Mechanical law enforcement: speeding and camera technology

Excessive and inappropriate speeding is--according to the ACPO2 Road Policing Strategy--one of the four key behaviours which contribute to avoidable deaths and injury by making collisions more likely, and by making the resultant injuries worse.3 Although the imposition of a specific speed limit is a matter for legisla-tion4 (either primary or in regulations and orders), the enforcement of those limits is an operational matter for the police force involved. Since the Road Traffic Act 1991, increasing reliance has been placed on the use of automatic devices for detecting speeding offences.5 One of these devices, the speed camera, does not enjoy universal popularity; its use tends to evoke strong emotive feelings whether they are of support or condemnation. The camera detects and gathers the initial evidence which is then used to initiate the process of prosecution and punishment. A fixed penalty ticket procedure is available for offences of speeding detected by a camera, and it is common for the alleged offender never to experience any form of real human interaction with the prosecuting authorities from the moment of offending through to the conclusion, whatever that may be.6 The details of the offence are provided by the output of the machine and it is the machine that proves the facts of the offence. The system is unarguably administratively efficient and cost-effective, but are there any other costs or consequences that follow from relying on an almost totally mechanised and robotic system of law enforcement

Three-manifolds, virtual homology, and group determinants

We apply representation theory to study the homology of equivariant Dehn-fillings of a given finite, regular cover of a compact 3-manifold with boundary a torus. This yields a polynomial which gives the rank of the part of the homology carried by the solid tori used for Dehn-filling. The polynomial is a symmetrized form of the group determinant studied by Frobenius and Dedekind. As a corollary every such hyperbolic 3-manifold has infinitely many virtually Haken Dehn-fillings.Comment: This is the version published by Geometry & Topology on 29 November 200

Searching for modifications to the exponential radioactive decay law with the Cassini spacecraft

Data from the power output of the radioisotope thermoelectric generators aboard the Cassini spacecraft are used to test the conjecture that small deviations observed in terrestrial measurements of the exponential radioactive decay law are correlated with the Earth-Sun distance. No significant deviations from exponential decay are observed over a range of 0.7 - 1.6 A.U. A 90% Cl upper limit of 0.84 x 10^-4 is set on a term in the decay rate of Pu-238 proportional to 1/R^2 and 0.99 x 10^-4 for a term proportional to 1/R.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Late

Spin 1 inversion: a Majorana tensor force for deuteron alpha scattering

We demonstrate, for the first time, successful S-matrix to potential inversion for spin one projectiles with non-diagonal $S^j_{ll'}$ yielding a $T_{\rm R}$ interaction. The method is a generalization of the iterative-perturbative, IP, method. We present a test case indicating the degree of uniqueness of the potential. The method is adapted, using established procedures, into direct observable to potential inversion, fitting $\sigma$, ${\rm i}T_{11}$, $T_{20}$, $T_{21}$ and $T_{22}$ for d + alpha scattering over a range of energies near 10 MeV. The $T_{\rm R}$ interaction which we find is very different from that proposed elsewhere, both real and imaginary parts being very different for odd and even parity channels.Comment: 7 pages Revtex, 4 ps figure

What Makes a Computation Unconventional?

A coherent mathematical overview of computation and its generalisations is described. This conceptual framework is sufficient to comfortably host a wide range of contemporary thinking on embodied computation and its models.Comment: Based on an invited lecture for the 'Symposium on Natural/Unconventional Computing and Its Philosophical Significance' at the AISB/IACAP World Congress 2012, University of Birmingham, July 2-6, 201

The Use of LANDSAT DCS and Imagery in Reservoir Management and Operation

The author has identified the following significant results. The demonstration, local user terminal, has proven the hypothesis that a relatively inexpensive, automatic, and easily maintained ground receiving station for satellite relayed data is practical for an operational use