Topological defects and highest energy cosmic and gamma rays

In this paper we review the hypothesis that a substantial part of the cosmic ray flux observed above about 10¹⁹ eV may be produced by decaying or annihilating topological defects left over from phase transitions in the early universe at grand unification energy scales ( 10¹⁶ GeV). Possible signatures of cosmic ray producing defect models are discussed which could be tested experimentally in the near future. We thereby focus on model independent universal spectral properties of the predicted particle fluxes.     

Hydra — A 3-dimensional electron and ion hot plasma instrument for the POLAR spacecraft of the GGS mission

HYDRA is an experimental hot plasma investigation for the POLAR spacecraft of the GGS program. A consortium of institutions has designed a suite of particle analyzers that sample the velocity space of electron and ions between 2 keV/q – 35 keV/q in three dimensions, with a routine time resolution of 0.5 s. Routine coverage of velocity space will be accomplished with an angular homogeneity assumption of 16°, appropriate for subsonic plasmas, but with special 1.5° resolution for electrons with energies between 100 eV and 10 keV along and opposed to the local magnetic field. This instrument produces 4.9 kilobits s^–1 to the telemetry, consumes on average 14 W and requires 18.7 kg for deployment including its internal shielding. The scientific objectives for the polar magnetosphere fall into four broad categories: (1) those to define the ambient kinetic regimes of ions and electrons; (2) those to elucidate the magnetohydrodynamic responses in these regimes; (3) those to assess the particle populations with high time resolution; and (4) those to determine the global topology of the magnetic field. In thefirst group are issues of identifying the origins of particles at high magnetic latitudes, their energization, the altitude dependence of the forces, including parallel electric fields they have traversed. In thesecond group are the physics of the fluid flows, regimes of current, and plasma depletion zones during quiescent and disturbed magnetic conditions. In thethird group is the exploration of the processes that accompany the rapid time variations known to occur in the auroral zone, cusp and entry layers as they affect the flow of mass, momentum and energy in the auroral region. In thefourth class of objectives are studies in conjunction with the SWE measurements of the Strahl in the solar wind that exploit the small gyroradius of thermal electrons to detect those magnetic field lines that penetrate the auroral region that are directly open to interplanetary space where, for example, the Polar Rain is observed.     

Optimum FFT-based frequency acquisition with application toCOSPAS-SARSAT

In the case of a single sinusoid or multiple well-separated sinusoids, a coarse estimator consisting of a windowed Fourier transform followed by a fine estimator which is an interpolator is a good approximation to an optimal frequency acquisition and measurement algorithm. The design tradeoffs are described. It is shown that for the fine-frequency estimator a good method is to fit a Gaussian function to the fast-Fourier-transform (FFT) peak and its two neighbors. This method achieves a frequency standard deviation and a bias in the order of only a few percent of a bin. In the case of short-time stationarity, for a moderate number of averages and for an adaptive threshold detector, only between 0.5 and 1 dB is lost when averaging is traded off for FFT length, in contrast to the asymptotic result of 1.5 dB. The COSPAS-SARSAT satellite system for emergency detection and localization is used to illustrate the concepts. The algorithm is analyzed theoretically, and good agreement is found with test results     

Multiposition alignment of strapdown inertial navigation system

The authors demonstrate that the stationary alignment of strapdown inertial navigation system (SDINS) can be improved by employing the multiposition/technique. Using an observability analysis, it is shown that an optimal two-position alignment not only satisfies complete observability conditions but also minimizes alignment errors. This is done by analytic rank testing of the stripped observability matrix and numerical calculation of the error covariance. It is also shown that an optimal three-position alignment accelerates the convergence of the alignment error compared with two-position alignment     

The organic matter of comet Halley as inferred by joint gas phase and solid phase analyses

During encounters with comet Halley, the experiment PICCA onboard GIOTTO measured the gas phase organic ion composition of the coma and the experiment PUMA onboard VEGA-1 measured the dust composition. Joining both results, we obtain a consistent picture of the parent organic matter from which dust and gas is produced. One recognizes a complex unsaturated polycondensate, which splits during coma-formation into the more refractory C=C,C-N-containing dust part, and the more volatile C=C,C-O-containing gas part. The responsible exothermal chemical reactions, which are triggered by the sunlight, may play a major role in the dynamics of coma formation.This paper is a shortened and upgraded version of Krueger, F.R., Korth, A., and Kissel, J.: 1989, in S. Chang (ed.) Proc. of the ROSETTA Conf., Milpitas CA, January 1989, submitted.     

Optimum gain control for A/D conversion using digitized I/Q data inquadrature sampling

Calculation of optimum gain for minimum distortion due to A/D (analog-to-digital) conversion requires the estimation of the input signal strength. To use a common AGC (automatic gain control) for both the I/Q (in-phase and quadrature) signals, it is efficient to estimate the input signal strength using the quantized A/D output from both channels. Assuming a Gaussian input, the relationship between σ of the input of the A/D converter and E(|x|+|y|) and E(max(|x|,|y|)+1/2 min (|x|,|y|)) for t quantized I/Q output x and y is derived. Numerical results obtained using the derived expression and the statistical data obtained through simulation show excellent agreement. It is concluded that, because of its simplicity, the cubic equation obtained by fitting the numerical results should be useful     

Comments on `Tracking a maneuvering target using input estimation''

P.L. Boglar (see ibid., vol.AES-23, no.3, p.298-310, May 1987) developed a recursive formulation of the Chan, Hu, and Plant (CHP) algorithm, and the results of the simulation verified the performance improvements. The commenter claims that Bogler obtained an incorrect recursive formulation of input estimation because he incorrectly used the formulation of the Kalman filter. The commenter presents calculations that aim to demonstrate this claim     

Augmenting the Linear Variance Equation

A technique is developed to convert the covariance analysis ofcertain time-varying linear systems into time-invariant form, thusallowing an arbitrary time step for the solution of the differentialequations. The result is accomplished by augmenting the linearvariance equation and augmenting the state vector if necessary. Themethod is illustrated with an example showing the covariancepropagation of ring laser gyro errors in a strapdown inertial systeminto navigation errors during turns.     

Carrier Tracking by Smoothing Filter Improves Symbol SNR

The potential benefit of using a smoothing filter to estimate a carrier phase over use of phase-locked loops (PLL) is determined. Numerical results are presented for the performance of three possible configurations of an all-digital coherent demodulation receiver. These are residual carrier PLL, sideband-aided residual carrier PLL, and finally sideband aided with Kalman smoother. The average symbol SNR after losses due to carrier phase estimation is computed for different total power SNRs, symbol rates, and symbol SNRs. It is found that smoothing is most beneficial for low symbol SNRs and low symbol rates. Smoothing gains up to 0.7 dB over sideband-aided residual carrier PLL, and the combined benefit of smoothing and sideband aiding relative to residual carrier loop is often in excess of 1 dB.     

Instrument Failure Detection in Partially Observable Systems

Instrument failure detection using the dedicated observer scheme (DOS) depends on partial state observability through each instrument which is monitored. For instrument fault detection by the DOS technique, a quantitative measure of partial state observability is established for each instrument and used to determine a necessary condition on the output structure of the system. This measure, called the internal redundancy of the instrument, indicates the complexity of the logic required for failure detection, and it also indicates where some hardware redundancy can be introduced into the system to improve the fault detection capability of the DOS. The principles developed are applied to a simulation of the pitch axis autopilot of the A7 jet aircraft.