Cosmology 2020

Cosmology 2020 – The Current State offers the reader several fresh ideas on this topic. The first chapter presents an argument that, both in theory and in reality, one cannot ignore the microscopic world to concentrate on the Universe at only the galactic level. Then we have several chapters presenting new explanations for dark energy and dark matter based on reasonable physics at the atomic level. We cover the beginnings of artificial intelligence to model a cosmological phenomenon and a chapter pointing out that better results can be culled from SNe Ia and HII data when appropriate computerised analyses are applied. We think this book will add some new ideas to the libraries of many cosmologists and astrophysicists

Science Mega-Project Communities; Mechanisms of Effective Global Collaboration?

Thomas Hale and David Held in Beyond Gridlock (2017) define gridlock as the inability of countries to cooperate via international institutions to address policy problems that span borders; it refers both to deadlock or dysfunctionality in existing organisations and the inability of countries to come to new agreements as issues arise. In the context of addressing these problems that span borders it is analytically valuable to consider global science mega-project (SMP) communities that have been remarkably effective in working against the gridlock trend. Three of the most insightful SMP case studies are those chosen for my research: the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN) community, the International Thermonuclear Experiential Reactor (ITER) nuclear fusion project community and the International Space Station (ISS) community. Previous research into these endeavours has focused on recounting the stories of their scientific discoveries and technical feats and innovations. This research has investigated the reasons behind these triumphs from a social sciences perspective. The research problem, that this thesis answers, is how do global SMPs achieve their effective collaboration pathways with Member States. A qualitative, ethnographic research method was utilised to consider the case study organisations and the people in them. Interpretivism and critical realism research philosophies governed the design. Three underlying hypotheses concerning start-up conditions, dealing with constraints and governance and leadership, were tested to examine SMP performance. Through over seventy field work interviews, evidence was gathered, and analysis and validation showed that the majority of data supported the hypotheses. The analysis reveals which of the seven Beyond Gridlock pathways and associated mechanisms had been used by the SMP communities to overcome gridlock. This research identifies a new eighth pathway, concerning innovative funding, that it is proposed be added to the primary theory. Two contributions emerged for consideration by others in the International Relations field. The first shows that communities should be primed and ready to exploit shifts in major power core interests in order to launch new endeavours and the second is how an ingeniously designed funding system allows Member States to commit to projects, permits the central IGOs to operate effectively and, at the same time, maintains support in the Member States’ homelands

Obsessed by a Dream

This Open Access biography chronicles the life and achievements of the Norwegian engineer and physicist Rolf Widerøe. Readers who meet him in the pages of this book will wonder why he isn't better known. The first of Widerøe's many pioneering contributions in the field of accelerator physics was the betatron, the second, the linear accelerator, both summarized in a 27 page PhD. The betatron revolutionized the fields of cancer treatment through radiation therapy and also nondestructive testing; hospitals worldwide installed Widerøe's machine and today’s modern radiation treatment equipment is based on his inventions. The most recent renaissance of the linac provides unprecedented x-ray intensities at Free Electron Laser (FEL) facilities in operation and construction worldwide. . Widerøe’s story also includes a fair share of drama, particularly during World War II when both Germans and the Allies vied for his collaboration. Widerøe held leading positions in multinational industry groups and was one of the consultants for building the world's largest nuclear laboratory, CERN, in Switzerland. He gained over 200 patents, received several honorary doctorates and a number of international awards. The author, a professional writer and maker of TV documentaries, has gained access to hitherto restricted archives in several countries, which provided a wealth of new material and insights, in particular in relation to the war years. She tells here a gripping and illuminating story

Tales of Research Misconduct: A Lacanian Diagnostics of Integrity Challenges in Science Novels

research integrity; scientific misconduct; science novels; Lacanian psychoanalysis; continental philosophy; falsification; plagiarism; ethic

From narrow-gap and semimagnetic semiconductors to spintronics and topological matter: a life with spins

The abundance of semiconductors in our smartphones, computers, fiber optic junctions, cars, light sources, photovoltaic and thermoelectric cells results from the possibilities of controlling their properties through doping, lighting, and applying various fields. This paper, a part of the volume celebrating 100 years of the Polish Physical Society, presents a biased selection of worthwhile results obtained by researchers at the Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences relevant, as seen today, to topological matter and spintronics. Comprehensive studies, combining materials development, experimental investigations, and theoretical description of narrow-gap and dilute-magnetic semiconductors have been especially significant in this context. This survey also emphasizes, in an autobiographical tone, a half of a century of the author's intellectual emotions accompanying the rise of ideas and quantitative theories, allowing identifying the physics behind ongoing and future observations.Comment: some typos corrected in version

Pathway to the Square Kilometre Array - The German White Paper -

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is the most ambitious radio telescope ever planned. With a collecting area of about a square kilometre, the SKA will be far superior in sensitivity and observing speed to all current radio facilities. The scientific capability promised by the SKA and its technological challenges provide an ideal base for interdisciplinary research, technology transfer, and collaboration between universities, research centres and industry. The SKA in the radio regime and the European Extreme Large Telescope (E-ELT) in the optical band are on the roadmap of the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and have been recognised as the essential facilities for European research in astronomy. This "White Paper" outlines the German science and R&D interests in the SKA project and will provide the basis for future funding applications to secure German involvement in the Square Kilometre Array.Comment: Editors: H. R. Kl\"ockner, M. Kramer, H. Falcke, D.J. Schwarz, A. Eckart, G. Kauffmann, A. Zensus; 150 pages (low resolution- and colour-scale images), published in July 2012, language English (including a foreword and an executive summary in German), the original file is available via the MPIfR homepag

Einstein vs. Bergson

On 6 April 1922, Einstein met Bergson to debate the nature of time: is the time the physicist calculates the same time the philosopher reflects on? Einstein claimed that only scientific time is real, while Bergson argued that scientific time always presupposes a living and perceiving subject. On that day, nearly 100 years ago, conflict was inevitable. Is it still inevitable today? How many kinds of time are there

Einstein vs. Bergson

On 6 April 1922, Einstein met Bergson to debate the nature of time: is the time the physicist calculates the same time the philosopher reflects on? Einstein claimed that only scientific time is real, while Bergson argued that scientific time always presupposes a living and perceiving subject. On that day, nearly 100 years ago, conflict was inevitable. Is it still inevitable today? How many kinds of time are there

Autocalibration Region Extending Through Time: A Novel GRAPPA Reconstruction Algorithm to Accelerate 1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging

Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) has the ability to noninvasively interrogate metabolism in vivo. However, excessively long scan times have thus far prevented its adoption into routine clinical practice. Generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisitions (GRAPPA) is a parallel imaging technique that allows one to reduce acquisition duration and use spatial sensitivity correlations to reconstruct the unsampled data points. The coil sensitivity weights are determined implicitly via a fully-sampled autocalibration region in k-space. In this dissertation, a novel GRAPPA-based algorithm is presented for the acceleration of 1H MRSI. Autocalibration Region extending Through Time (ARTT) GRAPPA instead extracts the coil weights from a region in k-t space, allowing for undersampling along each spatial dimension. This technique, by exploiting spatial-spectral correlations present in MRSI data, allows for a more accurate determination of the coil weights and subsequent parallel imaging reconstruction. This improved reconstruction accuracy can then be traded for more aggressive undersampling and a further reduction of acquisition duration. It is shown that the ARTT GRAPPA technique allows for approximately two-fold more aggressive undersampling than the conventional technique while achieving the same reconstruction accuracy. This accelerated protocol is then applied to acquire high-resolution brain metabolite maps in less than twenty minutes in three healthy volunteers at B0 = 7 T