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At least 937 records · Page 52

Unpulsed X-rays from pulsars

Preliminary results of several programs to detect thermal X-ray emission from isolated neutron stars are presented. Results of Einstein pulsar surveys indicate that either the majority of supernovas which leave remnants do not produce neutron stars, or the cooling calculations are in need of substantial revision. When appropriate relativistic thermodynamics and updated high energy nuclear physics are included, the new calculations predict significantly lower temperatures for standard neutron star equations of state. X-ray results give strong evidence that five of the seven historical remnants and a large majority of the other remnants of less than 1000 yr do not contain radio pulsars. A survey of known radio pulsars is also presented, which is designed to test the heating mechanisms required by various theories of pulsar emission and neutron star structure, and consists of a survey of all known pulsars within 300 pc.

Helfand, D. J.

Impact mechanics of the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction bolide

An examination of the mechanics of asteroidal, cometary, and meteor swarm impact on the earth determined if the enrichment of projectile material in the K-T layer is consistent with melts and impact breccias on the earth and moon, the size of the impacters, the distribution of the kinetic energy, and the sequence of impacts that could give rise to observed extinction phenomena. Flows resulting from spherical projectile impacts onto layers of air, water, and silicates were modeled and Eulerian finite difference algorithms were employed to solve conservation equations and equations of state. A range of speeds and impacter densities were considered, along with sizes from 0.17 km, which would be consumed in the atmosphere, to a 10 km object, which would have had a diameter greater than a reference 7.1 km atmosphere depth. It is concluded that an impact of the K-T bolide could result in global biotic extinction and worldwide material deposition.

Okeefe, J. D.

Identification and stochastic control of helicopter dynamic modes

A general treatment of parameter identification and stochastic control for use on helicopter dynamic systems is presented. Rotor dynamic models, including specific applications to rotor blade flapping and the helicopter ground resonance problem are emphasized. Dynamic systems which are governed by periodic coefficients as well as constant coefficient models are addressed. The dynamic systems are modeled by linear state variable equations which are used in the identification and stochastic control formulation. The pure identification problem as well as the stochastic control problem which includes combined identification and control for dynamic systems is addressed. The stochastic control problem includes the effect of parameter uncertainty on the solution and the concept of learning and how this is affected by the control's duel effect. The identification formulation requires algorithms suitable for on line use and thus recursive identification algorithms are considered. The applications presented use the recursive extended kalman filter for parameter identification which has excellent convergence for systems without process noise.

Molusis, J. A.

Solution of nonlinear multivariable constrained systems using a gradient projection digital algorithm that is insensitive to the initial state

Optimal digital control of nonlinear multivariable constrained systems was studied. The optimal controller in the form of an algorithm was improved and refined by reducing running time and storage requirements. A particularly difficult system of nine nonlinear state variable equations was chosen as a test problem for analyzing and improving the controller. Lengthy analysis, modeling, computing and optimization were accomplished. A remote interactive teletype terminal was installed. Analysis requiring computer usage of short duration was accomplished using Tuskegee's VAX 11/750 system.

Hargrove, A.

Finite element formulation for transient heat treat problems

The macrothermomechanical behavior of materials subjected to rapid thermal or mechanical loading such as occurs in most heat treatments is described. The equations are developed for Lagrangian, Eulerian, and intermediary kinematic descriptions and are independent of the constitutive laws and the equation of state; they can be solved numerically for a specified material and boundary conditions. The coupled transport effects between dissipation and energy are included. The conventional linearized stability approach indicates the numerical procedure to be stable, with certain restriction on the time step size.

Mullen, R. L.

Transport properties of oxygen

Tables of viscosity, thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusivity of oxygen as a function of temperature and pressure from the triple point to 320 K and at pressures to 100 MPa are presented. Auxiliary tables in engineering units are also given. Viscosity and thermal conductivity are calculated from published correlations. Density and specific heat at constant pressure, required to calculate thermal diffusivity, are obtained from an equation of state. The Prandtl number can be obtained quite easily from the values tabulated.

Roder, H. M.

On neutron star structure and the millisecond pulsar

The recently discovered millisecond pulsar (PSR1937-214) is observed to be rotating close to the limit of dynamical instability for a neutron star. Despite its extremely rapid rotation, measurements of the period derivative put a stringent upper limit on the energy loss from gravitational radiation, thus requiring that the quadrupole moment be quite small. The pulsar must also be rotating below the critical frequency at which its equilibrium configuration would become non-axisymmetric, since the lifetime of this configuration against decay by gravitational radiation is very short. This critical frequency, given by the theory of rotating ellipsoids, imposes a restriction on the rotation rate more severe than the break-up frequency and may be used to set a lower limit, rho 2 x 10 to the 14th power g/cu cm, on the density of the star. If the mass is 0.5 - 1.5 solar mass, several of the stiffer neutron star equations of state may be ruled out, and the radius should be less than 16 km. The condition for axisymmetry also imposes an upper limit on the rotation rate to which neutron stars may be spun up by accretion disks in binary systems, a model recently proposed for the evolution of the millisecond pulsar.

Harding, A. K.

X-ray emission from clusters of galaxies

Some X-ray spectral observations of approximately 30 clusters of galaxies from HEAO-1 are summarized. There exists strong correlations between X-ray luminosity, L(x), and temperature kT in the form L(x)alphaT to the 2.3 power. This result combined with the L(x) central galaxy density relation and the virial theorem indicates that the core dadius of the gas should be roughly independent of L(x) or KT and that more luminous clusters have a greater fraction of their virial mass in gas. The poor correlation of KT and optical velocity dispersion seems to indicate that clusters have a variety of equations of state. There is poor agreement between X-ray imaging observations and optical and X-ray spectral measures of the polytropic index. Most clusters show Fe emission lines with a strong indication that they all have roughly 1/2 solar abundance. The evidence for cooling in the cores of several clusters is discussed based on spectral observations with the Einstein solid state spectrometer.

Mushotzky, R. F.

An experimental investigation of the internal methane pressure in hydrogen attack

An experimental investigation of the internal methane pressure that is the driving force for bubble growth in hydrogen attack (HA) was done on pure iron (204 ppm C) and on two low carbon steels of slightly different compositions. The methane content N (c.c gas/g. material) in attacked specimens was measured by a vacuum extraction technique. The total void volume V (c.c) was determined from density measurements before and after HA exposure. The two values, N and V, were then used in an equation of state to calculate an average methane pressure P for the attack stages beyond a density loss (d.l.) greater than 0.05 pct. It was determined that N and P depend on hydrogen exposure conditions and the presence of traces of strong carbide forming alloying elements (in steel). They are independent of specimen size and grain size over a limited range. P varies as the bubble volume increases, showing a generally decreasing trend which brings it to values lower than calculated equilibrium pressures, although well within the same order of magnitude. Possible reasons for this behavior are discussed.

Natan, M.

On neutron star structure and the millisecond pulsar

The millisecond pulsar is the first observed example of a neutron star spinning rapidly enough to approach the Jacobi bifurcation point and thus affords the possibility of constraining neutron star physics. The pulsar must be rotating below the critical frequency at which its equilibrium configuration would become nonaxisymmetric, since the lifetime of this configuration against decay by gravitational radiation is very short. This critical frequency may be used to set a lower limit of 2 x 10 to the 14th g/cu cm on the density of the star. If the mass is 0.5-1.5 solar mass, several of the stiffer neutron star equations of state may be ruled out, and the radius should be less than 16 km. The condition for axisymmetry also imposes an upper limit on the rotation rate to which neutron stars may be spun up by accretion disks in binary systems.

Harding, A. K.

Cloud-particle galactic gas dynamics and star formation

Galactic gas dynamics, spiral structure, and star formation are discussed in relation to N-body computational studies based on a cloud-particle model of the interstellar medium. On the small scale, the interstellar medium is seen as cloud-dominated and supernova-perturbed. It is noted that the cloud-particle model simulates cloud-cloud collisions, the formation of stellar associations, and supernova explosions as dominant local processes. On the large scale, in response to a spiral galactic gravitational field, global density waves and galactic shocks develop having large-scale characteristics similar to those found in continuum gas dynamical studies. Both the system of gas clouds and the system of young stellar associations forming from the clouds figure in the global spiral structure. However, with the attributes of neither assuming a continuum of gas (as in continuum gas dynamical studies) or requiring a prescribed equation of state (such as the isothermal condition), the cloud-particle picture retains much of the detail lost in earlier work. By detail is meant the small-scale features and structures so important in understanding the local, turbulent state of the interstellar medium as well as the degree of raggedness often seen to be superposed on the global spiral structure.

Roberts, W. W., Jr.

Heterogeneous shock-induced thermal radiation in minerals

A 500-channel optical imaging intensifying and spectral digital recording system is used for recording the shock-induced radiation emitted from 406 to 821 nm from transparent minerals during the time interval that a shock wave propagates through the sample. The initial results obtained for single crystals of gypsum, calcite and halite in the 30 to 40 GPa (300 to 400 kbar) pressure range reveal grey-body emission spectra corresponding to temperatures in the 3000 to 4000 K range and emissivities ranging from 0.003 to 0.02. With gypsum and calcite, distinctive line spectra are superimposed on the thermal radiation. The observed color temperatures are greater than the Hugoniot temperature by a factor of 2 to 10; this is calculable on the basis of continuum thermodynamics and equation of state models for the shock states achieved in the three minerals. These observed high temperatures are thought to be real. It is concluded that a large number of closed spaced high temperature shear-band regions are being detected immediately behind the shock front.

Kondo, K.-I.

Sensitivity of model calculations to uncertain inputs, with an application to neutron star envelopes

A method is given for determining the sensitivity of certain types of calculations to the uncertainties in the input physics or model parameters; this method is applicable to problems that involve solutions to coupled, ordinary differential equations. In particular the sensitivity of calculations of the thermal structure of neutron star envelopes to uncertainties in the opacity and equation of state is examined. It is found that the uncertainties in the relationship between the surface and interior temperatures of a neutron star are due almost entirely to the imprecision in the values of the conductive opacity in the region where the ions form a liquid; here the conductive opacity is, for the most part, due to the scattering of electrons from ions.

Epstein, R. I.

Use of shape-preserving interpolation methods in surface modeling

In many large-scale scientific computations, it is necessary to use surface models based on information provided at only a finite number of points (rather than determined everywhere via an analytic formula). As an example, an equation of state (EOS) table may provide values of pressure as a function of temperature and density for a particular material. These values, while known quite accurately, are typically known only on a rectangular (but generally quite nonuniform) mesh in (T,d)-space. Thus interpolation methods are necessary to completely determine the EOS surface. The most primitive EOS interpolation scheme is bilinear interpolation. This has the advantages of depending only on local information, so that changes in data remote from a mesh element have no effect on the surface over the element, and of preserving shape information, such as monotonicity. Most scientific calculations, however, require greater smoothness. Standard higher-order interpolation schemes, such as Coons patches or bicubic splines, while providing the requisite smoothness, tend to produce surfaces that are not physically reasonable. This means that the interpolant may have bumps or wiggles that are not supported by the data. The mathematical quantification of ideas such as physically reasonable and visually pleasing is examined.

Ftitsch, F. N.

Range reference atmosphere models

A description is given of the methods used to establish the statistical parameters and models for wind and various thermodynamic quantities at an altitude of 0-70 km for nine geographical locations. It is noted that wind is modeled as a vector quantity using the bivariate normal probability function. With the five parameters of the bivariate normal distribution, the distribution for wind speed is derived as a generalized Rayleigh distribution. In addition, the frequency of wind direction is derived, and the conditional distribution of wind speed given the wind direction is derived. It is pointed out that these and other wind models are consistent with the rigorous mathematical properties of the bivariate normal probability theory. The thermodynamic quantities are consistent with the hydrostatic equation and the equation of state for the mean values. With these methods, many statistical relationships can be derived.

Smith, O. E.

X-ray emission from clusters of galaxies

Some X-ray spectral observations of approximately 30 clusters of galaxies from HEAO-1 are summarized. There exists strong correlation betwen X-ray luminosity, L(x), and temperature kT in the form L(x)alphaT to the 2.3 power. This result combined with the L(x) central galaxy density relation and the virial theorem indicates that the core dadius of the gas should be roughly independent of L(x) or Kt and that more luminous clusters have a greater fraction of their virial mass in gas. The poor correlation of KT and optical velocity dispersion seems to indicate that clusters have a variety of equations of state. There is poor agreement between X-ray imaging observations and optical and X-ray spectral measures of the polytropic index. Most clusters show Fe emission lines with a strong indication that they all have roughly 1/2 solar abundance. The evidence for cooling in the cores several clusters is discussed based on spectral observations with the Einstein solid state spectrometer.

Mushotzky, R. F.

Turbulent compressible convection in a deep atmosphere. II - Two-dimensional results for main-sequence A5 and F0 type envelopes

In the present two-dimensional numerical study of turbulent compressible convection in the A5 and F0 main-sequence envelope types, ionization effects are included in the equation of state of the gas, and radiative transfer is modeled in a diffusive process with tabulated gas opacities. It is noted that the thermal effects of ionization significantly affect the dynamics of the flows and that an inversion of the mean density can be created and sustained in a dynamical situation. The substantial differences in the flows of A5 and F0 indicate development trends in the transition from the radiative to the convective mode of energy transport. As convection becomes more effective, the flow becomes more turbulent and the scaling effects of local scale heights become more significant.

Sofia, S.

Shock compression of liquid helium to 56 GPa (560 kbar)

Shock-wave data are presented for liquid helium which has been compressed to densities up to five times greater than the normal liquid. The helium was heated to temperatures up to 21,000 K, while the maximum pressure attained was 56 GPa. The properties of helium and hydrogen are important for modeling the giant planets Saturn and Jupiter where these elements are the major constituents. Conditions on Saturn are of particular interest because studies have suggested that this planet has an internal energy source which is associated with unmixing and gravitational separation of the hydrogen-helium fluid at pressures below 1 TPa. The existence of this phase transition depends very sensitively on the hydrogen and helium equation of state. In the experiments, strong shock waves were generated by the impact of planar projectiles into cryogenic specimen holders.

Nellis, W. J.