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Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > General
These proceedings are the result of a three-day meeting held in Oogliani (Italy), on October 2-4 2003, whose title was "VIrtual Astrophysical Jets 2003". Our goal in convening this meeting was to gather some of the scientists among the most active in the field of numerical simulations and modelling of astrophysi cal jets. For keeping the participants close to the "real world", we also invited a few observers to give up-to-date reviews outlining the state-of-the-art of jet observations. The principal aim of the meeting was thus to present and critically discuss the state-of-the-art numerical simulations, analytical models and laboratory ex periments for reproducing the main aspects of astrophysical jets and compar ing them with observations. The discussion has been focused on the following topics: * Observations and intepretions of jets from young stars and AGNs, comparisons of models with observations; * MHO accelerations of jets: steady self-similar models, MHO numerical simula tions of time-dependent accelerations mechanisms; * Jet stability and interaction with the ambient: formation of knots in YSO jets, jet survival to instabilities, deceleration of relativistic jets in FRI sources, simulations of jets-IGM interactions, jets propagation and galaxy formation; * Numerical codes and their validation: relativistic MHO codes, comparisons among different numerical schemes, jets in the laboratory and code validation. These topics have been discussed intensively during the meeting, and the out come of these discussions is presented in this volume. The contributions have been divided in five sections.
The physical processes driving the different manifestations of the phe nomenon of active galactic nuclei have been studied extensively during the last decade. A major obstacle in all attempts to understand the relevant pro cesses has always been the wide range of frequencies over which significant fractions of the total power are emitted. During the last decade, orbiting telescopes and instrumental improvements for ground-based instrumenta tion provided the means for major advancements on the observational side. The organizers felt that it was timely to organize a meeting to discuss the impact of this new situation on the understanding of the relevant physical processes. More then 400 astrophysicists were interested in participating in the meeting, in spite of the constraints on overseas travel which were imposed in early 1991. Unfortunately only 220 participants could be hosted by the Max-Planck-Haus, the site of the 1991 Heidelberg conference. The meet ing was organized by Sonderforschungsbereich 328 "Evolution of Galaxies". During 5 sessions, most of which lasted for one day each, 47 invited and con tributed talks and 150 poster papers were given, most, but not all, of which are included in these proceedings. With a few exceptions the order of the written texts follows that of the oral contributions during the meeting. The arrangement of posters into the five sections was not always unambiguous. We hope to have placed them in the most appropriate sections, in which they are listed in alphabetical order.
The 2nd International Conference on Space Engineering took place May 7-10, 1969, at Venice, Italy, under the organization of the Centro Studi Trasporti Missilistici and the Association pour l'Etude et la Recherche Astronautique et Cosmique. Its purpose was to bring together those interested in the technological development of space components, to exchange information by the presentation of papers and to discuss present problems and future trends, and to this end forty-eight papers were presented by distinguished experts from all over the world. The papers were selected from as wide a background as possible, approximately an equal number coming from the academic and research establishments as from industry. The principal criterion for their selection was that they should contribute to the knowledge of Space Engineering, and have application either to the improve ment of current technologies or to the design of more advanced systems for the future. Six pertinent sessions were planned which covered the major areas of interest: (1) Structures and Materials, where three important papers were presented; (2) Guidance and Control Systems, in which six valuable papers were presented, in cluding problems of controlling space ships, details of the inertial guidance system of the ELDO launch vehicle, the attitude control system of the "Europa 2"; (3) Propellants and Combustion, where eleven papers described recent work on solid and liquid rocket engines, advanced fuels and oxidizers, effects of additives, propellant injection, propellant expulsion techniques; (4) Propulsion, in which session ten papers"
In the 18th century, purely scientific interests as well as the practical necessities of navigation motivated the development of new theories and techniques to accurately describe celestial and lunar motion. "Between Theory and Observations" presents a detailed and accurate account, not to be found elsewhere in the literature, of Tobias Mayer's important contributions to the study of lunar motion-including the creation of his famous set of lunar tables, which were the most accurate of their time.
This book discusses in detail all the relevant numerical methods for the classical N-body problem. It demonstrates how to develop clear and elegant algorithms for models of gravitational systems, and explains the fundamental mathematical tools needed to describe the dynamics of a large number of mutually attractive particles. Particular attention is given to the techniques needed to model astrophysical phenomena such as close encounters and the dynamics of black hole binaries. The author reviews relevant work in the field and covers applications to the problems of planetary formation and star cluster dynamics, both of Pleiades type and globular clusters. Self-contained and pedagogical, this book is suitable for graduate students and researchers in theoretical physics, astronomy and cosmology.
Neutrinos play a fundamental role in the latest particle physics theories, such as Grand Unified Theories, theories of supersymmetry, and superstring theory. Their mass yields an important boundary condition for grand unification models. They are the best candidates for dark matter in the universe, and their mass could determine its large scale structure and evolution. Neutrinos probe the interior of collapsing stars, and understanding them may lead to a solution of the solar neutrino problem. In ten chapters written by experts in each of these fields this book gives a comprehensive presentation of our current knowledge of the neutrino, of its role in nuclear particle and astrophysics theories, and of ongoing experimental efforts to learn more about its own nature. Graduate students and researchers in these fields will find this book a reliable advanced text and source of reference.
After the launching of the first artificial satellites preceding interplanetary vehicles, celestial mechanics is no longer a science of interest confined to a small group of astronomers and mathematicians; it becomes a special engineering technique. I have tried to set this book in this new perspective, by severely limiting the choice of examples from classical celestial mechanics and by retaining only those useful in calculating the trajectory of a body in space. The main chapter in this book is the fifth, where a detailed solution is given of the problem of motion of an artificial satellite in the Earth's gravitational field, using the methods of Von Zeipel and of Brouwer. It is shown how Lagrange's equations can be applied to this problem. The first four chapters contain proofs of the main results useful for these two methods: the elliptical solution of the two-body problem and the basic algebra of celestial mechanics; some theorems of analytical mechanics; the Delaunay variables and the Lagrangian equations of variation of elements; the expansion of the disturbing function and the Bessel functions necessary for this expansion. The last two chapters are more descriptive in character. In them I have summarized briefly some of the classical theories of celestial mechanics, and have tried to show their distinctive characteristics without going into details.
The concept of infinity is one of the most important, and at the same time, one of the most mysterious concepts of science. Already in antiquity many philosophers and mathematicians pondered over its contradictory nature. In mathematics, the contradictions connected with infinity intensified after the creation, at the end of the 19th century, of the theory of infinite sets and the subsequent discovery, soon after, of paradoxes in this theory. At the time, many scientists ignored the paradoxes and used set theory extensively in their work, while others subjected set-theoretic methods in mathematics to harsh criticism. The debate intensified when a group of French mathematicians, who wrote under the pseudonym of Nicolas Bourbaki, tried to erect the whole edifice of mathematics on the single notion of a set. Some mathematicians greeted this attempt enthusiastically while others regarded it as an unnecessary formalization, an attempt to tear mathematics away from life-giving practical applications that sustain it. These differences notwithstanding, Bourbaki has had a significant influence on the evolution of mathematics in the twentieth century. In this book we try to tell the reader how the idea of the infinite arose and developed in physics and in mathematics, how the theory of infinite sets was constructed, what paradoxes it has led to, what significant efforts have been made to eliminate the resulting contradictions, and what routes scientists are trying to find that would provide a way out of the many difficulties.
The present NATO Advanced Study Institute held in CARGESE (Corsica) from Au- gust 8th to August 18th, 1989 was devoted to Hadronic Physics. We tried to give this school a key educational role in this new and rapidly developing interdisciplinary field. We hope that the combination of the lectures and the open atmosphere of scientific exchange and inquiry afforded by the Cargese format has provided a unique educational and scien- tific opportunity for students and has brought together all the relevant concepts and issues for frontier research in this field. We would like to express our gratitude to NATO for its generous financial support which made this Institute possible. We also wish to thank Dr. Luis V. Da Cunha, Director of the Scientific Affairs Division, for his valuable comments and advice. We acknowledge the support of the Institut de Physique Nucleaire et de Physique des Particules (France), the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (France), and the U.S. National Science Fundation, for the attribution of travel grants. Our special appreciation is due to Frederique Dykstra for her oustanding organiza- tional work throughout the preparation and duration of this conference It is also a pleasure to thank the Universite de Nice for making available the facilities of the Cargese Scientific Institute. The pictures of the lecturers included in the present volume were kindly provided by one of the participants, Dr.R.Janner.
The Ionospheric Institute of the National Observatory of Athens has had two interests in recent years: the study of the ionosphere and the study of the sun. In our previous Advanced Study Institutes in 1960, 1961, and 1962, we have em phasized the ionosphere. For the Advanced Study Institute of 1964, however, we invited Dr. Jules Aarons of the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories to collaborate in preparing and directing a program of studies of the sun, the moon, the planets, and the interplanetary medium. The lectures of this Advanced Study Institute form essentially an advanced course in radio astronomy. Without being a textbook on the matter, we feel that the present book can be considered as an excellent reference for those students starting their research work in the field of solar system radio astronomy. All lecturers tried to present their subjects in a simple form based upon their exten sive personal experience, but without emphasizing their personal research. We must recognize that it was an excellent achievement for them to keep their text exactly at the level indicated by the Program Director, and outlined by the gen eral program of Advanced Study Institutes of NATO. We are deeply grateful to all the invited scientists for their outstanding contributions in lecturing on their subjects in a clear and authoritative manner. The Scientific Affairs Division of NATO, in its aid to basic research, spon sors various programs. Among them is the Program of Advanced Study Institutes."
This book gathers the proceedings of a symposium on Dynamics of satellites which took place in Prague in May 1969 during the twelfth COSPAR meeting. This symposium was sponsored by the International Astronomical Union, the International Association of Geodesy, the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and COSPAR (Committee on Space Research). The organizing committee was composed of Dr. KOVALEVSKY chair man, Dr. Yu. V. BATRAKOV representing IAU, Dr. A. H. COOK for lAG, Dr. D. KING-HELE for COSPAR, Prof. M. Roy for IUTAM and Dr. ROSENBERG. I wish to take advantage of the opportunity to thank, on behalf of all the participants, the organizing committee members, Prof. BUCHAR, Dr. RAJSK: I and Dr. SEHNAL, for the kindness and efficiency of their welcome. The interpreters who translated with virtuosity during the whole symposium also deserve our gratitude. I am grateful also for the care and skill with which Springer-Verlag has printed this volume."
Part B of Planetary Astronomy from the Renaissance to the Rise of Astrophysics continues the history of celestial mechanics and observational discovery through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It provides a synoptic view of the main developments and furnishes details about the lives, ideas, and interactions of the various astronomers involved. Twelve different authors have contributed their expertise to this book that begins with the reception of Newton's inverse-square law. In the remainder, a large place is given to the development of the mathematical theory of celestial mechanics from Clairaut and Euler to LeVerrier, Newcomb, Hill, and Poincare. This emphasis is balanced by other chapters on observational discoveries and the rapprochement of observation and theory (for instance, the discovery of Uranus and the asteroids, use of Venus transits to refine solar parallax, introduction of the method of least squares, and the development of planetary and satellite ephemerides). Lists of "Further Reading" provide entree to the literature of the several topics. This book will be of great interest to historians of science and astronomers.
Ptolemy was the most important physical scientist of the Roman Empire, and for a millennium and a half his writings on astronomy, astrology, and geography were models for imitation, resources for new work, and targets of criticism. Ptolemy in Perspective traces reactions to Ptolemy from his own times to ours. The nine studies show the complex processes by which an ancient scientist and his work gained and subsequently lost an overreaching reputation and authority.
This volume is a collection of experimental and theoretical papers presented at the international "Topical Meeting on Optical Bistability," held at the University of Rochester, June 15-17, 1983, sponsored jointly by the Air Force Office of Scientific Re search; the Army Research Office; and the Optical Society of America. The Conference, which had 150 attendees, overlapped (on June 15) with the Fifth Rochester Conference on Coherence and Quantum Optics with two joint sessions. Some of the topics cover ed in this volume are also treated io the Proceedings of that Conference. Since the last international conference on Optical Bistability, held in Asheville, North Carolina, June 3-5, 1980, there have been new and important fundamental advances in the field. This is borne out in papers in this volume dealing with optical chaos and period doubling bifurcations leading to chaos as well as the report of results of an experiment using a very simple system exhibiting ab sorptive optical bistability in a ring cavity using optically pump ed sodium atoms, which was successfully analyzed quantitatively by a simple theory. Other advances discussed here include the ob servation of optical bistability due to the effect of radiation pressure on one mirror of a fabry-Perot cavity. and the prediction of mirrorless intrinsic opittal bistability due to the local field correction incorporated into the Maxwell-Bloch formulation. Advances in optical bistability in semiconductors relate closer to actual device applications."
What is unorthodox in this book? Much has happened in the last few years, especially in terms of the somewhat surpris ing rate at which the theories presented herein have been gaining increasing acceptance and support even by the most skeptical professionals. Nevertheless, the purpose of this up-dated Preface is not to tell the biographical and acceptance story behind this book, but to bring together some non-physical and non technical conclusions for those readers who find the physico-mathematical sections of this book too difficult to follow. A secondary purpose is to present here some newer conclu sions, especially in general philosophy and in aesthetics. Yet, the main physico philosophical conclusions presented in this book are not to be summarized here. For that purpose one must tum to the text itself. * * * The theories presented here have been developed in total isolation. They were never presented in "professional conferences," as most current writers do. Whether or not that was important remains to be seen. Hence, all I can state to critics and enthusiastic follow ers alike is the fact that I do not belong to any 'formal discipline', 'pressure group', or 'pro fessional organization'."
Optics is reborn. There is fresh new vitality in applying old techniques to new prob lems and fully exploring novel phenomena. Lasers, holography, stellar navigation, nonlinear phenomena, and remote sensing are subjects of the seventies, and their further development will increase our understanding of nature and the development of technology. This Series is devoted to provid ing ideas and data to nourish the growth of these scientific and engineering en deavors' for we feel strongly that science and engineering flourish best when they grow together. Some of the volumes in the Series will be devoted to the optical properties of materials, theories of the detailed mechanisms of absorption, reflection, and nonlinea r phenomena, and electro-optical coefficients. The understanding of such things leads to further engineering applications. Companions to such theoretical books will be compendia of property data; the triad is completed by monographs on the use of the materials in op tical and electro-optical systems. Laser materials, lasers, and laser sys tems form one of the groups which will comprise the full set of ready-reference material for the entire field. The Series will be intentionally international, including a fair sampling of Russian work. There are important benefits to be obtained in the alternate approaches often taken by our Soviet and other foreign colleagues (just as they can gain from studying ours)."
A hilarious guide to what's real (and what's not) in our vast,
beautiful (and terrifying) universe.
With Cosmic Bullsh*t, you'll laugh, you'll learn, and you'll never look at the universe the same way again. So buckle up, fellow space travelers, and prepare to have your minds blown by the weirdest, wildest, and most wondrous aspects of the cosmos.
Because of recent progress in the development of quasistationary toroidal mag- netic confinement systems, especially tokamaks, these systems are at the center of research on controlled thermonuclear fusion. Tokamaks were proposed and first built at the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy. In the 1960s the basic features of plasma behavior in toroidal magnetic confinement systems were investigated in ex- periments on the first tokamaks and the possibility of obtaining effective confine- ment in them was demonstrated. The successes of this first stage led to a rapid ex- pansion in tokamak research around the world. The development of a thermonu- clear power reactor based on the tokamak is now actively under way. During the earliest phase of research on tokamaks, it was already clear that the ohmic heating used in them was not sufficient to obtain the temperatures needed for initiation of a self-sustaining thermonuclear reaction. At the beginning of the 1970s, therefore, a search was begun for methods of heating which could supple- ment ohmic heating. The best of these auxiliary heating techniques are neutral beam injection, various methods based on the collisionless absorption of rf (radio fre- quency) waves, and adiabatic compression of the plasma by a rising magnetic field.
The General Assemblies of the International Astronomical Union are landmarks in the life of the world-wide astronomical community, as they review, at triennial intervals, the progress made in this scientific field, promulgate the most spect acular astronomical achievements, formulate scientific programmes for the years to come and, last but not least, deal with the administration and finances of the IAU. The Reports on Astronomy 1976, published as Transactions XVIA (in 3 volumes) before the XVlth General Assembly, are a synopsis of the work done in astronomy from 1973 to 1975. The volume "Highlights of Astronomy, as presented at the XVlth General As sembly of the IAU in Grenoble, 1976" includes some selected scientific topics, and will appear in the first half of 1977. Apart from the Invited Discourses and the Proceedings of the seven Joint Discussions, the Highlights volume No.4 con tairsthe proceedings of two Joint Commissions Meetings."
The last decades have marked the beginning of a new era in Celestial Mech- ics. The challenges came from several di?erent directions. The stability theory of nearly-integrable systems (a class of problems which includes many models of - lestial Mechanics) pro?ted from the breakthrough represented by the Kolmogorov- Arnold-Moser theory, which also provides tools for determining explicitly the - rameter values allowing for stability. A con?nement of the actions for exponential times was guaranteed by Nekhoroshev's theorem, which gives much information about the geography of the resonances. Performing ever-faster computer simu- tionsallowedustohavedeeperinsightsintomanyquestionsofDynamicalSystems, most notably chaos theory. In this context several techniques have been developed to distinguish between ordered and chaotic behaviors. Modern tools for computing spacecraft trajectories made possible the realization of many space missions, es- cially the interplanetary tours, which gave a new shape to the solar system with a lot of new satellites and small bodies. Finally, the improvement of observational techniques allowed us to make two revolutions in the sky: the solar system does not end with Pluto, but it extends to the Kuiper belt, and the solar system is not unique, but the universe has plenty of extrasolar planetary systems. Cookingalltheseingredientstogetherwiththeclassicaltheoriesdevelopedfrom the 17th to the 19th centuries, one obtains themodern Celestial Mechanics.
decision and investigative process of the scientist, they can also wri te the paragra}ils of scientific resul ts. Once a canputer research activity progresses from intuitive guesses to a systematic study, the canputer program can free the scientist to pursue new original ideas. '!his concept is illustrated in the ptper by Hut. Sussnan says "Knowledge" is knowing what not to canpute. His main message is that we must change from trying to maximize the efficiency of the canputer to maximizing the effectiveness of the scientist. The canputer is relatively cheap, it is the trained scientist who is most valuable. In the second keynote address, R. L. Duncombe (University of Texas) described the "Early Applications of Canputer Technology to Dynamical Astronany. " His talk traced the worldwide introduction of punched card equipnent and their applications through the use of the first electronic canputers. Sussman and Duncombe, therefore, provided a forecast and review of the use of computers in dynamical astronany. This proceedings is intended to provide a consolidated general view of the ptst, present, and future of the Applications of Canputer Technology to Dynamical Astronany. Of necessity this requires that the ptpers be rela ti vely short and provide references to the more canplete discussions. Thanks to the representa tion from so many different countries the proceedings give a picture of the activities worldwide. The Scientific Organizing Comnittee included K. B. IIlatnagar, V. A. Brtmberg, G. Contopoulos, A. Depri t , J. Henrard, J. Kovalevsky, Y.
Neutrinos play an intriguing role in modern physics linking central questions of particle physics, cosmology and astrophysics. The contributions in this book reflect the present status of neutrino physics with emphasis on non-accelerator or beyond-accelerator experiments. Since a nonvanishing neutrino mass would yield an important boundary condition for GUT, SUSY or Superstring models and since neutrinos are the best candidates for dark matter in the universe, the many efforts to look for a neutrino mass, ranging from neutrino oscillation experiments using reactors, accelerators or the sun as neutrino sources, to tritium decay experiments and the search for neutrinoless double beta decay, are described in some detail. One of the sections is devoted to neutrinos from collapsing stars, including the supernova SN 1987 A. Possibilities for detecting cosmological neutrinos are discussed and an outlook to future experiments is given.
TH. HENNING and B. STECKLUM University Observatory. Jena This workshop was organized by the University Observatory Jena and devoted to the physics and chemistry of dense regions of interstellar matter. It was especially dealing with the properties of interstellar dust grains and star formation in those regions. This field of research was opened in Jena already in the 1950s and an early fA U Colloquium on the topic of interstellar matter was held here in 1969. Since that time, the subject of interstellar matter has grown into a much more important part of astrophysics than it was in 1969. Now we are beginning to understand the process of star formation in a greater detail. The discovery of many interstellar molecules by radioastronomers opened the new field of interstellar chemistry. In addition, the application of the new techniques of infrared astronomy led to the discovery of several absorption bands, e. g. , the 3. 1 11m ice band, which pointed to the existence of grain mantles. More recently, the detection of infrared emission lines was the first hint to the existence of a new component of interstellar matter. All these things were discussed extensively during the workshop. The very successful IRAS mission, which was also a subject of this workshop, gave us many new insights and unexpected findings, e. g. , the detection of infrared cirrus clouds.
The second workshop on High Energy Astrophysics of the Ma..x-Planck-Society and the Academia Sinica was held at Ringberg Castle near Tegernsee during the week July 12-July 17, 1987. It is the purpose of these workshops to en courage the exchange of ideas between German and Chinese astrophysicists (scientists from other countries are also welcome, of course), and the pleas ant atmosphere and surroundings of Ringberg Castle certainly helped the development of relaxed and stimulating discussions. In addition, we seemed to have picked out the one week of perfect weather during a rainy summer. Thanks are due to Mr. Hormann and his staff for creating a perfect infra structure. The proceedings have required a considerable amount of editing, and I hope that all the papers are comprehensible. Thanks are due to Miss Petra Berkemeyer and Miss Hannelore Muller, who patiently retyped several manu scripts and helped with other editing jobs. I did not feel that a sharp refer eeing procedure should be done, although I do not agree with all the papers in this volume. The interested reader will find that this book gives a fair account of the present status of Chinese activities in the field of high energy astrophysics, i.e. in supernova physics, accretion onto compact objects, active galaxies, and cosmology."
The last two subjects mentioned in the title "Wavelets" are so well established that they do not need any explanations. The first is related to them, but a short introduction is appropriate since the concept of wavelets emerged fairly recently. Roughly speaking, a wavelet decomposition is an expansion of an arbitrary function into smooth localized contributions labeled by a scale and a position pa rameter. Many of the ideas and techniques related to such expansions have existed for a long time and are widely used in mathematical analysis, theoretical physics and engineering. However, the rate of progress increased significantly when it was realized that these ideas could give rise to straightforward calculational methods applicable to different fields. The interdisciplinary structure (R.c.P. "Ondelettes") of the C.N .R.S. and help from the Societe Nationale Elf-Aquitaine greatly fostered these developments. This conference was held at the Centre National de Rencontres Mathematiques (C.I.R.M) in Marseille from December 14 to 18, 1987 and brought together an interdisciplinary mix of participants. We hope that these proceedings will convey to the reader some of the excitement and flavor of the meeting. |
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