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At least 1,261 records · Page 70

Study on the dynamic holdup distribution of the pulsed extraction column

In the study, a CSTR cascade dynamic hydraulic model was developed to investigate the dynamic holdup distribution of the pulsed extraction column. It is assumed that the dynamic process of the dispersed phase holdup of pulsed extraction column has equal effects with the operational process of multiple cascade CSTRs. The process is consistent with the following assumptions: the holdups vary on different stages but maintain uniform on each stage; the changes of the hydraulic parameters have impact initially on the inlet of dispersed phase, and stability will be reached gradually through stage-by-stage blending. The model was tested and verified utilizing time domain response curves of the average holdup. Nearly 150 experiments were carried out with different capillary columns, various feed liquids, and diverse continuous phases and under different operation conditions. The regression curves developed by the model show a good consistency with the experimental results. After linking parameters of the model with operational conditions, the study further found that the parameters are only linearly correlated with pulse conditions and have nothing to do with flow rate for a specific pulsed extraction column. The accuracy of the model is measured by the average holdup, and the absolute error is ±0.01. The model can provide supports for the boundary studies on hydraulics and mass transfer by making simple and reliable prediction of the dynamic holdup distribution, with relatively less accessible hydraulic experimental data. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Correlative analysis of CsPbBr2Hal (Hal = Cl, Br, I) meltcrystallization paramete

Abstract — Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) are an exciting research topic as they have the potential to make solar cells that are both more efficient than current siliconbased designs and have a wider range of applications. In this work the crystallization of CsPbBr2Hal (Hal = Cl, Br, I) halide perovskite melts were studied by the differential thermal analysis method. It was established that the crystallization of CsPbBr2Hal (Hal = Cl, Br, I) melts can be “hot” (i.e., at temperatures above the point of the alloy’s start-melting temperature) or with supercooling. The replacement of the bromine atom with another halogen atom leads to a shift of the dwell temperature range, at which “hot” crystallization takes place, from 830-846 K for CsPbBr3 to 807-832 K for CsPbBr2Cl and 741-768 K for CsPbBr2I. The activation energy of “hot” crystallization decreases in the same order. A linear dependence between the pre-exponential factor (ln(𝑽𝑽𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒔𝒔𝒕𝒕 𝟎𝟎 )) and the activation energy (Ea) of the crystallization process is revealed from the experimental data, proving the compensation effect.

Kopach, O.↗

Physical and nonclassical properties of the interaction between a four-level atom and field in coherent state of Morse potential

The quantum system of the field initially defined by the k-photon-added Morse potential coherent states (MPCSs) of the radiation field interacting with a four-level atom (FLA) was studied. The physical and non-classical properties of the field defined by the MPCS system were quantified using the Mandel parameter. The effect of time-dependent coupling (TDC) on the atomic speed was examined. Moreover, the dynamic properties of the non-local correlation between the FLA and MPCS radiation field were studied and compared with those of the geometric phase. We also investigated the influence of the initial interaction conditions and different system parameters on the evolution of the non-local correlation, Mandel parameter, and geometric phase. The relationships between the geometric phase, Mandel parameter, and non-local correlation with TDC were explored.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Cluster Cosmology Constraints from the 2500 deg 2 SPT-SZ Survey: Inclusion of Weak Gravitational Lensing Data from Magellan and the Hubble Space Telescope

We derive cosmological constraints using a galaxy cluster sample selected from the 2500 deg 2 SPT-SZ survey. The sample spans the redshift range 0.25 < z < 1.75 and contains 343 clusters with SZ detection significance ξ > 5. The sample is supplemented with optical weak gravitational lensing measurements of 32 clusters with 0.29 < z < 1.13 (from Magellan and Hubble Space Telescope ) and X-ray measurements of 89 clusters with 0.25 < z < 1.75 (from Chandra). We rely on minimal modeling assumptions: (i) weak lensing provides an accurate means of measuring halo masses, (ii) the mean SZ and X-ray observables are related to the true halo mass through power-law relations in mass and dimensionless Hubble parameter E(z) with a priori unknown parameters, and (iii) there is (correlated, lognormal) intrinsic scatter and measurement noise relating these observables to their mean relations. We simultaneously fit for these astrophysical modeling parameters and for cosmology. Assuming a flat νΛCDM model, in which the sum of neutrino masses is a free parameter, we measure Ω m = 0.276 ± 0.047, σ 8 = 0.781 ± 0.037, and σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.2 = 0.766 ±0.025. The redshift evolutions of the X-ray Y X –mass and M gas –mass relations are both consistent with self-similar evolution to within 1σ. The mass slope of the Y X –mass relation shows a 2.3σ deviation from self-similarity. Similarly, the mass slope of the M gas –mass relation is steeper than self-similarity at the 2.5σ level. In a νwCDM cosmology, we measure the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w = -1.55 ± 0.41 from the cluster data. Here, we perform a measurement of the growth of structure since redshift z ~ 1.7 and find no evidence for tension with the prediction from general relativity. This is the first analysis of the SPT cluster sample that uses direct weak-lensing mass calibration and is a step toward using the much larger weak-lensing data set from DES. We provide updated redshift and mass estimates for the SPT sample.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Nucleation and growth of blue phase liquid crystals on chemically-patterned surfaces: a surface anchoring assisted blue phase correlation length

In condensed matter, the correlation length is an essential parameter which describes the distance over which a material maintains its structural properties. In liquid crystals, for the orientational order parameter this characteristic length is of the order of nanometers, while in solid crystals it can extend to macroscopic length scales. Here, we report the measurement of the correlation length, or persistence length, of the crystallographic orientation of blue phases (BPs)—chiral liquid crystals with long-range 3D-crystalline structures and submicron-sized lattice-parameters. These materials exhibit phase transformations that have been identified as the liquid analog of crystal-crystal martensitic transformations. In this work, we use liquid epitaxial growth to achieve spontaneous BP-crystal nucleation and subsequent growth. Specifically, we design patterned substrates made of a binary array of regions with different liquid crystal anchoring, which facilitate a uniform nucleation and growth of BP-crystals with (100)-lattice orientation and a simple cubic symmetry. Furthermore, our results indicate that this simple cubic BP, the so-called blue phase II (BPII), forms first on the patterned surface, thereby propagating the growth of domains in directions parallel or perpendicular to the patterned regions. These results are used to understand the emergence of a surface anchoring assisted BPII-correlation length, taken as the distance over which the BP preserves its lattice orientation, as a function of time and pattern characteristics. We found that BPII single crystals can be achieved on patterned regions whose lateral dimensions are equal to or larger than 10 μm, consistent with our measurements of the BPII-correlation length. This newly acquired understanding of the role of surfaces on the formation of BPs is then used to design processes that permit formation of macroscopically large mono-domain, single-crystal BPs by relying on significantly reduced patterned areas (only part of the area is patterned), a feature that could benefit the applications of this intriguing class of materials.

correlation length↗

Inference of reaction rate parameters based on summary statistics from experiments

Here, we present the results of an application of Bayesian inference and maximum entropy methods for the estimation of the joint probability density for the Arrhenius rate para meters of the rate coefficient of the H 2 /O 2 -mechanism chain branching reaction H + O 2 → OH + O. Available published data is in the form of summary statistics in terms of nominal values and error bars of the rate coefficient of this reaction at a number of temperature values obtained from shock-tube experiments. Our approach relies on generating data, in this case OH concentration profiles, consistent with the given summary statistics, using Approximate Bayesian Computation methods and a Markov Chain Monte Carlo procedure. The approach permits the forward propagation of parametric uncertainty through the computational model in a manner that is consistent with the published statistics. A consensus joint posterior on the parameters is obtained by pooling the posterior parameter densities given each consistent data set. To expedite this process, we construct efficient surrogates for the OH concentration using a combination of Pad'e and polynomial approximants. These surrogate models adequately represent forward model observables and their dependence on input parameters and are computationally efficient to allow their use in the Bayesian inference procedure. We also utilize Gauss-Hermite quadrature with Gaussian proposal probability density functions for moment computation resulting in orders of magnitude speedup in data likelihood evaluation. Despite the strong non-linearity in the model, the consistent data sets all res ult in nearly Gaussian conditional parameter probability density functions. The technique also accounts for nuisance parameters in the form of Arrhenius parameters of other rate coefficients with prescribed uncertainty. The resulting pooled parameter probability density function is propagated through stoichiometric hydrogen-air auto-ignition computations to illustrate the need to account for correlation among the Arrhenius rate parameters of one reaction and across rate parameters of different reactions.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

{sup 18}F-FLT uptake kinetics in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: A PET imaging study

Purpose: To analyze the kinetics of 3{sup ′}-deoxy-3{sup ′}-[F-18]-fluorothymidine (18F-FLT) uptake by head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and involved nodes imaged using positron emission tomography (PET). Methods: Two- and three-tissue compartment models were fitted to 12 tumor time-activity-curves (TACs) obtained for 6 structures (tumors or involved nodes) imaged in ten dynamic PET studies of 1 h duration, carried out for five patients. The ability of the models to describe the data was assessed using a runs test, the Akaike information criterion (AIC) and leave-one-out cross-validation. To generate parametric maps the models were also fitted to TACs of individual voxels. Correlations between maps of different parameters were characterized using Pearson'sr coefficient; in particular the phosphorylation rate-constants k{sub 3-2tiss} and k{sub 5} of the two- and three-tissue models were studied alongside the flux parameters K{sub FLT-2tiss} and K{sub FLT} of these models, and standardized uptake values (SUV). A methodology based on expectation-maximization clustering and the Bayesian information criterion (“EM-BIC clustering”) was used to distil the information from noisy parametric images. Results: Fits of two-tissue models 2C3K and 2C4K and three-tissue models 3C5K and 3C6K comprising three, four, five, and six rate-constants, respectively, pass the runs test for 4, 8, 10, and 11 of 12 tumor TACs. The three-tissue models have lower AIC and cross-validation scores for nine of the 12 tumors. Overall the 3C6K model has the lowest AIC and cross-validation scores and its fitted parameter values are of the same orders of magnitude as literature estimates. Maps ofK{sub FLT} and K{sub FLT-2tiss} are strongly correlated (r = 0.85) and also correlate closely with SUV maps (r = 0.72 for K{sub FLT-2tiss}, 0.64 for K{sub FLT}). Phosphorylation rate-constant maps are moderately correlated with flux maps (r = 0.48 for k{sub 3-2tiss} vs K{sub FLT-2tiss} and r = 0.68 for k{sub 5} vs K{sub FLT}); however, neither phosphorylation rate-constant correlates significantly with SUV. EM-BIC clustering reduces the parametric maps to a small number of levels—on average 5.8, 3.5, 3.4, and 1.4 for K{sub FLT-2tiss}, K{sub FLT}, k{sub 3-2tiss}, and k{sub 5.} This large simplification is potentially useful for radiotherapy dose-painting, but demonstrates the high noise in some maps. Statistical simulations show that voxel level noise degrades TACs generated from the 3C6K model sufficiently that the average AIC score, parameter bias, and total uncertainty of 2C4K model fits are similar to those of 3C6K fits, whereas at the whole tumor level the scores are lower for 3C6K fits. Conclusions: For the patients studied here, whole tumor FLT uptake time-courses are represented better overall by a three-tissue than by a two-tissue model. EM-BIC clustering simplifies noisy parametric maps, providing the best description of the underlying information they contain and is potentially useful for radiotherapy dose-painting. However, the clustering highlights the large degree of noise present in maps of the phosphorylation rate-constantsk{sub 5} and k{sub 3-2tiss}, which are conceptually tightly linked to cellular proliferation. Methods must be found to make these maps more robust—either by constraining other model parameters or modifying dynamic imaging protocols.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

A COMPARISON OF THE INTENSITIES AND ENERGIES OF GRADUAL SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE EVENTS WITH THE DYNAMICAL PROPERTIES OF ASSOCIATED CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS

Gradual solar energetic particle (SEP) events observed at 1 AU are produced by shocks driven by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Characterizations of the remotely imaged CMEs and of their associated SEP events observed in situ can be used to increase our ability to forecast SEP events and to understand better the physical connections between the two phenomena. We carry out a statistical comparison of the peak intensities Ip20, of 120 western-hemisphere 20 MeV SEP events with those of their associated CMEs observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph over the past solar cycle. For a subset of 96 events observed with the EPACT instrument on the Wind spacecraft we also compare the SEP 2 MeV peak intensities Ip2, power-law energy spectral exponents {gamma}, total SEP energies Esep, and 2 MeV nuc{sup -1} H/He ratios with CME properties. New analyses of white-light CME images enable us to improve calculations of the CME masses and potential energies and then to determine two values of their kinetic energies based on frontal V (fr) and center-of-mass V (cm) speeds. Despite considerable scatter in the SEP and CME data, the large dynamical ranges of both the SEP and CME parameters allow us to determine statistical trends in the comparisons of the logs of the parameters. Ip2, Ip20, and Esep are significantly correlated with CME kinetic energies, masses, and speeds, while {gamma} trends lower (harder). Those correlations are higher with V (fr) than with V (cm) parameters, indicating a less significant role for the body of the CME than for the CME front in SEP production. The high ratios ({>=}10%) of Esep to CME energies found by Mewaldt et al. are confirmed, and the fits are consistent with a linear relationship between the two energies. The 2 MeV nuc{sup -1} H/He ratios decrease with increasing CME speeds, which may be an effect of shock geometry. We discuss several factors that limit the estimates of both the SEP and CME energies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Role of the Most Luminous Obscured AGNs in Galaxy Assembly at z ∼ 2

We present Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 F160W imaging and infrared spectral energy distributions for 12 extremely luminous, obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at 1.8 < z < 2.7 selected via “hot, dust-obscured” mid-infrared colors. Their infrared luminosities span (2–15) × 10{sup 13} L {sub ⊙}, making them among the most luminous objects in the universe at z ∼ 2. In all cases, the infrared emission is consistent with arising at least for the most part from AGN activity. The AGN fractional luminosities are higher than those in either submillimeter galaxies or AGNs selected via other mid-infrared criteria. Adopting the G , M {sub 20}, and A morphological parameters, together with traditional classification boundaries, infers that three-quarters of the sample are mergers. Our sample does not, however, show any correlation between the considered morphological parameters and either infrared luminosity or AGN fractional luminosity. Moreover, the asymmetries and effective radii of our sample are distributed identically to those of massive galaxies at z ∼ 2. We conclude that our sample is not preferentially associated with mergers, though a significant merger fraction is still plausible. Instead, we propose that our sample includes examples of the massive galaxy population at z ∼ 2 that harbor a briefly luminous, “flickering” AGN and in which the G and M {sub 20} values have been perturbed due to either the AGN and/or the earliest formation stages of a bulge in an inside-out manner. Furthermore, we find that the mass assembly of the central black holes in our sample leads the mass assembly of any bulge component. Finally, we speculate that our sample represents a small fraction of the immediate antecedents of compact star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 2.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Adaptive filtering of radar images for autofocus applications

Autofocus techniques are being designed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to automatically choose the filter parameters (i.e., the focus) for the digital synthetic aperture radar correlator; currently, processing relies upon interaction with a human operator who uses his subjective assessment of the quality of the processed SAR data. Algorithms were devised applying image cross-correlation to aid in the choice of filter parameters, but this method also has its drawbacks in that the cross-correlation result may not be readily interpretable. Enhanced performance of the cross-correlation techniques of JPL was hypothesized given that the images to be cross-correlated were first filtered to improve the signal-to-noise ratio for the pair of scenes. The results of experiments are described and images are shown.

Stiles, J. A.↗

An adaptive least-squares global sensitivity method and application to a plasma-coupled combustion prediction with parametric correlation

We introduce an efficient non-intrusive surrogate-based methodology for global sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification. Modified covariance-based sensitivity indices (mCov-SI) are defined for outputs that reflect correlated effects. The overall approach is applied to simulations of a complex plasma-coupled combustion system with disparate uncertain parameters in sub-models for chemical kinetics and a laser-induced breakdown ignition seed. The surrogate is based on an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) expansion, such as widely used in statistics, with orthogonal polynomials representing the ANOVA subspaces and a polynomial dimensional decomposition (PDD) representing its multi-dimensional components. The coefficients of the PDD expansion are obtained using a least-squares regression, which both avoids the direct computation of high-dimensional integrals and affords an attractive flexibility in choosing sampling points. This facilitates importance sampling using a Bayesian calibrated posterior distribution, which is fast and thus particularly advantageous in common practical cases, such as our large-scale demonstration, for which the asymptotic convergence properties of polynomial expansions cannot be realized due to computation expense. Effort, instead, is focused on efficient finite-resolution sampling. Standard covariance-based sensitivity indices (Cov-SI) are employed to account for correlation of the uncertain parameters. Magnitude of Cov-SI is unfortunately unbounded, which can produce extremely large indices that limit their utility. Alternatively, mCov-SI are then proposed in order to bound this magnitude $\in$ [0, 1]. The polynomial expansion is coupled with an adaptive ANOVA strategy to provide an accurate surrogate as the union of several low-dimensional spaces, avoiding the typical computational cost of a high-dimensional expansion. It is also adaptively simplified according to the relative contribution of the different polynomials to the total variance. Finally, the approach is demonstrated for a laser-induced turbulent combustion simulation model, which includes parameters with correlated effects.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Optimization Approach for Wind Tunnel Fan Blade Strain Gage Correlation with Test Fixture Unknowns

NASA has a significant maintenance challenge with the aging wind tunnel infrastructure across the Agency. Some wind tunnel fan blades, such as those in the National Transonic Facility at NASA Langley Research Center, have been in use for far longer than their planned 10-year lifetime. No detailed analytical models of the fan blades from their initial fabrication were created. To support the fabrication of either new, nominally identical fan blades or newly designed fan blades, accurate analytical models of the existing fan blades are necessary to demonstrate an understanding of the capabilities of the existing fan blades. Additionally, the existing documentation of the testing of the existing fan blades has gaps. In this report, a process for improving test-analysis correlation for these wind tunnel fan blades is discussed. This process involved a detailed study of unknown parameters in test fixture parameters from the old and incomplete test documentation. To improve correlation, these unknown parameters were used as design variables in an optimization study to minimize the error between test data and computed structural responses. Legacy strain gage data from tests conducted in 1981 were compared with results from a finite element model created in 2019. The use of test data from 1981 was necessary because none of the existing fan blades could be spared for use in destructive structural testing. While this process was demonstrated for wind tunnel fan blades, this process could be utilized for evaluating unknowns in test fixtures for other structural test configurations.

wind tunnel↗

Stability of Pt Skin Intermetallic Core Catalysts and Adsorption Properties for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Density functional theory calculations were used to determine the stability of metal slabs consisting of a Pt surface monolayer and intermetallic supporting layers made from combinations of six transition metal elements (Pt, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Ag), as a model system for Pt skin intermetallic core nanoparticle catalysts. The stability of the slabs is largely determined by strain at the interface of the Pt skin and the subsurface intermetallic, which was described by a lattice matching parameter (r). The surface charge on the Pt skin was found to be correlated with the average electronegativity (EN) of the intermetallic core, so this average EN was used as a descriptor for how the electronic coupling (or ligand effect) affects adsorption energies. A total of 46 slabs were investigated in terms of their stability, from which 10 stable slabs were selected for further studies of adsorbate binding (OOH*, O*, and OH*) that are intermediates in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The correlation between all three adsorption energies and descriptors r and EN was found. Using a linear fit between our descriptors and the calculated adsorption energies, the overpotential for the ORR was obtained as a function of r and EN, from which a volcano plot was produced. The volcano peak was found at r = 0.96 or at EN = 2.025. Interestingly, neither r nor EN was a sufficient single reactivity descriptor as the data points were well off the general trend in both linear fits; this implies that both the strain effect and the ligand effect influence the adsorption energies, although they are partly correlated. The (r, EN) target peak parameters were used to screen over 241 intermetallic combinations of transition metal elements as active ORR activity. In conclusion, this analysis identified 11 intermetallic compounds which can support a Pt skin to have a high predicted ORR activity.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR4 maps and cosmological parameters

In this paper, we present new arcminute-resolution maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature and polarization anisotropy from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, using data taken from 2013–2016 at 98 and 150 GHz. The maps cover more than 17,000 deg 2 , the deepest 600 deg 2 with noise levels below 10µK-arcmin. We use the power spectrum derived from almost 6,000 deg 2 of these maps to constrain cosmology. The ACT data enable a measurement of the angular scale of features in both the divergence-like polarization and the temperature anisotropy, tracing both the velocity and density at last-scattering. From these one can derive the distance to the last-scattering surface and thus infer the local expansion rate, H 0 . By combining ACT data with large-scale information from WMAP we measure H 0 = 67.6±1.1 km/s/Mpc, at 68% confidence, in excellent agreement with the independently-measured Planck satellite estimate (from ACT alone we find H 0 = 67.9 ± 1.5 km/s/Mpc). The ΛCDM model provides a good fit to the ACT data, and we find no evidence for deviations: both the spatial curvature, and the departure from the standard lensing signal in the spectrum, are zero to within 1σ; the number of relativistic species, the primordial Helium fraction, and the running of the spectral index are consistent with ΛCDM predictions to within 1.5–2.2σ. We compare ACT, WMAP, and Planck at the parameter level and find good consistency; we investigate how the constraints on the correlated spectral index and baryon density parameters readjust when adding CMB large-scale information that ACT does not measure. The DR4 products presented here will be publicly released on the NASA Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

An off-design correlation of part span damper losses through transonic axial fan rotors

The experimental performance of 10 transonic fan rotors was used to correlate losses caused by midchord part-span dampers (PSD) during off-design operation between 50 and 100 percent of design speed. The design tip speed for the rotors used varied from 419 to 425 m/s and the design pressure ratios from 1.6 to 2.0. The loss attributable to the damper and the region influenced along the blade height was correlated with relevant aerodynamic and geometric parameters. The losses at the design point were estimated by a previously reported correlation (Roberts, 1978). Using this as a base, the off-design losses were correlated with variation in blade suction surface incidence. A check with independent data showed that the prediction of damper losses and region of influence was fair to good for most of the off-design data examined.

Roberts, W. B.↗

Numerical Study of Rarefied Hypersonic Flow Interacting with a Continuum Jet

An uncoupled Computational Fluid Dynamics-Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (CFD-DSMC) technique is developed and applied to provide solutions for continuum jets interacting with rarefied external flows. The technique is based on a correlation of the appropriate Bird breakdown parameter for a transitional-rarefied condition that defines a surface within which the continuum solution is unaffected by the external flow-jet interaction. The method is applied to two problems to assess and demonstrate its validity; one of a jet interaction in the transitional-rarefied flow regime and the other in the moderately rarefied regime. Results show that the appropriate Bird breakdown surface for uncoupling the continuum and non-continuum solutions is a function of a non-dimensional parameter relating the momentum flux and collisionality between the two interacting flows. The correlation is exploited for the simulation of a jet interaction modeled for an experimental condition in the transitional-rarefied flow regime and the validity of the correlation is demonstrated. The uncoupled technique is also applied to an aerobraking flight condition for the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with attitude control system jet interaction. Aerodynamic yawing moment coefficients for cases without and with jet interaction at various angles-of-attack were predicted, and results from the present method compare well with values published previously. The flow field and surface properties are analyzed in some detail to describe the mechanism by which the jet interaction affects the aerodynamics.

Glass, Christopher E.↗

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR4 maps and cosmological parameters

We present new arcminute-resolution maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature and polarization anisotropy from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, using data taken from 2013{2016 at 98 and 150 GHz. The maps cover more than 17,000 deg(^2), the deepest 600 deg(^2) with noise levels below 10µK-arcmin. We use the power spectrum derived from almost 6,000 deg(^2) of these maps to constrain cosmology. The ACT data enable a measurement of the angular scale of features in both the divergence-like polarization and the temperature anisotropy, tracing both the velocity and density at last-scattering. From these one can derive the distance to the last-scattering surface and thus infer the local expansion rate, H0. By combining ACT data with large-scale information from WMAP we measure H0 = 67:6±1:1 km/s/Mpc, at 68% confidence, in excellent agreement with the independently measured Planck satellite estimate (from ACT alone we find H0 = 67:9± 1:5 km/s/Mpc). The ΛCDM model provides a good fit to the ACT data, and we find no evidence for deviations: both the spatial curvature, and the departure from the standard lensing signal in the spectrum, are zero to within 1σ; the number of relativistic species, the primordial Helium fraction, and the running of the spectral index are consistent with ΛCDM predictions to within 1.5{2.2σ. We compare ACT, WMAP, and Planck at the parameter level and find good consistency; we investigate how the constraints on the correlated spectral index and baryon density parameters readjust when adding CMB large-scale information that ACT does not measure. The DR4 products presented here will be publicly released on the NASA Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis.

Simone Aiola↗

Estimating the Ages of FGK Dwarf Stars through the Use of GALEX FUV Magnitudes

Stellar age cannot be directly measured, yet age determinations are fundamental to understanding the evolution of stars, planets, and galaxies. The work presented here builds upon the idea of a stellar-activity age. We utilized far-ultraviolet (FUV) photometry acquired by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) space telescope as an indicator of chromospheric activity to infer ages of late-F, G, and K type dwarf stars. We derived a purely empirical correlation between FUV magnitudes and stellar age in conjunction with (B − V) color. Our attention is restricted to Sun-like stars with color range 0.55⩽(B−V)⩽0.71 and absolute magnitude range 4.3 ≤ M {sub V} ≤ 5.3. The correlation is defined in terms of a FUV-excess parameter Q(FUV−B,B−V). We related stellar age, τ, to Q through the relation log{sub e}(τ)=log{sub e}(a)+bQ, where a and b are fit parameters and functions of (B − V). This correlation is functional up to 6 Gyr for FGK dwarfs. With such a correlation, one only needs Johnson (B − V) and FUV measurements to estimate the stellar age for Population i dwarf stars of solar-like temperature and metallicity. Such a calibration has utility in population studies of FGK dwarfs for further understanding of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way. As an illustration of one such application, we have constructed activity and FUV–age distributions for a sample of thin and thick disk stars, as distinguished by their chemical abundances. Considerable overlap is found between the activity distribution and age range of the two populations. We discuss the possibility that some high-[α/Fe] thick disk stars were formed as a result of the accretion of dwarf galaxies as recently as 4 Gyr ago.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗