Performance of the SASE amplifier of the TEU-FEL project

The free-electron laser of the TEU-FEL project of the University of Twente will be driven by a photoinjector followed by a racetrack microtron. The injector, which is now under construction, will provide a very high-brightness electron beam with an energy of about 6 MeV. In phase I of the project, experiments are being planned in which this low energy beam from the injector will pass through an undulator and will generate radiation at a wavelength of about 200 ¿m via the process of self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE). Numerical simulations of the performance of this source indicate that power levels of about 15 MW (averaged over a micropulse) can be obtained with a 1-m undulator. We present additional results derived from simulation studies of the performance of this device

Bayes Linear Calibrated Prediction for Complex Systems

A calibration-based approach is developed for predicting the behavior of a physical system that is modeled by a computer simulator. The approach is based on Bayes linear adjustment using both system observations and evaluations of the simulator at parameterizations that appear to give good matches to those observations. This approach can be applied to complex high-dimensional systems with expensive simulators, where a fully Bayesian approach would be impractical. It is illustrated with an example concerning the collapse of the thermohaline circulation (THC) in the Atlantic Ocean

Evolution of long pulses in a tapered wiggler free-electron laser

The evolution of a long pulse (pulse length much greater than the slippage distance) in a tapered wiggler free-electron laser is studied by numerical solution of the 1-D theoretical model for a realistic set of magnet, electron beam, and optical resonator parameter values. Single-pass gain curves are calculated for low and high light intensity. We find that an initial, low-amplitude, incoherent pulse grows into a coherent pulse whose growth rate agrees with the calculated small signal gain. The transient evolution of coherent pulses is calculated for several different cavity length detunings, and a quasi steady-state desychronism curve is given. The frequency changing behavior of the optical pulse is shown to occur through sideband generation associated with synchrotron oscillations. Pulse evolution with an ideal intracavity high-pass optical filter is calculated

Evolution of long pulses in a tapered wiggler-free electron laser

The evolution of a long pulse (pulse length much greater than the slippage distance) in a tapered wiggler free electron laser oscillator is studied by numerical solution of the one dimensional theoretical model for a realistic set of magnet, electron beam, and optical resonator parameter values. Single pass gain curves are calculated for low and high light intensities. It is found that an initial, low amplitude, incoherent pulse grows into a coherent pulse whose growth rate agrees with the calculated small signal gain curve. The transient evolution of coherent pulses is calculated for several different cavity length detunings, and a quasi-steady-state desynchronism curve is obtained. Various pulse features for two points along the desynchronism curve are given. The frequency changing behavior (chirping) of the optical pulse during transient evolution is examined

Novel Transversity Properties in Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering

The $T$-odd distribution functions contributing to transversity properties of the nucleon and their role in fueling nontrivial contributions to azimuthal asymmetries in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering are investigated. We use a dynamical model to evaluate these quantities in terms of HERMES kinematics.Comment: 5 pages revtex; 5 eps figures. References added. To appear as a Rapid Communication in Physical Review

False synergy between vancomycin and β-lactams against glycopeptide-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (GISA) caused by inappropriate testing methods

ABSTRACTThe combination of vancomycin and β-lactams is often considered synergistic and has been recommended for the treatment of glycopeptide-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (GISA) infections. In this study, the combination of vancomycin or teicoplanin with different β-lactams was tested. When using NaCl 4% w/v, for better expression of heterogeneous resistance to β-lactams, with a longer (48-h) incubation period and a higher (107 CFU/mL) inoculum, the association of vancomycin with β-lactams was antagonistic. However, a synergistic effect was observed for teicoplanin under the same conditions

History repeats? : the rise of the new middle classes in the developing world

1. Although the ability to detect chemical cues is widespread in many organisms, it is surprising how little is known about the role of chemical communication in avian life histories. Nowadays, growing evidence suggests that birds can use olfaction in several contexts. However, we still do not know the role of bird olfaction in one of the most important determinants of survival, predator detection. 2. Blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus L., were exposed to chemical cues of: (i) mustelid (predator), (ii) quail (odorous control); or (iii) water (odourless control) inside the nest-box where they were provisioning 8-day-old nestlings. 3. We show that blue tits were able to detect the chemical cues and showed antipredatory behaviours to cope with the risk of predation. Birds delayed their entry to the nest-box, and they perched on the hole of the nest-box and refused to enter more times when they found predator scent than control scents inside the nest-box. In addition, birds decreased the time spent inside the predator-scented nest-box when feeding nestlings. 4. The discovery of the ability of birds to use chemical cues of predators to accurately assess predation may help to understand many aspects of bird life histories that have been neglected until now.Peer reviewe

Landscape equivalent of the shoving model

It is shown that the shoving model expression for the average relaxation time of viscous liquids follows largely from a classical "landscape" estimation of barrier heights from curvature at energy minima. The activation energy involves both instantaneous bulk and shear moduli, but the bulk modulus contributes less than 8% to the temperature dependence of the activation energy. This reflects the fact that the physics of the two models are closely related.Comment: 4 page

Exploring the Impacts of Shrub-Overwash Feedbacks in Coastal Barrier Systems With an Ecological-Morphological Model

Shrubs are common – and presently expanding – across coastal barrier interiors (the land between the foredune system and back-barrier bay), and have the potential to influence barrier morphodynamics by obstructing cross-shore overwash flow. The ecological and geomorphological consequences of ecomorphodynamic couplings of the barrier interior, however, remain largely unexplored. In this contribution, we add an ecological module of shrub expansion and mortality to a spatially-explicit exploratory model of barrier evolution (Barrier3D) to explore the effects of shrub-barrier feedbacks. In our model simulations, we find that the presence of shrubs significantly alters barrier morphology and behavior. Over timescales of decades to centuries, barriers with shrubs (relative to those without) tend to be narrower, migrate landward more slowly, and have a greater proportion of subaerial volume distributed toward the ocean-side of the barrier. Shrubs also tend to increase the likelihood of discontinuous barrier retreat, a behavior in which a barrier oscillates between periods of transgression and relative immobility, because shrubs induce prolonged periods of barrier immobility by obstructing overwash flow. However, shrubs can increase barrier vulnerability to drowning by preventing periods of transgression needed to maintain barrier elevation relative to rising sea levels. Additionally, physical barrier processes influence shrub expansion in our simulations; we find that greater dune erosion and overwash disturbance tends to slow the rate of shrub expansion across the barrier interior. Complementing recent observational studies of barrier islands in Virginia, USA, our results suggest that interior ecology can be a key component of barrier evolution on annual to centurial timescales

On the consistency of de Sitter vacua

In this paper the consistency of the de Sitter invariant $\alpha$-vacua, which have been introduced as simple tools to study the effects of transplanckian physics, is investigated. In particular possible non renormalization problems are discussed, as well as non standard properties of Greens functions. We also discuss the non thermal properties of the $\alpha$-vacua and the necessity of $\alpha$ to change. The conclusion is that non of these problems necessarily exclude an application of the $\alpha$-vacua to inflation.Comment: 12 pages, v2: minor clarifications and corrections to reference