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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

G11.2−0.3: THE YOUNG REMNANT OF A STRIPPED-ENVELOPE SUPERNOVA

We present results of a 400 ks Chandra observation of the young shell supernova remnant (SNR) G11.2−0.3, containing a pulsar and pulsar-wind nebula (PWN). We measure a mean expansion rate for the shell since 2000 of 0.0277 ± 0.0018% yr{sup −1}, implying an age between 1400 and 2400 yr, and making G11.2−0.3 one of the youngest core-collapse SNRs in the Galaxy. However, we find very high absorption (A{sub V} ∼ 16{sup m} ± 2{sup m}), confirming near-IR determinations and ruling out a claimed association with the possible historical SN of 386 CE. The PWN shows strong jets and a faint torus within a larger, more diffuse region of radio emission and nonthermal X-rays. Central soft thermal X-ray emission is anticorrelated with the PWN; that, and more detailed morphological evidence, indicates that the reverse shock has already reheated all ejecta and compressed the PWN. The pulsar characteristic energy-loss timescale is well in excess of the remnant age, and we suggest that the bright jets have been produced since the recompression. The relatively pronounced shell and diffuse hard X-ray emission in the interior, enhanced at the inner edge of the shell, indicate that the immediate circumstellar medium into which G11.2−0.3 is expanding was quite anisotropic. We propose a possible origin for G11.2−0.3 in a stripped-envelope progenitor that had lost almost all its envelope mass, in an anisotropic wind or due to binary interaction, leaving a compact core whose fast winds swept previously lost mass into a dense irregular shell, and which exploded as a SN cIIb or Ibc.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1992

Tidal heating and mass loss in neutron star binaries - Implications for gamma-ray burst models

A neutron star in a close binary orbit around another neutron star (or stellar-mass black hole) spirals inward owing to gravitational radiation. We discuss the effects of tidal dissipation during this process. Tidal energy dissipated in the neutron star's core escapes mainly as neutrinos, but heating of the crust, and outward diffusion of photons, blows off the outer layers of the star. This photon-driven mass loss precedes the final coalescence. The presence of this eject material impedes the escape of gamma-rays created via neutrino interactions. If an e(+) - e(-) fireball, created in the late stages of coalescence, were loaded with (or surrounded by) material with the mean column density of the ejecta, it could not be an efficient source of gamma-rays. Models for cosmologically distant gamma-rays burst that involve neutron stars must therefore be anisotropic, so that the fireball expands preferentially in directions where the column density of previously blown-off material is far below the spherically averaged value which we have calculated. Some possible 'scenarios' along these lines are briefly discussed.

Meszaros, P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Five biomedical experiments flown in an Earth orbiting laboratory: Lessons learned from developing these experiments on the first international microgravity mission from concept to landing

There are numerous problems associated with accommodating complex biological systems in microgravity in the flexible laboratory systems installed in the Orbiter cargo bay. This presentation will focus upon some of the lessons learned along the way from the University laboratory to the IML-1 Microgravity Laboratory. The First International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-1) mission contained a large number of specimens, including: 72 million nematodes, US-1; 3 billion yeast cells, US-2; 32 million mouse limb-bud cells, US-3; and 540 oat seeds (96 planted), FOTRAN. All five of the experiments had to undergo significant redevelopment effort in order to allow the investigator's ideas and objectives to be accommodated within the constraints of the IML-1 mission. Each of these experiments were proposed as unique entities rather than part of the mission, and many procedures had to be modified from the laboratory practice to meet IML-1 constraints. After a proposal is accepted by NASA for definition, an interactive process is begun between the Principal Investigator and the developer to ensure a maximum science return. The success of the five SLSPO-managed experiments was the result of successful completion of all preflight biological testing and hardware verification finalized at the KSC Life Sciences Support Facility housed in Hangar L. The ESTEC Biorack facility housed three U.S. experiments (US-1, US-2, and US-3). The U.S. Gravitational Plant Physiology Facility housed GTHRES and FOTRAN. The IML-1 mission (launched from KSC on 22 Jan. 1992, and landed at Dryden Flight Research Facility on 30 Jan. 1992) was an outstanding success--close to 100 percent of the prelaunch anticipated science return was achieved and, in some cases, greater than 100 percent was achieved (because of an extra mission day).

Winget, C. M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Procedure for Determining the Nature of Mercury's Core

We review past assertions that the determinations of the four parameters, C(20), C(22), theta, phi, are sufficient to determine the size and state of Mercury's core. C(20) and C(22) are gravitational harmonics, theta is Mercury's obliquity and phi is the amplitude of the forced, 88 day period libration in longitude. The upcoming MESSENGER orbiter mission to Mercury with onboard instrumentation capable of measuring these four parameters, and the possibility of precision measurements of Mercury's spin geometry with radar interferometry techniques make a reexamination of this proposal particularly relevant. The two necessary conditions on the core-mantle interaction for the experiment to work are: 1. The core must not follow the 88 day physical librations of the mantle. 2. The core must follow the mantle on the time scale of the 250,000 year precession of the spin in Cassini state 1. We shall assume these two conditions are satisfied to develop the method and later establish the constraints on the core viscosity for which they are satisfied. Proposed mechanisms of core mantle coupling other than a viscous coupling do not frustrate the first condition. The physical libration of the mantle about the mean resonant angular velocity arises from the periodically reversing torque on the permanent deformation as Mercury rotates relative to the Sun. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Peale, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Advanced Colloids Experiment (ACE) Science Overview

The Advanced Colloids Experiment is being conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) using the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) in the Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR). Work to date will be discussed and future plans and opportunities will be highlighted. The LMM is a microscope facility designed to allow scientists to process, manipulate, and characterize colloidal samples in micro-gravity where the absence of gravitational settling and particle jamming enables scientists to study such things as:a.The role that disordered and ordered-packing of spheres play in the phase diagram and equation of state of hard sphere systems,b.crystal nucleation and growth, growth instabilities, and the glass transition, c.gelation and phase separation of colloid polymer mixtures,d.crystallization of colloidal binary alloys,e.competition between crystallization and phase separation,f.effects of anisotropy and specific interactions on packing, aggregation, frustration and crystallization,g.effects of specific reversible and irreversible interactions mediated in the first case by hybridization of complementary DNA strands attached to separate colloidal particles,h.Lock and key interactions between colloids with dimples and spheres which match the size and shape of the dimples,i.finding the phase diagrams of isotropic and interacting particles,j.new techniques for complex self-assembly including scenarios for self-replication, k.critical Casimir forces,l.biology (real and model systems) in microgravity,m.etc. By adding additional microscopy capabilities to the existing LMM, NASA will increase the tools available for scientists that fly experiments on the ISS enabling scientists to observe directly what is happening at the particle level. Presently, theories are needed to bridge the gap between what is being observed (at a macroscopic level when photographing samples) with what is happening at a particle (or microscopic) level. What is happening at a microscopic level will be directly accessible with the availability of the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) on ISS. To meet these goals, the ACE experiment is being built-up in stages, with the availability of confocal microscopy being the ultimate objective. Supported by NASAs Physical Sciences Research Program, ESAESTEC, and the authors respective governments.

Microgravity Biology Research↗
DOE OSTI2022

Investigating the possible existence of hyper-heavy nuclei in a neutron-star environment

The synthesis of hyper-heavy elements is investigated under conditions simulating neutron star environment. The constrained molecular dynamics approach is used to simulate low energy collisions of extremely n-rich nuclei. A new type of the fusion barrier due to a “neutron wind” is observed when the effect of neutron star environment (screening of Coulomb interaction) is introduced implicitly. When introducing also a background of surrounding nuclei, the nuclear fusion becomes possible down to temperatures of 10 8 K and synthesis of extremely heavy and n-rich nuclei appears feasible. A possible existence of hyper-heavy nuclei in a neutron star environment could provide a mechanism of extra coherent neutrino scattering or an additional mechanism, resulting in x-ray burst or a gravitational wave signal and, thus, becoming another crucial process adding new information to the suggested models on neutron star evolution.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Local resolution of the Hubble tension: The impact of screened fifth forces on the cosmic distance ladder

The discrepancy between the values of the Hubble constant H0 derived from the local distance ladder and the cosmic microwave background provides a tantalizing hint of new physics. We explore a potential resolution involving screened fifth forces in the local Universe, which alter the Cepheid calibration of supernova distances. In particular, if the Cepheids with direct distance measurements from parallax or water masers are screened but a significant fraction of those in other galaxies are not, neglecting the difference between their underlying period–luminosity relations biases the local H 0 measurement high. This difference derives from a reduction in the Cepheid pulsation period and possible increase in luminosity under a fifth force. We quantify the internal and environmental gravitational properties of the Riess et al. distance ladder galaxies to assess their degrees of screening under a range of phenomenological models, and propagate this information into the H 0 posterior as a function of fifth force strength. We consider well-studied screening models in scalar–tensor gravity theories such as chameleon, K-mouflage and Vainshtein, along with a recently-proposed mechanism based on baryon–dark matter interactions in which screening is governed by the local dark matter density. We find that a fifth force strength ~5%–30% that of gravity can alleviate the H 0 tension in many scenarios, around the sensitivity level at which tests based on other distance ladder data can constrain this strength. Here, our most successful models achieve consistency with Planck at the ~1.5σ level. Although our analysis is exploratory and based on screening models that are not necessarily realized in full theories, our results demonstrate that new physics-based local resolutions of the H 0 tension are possible, supplementing those already known in the prerecombination era.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1993

Collective effects of temperature gradients and gravity on droplet coalescence

The interaction and coalescence of small spherical drops in dilute, homogeneous dispersions are considered theoretically under conditions, where drop motion results from gravity settling and thermocapillary migration acting simultaneously. A trajectory analysis is used to predict pairwise collision rates, and population dynamics equations are solved to predict the time evolution of the droplet size distribution. The rate of droplet collisions and growth may be reduced dramatically by antiparallel alignment of the gravitational and thermocapillary velocities. For such antiparallel alignment with the gravitational relative velocity exceeding the thermocapillary relative velocity for two widely separated drops, there is a 'collision-forbidden region' in parameter space. This occurs because the gravitational relative velocity decays more rapidly with decreasing separation distance between the drops than does the thermocapillary relative velocity, and so the resultant relative velocity along the line-of-centers from these two sources combined becomes zero at a finite separation and the drops are unable to collide. As a result, small drops which initially collide and coalesce due to thermocapillary motion will only grow until they reach a critical size for which the oppositely directed gravitational motion balances the thermocapillary motion.

Zhang, Xiaoguang↗
NASA NTRS1994

Effects of Body Orientation and Retinal Image Pitch on the Perception of Gravity-Referenced Eye Level (GREL)

It has been asserted that the pitch orientation of a visual array and of an observer's body jointly determine the perception of GREL. The current study formally tests this assertion over an extended range with multiple combinations of visual and body pitch orientations. Ten subjects were individually secured in a Circolectric bed surrounded by a room (pitchroom) with walls that could be pitched at various angles with respect to gravity. The bed and the walls of the room were independently adjusted to each of five positions relative to gravitational vertical: -15, -7.5, 0, +7.5, and +15 degrees, yielding 25 combinations of body x room pitch angles, and retinal image pitch (RIP) conditions ranging from -30 to +30 degrees. Each subject set a target to apparent GREL while viewing it against a background of two electroluminescent strips on the outer edges of the far wall of the room. As determined by ANOVA, the orientation of the room, and its interaction with that of the observer, significantly altered GREL (p less than 0.01). Regression analysis showed that GREL was best described as a linear summation of the weighted independent contributions from a body-referenced mechanism (B) and a visual mechanism given by the orientation of the background array on the retina (RIP). The equation for this relationship is: GREL = .74 (B) +.64 (RIP) - 1.42; r-squared = .994.

Cohen, Malcolm M.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Root phototropism: how light and gravity interact in shaping plant form

The interactions among tropisms can be critical in determining the final growth form of plants and plant organs. We have studied tropistic responses in roots as an example of these type of interactions. While gravitropism is the predominant tropistic response in roots, phototropism also plays a role in the oriented growth in this organ in flowering plants. In blue or white light, roots exhibit negative phototropism, but red light induces positive phototropism. In the flowering plant Arabidopsis, the photosensitive pigments phytochrome A (phyA) and phytochrome B (phyB) mediate this positive red-light-based photoresponse in roots since single mutants (and the double phyAB mutant) were severely impaired in this response. While blue-light-based negative phototropism is primarily mediated by the phototropin family of photoreceptors, the phyA and phyAB mutants (but not phyB) were inhibited in this response relative to the WT. The differences observed in phototropic responses were not due to growth limitations since the growth rates among all the mutants tested were not significantly different from that of the WT. Thus, our study shows that the blue-light and red-light systems interact in plants and that phytochrome plays a key role in integrating multiple environmental stimuli.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1989

Trajectory optimization software for planetary mission design

The development history and characteristics of the interactive trajectory-optimization programs MOSES (D'Amario et al., 1981) and PLATO (D'Amario et al., 1982) are briefly reviewed, with an emphasis on their application to the Galileo mission. The requirements imposed by a mission involving flybys of several planetary satellites or planets are discussed; the formulation of the parameter-optimization problem is outlined; and particular attention is given to the use of multiconic methods to model the gravitational attraction of Jupiter in MOSES. Diagrams and tables of numerical data are included.

D'Amario, Louis A.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Early-type eclipsing binaries with intermediate orbital periods

We analyze 221 eclipsing binaries (EBs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud with B-type main-sequence (MS) primaries (M{sub 1} ≈ 4–14 M{sub ⊙}) and orbital periods P = 20–50 days that were photometrically monitored by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. We utilize our three-stage automated pipeline to (1) classify all 221 EBs, (2) fit physical models to the light curves of 130 detached well-defined EBs from which unique parameters can be determined, and (3) recover the intrinsic binary statistics by correcting for selection effects. We uncover two statistically significant trends with age. First, younger EBs tend to reside in dustier environments with larger photometric extinctions, an empirical relation that can be implemented when modeling stellar populations. Second, younger EBs generally have large eccentricities. This demonstrates that massive binaries at moderate orbital periods are born with a Maxwellian “thermal” orbital velocity distribution, which indicates they formed via dynamical interactions. In addition, the age-eccentricity anticorrelation provides a direct constraint for tidal evolution in highly eccentric binaries containing hot MS stars with radiative envelopes. The intrinsic fraction of B-type MS stars with stellar companions q = M{sub 2}/M{sub 1} > 0.2 and orbital periods P = 20–50 days is (7 ± 2)%. We find early-type binaries at P = 20–50 days are weighted significantly toward small mass ratios q ≈ 0.2–0.3, which is different than the results from previous observations of closer binaries with P < 20 days. This indicates that early-type binaries at slightly wider orbital separations have experienced substantially less competitive accretion and coevolution during their formation in the circumbinary disk.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Impacts of Permeability Heterogeneity and Background Flow on Supercritical CO 2 Dissolution in the Deep Subsurface

Motivated by CO 2 capture and sequestration (CCS) design considerations, we consider the coupled effects of permeability heterogeneity and background flow on the dissolution of a supercritical CO 2 lens into an underlying deep, confined aquifer. We present the results of a large-scale Monte Carlo simulation study examining the interaction of background flow rate and three parameters describing multi-Gaussian log-permeability fields: mean, variance, and correlation length. Hundreds of high-resolution simulations were performed using the PFLOTRAN finite volume software to model CO 2 dissolution in a kilometer-scale aquifer over 1,000 years. Predictive dimensionless scaling relationships relating CO 2 dissolution rate to heterogeneity statistics, Rayleigh (Ra) and Péclet (Pe) numbers were developed for both gravitationally dominated free convection to background flow-dominated forced convection regimes. An empirical criterion, Pe = Ra 3/4 , was discovered for regime transition. All simulations converged quickly to a quasi-steady, approximately linear dissolution rate. However, this rate displayed profound variability between permeability field realizations sharing the same heterogeneity statistics, even under mild permeability heterogeneity. In general, increased heterogeneity was associated with a lower mean and higher variance of dissolution rate, undesirable from a CCS design perspective. The relationship between dissolution rate and background flow was found to be complex and nonlinear. Dimensionless scaling relationships were uncovered for a number of special cases. Results call into question the validity of the Boussinesq approximation in the context of modest-to-high background flow rates and the general applicability of numerical simulations without background flow.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Inflaton as a pseudo-Goldstone boson of vacuum energy shift symmetry

The exact symmetry induced by the global shift of energy scale for the cosmological constant in the action of matter fields is spontaneously broken by setting the density of real vacuum energy and explicitly broken by the gravity that means the existence of Nambu-Goldstone boson, which transforms into the pseudo-Goldstone boson due to the gravity. We identify this boson with the inflaton in the Einstein frame of action for the fields, while the breaking is induced by a non-minimal interaction of boson with the scalar curvature in the Jordan frame. The role of Galilean symmetry of field equation is emphasized in the procedure of fixing some terms in the bare action.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

DISCRIMINATING THE PROGENITOR TYPE OF SUPERNOVA REMNANTS WITH IRON K-SHELL EMISSION

Supernova remnants (SNRs) retain crucial information about both their parent explosion and circumstellar material left behind by their progenitor. However, the complexity of the interaction between supernova ejecta and ambient medium often blurs this information, and it is not uncommon for the basic progenitor type (Ia or core-collapse) of well-studied remnants to remain uncertain. Here we present a powerful new observational diagnostic to discriminate between progenitor types and constrain the ambient medium density of SNRs using solely Fe K-shell X-ray emission. We analyze all extant Suzaku observations of SNRs and detect Fe Kα emission from 23 young or middle-aged remnants, including five first detections (IC 443, G292.0+1.8, G337.2-0.7, N49, and N63A). The Fe Kα centroids clearly separate progenitor types, with the Fe-rich ejecta in Type Ia remnants being significantly less ionized than in core-collapse SNRs. Within each progenitor group, the Fe Kα luminosity and centroid are well correlated, with more luminous objects having more highly ionized Fe. Our results indicate that there is a strong connection between explosion type and ambient medium density, and suggest that Type Ia supernova progenitors do not substantially modify their surroundings at radii of up to several parsecs. We also detect a K-shell radiative recombination continuum of Fe in W49B and IC 443, implying a strong circumstellar interaction in the early evolutionary phases of these core-collapse remnants.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2013

Technology Development Roadmap: A Technology Development Roadmap for a Future Gravitational Wave Mission

Humankind will detect the first gravitational wave (GW) signals from the Universe in the current decade using ground-based detectors. But the richest trove of astrophysical information lies at lower frequencies in the spectrum only accessible from space. Signals are expected from merging massive black holes throughout cosmic history, from compact stellar remnants orbiting central galactic engines from thousands of close contact binary systems in the Milky Way, and possibly from exotic sources, some not yet imagined. These signals carry essential information not available from electromagnetic observations, and which can be extracted with extraordinary accuracy. For 20 years, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and an international research community have put considerable effort into developing concepts and technologies for a GW mission. Both the 2000 and 2010 decadal surveys endorsed the science and mission concept of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). A partnership of the two agencies defined and analyzed the concept for a decade. The agencies partnered on LISA Pathfinder (LPF), and ESA-led technology demonstration mission, now preparing for a 2015 launch. Extensive technology development has been carried out on the ground. Currently, the evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (eLISA) concept, a LISA-like concept with only two measurement arms, is competing for ESA's L2 opportunity. NASA's Astrophysics Division seeks to be a junior partner if eLISA is selected. If eLISA is not selected, then a LISA-like mission will be a strong contender in the 2020 decadal survey. This Technology Development Roadmap (TDR) builds on the LISA concept development, the LPF technology development, and the U.S. and European ground-based technology development. The eLISA architecture and the architecture of the Mid-sized Space-based Gravitational-wave Observatory (SGO Mid)-a competitive design with three measurement arms from the recent design study for a NASA-led mission after 2020-both use the same technologies. Further, NASA participation in an ESA-led mission would likely augment the eLISA architecture with a third arm to become the SGO Mid architecture. For these reasons, this TDR for a future GW mission applies to both designs and both programmatic paths forward. It is adaptable to the different timelines and roles for an ESA-led or a NASA-led mission, and it is adaptable to available resources. Based on a mature understanding of the interaction between technology and risk, the authors of this TDR have chosen a set of objectives that are more expansive than is usual. The objectives for this roadmap are: (1) reduce technical and development risks and costs; (2) understand and, where possible, relieve system requirements and consequences; (3) increase technical insight into critical technologies; and (4) validate the design at the subsystem level. The emphasis on these objectives, particularly the latter two, is driven by outstanding programmatic decisions, namely whether a future GW mission is ESA-led or NASA-led, and availability of resources. The relative emphasis is best understood in the context of prioritization.

Laser Interferometry Space Antenna↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dark energy with a triplet of classical U(1) fields

Here, we present a new mechanism for cosmic acceleration consisting of a scalar field coupled to a triplet of classical U(1) gauge fields. The gauge fields are arranged in a homogeneous, isotropic configuration, with both electric- and magneticlike vacuum expectation values. The gauge fields provide a masslike term via a Chern-Simons interaction that suspends the scalar away from its potential minimum, thereby enabling potential-dominated evolution. We show this mechanism can drive a brief period of acceleration, such as dark energy, without the need for fine-tunings. We obtain simple analytic results for the dark energy equation of state and dependence on model parameters. In this model, the presence of the gauge field generically leads to a suppression of long-wavelength gravitational waves, with implications for the experimental search for cosmic microwave background B modes and direct detection of a stochastic gravitational wave background.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Collisionless magnetic reconnection in curved spacetime and the effect of black hole rotation

Magnetic reconnection in curved spacetime is studied in this paper by adopting a general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic model that retains collisionless effects for both electron-ion and pair plasmas. A simple generalization of the standard Sweet-Parker model allows us to obtain the first-order effects of the gravitational field of a rotating black hole. It is shown that the black hole rotation acts to increase the length of azimuthal reconnection layers, thus leading to a decrease of the reconnection rate. However, when coupled to collisionless thermal-inertial effects, the net reconnection rate is enhanced with respect to what would happen in a purely collisional plasma due to a broadening of the reconnection layer. Finally, these findings identify an underlying interaction between gravity and collisionless magnetic reconnection in the vicinity of compact objects.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗