Researching trust in the police and trust in justice: a UK perspective

This paper describes the immediate and more distant origins of a programme of comparative research that is examining cross-national variations in public trust in justice and in the police. The programme is built around a module of the fifth European Social Survey, and evolved from a study funded by the European Commission. The paper describes the conceptual framework within which we are operating – developed in large measure from theories of procedural justice. It reviews some of the methodological issues raised by the use of sample surveys to research issues of public trust in the police, public perceptions of institutional legitimacy and compliance with the law. Finally it gives a flavour of some of the early findings emerging from the programme

Passive and active seismic isolation for gravitational radiation detectors and other instruments

Some new passive and active methods for reducing the effects of seismic disturbances on suspended masses are described, with special reference to gravitational radiation detectors in which differential horizontal motions of two or more suspended test masses are monitored. In these methods it is important to be able to determine horizontal seismic accelerations independent of tilts of the ground. Measurement of changes in inclination of the suspension wire of a test mass, relative to a direction defined by a reference arm of long period of oscillation, makes it possible to carry this out over the frequency range of interest for earth-based gravitational radiation detectors. The signal obtained can then be used to compensate for the effects of seismic disturbances on the test mass if necessary. Alternatively the signal corresponding to horizontal acceleration can be used to move the point from which the test mass is suspended in such a way as to reduce the effect of the seismic disturbance and also damp pendulum motions of the suspended test mass. Experimental work with an active anti-seismic system of this type is described

The effect of crystal orientation on the cryogenic strength of hydroxide catalysis bonded sapphire

Hydroxide catalysis bonding has been used in gravitational wave detectors to precisely and securely join components of quasi-monolithic silica suspensions. Plans to operate future detectors at cryogenic temperatures has created the need for a change in the test mass and suspension material. Mono-crystalline sapphire is one candidate material for use at cryogenic temperatures and is being investigated for use in the KAGRA detector. The crystalline structure of sapphire may influence the properties of the hydroxide catalysis bond formed. Here, results are presented of studies of the potential influence of the crystal orientation of sapphire on the shear strength of the hydroxide catalysis bonds formed between sapphire samples. The strength was tested at approximately 8 K; this is the first measurement of the strength of such bonds between sapphire at such reduced temperatures. Our results suggest that all orientation combinations investigated produce bonds of sufficient strength for use in typical mirror suspension designs, with average strengths >23 MPa

Eigenvalue variance bounds for Wigner and covariance random matrices

This work is concerned with finite range bounds on the variance of individual eigenvalues of Wigner random matrices, in the bulk and at the edge of the spectrum, as well as for some intermediate eigenvalues. Relying on the GUE example, which needs to be investigated first, the main bounds are extended to families of Hermitian Wigner matrices by means of the Tao and Vu Four Moment Theorem and recent localization results by Erd\"os, Yau and Yin. The case of real Wigner matrices is obtained from interlacing formulas. As an application, bounds on the expected 2-Wasserstein distance between the empirical spectral measure and the semicircle law are derived. Similar results are available for random covariance matrices

Spectropolarimetry of the 3.4 micron absorption feature in NGC 1068

In order to test the silicate-core/organic-mantle model of galactic interstellar dust, we have performed spectropolarimetry of the 3.4 micron C-H bond stretch that is characteristic of aliphatic hydrocarbons, using the nucleus of the Seyfert 2 galaxy, NGC 1068, as a bright, dusty background source. Polarization calculations show that, if the grains in NGC 1068 had the properties assigned by the core-mantle model to dust in the galactic diffuse ISM, they would cause a detectable rise in polarization over the 3.4 micron feature. No such increase is observed. We discuss modifications to the basic core-mantle model, such as changes in grain size or the existence of additional non-hydrocarbon aligned grain populations, which could better fit the observational evidence. However, we emphasize that the absence of polarization over the 3.4 micron band in NGC 1068 - and, indeed, in every line of sight examined to date - can be readily explained by a population of small, unaligned carbonaceous grains with no physical connection to the silicates.Comment: ApJ, accepte

Potential mechanical loss mechanisms in bulk materials for future gravitational wave detectors

Low mechanical loss materials are needed to further decrease thermal noise in upcoming gravitational wave detectors. We present an analysis of the contribution of Akhieser and thermoelastic damping on the experimental results of resonant mechanical loss measurements. The combination of both processes allows the fit of the experimental data of quartz in the low temperature region (10 K to 25 K). A fully anisotropic numerical calculation over a wide temperature range (10 K to 300 K) reveals, that thermoelastic damping is not a dominant noise source in bulk silicon samples. The anisotropic numerical calculation is sucessfully applied to the estimate of thermoelastic noise of an advanced LIGO sized silicon test mass.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Journal of Physics: Conference Series (AMALDI8

Apparatus for dimensional characterization of fused silica fibers for the suspensions of advanced gravitational wave detectors

Detection of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources remains one of the most challenging problems faced by experimental physicists. A significant limit to the sensitivity of future long-baseline interferometric gravitational wave detectors is thermal displacement noise of the test mass mirrors and their suspensions. Suspension thermal noise results from mechanical dissipation in the fused silica suspension fibers suspending the test mass mirrors and is therefore an important noise source at operating frequencies between ∼10 and 30 Hz. This dissipation occurs due to a combination of thermoelastic damping, surface and bulk losses. Its effects can be reduced by optimizing the thermoelastic and surface loss, and these parameters are a function of the cross sectional dimensions of the fiber along its length. This paper presents a new apparatus capable of high resolution measurements of the cross sectional dimensions of suspension fibers of both rectangular and circular cross section, suitable for use in advanced detector mirror suspensions

First VLBA Images of the Nuclei in 3CR Lobe-dominated Quasars

We report the first VLBA images of the nuclei in eight objects from the 3CR complete sample of 25 lobe-dominated quasars (LDQs): 3C 207, 3C 208, 3C 212, 3C 245, 3C 249.1, 3C 263, 3C 270.1, and 3C 275.1. These images reveal core-jet structures of considerable extent and complexity. In combination with earlier VLBI work on the 3CR LDQ sample, the partial distribution of apparent parsec-scale jet speeds for ten objects is relatively flat up to ~ 5h^(−1) c, or perhaps even ~ 10h^(−1) c. While this is not inconsistent with simple beaming models and quasar-FR II radio galaxy unification, it is crucial to obtain the complete speed distribution for truly definitive tests. Work is in progress on multi-frequency, dual-polarization, and phase-referencing VLBA observations on selected objects in the sample