Physics Commons^™

Evidence For Day-To-Night Ion Transport At Low Solar Activity In The Venus Pre-Dawn Ionosphere, J. F. Brannon, Jane L. Fox, H. S. Porter

Physics Faculty Publications

Periapsis of the Pioneer Venus spacecraft dropped below 180 km on August 28, 1992 near midnight, and 42 orbits of low altitude data at moderately low solar activity in the pre-dawn sector were obtained before contact was lost to the spacecraft in October, 1992. Through a combination of analysis of data from the PV orbiter ion mass spectrometer (OIMS) and modeling, we consider here what can be learned about the relative importance of plasma transport from the dayside and electron precipitation in maintaining the nightside ionosphere during the re-entry period. In particular, we examine here the atomic ion density profiles. …

The Chemical Evolution Of Qsos And The Implications For Cosmology And Galaxy Formation, Fred Hamann, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We examine the chemical evolution of QSO broad-line gas by applying spectral synthesis and chemical enrichment models to the N V/C IV and N V/He II emission-line ratios. The models indicate that BLR metallicities are typically ~1 to perhaps ≳10 times solar. The enrichment must occur in ≲1 Gyr for sources where the redshift is ≳3 (if q₀ = ½). The higher metallicity QSOs require star formation favoring massive stars (compared to the Galactic disk). These results imply that extensive evolution usually occurs before the QSOs become observable. Our models of the evolution are equivalent to models proposed for …

A Masing [Fe Xi] Line, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

I draw attention to a maser which occurs within the ground term of Fe¹⁰⁺. In many photoionized environments, infrared fine-structure lines and the [O I] λ6300 line become optically thick but maser amplification of ionic fine-structure lines is unusual. During the course of development of a code designed to simulate gas under radiative-collisional equilibrium, the radiative transfer of roughly 500 ionic/atomic emission lines was treated using escape probabilities. Nearly all forbidden lines can become optically thick under extreme conditions, but the ³Pj = 1, 0 [Fe XI] 6.08 μm transition is the only line …

On The Escape Of Oxygen And Hydrogen From Mars, Jane L. Fox

Physics Faculty Publications

Escape rates of oxygen atoms from dissociative recombination of O₂⁺ above the Martian exobase are computed in light of new information from ab initio calculations of the dissociative recombination process, and our recently revised understanding of the Martian dayside ionosphere. Only about 60% of the dissociative recombinations occur in channels in which the O atoms are released with energies in excess of the escape velocity. Futhermore, we find that the computed escape fluxes for O depend greatly on the nature of the ion loss process that has been found necessary to reproduce the topside ion density profiles measured …

Upper Limits To The Nightside Ionosphere Of Mars, Jane L. Fox

Physics Faculty Publications

The nightside ionosphere of Mars could be produced by electron precipitation or by plasma transport from the dayside, by analogy to the Venus, but few measurements are available. We report here model calculations of upper limits to the nightside ion densities on Mars that would be produced by both mechanisms. For the auroral model, we have adopted the downward traveling portions of the electron spectra measured by the HARP instrument on the Soviet Phobos spacecraft in the Martian plasma sheet and in the magnetotail lobes. For the plasma transport case, we have imposed on a model of the nightside thermosphere, …

The Narrow-Line Region Of High-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei, Beverley J. Wills, H. Netzer, M. S. Brotherton, Mingsheng Han, D. Wills, J. A. Baldwin, Gary J. Ferland, I. W. A. Browne

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We have made high signal-to-noise spectroscopic observations of seven radio-loud quasars with the Faint Object Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope and from the ground at McDonald Observatory and at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The resolution is 300-400 km s^-1 over the wavelength range 1000-8500 Å, enabling us to separate the broad and narrow components of the emission lines. This is the first study of the optical and UV narrow lines in such high-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs).

The most important and striking observational result is the relative weakness of the narrow ultraviolet lines, assuming that they have …

The Dynamics Of Stellar Outflows Dominated By Interaction Of Dust And Radiation, Nathan Netzer, Moshe Elitzur

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Wind outflow around a late-type star driven by radiation pressure on dust grains is investigated in detail. The equation of motion for the outflow coupled with the equation of radiative transfer is solved treating the circumstellar envelope, which consists of gas and dust, as a two-component fluid. Because of the drift of the dust particles through the gas, the dust-to-gas ratio varies with distance even if grain formation is a prompt process. The coupling between dust and gas weakens as the mass-loss rate decreases until finally the rate of momentum transfer to the gas is insufficient to overcome gravity when …

Large Amplitude L=1 Coherent Structures In Non-Neutral Plasmas Confined In A Cylindrical Trap, Ross L. Spencer, Grant W. Mason

Faculty Publications

The computation of l= 1 coherent structures in non-neutral plasmas with arbitrary density profiles and for large displacements of the plasma from the symmetry axis of a confining cylindrical trap is described. As the structures are displaced from the axis, they revolve about the symmetry axis with a frequency that typically increases with displacement. The plasma also is distorted into an approximately elliptical shape. The frequency shifts and the eccentricities as a function of displacement, plasma size, and the shape of the density profile are both computed numerically and calculated analytically. The results are shown to be consistent with data …

Photoluminescence And Absorption Studies Of Defects In Cdte And Znxcd1-Xte Crystals, Cheryl Barnett Davis, David D. Allred, A. Reyes-Mena, Jesus González-Hernández, Ovidio González, Bret C. Hess, Worth P. Allred

Faculty Publications

We have studied at cryogenic temperatures photoluminescence features which lie more than 0.15 eV below the band edge in ZnxCd1-xTe (0≤x≤0.09) crystals. The same features, namely a defect band which lies at about 0.13-0.20 eV below the band-gap energy and a peak at 1.1 eV, that are observed in pure CdTe samples are observed in these alloy materials. In annealed samples we observe that the 1.1 eV feature, which has been attributed to tellurium vacancies, increases with fast cooling. Increased concentrations of tellurium vacancies can be understood in terms of the phase diagram of CdTe which indicates that higher concentrations …

Distinguishing A Charged Higgs Signal From A Heavy Wr Signal, David I. Kaiser

Dartmouth Scholarship

It is shown that non-Standard Model bosons should obey an observable asymmetry in their decays to taus. This asymmetry enables a distinction to be made between charged Higgsboson signalsand heavy right-handed Wboson signals,by reconstructing the orientation of the z with respect to the beam axis.

The Measurement Of Astronomical Parallaxes With Ccd Imaging Cameras On Small Telescopes, Stephen J. Ratcliff, Thomas J. Balonek, Laurence A. Marschall, David L. Dupuy, Carlton R. Pennypacker, Ritu Verma, Anastasia Alexov, Vivian Bonney

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Small telescopes equipped with charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging cameras are well suited to introductory laboratory exercises in positional astronomy (astrometry). An elegant example is the determination of the parallax of extraterrestrial objects, such as asteroids. For laboratory exercises suitable for introductory students, the astronomical hardware needs are relatively modest, and under the best circumstances, the analysis requires little more than arithmetic and a microcomputer with image display capabilities. Results from the first such coordinated parallax observations of asteroids ever made are presented. In addition, procedures for several related experiments, involving single-site observations and/or parallaxes of earth-orbiting artificial satellites, are outlined.

Low-Frequency Feature In The First-Order Raman Spectrum Of Amorphous Carbon, David D. Allred, Qi Wang, Jesus González-Hernández

Faculty Publications

In the first-order Raman spectrum of amorphous carbon (a-C) there is a low-frequency feature in the 200-900-cm-1 region. This feature is characteristic of the highly disordered amorphous-carbon materials. We note that the intensity of this feature is very sensitive to the thermal history of samples, thus suggesting that it is an important measure of the degree of disorder of the a-C materials. We also discuss the relationship between this feature and the phonon density of states of graphite.

Exponential Growth Of An Unstable L=1 Diocotron Mode For A Hollow Electron Column In A Warm-Fluid Model, S. Neil Rasband, Ross L. Spencer, Richard R. Vanfleet

Faculty Publications

Numerical investigations of a warm-fluid model with an isothermal equation of state for the perpendicular dynamics of an axisymmetric, magnetically confined pure electron plasma predict an exponentially unstable, l=1, diocotron mode for hollow density profiles. The unstable mode can be identified with a stable, nonsmooth mode that exists in cold drift models but which is destabilized by finite temperature effects. The unstable mode has many properties similar to the experimental results reported by Driscoll [Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 645 (1990)].

On The System Of Diffuse Interstellar Bands At 5844 And 5850 Å, J Krelowski, Theodore P. Snow, J Papaj, C G. Seab, B Wszolek

Physics Faculty Publications

Two neighboring diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) at 5844 and 5850 Å are shown to be of different origin. The presence or absence of the 5844 DIB is related to the ratio of the two prominent DIBs at 5780 and 5797 Å as well as to the nature of the ultraviolet extinction curve. The 5844 Å DIB is very sensitive to the extinction, being completely absent in cases where the far-UV extinction is low. This suggests that the carrier is destroyed by photons having energies above 11 or 12 eV. The 5850 Å DIB correlates very well with the well-studied DIB …

Quantam Wave Turbulence, Alejandro Garcia, M. Haeri, S. Putterman, P. Roberts

Faculty Publications

The nonlinear quantum kinetic equation for the interaction of sound waves is solved via analytic and numerical techniques. In the classical regime energy cascades to higher frequency (ω) according to the steady-state power law ω-3/2. In the quantum limit, the system prefers a reverse cascade of energy which follows the power law ω-6. Above a critical flux, a new type of spectrum appears which is neither self-similar nor close to equilibrium. This state of nonlinear quantum wave turbulence represents a flow of energy directly from the classical source to the quantum degrees of freedom.

The Production And Escape Of Nitrogen Atoms On Mars, Jane L. Fox

Physics Faculty Publications

We have computed the production rates and densities of odd nitrogen species in the Martian atmosphere using updated rate coefficients and a revised ionosphere-thermosphere model. We find that the computed densities of NO are somewhat smaller than those measured by Viking 1, but reasonable agreement can be obtained by assuming that the rate coefficient for loss of odd nitrogen in the reaction of N with NO is smaller at temperatures that prevail in the lower Martian thermosphere (about 130–160 K) than the standard value, which applies to temperatures of 200–400 K. We have also modeled the escape fluxes of N …