49,358 research outputs found
Sound insulation design of modular construction housing
This paper provides an insight into the acoustic issues of modular housing using the Verbus System of construction. The paper briefly summarises the history of the development of Verbus modular housing and the acoustic design considerations of the process. Results are presented from two sound insulation tests conducted during the course of the project. The results are discussed in terms of compliance with Approved Document E1 and increased performance standards such as EcoHomes2
Photometric Metallicities in Bootes I
We present new Stromgren and Washington data sets for the Bootes I dwarf
galaxy, and combine them with the available SDSS photometry. The goal of this
project is to refine a ground-based, practical, accurate method to determine
age and metallicity for individual stars in Bootes I that can be selected in an
unbiased imaging survey, without having to take spectra. We produce photometric
metallicities from Stromgren and Washington photometry, for stellar systems
with a range of . To avoid the decrease in sensitivity of the
Stromgren metallicity index on the lower red-giant branch, we replace the
Stromgren v-filter with the broader Washington C-filter; we find that
is the most successful filter combination, for individual stars with
, to maintain ~0.2 dex -resolution over the whole
red-giant branch. We demonstrate that we can break the isochrones'
age-metallicity degeneracy with these filters, using stars with log g=2.5-3.0,
which have less than a 2% change in their -colour due to age, over a
range of 11-14 Gyr.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figures, accepted by MNRA
Double-impulse magnetic focusing of launched cold atoms.
We have theoretically investigated three-dimensional focusing of a launched cloud of cold atoms using a pair of magnetic lens pulses (the alternate-gradient method). Individual lenses focus radially and defocus axially or vice versa. The performance of the two possible pulse sequences are compared and found to be ideal for loading both 'pancake' and 'sausage' shaped magnetic/optical microtraps. It is shown that focusing aberrations are considerably smaller for double-impulse magnetic lenses compared to single-impulse magnetic lenses. An analysis of clouds focused by the double-impulse technique is presented
Log-periodic modulation in one-dimensional random walks
We have studied the diffusion of a single particle on a one-dimensional
lattice. It is shown that, for a self-similar distribution of hopping rates,
the time dependence of the mean-square displacement follows an anomalous power
law modulated by logarithmic periodic oscillations. The origin of this
modulation is traced to the dependence on the length of the diffusion
coefficient. Both the random walk exponent and the period of the modulation are
analytically calculated and confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
The sub-millimeter properties of broad absorption line quasars
We have carried out the first systematic survey of the sub-millimeter
properties of broad absorption line (BAL) quasars. 30 BAL quasars drawn from a
homogeneously selected sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at redshifts
2<z<2.6 were observed with the SCUBA array at the JCMT to a typical rms
sensitivity of 2.5 mJy. Eight quasars were detected at > 2 sigma significance,
four of which are at > 3 sigma significance. The far-infrared luminosities of
these quasars are > 10^{13} L_solar. There is no correlation of sub-millimeter
flux with either the strength of the broad absorption feature or with absolute
magnitude in our sample. We compare the sub-millimeter flux distribution of the
BAL quasar sample with that of a sample of quasars which do not show BAL
features in their optical spectra and find that the two are indistinguishable.
BAL quasars do not have higher sub-millimeter luminosities than non-BAL
quasars. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that all quasars
would contain a BAL if viewed along a certain line-of-sight. The data are
inconsistent with a model in which the BAL phenomenon indicates a special
evolutionary stage which co-incides with a large dust mass in the host galaxy
and a high sub-millimeter luminosity. Our work provides constraints on
alternative evolutionary explanations of BAL quasars.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, ApJ, in pres
Extinction and dust/gas ratio in LMC molecular clouds
Aims. The goal of this paper is to measure the dust content and distribution in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) by comparing extinction maps produced in the near-infrared wavelengths and the spatial distribution of the neutral and molecular gas, as traced by Hi and CO observations.
Methods. In order to derive an extinction map of the LMC, we have developed a new method to measure the color excess of dark clouds, using the 2MASS all-sky survey. Classical methods to measure the color excess (including the NICE method) tend to underestimate the true color excess if the clouds are significantly contaminated by unreddened foreground stars, as is the case in the LMC. We propose a new method that uses the color of the X percentile reddest stars and which is robust against such contamination. Using this method, it is possible to infer the positions of dark clouds with respect to the star distribution by comparing the observed color excess as a function of the percentile used and that predicted by a model.
Results. On the basis of the resulting extinction map, we perform a correlation analysis for a set of dark molecular clouds. Assuming similar infrared absorption properties for the dust in the neutral and molecular phases, we derive the absorption-to-column density ratio AV/NH and the CO-to-H2 conversion factor X_(CO). We show that AV/NH increases from the outskirts of the LMC towards the 30 Dor star-forming region. This can be explained either by a systematic increase of the dust abundance, or by the presence of an additional gas component not traced by Hi or CO, but strongly correlated to the Hi distribution. If dust abundance is allowed to vary, the derived X_(CO) factors for the selected regions are several times lower than those derived from a virial analysis of the CO data. This could indicate that molecular clouds in the LMC are not gravitationally bound, or that they are bounded by substantial external pressure. However, the X_(CO) values derived from absorption can be reconciled with the virial results assuming a constant value for the dust abundance and the existence of an additional, unseen gas component. These results are in agreement with those derived for the LMC from diffuse far-infrared emission
The changing UK careers landscape : tidal waves, turbulence and transformation
This article explores how the UK careers landscape in each of the four home nations is changing in response to neo-liberal policies. In this context, careers services are increasingly under pressure to demonstrate their added value, impact and returns on investment. As fiscal arrangements tighten and governments state their preferences and priorities for national careers services, differing strategic responses are beginning to emerge. A quasi-market, experimental approach is now the dominant discourse in England, in contrast to differing and complementary arrangements in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The article suggests that insofar as these developments are transforming national careers services, they are also creating significant challenges which require new forms of policy imagery and imagination for high-impact, all-age careers services
New Goldstone multiplet for partially broken supersymmetry
The partial spontaneous breaking of rigid N=2 supersymmetry implies the
existence of a massless N=1 Goldstone multiplet. In this paper we show that the
spin-(1/2,1) Maxwell multiplet can play this role. We construct its full
nonlinear transformation law and find the invariant Goldstone action. The
spin-1 piece of the action turns out to be of Born-Infeld type, and the full
superfield action is duality invariant. This leads us to conclude that the
Goldstone multiplet can be associated with a D-brane solution of superstring
theory for p=3. In addition, we find that N=1 chirality is preserved in the
presence of the Goldstone-Maxwell multiplet. This allows us to couple it to N=1
chiral and gauge field multiplets. We find that arbitrary Kahler and
superpotentials are consistent with partially broken N=2 supersymmetry.Comment: Latex, 13 pages. Version to appear in Phys. Rev.
- …