MoonBEAM A Beyond Earth-Orbit GRB Detector for Multi-Messenger Astronomy
No abstract available
Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Smith, J. R..
No abstract available
Over the past decade members of the Dakhleh Oasis Project have studied enigmatic signatures in the Pleistocene geologic record of portions of the Dakhleh oasis and palaeo-oasis in Egypt's Western Desert [1,2]. In particular, Si-Ca-Al rich glass melt (Dakhleh Glass, Fig. 1) points to a catastrophic event between c.100,000-200,000 years ago [3] in this well-studied African savannah and freshwater lake Middle Stone Age environment [4,5].
The origin of the rough-textured aureoles that surround the immense Olympus Mons volcano on Mars is controversial. We present data from the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey missions to demonstrate that at least two of the aureole lobes are derived from the volcano's flanks in large and probably catastrophic mass movement events, leaving behind headwalls that constitute the basal scarp. This evidence stems from the morphology and internal structure of aureole blocks, which exhibit remnants of volcanic flow units on their surfaces. Our claim is supported by plausible reconstructions of the prefailure flanks. Structural analogs to known flank failure events at Hawaiian volcanoes suggest that repeated cycles of flank growth and collapse at Olympus Mons allow generation of the observed aureoles from a protoedifice similar in size and shape to the present one.
A combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) techniques, as well as atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods has been used to study fragments of the Martian meteorite ALH84001. Images of the same areas on the meteorite were obtained prior to and following gold/palladium coating by mapping the surface of the fragment using ESEM coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. Viewing of the fragments demonstrated the presence of structures, previously described as nanofossils by McKay et al. (Search for past life on Mars--possible relic biogenic activity in martian meteorite ALH84001. Science, 1996, pp. 924-930) of NASA who used SEM imaging of gold-coated meteorite samples. Careful imaging of the fragments revealed that the observed structures were not an artefact introduced by the coating procedure.
Improved correlating subsystem of pseudorandom-code ranging system made possible by advent of fast, custom-made, very-large-scale integrated circuits. Performs far fewer arithmetical operations, contains much less specialized analog and digital circuitry, and used with large number of different codes.
A much-simplified, yet more general-purpose multi-channel deep-space ranging system correlator design that was used in past JPL spacecraft ranging systems is described. The method applies to detection of both single-component and multiple-component ranging codes, in either sequential (mu) or composite (pi) transmitted forms, and using either pseudonoise or square-wave components. Using this design, the Phobos Probe ranging system correlator computational complexity was reduced by over three orders of magnitude in multiply-and-add circuits and 45,000 bits of accumulator storage.
A universal form is proposed for the equation of state (EOS) of solids. Good agreement is found for a variety of test data. The form of the EOS is used to suggest a method of data analysis, which is applied to materials of geophysical interest. The isothermal bulk modulus is discussed as a function of the volume and of the pressure. The isothermal compression curves for materials of geophysical interest are examined.
It was discovered that the isothermal equation of state for solids in compression is a simple, universal form. This single form accurately describes the pressure and bulk modulus as a function of volume for tonic, metallic, covalent, and rare gas solids.
Recently it has been argued based on theoretical calculations and experimental data that there is a universal form for the equation of state of solids. This observation was restricted to the range of temperatures and pressures such that there are no phase transitions. The use of this universal relation to estimate pressure-volume relations (i.e., isotherms) required three input parameters at each fixed temperature. It is shown that for many solids the input data needed to predict high temperature thermodynamical properties can be dramatically reduced. In particular, only four numbers are needed: (1) the zero pressure (P=0) isothermal bulk modulus; (2)it P=0 pressure derivative; (3) the P=0 volume; and (4) the P=0 thermal expansion; all evaluated at a single (reference) temperature. Explicit predictions are made for the high temperature isotherms, the thermal expansion as a function of temperature, and the temperature variation of the isothermal bulk modulus and its pressure derivative. These predictions are tested using experimental data for three representative solids: gold, sodium chloride, and xenon. Good agreement between theory and experiment is found.
The total energy versus interatomic spacing of ionic, metallic, covalent, and rare-gas solids is examined, and a universal form for pressure as a function of volume for all classes of solids in compression is derived. The relation is shown to hold for pressure-volume data for hydrogen and deuterium, xenon, cesium, molybdenum, sodium chloride, and magnesium oxide.
Under DOE/NASA sponsorship, a team is developing the AGT101, a highly efficient gas turbine engine for automotive application. The regenerated engine will operate at a maximum of 1370 C (2500 F) and 100,000 rpm, and will utilize a variety of Si3N4, SiC, lithium aluminum silicate and ceramic fiber insulation components. Engine design has been performed to consider the fabrication and material characteristics of these ceramic materials for both the static and rotating hot section components. Component fabrication has been performed, components have been screened in thermal and mechanical tests, and initial engine testing has been performed.
Although metallic adhesion has played a central part in much tribological speculation, few quantitative theoretical calculations are available. This is in part because of the difficulties involved in such calculations and in part because the theoretical physics community is not particularly involved with tribology. The calculations currently involved in metallic adhesion are summarized and shown that these can be generalized into a scaled universal relationship. Relationships exist to other types of covalent bonding, such as cohesive, chemisorptive, and molecular bonding. A simple relationship between surface energy and cohesive energy is offered.
A simple and yet quite accurate prediction of volume as a function of pressure for metals and alloys is presented. Thermal expansion coefficients and melting temperatures are predicted by simple, analytic expressions and results compare favorably with experiment for a broad range of metals. All of these predictions are made possible by the discovery of universality in binding energy relations for metals.
Rose, Smith, and Ferrante have discovered scaling relations which map the adhesive binding energy calculated by Ferrante and Smith onto a single universal binding energy curve. These binding energies are calculated for all combinations of Al(111), Zn(0001), Mg(0001), and Na(110) in contact. The scaling involves normalizing the energy by the maximum binding energy and normalizing distances by a suitable combination of Thomas-Fermi screening lengths. Rose et al. have also found that the calculated cohesive energies of K, Ba, Cu, Mo, and Sm scale by similar simple relations, suggesting the universal relation may be more general than for the simple free electron metals for which it was derived. In addition, the scaling length was defined more generally in order to relate it to measurable physical properties. Further this universality can be extended to chemisorption. A simple and yet quite accurate prediction of a zero temperature equation of state (volume as a function of pressure for metals and alloys) is presented. Thermal expansion coefficients and melting temperatures are predicted by simple, analytic expressions, and results compare favorably with experiment for a broad range of metals.
Potential-energy relations involving a few parameters in simple analytic forms have been found to represent well the energetics of a wide variety of diatomic molecules. However, such two-atom potential functions are not appropriate for metals. It is well known that, in the case of metals, there exist strong volume-dependent forces which can never be expressed as pairwise interactions. The present investigation has the objective to show that, in spite of the observation concerning metals, a single binding-energy relation can be found which accurately describes diatomic molecules as well as adhesion, cohesion, and chemisorption on metals. This universality reveals a commonality between the molecular and metallic bond.
Proposed network of radio telescopes, controlled by a central computer and managed by a single organization, offer potential for research on a scale that could not be matched by present privately and publicly-owned radio telescopes. With 10 antenna sites, network would establish base lines thousands of miles long. Antennas will be linked to computer center by telephone circuits.
We provide evidence for a universal relationship between metallic binding energies and lattice parameters. By a simple scaling of a universal relationship, one can obtain binding energies as a function of atomic separation for bimetallic interfaces and bulk metals.