Assessment of different urban traffic control strategy impacts on vehicle emissions

This paper investigates the influence of traffic signal control strategy on vehicle emissions, vehicle journey time and total throughput flow within a single isolated four-armed junction. Two pre-timed signal plans are considered, one with two-stages involving permissive-only opposing turns and the other with four-stages which has no conflicting traffic. Additionally, the increase in efficiency by utilising actuated signal timing where green time is re-optimised as flow values vary is investigated. A microscopic traffic simulation model is used to model flows and AIRE (Analysis of Instantaneous Road Emissions) microscopic emissions model is utilised to out- put emission levels from the flow data. A simple junction model shows that the two-stage signal plan is more efficient in both emis- sions and journey time. However, as the level of opposed turning vehicles and conflicting movement increases, the two-stage model moves to being the inferior signal plan choice and the four-stage plan outputs fewer emissions than the two-stage plan. A real-world example of a four-armed junction has been used in this study and from the traffic survey data and existing junction layout; it is rec- ommended that a two-stage plan is used as it produces lower amounts of emissions and shorter journey times compared to a four-stage plan. The results also show that nitrogen oxides (NOx) are the most sensitive to changes in flow followed by carbon dioxide (CO2), Black Carbon and then particulate matter (PM10)

The triple degenerate star WD1704+481

WD1704+481 is a visual binary in which both components are white dwarfs. We present spectra of the H-alpha line of both stars which show that one component (WD1704+481.2 = Sanduleak B = GR 577) is a close binary with two white dwarf components. Thus, WD1704+481 is the first known triple degenerate star. From radial velocity measurements of the close binary we find an orbital period of 0.1448d, a mass ratio, q=Mbright/Mfaint of q=0.70+-0.03 and a difference in the gravitational redshifts of 11.5+-2.3km/s. The masses of the close pair of white dwarfs predicted by the mass ratio and gravitational redshift difference combined with theoretical cooling curves are 0.39+-0.05 solar mass and 0.56+-0.07 solar masses. WD1704+481 is therefore also likely to be the first example of a double degenerate in which the less massive white dwarf is composed of helium and the other white dwarf is composed of carbon and oxygen.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Large Extra Dimensions at Linear Colliders

In this talk, I first present the motivation for theories wherein extra spacetime dimensions can be compactified to have large magnitudes. In particular, I discuss the Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos, Dvali (ADD) scenario. I present the constraints that have been derived on these models from current experiments and the expectations from future colliders. I concentrate particularly on the possibilities of probing these extra dimensions at future linear colliders.Comment: Talk given at the Third International Workshop on Electron-Electron Interactions at TeV Energies (e- e- 99), Santa Cruz, California, 10-12 Dec 1999. 7 pages, LaTeX, style files attache