1,317 research outputs found
Introducing TAXI: a Transportable Array for eXtremely large area Instrumentation studies
A common challenge in many experiments in high-energy astroparticle physics
is the need for sparse instrumentation in areas of 100 km2 and above, often in
remote and harsh environments. All these arrays have similar requirements for
read-out and communication, power generation and distribution, and
synchronization. Within the TAXI project we are developing a transportable,
modular four-station test-array that allows us to study different approaches to
solve the aforementioned problems in the laboratory and in the field.
Well-defined interfaces will provide easy interchange of the components to be
tested and easy transport and setup will allow in-situ testing at different
sites. Every station consists of three well-understood 1 m2 scintillation
detectors with nanosecond time resolution, which provide an air shower trigger.
An additional sensor, currently a radio antenna for air shower detection in the
100 MHz band, is connected for testing and calibration purposes. We introduce
the TAXI project and report the status and performance of the first TAXI
station deployed at the Zeuthen site of DESY.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, presented at ARENA 2014, Annapolis, MD, June 201
Measurements and Simulation Studies of Piezoceramics for Acoustic Particle Detection
Calibration sources are an indispensable tool for all detectors. In acoustic
particle detection the goal of a calibration source is to mimic neutrino
signatures as expected from hadronic cascades. A simple and promising method
for the emulation of neutrino signals are piezo ceramics. We will present
results of measruements and simulations on these piezo ceramics.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
ANALYSIS OF HUMAN MOTION WITH METHODS FROM MACHINE LEARNING
Usually, predefined kinematic parameters are investigated in biomechanical studies of human motion. In recent years, techniques of machine learning have been added to this field of research (Chau, 2001). In this study different dimension reduction methods like Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Fourier Transformation (FT) are investigated as an alternative to common biomechanical approaches in motion analysis
Integration of Acoustic Detection Equipment into ANTARES
The ANTARES group at the University of Erlangen is working towards the
integration of a set of acoustic sensors into the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope.
With this setup, tests of acoustic particle detection methods and background
studies shall be performed. The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope, which is currently
being constructed in the Mediterranean Sea, will be equipped with the
infrastructure to accommodate a 3-dimensional array of photomultipliers for the
detection of Cherenkov light. Within this infrastructure, the required
resources for acoustic sensors are available: Bandwidth for the transmission of
the acoustic data to the shore, electrical power for the off-shore electronics
and physical space to install the acoustic sensors and to route the connecting
cables (transmitting signals and power) into the electronics containers. It
will be explained how the integration will be performed with minimal
modifications of the existing ANTARES design and which setup is foreseen for
the acquisition of the acoustic data.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the proceedings of the 1st
International ARENA Workshop, May 17-19th, 2005, DESY Zeuthen (Germany
Viking Age garden plants from southern Scandinavia: diversity, taphonomy and cultural aspects
Plant finds recovered from archaeological sites in southern Scandinavia dated to the Viking Age reflect the diversity of useful plants that were cultivated and collected. This review presents the results of 14 investigations of deposits that are dated between AD 775 and 1050. The site types are categorized as agrarian, urban, military and burials. Garden plants are unevenly distributed, as the greatest diversity is recorded in features from urban contexts. We argue that taphonomic processes played an important role in the picture displayed. Archaeobotanical research results from neighbouring regions suggest that Viking Age horticulture has its roots in older traditions, and that the spectrum of garden plants is influenced by central and north-western European horticultural customs, which were to a great extent shaped by Roman occupation
Testing Thermo-acoustic Sound Generation in Water with Proton and Laser Beams
Experiments were performed at a proton accelerator and an infrared laser
acility to investigate the sound generation caused by the energy deposition of
pulsed particle and laser beams in water. The beams with an energy range of 1
PeV to 400 PeV per proton beam spill and up to 10 EeV for the laser pulse were
dumped into a water volume and the resulting acoustic signals were recorded
with pressure sensitive sensors. Measurements were performed at varying pulse
energies, sensor positions, beam diameters and temperatures. The data is well
described by simulations based on the thermo-acoustic model. This implies that
the primary mechanism for sound generation by the energy deposition of
particles propagating in water is the local heating of the media giving rise to
an expansion or contraction of the medium resulting in a pressure pulse with
bipolar shape. A possible application of this effect would be the acoustical
detection of neutrinos with energies greater than 1 EeV.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 1st
International ARENA Workshop, May 17-19th, 2005, DESY Zeuthe
Development of Acoustic Sensors for the ANTARES Experiment
In order to study the possibility of acoustic detection of ultra-high energy
neutrinos in water, our group is planning to deploy and operate an array of
acoustic sensors using the ANTARES Neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea.
Therefore, acoustic sensor hardware has to be developed which is both capable
of operation under the hostile conditions of the deep sea and at the same time
provides the high sensitivity necessary to detect the weak pressure signals
resulting from the neutrino's interaction in water. In this paper, two
different approaches to building such sensors, as well as performance studies
in the laboratory and in situ, are presented.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings of the ARENA 2005 Worksho
Nutrient and virtual water flow analysis for Tamale, Ghana and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Nutrients and virtual water in the form of food and other organic goods are transported from the rural hinterland to urban centres. In particular in developing countries, poor waste management in growing cities and the potential to recover nutrients and water for agricultural production have raised interest in quantifying these flows. What are the quantities of organic materials that enter and leave a city? Which materials carry the most important nutrient and virtual water flows? Where does nutrient and water depletion take place? This study has been conducted within the UrbanFoodPlus project (www.urbanfood plus.org) to assess organic material flows and their quantitative nutrient and virtual water contribution for the cities of Tamale in Ghana and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. Matter flows (unprocessed foodstuff, firewood, fodder, non-timber forest products, etc.) from regional, national and international sources were systematically recorded at all roads leading to Tamale and Ouagadougo. Organic matter from urban sources aand stocks were captured at major markets. The survey has been conducted within two years covering the peak (November) and lean season (April) for six days in a row. The study maps the virtual water and nutrient transfers of different types of traded food products and other organic goods. The results will improve our understanding of the urban metabolism, and may support the development of standardised methodologies for assessing virtual water and nutrient flows
Differing views - can chimpanzees do level 2 perspective-taking?
We gratefully acknowledge financial support by the German National Academic Foundation.Although chimpanzees understand what others may see, it is unclear if they understand how others see things (Level 2 perspective-taking). We investigated whether chimpanzees can predict the behavior of a conspecific which is holding a mistaken perspective that differs from their own. The subject competed with a conspecific over two food sticks. While the subject could see that both were the same size, to the competitor one appeared bigger than the other. In a previously established game, the competitor chose one stick in private first and the subject chose thereafter, without knowing which of the sticks was gone. Chimpanzees and 6-year-old children chose the ‘riskier’ stick (that looked bigger to the competitor) significantly less in the game than in a nonsocial control. Children chose randomly in the control, thus showing Level 2 perspective-taking skills; in contrast, chimpanzees had a preference for the ‘riskier’ stick here, rendering it possible that they attributed their own preference to the competitor to predict her choice. We thus run a follow-up in which chimpanzees did not have a preference in the control. Now they also chose randomly in the game. We conclude that chimpanzees solved the task by attributing their own preference to the other, while children truly understood the other’s mistaken perspective.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Integration of Acoustic Neutrino Detection Methods into ANTARES
The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope is a water Cherenkov detector currently under
construction in the Mediterranean Sea. It is also designed to serve as a
platform for investigations of the deep-sea environment. In this context, the
ANTARES group at the University of Erlangen will integrate acoustic sensors
within the infrastructure of the experiment. With this dedicated setup, tests
of acoustic particle detection methods and deep-sea acoustic background studies
shall be performed. The aim of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of a
future acoustic neutrino telescope in the deep sea operating in the ultra-high
energy regime. In these proceedings, the implementation of the project is
described in the context of the premises and challenges set by the physics of
acoustic particle detection and the integration into an existing
infrastructure.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the International
ARENA Workshop, May 28-30th, 2006, University of Northumbri
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