4,245 research outputs found
The thermodynamics of collapsing molecular cloud cores using smoothed particle hydrodynamics with radiative transfer
We present the results of a series of calculations studying the collapse of
molecular cloud cores performed using a three-dimensional smoothed particle
hydr odynamics code with radiative transfer in the flux-limited diffusion
approximation. The opacities and specific heat capacities are identical for
each calculation. However, we find that the temperature evolution during the
simulations varies significantly when starting from different initial
conditions. Even spherically-symmetric clouds with different initial densities
show markedly different development. We conclude that simple barotropic
equations of state like those used in some previous calculations provide at
best a crude approximation to the thermal behaviour of the gas. Radiative
transfer is necessary to obtain accurate temperatures.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
New species and notes on the genus <i>Cliffortia</i> (Rosaceae)
Seven new species of Cliffortia L. endemic to the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) are described. C. anthospermoides. C. cruciata. C. ferricola, C. gracillima. C. perpendicularis. C. sparsa and C. weimarckii. A further species from the Graaff- Reinet area, described by Weimarck but not formally named, is here given the name C. bolusii. New varieties C cuneata var. cylindrica and C.filifolia var arenaria are also described, and C. gracilis Harv. is recombined as C. dentata var. gracilis. Cliffortia discolor Weim. and C. hermaphroditica Weim. are reduced to synonyms of C. odorata L.f. and C. juniperina L.f. respectively. There are now 132 species recognized in Cliffortia, 124 of which are found in the CFR and 109 endemic to the region
FISH: A 3D parallel MHD code for astrophysical applications
FISH is a fast and simple ideal magneto-hydrodynamics code that scales to ~10
000 processes for a Cartesian computational domain of ~1000^3 cells. The
simplicity of FISH has been achieved by the rigorous application of the
operator splitting technique, while second order accuracy is maintained by the
symmetric ordering of the operators. Between directional sweeps, the
three-dimensional data is rotated in memory so that the sweep is always
performed in a cache-efficient way along the direction of contiguous memory.
Hence, the code only requires a one-dimensional description of the conservation
equations to be solved. This approach also enable an elegant novel
parallelisation of the code that is based on persistent communications with MPI
for cubic domain decomposition on machines with distributed memory. This scheme
is then combined with an additional OpenMP parallelisation of different sweeps
that can take advantage of clusters of shared memory. We document the detailed
implementation of a second order TVD advection scheme based on flux
reconstruction. The magnetic fields are evolved by a constrained transport
scheme. We show that the subtraction of a simple estimate of the hydrostatic
gradient from the total gradients can significantly reduce the dissipation of
the advection scheme in simulations of gravitationally bound hydrostatic
objects. Through its simplicity and efficiency, FISH is as well-suited for
hydrodynamics classes as for large-scale astrophysical simulations on
high-performance computer clusters. In preparation for the release of a public
version, we demonstrate the performance of FISH in a suite of astrophysically
orientated test cases.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figure
Coplanar back contacts for thin silicon solar cells
The type of coplanar back contact solar cell described was constructed with interdigitated n(+) and p(+) type regions on the back of the cell, such that both contacts are made on the back with no metallization grid on the front. This cell construction has several potential advantages over conventional cells for space use namely, convenience of interconnects, lower operating temperatures and higher efficiency due to the elimination of grid shadowing. However, the processing is more complex, and the cell is inherently more radiation sensitive. The latter problem can be reduced substantially by making the cells very thin (approximately 50 micrometers). Two types of interdigitated back contact cells are possible, the types being dependent on the character of the front surface. The front surface field cell has a front surface region that is of the same conductivity type as the bulk but is more heavily doped. This creates an electric field at the surface which repels the minority carriers. The tandem junction cell has a front surface region of a conductivity type that is opposite to that of the bulk. The junction thus created floats to open circuit voltage on illumination and injects carriers into the bulk which then can be collected at the rear junction. For space use, the front surface field cell is potentially more radiation resistant than the tandem junction cell because the flow of minority carriers (electrons) into the bulk will be less sensitive to the production of recombination centers, particularly in the space charge region at the front surface
Gravitational waves from supernova matter
We have performed a set of 11 three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical core
collapse supernova simulations in order to investigate the dependencies of the
gravitational wave signal on the progenitor's initial conditions. We study the
effects of the initial central angular velocity and different variants of
neutrino transport. Our models are started up from a 15 solar mass progenitor
and incorporate an effective general relativistic gravitational potential and a
finite temperature nuclear equation of state. Furthermore, the electron flavour
neutrino transport is tracked by efficient algorithms for the radiative
transfer of massless fermions. We find that non- and slowly rotating models
show gravitational wave emission due to prompt- and lepton driven convection
that reveals details about the hydrodynamical state of the fluid inside the
protoneutron stars. Furthermore we show that protoneutron stars can become
dynamically unstable to rotational instabilities at T/|W| values as low as ~2 %
at core bounce. We point out that the inclusion of deleptonization during the
postbounce phase is very important for the quantitative GW prediction, as it
enhances the absolute values of the gravitational wave trains up to a factor of
ten with respect to a lepton-conserving treatment.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted, to be published in a Classical and
Quantum Gravity special issue for MICRA200
Loudly sing cuckoo : More-than-human seasonalities in Britain
This research was funded by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, grant number AH/E009573/1.Peer reviewedPostprin
Roughness Signature of Tribological Contact Calculated by a New Method of Peaks Curvature Radius Estimation on Fractal Surfaces
This paper proposes a new method of roughness peaks curvature radii calculation and its application to tribological contact analysis as characteristic signature of tribological contact. This method is introduced via the classical approach of the calculation of radius of asperity. In fact, the proposed approach provides a generalization to fractal profiles of the Nowicki's method [Nowicki B. Wear Vol.102, p.161-176, 1985] by introducing a fractal concept of curvature radii of surfaces, depending on the observation scale and also numerically depending on horizontal lines intercepted by the studied profile. It is then established the increasing of the dispersion of the measures of that lines with that of the corresponding radii and the dependence of calculated radii on the fractal dimension of the studied curve. Consequently, the notion of peak is mathematically reformulated. The efficiency of the proposed method was tested via simulations of fractal curves such as those described by Brownian motions. A new fractal function allowing the modelling of a large number of physical phenomena was also introduced, and one of the great applications developed in this paper consists in detecting the scale on which the measurement system introduces a smoothing artifact on the data measurement. New methodology is applied to analysis of tribological contact in metal forming process
Examining memory for ritualized gesture in complex causal sequences
Abstract: Humans have created and maintained an exponentially large and sophisticated behavioral corpus over evolutionary time. In no small part this was achieved due to our tendency to imitate behaviours rather than to emulate outcomes. This tendency, however, can lead to inefficiency and redundancy in our behavioral repertoires. Drawing on evidence from multiple fields of psychology, we propose two novel competing hypotheses. The âcatalyst hypothesisâ suggests that low (but not high) proportions of ritualized gesture in instrumental action sequences will improve subsequent recall of the entire action sequence (without itself enhancing the instrumental utility of the sequence). Conversely, the âcost hypothesisâ suggests that increasing proportions of ritualized gesture will impair recall, due to the introduction of cognitive load. The null hypothesis states that ritualized gestures are neither beneficial nor costly. In a preâregistered experiment, we presented participants with multiple versions of two complicated 2âminute action sequences in which we varied the proportion of ritualized gesture. We then quantified the influence ritualized gesture had on recall for individuals gestures, overall outcomes, and described detail. We found clear evidence that high proportions of ritualized gestures impair recall for individual gestures and overall success, and weak evidence that low proportions increase overall success. At present, we may reject the null, but cannot rule out either of our competing hypotheses. We discuss potential implications for cultural evolution, and generate competing predictions that allow for adjudication between Ritual Modes theory (Whitehouse, 2004) and the âCognitive Resource Depletionâ account of Religious Interaction (Schjoedt et al., 2013). All files (including data and syntax) are freely available at https://osf.io/spz68/
The first legal mortgagor: a consumer without adequate protection?
This article contends that the UK governmentâs attempt to create a well-functioning consumer credit market will be undermined if it fails to reform the private law framework relating to the first legal mortgage. Such agreements are governed by two distinct regulatory regimes that are founded upon very different conceptions of the mortgagor. The first, the regulation of financial services overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority, derives from public law and is founded upon a conception of the mortgagor as âconsumerâ. The other is land law, private law regulation implemented by the judiciary and underpinned by a conception of the mortgagor as âlandownerâ. Evidence suggests that the operation of these two regimes prevents mortgagors from receiving fair and consistent treatment. The current reform of financial services regulation therefore will change only one part of this governance regime and will leave mortgagors heavily reliant upon a regulator that still has to prove itself. What this article argues is that reform of the rules of private law must also be undertaken with the aim of initiating a paradigm shift in the conception of the mortgagor from âlandownerâ to âconsumerâ. Cultural shifts of this kind take time but the hope is that this conceptual transformation will occur in time to deter the predicted rise in mortgage possessions
The genus Cliffortia (Rosaceae) in KwaZulu-Natal
The only area of endemism for Cliffortia L. outside of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) is centred in the northern KwaZulu- Natal Drakensberg. Eleven species of Cliffortia have been recorded from KwaZulu-Natal and distribution maps are provided for each. Clarification of the circumscription of C. browniana Burtt Davy is discussed and a new species, C dracomon- tana. is described. C. paucistaminea Weim. is subdivided into two varieties: var. australis and var. paucistaniinea Comments on some of the other species that have frequently been misidentified are also provided along with a key to all the species in the area
- âŠ