From harmony of the spheres to national anthem: Reflections on musical heritage

Western classical music was long distinctive among the arts for its universality and catholicity. From Greek antiquity on, music uniquely reflected Orphic, mystic, celestial feeling, And unlike painting, architecture, or literature, the standard musical canon came to be breathtakingly inclusive over time as well as space. Yet in recent centuries music has increasingly celebrated national patriotism and period particularism. This essay traces the histories of these antithetical expressive urges, the one universalistic, transcendental, atemporal, the other chauvinist, parochial, historicist.     

Initial interpretation of Titan plasma interaction as observed by the Cassini plasma spectrometer: Comparisons with Voyager 1

The Cassini plasma spectrometer (CAPS) instrument made measurements of Titan's plasma environment when the Cassini Orbiter flew through the moon's plasma wake October 26, 2004 (flyby TA). Initial CAPS ion and electron measurements from this encounter will be compared with measurements made by the Voyager 1 plasma science instrument (PLS). The comparisons will be used to evaluate previous interpretations and predictions of the Titan plasma environment that have been made using PLS measurements. The plasma wake trajectories of flyby TA and Voyager 1 are similar because they occurred when Titan was near Saturn's local noon. These similarities make possible direct, meaningful comparisons between the various plasma wake measurements. They lead to the following: (A) The light and heavy ions, H⁺and N⁺/O⁺, were observed by PLS in Saturn's magnetosphere in the vicinity of Titan while the higher mass resolution of CAPS yielded H⁺ and H₂⁺as the light constituents and O⁺/CH₄⁺ as the heavy ions. (B) Finite gyroradius effects were apparent in PLS and CAPS measurements of ambient O⁺ ions as a result of their absorption by Titan's extended atmosphere. (C) The principal pickup ions inferred from both PLS and CAPS measurements are H⁺, H₂⁺, N⁺, CH₄⁺ and N₂⁺. (D) The inference that heavy pickup ions, observed by PLS, were in narrow beam distributions was empirically established by the CAPS measurements. (E) Slowing down of the ambient plasma due to pickup ion mass loading was observed by both instruments on the anti-Saturn side of Titan. (F) Strong mass loading just outside the ionotail by a heavy ion such as N₂⁺ is apparent in PLS and CAPS measurements. (G) Except for the expected differences due to the differing trajectories, the magnitudes and structures of the electron densities and temperatures observed by both instruments are similar. The high-energy electron bite-out observed by PLS in the magnetotail is consistent with that observed by CAPS.     

Neutron capture measurements on radioactive93Zr

Neutron capture measurements made on a sample of fission-product zirconium containing 20%⁹³Zr(t _1/2=1.5×10⁶a) at the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator time-of-flight facility resulted in the identification of 138 resonance peaks for the⁹³Zr isotope at neutron energies up to 21.5 keV. Average capture cross sections from 20 to 300 keV were derived by subtracting neutron capture yields of the stable zirconium isotopes^{90, 91, 92, 94, 96}Zr and additional backgrounds. The average cross sections found were significantly less than those of JENDL-1. While generally 30% higher than those of ENDF/B —V below 60 keV, the binned data overlapped the smooth ENDF/B —V curve. The average for a Maxwellian neutron spectrum withkT=30 keV is (95±10) mb and the resonance contribution to the capture resonance integral is (15.0±0.5)b.Research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under contract DE-AC05-840R21400 with the Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.     

Theoretical properties of radio-galaxies

A complete sample of symmetric double radio-galaxies has been investigated by inferring the propagation of a jet along the radio-axis and computing velocities with the aid of different models. A best linear fit between radio-luminosity and velocity is proposed in the range 10⁴⁰ ergs s^–145 ergs s^–1.     

Dhofar 081: A new lunar highland meteorite

Abstract— The lunar meteorite Dhofar 081, found as a single fragment of 174 g in the Dhofar region of Oman, is a shocked feldspathic fragmental highland breccia dominated by anorthosite‐rich lithic and mineral clasts embedded into a fine‐grained mostly shock melted clastic matrix. Major mineral phases in the bulk rock are Ca‐rich plagioclase (An_96.5–99.5), pyroxene (FS_21.9–46.2Wo_3.0–41.4), and olivine (Fa_29.3–47.8); accessory phases include Fe‐Ni metal, ilmenite, and Ti‐Cr‐rich spinel. Dhofar 081 contains subordinate crystalline fragments of large anorthosites, intersertal impact‐melt rocks, microporphyritic impact‐melt breccias, dark fine‐grained impact‐melt breccias, large cataclastic feldspars, and irregularly shaped brown glass clasts. Mafic components are rare and no genuine regolith components were found in the sections studied. Minerals in Dhofar 081 show homogeneously distributed shock features: intergranular recrystallization, strong fracturing and mosaicism in feldspar as well as a high density of mostly irregular fractures in pyroxene and olivine. Localized impact melting caused by one or several impacts led to a strong lithification. Based on these effects an equilibration shock pressure of about 15–20 GPa is estimated for the strongest shock event in Dhofar 081. Devitrification of the “glassy” material in the rock indicates thermal annealing after shock melting suggesting that the 15–20 GPa shock event predated the ejection event. According to the concentrations of implanted solar noble gases Dhofar 081 represents a polymict clastic breccia deposit with possibly a minor regolith component. A similar noble gas record of Dhofar 081 and MacAlpine Hills 88104/05 suggests the possibility of a source crater pairing of both meteorites. As indicated by noble gas measurements pairing of Dhofar 081 with the other lunar meteorites found in Oman, Dhofar 025 and Dhofar 026, is unlikely.     

Non Gaussian and Non Local Transport in the Earth's Distant Magnetotail

We study the ion dynamics in a magnetic field reversal with a constant electric field and with a model of three dimensional magnetic turbulence. By computing the mean square displacements in the plane of the current sheet we find superdiffusive and superballistic transport regimes. Since velocity increases with the length of the free path, we have accelerated Lévyflights. The possibility to generate power law velocity distribution functions is pointed out, as well as the long memory effects and non local properties of ion transport. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.