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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 829 records · Page 46
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

An ASCA Study of the Composite Supernova Remnant G18.95-1.1

This is the final report on the work done on Supernova Remnant (SNR) G18-95-1.1. The data were taken on April, 2. 1998 and delivered a couple of months later to the Principal Investigator (PI: Dr. Ilana Harrus). We received a CD-ROM containing the results of the standard processing pipeline and all the files needed for the analysis. We have analyzed the data and presented a poster on this object at the 194th American Astronomical Society Meeting in Chicago (June 1999). A copy of the poster is appended to this report. The poster presentation triggered several discussions and we are summarizing the analysis results and those discussions in a paper to be submitted soon to the Astrophysical Journal. We have appended the draft of the paper to this report. It must be noted that the paper is still in its early stages. In particular more work is needed in the physical implications of the results of the spectral analysis and in the comparison with theoretical models to understand the curious morphology of the remnant. The project should be completed within the next two months. Attachment: "ASCA study of the centrally-peaked thermal supernova remnant: G18.95-1.1".

Harrus, Ilana↗
NASA NTRS2001

Studies of Tenuous Planetary Atmospheres

In order to understand the physical and chemical processes which produce the tenuous planetary and planetary satellite (upper) atmospheres through interactions with their particle, field, and radiation environs, it is necessary to analyze remotely observed and spacecraft data with physically meaningful models. With this in mind, we have undertaken a coupled program of theoretical modeling and complementary data analysis regarding the global distributions of neutral and ionized gases in, and escape from, tenuous planetary atmospheres of Io and Europa. The theoretical models developed will have further applications to other tenuous atmospheres such as that of Pluto and Titan or the upper atmospheres of the terrestrial planets.

Combi, Michael R.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Particle Engulfment and Pushing By Solidifying Interfaces

The study of particle behavior at solid/liquid interfaces (SLI s) is at the center of the Particle Engulfment and Pushing (PEP) research program. Interactions of particles with SLI s have been of interest since the 1960 s, starting with geological observations, i.e., frost heaving. Ever since, this field of research has become significant to such diverse areas as metal matrix composite materials, fabrication of superconductors, and inclusion control in steels. The PEP research effort is geared towards understanding the fundamental physics of the interaction between particles and a planar SLI. Experimental work including 1-g and mu-g experiments accompany the development of analytical and numerical models. The experimental work comprised of substantial groundwork with aluminum (Al) and zinc (Zn) matrices containing spherical zirconia particles, mu-g experiments with metallic Al matrices and the use of transparent organic metal-analogue materials. The modeling efforts have grown from the initial steady-state analytical model to dynamic models, accounting for the initial acceleration of a particle at rest by an advancing SLI. To gain a more comprehensive understanding, numerical models were developed to account for the influence of the thermal and solutal field. Current efforts are geared towards coupling the diffusive 2-D front tracking model with a fluid flow model to account for differences in the physics of interaction between 1-g and -g environments. A significant amount of this theoretical investigation has been and is being performed by co-investigators at NASA MSFC.

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NASA NTRS1996

Microscopic optical model calculations of 4He, 12C-nucleus absorption cross sections

Calculations of absorption cross sections using a microscopic first-order optical potential for heavy-ion scattering are compared with experiments. In-medium nucleon-nucleon (NN) cross sections were used to calculate the two-body scattering amplitude. A medium-modified first-order optical potential was obtained for heavy-ion scattering using the in-medium two-body scattering amplitude. A partial wave expansion of the Lippmann-Schwinger equation in momentum space was used to calculate the absorption cross sections for various systems. The results are presented for the absorption cross sections for 4He-nucleus and 12C-nucleus scattering systems and are compared with the experimental values in the energy range 18-83A MeV. The use of the in-medium NN cross sections is found to result in significant reduction of the free space absorption cross sections in agreement with experiment.

NASA Discipline Radiation Health↗
NASA NTRS1989

Correlations in alpha-alpha scattering and semi-classical optical models

We show the equivalence of semi-classical solutions to optical model coupled-channel equations derived from Watson's form of the nucleus-nucleus multiple-scattering series to the Glauber multiple-scattering series. A second-order solution to the semi-classical coupled-channel elastic amplitude is shown to be nearly equivalent to a second-order optical-phase-shift approximation to the Glauber amplitude if the densities of all nuclear excited states are approximated by the ground-state density. Using the Jastrow method to model the two-body density we find an average excited-state density to be of negligible importance in the double-scattering region of alpha-alpha scattering.

NASA Discipline Number 04-10↗
NASA NTRS2015

Mission Oriented Support and Theory (MOST) for MMS -- The Goddard Space Flight Center/University of California Los Angeles Interdisciplinary Science Program

The MOST IDS team was tasked with focusing on two general areas: The first was to participate with the Fast Plasma Investigation (FPI) team in the development of virtual detectors that model the instrument responses of the MMS FPI sensors. The virtual instruments can be 'flown through' both simulation data (from magnetohydrodynamic, hybrid, and kinetic simulations) and Cluster and THEMIS spacecraft data. The goal is to determine signatures of magnetic reconnection expected during the MMS mission. Such signatures can serve as triggers for selection of burst mode downloads. The chapter contributed by the FPI team covers that effort in detail and, therefore, most of that work has not been included here. The second area of emphasis, and the one detailed in this chapter, was to build on past and present knowledge of magnetic reconnection and its physical signatures. Below we describe intensive analyses of Cluster and THEMIS data together with theoretical models and simulations that delineate the plasma signatures that surround sites of reconnection, including the effects of turbulence as well as the detailed kinetic signatures that indicate proximity to reconnection sites. In particular, we point out that particles are energized in several regions, not only at the actual site of reconnection.

Goldstein, Melvyn L.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Particle Engulfment and Pushing By Solidifying Interfaces - Recent Theoretical and Experimental Developments

The objective of the work on Particle Engulfment and Pushing by Solidifying Interfaces (PEP) include: 1) to obtain fundamental understanding of the physics of particle pushing and engulfment, 2) to develop mathematical models to describe the phenomenon, and 3) to perform critical experiments in the microgravity environment of space to provide benchmark data for model validation. Successful completion of this project will yield vital information relevant to a diverse area of terrestrial applications. With PEP being a long term research effort, this report will focus on advances in the theoretical treatment of the solid/liquid interface interaction with an approaching particle, experimental validation of some aspects of the developed models, and the experimental design aspects of future experiments to be performed on board the International Space Station.

Stefanescu, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Information Theory - The Bridge Connecting Bounded Rational Game Theory and Statistical Physics

A long-running difficulty with conventional game theory has been how to modify it to accommodate the bounded rationality of all red-world players. A recurring issue in statistical physics is how best to approximate joint probability distributions with decoupled (and therefore far more tractable) distributions. This paper shows that the same information theoretic mathematical structure, known as Product Distribution (PD) theory, addresses both issues. In this, PD theory not only provides a principle formulation of bounded rationality and a set of new types of mean field theory in statistical physics; it also shows that those topics are fundamentally one and the same.

Wolpert, David H.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Observations, Modeling, and Predictions of Solar Activity From the Deep Interior to the Corona

Solar activity is a manifestation of magnetic self-organization processes that involve complex dynamical coupling of various layers of the Sun acting over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. Synergy of observational, theoretical, and modeling efforts is key to understanding solar activity variation, dynamics, and evolution and to developing reliable physics-based forecasts of long-term solar cycles and short-term activity manifestations, “seasons of solar activity”, such as periods of enhanced flaring and CME activity. The session welcomes observers, modelers, and theoreticians to share their results and ideas and to discuss current challenges, development of emerging fields (such as data assimilation), and the analysis of historical and modern observational data using theoretical modeling, interpretations, and predictions.

Deep Interior↗
NASA NTRS1993

Physics of solar activity

The aim of the research activity was to increase our understanding of solar activity through data analysis, theoretical analysis, and computer modeling. Because the research subjects were diverse and many researchers were supported by this grant, a select few key areas of research are described in detail. Areas of research include: (1) energy storage and force-free magnetic field; (2) energy release and particle acceleration; (3) radiation by nonthermal electrons; (4) coronal loops; (5) flare classification; (6) longitude distributions of flares; (7) periodicities detected in the solar activity; (8) coronal heating and related problems; and (9) plasma processes.

Sturrock, Peter A.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Experimental and Theoretical Investigations of the Solidification of Eutectic Al-Si Alloy

The eutectic alloys have a wide spectrum of applications due to their good castability and physical and mechanical properties. The interphase spacing resulting during solidification is an important microstructural feature that significantly influences the mechanical behavior of the material. Thus, knowledge of the evolution of the interphase spacing during solidification is necessary in order to properly design the solidification process and optimize the material properties. While the growth of regular eutectics is rather well understood, the irregular eutectics such as Al-Si or Fe-graphite exhibit undercoolings and lamellar spacings much larger than those theoretically predicted. Despite of a considerable amount of experimental and theoretical work a clear understanding of the true mechanism underlying the spacing selection in irregular eutectics is yet to be achieved. A new experimental study of the solidification of the eutectic Al-Si alloy will be reported in this paper. The measured interface undercoolings and lamellar spacing will be compared to those found in the literature in order to get more general information regarding the growth mechanism of irregular eutectics. A modification of the present theory of the eutectic growth is also proposed. The results of the modified mathematical model, accounting for a non-isothermal solid/liquid interface, will be compared to the experimental measurements.

Sen, S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

On the strategy of future observations and modeling of the Beta Lyr system

Beta Lyr is an enigmatic object. Despite several decades of concentrated observational and theoretical effort, our understanding of the system is still rather poor. We discuss two existing structural models of the system, the massive torus model of Wilson (1981), and the low mass accretion disk model of Hubeny & Plavec (1991). In particular, we answer recent criticism of the low mass disk model expressed by the proponents of the massive disk hypothesis. We show that although both theories have a large degree of internal consistency, there are several serious physical objections against the massive disk model. In particular, such a model requires unrealistically low viscosity (large Reynolds number). Moreover, such massive disk is likely to be dynamically unstable. Finally, we propose several observational and theoretical approaches that could lead to construction of a more physically realistic model of the Beta Lyr system.

Hubeny, I.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Laser-induced line-narrowing effects in coupled Doppler-broadened transitions. II - Standing-wave features.

Previous theoretical results on the influence of a laser on the line shape of a coupled transition (laser-induced line narrowing) have been restricted to the case where the laser is detuned from the center of its atomic gain profile or is in the form of a traveling wave. The present paper extends these results to the case where the laser is an intense standing-wave field tunable to the center of its atomic gain profile (conditions for Lamb dip). A theoretical solution of the problem is developed, and a detailed discussion of line shapes and physical processes involved is included.

Feldman, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Planetary atmospheric physics and solar physics research

An overview is presented on current and planned research activities in the major areas of solar physics, planetary atmospheres, and space astronomy. The approach to these unsolved problems involves experimental techniques, theoretical analysis, and the use of computers to analyze the data from space experiments. The point is made that the research program is characterized by each activity interacting with the other activities in the laboratory.

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NASA NTRS1975

Asteroidal and planetary analysis

Photometric, spectrophotometric, and radiometric investigations of asteroids and planets are reported. Profiles of the planetary disk were used to study the physical structure of the Uranus atmosphere, and thermal and photographic properties of Saturn rings were theoretically modelled. Ground-based Mars observations were made for long-term comparison with Mariner 9 results.

Hartmann, W. K.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Recent advances in model calculations of the Venus ionosphere

Studies of the basic physical processes which control the behavior of the Venus ionosphere are presented. In particular, the theoretical model studies related to the ionospheric dynamics, nightside ionospheric densities, nightside ionospheric temperatures, and ionospheric magnetic fields are discussed, including analysis of results obtained by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter.

Nagy, A. F.↗