755 research outputs found
Statistical Uncertainty in Quantitative Neutron Radiography
We demonstrate a novel procedure to calibrate neutron detection systems
commonly used in standard neutron radiography. This calibration allows
determining the uncertainties due to Poisson-like neutron counting statistics
for each individual pixel of a radiographic image. The obtained statistical
errors are necessary in order to perform a correct quantitative analysis. This
fast and convenient method is applied to data measured at the cold neutron
radiography facility ICON at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Moreover, from the
results the effective neutron flux at the beam line is determined
Synchronized single electron emission from dynamical quantum dots
We study synchronized quantized charge pumping through several dynamical
quantum dots (QDs) driven by a single time modulated gate signal. We show that
the main obstacle for synchronization being the lack of uniformity can be
overcome by operating the QDs in the decay cascade regime. We discuss the
mechanism responsible for lifting the stringent uniformity requirements. This
enhanced functionality of dynamical QDs might find applications in
nanoelectronics and quantum metrology.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to AP
Constructive role of non-adiabaticity for quantized charge pumping
We investigate a recently developed scheme for quantized charge pumping based
on single-parameter modulation. The device was realized in an AlGaAl-GaAs gated
nanowire. It has been shown theoretically that non-adiabaticity is
fundamentally required to realize single-parameter pumping, while in previous
multi-parameter pumping schemes it caused unwanted and less controllable
currents. In this paper we demonstrate experimentally the constructive and
destructive role of non-adiabaticity by analysing the pumping current over a
broad frequency range.Comment: Presented at ICPS 2010, July 25 - 30, Seoul, Kore
Artificial neural networks for 3D cell shape recognition from confocal images
We present a dual-stage neural network architecture for analyzing fine shape
details from microscopy recordings in 3D. The system, tested on red blood
cells, uses training data from both healthy donors and patients with a
congenital blood disease. Characteristic shape features are revealed from the
spherical harmonics spectrum of each cell and are automatically processed to
create a reproducible and unbiased shape recognition and classification for
diagnostic and theragnostic use.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure
Quantum capacitance: a microscopic derivation
We start from microscopic approach to many body physics and show the
analytical steps and approximations required to arrive at the concept of
quantum capacitance. These approximations are valid only in the semi-classical
limit and the quantum capacitance in that case is determined by Lindhard
function. The effective capacitance is the geometrical capacitance and the
quantum capacitance in series, and this too is established starting from a
microscopic theory.Comment: 7 fig
The spirit of sport: the case for criminalisation of doping in the UK
This article examines public perceptions of doping in sport, critically evaluates the effectiveness of current anti-doping sanctions and proposes the criminalisation of doping in sport in the UK as part of a growing global movement towards such criminalisation at national level. Criminalising doping is advanced on two main grounds: as a stigmatic deterrent and as a form of retributive punishment enforced through the criminal justice system. The ‘spirit of sport’ defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as being based on the values of ethics, health and fair-play is identified as being undermined by the ineffectiveness of existing anti-doping policy in the current climate of doping revelations, and is assessed as relevant to public perceptions and the future of sport as a whole. The harm-reductionist approach permitting the use of certain performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) is considered as an alternative to anti-doping, taking into account athlete psychology, the problems encountered in containing doping in sport through anti-doping measures and the effect of these difficulties on the ‘spirit of sport’. This approach is dismissed in favour of criminalising doping in sport based on the offence of fraud. It will be argued that the criminalisation of doping could act as a greater deterrent than existing sanctions imposed by International Federations, and, when used in conjunction with those sanctions, will raise the overall ‘price’ of doping. The revelations of corruption within the existing system of self-governance within sport have contributed to a disbelieving public and it will be argued that the criminalisation of doping in sport could assist in satisfying the public that justice is being done and in turn achieve greater belief in the truth of athletic performances
Visualization of Bulk Magnetic Properties by Neutron Grating Interferometry
The neutron Grating Interferometer (nGI) is a standard user instrument at the cold neutron imaging beamline ICON (Kaestner, 2011) at the neutron source SINQ at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland. The setup is able to deliver simultaneously information about the attenuation, phase shift (DPC) (Pfeiffer, 2006) and scattering properties in the so-called dark-field image (DFI) (Grünzweig, 2008-I) of a sample. Since neutrons only interact with the nucleus they are often able to penetrate deeper into matter than X-rays, in particular heavier materials. A further advantage of neutrons compared to X-rays is the interaction of the neutron's magnetic moment with magnetic structures that allows for the bulk investigation of magnetic domain structures using the nGI technique (Grünzweig, 2008-II). The nGI-setup and its technique for imaging with cold neutrons is presented in this contribution. The main focus will be on magnetic investigations of electrical steel laminations using the nGI technique. Both, grain-oriented (GO) and non-oriented (NO) laminations will be presented. GO-laminations are widely used in industrial transformer applications, while NO-sheets are common in electrical machines. For grain-oriented sheet, domain walls were visualized individually,spatially resolved, while in NO-sheet a relative density distribution is depicted
- …