Macromolecules in the galaxy and the cosmic microwave background

A deep search for the predicted Galactic microwave dipole emission of spinning interstellar fullerene-type molecules has been conducted using the RATAN-600 radio telescope. This effect is of interest both in its own right and as a new form of Galactic screen between the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the observer. The power of this noise component on angular scales of about 0.1° (l=1000) is estimated. These scales are of primary interest for the “Cosmological Gene of the Universe” (RATAN-600), PLANCK Surveyor Mission, and other projects. At the frequencies of the expected emission peak of this dust component, the small-scale noise is a factor of 20 weaker than the predicted noise. It is shown that the role of this dust component is negligible, at least at the main PLANCK frequencies. The first estimates of the contribution from Galactic polarization noise are given for λ=3.9 cm, where the theory predicts a maximum in the CMB polarization (l～1000). At wavelengths of ～1 cm and shorter, macromolecules contribute less than 1 µK, and should not hinder CMB polarization studies. Galactic synchrotron polarization, likewise, should not prevent CMB polarization experiments at the main PLANCK frequencies.     

Search for spatial and spectral fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background radiation using the RATAN-600 radio telescope

We report the results of a search for spatial and spectral fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background in the region of the North celestial pole carried out at 6.2 cm using the RATAN-600 radio telescope in 1999–2000. The spatial spectrum is flat and has no features exceeding ΔT/T =10^?3 in a ～1 MHz frequency band for spatial periods from 0.5′ to 16′. If this estimate is adopted as an upper limit for emission associated with the first rotational transition of primordial LiH at z=90.7, we obtain an upper limit for the LiH abundance of about 3×10^?14 for protocluster masses of about 10¹³ M _⊙.     

A method for localizing seismic sources whose signals are separated by an order of difference from the background noise

Doklady Earth Sciences -     

高精度地层划分对比的可靠方法——磁性地层学研究

地球磁场的形成一直在变化中,既有千年尺度有规律的周期性的长期变化,又有几千年至百万年尺度的地磁场极性倒转变化.了解地磁场的变化规律,就可以从记录在不同时代岩石单元中的磁性特征推测其形成时代.磁性地层学就是利用岩石剩余磁性纪录地磁场变化特征解决地层问题的一门科学.它既是古地磁学与地层学交叉产生的边缘学科,也是古地磁学和地层学的分支学科.     

Ionization effects from cosmic sources of x-rays in the lower atmosphere

Detectable ionization effects in the ionosphericD-region from individual, strong and steady x-ray sources such as Sco X-1 and transient x-ray sources such as Cet X-2 have been reported by us and many others previously based on the field strength and phase variations of the VLF data. As a follow up to these investigations, we have examined the integrated effects of many of the known x-ray sources discovered by UHURU, ANS, Ariel V and SAS-3 satellites, in order to understand the totality of their effects. These effects are examined in the present paper for 0° and +38° geographic latitudes corresponding to midnight conditions and for different times of the year. Such effects are compared, in turn, with those of the known steady sources responsible forD-region ionization such as Lyman-alpha and galactic cosmic radiations. The results are presented as profiles of electron production rates as a function of height. Our study leads to the conclusion that there should be detectable annual variations of the electron density which are pronounced around May-August. Further, the results of the computations on electron production rates corresponding to the spectacular x-ray nova A0620-00 are also included in the present paper.     

On the origin of the low energy cosmic rays from stellar sources

The model of stellar origin of the anomalous component in the low energy cosmic rays for He to Fe ions observed in space vehicles is studied in the light of recent results. The model of heliospheric origin by Fisket al which has several attractive features cannot explain the long-term variations of intensity observed during 1974 to 1978 as pointed out by Nagashima and Morishita. The stellar origin model of Durgaprasad and Biswas, on the other hand, can easily account for the sudden appearance of the anomalous component in 1972 and its large decrease in intensity in 1978 on the basis of polarity reversal of the solar magnetic field as discussed by Nagashima and Morishita (1980). In this work, we show that in the stellar model energetic ions of He, C, N, O, etc. could originate in O-type stars which manifest very strong stellar wind with mass loss rate of 3·10^?6 M_⊙ per year. These have terminal velocities of about 1200 to 4000 km/sec and are typically a few times their escape velocity. These velocities correspond to ion energies of 10 to 100 keV/amu. These ions are in partly ionised state and are accelerated in the interstellar shock fronts to about 1 to 50 MeV/amu and thus account for the observed anomalous component of low energy cosmic rays.     

A GPU parallel computing strategy for the material point method

The material point method (MPM), which is a combination of the finite element and meshfree methods, suffers from significant computational workload due to the fine mesh that is required in spite of its advantages in simulating large deformations. This paper presents a parallel computing strategy for the MPM on the graphics processing unit (GPU) to boost the method’s computational efficiency. The interaction between a structural element and soil is investigated to validate the applicability of the parallelisation strategy. Two techniques are developed to parallelise the interpolation from soil particles to nodes to avoid a data race; the technique that is based on workload parallelisation across threads over the nodes has a higher computational efficiency. Benchmark problems of surface footing penetration and a submarine landslide are analysed to quantify the speedup of GPU parallel computing over sequential simulations on the central processing unit. The maximum speedup with the GPU used is ∼30 for single-precision calculations and decreases to ∼20 for double-precision calculations.     

A prior probability method for smoothing discriminant analysis classification maps

A statistical method is presented for smoothing discriminant analysis classification maps by including pixel-specific prior probability estimates that have been determined from the frequency of tentative class assignments in a window moving across an initial per-point classification map. The class at the center of the window is reevaluated using the data for that location and the prior probability estimates obtained from the window area. An example using Landsat spectral data demonstrates the effectiveness of the method and shows an increase in classification accuracy after smoothing.     

A method for producing digital probabilistic seismic landslide hazard maps

The 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake is the first earthquake for which we have all of the data sets needed to conduct a rigorous regional analysis of seismic slope instability. These data sets include: (1) a comprehensive inventory of triggered landslides, (2) about 200 strong-motion records of the mainshock, (3) 1:24 000-scale geologic mapping of the region, (4) extensive data on engineering properties of geologic units, and (5) high-resolution digital elevation models of the topography. All of these data sets have been digitized and rasterized at 10 m grid spacing using ARC/INFO GIS software on a UNIX computer. Combining these data sets in a dynamic model based on Newmark's permanent-deformation (sliding-block) analysis yields estimates of coseismic landslide displacement in each grid cell from the Northridge earthquake. The modeled displacements are then compared with the digital inventory of landslides triggered by the Northridge earthquake to construct a probability curve relating predicted displacement to probability of failure. This probability function can be applied to predict and map the spatial variability in failure probability in any ground-shaking conditions of interest. We anticipate that this mapping procedure will be used to construct seismic landslide hazard maps that will assist in emergency preparedness planning and in making rational decisions regarding development and construction in areas susceptible to seismic slope failure.     

莫尔圆极点确定的新方法

莫尔圆在岩土材料的强度理论、应力路径以及地基承载力等方面具有广泛的应用。极点是莫尔应力圆上的一个特殊点,具有惟一性,通过极点,可以求得任意分析平面的应力状态。特别是对于求解复杂状态下的应力问题,莫尔圆极点法具有简便、快捷的优点。提出了定义极点的新方法--射线法,利用应力隔离体力的平衡法则证明了该方法定义极点的正确性及惟一性,并且发现定义极点的平行线法和法线法是射线法的两种特殊情况。通过比较,发现不同方法所得到的极点位置并不相同,但求得的任意面上的应力状态是相同的,而且平行线法更便于使用。然而,所提出的射线法能加深对莫尔圆极点的理解,从而进一步推动其广泛应用。     

A new contact algorithm in the material point method for geotechnical simulations

Contact between stiff structural elements and soil is encountered in many applications in geotechnical engineering. Modelling of such contact is challenging as it often involves impact that would lead to large deformation and failure of the soil. The Material Point Method (MPM) is a mesh‐free method that has been applied to simulate such phenomena. However, the frictional contact algorithm commonly used in MPM only supports Coulomb friction and cannot model fully or partially rough contact conditions in terms of geotechnical engineering. Moreover, because of very different stiffness of contacting materials, the contact force predicted by the previous frictional contact algorithms usually suffers from severe oscillation when applied in structure–soil interaction. This paper presents a new contact algorithm, termed Geo‐contact, designed for geotechnical engineering. In Geo‐contact, a penalty function is incorporated to reduce the oscillation in contact computation, and a limited shear stress is specified along the contact interface. The proposed Geo‐contact algorithm has been implemented to simulate smooth, partially rough and rough contact in typical large deformation penetration problems. The resistance–displacement curves obtained using the Geo‐contact are compared with analytical solutions of limit analysis and large deformation finite element results to verify the accuracy and robustness of the proposed contact algorithm. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

土体含水率监测的移动点热源法研究

土体含水率监测的线热源法对加热功率要求较高,当热源强度不稳定时,监测结果容易受到影响。为了解决线热源法的不足,提出了土体含水率监测的移动点热源（point heat source,PHS）法。该方法利用土体热物性与含水率之间的相关性,通过监测土体中PHS的降温规律间接识别含水率。通过数值模拟研究了点热源在含水率均匀分布的土体中的传热规律,根据热源降温曲线的特征,定义了含水率判别指标η,进而建立了含水率与判别指标的拟合关系,并对监测灵敏度的影响因素进行了参数分析。在含水率非均匀分布的土体中开展了点热源降温规律的数值模拟,根据测点降温时程曲线计算含水率判别指标,并利用含水率与判别指标的拟合公式反演含水率分布。结果表明,点热源法反演得到的含水率分布与实际值吻合较好,验证了该方法的理论可行性。通过模型试验进一步验证了该方法的可行性。     

一种地震共反射点道集数据的叠前反演方法

叠前地震资料含有地层的纵波、横波速度和密度等信息。利用叠前反演获得隐藏在地震数据中的这些基本参数后,即可揭示大量岩性及孔隙流体性质的信息。这里推导了平面波在层状弹性介质中传播的正演算子,提出了一种基于Brent正交搜索方向组的叠前三参数反演方法．该方法不需要求解庞大而复杂的导数矩阵。通过自适应退火因子和罚函数来处理约束条件,提高了算法的稳定性。将K—L变换引入到方向置换过程,有效防止了搜索方向组的线性相关。经理论模型和油田实际数据的反演结果表明,该反演方法是一种利用叠前地震数据进行储层预测的有效手段。     

Contaminant fluxes from point and diffuse sources from abandoned mines in the River Tamar catchment, UK

Acid mine waters have the potential to seriously impair the environmental quality of aquatic systems long after mining activities have ceased. This detailed study of dissolved and particulate metal fluxes from adits, drains and streams in the River Tamar catchment, southwest England, showed that seven specific sources, of the 25 adits and streams surveyed, accounted for more than 75% each of the 13 t a^− 1 Fe, 4.3 t a^− 1 Mn, 4.2 t a^− 1 Cu, 3.6 t a^− 1 Zn and 1.4 t a^− 1 As that we estimated to be discharged annually from the abandoned metalliferous mining area centred around Calstock and Gunnislake. Upstream of this study area, widespread multi-metallic mineralisation contributed to the flux of Fe, Mn, As, Co, Cu and Zn within the River Tamar. Simple mass balance calculations indicated that a large proportion (≥ 50% for most dissolved and particulate metals) of the metal flux in the River Tamar was unaccounted for by our survey, and therefore is likely to have an important diffuse component, which is subject to ongoing investigations. Potential impacts of mine contamination on the estuarine environment are discussed. The study provided information necessary to prioritise monitoring and remediation efforts in the context of sustainable catchment management.     

A method for estimating the distances of extragalactic radio sources with jets using VLBI

A method is proposed for estimating the distances to extragalactic radio sources using spec-troscopic data on the sizes of the broad-line regions of quasars and radio galaxies R _BL and VLBI data on the transverse angular sizes of the radio jets emerging from their nuclei (θ _θ ^j ). This approach is based on the fact that observational data on the transverse linear sizes of radio jets (l _θ ^j ) associated with the nearest radio sources and theoretical concepts about the formation of radio jets in the central regions of a magnetized accretion disk suggest that (l _θ ^j ) and R _BL should be approximately equal.     

Galactic systems against the background of the cosmic vacuum: Structure and evolution of the zero-acceleration surface

The structure and evolution of the zero-acceleration surface around wide triple systems of galaxies are studied in detail. (The zero-acceleration surface is the boundary separating regions in which (i) the Newtonian gravitational attraction of the galactic matter and (ii) the Einsteinian universal repulsion of the cosmic vacuum dominate.) For a typical system, this surface is spherical in shape and several megaparsecs in size, and remains nearly unchanged throughout the lifetime of the system. The concept of a boundary surface can also be extended to systems on the largest possible scales, and its general properties are discussed in relation to clusters, superclusters, and voids.     

Seismic response of 3D topographical irregularities under incoming elastic waves from point sources

We study some effects that produce 3D topographical irregularities under incoming elastic waves from point sources using the indirect boundary element method. This technique is based on the representation of elastic waves in terms of single-layer boundary sources. In this way reflected and diffracted waves are constructed at the boundaries from where they are radiated by means of boundary sources. The field emited from the point source is computed with the moment tensor for a shear dislocation and analytical expressions of the elastodynamic 3D Green's functions. In this way we can construct a double couple with variable orientation. We compare the technique with that of Bouchon, who used the discrete wave number method for a shear dislocation in a halfspace with a triangular source function. We subsequently apply our method to simulate the seismic response of a mountain of ellipsoidal geometry. The source function that we have considered is a triangular pulse and we show results corresponding to the velocity registered over the surface of the irregularity and that of the halfspace. This motion is presented by means of snapshots showing the evolution of the wavefields that are present in the problem.     

A statistical prediction technique for deriving contour maps from geophysical data

A technique for preparing contour maps is presented which has particular applicability for geophysical data. This technique derives from the assumption that each measured value is a sample from a statistical distribution which is taken to be valid in the area around that sample location. This distribution may be specified in the manner which best defines the relationship between the data and its spatial environment. Extending this principle to cover all areas to be mapped, and not just those measured, it is possible to predict values over a grid array of locations and hence to produce a contour map. Inherent in this simple procedure is: (i) the ability to adjust to the nature of the data being contoured; (ii) the elimination of edge effects; (iii) visual indication of the relative accuracy with which contours are located, at all points of the map; (iv) the automatic downgrading of data values which are in error; (v) the ability to contour combinations of measured data values without compounding errors; and (vi) a relatively simple extension to data spatially distributed in three dimensions.Research Council of Alberta Contribution No. 618.