Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics with laser guide stars: performance in the infrared and visible     

M. Le Louarn 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2002,334(4):865-874

The assumption of the Gaussianity of primordial perturbations plays an important role in modern cosmology. The most direct test of this hypothesis consists of testing the Gaussianity of cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps. Counting the pixels with the temperatures in given ranges and thus estimating the one-point probability function of the field is the simplest of all the tests. Other usually more complex tests of Gaussianity generally use a great deal of the information already contained in the probability function. However, the most interesting outcome of such a test would be the signal of non-Gaussianity independent of the probability function. It is shown that the independent information has purely morphological character i.e. it depends on the geometry and topology of the level contours only. As an example we discuss in detail the quadratic model   v = u + α ( u ²-1)  ( u is a Gaussian field with   u¯ =0  and  〈 u ²〉=1  , α is a parameter) that may arise in slow-roll or two-field inflation models. We show that in the limit of small amplitude α the full information about the non-Gaussianity is contained in the probability function. If other tests are performed on this model they simply recycle the same information. A simple procedure allowing us to assess the sensitivity of any statistics to the morphological information is suggested. We provide an analytic estimate of the statistical limit for detecting the quadratic non-Gaussianity α _c as a function of the map size in the ideal situation when the scale of the field is resolved. This estimate is in a good agreement with the results of the Monte Carlo simulations of 256² and 1024² maps. The effect of resolution on the detection quadratic non-Gaussianity is also briefly discussed.  相似文献   

Direct generation of solar and stellar radio bursts by energetic electron maser     

P. Louarn  D. Le Quéau  A. Roux 《Solar physics》1987,111(1):201-206

A fully relativistic electron maser is proposed for the explanation of certain non-thermal solar and stellar radio bursts. This mechanism (maser synchrotron) is based on a gyroresonant interaction between waves and electrons of high energies and uses the free energy contained in an electronic distribution function that peaks for energies around 1 MeV.By a calculation of the growth rates of the three electromagnetic modes, we show that the X-mode prevails for values of _p/ _cup to 2 or 3. This result is very different from the standard cyclotron maser case where such values of _p/ _clead to quench the X-mode growth. Hence, the synchrotron maser instability appears to be a direct and efficient amplification process for considerably larger physical conditions than the cyclotron maser. In addition, the radiation, emitted over the second gyroharmonic, freely propagates without a strong reabsorbtion at the 2 _clayer. All these points can constitute major advantages of this mechanism in an astrophysical context.Proceedings of the Second CESRA Workshop on Particle Acceleration and Trapping in Solar Flares, held at Aubigny-sur-Nère (France), 23–26 June, 1986.  相似文献   

On the Temporal Variability of the “Strahl” and Its Relationship with Solar Wind Characteristics: STEREO SWEA Observations     

P. Louarn  C. Diéval  V. Génot  B. Lavraud  A. Opitz  A. Fedorov  J. A. Sauvaud  D. Larson  A. Galvin  M. H. Acuňa  J. Luhmann 《Solar physics》2009,259(1-2):311-321

The “strahl” is a specific population of the solar wind, constituted by strongly field aligned electrons flowing away from the Sun, with energies >60 eV. Using the Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA) onboard STEREO, we investigate the short time scale fluctuations of this population. It is shown that its phase space density (PSD) at times presents fluctuations larger than 50% at scales of the order of minutes and less. The fluctuations are particularly strong for periods of a few tens of hours in high-speed streams, following the crossing of the corotating interaction region, when the strahl is also the most collimated in pitch angle. The amplitude of the fluctuations tends to decrease in conjunction with a broadening in pitch angle. Generally, the strongly fluctuating strahl is observed when the magnetic field is also highly perturbed. That SWEA is able to perform a very rapid 3D analysis at a given energy is essential since it can be demonstrated that the observed magnetic turbulence can only marginally perturb the PSD measurements.  相似文献   

Temporal Evolution of the Solar-Wind Electron Core Density at Solar Minimum by Correlating SWEA Measurements from STEREO A and B     

A. Opitz  J.-A. Sauvaud  A. Fedorov  P. Wurz  J. G. Luhmann  B. Lavraud  C. T. Russell  P. Kellogg  C. Briand  P. Henri  D. M. Malaspina  P. Louarn  D. W. Curtis  E. Penou  R. Karrer  A. B. Galvin  D. E. Larson  I. Dandouras  P. Schroeder 《Solar physics》2010,266(2):369-377

The twin STEREO spacecraft provide a unique tool to study the temporal evolution of the solar-wind properties in the ecliptic since their longitudinal separation increases with time. We derive the characteristic temporal variations at ～?1 AU between two different plasma parcels ejected from the same solar source by excluding the spatial variations from our datasets. As part of the onboard IMPACT instrument suite, the SWEA electron experiment provides the solar-wind electron core density at two different heliospheric vantage points. We analyze these density datasets between March and August 2007 and find typical solar minimum conditions. After adjusting for the theoretical time lag between the two spacecraft, we compare the two density datasets. We find that their correlation decreases as the time difference increases between two ejections. The correlation coefficient is about 0.80 for a time lag of a half day and 0.65 for two days. These correlation coefficients from the electron core density are somewhat lower than the ones from the proton bulk velocity obtained in an earlier study, though they are still high enough to consider the solar wind as persistent after two days. These quantitative results reflect the variability of the solar-wind properties in space and time, and they might serve as input for solar-wind models.  相似文献   

Observation of a Complex Solar Wind Reconnection Exhaust from Spacecraft Separated by over 1800 R E     

Lavraud  B.  Gosling  J. T.  Rouillard  A. P.  Fedorov  A.  Opitz  A.  Sauvaud  J.-A.  Foullon  C.  Dandouras  I.  Génot  V.  Jacquey  C.  Louarn  P.  Mazelle  C.  Penou  E.  Phan  T. D.  Larson  D. E.  Luhmann  J. G.  Schroeder  P.  Skoug  R. M.  Steinberg  J. T.  Russell  C. T. 《Solar physics》2009,256(1-2):379-392

We analyze Wind, ACE, and STEREO (ST-A and ST-B) plasma and magnetic field data in the vicinity of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) crossed by all spacecraft between 22:15 UT on 31 March and 01:25 UT on 1 April 2007 corresponding to its observation at ST-A and ST-B, which were separated by over 1800 R _E (or over 1200 R _E across the Sun?–?Earth line). Although only Wind and ACE provided good ion flow data in accord with a solar wind magnetic reconnection exhaust at the HCS, the magnetic field bifurcation typical of such exhausts was clearly observed at all spacecraft. They also all observed unambiguous strahl mixing within the exhaust, consistent with the sunward flow deflection observed at Wind and ACE and thus with the formation of closed magnetic field lines within the exhaust with both ends attached to the Sun. The strong dawnward flow deflection in the exhaust is consistent with the exhaust and X-line orientations obtained from minimum variance analysis at each spacecraft so that the X-line is almost along the GSE Z-axis and duskward of all the spacecraft. The observation of strahl mixing in extended and intermittent layers outside the exhaust by ST-A and ST-B is consistent with the formation of electron separatrix layers surrounding the exhaust. This event also provides further evidence that balanced parallel and antiparallel suprathermal electron fluxes are not a necessary condition for identification of closed field lines in the solar wind. In the present case the origin of the imbalance simply is the mixing of strahls of substantially different strengths from a different solar source each side of the HCS. The inferred exhaust orientations and distances of each spacecraft relative to the X-line show that the exhaust was likely nonplanar, following the Parker spiral orientation. Finally, the separatrix layers and exhausts properties at each spacecraft suggest that the magnetic reconnection X-line location and/or reconnection rate were variable in both space and time at such large scales.

  相似文献   

GALACSI – The ground layer adaptive optics system for MUSE     

Remko Stuik  Roland Bacon  Ralf Conzelmann  Bernard Delabre  Enrico Fedrigo  Norbert Hubin  Miska Le Louarn  Stefan Strbele 《New Astronomy Reviews》2006,49(10-12):618

MUSE, the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, is an adaptive optics (AO)-assisted Integral Field Spectrograph, currently in the Preliminary Design Phase as a second generation instrument for the VLT. MUSE will feature two modes, each with an associated AO mode. The first mode is the wide field mode, mainly aiming at the study of high redshift galaxies. For this mode, the AO system has to deliver an improvement of at least a factor of two over the full 1′ × 1′ field of view. The second mode, the narrow field mode, aims at the high-resolution spectroscopy of nearby extended objects, for example, galaxies and globular clusters. For this mode, the AO system will have to deliver near-diffraction limited performance over a small field of view. In this paper, we discuss the trade-offs in the current design of GALACSI – the MUSE AO system – and illustrate with a number of simulations the expected performance in the wide- and narrow field modes.  相似文献   

Improving the seeing with wide-field adaptive optics in the near-infrared     

M. Le Louarn  N. Hubin 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2006,365(4):1324-1332

In this paper, we present simulation results of a ground-layer correction adaptive optics system (GLAO), based on four laser guide stars and a single deformable mirror. The goal is to achieve a seeing improvement over an 8-arcmin field of view, in the near-infrared (from 1.06 to 2.2 μm). We show results on the scaling of this system (number of subapertures, frame rates), and the required number of tip-tilt stars. We investigate the use for GLAO of both sodium and Rayleigh guide stars. We also show that if the lasers can be repositioned, the performance of the adaptive optics can be tailored to the astronomical observations.  相似文献   

Laser Guide Star for 3.6- and 8-m telescopes: Performance and astrophysical implications     

M. Le Louarn  R. Foy  N. Hubin  & M. Tallon 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,295(4):756-768

We have constructed an analytical model to simulate the behaviour of an adaptive optics system coupled with a sodium laser guide star. The code is applied to 3.6- and 8-m class telescopes. The results are given in terms of Strehl ratio and full width at half-maximum of the point spread function. Two atmospheric models are used, one representing good atmospheric conditions (20 per cent of the time), the other median conditions.   Sky coverage is computed for natural guide star and laser guide star systems, with two different methods. The first one is a statistical approach, using stellar densities to compute the probability of finding a nearby reference. The second is a cross-correlation of a science-object catalogue and the USNO catalogue. Results are given in terms of percentage of the sky that can be accessed with given performances, and in terms of the number of science objects that can be observed, with Strehls greater than 0.2 and 0.1 in the K and J bands.  相似文献   

New challenges for adaptive optics: extremely large telescopes   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

M. Le Louarn  N. Hubin  M. Sarazin  A. Tokovinin 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2000,317(3):535-544

The performance of an adaptive optics (AO) system on a 100-m diameter ground-based telescope working in the visible range of the spectrum is computed using an analytical approach. The target Strehl ratio of 60 per cent is achieved at 0.5 μm with a limiting magnitude of the AO guide source near R   magnitude~10, at the cost of an extremely low sky coverage. To alleviate this problem, the concept of tomographic wavefront sensing in a wider field of view using either natural guide stars (NGS) or laser guide stars (LGS) is investigated. These methods use three or four reference sources and up to three deformable mirrors, which increase up to 8-fold the corrected field size (up to 60 arcsec at 0.5 μm). Operation with multiple NGS is limited to the infrared (in the J band this approach yields a sky coverage of 50 per cent with a Strehl ratio of 0.2). The option of open-loop wavefront correction in the visible using several bright NGS is discussed. The LGS approach involves the use of a faint ( R ~22) NGS for low-order correction, which results in a sky coverage of 40 per cent at the Galactic poles in the visible.  相似文献   

Cross-scale: multi-scale coupling in space plasmas     

Steven J. Schwartz  Timothy Horbury  Christopher Owen  Wolfgang Baumjohann  Rumi Nakamura  Patrick Canu  Alain Roux  Fouad Sahraoui  Philippe Louarn  Jean-André Sauvaud  Jean-Louis Pinçon  Andris Vaivads  Maria Federica Marcucci  Anastasios Anastasiadis  Masaki Fujimoto  Philippe Escoubet  Matt Taylor  Steven Eckersley  Elie Allouis  Marie-Claire Perkinson 《Experimental Astronomy》2009,23(3):1001-1015

Most of the visible universe is in the highly ionised plasma state, and most of that plasma is collision-free. Three physical phenomena are responsible for nearly all of the processes that accelerate particles, transport material and energy, and mediate flows in systems as diverse as radio galaxy jets and supernovae explosions through to solar flares and planetary magnetospheres. These processes in turn result from the coupling amongst phenomena at macroscopic fluid scales, smaller ion scales, and down to electron scales. Cross-Scale, in concert with its sister mission SCOPE (to be provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency—JAXA), is dedicated to quantifying that nonlinear, time-varying coupling via the simultaneous in-situ observations of space plasmas performed by a fleet of 12 spacecraft in near-Earth orbit. Cross-Scale has been selected for the Assessment Phase of Cosmic Vision by the European Space Agency.   相似文献