock effects in olivine and plagioclase as recognized by thin section microscopy, and the characteristic shock effects of each shock stage are described. It is concluded that shock effects and the sequence of progressively increasing degrees of shock metamorphosis are very similar in H, L, and LL groups. Differences in the frequency distribution of shock stages are relatively minor. It is suggested that the collisional histories of the H, L, and LL parent bodies were similar. Petrologic type-3 chondrites are deficient in stages S4 and S6 and, with increasing petrologic type, the frequency of stages S4 to S6 increases. It is suggested that the more porous and volatile-rich Type-3 chondrites are subject to melting at a lower shock pressure than the nonporous chondrites of higher petrologic type. Stage S3 is the most abundant in nearly all petrologic types.

Stoeffler, Dieter↗

Raman scattering of InGaAs/InP grown by uniform radial flow epitaxy

Uniform radial flow epitaxy, a novel growth technique, has been used to grown InGaAs films on InP. Epitaxial layers above and below the critical thickness for the onset of slip were grown. Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the quality of epitaxial layers, determine alloy composition, and measure the strain. Raman spectra from both pseudomorphic (strained) and relaxed (unstrained) InGaAs films were obtained at 300 and 80 K. The difference in the frequencies of their GaAs-like longitudinal optical phonons was used to calculate stress for the strained InGaAs/InP, leading to a direct formula for the evaluation of the layer stress.

Feng, Z. C.↗

The signature of the cosmological redshift in population studies of gamma-ray burst spectra

The slope of a gamma-ray burst spectrum determines how the burst flux decreases as the cosmological redshift z increases. This provides a test for the presence of a cosmological redshift in a sample of gamma-ray bursts. Many bursts have spectra characterized by a frequency-dependent power-law index, so a burst subset can be created by requiring that each subset member have a power-law index of the given value at a low frequency and an index of a different given value at a high frequency. If all bursts in this subset are at z much less than 0.1, then the flux at low frequency will change proportionally with the flux at high frequency. If, however, z greater than 0.1 for most bursts, then the linear dependence of the high-frequency flux on the low-frequency flux disappears at the flux characterizing the spatial cutoff in the log N-log C(max)/C(min) diagram. This signature of the cosmological redshift generally persists when gamma-ray bursts are given a broad distribution of intrinsic fluxes and spectral shapes. The characteristics that a burst distribution must have to mask the cosmological redshift are discussed. The limitations of this test are observational, arising primarily from errors in measuring the photon flux and in determining the spectral index of the burst spectrum.

Brainerd, J. J.↗

A numerical study of wave propagation in a confined mixing layer by eigenfunction expansions

It is well known that the growth rate of instability waves of a two-dimensional free shear layer is reduced greatly at supersonic convective Mach numbers. In previous works, it has been shown that new wave modes exist when the shear layers are bounded by a channel due to the coupling effect between the acoustic wave modes and the motion of the mixing layer. The present work studies the simultaneous propagation of multiple stability waves using numerical simulation. It is shown here that the coexistence of two wave modes in the flow field can lead to an oscillatory growth of disturbance energy with each individual wave mode propagating linearly. This is particularly important when the growth rates of the unstable waves are small. It is also shown here that the propagation of two neutrally stable wave modes can lead to a stationary periodic structure of rms fluctuations. In the numerical simulations presented here the forced wave modes are propagating at same frequency, but with different phase velocities. In order to track the growth of each wave mode as it propagates downstream, a numerical method that can effectively detect and separate the contribution of the individual wave is given. It is demonstrated that by a least square fitting of the disturbance field with eigenfunctions the amplitude of each wave mode can be found. Satisfactory results as compared to linear theory are obtained.

Hu, Fang Q.↗

Active control of asymmetric conical flow using spinning and rotatory oscillations

The effectiveness of active control on asymmetric flows around circular cones is investigated computationally using cone spinning and rotatory oscillation around its axis. The investigation uses the time-accurate solution of the unsteady, compressible, full Navier-Stokes equations with the implicit, upwind, flux-difference splitting, finite-volume scheme. The present solutions are obtained under the locally-conical-flow assumption in order to understand the flow physics using very fine grids for reasonable flow resolution at low computational cost. For all the computational solutions, a grid of 241 x 81 x 2 points in the wrap-around, normal and axial directions, respectively, is used. The grid is spinning or oscillating rigidly with the cone according to its motion and the kinematical and dynamical boundary conditions are modified accordingly. The computational applications include the effects of uniform spinning rates and periodic rotatory oscillations at different amplitudes and frequencies on the flow asymmetry.

Kandil, Osama A.↗

Supersymmetric oscillator in optics

We show that the supersymmetric structure (in the sense of supersymmetric quantum mechanics) appears in Helmholtz optics describing light propagation in waveguides. For the case of elliptical waveguides, with the accuracy of paraxial approximation it admits a simple physical interpretation. The supersymmetry connects light beams of different colors. The difference in light frequencies for the supersymmetric beams is determined by the transverse gradient of the refractive index. These beams have the save wavelength in the propagation direction and can form a stable interference pattern.

Chumakov, Sergey M.↗

Femtolensing: Beyond the semiclassical approximation

Femtolensoing is a gravitational lensing effect in which the magnification is a function not only of the position and sizes of the source and lens, but also of the wavelength of light. Femtolensing is the only known effect of 10(exp -13) - 10(exp -16) solar mass) dark-matter objects and may possibly be detectable in cosmological gamma-ray burst spectra. We present a new and efficient algorithm for femtolensing calculation in general potentials. The physical optics results presented here differ at low frequencies from the semiclassical approximation, in which the flux is attributed to a finite number of mutually coherent images. At higher frequencies, our results agree well with the semicalssical predictions. Applying our method to a point-mass lens with external shear, we find complex events that have structure at both large and small spectral resolution. In this way, we show that femtolensing may be observable for lenses up to 10(exp -11) solar mass, much larger than previously believed. Additionally, we discuss the possibility of a search femtolensing of white dwarfs in the Large Magellanic Cloud at optical wavelengths.

Ulmer, Andrew↗

Neptune radio emission in dipole and multipole magnetic fields

We study Neptune's smooth radio emission in two ways: we simulate the observations and we then consider the radio effects of Neptune's magnetic multipoles. A procedure to deduce the characteristics of radio sources observed by the Planetary Radio Astronomy experiment minimizes limiting assumptions and maximizes use of the data, including quantitative measurement of circular polarization. Study of specific sources simulates time variation of intensity and apparent polarization of their integrated emission over an extended time period. The method is applied to Neptune smooth recurrent emission (SRE). Time series are modeled with both broad and beamed emission patterns, and at two frequencies which exhibit different time variation of polarization. These dipole-based results are overturned by consideration of more complex models of Neptune's magnetic field. Any smooth emission from the anticipated auroral radio source is weak and briefly observed. Dominant SRE originates complex fields at midlatitude. Possible SRE source locations overlap that of 'high-latitude' emission (HLE) between +(out) and -(in) quadrupoles. This is the first identification of multipolar magnetic structure with a major source of planetary radio emission.

Sawyer, C. B.↗

Coupled-Cluster Theory Employing Approximate Integrals: An Approach to Avoid the Input/Output and Storage Bottlenecks

By representing orbital products in an expansion basis, certain classes of two-electron integrals are approximated for use in CCSD(T) calculations (singles and doubles coupled-cluster plus a perturbational estimate of the effects of connected triple excitations). This leads to a very large reduction in disk storage and input/output requirements, with usually only a modest increase in computational effort. The new procedure will allow very large CCSD(T) calculations to be undertaken, limited only by available processor time. Using the molecular basis as the expansion basis, explicit numerical comparisons of equilibrium geometries, harmonic frequencies, and energy differences indicate that the error due to the use of approximate integrals is less than the error associated with truncation of the molecular basis set.

Rendell, Alistair P.↗

Fatigability and Blood Flow in the Rat Gastrocnemius-Plantaris-Soleus after Hindlimb Suspension

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that hindlimb suspension increases the fatigability of the soleus during intense contractile activity and determine whether the increased fatigue is associated with a reduced muscle blood flow. Cage-control (C) and 15-day hindlimb-suspended (HS) rats were anesthetized, and either the gastrocnemius-plantaris-soleus (G-P-S) muscle group or the soleus was stimulated (100 Hz, 100-ms trains at 120/min) for 10 min in situ. In the G-P-S preparation, blood flow was measured with radiolabeled microspheres before and at 2 and 10 min of contractile activity. The G-P-S fatigued markedly at this stimulation frequency, and the differences between C and HS animals were not significant until the 9th min of contractile activity. In contrast, the stimulation resulted in faster rates and significantly larger amounts of fatigue in the soleus from HS than from C animals. The atrophied soleus showed significant differences by I min of stimulation (C = 70 +/- 1% vs. HS = 57 +/- 2% of peak train force) and remained different at 10 min (C = 64 +/- 4% vs. HS = 45 +/- 2% peak train force). Relative blood flow to the soleus was similar between groups before and during contractile activity (rest: C = 20 +/- 3 vs. HS= 12 +/- 3; 2 min: C= 128 +/- 6 vs. HS = 118 +/- 4; 10 min: C = 123 +/- 11 vs. HS = 105 +/- 11 ml min(exp -1) 100 g(exp -1)). In conclusion, these results established that 15 days of HS increased the fatigability of the soleus, but the effect was not caused by a reduced muscle blood flow.

McDonald, K. S.↗

Computational Investigation of Experimental Interaction Impedance Obtained by Perturbation for Helical Traveling-Wave Tube Structures

Conventional methods used to measure the cold-test interaction impedance of helical slow-wave structures involve perturbing a helical circuit with a cylindrical dielectric rod placed on the central axis of the circuit. It has been shown that the difference in resonant frequency or axial phase shift between the perturbed and unperturbed circuits can be related to the interaction impedance. However, because of the complex configuration of the helical circuit, deriving this relationship involves-several approximations. With the advent of accurate three- dimensional helical circuit models, these standard approximations can be fully investigated. This paper addresses the most prominent approximations made in the analysis for measured interaction impedance by Lagerstrom and investigates their accuracy using the three-dimensional simulation code MAFIA. It is shown that a more accurate value of interaction impedance can be obtained by using three-dimensional computational methods rather than performing costly and time consuming experimental cold-test measurements.

Kory, Carol L.↗

Computational Investigation of Experimental Interaction Impedance Obtained by Perturbation for Helical Traveling Wave Tube Structures

Conventional methods used to measure the cold- test interaction impedance of helical slow-wave structures involve perturbing a helical circuit with a cylindrical dielectric rod placed on the central axis of the circuit It has been shown that the difference in resonant frequency or axial phase shift between the perturbed and unperturbed circuits can be related to the interaction impedance. However, because of the complex configuration of the helical circuit, deriving this relationship involves several approximations. With the advent of accurate three-dimensional (3-D) helical circuit models, these standard approximations can be fully Investigated. This paper addresses the most prominent approximations made in the analysis for measured interaction impedance by Lagerstrom and investigates their accuracy using the 3-D simulation code MAFIA. It is shown that a more accurate value of interaction impedance can be obtained by using 3-D computational methods rather than performing costly and time consuming experimental cold-test measurements.

Kory, Carol L.↗

Long-Term Observations of Her X-1 with BATSE

Pulsed emission from Her X-1 has been observed by BATSE during each Main High state throughout the CGRO (Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory) mission . This long observation set by a single instrument provides new information on long-term behavior of the Her X-1 system. The luminosity varies by more than a factor of 3 between different 35d cycles. Frequency and flux histories do not show a simple relationship between the source intensity and spin behavior, but do show that only spindown occurs when the source is in its lowest intensity state. Orbital analyses will be presented, including tests for consistency of the observed orbital epoch with the long-term ephemeris reported by (Deeter 1991). The intensity profile and onset times of cycles observed by both BATSE and the RXTE ASM (All Sky Monitor) will be compared. Behavior of the cycle start times versus source Main High peak intensity will be presented.

Wilson, R. B.↗

Computational Investigation of Experimental Interaction Impedance Obtained by Perturbation for Helical Traveling-Wave Tube Structures

Conventional methods used to measure the cold-test interaction impedance of helical slow-wave structures involve perturbing a helical circuit with a cylindrical dielectric rod placed on the central axis of the circuit. It has been shown that the difference in resonant frequency or axial phase shift between the perturbed and unperturbed circuits can be related to the interaction impedance. However, because of the complex configuration of the helical circuit, deriving this relationship involves several approximations. With the advent of accurate three-dimensional (3-D) helical circuit models, these standard approximations can be fully investigated. This paper addresses the most prominent approximations made in the analysis for measured interaction impedance by Lagerstrom and investigates their accuracy using the 3-D simulation code MAFIA. It is shown that a more accurate value of interaction impedance can be obtained by using 3-D computational methods rather than performing costly and time consuming experimental cold-test measurements.

Kory, Carol L.↗

Adding In-Plane Flexibility to the Equations of Motion of a Single Rotor Helicopter

This report describes a way to add the effects of main rotor blade flexibility in the in- plane or lead-lag direction to a large set of non-linear equations of motion for a single rotor helicopter with rigid blades(l). Differences between the frequency of the regressing lag mode predicted by the equations of (1) and that measured in flight (2) for a UH-60 helicopter indicate that some element is missing from the analytical model of (1) which assumes rigid blades. A previous study (3) noted a similar discrepancy for the CH-53 helicopter. Using a relatively simple analytical model in (3), compared to (1), it was shown that a mechanical lag damper increases significantly the coupling between the rigid lag mode and the first flexible mode. This increased coupling due to a powerful lag damper produces an increase in the lowest lag frequency when viewed in a frame rotating with the blade. Flight test measurements normally indicate the frequency of this mode in a non-rotating or fixed frame. This report presents the additions necessary to the full equations of motion, to include main rotor blade lag flexibility. Since these additions are made to a very complex nonlinear dynamic model, in order to provide physical insight, a discussion of the results obtained from a simplified set of equations of motion is included. The reduced model illustrates the physics involved in the coupling and should indicate trends in the full model.

Curtiss, H. C., Jr.↗

GRACE Mission Design: Impact of Uncertainties in Disturbance Environment and Satellite Force Models

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) primary mission will be performed by making measurements of the inter-satellite range change between two co-planar, low altitude, near-polar orbiting satellites. Understanding the uncertainties in the disturbance environment, particularly the aerodynamic drag and torques, is critical in several mission areas. These include an accurate estimate of the spacecraft orbital lifetime, evaluation of spacecraft attitude control requirements, and estimation of the orbital maintenance maneuver frequency necessitated by differences in the drag forces acting on both satellites. The FREEMOL simulation software has been developed and utilized to analyze and suggest design modifications to the GRACE spacecraft. Aerodynamic accommodation bounding analyses were performed and worst-case envelopes were obtained for the aerodynamic torques and the differential ballistic coefficients between the leading and trailing GRACE spacecraft. These analyses demonstrate how spacecraft aerodynamic design and analysis can benefit from a better understanding of spacecraft surface accommodation properties, and the implications for mission design constraints such as formation spacing control.

Mazanek, Daniel D.↗

Aerothermal Analysis and Design of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Spacecraft

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) primary mission will be performed by making measurements of the inter-satellite range change between two co-planar, low altitude near-polar orbiting satellites. Understanding the uncertainties in the disturbance environment, particularly the aerodynamic drag and torques, is critical in several mission areas. These include an accurate estimate of the spacecraft orbital lifetime, evaluation of spacecraft attitude control requirements, and estimation of the orbital maintenance maneuver frequency necessitated by differences in the drag forces acting on both satellites. The FREEMOL simulation software has been developed and utilized to analyze and suggest design modifications to the GRACE spacecraft. Aerodynamic accommodation bounding analyses were performed and worst-case envelopes were obtained for the aerodynamic torques and the differential ballistic coefficients between the leading and trailing GRACE spacecraft. These analyses demonstrate how spacecraft aerodynamic design and analysis can benefit from a better understanding of spacecraft surface accommodation properties, and the implications for mission design constraints such as formation spacing control.

Mazanek, Daniel D.↗