The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $99,000 - Friday the 25th of May 2012
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG DURHAM
  UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER

  ---

• $88,000 - Wednesday the 5th of October 2011
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG DURHAM
  UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER

  ---

• $835,525 - Friday the 27th of September 2013
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG DURHAM
  UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER

  ---

• $821,814 - Monday the 30th of September 2013
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG DURHAM
  UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER

  ---

• $80,000 - Tuesday the 26th of July 2016
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IN OUR ISM, TURBULENCE AND COSMIC-RAYS (CRS) ARE COMPARABLE IN ENERGY DENSITY TO THE THERMAL GAS, AND PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN MANY DIVERSE PHYSICAL PROCESSES. IN THE ICM, WHILE THEIR RELATIVE ENERGY DENSITIES ARE LIKELY LOWER, THESE NON-THERMAL COMPONENTS MAY STILL EXERT A PROFOUND INFLUENCE. TURBULENCE PROVIDES PRESSURE SUPPORT, AFFECTS MAGNETIC FIELD TOPOLOGY AND THUS THERMAL CONDUCTION, AND IS A SOURCE OF DISSIPATION, HEAT AND METAL DIFFUSION. COSMIC-RAYS LIKEWISE PROVIDE PRESSURE SUPPORT AND HEATING, AND CONTAIN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INFORMATION ABOUT COSMOLOGICAL SHOCKS AND AGN ACTIVITY, WHICH CAN BE MINED IN RADIO AND GAMMA-RAY DATA. THIS PROPOSAL AIMS AT ELUCIDATING THE PHYSICS AND OBSERVATIONAL SIGNATURES OF THE NON-THERMAL ICM. OUR WORK IS OF DIRECT RELEVANCE TO A WIDE RANGE OF NASA MISSIONS, INCLUDING: CHANDRA, XMM-NEWTON, ASTRO-H (X-RAYS), HST (OPTICAL FILAMENTS), FERMI (GAMMA-RAYS FROM CRS). THE VOLUME-FILLING FACTOR OF TURBULENCE STRONGLY AFFECTS ITS PHYSICAL IMPACT, BUT NO OBSERVATIONAL PROBE HAS BEEN SUGGESTED. WE SHOW HOW THE UPCOMING ASTRO-H SATELLITE CAN DELIVER CONSTRAINTS ON NOT ONLY THE AMPLITUDE BUT THE FILLING FACTOR OF TURBULENCE, VIA GAUSSIAN MIXTURE MODELING OF SPECTRAL LINE BROADENING, WITH ROBUST ERRORS FROM GIBBS SAMPLING. WE ALSO STUDY HOW THE FILLING FRACTION AFFECTS CONSTRAINTS ON TURBULENCE FROM RESONANCE LINE SCATTERING. GRAVITY MODES CAN INDUCE VOLUME-FILLING TURBULENCE IN CLUSTERS; WE CONSIDER IF THEY CAN BE DISCERNED IN X-RAY SURFACE BRIGHTNESS MEASUREMENTS. WE STUDY THE USE OF SPHERICAL HARMONICS TO CHARACTERIZE BULK MOTIONS; THESE CAPTURE THE GEOMETRY AND NORMAL MODES OF THE SYSTEM MUCH BETTER THAN THE WIDELY QUOTED 3D POWER SPECTRUM. TURBULENCE CAN ALSO BE IMPORTANT IN THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF COLD GAS. USING 3D FLASH SIMULATIONS IN BOTH UNIFORM AND STRATIFIED ATMOSPHERES, WE STUDY THE IMPACT OF TURBULENCE ON THERMAL INSTABILITY IN THE ICM. BESIDES HEATING THE GAS, TURBULENCE CAN DISRUPT THERMAL INSTABILITY DYNAMICALLY, SINCE THE TURBULENT CROSSING TIME ACROSS A COOLING FRAGMENT IS OFTEN SHORTER THAN THE COOLING TIME. RATHER THAN COOLING RADIATIVELY, A FLUID ELEMENT WILL THEN COOL (OR HEAT) ADIABATICALLY. BESIDES REGULATING MASS DROPOUT TO THE COLD PHASE AS HAS BEEN SHOWN IN STAR FORMATION SIMULATIONS--THIS DYNAMICAL INFLUENCE MAY EXPLAIN THE LONG-STANDING MYSTERY OF WHY X-RAY EMISSION LINES AT ~1/3 OF THE AMBIENT ICM TEMPERATURE ARE SUPPRESSED. TURBULENCE SHOULD ALSO AFFECT OPTICAL FILAMENTS, WHICH ARE REMARKABLY STRAIGHT IN HST OBSERVATIONS. USING 3D MHD SIMULATIONS, WE STUDY HOW THEY CAN BE STIFFENED BY MAGNETIC TENSION AND REMAIN STRAIGHT, ENABLING AN INDIRECT CONSTRAINT ON B-FIELDS IN FILAMENTS. THE COSMIC-RAY (CR) COMPONENT OF CLUSTERS CONTAIN IMPORTANT ARCHEOLOGICAL INFORMATION, SINCE CR TRAPPING TIMES ARE OF ORDER THE HUBBLE TIME. SIMULATIONS TO DATE IGNORE CR STREAMING, WHICH IS ASSUMED TO BE SLOW. IN FACT, THE STREAMING OF CRS IN A HIGH-BETA PLASMA NEED NOT BE LIMITED TO THE ALFVEN SPEED, AND DEPENDS ON THE EFFICIENCY OF DAMPING PROCESSES FOR PLASMA WAVES. WE PROPOSE AN ANALYTIC STUDY, FOLLOWED BY SIMULATIONS TO ASSESS STREAMING TIMESCALES AND IF STREAMING OF CRS CAN EXPLAIN THE BIMODALITY OF RADIO HALOS. SPATIALLY VARYING AND ENERGY DEPENDENT STREAMING SPEEDS CAN ALSO AFFECT CR HEATING, AND THE RADIO SPECTRAL INDEX. WE USE 3D SPH CLUSTER SIMULATIONS TO DETERMINE IF EARLY STRUCTURE FORMATION SHOCKS CAN LEAVE BEHIND A FOSSIL ~100 MEV ELECTRON POPULATION IN THE FACE OF VARIOUS LOSS PROCESSES. SUCH A POPULATION IS REQUIRED BOTH FOR EFFICIENT DIFFUSIVE SHOCK ACCELERATION IN THE CLUSTER OUTSKIRTS (TO EXPLAIN RADIO RELICS), AND TURBULENT RE-ACCELERATION IN THE CLUSTER CORE (TO EXPLAIN RADIO HALOS), BUT ITS EXISTENCE HAS NEVER BEEN DEMONSTRATED. COMPARISON AGAINST OBSERVATIONS WILL SHED LIGHT ON ACCELERATION EFFICIENCY IN A VERY DIFFERENT REGIME FROM CURRENT CONSTRAINTS, AS WELL AS MAGNETIC FIELD AMPLIFICATION AT SHOCKS.

  ---

• $80,000 - Monday the 5th of March 2012
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG DURHAM
  UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER

  ---

• $790,000 - Friday the 27th of September 2013
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG DURHAM
  UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER

  ---

• $732,754 - Friday the 27th of September 2013
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG DURHAM
  UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER

  ---

• $676,000 - Friday the 27th of September 2013
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG DURHAM
  UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER

  ---

• $626,925 - Monday the 30th of September 2013
  Department Of Army
  W6QK ACC-APG DURHAM
  UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER

  ---