Water Cherenkov detectors:MILAGRO

This paper discusses the properties of using the water Cherenkov technique to detect air showers in the few hundred GeV to 100 TeV energy range. The responses of a 6 m² 2 m deep water Cherenkov counter and that of a 6 m² 10cm thick scintillator-lead sandwich counter to air shower electrons and photons is described. The advantages of water Cherenkov detector is outlined. Its application to do VHE gamma ray astronomy is discussed with particular reference to the MILAGRO telescope currently under construction. Milagro, a water-Cherenkov detector to do gamma ray astronomy above 100 Gev, uses an existing pool 60m × 80m by 8m, located in the Jemez mountains near Los Alamos, NM. The threshold of the MILAGRO detector is comparable to atmospheric Cherenkov detectors, however it has several advantages over these optical detectors. MILAGRO can operate 24 hours a day in all weather conditions and it has an open aperture which allows it to view the entire northern sky every day. These capabilities allow for a systematic all-sky survey to be done for the first time at these energies. MILAGRO will measure the Crab spectrum with high significance over a wide energy range, it will detect and measure the spectra from AGN's such as MRK 421 and it will search for short duration bursts from GRBs and possibly evaporating PBHs.     

The Origin of Mercury

Mercury’s unusually high mean density has always been attributed to special circumstances that occurred during the formation of the planet or shortly thereafter, and due to the planet’s close proximity to the Sun. The nature of these special circumstances is still being debated and several scenarios, all proposed more than 20 years ago, have been suggested. In all scenarios, the high mean density is the result of severe fractionation occurring between silicates and iron. It is the origin of this fractionation that is at the centre of the debate: is it due to differences in condensation temperature and/or in material characteristics (e.g. density, strength)? Is it because of mantle evaporation due to the close proximity to the Sun? Or is it due to the blasting off of the mantle during a giant impact? In this paper we investigate, in some detail, the fractionation induced by a giant impact on a proto-Mercury having roughly chondritic elemental abundances. We have extended the previous work on this hypothesis in two significant directions. First, we have considerably increased the resolution of the simulation of the collision itself. Second, we have addressed the fate of the ejecta following the impact by computing the expected reaccretion timescale and comparing it to the removal timescale from gravitational interactions with other planets (essentially Venus) and the Poynting–Robertson effect. To compute the latter, we have determined the expected size distribution of the condensates formed during the cooling of the expanding vapor cloud generated by the impact. We find that, even though some ejected material will be reaccreted, the removal of the mantle of proto-Mercury following a giant impact can indeed lead to the required long-term fractionation between silicates and iron and therefore account for the anomalously high mean density of the planet. Detailed coupled dynamical–chemical modeling of this formation mechanism should be carried out in such a way as to allow explicit testing of the giant impact hypothesis by forthcoming space missions (e.g. MESSENGER and BepiColombo).     

1989年3月大宇宙线暴事件的特征

本文分析了1989年3月一系列大耀斑等离子体抛射引起的宇宙线强度变化的特征.除对中子成分分析外,还对μ介子成分及其各向异性特征作了分析,讨论了宇宙线强度变化与太阳耀斑特性和地磁扰动之间的关系。分析发现,宇宙线的Forbush下降不仅与太阳耀斑的级别、持续时间,以及在日面上的位置有关,而且还与光学耀斑是否伴有强的X射线暴、是否有强的射电爆发,以及是否引起强的地磁暴紧密有关.各向异性分析表明,3月大事件的各向异性明显小于宁静时的各向异性,这可能是因为受到太阳活动强烈调制之后,宇宙线各向异性趋于减小的原因.     

Real time localization of gamma ray bursts with INTEGRAL

The INTEGRAL satellite has been successfully launched in October 2002 and has recently started its operational phase. The INTEGRAL burst alert system (IBAS) will distribute in real time the coordinates of the gamma ray bursts (GRBs) detected with INTEGRAL. After a brief introduction on the INTEGRAL instruments, we describe the main IBAS characteristics and report on the initial results. During the initial performance and verification phase of the INTEGRAL mission, which lasted about two months, two GRBs have been localized with accuracy of 2–4 arcmin. These observations have allowed us to validate the IBAS software, which is now expected to provide quick (few seconds delay) and precise (few arcmin) localization for 10–15 GRBs per year.     

利用高空科学气球收集宇宙尘粒

本文叙述了高空科学气球上一种自行研制的宇宙尘收集器以及气球吊篮系统。利用该系统进行了五次高空字宙尘粒的收集飞行,简述了对所收集的尘粒进行系统研究的结果。     

The multifuid solar wind termination shock and its influence on the threedimensional plasma structure upstream and downstream

The solar wind termination shock is described as a multi-fluid phenomenon taking into account the magnetohydrodynamic self-interaction of a multispecies plasma consisting of solar wind ions, pick-up ions and shock-generated anomalous cosmic ray particles. The spatial diffusion of these high energy particles relative to the resulting, pressure-modified solar wind flow structure is described by a coupled system of differential equations describing mass-, momentum-, and energy-flow continuities for all plasma components. The energy loss due to escape of energetic particles (MeV) from the precursor into the inner heliosphere is taken into account. We determine the integrated properties of the anomalous cosmic ray gas and the low-energy solar wind. Also the variation of the compression ratio of the shock structure is quantitatively determined and is related to the pick-up ion energization efficiency and to the mean energy of the downstream anomalous cosmic ray particles. The variation of the resulting shock structure and of the solar wind sheath plasma extent beyond the shock is discussed with respect to its consequences for the LISM neutral gas filtration and the threedimensional shape of the heliosphere.     

New multifrequency measurements of the spectrum of the cosmic background radiation

New measurements of the Cosmic Background Radiation temperature at 12 cm, 6.3 cm, 3 cm, 0.9 cm and 0.3 cm have made in July 1982 from the White Mountain High Altitude Research Station. The results are presented and the existence of spectral distortions discussed.     

Data reduction and correction algorithm for digital real-time processing of cosmic ray measurements: NM64 monitoring at Dourbes

We present a data correction algorithm for real-time data processing for the NM64 galactic cosmic ray neutron monitor at the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) in Dourbes, Belgium. The correction is based on three main tests: a continuity test, tube ratios test and a derivative test. The continuity test works as a high pass filter with a threshold based on the entire recorded dataset. Additionally, it monitors whether the logging takes place at regular intervals (continuously). The ratios test identifies noisy sections and the final derivative test criterion will identify single or double spikes by testing them against the median increase of the intensities. Using these criteria, all data from the cosmic ray station at Dourbes is corrected in real time. Test results have been compared with data from verified neutron monitor stations with a similar geomagnetic cutoff rigidity.     

管中激光加速器的推力形成过程

管中激光加速器是一种新型的激光推力器,弹射体在管道中被加速。利用光线追踪法,根据光线在网格中的传播路径信息,运用辐射输运方程,得到流场的能量源项;数值求解含能量源项的流体控制方程,对管道中等离子体流场激波的形成和演化过程进行了研究。模型能够模拟空气光学击穿、空气对激光能量的吸收、等离子体对激光的屏蔽作用和推力形成过程,通过计算得到冲量耦合系数为3.61×10-4N/MW,等离子体内能转化为流场动能的比例约为9%。     

The Modulation of Galactic Cosmic Rays in the Heliosphere: Theory and Models

Almost all theoretical and numerical models for the modulation of cosmic ray in the heliosphere are based on Parker's transport equation which contains all the important basic physical processes. The relative importance of the various mechanisms is however not established and may vary significantly over 22 years. The simultaneous measurements of solar wind parameters, heliospheric magnetic field properties and cosmic rays over a wide range of energies and positions in the heliosphere have brought the realization that modulation is much more complicated than what the original drift models predicted. In the process the sophistication of models based on solving Parker's equation has increased by orders of magnitude. A short review of the global modulation of cosmic rays is given from a theoretical and modelling point of view.