Macroscopic quantum resonators (MAQRO)

Quantum physics challenges our understanding of the nature of physical reality and of space-time and suggests the necessity of radical revisions of their underlying concepts. Experimental tests of quantum phenomena involving massive macroscopic objects would provide novel insights into these fundamental questions. Making use of the unique environment provided by space, MAQRO aims at investigating this largely unexplored realm of macroscopic quantum physics. MAQRO has originally been proposed as a medium-sized fundamental-science space mission for the 2010 call of Cosmic Vision. MAQRO unites two experiments: DECIDE (DECoherence In Double-Slit Experiments) and CASE (Comparative Acceleration Sensing Experiment). The main scientific objective of MAQRO, which is addressed by the experiment DECIDE, is to test the predictions of quantum theory for quantum superpositions of macroscopic objects containing more than 10⁸ atoms. Under these conditions, deviations due to various suggested alternative models to quantum theory would become visible. These models have been suggested to harmonize the paradoxical quantum phenomena both with the classical macroscopic world and with our notion of Minkowski space-time. The second scientific objective of MAQRO, which is addressed by the experiment CASE, is to demonstrate the performance of a novel type of inertial sensor based on optically trapped microspheres. CASE is a technology demonstrator that shows how the modular design of DECIDE allows to easily incorporate it with other missions that have compatible requirements in terms of spacecraft and orbit. CASE can, at the same time, serve as a test bench for the weak equivalence principle, i.e., the universality of free fall with test-masses differing in their mass by 7 orders of magnitude.     

Generation of complete theoretical seismograms for SH—

Summary. We report the initial results of our attempts to obtain theoretical seismograms for direct comparison with the experimental time series obtained with the long-period instruments of the WWSSN. The entire theoretical seismogram, including both body waves and surface waves, can be generated for a spherical, anelastic earth by simple inverse Fourier transformation of the sum of the propagating fundamental and higher-mode surface waves. The key to success in reproducing the WWSSN records involves the number of modes, and the minimum period used in these computations; here we use eight modes and a minimum period of 2 s. Efficient computational algorithms make it possible to handle up to 2000 frequency points for each mode; approximately 200 layers are used to model the radial heterogeneity of the earth; attenuation is treated exactly. Examples are given of the SH theoretical seismograms resulting from dislocation sources buried at various depths in the Earth.     

Fast numerical solution of the linearized Molodensky problem

 When standard boundary element methods (BEM) are used in order to solve the linearized vector Molodensky problem we are confronted with two problems: (1) the absence of O(|x|⁻²) terms in the decay condition is not taken into account, since the single-layer ansatz, which is commonly used as representation of the disturbing potential, is of the order O(|x|⁻¹) as x→∞. This implies that the standard theory of Galerkin BEM is not applicable since the injectivity of the integral operator fails; (2) the N×N stiffness matrix is dense, with N typically of the order 10⁵. Without fast algorithms, which provide suitable approximations to the stiffness matrix by a sparse one with O(N(logN) ^s ), s≥0, non-zero elements, high-resolution global gravity field recovery is not feasible. Solutions to both problems are proposed. (1) A proper variational formulation taking the decay condition into account is based on some closed subspace of co-dimension 3 of the space of square integrable functions on the boundary surface. Instead of imposing the constraints directly on the boundary element trial space, they are incorporated into a variational formulation by penalization with a Lagrange multiplier. The conforming discretization yields an augmented linear system of equations of dimension N+3×N+3. The penalty term guarantees the well-posedness of the problem, and gives precise information about the incompatibility of the data. (2) Since the upper left submatrix of dimension N×N of the augmented system is the stiffness matrix of the standard BEM, the approach allows all techniques to be used to generate sparse approximations to the stiffness matrix, such as wavelets, fast multipole methods, panel clustering etc., without any modification. A combination of panel clustering and fast multipole method is used in order to solve the augmented linear system of equations in O(N) operations. The method is based on an approximation of the kernel function of the integral operator by a degenerate kernel in the far field, which is provided by a multipole expansion of the kernel function. Numerical experiments show that the fast algorithm is superior to the standard BEM algorithm in terms of CPU time by about three orders of magnitude for N=65 538 unknowns. Similar holds for the storage requirements. About 30 iterations are necessary in order to solve the linear system of equations using the generalized minimum residual method (GMRES). The number of iterations is almost independent of the number of unknowns, which indicates good conditioning of the system matrix. Received: 16 October 1999 / Accepted: 28 February 2001     

Internal tides and sediment movement on Horizon Guyot,Mid-Pacific Mountains

Internal tidal currents are the likely cause of erosional features such as current ripples, sand waves, and truncated bedding horizons on the sediment cap of Horizon Guyot. Current meter data obtained over a 9 month period in 1983–1984 at about 213 m above the guyot show that the tidal currents are anomalously strong for mid-oceanic depths, probably the result of topographically induced generation of internal tidal waves. An analysis of the initiation of motion of the foraminiferal sand by the internal tidal currents indicates that these currents, particularly during the months of March–May, are likely to transport the surficial sediment and generate the observed bedforms.     

Erosion and slope instability on Horizon Guyot,Mid-Pacific Mountains

Seismic-reflection profiles, sediment cores, and current velocities were assessed to study the impact of erosion and sediment redistribution on the pelagic sediment cap of Horizon Guyot, a flat-topped submarine volcanic ridge in the Mid-Pacific Mountains. These processes seem to concentrate their effect around the rim of the sediment cap. Sediment slumping occurs on the northwest perimeter of the guyot's sediment cap. Slope stability analysis suggests that if overconsolidation on Horizon Guyot is the result of current reworking or if local undercutting by bottom currents steepens the sea floor declivity, the sediment cap may be unstable during infrequent earthquake loading, transporting sediment from the guyot summit to the abyssal sea floor.     

On internal wave dynamics in the northern basin of the lake of Lugano

Abstract

Data collected from the Lake of Lugano during 3 July to 17 August 1979 are analysed for internal gravity wave motions. We demonstrate that a two-layer linear model is capable of explaining the internal wave response. A numerical finite difference procedure is used to determine the seiche periods and eigenfunctions of this model. The computed results (periods and phase differences between station pair interfacial displacements are then compared with the measured data. This comparison demonstrates that four conspicuous internal mode periods can be identified with fair to excellent statistical coherence between data-set pairs and that even higher order modes can be detected but with less statistical confidence. This identification proves that for the Lake of Lugano, no recourse has to be made to multi-layer models that would account for higher order baroclinicity.     

Assessment of the seismic non-linear behavior of ductile wall structures due to synthetic earthquakes

In this paper, different methods for generating synthetic earthquakes are compared in terms of related non-linear seismic response of ductile structures. The objective of the investigation is to formulate recommendations for the use of synthetic earthquakes for reliable seismic analysis. The comparison is focused on the accuracy of the reproduction of the characteristics of the structural non-linear response due to recorded earthquakes. First the investigations are carried out for non-linear single-degree-of-freedom systems. Later, the results are validated for a set of realistic buildings modelled as multi-degree-of-freedom systems. Various options of the classical stationary simulation procedure of SIMQKE and a non-stationary simulation procedure proposed by Sabetta and Pugliese are examined and compared. The adopted methodology uses a set of recorded earthquakes as a reference. Hundred synthetic accelerograms are generated for each examined simulation option with the condition that the related elastic responses are similar to those of the reference set. The non-linear single-degree-of-freedom systems are defined using six recognized hysteretic models and four levels of increasing non-linearity. The non-linear responses computed for the reference set and the studied simulation options are then statistically compared in terms of displacement ductility and energy. The results show that the implementation of the classical stationary procedure always leads to a significant underestimation of the ductility demand and a significant overestimation of the energy demand. By contrast, non-stationary time histories produce much better results. The results with the multi-degree-of-freedom systems are shown to confirm these conclusions.     

The pressure and temperature dependence of the elastic properties of single-crystal fayalite Fe2SiO4

The nine adiabatic elastic stiffness constants of synthetic single-crystal fayalite, Fe₂SiO₄, were measured as functions of pressure (range, 0 to 1.0 GPa) and temperature (range, 0 to 40° C) using the pulse superposition ultrasonic method. Summary calculated results for a dense fayalite polycrystalline aggregate, based on the HS average of our single-crystal data, are as follows: V_p = 6.67 km/s; V_s = 3.39km/s; K= 127.9 GPa; μ = 50.3 GPa; (?K/?P)_T = 5.2; (?μ/?P)_T=1.5;(?K/?T)_P= ?0.030 GPa/K;and,(?/?T)_P =-0.013 GPa/K (the pressure and temperature data are referred to 25° C and 1 atm, respectively). Accuracy of the single-crystal results was maintained by numerous cross and redundancy checks. Compared to the single-crystal elastic properties of forsterite, Mg₂SiO₄, the fayalite stiffness constants, as well as their pressure derivatives, are lower for each of the on-diagonal (C _ij for which i=j) values, and generally higher for the off-diagonal (C _ij for which i≠j) data. As a result, the bulk moduli (K) and dK/dP for forsterite and fayalite are very similar, but the rigidity modulus (μ) and dμ/dP for polycrystalline fayalite are much lower than their forsterite counterparts. The bulk compression properties derived from this study are very consistent with the static-compression x-ray results of Yagi et al. (1975). The temperature dependence of the bulk modulus of fayalite is somewhat greater (in a negative sense) than that of forsterite. The rigidity dependencies are almost equivalent. Over the temperature range relevant to this study, the elastic property results are generally consistent with the data of Sumino (1978), which were obtained using the RPR technique. However, some of the compressional modes are clearly discrepant. The elastic constants of fayalite appear to be less consistent with a theoretical HCP model (Leibfried 1955) than forsterite, reflecting the more covalent character of the Fe-O bonding in the former.     

The Todagin Creek landslide of October 3, 2006, Northwest British Columbia, Canada

The Todagin Creek landslide is located at 57.61° N 129.98° W in Northwest British Columbia. A seismic station 90 km north of the landslide recorded the event at 1643 hours coordinated universal time (UTC; 0943 hours Pacific daylight time (PDT)) on October 3, 2006. The signal verifies the discovery and relative time bounds provided by a hunting party in the valley. The landslide initiated as a translational rock slide on sedimentary rock dipping down slope at 34° and striking parallel to the valley. The landslide transformed into a debris avalanche and had a total volume estimated at 4 Mm³. An elevation drop of 771 m along a planar length of 1,885 m resulted in a travel angle (fahrb?schung) of 21.3°. The narrowest part of the landslide through the transport zone is 345 m. The widest part of the divergent toe of the landslide reaches a width of 1,010 m. Landslide debris impounded a lake of approximately 32 ha and destroyed an additional 67 ha of forest. The impoundment took 7 to 10 days to fill, with muddied waters observed downstream on October 13. No clear linkage exists with precipitation and temperature records preceding the landslide, but strong diurnal temperature cycles occurred in the days prior to the event. The Todagin Creek area appears to have an affinity for large landslides with the deposits of three other landslides >5 Mm³ observed in the valley.