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NASA NTRS1994

Formation of fold and thrust belts on Venus due to horizontal shortening of a laterally heterogeneous lithosphere

An outstanding question relevant to understanding the tectonics of Venus is the mechanism of formation of fold and thrust belts, such as the mountain belts that surround Lakshmi Planum in western Ishtar Terra. These structures are typically long (hundreds of km) and narrow (many tens of km), and are often located at the margins of relatively high (km-scale) topographic rises. Previous studies have attempted to explain fold and thrust belts in various areas of Venus in the context of viscous and brittle wedge theory. However, while wedge theory can explain the change in elevation from the rise to the adjacent lowland, it fails to account for a fundamental aspect of the deformation, i.e., the topographic high at the edge of the rise. In this study we quantitatively explore the hypothesis that fold and thrust belt morphology on Venus can alternatively be explained by horizontal shortening of a lithosphere that is laterally heterogeneous, due either to a change in thickness of the lithosphere or the crust. Lateral heterogeneities in lithosphere structure may arise in response to thermal thinning or extensive faulting, while variations in crustal thickness may arise due to either spatially variable melting of mantle material or by horizontal shortening of the crust. In a variable thickness lithosphere or crust that is horizontally shortened, deformation will tend to localize in the vicinity of thickness heterogeneity, resulting in a higher component of dynamic topography there as compared to elsewhere in the shortening lithosphere. This mechanism may thus provide a simple explanation for the topographic high at the edge of the rise.

Zuber, M. T.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Far-infrared emission line spectroscopy of planetary nebulae from the KAO

The main focus of the overall project was to study the properties of planetary nebulae using far-infrared emission lines. The observations were conducted with the 'cooled grating spectrometer' or CGS, a moderate-resolution echelle spectrometer designed and built at the Ames Research Center. During the first few years of the program, the emphasis was on emission lines of doubly-ionized oxygen and nitrogen ((O III) 52 and 88 microns, (N III) 57 microns), which arise in the ionized regions of the nebulae. Starting around 1989, our emphasis shifted to observing fine-structure lines of neutral oxygen and singly-ionized carbon ((O I) 63 and 145 microns, (C II) 157 microns), which arise from predominantly neutral material outside the ionized regions. This program was typically assigned one or two observing flights per year. Because these studies required obtaining a substantial sample of objects in order to reach meaningful conclusions, publication of comprehensive papers summarizing all of the results is still pending. However, numerous interim reports based on the airborne results as well as on closely-related supporting observations have been published during the grant period. The bibliographic information for these reports is given in the publications section. An overall summary of the planetary nebula results was presented at the Airborne Astronomy Symposium (20th Anniversary of the KAO) on 8 July 1994; reprints will be provided when available. In parallel with the planetary nebula study, we also observed the (O III) and (N III) lines in several H II regions, and attempted (unsuccessfully) to detect these lines in several old nova remnants and the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A.

Dinerstein, Harriet L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Analysis of a hardware and software fault tolerant processor for critical applications

Computer systems for critical applications must be designed to tolerate software faults as well as hardware faults. A unified approach to tolerating hardware and software faults is characterized by classifying faults in terms of duration (transient or permanent) rather than source (hardware or software). Errors arising from transient faults can be handled through masking or voting, but errors arising from permanent faults require system reconfiguration to bypass the failed component. Most errors which are caused by software faults can be considered transient, in that they are input-dependent. Software faults are triggered by a particular set of inputs. Quantitative dependability analysis of systems which exhibit a unified approach to fault tolerance can be performed by a hierarchical combination of fault tree and Markov models. A methodology for analyzing hardware and software fault tolerant systems is applied to the analysis of a hypothetical system, loosely based on the Fault Tolerant Parallel Processor. The models consider both transient and permanent faults, hardware and software faults, independent and related software faults, automatic recovery, and reconfiguration.

Dugan, Joanne B.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Geometrical interpretation for the outer SU(3) outer multiplicity label

A geometrical interpretation for the outer multiplicity rho that occurs in a reduction of the product of two SU(3) representations, (lambda(sub pi), mu(sub pi)) x (lambda(sub nu), mu(sub nu)) approaches sigma(sub rho)(lambda, mu)(sub rho), is introduced. This coupling of proton (pi) and neutron (nu) representations arises, for example, in both boson and fermion descriptions of heavy deformed nuclei. Attributing a geometry to the coupling raises the possibility of introducing a simple interaction that provides a physically meaningful way for distinguishing multiple occurrences of (lambda, mu) values that can arise in such products.

Draayer, Jerry P.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Deflections of anisotropic sandwich beams with variable face sheets and core thicknesses

A sandwich construction consists of a low-density core material with high strength face sheets bounded to the top and bottom surfaces. The construction has been widely used in the aerospace and marine industries due to its outstanding characteristics such as noise absorption, weight minimization, heat insulation, and better bending stiffness. In sandwich structures used in high-performance aircraft, the face sheets are often made of fiber-reinforced composite materials and the core is made of honeycomb. The structures may also have variable thickness so as to satisfy aerodynamic requirements. In the stress analysis, the constant-thickness face sheets are usually considered as membrane and the core is assumed to be inextensible but deformable in the thickness direction. The static behavior of variable-thickness, isotropic and homogeneous sandwich beams was successfully studied by employing a constant-thickness theory but allowing stiffnesses to vary in accordance with local thickness variations. It has been recently found in a refined theory that the analyses based on the constant thickness theory locally can lead to significant errors in structural responses if the sandwich beam is thickness-tapered and the cores are deformable in transverse shear. The errors arise mainly from two factors: (1) the transverse shear components of the membrane forces in the face sheets alter the transverse shears carried by the core; and (2) the face-sheet membrane strains arise from transverse shear deformation of the core. In practice the variable thickness may not only exist in core but also in face sheets. The thickness-variations may even be a type of step function. In this case the transverse shear stress in the face sheets and bending stress in the core should be taken into account in the refined theory mentioned. In the present study, energy principles are employed in deriving governing equations for general bending of anisotropic sandwich beams with variable thickness in both face sheets and cores. Solutions to these equations are based on a finite difference scheme. As an example in application, a simply supported thickness-tapered sandwich beam subject to a concentrated load at its center is considered. Let W' be the maximum deflection of the beam in which face sheets are considered as membrane, while W'' is that based on using the modified refined theory. It is found that W' is always larger than W'', however, the magnitude of (W'- W'') appears to be insensitive to the change of the taper of the beam.

Lu, Chu-Ho↗

NASA NTRS1993

Convergence acceleration of implicit schemes in the presence of high aspect ratio grid cells

The performance of Navier-Stokes codes are influenced by several phenomena. For example, the robustness of the code may be compromised by the lack of grid resolution, by a need for more precise initial conditions or because all or part of the flowfield lies outside the flow regime in which the algorithm converges efficiently. A primary example of the latter effect is the presence of extended low Mach number and/or low Reynolds number regions which cause convergence deterioration of time marching algorithms. Recent research into this problem by several workers including the present authors has largely negated this difficulty through the introduction of time-derivative preconditioning. In the present paper, we employ the preconditioned algorithm to address convergence difficulties arising from sensitivity to grid stretching and high aspect ratio grid cells. Strong grid stretching is particularly characteristic of turbulent flow calculations where the grid must be refined very tightly in the dimension normal to the wall, without a similar refinement in the tangential direction. High aspect ratio grid cells also arise in problems that involve high aspect ratio domains such as combustor coolant channels. In both situations, the high aspect ratio cells can lead to extreme deterioration in convergence. It is the purpose of the present paper to address the reasons for this adverse response to grid stretching and to suggest methods for enhancing convergence under such circumstances. Numerical algorithms typically possess a maximum allowable or optimum value for the time step size, expressed in non-dimensional terms as a CFL number or vonNeumann number (VNN). In the presence of high aspect ratio cells, the smallest dimension of the grid cell controls the time step size causing it to be extremely small, which in turn results in the deterioration of convergence behavior. For explicit schemes, this time step limitation cannot be exceeded without violating stability restrictions of the scheme. On the other hand, for implicit schemes, which are typically unconditionally stable, there appears to be room for improvement through careful tailoring of the time step definition based on results of linear stability analyses. In the present paper, we focus on the central-differenced alternating direction implicit (ADI) scheme. The understanding garnered from this analyses can then be applied to other implicit schemes. In order to systematically study the effects of aspect ratio and the methods of mitigating the associated problems, we use a two pronged approach. We use stability analyses as a tool for predicting numerical convergence behavior and numerical experiments on simple model problems to verify predicted trends. Based on these analyses, we determine that efficient convergence may be obtained at all aspect ratios by getting a combination of things right. Primary among these are the proper definition of the time step size, proper selection of viscous preconditioner and the precise treatment of boundary conditions. These algorithmic improvements are then applied to a variety of test cases to demonstrate uniform convergence at all aspect ratios.

Buelow, B. E. O.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Multiscale low-frequency circulation modes in the global atmosphere

In this paper, fundamental multiscale circulation modes in the global atmosphere are identified with the objective of providing better understanding of atmospheric low-frequency variabilities over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. With the use of a combination of rotated principal component technique, singular spectrum analysis, and phase space portraits, three categories of basic multiscale modes in the atmosphere are found. The first is the interannual-mode (IAM), which is dominated by time scales longer than a year and can be attributed to heating and circulation anomalies associated with the coupled tropical ocean-atmosphere, in particular the El Nino-Southern Oscillation. The second is a set of tropical intraseasonal modes consisting of three separate multiscale patterns (ISO-1, -2, -3) related to tropical heating that can be identified with the different phases of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), including its teleconnection to the extratropics. The ISO spatial and temporal patterns suggest that the extratropical wave train in the North Pacific and North America is related to heating over the Maritime Continent and that the evolution of the MJO around the equator may require forcing from the extratropics spawning convection over the Indian Ocean. The third category represents extratropical intraseasonal oscillations arising from internal dynamics of the basic-state circulation. In the Northern Hemisphere, there are two distinct circulation modes with multiple frequencies in this category: the Pacific/North America (PNA) and the North Atlantic/Eurasia (NAE). In the Southern Hemisphere, two phase-locked modes (PSA-1 and PSA-2) are found depicting an eastward propagating wave train from eastern Australia, via the Pacific South America to the South Atlantic. The extratropical modes exhibit temporal characteristics such as phase locking and harmonic oscillations possibly associated with quadratically nonlinear dynamical systems. Additionally, the observed monthly and seasonal anomalies arise from a complex interplay of the various multiscale low-frequency modes. The relative dominance of the different modes varies widely from month to month and from year to year. On the monthly time scale, while one or two mechanisms may dominate in one year, no single mechanism seems to dominate for all years. There are indications that when the IAM, that is, ENSO heating patterns are strong, the extratropical modes may be suppressed and vice versa. For the seasonal mean, the interannual mode tends to dominate and the contribution from the PNA remains quite significant.

Lau, K.-M.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Millimeter and submillimeter rest frequencies for the MgF radical

The pure rotational spectrum of the MgF radical in its ground X(sup 2) Sigma(+) electronic state has been observed in the laboratory using millimeter/submillimeter direct absorption spectroscopy. Rotational transitions arising from the v = 0, 1, 2, and 3 vibrational modes of the main magnesium isotopic species, (24)MgF, have been recorded, as well as those arising from the v = 0 state of the Mg-25 and Mg-26 isotopomers. Rotational and fine-structure constants have been determined for these molecules, as well as hyperfine parameters for both the F-19 (I = 1/2) and Mg-25 (I = 5/2) nuclei. The rest frequencies presented here for MgF have an estimated accuracy of +/- 200 kHz, and will enable astronomical searches to be carried out for this fluoride radical. Magnesium fluoride may be present in the late-type carbon star IRC +10216, where AlF appears to be abundant.

Anderson, M. A.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Nonaxisymmetric evolution in protostellar disks

We present a two-dimensional, multigridded hydrodynamical simulation of the collapse of an axisymmetric, rotating, 1 solar mass protostellar cloud, which forms a resolved, hydrotastic disk. The code includes the effects of physical viscosity, radiative transfer and radiative acceleration but not magnetic fields. We examine how the disk is affected by the inclusion of turbulent viscosity by comparing a viscous simulation with an inviscid model evolved from the same initial conditions, and we derive a disk evolutionary timescale on the order of 300,000 years if alpha = 0.01. Effects arising from non-axisymmetric gravitational instabilities in the protostellar disk are followed with a three-dimensional SPH code, starting from the two-dimensional structure. We find that the disk is prone to a series of spiral instabilities with primary azimulthal mode number m = 1 and m = 2. The torques induced by these nonaxisymmetric structures elicit material transport of angular momentum and mass through the disk, readjusting the surface density profile toward more stable configurations. We present a series of analyses which characterize both the development and the likely source of the instabilities. We speculate that an evolving disk which maintains a minimum Toomre Q-value approximately 1.4 will have a total evolutionary span of several times 10(exp 5) years, comparable to, but somewhat shorter than the evolutionary timescale resulting from viscous turbulence alone. We compare the evolution resulting from nonaxisymmetric instabilities with solutions of a one-dimensional viscous diffusion equation applied to the initial surface density and temperature profile. We find that an effective alpha-value of 0.03 is a good fit to the results of the simulation. However, the effective alpha will depend on the minimum Q in the disk at the time the instability is activated. We argue that the major fraction of the transport characterized by the value of alpha is due to the action of gravitational torques, and does not arise from inherent viscosity within the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method.

Laughlin, Gregory↗

NASA NTRS1994

Thermonuclear runaways in nova outbursts. 2: Effect of strong, instantaneous, local fluctuations

In an attempt to understand the manner in which nova outbursts are initiated on the surface of a white dwarf, we investigate the effects fluctuations have on the evolution of a thermonuclear runaway. Fluctuations in temperature density, or the composition of material in the burning shell may arise due to the chaotic flow field generated by convection when it occurs, or by the accretion process itself. With the aid of two-dimensional reactive flow calculations, we consider cases where a strong fluctutation in temperature arises during the early, quiescent accretion phase or during the later, more dynamic, explosion phase. In all cases we find that an instantaneous, local temperature fluctuation causes the affected material to become Rayleigh-Taylor unstable. The rapid rise and subsequent expansion of matter immediately cools the hot blob, which prevents the lateral propagation of burning. This suggests that local temperature fluctuations do not play a significant role in directly initiating the runaway, especially during the early stages. However, they may provide an efficient mechanism of mixing core material into the envelope (thereby pre-enriching the fuel for subsequent episodes of explosive hydrogen burning) and of mixing substantial amounts of the radioactive nucleus N-13 into the surface layers, making novae potential gamma-ray sources. This suggests that it is the global not the local, evolution of the core-envelope interface to high temperatures which dominates the development of the runaway. We also present a possible new scenario for the initiation of nova outbursts based on our results.

Shankar, Anurag↗

NASA NTRS1994

Constraining circumstellar environments: Far-infrared observations of Herbig Ae/Be stars

We have observed six Herbig Ae/Be stars at 50 and 100 microns with the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO). All were classified as group I sources by Hillenbrand et al., signifying that their spectral energy distributions could be modeled with stars surrounded only by accretion disks. If the far-infrared emission is assumed to arise in a disk, it should be unresolved at 100 microns, regardless of the size of the disk. In contrast, we find that five out of six sources are clearly resolved at 100 microns. Three sources were also observed at 50 microns and at least two were resolved. Consequently the far-infrared emission must arise in another component, most plausibly a circumstellar envelope. This suggests that the group I sources may be less distinct from the group II sources than previously suggested. Since the presence of an envelope can affect both the actual temperature distribution in a disk and the temperature distribution derived from modeling the emission, more consistent models, including both disks and envelopes, are needed for these sources.

Di Francesco, James↗

NASA NTRS1994

Morphology of the interstellar cooling lines detected by COBE

The Far-Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) on the COBE satellite has conducted an unbiased survey of the far-infrared emission from our Galaxy. The first results of this survey were reported by Wright et al. (1991). We report the results of new analyses of this spectral survey, which includes emission lines from 158 micrometer C(+), 122 and 205 micrometer N(+), 370 and 609 micrometer C(0), and CO J = 2 goes to 1 through J = 5 goes to 4. We report the morphological distribution along the Galactic plane (b = 0 deg) of the spectral line emission, and the high Galactic latitude intensities of the C(+) and 205 micrometer N(+) emission. In the Galactic plane the 205 micrometer line of N(+) generally follows the 158 micrometer C(+) line distribution, but the intensities scale as I(N(+) 205 micrometer) varies as I(C(+) 158 micrometer)(exp 1.5) toward the inner Galaxy. The high Galactic latitude intensity of the 158 micrometer fine-structure transition from C(+) is I(C(+) 158 micrometer) = (1.43 +/- 0.12) x 10(exp -6) csc (absolute value of b) ergs/sq cm s sr for absolute value of b greater than 15 deg, and it decreases more rapidly than the far-infrared intensity with increasing Galactic latitude. C(+) and neutral atomic hydrogen emission are closely correlated with a C(+) cooling rate of (2.65 +/- 0.15) x 10(exp -26) ergs/s. We conclude that this emission arises almost entirely from the cold neutral medium. The high Galactic latitude intensity of the 205 micrometer fine-structure transition from N(+) is I(N(+) 205 micrometer) = (4 +/- 1) x 10(exp -8) csc (absolute value of b) ergs/((sq cm)(s)(sr)) arising entirely from the warm ionized medium. We estimate the total ionizing photon rate in the Galaxy to be phi = 3.5 x 10(exp 53) ionizing photons per second, based on the 205 micrometer N(+) transition.

Bennett, C. L.↗

NASA NTRS1995

The proximity profile of intergalactic He II resonance absorption toward high-redshift QSOs

The Gunn-Peterson effect predicts that an absorption trough should be associated with any resonance line arising in the intergalactic medium (IGM), extending blueward of the line in the QSO's rest frame. We show that such an absorption trough will not generally have a sharp edge at the QSO's redshift but should develop gradually toward shorter wavelengths. This proximity profile of the Gunn-Peterson trough arises because diffuse intergalactic gas in the vicinity of the QSO is more highly ionized than the general IGM. We consider the case of a uniform IGM in approximate photoionization equilibrium with a metagalactic UV background and investigate the proximity profile of He II lambda 304, which might be observable in QSOs with Z(sub Q) approximately 3. Assuming the QSO continuum extends beyond the He II ionization edge, the proximity profile has a characteristic width of delta z(sub p) = delta lambda/304 is approximately 0.1 f is the QSO Lyman limit luminosity in units of 10(exp 31) ergs/s/Hz averaged over the past approximately 10(exp 7) yr, omega(sub I) is the IGM density near (is less than or equal to 10 Mpc) the QSO, omega(sub b) is the normalized baryon density predicted by standard big band necleosynthesis, and f is a factor of order unity which depends weakly on several other factors. Application of this result to the reported detection of the He II Gunn-Peterson effect in Q0302-003 (Jakobsen et al. 1994) suggests that omega(sub I) is approximately equal to omega(sub b), some three orders of magnitude larger than the minimum density that may be inferred from application of the ordinary Gunn-Peterson effect to this QSO. Future observations of the He II proximity profile at higher resolution and signal-to-noise ratio in serveral ASOs should provide the means to measure the IGM density accurately.

Zheng, Wei↗

NASA NTRS1994

A spectral formalism for computing three-dimensional deformations due to surface loads. 1: Theory

We outline a complete spectral formalism for computing high spatial resolution three-dimensional deformations arising from the surface mass loading of a spherically symmetric planet. The main advantages of the formalism are that all surface mass loads are always described using a consistent mathematical representation and that calculations of deformation fields for various spatial resolutions can be performed by simpley altering the spherical harmonic degree truncation level of the procedure. The latter may be important when incorporating improved observational constraints on a particular surface mass load, when considering potential errors in the computed field associated with mass loading having a spatial scale unresolved by the observational constraints, or when treating a number of global surface mass loads constrained with different spatial resolutions. The advantages do not extend to traditional 'Green's function' approaches which involve surface element discretizations of the global mass loads. Another advantage of the spectral formalism, over the Green's function approach, is that a posteriori analyses of the computed deformation fields are easily performed. In developing the spectral formalism, we consider specific cases where the Earth's mantle is assumed to respond as an elastic, slightly anelastic, or linear viscoelastic medium. In the case of an elastic or slightly anelastic mantle rheology the spectral response equations incorporate frequency dependent Love numbers. The formalism can therefore be used, for example, to compute the potentially resonant deformational response associated with the free core nutation and Chandler wobble eigenfunctions. For completeness, the spectral response equations include both body forces, as arise from the gravitational attraction of the Sun and the Moon, and surface mass loads. In either case, and for both elastic and anelastic mantle rheologies, we outline a pseudo-spectral technique for computing the ocean adjustment associated with the total gravitational perturbation induced by the external forcing. Three-dimensional deformations computed using the usual Love number approach are generally referenced to an origin at the center of mass of the undeformed planet. We derive a spectral technique for transforming the results to an origin located at the center of mass of the deformed planet.

Mitrovica, J. X.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Contact and pressure balance structures in two-fluid cosmic-ray hydrodynamics

The role of cosmic-ray-modified contact discontinuities and pressure balance structures in two-fluid cosmic-ray hydrodynamics in one Cartesian space dimension are investigated by means of analytic and numerical solution examples, as well as by weakly nonlinear asymptotics. The fundamental wave modes of the two-fluid cosmic-ray hydrodynamic equations in the long-wavelength limit consist of the backward and forward propagating cosmic-ray-modified sound waves, with sound speed dependent on both the cosmic-ray and thermal gas pressures; the contact discontinuity; and a pressure balance mode in which the sum ofthe cosmic ray and thermal gas pressure perturbations is zero. The pressure balance mode, like the contact discontinuity is advected with the background flow. The interaction of the pressure balance mode with the contact discontinuity is investigated by means of the method of multiple scales. The thermal gas and cosmic-ray pressure perturbations satisfy a linear diffusion equation, and entropy perturbations arising from nonisentropic initial conditions for the thermal gas are frozen into the fluid. The contact discontinuity and pressure balance eigenmodes both admit nonzero perturbations in the thermal gas, whereas the cosmic-ray-modified sound waves are isentropic. The total entropy perturbation is shared between the contact discontinuity and pressure balance eigenmodes, and examples are given in which there is a transfer of entropy between the two modes. In particular, N-wave type density disturbances are obtained which arise as a result of the entropy transfer between the two modes. A weakly nonlinear geometric optics perturbation expansion is used to study the long timescale evolution of the short-wavelength entropy wave and the thermal gas sound waves in a slowly varying, large-scale background flow. The weakly nonlinear geometric optics expansion is also used to generalize previous studies of squeezing instability for short-wavelength sound waves in the two fluid model, by including a weakly nonlinear wave steepening term that leads to shock formation, as well as the effect of long time and space dependence of the background flow. Implications of cosmic-ray-modified pressure balance structures and contact discontinuities in models of the interaction of traveling interplanetary shocks and compression and rarefraction waves with the solar wind termination shock are briefly discussed.

Webb, G. M.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Multiwavelength monitoring of the BL Lacertae object PKS 2155-304. 4: Multiwavelength analysis

Simultaneous X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, and radio monitoring data were used to test and constrain models of continuum emission from the BL Lacertae object PKS 2155-304. Intensively sampled ultraviolet and soft X-ray light curves showed a clear temporal correlation with the X-rays leading the ultraviolet by 2-3 hr. This lag was found to be significantly different from zero after an exhaustive comparison of four different techniques for measuring temporal correlations. Variations in the ultraviolet trough optical wave bands were also strongly correlated, with no measurable lag down to limiting timescales of approximately less than 1-2 hr. This strong correlation extends to the near-infrared, but the less intensive sampling precludes measurement of any lag beyomnd an upper limit of approximately less than 1 day. These lags and limits of the order of hours are much shorter than most rapid observed single-band variations. Because of the very sparse radio sampling, it was not possible to measure quantitatively the correlation and lag with shorter wavelengths, but the data do suggest that the radio may lag the optical/ultraviolet by approximately 1 week, with longer delays and weaker variations to longer radio wavelengths. The epoch-folding Q(exp 2) statistic was used to test for periodicity, and no evidence for strict or quasi-periodicity was found in any of the light curves. Because they lead the lower frequencies, the soft X-rays (approximately less than 1 keV) cannot arise from synchrotron self-Compton scattering. These results also rule out the accretion disk model, which predicts a measurable lag between ultraviolet/optical wavelength bands and a correlation between hardness and brightness, neither of which were seen. They are consistent with the entire radio through X-ray continuum arising from direct synchrotron emission from a relativistic jet. However, the tapered jet model, in which the X-ray emission is produced closer in, has problems explaining the magnitude of the ultraviolet/X-ray lag, because the X-ray-emitting electrons have very short lifetimes (t(sub 1/2) much less than 1 s). The result that the lag is much smaller than the variability timescale suggests instead that the radiation may be produced in a flattened region such as a shock front.

Edelson, R.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Detection of signature consistent with cosmological time dilation in gamma-ray bursts

If gamma ray bursts are at cosmological distances-as suggested by their isotropic distribution on the sky and by their number-intensity relation-then the burst profiles will be stretched in time, by an amount proportional to the redshift, 1 + Z. We have tested data from the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory's (CGRO's) Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) for such time dilation. Out of 590 bursts observed by BATSE, 131 bursts were analyzed; bursts with durations shorter than 1.5 s were excluded. We used three tests to compare the timescales of bright and dim bursts, the latter, on average, being more distant than the former. Our measures of timescale are constructed to avoid selection effects arising from intensity differences by rescaling all bursts to fiducial levels of peak intensity and noise bias. (1) We found that the total rescaled count above background for the dim burst ensemble is approximately twice that for the brightest bursts-translating into longer durations for the dim bursts. (2) Wavelet-transform decompositions of the burst profiles confirmed that this dilation operates over a broad range of timescales. (3) Structure on the shortest timescales was examined using a procedure which aligns the highest peaks of profiles from which the noise has been optimally removed using a wavelet threshold technique. In all three tests, the dim bursts are stretched by a factor of approximately 2 relative to the bright ones, over seven octaves of timescale. We calibrated the measurements by dilating synthetic bursts that approximate the temporal characteristics of bright BATSE bursts. Results are consistent with bursts at BATSE's peak-flux completeness limit being at cosmological distances corresponding to Z approximately equal to 1, and thus with independent cosmological interpretations of the BATSE number-intensity relation. Alternative explanations of our results, arising from the nature of physical processes in bursts, are still possible.

Norris, J. P.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Effects of prescattering attenuation of spectropolarimetric line profiles

We present the wavelength dependent linear polarization and position angle variations arising from single Thomson scattering of continuum stellar radiation in an axisymmetric, hot, planar disk, which is in bulk motion. The wavelength dependence arises through the combination of Doppler shifted line attenuation, prior to scattering, and the Doppler redistribution of the scattered radiation due to the bulk and thermal motions of the disk electrons. We find that when the scattering electrons are cold, there are large polarization and position angle variations across the resulting spectrapolarimetric absorption line profile-agreeing with previous investigations. However, when the thermal Doppler velocities of the scattering electrons are comparable to or greater than the electron bulk velocity (as is of ten the case), then the scattered line profile is broadened and the amplitude of the polarimetric variations are considerably reduced. The properties of the electron thermal smearing function are such that the equivalent width of any scattered spectrapolarimetric feature is independent on the electron temperature-a consequence of the conservation of areas under convolution. An important result of this is that for an axisymmetric circumstellar envelope the position angle variations will average to zero across any line formed through the above process. We expect that the effect of multiple line blending will yield a depolarization equivalent width is given by thesum of the individual equivalent widths and the position angle variations will average to zero. The implications of this are that the large depolarizations observed in the UV spectra of pi Aquarii, zeta Tauri and PP Carinae by the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) can only be explained with prescattering attenuation of stellar flux if there are a sufficient number of multiple overlapping lines in that part of the spectrum.

Wood, Kenneth↗