Assessing the sociology of sport: On sports mega-events and capitalist modernity

On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, one of the leading international scholars on sport and consumer culture, John Horne, considers the trajectory and challenges of research on sports mega-events and their place in capitalist modernity. In anchoring work on this topic in Roche’s definition of mega-events, Horne notes that sports mega-events are important symbolic, economic, and political elements in the orientation of nations to stake their place in global society. Fundamental issues about the concept of ‘mega-event’ pose challenges for scholars as questions remain over what qualifies as a sports mega-event and how ‘lived experience’ with such events transacts with media spectacularization and characterization. The essay closes by posing broader questions for further investigation about the economic, political, and social risks and benefits of sports mega-events and how these events may portend and relate to changing relations of economic and political power on a global scale

Remote sensing of water quality in reservoirs and lakes in semi-arid climates

Overlake measurements using aerial cameras (remote sensing) combined with water truth collected from boats most economically provided wide-band photographs rather than precise spectra. With use of false color infrared film (400-950 nm), the reflected spectral signatures seen from hundreds to thousands of meters above the lake merged to produce various color tones. Such colors were easily and inexpensively obtained and could be recognized by lake management personnel without any prior training. The characteristic spectral signatures of various algal types were also recognizable in part by the color tone produced by remote sensing

Relativistic Quasilinear Diffusion in Axisymmetric Magnetic Geometry for Arbitrary-Frequency Electromagnetic Fluctuations

A relativistic bounce-averaged quasilinear diffusion equation is derived to describe stochastic particle transport associated with arbitrary-frequency electromagnetic fluctuations in a nonuniform magnetized plasma. Expressions for the elements of a relativistic quasilinear diffusion tensor are calculated explicitly for magnetically-trapped particle distributions in axisymmetric magnetic geometry in terms of gyro-drift-bounce wave-particle resonances. The resonances can destroy any one of the three invariants of the unperturbed guiding-center Hamiltonian dynamics.Comment: 22 pages, Latex, to appear in Physics of Plasma

Some effects of adverse weather conditions on performance of airplane antiskid braking systems

The performance of current antiskid braking systems operating under adverse weather conditions was analyzed in an effort to both identify the causes of locked-wheel skids which sometimes occur when the runway is slippery and to find possible solutions to this operational problem. This analysis was made possible by the quantitative test data provided by recently completed landing research programs using fully instrumented flight test airplanes and was further supported by tests performed at the Langley aircraft landing loads and traction facility. The antiskid system logic for brake control and for both touchdown and locked-wheel protection is described and its response behavior in adverse weather is discussed in detail with the aid of available data. The analysis indicates that the operational performance of the antiskid logic circuits is highly dependent upon wheel spin-up acceleration and can be adversely affected by certain pilot braking inputs when accelerations are low. Normal antiskid performance is assured if the tire-to-runway traction is sufficient to provide high wheel spin-up accelerations or if the system is provided a continuous, accurate ground speed reference. The design of antiskid systems is complicated by the necessity for tradeoffs between tire braking and cornering capabilities, both of which are necessary to provide safe operations in the presence of cross winds, particularly under slippery runway conditions

Sports mega-events – three sites of contemporary political contestation

This article discusses the contemporary politics of sports mega-events, involving the Olympic Games and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Men’s Football World Cup Finals as well as other lower ‘order’ sports megas, taking two main forms: the promotional and the protest. There is a politics in, and a politics of, sports mega-events. The former focuses on the internal politics of the organizing bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA. This form of politics has been written about elsewhere, and hence, there is no detailed discussion in this article about it. Instead this article offers a brief discussion of the range and number of sports mega-events since 2000, an assessment of the contemporary politics of sports mega-events, a focus on three main sites of political contestation – rights, legacy and labour, and finally, it offers conclusions about research into the politics of sports mega-events

Proposal to demonstrate the non-locality of Bohmian mechanics with entangled photons

Bohmian mechanics reproduces all statistical predictions of quantum mechanics, which ensures that entanglement cannot be used for superluminal signaling. However, individual Bohmian particles can experience superluminal influences. We propose to illustrate this point using a double double-slit setup with path-entangled photons. The Bohmian velocity field for one of the photons can be measured using a recently demonstrated weak-measurement technique. The found velocities strongly depend on the value of a phase shift that is applied to the other photon, potentially at spacelike separation.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Class of Einstein--Maxwell Dilatons

Three different classes of static solutions of the Einstein--Maxwell equations non--minimally coupled to a dilaton field are presented. The solutions are given in general in terms of two arbitrary harmonic functions and involve among others an arbitrary parameter which determines their applicability as charged black holes, dilaton black holes or strings. Most of the known solutions are contained as special cases and can be non--trivially generalized in different ways.Comment: Published in Physical Review D, R310 (1995

A Prototype for the PASS Permanent All Sky Survey

A prototype system for the Permanent All Sky Survey (PASS) project is presented. PASS is a continuous photometric survey of the entire celestial sphere with a high temporal resolution. Its major objectives are the detection of all giant-planet transits (with periods up to some weeks) across stars up to mag 10.5, and to deliver continuously photometry that is useful for the study of any variable stars. The prototype is based on CCD cameras with short focal length optics on a fixed mount. A small dome to house it at Teide Observatory, Tenerife, is currently being constructed. A placement at the antarctic Dome C is also being considered. The prototype will be used for a feasibility study of PASS, to define the best observing strategies, and to perform a detailed characterization of the capabilities and scope of the survey. Afterwards, a first partial sky surveying will be started with it. That first survey may be able to detect transiting planets during its first few hundred hours of operation. It will also deliver a data set around which software modules dealing with the various scientific objectives of PASS will be developed. The PASS project is still in its early phase and teams interested in specific scientific objectives, in providing technical expertise, or in participating with own observations are invited to collaborate.Comment: Accepted for Astronomische Nachrichten (special issue for 3rd Potsdam Thinkshop 'Robotic Astronomy' in July 2004). 4 pages, 4 fig

Use of entanglement in quantum optics

Several recent demonstrations of two-particle interferometry are reviewed and shown to be examples of either color entanglement or beam entanglement. A device, called a number filter, is described and shown to be of value in preparing beam entanglements. Finally, we note that all three concepts (color and beam entaglement, and number filtering) may be extended to three or more particles

A search for starlight reflected from HD 75289 b

We have used a doppler tomographic analysis to conduct a deep search for the starlight reflected from the planetary companion to HD 75289. In 4 nights on VLT2/UVES in January 2003, we obtained 684 high resolution echelle spectra with a total integration time of 26 hours. We establish an upper limit on the planet's geometric albedo p < 0.12 (to the 99.9% significance level) at the most probable orbital inclination i ~ 60 degrees, assuming a grey albedo, a Venus-like phase function and a planetary radius R_p = 1.6 R_Jup. We are able to rule out some combinations of the predicted planetary radius and atmospheric albedo models with high, reflective cloud decks.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, MNRAS accepted 12 Oct 200