A laboratory method to simulate seismic waves induced by underground explosions

The seismic waves induced by underground explosions generate geological hazards affecting deep buried tunnels such as rockbursts and engineering-induced earthquakes. This issue is difficult to study through full-scale testing due to the expense and unpredictable danger. To solve this problem, the authors developed experimental apparatus and presented a laboratory method to simulate seismic waves induced by underground explosions. In this apparatus, a combined structure of a diffusive-shaped water capsule and a special-shaped oil capsule was designed. This structure can provide an applied confining stress and freely transmit the stress wave generated by external impact. Therefore, the coupled loading of in situ stress and seismic waves induced by underground explosions in the deep rock mass was simulated. The positive pressure time and peak value of the stress wave could be adjusted by changing the pulse-shaper and the initial impact energy. The obtained stress waves in the experiments correspond to that generated by 0.15-120 kt of TNT equivalent explosion at a scaled distance of 89.9-207.44 m/kt.

Laboratory study of the formation of fullerene(from smaller to larger, C44 to C70)/anthracene cluster cations in the gas phase

The formation and evolution mechanism of fullerenes in the planetary nebula or in the interstellar medium are still not understood.Here,we present the study on the cluster formation and the relative reactivity of fullerene cations(from smaller to larger,C44 to C70) with anthracene molecule(C14H10).The experiment is performed in an apparatus that combines a quadrupole ion trap with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer.By using a 355 nm laser beam to irradiate the trapped fullerenes cations(C60+or C70+),smaller fullerene cations C(60-2 n)+, n=1-8 or C(70-2 m)+,m=1-11 are generated,respectively.Then reacting with anthracene molecules,series of fullerene/anthracene cluster cations are newly formed(e.g.,(C14H10)C(60-2 n)+,n=1-8 and(C14H10)C(70-2 m)+,m=1-11),and slight difference of the reactivity within the smaller fullerene cations are observed.Nevertheless,smaller fullerenes show obviously higher reactivity when comparing to fullerene C60+ and C70+.A successive loss of C2 fragments mechanism is suggested to account for the formation of smaller fullerene cations,which then undergo addition reaction with anthracene molecules to form the fullerene-anthracene cluster cations.It is found that the higher laser energy and longer irradiation time are key factors that affect the formation of smaller fullerene cations.This may indicate that in the strong radiation field environment(such as photon-dominated regions) in space,fullerenes are expected to follow the top-down evolution route,and then form small grain dust(e.g.,clusters) through collision reaction with co-existing molecules,here,smaller PAHs.

Effects of soil moisture and soil depth on nitrogen mineralization process under Mongolian pine plantations in Zhanggutai sandy land, P. R. China

The rates of soil N mineralization at soil depths of 0-15, 15-30, 30-45 and45-60 cm and moisture regimes were measured at three sand-fixation plantations of Pinus sylvestrisvar. mongolica by laboratory aerobic incubation method. The results showed that average rates ofsoil net N-mineralization across soil depth varied from 1.06 to 7.52 mg · kg^(-1)·month^(-1) atsoil depths from 0 to 60 cm. Statistical analyses indicated that the effects of different soildepths, moistures and their interactions on net N-mineralization rates were significant (P < 0.05).The net N-mineralization rates significantly decreased with increasing soil depths and at depth 0-15cm accounted for 60.52% of that at depth of 0-60 cm. There was no difference in soil netN-mineralization rates between half and fully-saturated water treatments, however these rates weresubstantially higher than that without water treatment (P < 0.05). The factors influencing Nmineralization process have to be studied further in these semiarid pine ecosystems.

Molecular Clump Extraction Algorithm Based on Local Density Clustering

The detection and parameterization of molecular clumps are the first step in studying them.We propose a method based on the Local Density Clustering algorithm while physical parameters of those clumps are measured using the Multiple Gaussian Model algorithm.One advantage of applying the Local Density Clustering to the clump detection and segmentation,is the high accuracy under different signal-to-noise levels.The Multiple Gaussian Model is able to deal with overlapping clumps whose parameters can reliably be derived.Using simulation and synthetic data,we have verified that the proposed algorithm could accurately characterize the morphology and flux of molecular clumps.The total flux recovery rate in 13CO(J=1-0)line of M16 is measured as 90.2%.The detection rate and the completeness limit are 81.7%and 20 K km s-1 in 13CO(J=1-0)line of M16,respectively.

A high-contrast coronagraph for direct imaging of Earth-like exoplanets: design and test

A high-contrast coronagraph for direct imaging of an Earth-like exoplanet at the visible band needs a contrast of 10^-10 at a small angular separation of 4λ/D or less. Here we report our recent laboratory experiment that approaches these lim- its. Our test of a high-contrast imaging coronagraph is based on our step-transmission apodized filter. To achieve this goal, we use a liquid crystal array as a phase correc- tor to create a dark hole based on our dedicated algorithm. We have suppressed the diffraction and speckle noise near the point image of a star to a level of 1.68 × 10^-9 at 4λ/D, which can be used for direct imaging of Jupiter-like exoplanets. This demon- strates that a telescope incorporating a high-contrast coronagraph in space has the potential to detect and characterize Earth-like planets.

Stochastic parallel gradient descent based adaptive optics used for a high contrast imaging coronagraph

An adaptive optics （AO） system based on a stochastic parallel gradient descent （SPGD） algorithm is proposed to reduce the speckle noises in the optical system of a stellar coronagraph in order to further improve the contrast. The principle of the SPGD algorithm is described briefly and a metric suitable for point source imaging optimization is given. The feasibility and good performance of the SPGD algorithm is demonstrated by an experimental system featured with a 140-actuator deformable mirror and a Hartrnann-Shark wavefront sensor. Then the SPGD based AO is applied to a liquid crystal array （LCA） based coronagraph to improve the contrast. The LCA can modulate the incoming light to generate a pupil apodization mask of any pattern. A circular stepped pattern is used in our preliminary experiment and the image contrast shows improvement from 10^-3 to 10^-4.5 at an angular distance of 2A/D after being corrected by SPGD based AO.

High-contrast coronagraph for ground-based imaging of Jupiter-like planets

We propose a high-contrast coronagraph for direct imaging of young Jupiter-like planets orbiting nearby bright stars. The coronagraph employs a step- transmission filter in which the intensity is apodized with a finite number of steps with identical transmission in each step. It should be installed on a large ground-based telescope equipped with a state-of-the-art adaptive optics system. In this case, contrast ratios around 10-6 should be accessible within 0.1 arcsec of the central star. In recent progress, a coronagraph with a circular apodizing filter has been developed, which can be used for a ground-based telescope with a central obstruction and spider structure. It is shown that ground-based direct imaging of Jupiter-like planets is promising with current technology.

Dust growth in protoplanetary disks-a comprehensive experimental / theoretical approach

More than a decade of dedicated experimental work on the collisional physics of protoplanetary dust has brought us to a point at which the growth of dust aggregates can - for the first time - be self-consistently and reliably modeled. In this article, the emergent collision model for protoplanetery dust aggregates, as well as the numerical model for the evolution of dust aggregates in protoplanetary disks, is reviewed. It turns out that, after a brief period of rapid collisional growth of fluffy dust aggregates to sizes of a few centimeters, the protoplanetary dust particles are subject to bouncing collisions, in which their porosity is considerably decreased. The model results also show that low-velocity fragmentation can reduce the final mass of the dust aggregates but that it does not trigger a new growth mode as discussed previously. According to the current stage of our model, the direct formation of kilometer-sized planetesimals by collisional sticking seems unlikely, implying that collective effects, such as the streaming instability and the gravitational instability in dust-enhanced regions of the protoplanetary disk, are the best candidates for the processes leading to planetesimals.

An Alternative Approach for the Determination of Soil Water Mobility

A new laboratory method was proposed to establish an easily performed standard for the determination of mobile soil water close to real conditions during the infiltration and redistribution of water in a soil. It consisted of applying a water volume with a tracer ion on top of an undisturbed ring sample on a pressure plate under a known suction or pressure head. Afterwards, soil water mobility was determined by analyzing the tracer-ion concentration in the soil sample. Soil water mobility showed to be a function of the applied water volume. No relation between soil water mobility and applied pressure head could be established with data from the present cxperiment. A simple one- or two-parameter equation can be fitted to the experimental data to parameterize soil water mobility as a function of applied solute volume. Sandy soils showed higher mobility than loamy＂ soils at low values of applied solute volumes, and both sandy and loamy soils showed an almost complete mobility at high applied solute volumes.

A high-contrast imaging polarimeter with a stepped-transmission filter based coronagraph

The light reflected from planets is polarized mainly due to Rayleigh scattering, but starlight is normally unpolarized. Thus it provides an approach to enhance the imaging contrast by inducing the imaging polarimetry technique. In this paper, we propose a high-contrast imaging polarimeter that is op- timized for the direct imaging of exoplanets, combined with our recently developed stepped-transmission filter based coronagraph. Here we present the design and calibration method of the polarimetry system and the associated test of its high-contrast performance. In this polarimetry system, two liquid crystal variable retarders （LCVRs） act as a polarization modulator, which can extract the polarized signal. We show that our polarimeter can achieve a measurement accuracy of about 0.2% at a visible wavelength （632.8 nm） with linearly polarized light. Finally, the whole system demonstrates that a contrast of 10 9 at 5A/D is achievable, which can be used for direct imaging of Jupiter-like planets with a space telescope.

A small electron beam ion trap/source facility for electron/neutral-ion collisional spectroscopy in astrophysical plasmas

Spectra are fundamental observation data used for astronomical research,but understanding them strongly depends on theoretical models with many fundamental parameters from theoretical calculations.Different models give different insights for understanding a specific object.Hence,laboratory benchmarks for these theoretical models become necessary.An electron beam ion trap is an ideal facility for spectroscopic benchmarks due to its similar conditions of electron density and temperature compared to astrophysical plasmas in stellar coronae,supernova remnants and so on.In this paper,we will describe the performance of a small electron beam ion trap/source facility installed at National Astronomical Observatories,Chinese Academy of Sciences.We present some preliminary experimental results on X-ray emission,ion production,the ionization process of trapped ions as well as the effects of charge exchange on the ionization.