The twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites were successfully launched on March 17, 2002. The mission goal is to make significant improvement in current measurements of the Earth’s gravity field. The satellites are linked by a K-band ranging system, which measures the range change due to the gravitational and non-gravitational accelerations. The non-gravitational accelerations can be obtained by transforming the accelerometer measurements into the inertial frame of reference based on the star camera observations, and will be used to separate gravitational effects in the range changes. However, the accelerometer’s proof mass offset from the center of mass of the spacecraft must be minimized and the misalignment between star camera frame and accelerometer frame must be known accurately in order to reduce the accelerometer data error. In addition, the phase center of the K-band horn must be known to make antenna offset corrections to the range and range change data. The objective of the center of mass calibration is to determine the proof mass offset, and then, to use the center of mass trim assembly mechanism to eliminate this offset. The main purpose of the K-band ranging system calibration is to determine the phase center of the K-band antenna, which will be used to adjust the satellite attitude orientations and make the antenna offset corrections to the K-band ranging system phase measurements. Furthermore, this calibration allows the misalignment between star camera frame and accelerometer frame to be determined. The calibration maneuvers have been designed for the real mission. Estimation algorithms have been developed and complete simulations have been performed. Finally, the real calibration data have been processed. Analysis shows that the proof mass offset has been determined better than the requirement value of 0.1 mm and trimmed well below this value. The boresight error of the K-band horn’s phase center has been determined better than 0.3 mrad and the resultant antenna offset correction error of range and range rate will be much less than the system resolution (10[mu]m ,1[mu]m/ s) and the frame misalignment parameters have been determined better than (0.04o ,1[delta] ) . Overall, the goal of calibrations has been successfully achieved. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [69]-72).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 379-384).

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 B724 / Master of Science / Physics

The dynamical mass determination of galaxies and systems of galaxies shows a large excess of mass above what one observes directly. This excess of mass indicates the presence of dark matter. The nature of this dark matter is still unknown and dark matter in the outer regions of large stellar structures such as clusters of galaxies might provide enough matter to close the universe. In this dissertation we investigate in detail the mass distribution of the Coma cluster. We show that optical data alone are unable to distinguish between a wide range of possible mass distribution for the Coma cluster. Low-mass models must have larger central density than high-mass models and require that the galaxies move on near-circular orbits, whereas high-mass models require the galaxy orbits to be predominantly radial. The optical data constrain the amount of dark matter very poorly. The X-ray data can also be used for a mass determination of the Coma cluster. These data may require the mass of the cluster to be more concentrated to the core than a light-traces-mass model if the central temperature of the gas is high. However, they do not put any constraint on the mass distribution beyond a Mpc or two. The above analysis, and most other approaches, assume the existence of dark matter. An alternative approach has been proposed by Milgrom (1983a,b,c): in his theory, the Newtonian law of motion breaks down in a weak field, and must be modified. The present analysis shows that this model is also consistent with optical and X-ray data on the Coma cluster, although a good fit required values for Milgrom's "universal" parameter aₒ to be 2h¹·⁵ (Hₒ = 50 h km/s/Mpc) higher than those inferred from the rotation curves of spiral galaxies. Finally, we investigate whether the model of an expanding cluster dominated by a massive binary galaxy, first suggested by Valtonen and Byrd (1979), is consistent with optical data on the surface density and velocity dispersion of the Coma cluster. We simulate the evolution of this model for a wide variety of initial conditions. We find that galaxy counts in the model can be made to agree with observation, but that the observed velocity dispersion profile cannot be reproduced. A number of other arguments suggest that the central galaxies in Coma cannot be as massive as required by the model. This model is not a viable representation of the Coma cluster.

Spin-2 particles, or gravitons, present both virtues and vices not displayed by their lower spin peers. A massless graviton can only be described consistently by a single theory---general relativity---while mutual couplings among ``colored'' gravitons are simply not allowed. A massive graviton is also believed to admit a unique set of interactions, ones that are however pestered by superluminal perturbations and a rather limited effective field theory. And then there is the third member of the clique, the partially massless graviton, who lives in a universe with a naturally small cosmological constant, but which nonetheless seems not to exist at all. The aim of this thesis is to explore this enormously rich and tightly fettered realm of classical theories of spin-2 fields.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Northeastern University, 2008. / Title from title page (viewed March 3, 2009). Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Physics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-119).

Thesis (M.S. in Applied Physics)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Gamani Karunasiri, Ronald E. Brown. Includes bibliographical references (p. 33). Also available online.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / In this thesis, SiN films grown on Si substrates were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The stress in SiN films can be used to enhance of mobility of electrons and holes which increases the performance of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors. The samples used in this study were prepared by Applied Materials using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique with different growth parameters. The stress of the samples varied from 1.3 GPa compressive to 1 GPa tensile depending on the growth conditions employed. The FTIR measurement showed three distinct absorption peaks associated with Si-N, Si-H and N-H vibrational modes. The hydrogen was unintentionally incorporated into the SiN film during the CVD process due to its use as the carrier gas for the precursors. It was found from the FTIR data that the area under Si-H and N-H peaks (amount of bonds) varies in opposite directions when the film stress changes from compressive to tensile. In addition, the peak position of the Si-H absorption shifted to higher energy while the opposite was true for N-H as the stress changes from compressive to tensile. The strength and the position of the Si-N absorption peak were found to be relatively insensitive to the stress of the film. This indicates that the amount of Si-H and N-H bonds in the film is responsible for controlling the stress of the film. The use of quantum calculation of SiN molecules with different amount of Si-H and N-H bonds was used toward understanding the experimental absorption spectra. / Lieutenant, Mexican Navy