Optical Instrument Survival In A Major Earthquake

Many organizations presently are evaluating the potential loss to plant, equipment and production capability in event of a major earthquake in their area. Often it is found that equipment can be protected at a fraction of the replacement cost. The paper discusses ground accelerations, seismic probability and certain characteristics of earthquake ground motion. Methods for determining loads from the Uniform Building Code and acceleration response spectrums are explained. Protection techniques for optical equipment are presented including rigid anchors, snubbers and sensing systems. The paper is for optical engineers and managers, with no particular background in seismology or structural engineering required

The Complicity and Limits of International Law in Armed Conflict Rape

The inauguration of the International Criminal Court and the proliferation of criminal tribunals over the last twenty years are often presented as historic and progressive moments in the trajectory of international law’s response to victims of rape in armed conflicts. However, these moments may signal not only inclusion, but also repression. They signal not just progress, but also a renewed rhetorical and institutional legitimization of colonialism. Historicizing the advent of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Court, this Article examines some ways that international law obfuscates its complicity in armed conflict rape, looking particularly at calls within the profession for greater efficiency, nation-state security, and reparations for victims. In doing so, this Article grapples with questions concerning the limits and alternatives to our current legal imagination towards rape in armed conflict

Latent Fingerprint Enhancement on a Brass Metal Surface using Paint Electrodeposition

Fingerprint evidence recovered at a crime scene plays a key role in apprehending a suspect. Cyanoacrylate fuming is one the most successful methods of enhancing fingerprints from metallic surfaces. Despite the success of cyanoacrylate fuming, fingerprint recovery on fired cartridge casings is rarely successful. Therefore, a new fingerprint development method is needed to enhance fingerprint evidence that may still be present on fired cartridge casings. The aim of this research project is to study the use of metal and paint electrodeposition to enhance fingerprints on a brass metal surface. High throw power paint was used in the initial study; high throw power paint is formulated to coat the surface of the metal disks as well as any pits or crevices on the surface. These initial experiments showed that commercial high throw power paint had a tendency to cover not only the bare metal surface, but the fingerprint residue. In the next round of experiments, adjustments to the formulation were made to decrease the binder concentration by addition of carbon black and polyethylene glycol. The pH of the high throw power paint was adjusted with the addition of acetic acid and ammonium hydroxide. Dilution of paint showed a modest increase in fingerprint enhancement. Changes in paint morphology upon adjustment of the binder and non-aqueous components were observed

Nuclear Equation of State from Observations of Short Gamma-Ray Burst Remnants

The favoured progenitor model for short $\gamma$-ray bursts (SGRBs) is the merger of two neutron stars that triggers an explosion with a burst of collimated $\gamma$-rays. Following the initial prompt emission, some SGRBs exhibit a plateau phase in their $X$-ray light curves that indicates additional energy injection from a central engine, believed to be a rapidly rotating, highly magnetised neutron star. The collapse of this `protomagnetar' to a black hole is likely to be responsible for a steep decay in $X$-ray flux observed at the end of the plateau. In this letter, we show that these observations can be used to effectively constrain the equation of state of dense matter. In particular, we show that the known distribution of masses in binary neutron star systems, together with fits to the $X$-ray light curves, provide constraints that exclude the softest and stiffest plausible equations of state. We further illustrate how a future gravitational wave observation with Advanced LIGO/Virgo can place tight constraints on the equation of state, by adding into the picture a measurement of the chirp mass of the SGRB progenitor.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

The enigmatic spin evolution of PSR J0537-6910: r-modes, gravitational waves and the case for continued timing

We discuss the unique spin evolution of the young X-ray pulsar PSR J0537-6910, a system in which the regular spin down is interrupted by glitches every few months. Drawing on the complete timing data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE, from 1999-2011), we argue that a trend in the inter-glitch behaviour points to an effective braking index close to $n=7$, much larger than expected. This value is interesting because it would accord with the neutron star spinning down due to gravitational waves from an unstable r-mode. We discuss to what extent this, admittedly speculative, scenario may be consistent and if the associated gravitational-wave signal would be within reach of ground based detectors. Our estimates suggest that one may, indeed, be able to use future observations to test the idea. Further precision timing would help enhance the achievable sensitivity and we advocate a joint observing campaign between the Neutron Star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) and the LIGO-Virgo network.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, emulate ApJ forma

Modeling pulsar time noise with long term power law decay modulated by short term oscillations of the magnetic fields of neutron stars

We model the evolution of the magnetic fields of neutron stars as consisting of a long term power-law decay modulated by short term small amplitude oscillations. Our model predictions on the timing noise $\ddot\nu$ of neutron stars agree well with the observed statistical properties and correlations of normal radio pulsars. Fitting the model predictions to the observed data, we found that their initial parameter implies their initial surface magnetic dipole magnetic field strength ~ 5E14 G at ~0.4 year old and that the oscillations have amplitude between E-8 to E-5 and period on the order of years. For individual pulsars our model can effectively reduce their timing residuals, thus offering the potential of more sensitive detections of gravitational waves with pulsar timing arrays. Finally our model can also re-produce their observed correlation and oscillations of the second derivative of spin frequency, as well as the "slow glitch" phenomenon.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, submitted to IJMPD, invited talk in the 3rd Galileo-XuGuangqi Meeting}, Beijing, China, 12-16 October 201

Gravitational waves from rapidly rotating neutron stars

Rapidly rotating neutron stars in Low Mass X-ray Binaries have been proposed as an interesting source of gravitational waves. In this chapter we present estimates of the gravitational wave emission for various scenarios, given the (electromagnetically) observed characteristics of these systems. First of all we focus on the r-mode instability and show that a 'minimal' neutron star model (which does not incorporate exotica in the core, dynamically important magnetic fields or superfluid degrees of freedom), is not consistent with observations. We then present estimates of both thermally induced and magnetically sustained mountains in the crust. In general magnetic mountains are likely to be detectable only if the buried magnetic field of the star is of the order of $B\approx 10^{12}$ G. In the thermal mountain case we find that gravitational wave emission from persistent systems may be detected by ground based interferometers. Finally we re-asses the idea that gravitational wave emission may be balancing the accretion torque in these systems, and show that in most cases the disc/magnetosphere interaction can account for the observed spin periods.Comment: To appear in 'Gravitational Waves Astrophysics: 3rd Session of the Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics, 2014', Editor: Carlos F. Sopuert