Neutrino Geophysics Conference Introduction

Long distance detection of electron anti-neutrinos from reactors at distances of order 200 km has been achieved with the 1000 ton liquid scintillator-based KamLAND instrument in Japan. In summer 2005 the KamLAND group reported the first detection of anti-neutrinos from the natural radioactivity of the earth. These measurements are due to uranium and thorium decays dominantly from the nearby crust in Japan, and are expected to have only a small contribution from the earth’s mantle (and core). Several new detectors are under consideration around the world for measurements which when taken together can reveal the location of these heavy elements, which are expected to contribute a major share of the internal earth’s heating via their radioactivity. This heating is of course associated with providing the power to drive the geomagnetic field and plate tectonics. Geologists have only indirect evidence about the deep earth, mostly from seismic wave velocity and inferences from a few meteorites. Anti-neutrino detection, on the other hand, yields direct information about earth’s interior. The location and magnitude of the earth’s uranium and thorium are crucial to understanding the origin and evolution of the earth and present day activity. Lead Article in Proceedings of Neutrino Sciences 2005     

Recent Trends of Arctic and Antarctic Summer Sea-Ice Cover Observed from Space-Borne Scatterometer

Long term variations in Sea ice distribution strongly influence the atmosphere and ocean in the polar regions. In the recent period significant variations in sea ice cover have been observed in both the hemispheres. In the past, studies have been carried out that report the trends either at the Arctic/Antarctic level or at sector level. However, only a few studies have concentrated on the investigation of trends at grid level using scatterometer data. The present study focuses on the investigations of the sea ice trend at 1 × 1 degree grid level over the period 2000–2007 using QuickSCAT 0.2-degree resolution Scatterometer data. It was observed that in the Arctic overall monthly trend is negative in all the sectors, with the Arctic level decline of 3.26% per year. In the Antarctic, region-wise different trends have been observed. Negative trend is observed in the Amundsen- Bellingshausen Seas and also in the Indian Ocean sector near the continental Ice shelves. It was highlighted that significant trends exists within the pockets of marginal seas.     

Turbulence in mobile-bed streams

This study is devoted to quantify the near-bed turbulence parameters in mobile-bed flows with bed-load transport. A reduction in near-bed velocity fluctuations due to the decrease of flow velocity relative to particle velocity of the transporting particles results in an excessive near-bed damping in Reynolds shear stress (RSS) distributions. The bed particles are associated with the momentum provided from the flow to maintain their motion overcoming the bed resistance. It leads to a reduction in RSS magnitude over the entire flow depth. In the logarithmic law, the von Kármán coefficient decreases in presence of bed-load transport. The turbulent kinetic energy budget reveals that for the bed-load transport, the pressure energy diffusion rate near the bed changes sharply to a negative magnitude, implying a gain in turbulence production. According to the quadrant analysis, sweep events in mobile-bed flows are the principal mechanism of bed-load transport. The universal probability density functions for turbulence parameters given by Bose and Dey have been successfully applied in mobile-bed flows.     

On the source of quasi-periodic oscillations of the black hole candidate GRS 1915+105: some new observations and their interpretation

A few classes of the light curve of the black hole candidate GRS 1915+105 have been analysed in detail. We discover that unlike the previous findings, quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) occasionally occur even in the so-called 'On' or softer states. Such findings may require a revision of the accretion/wind scenario of the black hole candidates. We conjecture that considerable winds that are produced in 'Off' states cool down as a result of Comptonization and fall back to the disc, creating an excess accretion rate and producing the so-called 'On' state. After the drainage of the excess matter, the disc goes back to the 'Off' state. Our findings strengthen the shock oscillation model for QPOs.     

On the damping of the bending waves in Saturn’s ring

We study numerically the motion of a single particle in the bending wave of finite thickness in Saturn’s ring. We include the forcing due to the planet, a moon, the coriolis force and the self gravity of the ring. In particular, we compute the variation of the velocity arising due to the variation of the amplitude and the phase of the epicyclic motion across the local vertical height of the ring. We suggest that the dissipation of energy due to the collision of ring particles in this shear layer damps out the bending wave of Saturn’s ring at the 5:3 vertical resonance of Mimas within a distance of 150 km from the site of its launching as is observed in Voyager data.     

Cost Optimization of Reinforced Earth Walls

This paper deals with optimum cost (objective function) design of geosynthetic reinforced earth retaining walls subjected to static and dynamic loading. The design restrictions are imposed as design constraints in the analysis. Choice of the initial designed length and strength of the reinforcement, which are the elements of the design vectors are made in a way that it forms an initial feasible design vector. Thus the problem is one of mathematical programming. The constraints and the objective function being nonlinear in nature, the Sequential Unconstrained Minimization Technique (SUMT) has been used in conjunction with conjugate direction and quadratic fit methods for multidimensional and unidirectional minimization to arrive at the optimal (minimum) cost of the reinforced earth wall. Optimal cost tables are presented for different combinations of the loading and the developed procedure is validated by taking up an example problem. It has been found from the typical example problem that saving of the order of 7–8% can be made over the conventional design of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls with the aid of design charts.