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At least 739 records · Page 41

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NASA NTRS1973

Ionospheric scintillation studies

The diffracted field of a monochromatic plane wave was characterized by two complex correlation functions. For a Gaussian complex field, these quantities suffice to completely define the statistics of the field. Thus, one can in principle calculate the statistics of any measurable quantity in terms of the model parameters. The best data fits were achieved for intensity statistics derived under the Gaussian statistics hypothesis. The signal structure that achieved the best fit was nearly invariant with scintillation level and irregularity source (ionosphere or solar wind). It was characterized by the fact that more than 80% of the scattered signal power is in phase quadrature with the undeviated or coherent signal component. Thus, the Gaussian-statistics hypothesis is both convenient and accurate for channel modeling work.

Rino, C. L.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Systematic study of plasma flow during plasma sheet thinnings

On the basis of a study of Imp 6 measurements of plasma flow, it is concluded that there is no clear indication of a predominance of tailward plasma flow beyond about X = -15 R sub E in the midnight sector of the plasma sheet during the expansive phase of a substorm. In fact, it is shown statistically that sunward plasma flow is more frequently observed in the midnight sector within about 30 R sub E from the earth than in any other direction during plasma sheet thinning at the substorm expansion. This result supports the conclusion that there is no definite evidence for the formation of a reconnection neutral line in the near-earth plasma sheet during most substorms.

Lui, A. T. Y.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Secondary antiprotons - A valuable cosmic-ray probe

Even in the absence of antiprotons in the primary cosmic rays, a flux of secondary antiprotons will be produced in collisions between cosmic rays and interstellar gas. The predicted antiproton fraction increases with increasing cosmic-ray confinement, so that observations of antiprotons will provide a probe of models of cosmic-ray confinement. It is shown that the expected antiproton fraction (for energies of at least about 10 GeV) ranges between 0.00023 for the 'leaky box' model and 0.0018 for the 'closed box' model. In addition, attention is called to the fact that a detection of cosmic-ray antiprotons at or above a level of 0.0002 will provide a valuable lower limit to the antiproton lifetime.

Steigman, G.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Evolution of open magnetic structures on the sun - The Skylab period

High-resolution harmonic analysis of the measured photospheric magnetic field of the sun is used to construct models of open magnetic structures over a period of 11 solar rotations. The models successfully reproduce the surface location and topology of all coronal holes during the Skylab period. In addition, there is persistent evidence in the models that open field lines are associated with active regions in a systematic way. These associations are listed for the period studied; they suggest that open field lines are a basic feature of solar magnetism. Specific examples of the evolution of coronal holes and of calculated open structures are presented. Quantitative study of the measured field strength within and neighboring a hole confirms the fact that coronal hole regions are indistinguishable by local magnetic properties. However, the calculated field strengths at the footpoints of open field lines within coronal holes show distinct evolutionary patterns and may indicate that, at least in young coronal holes, a significant amount of magnetic flux is closed. Problems of studying magnetic field divergence by using these models are discussed.

Levine, R. H.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Zn diffusion in Al/0.7/Ga/0.3/As compared with that in GaAs

Zinc was diffused into 4 times 10 to the 17th per cu cm n-type Al(0.7)Ga(0.3)As grown by liquid-phase epitaxy and also into n-type 2 times 10 to the 17th per cu cm doped GaAs slices at 600, 650, and 750 C. The Zn diffusion coefficient in the Al(0.7)Ga(0.3)As was about one order of magnitude larger than in GaAs. The significance of this fact is that diffusion of Zn through a 0.5 micron Al(0.7)Ga(0.3)As layer appears to be possible with adequate control of the junction depth in the underlying GaAs.

Flat, A.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Spectrophotometry of OH 26.5+0.6 from 2 to 40 microns

Airborne and ground-based observations show that OH 26.5+0.6 has strong 10 micrometers and weak 18 micrometers silicate absorptions superposed on an overall energy distribution much like a blackbody. The flux level, color temperature, and depth of the 10 micrometers absorption have varied during two years of observations. A model of the source as a late-type variable star that has ejected an optically thick dust shell is suggested; the mass-loss rate implied is greater than about 0.00001 solar masses per year. The fact that significant flux from the source is observed between 4 and 7 micrometers is evidence that oxygen-rich dust has significant opacity in that wavelength range.

Forrest, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Orbital changes of the gaseous ring around Be stars. II - Apsidal motion and slow drift of the orbital elements

It is shown that the observed data about the apsidal motion of gaseous rings around some Be stars, like Beta(1) Mon and Pi Aqr, cannot be explained solely by the influence of the equatorial bulge. This fact has prompted the development of a theory of apsidal motion and slow drift of orbital elements that is based on the mixing of slowly escaping gases from the central star with gases in the emission ring around it. Thus, the basic physical idea in this paper follows closely what has been advanced in the first paper of this series but the mathematical treatment has been broadened in order to deal with the actual orbits, instead of osculating orbits, of particles in the ring. In accordance with this theory, it is believed that in cases where no mixing of gases takes place, the apsidal motion is controlled solely by the equatorial bulge. But in cases where mixing takes place, the apsidal motion depends upon the manner of gas mixing as well.

Huang, S.-S.↗

NASA NTRS1978

On decentralized estimation

A multilevel scheme is proposed to construct decentralized estimators for large linear systems. The scheme is numerically attractive since only observability tests of low-order subsystems are required. Equally important is the fact that the constructed estimators are reliable under structural perturbations and can tolerate a wide range of nonlinearities in coupling among the subsystems.

Siljak, D. D.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Multiple-access channels without synchronization

This paper discusses models for multiple-access communications which take into account the fact that the channel users may not be able to synchronize their transmissions. It is shown that for a broad class of such channels, the capacity region is the same as it would be with user synchronization. Some open problems are discussed.

Mceliece, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Turbulent boundary layers with large streamline curvature effects

It has been shown that turbulent flows are greatly affected by streamline curvature. In spite of this and the fact that curved shear flows are frequently encountered in engineering applications, the predictions of such flows are relatively less developed than the predictions of two-dimensional plane flows. Recently, various attempts were made by different investigators; however, their methods are only successful when the product of the boundary layer thickness to the local surface curvature is approximately 0.05. The present paper investigates the more general case where this product is in the range from 0.1 to 0.5. Results show that the calculated boundary-layer characteristics for arbitrary free stream conditions are in good agreement with measurements.

So, R. M. C.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Prospects for detection of gravitational radiation by simultaneous Doppler tracking of several spacecraft

This paper reports a calculation of the effect of gravitational radiation on the observed Doppler shift of a sinusoidal electromagnetic signal transmitted to, and coherently transponded from, distant spacecraft. It is found that the effect of plane gravitational waves on such observations is not intuitively immediate, and in fact depends sensitively on the spacecraft direction, which suggests the possibility of detecting such plane waves by simultaneous Doppler tracking of several spacecraft. The need for broad band gravitational wave observations, the required stabilities of time keeping standards, and astrophysical sources expected in the Very Low Frequency band are briefly discussed.

Estabrook, F. B.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Comparison of synchronization of primate circadian rhythms by light and food

It is a well-documented fact that cycles of light and dark (LD) are the major entraining agent or 'zeitgeber' for circadian rhythms and that cycles of eating and fasting (EF) are capable of synchronizing a few circadian rhythms in the squirrel monkey. In this paper, by contrasting how these rhythms are timed by LD and EF cycles, the differential coupling to the oscillating system within adult male squirrel monkeys is examined. The variables measured are the rhythms of drinking, colonic temperature, and urinary potassium and water excretion. Attention is given to a comparison of the reproducibility of the averaged waveforms of the rhythms, the stability of the timing of a phase reference point, and the rate of resynchronization of these rhythms following an abrupt 8-hr phase delay in the zeitgeber. It is shown that the colonic temperature rhythm is more tightly controlled by LD than EF cycles, and that the drinking and urinary rhythms are more tightly coupled to EF than LD cycles.

Sulzman, F. M.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Direct analytical solutions to non-uniform beam problems

The direct analytical solution to the vibration of non-uniform beams with and without discontinuities and with various boundary conditions is presented. Results are compared to results from the exact solution for certain cases where the exact solution has been obtained. It is shown that the direct solution converges to the exact solution, in fact, with 'indefinite accuracy' just as Hamilton stated that it would.

Bailey, C. D.↗

NASA NTRS1978

A new technique for reducing test section noise in supersonic wind tunnels

A new technique is presented for obtaining a low-noise test environment in a high-speed wind tunnel. This technique utilizes the fact that the primary noise source for high supersonic/hypersonic wind tunnels is radiated noise from the turbulent, tunnel-wall boundary layer. Because of the high directionality of sound in supersonic flows this test section noise originates far upstream on the walls of the nozzle at the 'acoustic origin'. It is shown that tailoring the nozzle contour to reduce the acoustic origin Mach number significantly reduces the noise level in the upstream half of the nozzle test rhombus. Experimental noise measurements are presented from a conventional, Mach 5 nozzle and are compared with measurements from a rapid-expansion, Mach 5 nozzle.

Anders, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Additional evidence consistent with solar cycle variations in the solar wind

Analyses of solar-wind observations from mid-1964 through 1973 confirm the earlier results reported by Intriligator (1974) that there were statistically significant variations in the solar wind in 1968 and 1969, years of solar maximum. These variations were in phase with the solar cycle and consistent with a solar-cycle variation in the solar wind. High-speed stream parameters show that the number of high-speed streams in the solar wind in 1968 and 1969 and the total duration (in days) of high-speed streams in 1968 were considerably more than the predicted yearly average, and in 1965 and 1972 considerably less. Histograms of solar-wind speed from 1964 through 1973 indicate that in 1968 there was the highest percentage of elevated solar-wind speeds, and in 1965 and 1972 the lowest. Studies by others confirm these results, although their authors did not indicate this fact. The duration of the streams and the histograms for 1973 may imply a shifting in the primary stream source.

Intriligator, D. S.↗

NASA NTRS1978

On the inherent intractability of certain coding problems

The fact that the general decoding problem for linear codes and the general problem of finding the weights of a linear code are both NP-complete is shown. This strongly suggests, but does not rigorously imply, that no algorithm for either of these problems which runs in polynomial time exists.

Berlekamp, E. R.↗

NASA NTRS1978

A simple theory of back surface field /BSF/ solar cells

A theory of an n-p-p/+/ junction is developed, entirely based on Shockley's depletion layer approximation. Under the further assumption of uniform doping the electrical characteristics of solar cells as a function of all relevant parameters (cell thickness, diffusion lengths, etc.) can quickly be ascertained with a minimum of computer time. Two effects contribute to the superior performance of a BSF cell (n-p-p/+/ junction) as compared to an ordinary solar cell (n-p junction). The sharing of the applied voltage among the two junctions (the n-p and the p-p/+/ junction) decreases the dark current and the reflection of minority carriers by the builtin electron field of the p-p/+/ junction increases the short-circuit current. The theory predicts an increase in the open-circuit voltage (Voc) with a decrease in cell thickness. Although the short-circuit current decreases at the same time, the efficiency of the cell is virtually unaltered in going from a thickness of 200 microns to a thickness of 50 microns. The importance of this fact for space missions where large power-to-weight ratios are required is obvious.

Von Roos, O.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Ultraviolet photometry from the orbiting astronomical observatory. XXX - The Orion reflection nebulosity

Surface-brightness measurements are presented that cover the region of Orion in nine intermediate-width bandpasses ranging from 4250 to 1550 A. The existence of an extended ultraviolet reflection nebulosity in this area is confirmed, and the characteristics of its spectrum and spatial distribution are derived. The observations are consistent with a model in which the dense molecular cloud complex in Orion is illuminated by the foreground Orion aggregate of early-type stars. The interpretation is complicated by the fact that foreground dust may contribute to the observed scattered light. The scattering particles in the cloud appear to exhibit a wavelength-dependent albedo similar to that found for interstellar grains in general, with a strong indication that the phase function changes to a less forward-scattering form in the ultraviolet.

Witt, A. N.↗