Measurement of the Magnetic Field Penetration Into Superconducting Thin Films

The magnetic field at which first flux penetrates is a fundamental parameter characterizing superconducting materials for SRF cavities. Therefore, an accurate technique is needed to measure the penetration of the magnetic field directly. The conventional magnetometers are inconvenient for thin superconducting film measurements because these measurements are strongly influenced by orientation, edge and shape effects. In order to measure the onset of field penetration in bulk, thin films and multi-layered superconductors, we have designed, built and calibrated a system combining a small superconducting solenoid capable of generating surface magnetic field higher than 500 mT and Hall probe to detect the first entry of vortices. This setup can be used to study various promising alternative materials to Nb, especially SIS multilayer coatings on Nb that have been recently proposed to delay the vortex penetration in Nb surface. In this paper, the system will be described and calibration will be presented

A Multi-Layered SRF Cavity for Conduction Cooling Applications

Industrial application of SRF technology would favor the use of cryocoolers to conductively cool SRF cavities for particle accelerators, operating at or above 4.3 K. In order to achieve a lower surface resistance than Nb at 4.3 K, a superconductor with higher critical temperature should be used, whereas a metal with higher thermal conductivity than Nb should be used to conduct the heat to the cryocoolers. A standard 1.5 GHz bulk Nb single-cell cavity has been coated with a ~2 µm thick layer of Nb₃Sn on the inner surface and with a 5 mm thick Cu layer on the outer surface for conduction cooled applications. The cavity performance has been measured at 4.3 K and 2.0 K in liquid He. The cavity reached a peak surface magnetic field of ~40 mT with a quality factor of 6×10⁹ and 3.5×10⁹ at 4.3 K, before and after applying the thick Cu layer, respectively

Design and Commissioning of a Magnetic Field Scanning System for SRF Cavities

Trapped magnetic vortices are one of the leading sources of residual losses in SRF cavities. Mechanisms of flux pinning depend on the materials treatment and cool-down conditions. A magnetic field scanning system using flux-gate magnetometers and Hall probes has been designed and built to allow measuring the local magnetic field of trapped vortices normal to the outer surface of 1.3 GHz single-cell SRF cavities at cryogenic temperatures. Such system will allow inferring the key information about the distribution and magnitude of trapped flux in the SRF cavities for different material, surface preparations and cool-down conditions

Thermodynamics of an ideal generalized gas:II Means of order α\alpha

The property that power means are monotonically increasing functions of their order is shown to be the basis of the second laws not only for processes involving heat conduction but also for processes involving deformations. In an $L$-potentail equilibration the final state will be one of maximum entropy, while in an entropy equilibrium the final state will be one of minimum $L$. A metric space is connected with the power means, and the distance between means of different order is related to the Carnot efficiency. In the ideal classical gas limit, the average change in the entropy is shown to be proportional to the difference between the Shannon and R\'enyi entropies for nonextensive systems that are multifractal in nature. The $L$-potential, like the internal energy, is a Schur convex function of the empirical temperature, which satisfies Jensen's inequality, and serves as a measure of the tendency to uniformity in processes involving pure thermal conduction.Comment: 8 page

On local linearization of control systems

We consider the problem of topological linearization of smooth (C infinity or real analytic) control systems, i.e. of their local equivalence to a linear controllable system via point-wise transformations on the state and the control (static feedback transformations) that are topological but not necessarily differentiable. We prove that local topological linearization implies local smooth linearization, at generic points. At arbitrary points, it implies local conjugation to a linear system via a homeomorphism that induces a smooth diffeomorphism on the state variables, and, except at "strongly" singular points, this homeomorphism can be chosen to be a smooth mapping (the inverse map needs not be smooth). Deciding whether the same is true at "strongly" singular points is tantamount to solve an intriguing open question in differential topology

Global entrainment of transcriptional systems to periodic inputs

This paper addresses the problem of giving conditions for transcriptional systems to be globally entrained to external periodic inputs. By using contraction theory, a powerful tool from dynamical systems theory, it is shown that certain systems driven by external periodic signals have the property that all solutions converge to a fixed limit cycle. General results are proved, and the properties are verified in the specific case of some models of transcriptional systems. The basic mathematical results needed from contraction theory are proved in the paper, making it self-contained

Quantum Mechanics on the cylinder

A new approach to deformation quantization on the cylinder considered as phase space is presented. The method is based on the standard Moyal formalism for R^2 adapted to (S^1 x R) by the Weil--Brezin--Zak transformation. The results are compared with other solutions of this problem presented by Kasperkovitz and Peev (Ann. Phys. vol. 230, 21 (1994)0 and by Plebanski and collaborators (Acta Phys. Pol. vol. B 31}, 561 (2000)). The equivalence of these three methods is proved.Comment: 21 pages, LaTe

Aerosol emission from the respiratory tract:an analysis of aerosol generation from oxygen delivery systems

INTRODUCTION: continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) provide enhanced oxygen delivery and respiratory support for patients with severe COVID-19. CPAP and HFNO are currently designated as aerosol-generating procedures despite limited high-quality experimental data. We aimed to characterise aerosol emission from HFNO and CPAP and compare with breathing, speaking and coughing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Healthy volunteers were recruited to breathe, speak and cough in ultra-clean, laminar flow theatres followed by using CPAP and HFNO. Aerosol emission was measured using two discrete methodologies, simultaneously. Hospitalised patients with COVID-19 had cough recorded using the same methodology on the infectious diseases ward. RESULTS: In healthy volunteers (n=25 subjects; 531 measures), CPAP (with exhalation port filter) produced less aerosol than breathing, speaking and coughing (even with large >50 L/min face mask leaks). Coughing was associated with the highest aerosol emissions of any recorded activity. HFNO was associated with aerosol emission, however, this was from the machine. Generated particles were small (<1 µm), passing from the machine through the patient and to the detector without coalescence with respiratory aerosol, thereby unlikely to carry viral particles. More aerosol was generated in cough from patients with COVID-19 (n=8) than volunteers. CONCLUSIONS: In healthy volunteers, standard non-humidified CPAP is associated with less aerosol emission than breathing, speaking or coughing. Aerosol emission from the respiratory tract does not appear to be increased by HFNO. Although direct comparisons are complex, cough appears to be the main aerosol-generating risk out of all measured activities

The antisaccade task as an index of sustained goal activation in working memory: modulation by nicotine

The antisaccade task provides a laboratory analogue of situations in which execution of the correct behavioural response requires the suppression of a more prepotent or habitual response. Errors (failures to inhibit a reflexive prosaccade towards a sudden onset target) are significantly increased in patients with damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and patients with schizophrenia. Recent models of antisaccade performance suggest that errors are more likely to occur when the intention to initiate an antisaccade is insufficiently activated within working memory. Nicotine has been shown to enhance specific working memory processes in healthy adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We explored the effect of nicotine on antisaccade performance in a large sample (N = 44) of young adult smokers. Minimally abstinent participants attended two test sessions and were asked to smoke one of their own cigarettes between baseline and retest during one session only. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Nicotine reduced antisaccade errors and correct antisaccade latencies if delivered before optimum performance levels are achieved, suggesting that nicotine supports the activation of intentions in working memory during task performance. The implications of this research for current theoretical accounts of antisaccade performance, and for interpreting the increased rate of antisaccade errors found in some psychiatric patient groups are discussed