ictus/curiad/ignis/prog

Poetry by Rhys Trimbl

Microwave cavity light shining through a wall optimization and experiment

It has been proposed that microwave cavities can be used in a photon regeneration experiment to search for hidden sector photons. Using two isolated cavities, the presence of hidden sector photons could be inferred from a 'light shining through a wall' phenomenon. The sensitivity of the experiment has strong a dependence on the geometric construction and electromagnetic mode properties of the two cavities. In this paper we perform an in depth investigation to determine the optimal setup for such an experiment. We also describe the results of our first microwave cavity experiment to search for hidden sector photons. The experiment consisted of two cylindrical copper cavities stacked axially inside a single vacuum chamber. At a hidden sector photon mass of 37.78 micro eV we place an upper limit on the kinetic mixing parameter chi = 2.9 * 10^(-5). Whilst this result lies within already established limits our experiment validates the microwave cavity `light shining through a wall' concept. We also show that the experiment has great scope for improvement, potentially able to reduce the current upper limit on the mixing parameter chi by several orders of magnitude.Comment: To be published in PR

Shooter

This is a story about community, love, passion, chasing dreams, guilt and shame. The true story of my experience with a school shooting at my high school

Dŵr

Poetry by Rhys Trimbl

Circular economy for perovskite solar cells – drivers, progress and challenges

Lead halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are an emerging solar photovoltaic (PV) technology on the cusp of commercialisation, promising to deliver the lowest cost solar energy to date (<32 $ per MW h). Owing to the required scale of PV deployment to mitigate climate change, potential limits to deployment due to materials criticality issues, and the necessity to prevent impacts from PV waste, adoption of circular economy is essential for perovskite technologies. Here we examine 3 key themes to inform future development towards commercialisation: legislative and economic drivers for adoption of circular economy by the emerging perovskite PV industry; environmental and future materials supply issues; and current state of research which may enable remanufacturing and recycling strategies to facilitate circular utilisation of key materials in successive product generations

Introduction

The aerospace industry is aiming for a cleaner means of transport. One way to achieve this is by making transportation lighter, thus directly improving fuel efficiency and reducing environmental impact. A further aim, of the industry, is to reduce maintenance time to lessen operating costs, which can result in a reduction of air transport costs, benefitting both passenger and freight services. Current developments to support these aims include using advanced materials, with the current generation of aerospace structures being 50% composite materials. These materials offer a weight reduction whilst maintaining adequate stiffness; however, their damage mechanics are very complex and less deterministic than those of metals. This results in an overall reduced benefit. Structures are manufactured thicker using additional material to accommodate unknown or unpredictable failure modes, which cannot be easily detected during maintenance. A way to overcome these issues is the adoption of a structural health monitoring (SHM) inspection system. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is understood to be the continuous or periodic and automated method for determining and monitoring the condition of a monitored object within condition monitoring (according to DIN ISO 17359). This is conducted through measurements with permanently installed or integrated transducers and the analysis of the measurement data. Its purpose is to detect damage, for example, cracks or deformations, at an early stage to initiate countermeasures. [...

Attributes of Socio-Technical Baseline Capacities for Energy Transition in the North: Opportunities and Challenges for Gwich'in Communities, Northwest Territories

Today’s societies confront significant challenges concerning historic energy systems, which are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the threat of climate change. Energy systems need to be adapted to create greater resilience for the future. However, ensuring long-term success in community energy development in the North requires more than building new projects – it requires understanding the local socio-technical capacity to design, implement, and maintain renewable energy projects. Consequently, the design of community-appropriate sustainable energy systems requires a socio-technical understanding of a community’s baseline capacity for energy transition. In 2018, through the 2030 Energy Strategy: A Path to More Affordable, Secure, and Sustainable Energy in the Northwest Territories, the Government of Northwest Territories encouraged local or community level renewable energy development within the territory. Communities in the territory considering their energy futures include the Gwich’in communities of Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Inuvik, and Tsiigehtchic. The challenge, however, is that there is limited research on what a socio-technical baseline capacity profile for a remote northern Indigenous community involves. Therefore, the purpose of my research is to understand the socio-technical baseline capacity for energy transition in Gwich’in communities. The initial objective consisted of developing a conceptual framework for socio-technical baseline capacity profiles. The rapid assessment framework is conceptualized based on the energy context of rural and remote regions in the North and informed by recent energy planning grey literature and scholarship. The conceptual framework was then applied with the four partner communities, based on semi-structured interviews with community members, Gwich’in leaders, intermediary organizations, and energy sector representatives, identifying key strengths, challenges, and regional trends across the partner communities. Results identify several key capacity opportunities and challenges for energy transition, emphasizing the importance of community-to-community capacity building and long-term capacity building within the region. I conclude with a discussion of the research key findings – identifying diverging perspectives, the importance of inter-local energy networks, the intertwined nature of the attributes of the framework, and future research needs