Results from the Whole Earth Telescope — Indian contributions

The Indian team at ISRO has been part of the Whole Earth Telescope (WET) team since 1988 when we first participated in the campaign on V471 Tau. We have been part of many other observing campaigns over the last decade. This presentation traces the circumstances leading to our joining the WET team and how useful the coverage from the Indian longitude has been. The results of several pulsators from the WET runs during which we participated are also described. These include PG1159-035 the prototype of the GW Vir type of stars, RE J 0751+14 a cataclysmic variable, PG 1336-018 a binary with an sdB pulsator and finally HR 1217 a roAp star. The paper concludes with what the limitations are in our observations and how we can overcome them in the future.     

断层相关褶皱理论在准噶尔盆地南缘山前带构造研究的应用

利用断层相关褶皱的构造几何分析方法，对准噶尔盆地南缘山前复杂构造带内基于地震剖面进行了构造解析，搭建了中、东段的构造轮廓和构造组合样式，认为东段阜康断裂带主要表现为至地表的推覆逆掩。由于位移量大部分转移至地表，阜康断裂带的前陆部分无喜山期构造带；西段造山带内的挤压往前陆方向传递过程中以前列式不断释放其位移量，造成在纵向上呈现三排主要的断层相关褶皱带。根据正演平衡地质剖面制作技术对山前复杂构造区地震剖面反射波的构造识别进行了模拟与探讨。     

Fossil midge associations and the historical status of fish in acidified lakes

Chaoborid and chironomid (Diptera) fossils were examined in sediment cores form nine Ontario Precambrian Shield lakes that were fishless in 1979. An abundance of Chaoborus americamus (intolerant of predation by fish) throughout cores from four lakes indicated that they were fishless historically. Occurrence of Chaoborus punctipennis and C. flavicans and absence of C. americanus in cores, except near the surface in two cases, indicated that four other lakes were inhabited by fish historically. One of these was probably periodically fishless as suggested by fluctuations among these Chaoborus species. The ninth lake was not suitable for Chaoborus; only one specimen of C. trivittatus was found in this core. Chironomid fossil associations were substantially different in historically fishless and inhabited lakes. Fishless lakes had chironomids typical of eutrophic conditions indicating that seasonal oxygen depletion likely was inimical to fish. Chironomid associations of oligotrophic waters occurred in lakes historically inhabited by fish. Both good water quality and accessibility were required for long-term habitation by fish. Partial recovery of alkalinity and rise in pH were accompanied by substantial re-invasion by fish in two lakes which had been inhabited historically by fish. Diptera associations provide valuable information on the historical suitability of lakes for fish and the presence/absence of fish in regions where acidification of surface waters has occurred.     

Neutron background in large-scale xenon detectors for dark matter searches

Simulations of the neutron background for future large-scale particle dark matter detectors are presented. Neutrons were generated in rock and detector elements via spontaneous fission and (α,n) reactions, and by cosmic-ray muons. The simulation techniques and results are discussed in the context of the expected sensitivity of a generic liquid xenon dark matter detector. Methods of neutron background suppression are investigated. A sensitivity of 10⁻⁹–10⁻¹⁰ pb to WIMP-nucleon interactions can be achieved by a tonne-scale detector.     

Deep-ocean vertical noise directionality

The structure of beam noise measured at the output of a vertical array in a range dependent ocean basin was investigated using the modified wide-angle parabolic equation (PE). Noise sources were distributed throughout the basin, and the field due to each noise source at an array located in the midbasin was calculated. The response of the array to the superposition of the noise sources was found by beamforming. An efficient and direct approach that superimposes the noise sources on the PE field as the field is marched toward the array was developed. Downslope calculations of the midbasin vertical directionality were made between 50 and 400 Hz with this technique. Use of a geoacoustic model shows that the bottom behaves as a low-pass filter     

Simulations of a giant hybrid air shower detector

We have used Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the capabilities of a giant air shower observatory designed to detect showers initiated by cosmic rays with energies exceeding 10¹⁹ eV. The observatory is to consist of an array of detectors that will characterise the air shower at ground level, and optical detectors to measure the fluorescence light emitted by the shower in the atmosphere. Using these detectors together in a ‘hybrid’ configuration, we find that precise geometrical reconstruction of the shower axis is possible, leading to excellent resolution in energy. The technique is also shown to provide very good reconstruction below 10¹⁹ eV, at energies where the ground array is not fully efficient.     

Circumstellar Silicate Mineralogy

This paper reviews spectra obtained with the SWS on board of ISO of dust shells around O-rich objects. These spectra reveal the presence of many new emission features between 10 and 45 μm. These bands are generally much narrower than the well-known 10 and 20 μm silicates features. The strength of these features relative to the underlying broad continuum varies from source to source (≅ 5-50%). The 10 μm region shows evidence for the presence of Al2O3 grains. At longer wavelength, the spectra are dominated by features due to crystalline olivine and pyroxene. The exact peak position of these features shows that the emitting grains consist of the Mg-rich end-members of these minerals with an Fe-content of < 10%. The underlying continuum is attributed to amorphous silicate grains. These observations of aluminum-rich and magnesium-rich compounds compare well with the thermodynamic condensation sequence of minerals expected for O-rich outflows. The observations also imply that freeze out (ie., kinetics) of this condensation sequence at different temperatures is an important characteristic of dust formation in these objects. It is suggested that the absence of Fe-rich silicates is a natural consequence of the low temperature at which gaseous Fe reacts with Mg-rich silicates in these outflows, resulting in amorphous grains with little characterizing spectral detail. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

太阳磁场观测研究

简要回顾了近几年国际上太阳磁场研究的一些重要进展，包括耀斑与磁切和电流的关系，电流螺度和磁螺度，磁场拓扑性，三维磁场外推，色球磁场研究，日冕磁场研究，内网络磁元，磁流和振荡，极区磁场观测以及色球磁元观测等方面内容，同时也介绍了怀柔太阳观测站最近所取得的主要成果，自20世纪90年代以来，YOHKOH高分辨率的太阳X射线数据，SOHO的多波段大尺度观测，TRACE的高分辨太阳过渡区资料，为研究太阳磁场从内部到距离几十太阳半径处的大范围演化提供了依据，高效的空间资料结合长期的地面资料，将是正派推动太阳磁场研究的重要手段和必然趋势。