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We have measured the sub-milli-arcsecond structure of 274 extragalactic sources at 24 and 43 GHz in order to assess their astrometric suitability for use in a high frequency celestial reference frame (CRF). Ten sessions of observations with the Very Long Baseline Array have been conducted over the course of $\sim$5 years, with a total of 1339 images produced for the 274 sources. There are several quantities that can be used to characterize the impact of intrinsic source structure on astrometric observations including the source flux density, the flux density variability, the source structure index, the source compactness, and the compactness variability. A detailed analysis of these imaging quantities shows that (1) our selection of compact sources from 8.4 GHz catalogs yielded sources with flux densities, averaged over the sessions in which each source was observed, of about 1 Jy at both 24 and 43 GHz, (2) on average the source flux densities at 24 GHz varied by 20%-25% relative to their mean values, with variations in the session-to-session flux density scale being less than 10%, (3) sources were found to be more compact with less intrinsic structure at higher frequencies, and (4) variations of the core radio emission relative to the total flux density of the source are less than 8% on average at 24 GHz. We conclude that the reduction in the effects due to source structure gained by observing at higher frequencies will result in an improved CRF and a pool of high-quality fiducial reference points for use in spacecraft navigation over the next decade., Comment: 63 pages, 18 figures, 6 tables, accepted by the Astronomical Journal

Ternary oxide forsterite Mg2SiO4 single-crystalline nanobelts have been synthesized at high yields via SiO2 assistant-oxide through a VS process. The PL properties of the forsterite Mg2SiO4 nanobelts were observed. The emission peak at 625 nm is attributed to the 4T1 - 6A1 transition of the trace Mn2+ ions. The other emission peak at 400nm may be due to the defects., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures

We studied the dynamic effects of an electromagnetic(EM) wave with circular polarization on a two-level damped atom. The results demonstrate interesting ac Stark split of energy levels of damped atom. The split levels have different energies and lifetimes, both of which depend on the interaction and the damping rate of atom. When the frequency of the EM wave is tuned to satisfy the resonance condition in the strong coupling limit, the transition probability exhibits Rabi oscillation. Momentum transfer between atom and EM wave shows similar properties as the transition probability under resonance condition. For a damped atom interacting with EM field, there exists no longer stable state. More importantly, if the angular frequency of the EM wave is tuned the same as the atomic transition frequency and its amplitude is adjusted appropriately according to the damping coefficients, we can prepare a particular 'Dressed State' of the coupled system between atom and EM field and can keep the system coherently in this 'Dressed state' for a very long time. This opens another way to prepare coherent atomic states., Comment: latex, 2 figures

We investigate theoretically the resonant splitting of ballistic conductance peaks in magnetic superlattices. It is found that, for magnetic superlattices with periodically arranged $n$ identical magnetic-barriers, there exists a general $(n-1)$-fold resonant peak splitting rule for ballistic conductance, which is the analogy of the $(n-1)$-fold resonant splitting for transmission in $n$-barrier electric superlattices (R. Tsu and L. Esaki, Appl. Phys. Lett. {\bf 22}, 562 (1973))., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, latex format

We studied theoretically ballistic electronic transport in a proposed mesoscopic structure - Quantum Cable. Our results demonstrated that Qauntum Cable is a unique structure for the study of mesoscopic transport. As a function of Fermi energy, Ballistic conductance exhibits interesting stepwise features. Besides the steps of one or two quantum conductance units ($2e^2/h$), conductance plateaus of more than two quantum conductance units can also be expected due to the accidental degeneracies (crossings) of subbands. As structure parameters is varied, conductance width displays oscillatory properties arising from the inhomogeneous variation of energy difference betweeen adjoining transverse subbands. In the weak coupling limits, conductance steps of height $2e^2/h$ becomes the first and second plateaus for the Quantum Cable of two cylinder wires with the same width., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures

We considered the proposed Quantum Cable as a kind of transport spectroscopy of one-dimensional (1D) density of states (DOS) of cylindrical quantum wires. By simultaneously detecting the direct current through the cylindrical quantum wire and the leaked tunneling current into the neighboring wire at desired temperatures, one can obtain detailed information about 1D DOS and subband structure of cylindrical quantum wires., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, latex

We proposed a model of Quantum Cable in analogy to the recently synthesized coaxial nanocable structure [Suenaga et al. Science, 278, 653 (1997); Zhang et al. ibid, 281, 973 (1998)], and studied its single-electron subband structure. Our results show that the subband spectrum of Quantum Cable is different from either double-quantum-wire (DQW) structure in two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) or single quantum cylinder. Besides the double degeneracy of subbands arisen from the non-abelian mirrow reflection symmetry, interesting quasicrossings (accidental degeneracies), anticrossings and bundlings of Quantum Cable energy subbands are observed for some structure parameters. In the extreme limit (barrier width tends to infinity), the normal degeneracy of subbands different from the DQW structure is independent on the other structure parameters., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures

We will discuss a new data assimilation model of ionosphere, the Global Assimilative Ionosphere Model (GAIM), capable of integrating measurements from GPS and other sensors with a physics-based ionospheric model, to provide detailed global nowcasts of ionospheric structure, useful for science and applications.

Global astrometry is the measurement of stellar positions and motions. These are typically characterized by five parameters, including two position parameters, two proper motion parameters, and parallax. The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) will derive these parameters for a grid of approximately 1300 stars covering the celestial sphere to an accuracy of approximately 4uas, representing a two orders of magnitude improvement over the most precise current star catalogues. Narrow angle astrometry will be performed to a 1uas accuracy. A wealth of scientific information will be obtained from these accurate measurements encompassing many aspects of both galactic (and extragalactic science. SIM will be subject to a number of instrument errors that can potentially degrade performance. Many of these errors are systematic in that they are relatively static and repeatable with respect to the time frame and direction of the observation. This paper and its companion define the modeling of the, contributing factors to these errors and the analysis of how they impact SIM's ability to perform astrometric science.

We describe the goals and initial results of a collaboration formed to survey extragalactic objects at radio frequencies of 24 and 43 GHz This survey is for extending the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) that is the current coordinate system for astrometry and wh ich is the angular inertial frame of deep space navigation. In princ iple, the extension should lead to a more stable reference frame. We report upon our initial three 24-hour observing sessions involving about 100 radio sources at the VLBA.

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The ICRF forms the basis for all astrometry including use as the inertial coordinate system for navigating deep space missions. This frame was defined using S/X-band observations over the past 20+ years. In January 2002, the VLBA approved our proposal for observing time to extend the ICRF to K-band (24 GHz) and Q-band (43 GHz). The first step will be observations at K- and Q-bands on a subset of ICRF sources. Eventually, K- and Q-band multi-epoch observations will be used to estimate positions, flux density and source structure for a large fraction of the current S/X-band ICRF source list. This work will benefit the radio astronomy community by extending the VLBA calibrator list at these bands. In the longer term, we would also like to extend the ICRF to Ka-band (32 GHz). A celestial reference frame will be needed at this frequency to support deep space navigation. A navigation demonstration is being considered for NASA's Mars 2005 mission. The initial K- and Q-band work will serve to identify candidate sources at Ka-band for use with that mission.

Polar cap boundary layer waves are ELF/VLF electric and magnetic waves detected on field lines just adjacent to the polar cap. Intense waves are present at this location essentially all (96%) of the time.