A theory of sequential fragmentation and its astronomical applications

Technical Report · Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6933105

Brown, W K

This report presents a theory of sequential fragmentation that describes a cascade of fragmentation and refragmentation, i.e., continued comminution. The theory reproduces one of the two major empirical descriptors that have traditionally been used to describe the mass distributions from fragmentation experiments. Additional experimental evidence, including explosive aerosolization, grinding in a ball mill, and simulated volcanic action, further validates the theory. The report also presents some astronomical applications of the theory, including infalling extraterrestrial material, siderophile concentrations in black magnetic spherules of possible meteoritic origin, the asteroids, the distribution of galactic masses, and the initial mass function of stars. 49 refs., 14 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6933105
• Report Number(s): LA-11043; ON: DE89004141
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
MASS DISTRIBUTION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
ASTEROIDS
ASTRONOMY
FRAGMENTATION
GALAXIES
MASS FORMULAE
USES
DISTRIBUTION
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
657000* - Theoretical & Mathematical Physics
640105 - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Galaxies
990230 - Mathematics & Mathematical Models- (1987-1989)