Space and surface power for the space exploration initiative: Results from project outreach

The analysis and evaluations of the Space and Surface Power panel, one of eight panels created by RAND to screen and analyze submissions to the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) Outreach Program, is documented. In addition to managing and evaluating the responses, or submissions, to this public outreach program, RAND conducted its own analysis and evaluation relevent to SEI mission concepts, systems, and technologies. The Power panel screened and analyzed submissions for which a substantial portion of the concepts involved power generation sources, transmission, distribution, thermal management, and handling of power (including conditioning, conversion, packaging, and enhancements in system components). A background discussion of the areas the Power panel covered and the issues the reviewers considered pertinent to the analysis of power submissions are presented. An overview of each of the highest-ranked submissions and then a discussion of these submissions is presented. The results of the analysis is presented

Detecting Nutau Oscillations as PeV Energies

It is suggested that a large deep underocean neutrino detector, given the presence of significant numbers of neutrinos in the PeV range as predicted by various models of Active Galactic Nuclei, can make unique measurements of the properties of neutrinos. It will be possible to observe the existence of the nu_tau, measure its mixing with other flavors, in fact test the mixing pattern for all three flavors based upon the mixing parameters suggested by the atmospheric and solar neutrino data, and measure the nu_tau cross section. The key signature is the charged current nu_tau interaction, which produces a double cascade, one at either end of a minimum ionizing track. At a few PeV these cascades would be separated by roughly 100 m, and thus be easily resolvable in DUMAND and similar detectors. Future applications are precise neutrino astronomy and earth tomography.Comment: 10 Pages, 2 figs included, 15 May 1994, Preprint DUMAND-3-9

Production of charm mesons by high energy neutrons

The charmed mesons D"'±, DO, and D; have been observed in neutron-nucleus collisions at the FNAL Tevatron. A sample of 134 ± 19 events was investigated in the decay D"'±-+ D°1r± with the subsequent decay mode D°-+ K+ K-. The cross section per nucleon for D"'±, at most probable energy ...;s = 35 GeV, was measured to be: d:(xf) . BR = 2.11 ± .43 (±.63)JLb/nucleon Xf for 0.0 1r±. The differential cross section for D; production averaged over the particle and antiparticle states is: 1 (dO'(D+) dO'(D-») BR· "2 dx fS + dx / = 2.85 ± 0.80 ± .86 JLb/nucleon at x f = 0.175 where the first error is statistical and the second error is systematic. The branching fraction is defined as BR =BR(Ds -+ 4>n'), and a linear A dependence was assumed.U of I OnlyThesi