Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2008 Joint Meeting of the APS Ohio-Region Section, the AAPT Southern Ohio Section, and the ACS Dayton-Section
Volume 53, Number 8
Friday–Saturday, October 10–11, 2008; Dayton, Ohio
Session C4: Astronomy and Nuclear Physics |
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Chair: Gary Farlow, Wright State University Room: Fawcett Hall 108 |
Saturday, October 11, 2008 8:00AM - 8:12AM |
C4.00001: A note on the quantum-tail effect on fusion reaction rate Alexander Zubarev A study is made of the power-law tail effect in the quantum particle distribution over momentum on the nuclear fusion reactions. Our results [1] do not support the idea of averaging the fusion reaction cross-section over the momentum distribution, postulated and used in many publications. \\[3pt] [1] Alexander L Zubarev, J.Phys. A: Math. Theor. 41, 312604 (2008) [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 11, 2008 8:12AM - 8:24AM |
C4.00002: Track Reconstruction for the NIFFTE TPC Sarvagya Sharma The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) has funded the construction of a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) to be used for precision fission cross-section measurements through the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI). This poster shall illustrate the status of algorithms intended for intelligent track finding and track fitting using raw data obtained TPC simulations. The track fitting effort in this experiment has borrowed a number of ideas from high-energy physics along with other pattern recognition techniques not previously affiliated with experimental physics. Two track-finding techniques have been investigated.~The Hough Transform is a brute force attempt at finding tracks. The second paradigm for track reconstruction, Binary Space Partitioning (BSP) was found to be less computationally expensive than the Hough Transform. BSP has been borrowed from the field of computer animation and rendering.~To determine track fit parameters, an iterative Kalman Filter has been implemented that allows multiple scattering and energy losses to be taken into account to obtain unbiased errors. Fitted tracks obtained from the Kalman Filter were used to generate the best kinematic fit on the vertex. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 11, 2008 8:24AM - 8:36AM |
C4.00003: Global Warming and the Microwave Background. Pierre-Marie Robitaille The energy balance of our planet is determined by the relationship between absorbed (solar) and emitted (earthly) radiation. In many models, the Earth's radiation is derived by applying Stefan's Law, at a given effective temperature, thereby treating the globe as a uniform blackbody source. However, the oceans cannot be treated as simple blackbody emitters. In fact, while water can provide strong emission bands in the IR, the spectrum is far from blackbody. This is particularly important in the microwave region where the oceans mimic a 3K blackbody source (the Penzias and Wilson signal). As a result, the oceans are poor emitters of radiation in this spectral range. Their inability to efficiently emit radiation results in substantial retention of thermal energy within oceanic systems. Unable to dissipate heat through emission, the oceans turn to convection currents. This provides a driving force for oceanic currents and for hurricanes. It is in the interest of the United States to properly ascertain the Earth's emission profile by using an array of satellites which continually monitor spectral emissions from the microwave through the IR. These satellites will reveal that the Penzias and Wilson signal does originate from the oceans. It is only when the complete emission profile of the Earth is properly understood that mankind will begin to make real progress in modeling global warming. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 11, 2008 8:36AM - 8:48AM |
C4.00004: Galaxy Properties and Substructure in the Cluster Abell 160 Craig Koontz, Jason Pinkney We continue development of a procedure for building a large catalog of cluster galaxies and their photometric properties, as measured with CCDs. Our first case, Abell 160, is relatively nearby and we have already obtained spectroscopic redshifts for its brightest galaxies. We have mosaiced this cluster in R and V filters using a CCD imager on the 1.3-meter McGraw-Hill telescope. For each CCD frame we fit a WCS (world coordinate system), remove bright cosmic rays, and extract sources using ``SExtractor.'' We create software for merging source catalogs in such a way as to reject residual cosmic rays and other invalid sources, and to combine redundant measurements without double counting. The measured properties include magnitude, ellipticity, position angle, size, and color (V-R). We compare our data to those of the HST (Hubble Space Telescope) and SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey) archives to examine the accuracy of our star/galaxy separation and our color measurements. For our substructure investigation, we draw several subsamples of galaxies based on stellarity index, color (the color-magnitude relation), magnitude and velocity. The smallest subsample of spectroscopically confirmed members produces significant substructure signals from 1D (velocity) and 3D (x,y,velocity) diagnostics - a small, offset group may be the culprit. The 2D (x,y) diagnostics applied to the larger samples produce some significant statistics, the cause does not seem to be a large-scale merger, but perhaps several small groups. This is consistent with previous X-ray data showing X-ray emitting gas clumped around small groupings of galaxies. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 11, 2008 8:48AM - 9:00AM |
C4.00005: Improving the Archival Tools of NRAO Brian L. Sacash In this project, we cataloged and scientifically characterized the data archives of two retired NRAO single dish telescopes and investigated the tools and techniques of archival research. The project involved creating a strategy for long-term data curation and access. We successfully updated the original data found by writing and using original software along with using software already in existence. Each of the files of all the archives had the proper metadata extracted in order to render the data searchable. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 11, 2008 9:00AM - 9:12AM |
C4.00006: Solar Cycle Characteristics Examined in Separate Hemispheres James Gallagher According to recent research results from solar dynamo models, the north and south hemispheres may evolve separately throughout the solar cycle. Using hemispheric sunspot area from the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO), we measured a phase lag between the north and south hemispheres for solar cycles 12-23, which ranged from 0-19 months. We examined the presence of a Gnevyshev gap to determine if the double-peak of any given solar cycle is caused by an averaging of two hemispheres that are out of phase. We confirmed previous findings that show the Gnevyshev gap to be a hemispheric phenomena and is not due to a superposition of sunspot indices from hemispheres slightly out of phase. We then measured the flux crossing the equator by examining Kitt Peak and SOLIS magnetograms for solar cycles 21-23 and found, on average, a surplus of northern hemispheric flux crossing during the mid-declining phase of each solar cycle. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 11, 2008 9:12AM - 9:24AM |
C4.00007: Nothing is Dark in the New Physics James Beichler In previous APS meetings, I have presented a geometrical explanation of Dark Matter and Dark Energy that makes testable predictions and is thus completely falsifiable. The theory is based on a macroscopically extended fourth dimension of space, yielding a five-dimensional space-time structure. In this structure, the four-dimensional space-time of relativity is extrinsically curved in the higher spatial dimension. Dark Matter is curvature in the higher dimension that is not directly associated with local matter, but instead a result of the interaction between local matter or curvature and the global curvature due to all matter in the universe. Criticisms were leveled that the theory was not mathematical, i.e., there were no algebraic equations to describe the geometrical structure. However, a simple algebraic formula that describes and explains the geometry of the four-dimensional structure of space has since been derived. Although the algebraic formula appears to be Newtonian, it implies a five-dimensional unification of the gravitational and electromagnetic fields such as that accomplished by Kaluza in 1921 and extended by Einstein and his colleagues in the late 1930s. The new equation also shows how gravity can be quantized on the basis of relativity without hypothesizing the discrete nature of matter, i.e., the existence of specific ``particles'' of gravity, inherent in quantum mechanics, the Standard Model and other quantum models. [Preview Abstract] |
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