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California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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2011

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Articles 1 - 30 of 89

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

A Cultured Greigite-Producing Magnetotactic Bacterium In A Novel Group Of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria, Christopher T. Lefèvre, Nicholas Menguy, Fernanda Abreu, Ulysses Lins, Mihály Pósfai, Tanya Prozorov, David Pignol, Richard B. Frankel, Dennis A. Bazylinski Dec 2011

A Cultured Greigite-Producing Magnetotactic Bacterium In A Novel Group Of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria, Christopher T. Lefèvre, Nicholas Menguy, Fernanda Abreu, Ulysses Lins, Mihály Pósfai, Tanya Prozorov, David Pignol, Richard B. Frankel, Dennis A. Bazylinski

Physics

Magnetotactic bacteria contain magnetosomes—intracellular, membrane-bounded, magnetic nanocrystals of magnetite (Fe3O4) or greigite (Fe3S4)—that cause the bacteria to swim along geomagnetic field lines. We isolated a greigite-producing magnetotactic bacterium from a brackish spring in Death Valley National Park, California, USA, strain BW-1, that is able to biomineralize greigite and magnetite depending on culture conditions. A phylogenetic comparison of BW-1 and similar uncultured greigite- and/or magnetite-producing magnetotactic bacteria from freshwater to hypersaline habitats shows that these organisms represent a previously unknown group of sulfate-reducing bacteria in the Deltaproteobacteria. Genomic analysis of BW-1 reveals …


Veritas Observations Of Gamma-Ray Bursts Detected By Swift, V. A. Acciari, E. Aliu, T. Arlen, T. Aune, M. Beilicke, W. Benbow, S. M. Bradbury, J. H. Buckley, V. Bugaev, K. Byrum, A. Cannon, A. Cesarini, J. L. Christiansen, L. Ciupik, E. Collins-Hughes, M. P. Connolly, W. Cui, C. Duke, M. Errando, A. Falcone, J. P. Finley, G. Finnegan, L. Fortson, A. Furniss, N. Galante, D. Gall, S. Godambe, S. Griffin, J. Grube, R. Guenette, G. Gyuk, D. Hanna, J. Holder, G. Hughes, C. M. Hui, T. B. Humensky, D. J. Jackson, P. Kaaret, N. Karlsson, M. Kertzman, D. Kieda, H. Krawczynski, F. Krennrich, M. J. Lang, A. S. Madhavan, G. Maier, S. Mcarthur, A. Mccann, P. Moriarty, M. D. Newbold, R. A. Ong, M. Orr, A. N. Otte, N. Park, J. S. Perkins, M. Pohl, H. Prokoph, J. Quinn, K. Ragan, L. C. Reyes, P. T. Reynolds, E. Roache, H. J. Rose, J. Ruppel, D. B. Saxon, M. Schroedter, G. H. Sembroski, G. D. Şentürk, A. W. Smith, D. Staszak, S. P. Swordy, G. Tešić, M. Theiling, S. Thibadeau, K. Tsurusaki, A. Varlotta, V. V. Vassiliev, S. Vincent, M. Vivier, S. P. Wakely, J. E. Ward, T. C. Weekes, A. Weinstein, T. Weisgarber, D. A. Williams, M. Wood Dec 2011

Veritas Observations Of Gamma-Ray Bursts Detected By Swift, V. A. Acciari, E. Aliu, T. Arlen, T. Aune, M. Beilicke, W. Benbow, S. M. Bradbury, J. H. Buckley, V. Bugaev, K. Byrum, A. Cannon, A. Cesarini, J. L. Christiansen, L. Ciupik, E. Collins-Hughes, M. P. Connolly, W. Cui, C. Duke, M. Errando, A. Falcone, J. P. Finley, G. Finnegan, L. Fortson, A. Furniss, N. Galante, D. Gall, S. Godambe, S. Griffin, J. Grube, R. Guenette, G. Gyuk, D. Hanna, J. Holder, G. Hughes, C. M. Hui, T. B. Humensky, D. J. Jackson, P. Kaaret, N. Karlsson, M. Kertzman, D. Kieda, H. Krawczynski, F. Krennrich, M. J. Lang, A. S. Madhavan, G. Maier, S. Mcarthur, A. Mccann, P. Moriarty, M. D. Newbold, R. A. Ong, M. Orr, A. N. Otte, N. Park, J. S. Perkins, M. Pohl, H. Prokoph, J. Quinn, K. Ragan, L. C. Reyes, P. T. Reynolds, E. Roache, H. J. Rose, J. Ruppel, D. B. Saxon, M. Schroedter, G. H. Sembroski, G. D. Şentürk, A. W. Smith, D. Staszak, S. P. Swordy, G. Tešić, M. Theiling, S. Thibadeau, K. Tsurusaki, A. Varlotta, V. V. Vassiliev, S. Vincent, M. Vivier, S. P. Wakely, J. E. Ward, T. C. Weekes, A. Weinstein, T. Weisgarber, D. A. Williams, M. Wood

Physics

We present the results of 16 Swift-triggered Gamma-ray burst (GRB) follow-up observations taken with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) telescope array from 2007 January to 2009 June. The median energy threshold and response time of these observations were 260 GeV and 320 s, respectively. Observations had an average duration of 90 minutes. Each burst is analyzed independently in two modes: over the whole duration of the observations and again over a shorter timescale determined by the maximum VERITAS sensitivity to a burst with a t−1.5 time profile. This temporal model is characteristic of GRB …


The Lick Agn Monitoring Project 2011: Reverberation Mapping Of Markarian 50, Aaron J. Barth, Anna Pancoast, Shawn J. Thorman, Vardha N. Bennert, David J. Sand, Weidong Li, Gabriela Canalizo, Alexei V. Filippenko, Elinor L. Gates, Jenny E. Greene, Matthew A. Malkan, Daniel Stern, Tommaso Treu, Jong-Hak Woo, Roberto J. Assef, Hyun-Jin Bae, Brendon J. Brewer, Tabitha Buehler, S. Bradley Cenko, Kelsey I. Clubb, Michael C. Cooper, Aleksandar M. Diamond-Stanic, Kyle D. Hiner, Sebastian F. Hönig, Michael D. Joner, Michael T. Kandrashoff, C. David Laney, Mariana S. Lazarova, A. M. Nierenberg, Dawoo Park, Jeffrey M. Silverman, Donghoon Son, Alessandro Sonnenfeld, Erik J. Tollerud, Jonelle L. Walsh, Richard Walters, Robert L. Da Silva, Michele Fumagalli, Michael D. Gregg, Chelsea E. Harris, Eric Y. Hsiao, Jeffrey Lee, Liliana Lopez, Jacob Rex, Nao Suzuki, Jonathan R. Trump, David Tytler, Gábor Worseck, Hassan M. Yesuf Dec 2011

The Lick Agn Monitoring Project 2011: Reverberation Mapping Of Markarian 50, Aaron J. Barth, Anna Pancoast, Shawn J. Thorman, Vardha N. Bennert, David J. Sand, Weidong Li, Gabriela Canalizo, Alexei V. Filippenko, Elinor L. Gates, Jenny E. Greene, Matthew A. Malkan, Daniel Stern, Tommaso Treu, Jong-Hak Woo, Roberto J. Assef, Hyun-Jin Bae, Brendon J. Brewer, Tabitha Buehler, S. Bradley Cenko, Kelsey I. Clubb, Michael C. Cooper, Aleksandar M. Diamond-Stanic, Kyle D. Hiner, Sebastian F. Hönig, Michael D. Joner, Michael T. Kandrashoff, C. David Laney, Mariana S. Lazarova, A. M. Nierenberg, Dawoo Park, Jeffrey M. Silverman, Donghoon Son, Alessandro Sonnenfeld, Erik J. Tollerud, Jonelle L. Walsh, Richard Walters, Robert L. Da Silva, Michele Fumagalli, Michael D. Gregg, Chelsea E. Harris, Eric Y. Hsiao, Jeffrey Lee, Liliana Lopez, Jacob Rex, Nao Suzuki, Jonathan R. Trump, David Tytler, Gábor Worseck, Hassan M. Yesuf

Physics

The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011 observing campaign was carried out over the course of 11 weeks in spring 2011. Here we present the first results from this program, a measurement of the broad-line reverberation lag in the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 50. Combining our data with supplemental observations obtained prior to the start of the main observing campaign, our data set covers a total duration of 4.5 months. During this time, Mrk 50 was highly variable, exhibiting a maximum variability amplitude of a factor of ~4 in the U-band continuum and a factor of ~2 in the Hβ …


The Relation Between Black Hole Mass And Host Spheroid Stellar Mass Out To Z~2, Vardha N. Bennert, Matthew A. Auger, Tommaso Treu, Jong-Hak Woo, Matthew A. Malkan Dec 2011

The Relation Between Black Hole Mass And Host Spheroid Stellar Mass Out To Z~2, Vardha N. Bennert, Matthew A. Auger, Tommaso Treu, Jong-Hak Woo, Matthew A. Malkan

Physics

We combine Hubble Space Telescope images from the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey with archival Very Large Telescope and Keck spectra of a sample of 11 X-ray-selected broad-line active galactic nuclei in the redshift range 1 < z < 2 to study the black-hole-mass-stellar-mass relation out to a look-back time of 10 Gyr. Stellar masses of the spheroidal component (M sph, ) are derived from multi-filter surface photometry. Black hole masses (M BH) are estimated from the width of the broad Mg II emission line and the 3000 Å nuclear luminosity. Comparing with a uniformly measured local sample and taking into account selection effects, we find evolution in the form M BH/M sph, (1 + z)1.96 …


Morphological Features Of Elongated-Anisotropic Magnetosome Crystals In Magnetotactic Bacteria Of The Nitrospirae Phylum And The Deltaproteobacteria Class, Christopher T. Lefèvre, Mihály Pósfai, Fernanda Abreu, Ulysses Lins, Richard B. Frankel, Dennis A. Bazlinski Dec 2011

Morphological Features Of Elongated-Anisotropic Magnetosome Crystals In Magnetotactic Bacteria Of The Nitrospirae Phylum And The Deltaproteobacteria Class, Christopher T. Lefèvre, Mihály Pósfai, Fernanda Abreu, Ulysses Lins, Richard B. Frankel, Dennis A. Bazlinski

Physics

High resolution transmission electron microscopy was used to study the crystallographic habits of the elongated magnetite crystals, variously described as bullet-, tooth- or arrowhead-shaped, in two recently described, uncultured, magnetotactic bacteria belonging to the Nitrospirae phylum designated Candidatus Magnetoovum mohavensis strain LO-1, and Candidatus Thermomagnetovibrio paiutensis strain HSMV-1; and a cultured sulfate-reducing magnetotactic bacterium of the Deltaproteobacteria class of the Proteobacteria phylum designated strain AV-1. The elongation axes of the magnetosomes do not coincide with the easy magnetization axis (which is [111]) but they are parallel to [100] in LO-1 and AV-1 and parallel to [110] in HSMV-1. In all …


Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Of Post-Starburst Quasars, S. L. Cales, M. S. Brotherton, Zhaohui Shang, Vardha N. Bennert, G. Canalizo, R. Stoll, R. Ganguly, D. Vanden Berk, C. Paul, A. Diamond-Stanic Nov 2011

Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Of Post-Starburst Quasars, S. L. Cales, M. S. Brotherton, Zhaohui Shang, Vardha N. Bennert, G. Canalizo, R. Stoll, R. Ganguly, D. Vanden Berk, C. Paul, A. Diamond-Stanic

Physics

We present images of 29 post-starburst quasars (PSQs) from a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Wide Field Channel Snapshot program. These broadlined active galactic nuclei (AGNs) possess the spectral signatures of massive (M burst ~ 1010 M ), moderate-aged stellar populations (hundreds of Myr). Thus, their composite nature provides insight into the AGN-starburst connection. We measure quasar-to-host galaxy light contributions via semi-automated two-dimensional light profile fits of point-spread-function-subtracted images. We examine the host morphologies and model the separate bulge and disk components. The HST/ACS-F606W images reveal an equal number …


Calibration Systems And Methods For Infrared Cameras, Russell Granneman, Nuwan Nagahawatte, Richard M. Goeden, Ted Takagi, Robert Ernst, Gary B. Hughes, Joseph Kostrzewa, John Graff, George Speake, Michael Kent, Neela Nalam, Stephen Lyon, Barbara Sharp, Pierre Boulanger, Neil Cutcliffe, Tim Martin, Ted Hoelter Nov 2011

Calibration Systems And Methods For Infrared Cameras, Russell Granneman, Nuwan Nagahawatte, Richard M. Goeden, Ted Takagi, Robert Ernst, Gary B. Hughes, Joseph Kostrzewa, John Graff, George Speake, Michael Kent, Neela Nalam, Stephen Lyon, Barbara Sharp, Pierre Boulanger, Neil Cutcliffe, Tim Martin, Ted Hoelter

Statistics

Systems and methods directed to calibration techniques for infrared cameras are disclosed. For example, a method of obtaining calibration information for an infrared device includes providing a calibration target adapted to provide a low-emissivity scene; performing a calibration operation on the infrared device to obtain the calibration information; and storing the calibration information.


Similarity Scaling Of Turbulence Spectra And Cospectra In A Shallow Tidal Flow, Ryan K. Walter, Nicholas J. Nidzieko, Stephen G. Monismith Oct 2011

Similarity Scaling Of Turbulence Spectra And Cospectra In A Shallow Tidal Flow, Ryan K. Walter, Nicholas J. Nidzieko, Stephen G. Monismith

Physics

Measured turbulence power spectra, cospectra, and ogive curves from a shallow tidal flow were scaled using Monin‐Obukhov similarity theory to test the applicability to a generic tidal flow of universal curves found from a uniform, neutrally stable atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). While curves from individual 10 min data bursts deviate significantly from similarity theory, averages over large numbers of sufficiently energetic bursts follow the general shape. However, there are several differences: (1) Variance in the measured curves was shifted toward higher frequencies, (2) at low frequencies, velocity spectra were significantly more energetic than theory while cospectra were weaker, and (3) …


Road Runoff And Sediment Sampling For Determining Road Sediment Yield At The Watershed Scale, Christopher G. Surfleet, Arne E. Skaugset Iii, Matthew W. Meadows Oct 2011

Road Runoff And Sediment Sampling For Determining Road Sediment Yield At The Watershed Scale, Christopher G. Surfleet, Arne E. Skaugset Iii, Matthew W. Meadows

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

In this study, we demonstrate that watershed-scale estimates of road sediment production are improved if field measurements of road runoff and sediment production are used in the analysis. We used several techniques to spatially extrapolate measurements of road runoff and sampled sediment: comprehensive road runoff measurements, runoff estimates derived from the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM), and adjustment of the road erosion models WARSEM and SEDMODL2.The sediment yield for the Oak Creek, Oregon, road network based on measured road runoff and sediment was 6.5 tons/year. When DHSVM was used to simulate road runoff, the estimated sediment from roads was …


Detection Of Pulsed Gamma Rays Above 100 Gev From The Crab Pulsar, E. Aliu, T. Arlen, T. Aune, M. Beilicke, W. Benbow, A. Bouvier, S. M. Bradbury, J. H. Buckley, V. Bugaev, K. Byrum, A. Cannon, A. Cesarini, J. L. Christiansen, L. Ciupik, E. Collins-Hughes, M. P. Connolly, W. Cui, R. Dickherber, C. Duke, M. Errando, A. Falcone, J. P. Finley, G. Finnegan, L. Fortson, A. Furniss, N. Galante, D. Gall, K. Gibbs, G. H. Gillanders, S. Godambe, S. Griffin, J. Grube, R. Guenette, G. Gyuk, D. Hanna, J. Holder, H. Huan, G. Hughes, C. M. Hui, T. B. Humensky, A. Imran, P. Kaaret, N. Karlsson, M. Kertzman, D. Kieda, H. Krawczynski, F. Krennrich, M. J. Lang, M. Lyutikov, A. S. Madhavan, G. Maier, P. Majumdar, S. Mcarthur, A. Mccann, M. Mccutcheon, P. Moriarty, R. Mukherjee, P. Nuñez, R. A. Ong, M. Orr, A. N. Otte, N. Park, J. S. Perkins, P. T. Reynolds, E. Roache, J. Rose, J. Ruppel, D. B. Saxon, M. Schroedter, G. H. Sembroski, G. D. Şentürk, A. W. Smith, D. Staszak, G. Tešić, M. Theiling, S. Thibadeau, K. Tsurusaki, J. Tyler, A. Varlotta, V. V. Vassiliev, S. Vincent, M. Vivier, S. P. Wakely, J. E. Ward, T. C. Weekes, A. Weinstein, T. Weisgarber, D. A. Williams, B. Zitzer Oct 2011

Detection Of Pulsed Gamma Rays Above 100 Gev From The Crab Pulsar, E. Aliu, T. Arlen, T. Aune, M. Beilicke, W. Benbow, A. Bouvier, S. M. Bradbury, J. H. Buckley, V. Bugaev, K. Byrum, A. Cannon, A. Cesarini, J. L. Christiansen, L. Ciupik, E. Collins-Hughes, M. P. Connolly, W. Cui, R. Dickherber, C. Duke, M. Errando, A. Falcone, J. P. Finley, G. Finnegan, L. Fortson, A. Furniss, N. Galante, D. Gall, K. Gibbs, G. H. Gillanders, S. Godambe, S. Griffin, J. Grube, R. Guenette, G. Gyuk, D. Hanna, J. Holder, H. Huan, G. Hughes, C. M. Hui, T. B. Humensky, A. Imran, P. Kaaret, N. Karlsson, M. Kertzman, D. Kieda, H. Krawczynski, F. Krennrich, M. J. Lang, M. Lyutikov, A. S. Madhavan, G. Maier, P. Majumdar, S. Mcarthur, A. Mccann, M. Mccutcheon, P. Moriarty, R. Mukherjee, P. Nuñez, R. A. Ong, M. Orr, A. N. Otte, N. Park, J. S. Perkins, P. T. Reynolds, E. Roache, J. Rose, J. Ruppel, D. B. Saxon, M. Schroedter, G. H. Sembroski, G. D. Şentürk, A. W. Smith, D. Staszak, G. Tešić, M. Theiling, S. Thibadeau, K. Tsurusaki, J. Tyler, A. Varlotta, V. V. Vassiliev, S. Vincent, M. Vivier, S. P. Wakely, J. E. Ward, T. C. Weekes, A. Weinstein, T. Weisgarber, D. A. Williams, B. Zitzer

Physics

We report the detection of pulsed gamma rays from the Crab pulsar at energies above 100 giga–electron volts (GeV) with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) array of atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The detection cannot be explained on the basis of current pulsar models. The photon spectrum of pulsed emission between 100 mega–electron volts and 400 GeV is described by a broken power law that is statistically preferred over a power law with an exponential cutoff. It is unlikely that the observation can be explained by invoking curvature radiation as the origin of the observed gamma rays above …


Radio Frequency Noise Effects On The Cern Large Hadron Collider Beam Diffusion, Themis Mastoridis, P. Baudrenghien, A. Butterworth, J. Molendijk, C. Rivetta, J.D. Fox Sep 2011

Radio Frequency Noise Effects On The Cern Large Hadron Collider Beam Diffusion, Themis Mastoridis, P. Baudrenghien, A. Butterworth, J. Molendijk, C. Rivetta, J.D. Fox

Physics

No abstract provided.


Numerical Ocean Modeling And Simulation With Cuda, Jason Mak, Paul Choboter, Chris Lupo Sep 2011

Numerical Ocean Modeling And Simulation With Cuda, Jason Mak, Paul Choboter, Chris Lupo

Computer Science and Software Engineering

ROMS is software that models and simulates an ocean region using a finite difference grid and time stepping. ROMS simulations can take from hours to days to complete due to the compute-intensive nature of the software. As a result, the size and resolution of simulations are constrained by the performance limitations of modern computing hardware. To address these issues, the existing ROMS code can be run in parallel with either OpenMP or MPI. In this work, we implement a new parallelization of ROMS on a graphics processing unit (GPU) using CUDA Fortran. We exploit the massive parallelism offered by modern …


Loss Of Landau Damping In The Lhc, E. Shaposhnikova, T. Argyropoulos, T. Bohl, C. Bhat, P. Baudrenghien, A. Butterworth, T. Mastoridis, J. Esteban Muller, G. Papotti, J. Tuckmantel, W. Venturini Delsolaro, U. Wehrle Sep 2011

Loss Of Landau Damping In The Lhc, E. Shaposhnikova, T. Argyropoulos, T. Bohl, C. Bhat, P. Baudrenghien, A. Butterworth, T. Mastoridis, J. Esteban Muller, G. Papotti, J. Tuckmantel, W. Venturini Delsolaro, U. Wehrle

Physics

Loss of Landau damping leading to a single bunch longitudinal instability has been observed in the LHC during the ramp and on the 3.5 TeV flat top for small injected longitudinal emittances. The first measurements are in reasonable agreement with the threshold calculated for the expected longitudinal reactive impedance budget of the LHC as well as with the threshold dependence on beam energy. The cure is a controlled longitudinal emittance blow-up during the ramp which for a constant threshold through the cycle should provide an emittance proportional to the square root of energy.


Longitudinal Emittance Blow-Up In The Lhc, P. Baudrenghien, A. Butterworth, M. Jaussi, T. Mastoridis, G. Papotti, E. Shaposhnikova, J. Tuckmantel Sep 2011

Longitudinal Emittance Blow-Up In The Lhc, P. Baudrenghien, A. Butterworth, M. Jaussi, T. Mastoridis, G. Papotti, E. Shaposhnikova, J. Tuckmantel

Physics

The LHC relies on Landau damping for longitudinal stability. To avoid decreasing the stability margin at high energy, the longitudinal emittance must be continuously increased during the acceleration ramp. Longitudinal blow-up provides the required emittance growth. The method was implemented through the summer of 2010. We inject band-limited RF phase-noise in the main accelerating cavities during the whole ramp of about 11 minutes. Synchrotron frequencies change along the energy ramp, but the digitally created noise tracks the frequency change. The position of the noise-band, relative to the nominal synchrotron frequency, and the bandwidth of the spectrum are set by pre-defined …


An Axiomatic Approach To The Non-Linear Theory Of Generalized Functions And Consistency Of Laplace Transforms, Todor D. Todorov Sep 2011

An Axiomatic Approach To The Non-Linear Theory Of Generalized Functions And Consistency Of Laplace Transforms, Todor D. Todorov

Mathematics

We offer an axiomatic definition of a differential algebra of generalized functions over an algebraically closed non-Archimedean field. This algebra is of Colombeau type in the sense that it contains a copy of the space of Schwartz distributions. We study the uniqueness of the objects we define and the consistency of our axioms. Next, we identify an inconsistency in the conventional Laplace transform theory. As an application we offer a free of contradictions alternative in the framework of our algebra of generalized functions. The article is aimed at mathematicians, physicists and engineers who are interested in the non-linear theory of …


On Human Analyst Performance In Assisted Requirements Tracing: Statistical Analysis, A. Dekhtyar, O. Dekhtyar, J. Holden, D. Cuddeback, W. K. Kong Aug 2011

On Human Analyst Performance In Assisted Requirements Tracing: Statistical Analysis, A. Dekhtyar, O. Dekhtyar, J. Holden, D. Cuddeback, W. K. Kong

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Assisted requirements tracing is a process in which a human analyst validates candidate traces produced by an automated requirements tracing method or tool. The assisted requirements tracing process splits the difference between the commonly applied time-consuming, tedious, and error-prone manual tracing and the automated requirements tracing procedures that are a focal point of academic studies. In fact, in software assurance scenarios, assisted requirements tracing is the only way in which tracing can be at least partially automated. In this paper, we present the results of an extensive 12 month study of assisted tracing, conducted using three different tracing processes at …


A Sporadic Low‐Velocity Layer Atop The Western U.S. Mantle Transition Zone And Short‐Wavelength Variations In Transition Zone Discontinuities, B. Schmandt, K.G. Dueker, S.M. Hansen, John J. Jasbinsek, Z. Zhang Aug 2011

A Sporadic Low‐Velocity Layer Atop The Western U.S. Mantle Transition Zone And Short‐Wavelength Variations In Transition Zone Discontinuities, B. Schmandt, K.G. Dueker, S.M. Hansen, John J. Jasbinsek, Z. Zhang

Physics

Teleseismic receiver function analysis of data from six dense arrays in the western U.S. is used to investigate mantle transition zone (MTZ) discontinuities and the prevalence of a low‐velocity layer atop the 410 km discontinuity (410‐LVL). Negative polarity Ps arrivals indicative of a low‐velocity layer with a top 25–60 km above the 410 are identified in 8–11 out of 18 stacks of receiver functions from highly sampled back azimuth corridors. The 410‐LVL is interpreted as partial melt resulting from upwelling of hydrated mantle across a water solubility contrast at the 410. The 669 km mean depth of the 660 km …


Automated Systems And Methods For Testing Infrared Cameras, Gary B. Hughes Aug 2011

Automated Systems And Methods For Testing Infrared Cameras, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

Systems and methods are disclosed herein to provide automated testing on infrared image data to detect image quality defects. For example, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, image processing algorithms are disclosed to generate an image quality metric that may be compared to one or more thresholds to perform an automated test for image quality defects. For example, the image quality metric may be compared to two thresholds to determine if the corresponding infrared sensor or infrared camera is defective or not due to image quality or requires further manual inspection by test personnel.


Polysat’S Next Generation Avionics Design, Greg Manyak, John M. Bellardo Aug 2011

Polysat’S Next Generation Avionics Design, Greg Manyak, John M. Bellardo

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The CubeSat platform provides a unique challenge for flight software design due to the incredible size and power constraints. A number of tradeoffs must be made to balance effectiveness, fault tolerance, and cost. These basic requirements have been combined with the lessons learned from Cal Poly’s past 8-bit avionics system to design a significant revision based around a 32-bit microprocessor running Linux. This work analyzes both generations of avionics design, including a discussion of major design principles that are relevant to other CubeSat missions.


Icodes: A Load-Planning System That Demonstrates The Value Of Ontologies In The Realm Of Logistical Command And Control (C2), Kym J. Pohl, Peter Morosoff Aug 2011

Icodes: A Load-Planning System That Demonstrates The Value Of Ontologies In The Realm Of Logistical Command And Control (C2), Kym J. Pohl, Peter Morosoff

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

No abstract provided.


The Role Of Llnl's Fast Calibration Facility In Diagnosing Nif Fusion Plasmas, Joshua G. Thompson, Carey Scott, Greg V. Brown Aug 2011

The Role Of Llnl's Fast Calibration Facility In Diagnosing Nif Fusion Plasmas, Joshua G. Thompson, Carey Scott, Greg V. Brown

STAR Program Research Presentations

The Fusion and Astrophysics (FAST) Calibration and Diagnostic Facility uses the original Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT-I) to profile x-ray filters that are used in the Dante Soft X-Ray Diagnostic at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). FAST has an advantage over any other facility not only for its high accuracy, but also for its proximity to NIF in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). This makes for highly accurate and near-instantaneous filter calibration turnover.

EBIT-I was first constructed to create, trap, and observe static highly charged ions (HCIs) and conduct experimental astrophysics (creating an x-ray spectroscopy catalogue of ions). To …


Rock Porosity Analysis Using High Resolution X-Ray Tomography, Leo Groner, Dula Parkinson, Katya Bazilevskaya Aug 2011

Rock Porosity Analysis Using High Resolution X-Ray Tomography, Leo Groner, Dula Parkinson, Katya Bazilevskaya

STAR Program Research Presentations

Understanding rock porosity, the fraction of rock volume that is in pores, is a key to modeling weathering and flow of water, petroleum and CO2 through geological structures. Weathering of rocks affects the CO2 cycle, nutrient cycle and soil formation. Rock porosity affects water flow rates and, in turn, affects weathering. Avizo software was used to explore, visualize and measure the reconstructed high-resolution X-ray micro-tomography data collected from scanned rocks. Many Avizo approaches were tried before arriving at an acceptable process to determine their porosity characteristics. Porosity dynamics are affected by weathering and lithification. At micron resolution, the image is …


Vapor Liquid Solid Growths Of Germanium And Gallium Antimonide Nanowires, Ralph Alvarez, Esmeralda Arreola, Michael Oye, Meyya Meyyappan Aug 2011

Vapor Liquid Solid Growths Of Germanium And Gallium Antimonide Nanowires, Ralph Alvarez, Esmeralda Arreola, Michael Oye, Meyya Meyyappan

STAR Program Research Presentations

Determining the optimal growth parameters for germanium (Ge) and gallium antimonide (GaSb) nanowires is the focus of this research. Given the fact that nano materials behave differently from their bulk counterparts we are researching some variables that influence nanowire diameter and length such as temperature, ramp rate, gas flow rate, and catalyst particle size. Based on the nano material size which is typically a few 10s of nanometers wide, these nano materials can be engineered to take advantage of their optical properties. Specifically the infrared (IR) response of Ge and GaSb nanowires are directly controllable based on their geometry. Fine …


Laboratory Astrophysics: Using Ebit Measurements To Interpret High Resolution Spectra From Celestial Sources, Carey Scott, Joshua Thompson, N. Hell, Greg V. Brown Aug 2011

Laboratory Astrophysics: Using Ebit Measurements To Interpret High Resolution Spectra From Celestial Sources, Carey Scott, Joshua Thompson, N. Hell, Greg V. Brown

STAR Program Research Presentations

Astrophysicists use radiation to investigate the physics controlling a variety of celestial sources, including stellar atmospheres, black holes, and binary systems. By measuring the spectrum of the emitted radiation, astrophysicists can determine a source’s temperature and composition. Accurate atomic data are needed for reliably interpreting these spectra. Here we present an overview of how LLNL’s EBIT facility is used to put the atomic data on sound footing for use by the high energy astrophysics community.


Relationships Between Snow Pack, Soil Moisture, And Forest Greenness: Implications For Smap, Jordan Anderson, Noah Molotch, Bin Guan Aug 2011

Relationships Between Snow Pack, Soil Moisture, And Forest Greenness: Implications For Smap, Jordan Anderson, Noah Molotch, Bin Guan

STAR Program Research Presentations

Snowpack in the arid/semi-arid western United States is a critical element of the hydrologic cycle as water is stored in the winter and released in the spring and summer. The warmer seasons rely heavily on this water source for various purposes including economic (farming), environmental and recreational demands. Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors were used in this project to measure seasonal variability in global vegetation phenology and productivity. MODIS data was used to calculate Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to estimate net primary production of subalpine forests in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Preliminary results indicate that variability in forest …


Assessing Laser Lifetime Test Performance, Joe Weichman, Hamid Hemmati, Malcolm Wright Aug 2011

Assessing Laser Lifetime Test Performance, Joe Weichman, Hamid Hemmati, Malcolm Wright

STAR Program Research Presentations

Assessing expected component lifetime is necessary in developing instruments for future space-flight projects to ensure long term operation in the challenging environment. Although semiconductor diode lasers have widespread use in terrestrial applications, their use in space is still an emerging technology that requires on-going testing to demonstrate their capability. The project called for re-establishing the test setup for assessing lifetime performance of 20 continuously running 200mW 830 nm diode lasers. These lasers underwent previous testing based on parameters for NuSTAR’s laser metrology system, and met the six month lifetime project requirements under nominal operating conditions. Laser testing is currently underway …


Beam Halo Measurements At The Spear3 Synchrotron, Jonathan B. Kamp, Jeff Corbett Aug 2011

Beam Halo Measurements At The Spear3 Synchrotron, Jonathan B. Kamp, Jeff Corbett

STAR Program Research Presentations

It is known that in an intense beam, particles will start to spread from the core of the beam. This spreading of particles outside the core beam is known as a halo. The affects of unwanted particles spreading from a core beam can have detrimental effects to nearby machinery and personal. The issue with understanding beam halo lies with its low intensity compared to the core beam. In order to analyze the halo, we will use a digital micro mirror array device (DMA) to block out the core of a visible beam coming from the SPEAR3 synchrotron and image the …


Effects Of Ambient Gases On Icf Target Capsules, Bryan Chambers, Steve Letts, Michael Stadermann Aug 2011

Effects Of Ambient Gases On Icf Target Capsules, Bryan Chambers, Steve Letts, Michael Stadermann

STAR Program Research Presentations

We researched how the chemical and physical properties of a plasma polymer fuel capsule change as they are exposed to ambient gases. The fuel capsules contain the deuterium fuel inside them, they serve as the outer shell for the fuel and act as a ablator for the process. If they are reactive or diffusive with the atmosphere this can change their mass and effect the outcome of the fusion shots performed at the National Ignition Facility where High Powered Lasers are incident upon a gold hohlraum containing a capsule. We discovered that nitrogen and water vapor diffuse into the material …


Completeness Of The Leibniz Field And Rigorousness Of Infinitesimal Calculus, James F. Hall, Todor D. Todorov Aug 2011

Completeness Of The Leibniz Field And Rigorousness Of Infinitesimal Calculus, James F. Hall, Todor D. Todorov

Mathematics

We present a characterization of the completeness of the field of real numbers in the form of a collection of ten equivalent statements borrowed from algebra, real analysis, general topology and non-standard analysis. We also discuss the completeness of non-Archimedean fields and present several examples of such fields. As an application we exploit one of our results to argue that the Leibniz infinitesimal calculus in the 18th century was already a rigorous branch of mathematics – at least much more rigorous than most contemporary mathematicians prefer to believe. By advocating our particular historical point of view, we hope to …


An Agent Facilitated Design Conversation System For Facilitating The Designer In Creative Thinking In Architectural Design, Geeta Arjun, Jim Plume Aug 2011

An Agent Facilitated Design Conversation System For Facilitating The Designer In Creative Thinking In Architectural Design, Geeta Arjun, Jim Plume

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The paper discusses a current research that investigates if a computer aided conversation system can be created to support the human thought process in the early stages of architectural design. It argues that design conversations are an essential premise for designing, especially at the early stages, when the designer has to brainstorm ideas to generate creative conceptual solution-conjectures. The paper also argues that design knowledge is mainly dependent on a designer’s experiences. But experiential knowledge, stored in the long term memory is difficult to recall. Based on these arguments, an agent-based knowledge system, Design Thinker, is designed to allow for …