657 research outputs found
Développement et caractérisation mécanique de membranes silicone architecturées
International audienceDes applications médicales nécessitent l'élaboration de membranes à anisotropie de comportement mécanique. La présente étude vise à proposer une solution à partir d'un seul matériau constitutif. Le principe repose sur la création de membranes architecturées en créant localement au niveau du Volume Elémentaire Représentatif des hétérogénéités de réticulation aux motifs contrôlés. Un matériau silicone est choisi pour la réalisation de ces membranes, à la fois pour sa facilité à le modifier chimiquement et ses propriétés élastomériques intrinsèques. Le degré de réticulation du silicone est maitrisé localement par irradiation UV d'un photo-inhibiteur avant vulcanisation : les zones irradiées réagissent moins en hydrosilylation, générant une phase plus élastique. Cette manipulation permet la création de membranes aux propriétés architecturées de par le contrôle local du degré de réticulation du réseau polymère
High energy, high current synchrotron injector
The construction and testing of a pulsed 450 keV injector for an electron synchrotron are described. High voltage is obtained with a spark gap and pulse transformer. The electron-optical system consists of a series of electrodes connected to a voltage divider programmed so as to approximate the field in a space-charge-limited plane diode. Quadrupole lenses are used to optimize the shape of the beam spot and to counteract space-charge spreading. Details are given of the dependence of beam current on energy and on filament power.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49108/2/siv36i7p306.pd
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Systematic model forecast error in Rossby wave structure
Diabatic processes can alter Rossby wave structure; consequently errors arising from model processes propagate downstream. However, the chaotic spread of forecasts from initial condition uncertainty renders it difficult to trace back from root mean square forecast errors to model errors. Here diagnostics unaffected by phase errors are used, enabling investigation of systematic errors in Rossby waves in winter-season forecasts from three operational centers. Tropopause sharpness adjacent to ridges decreases with forecast lead time. It depends strongly on model resolution, even though models are examined on a common grid. Rossby wave amplitude reduces with lead time up to about five days, consistent with under-representation of diabatic modification and transport of air from the lower troposphere into upper-tropospheric ridges, and with too weak humidity gradients across the tropopause. However, amplitude also decreases when resolution is decreased. Further work is necessary to isolate the contribution from errors in the representation of diabatic processes
End-to-End Learning in Optical Fiber Communications: Experimental Demonstration and Future Trends
Fiber-optic auto-encoders are demonstrated on an intensity modulation/direct detection testbed, outperforming state-of-the-art signal processing. Algorithms for end-to-end optimization using experimentally collected data are discussed. The end-to-end learning framework is extended for performing optimization of the symbol distribution in probabilistically-shaped coherent systems
The close circumstellar environment of Betelgeuse - Adaptive optics spectro-imaging in the near-IR with VLT/NACO
Context: Betelgeuse is one the largest stars in the sky in terms of angular
diameter. Structures on the stellar photosphere have been detected in the
visible and near-infrared as well as a compact molecular environment called the
MOLsphere. Mid-infrared observations have revealed the nature of some of the
molecules in the MOLsphere, some being the precursor of dust. Aims: Betelgeuse
is an excellent candidate to understand the process of mass loss in red
supergiants. Using diffraction-limited adaptive optics (AO) in the
near-infrared, we probe the photosphere and close environment of Betelgeuse to
study the wavelength dependence of its extension, and to search for
asymmetries. Methods: We obtained AO images with the VLT/NACO instrument,
taking advantage of the "cube" mode of the CONICA camera to record separately a
large number of short-exposure frames. This allowed us to adopt a "lucky
imaging" approach for the data reduction, and obtain diffraction-limited images
over the spectral range 1.04-2.17 m in 10 narrow-band filters. Results: In
all filters, the photosphere of Betelgeuse appears partly resolved. We identify
an asymmetric envelope around the star, with in particular a relatively bright
"plume" extending in the southwestern quadrant up to a radius of approximately
six times the photosphere. The CN molecule provides an excellent match to the
1.09 mic bandhead in absorption in front of the stellar photosphere, but the
emission spectrum of the plume is more difficult to interpret. Conclusions: Our
AO images show that the envelope surrounding Betelgeuse has a complex and
irregular structure. We propose that the southwestern plume is linked either to
the presence of a convective hot spot on the photosphere, or to the rotation of
the star.Comment: 12 pages. Astronomy and Astrophysics (2009) in pres
Two-neutron transfer reaction mechanisms in C(He,He)C using a realistic three-body He model
The reaction mechanisms of the two-neutron transfer reaction
C(He,He) have been studied at 30 MeV at the TRIUMF ISAC-II
facility using the SHARC charged-particle detector array. Optical potential
parameters have been extracted from the analysis of the elastic scattering
angular distribution. The new potential has been applied to the study of the
transfer angular distribution to the 2 8.32 MeV state in C, using
a realistic 3-body He model and advanced shell model calculations for the
carbon structure, allowing to calculate the relative contributions of the
simultaneous and sequential two-neutron transfer. The reaction model provides a
good description of the 30 MeV data set and shows that the simultaneous process
is the dominant transfer mechanism. Sensitivity tests of optical potential
parameters show that the final results can be considerably affected by the
choice of optical potentials. A reanalysis of data measured previously at 18
MeV however, is not as well described by the same reaction model, suggesting
that one needs to include higher order effects in the reaction mechanism.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Amorphous alumina in the extended atmosphere of Alpha Orionis
In this paper we study the extended atmosphere of the late-type supergiant
Alpha Orionis. Infrared spectroscopy of red supergiants reveals strong
molecular bands, some of which do not originate in the photosphere but in a
cooler layer of molecular material above it. Lately, these layers have been
spatially resolved by near and mid-IR interferometry. In this paper, we try to
reconcile the IR interferometric and ISO-SWS spectroscopic results on Alpha
Orionis with a thorough modelling of the photosphere, molecular layer(s) and
dust shell. From the ISO and near-IR interferometric observations, we find that
Alpha Orionis has only a very low density water layer close above the
photosphere. However, mid-IR interferometric observations and a narrow-slit
N-band spectrum suggest much larger extra-photospheric opacity close to the
photosphere at those wavelengths, even when taking into account the detached
dust shell. We argue that this cannot be due to the water layer, and that
another source of mid-IR opacity must be present. We show that this opacity
source is probably neither molecular nor chromospheric. Rather, we present
amorphous alumina (Al2O3) as the best candidate and discuss this hypothesis in
the framework of dust-condensation scenarios.Comment: 15 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in A&
High-Precision Branching Ratio Measurement for the Superallowed + Emitter 74Rb
A high-precision branching-ratio measurement for the superallowed β
+ decay of 74Rb was performed at the
TRIUMF Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC) radioactive ion-beam facility. The scintillating electronpositron
tagging array (SCEPTAR), composed of 10 thin plastic scintillators, was used to detect the emitted β
particles; the 8Ď€ spectrometer, an array of 20 Compton-suppressed HPGe detectors, was used for detecting Îł rays
that were emitted following Gamow-Teller and nonanalog Fermi β
+ decays of 74Rb; and the Pentagonal Array
of Conversion Electron Spectrometers (PACES), an array of 5 Si(Li) detectors, was employed for measuring
β-delayed conversion electrons. Twenty-three excited states were identified in 74Kr following 8.241(4) × 108
detected 74Rb β decays. A total of 58 γ -ray and electron transitions were placed in the decay scheme, allowing
the superallowed branching ratio to be determined as B0 = 99.545(31)%. Combined with previous half-life and
Q-value measurements, the superallowed branching ratio measured in this work leads to a superallowed f t value
of 3082.8(65) s. Comparisons between this superallowed f t value and the world-average-corrected Ft value, as
well as the nonanalog Fermi branching ratios determined in this work, provide guidance for theoretical models
of the isospin-symmetry-breaking corrections in this mass region.IS
Interferometric observations of the supergiant stars alpha Orionis and alpha Herculis with FLUOR at IOTA
We report the observations in the K band of the red supergiant star alpha
Orionis and of the bright giant star alpha Herculis with the FLUOR beamcombiner
at the IOTA interferometer. The high quality of the data allows us to estimate
limb-darkening and derive precise diameters in the K band which combined with
bolometric fluxes yield effective temperatures. In the case of Betelgeuse, data
collected at high spatial frequency although sparse are compatible with
circular symmetry and there is no clear evidence for departure from circular
symmetry. We have combined the K band data with interferometric measurements in
the L band and at 11.15 micron. The full set of data can be explained if a 2055
K layer with optical depths ,
and is added 0.33 above the
photosphere providing a first consistent view of the star in this range of
wavelengths. This layer provides a consistent explanation for at least three
otherwise puzzling observations: the wavelength variation of apparent diameter,
the dramatic difference in limb darkening between the two supergiant stars, and
the previously noted reduced effective temperature of supergiants with respect
to giants of the same spectral type. Each of these may be simply understood as
an artifact due to not accounting for the presence of the upper layer in the
data analysis. This consistent picture can be considered strong support for the
presence of a sphere of warm water vapor, proposed by Tsuji (2000) when
interpreting the spectra of strong molecular lines.Comment: Accepter for publication by Astronomy and Astrophysic
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