12,324 research outputs found
Low-loss criterion and effective area considerations for photonic crystal fibers
We study the class of endlessly single-mode all-silica photonic crystal
fibers with a triangular air-hole cladding. We consider the sensibility to
longitudinal nonuniformities and the consequences and limitations for realizing
low-loss large-mode area photonic crystal fibers. We also discuss the
dominating scattering mechanism and experimentally we confirm that both macro
and micro-bending can be the limiting factor.Comment: Accepted for Journal of Optics A - Pure and Applied Optic
Improving public services through open data: public toilets
Bichard’s work for the TACT3 project (Bichard REF Output 3) found that UK toilet provision is not centrally collated and no national map or database of toilets exists. In contrast, the UK government’s white paper Open Public Services (2011) emphasised its commitment to incorporating the use of Open Data in public services provision that could be tailored to community preferences, and therefore be more sustainable. Incorporating Open Data on public toilet provision, Bichard and Knight (RCA) developed The Great British Public Toilet Map (GBPTM). Whilst a number of other websites and applications map toilets by ‘crowd surfing’, GBPTM is entirely populated by Open Data, and not only uses the data as information for users, but informs members of the public that such information is available and accessible for their use.
This paper presents the development of the GBPTM, including inclusive design research and studies that compare accuracy of information directly provided by users with Open Data collected by local authorities. It suggests that, to meet the health and well-being of an ageing population, a sustainable and cost-effective solution must be found for ‘publicly accessible’ toilet provision, including opening up provision beyond that ‘for customers only’ and providing accurate information on current public provision. The paper highlights the barriers encountered in the production of Open Data by local authorities. A review of the paper in the journal Civil Engineering (May 2013) described the design of the GBPTM as a ‘simple and elegant solution’.
The development of a digital output and an understanding of digitally based research led to Bichard’s successful submission to an EPSRC Digital Economy sandpit, in which she developed an interdisciplinary project with the Universities of Newcastle, Bournemouth and the West of England. The project, Family Rituals 2.0, secured £750,000 in research funding with Bichard as co-investigator (2013–15)
Detection of the Entropy of the Intergalactic Medium: Accretion Shocks in Clusters, Adiabatic Cores in Groups
The thermodynamics of the diffuse, X-ray emitting gas in clusters of galaxies
is linked to the entropy level of the intra cluster medium. In particular,
models that successfully reproduce the properties of local X-ray clusters and
groups require the presence of a minimum value for the entropy in the center of
X-ray halos. Such a minimum entropy is most likely generated by
non-gravitational processes, in order to produce the observed break in
self-similarity of the scaling relations of X-ray halos. At present there is no
consensus on the level, the source or the time evolution of this excess
entropy. In this paper we describe a strategy to investigate the physics of the
heating processes acting in groups and clusters. We show that the best way to
extract information from the local data is the observation of the entropy
profile at large radii in nearby X-ray halos (z~0.1), both at the upper and
lower extremes of the cluster mass scale. The spatially and spectrally resolved
observation of such X-ray halos provides information on the mechanism of the
heating. We demonstrate how measurements of the size of constant entropy
(adiabatic) cores in clusters and groups can directly constrain heating models,
and the minimum entropy value. We also consider two specific experiments: the
detection of the shock fronts expected at the virial boundary of rich clusters,
and the detection of the isentropic, low surface-brightness emission extending
to radii larger than the virial ones in low mass clusters and groups. Such
observations will be a crucial probe of both the physics of clusters and the
relationship of non-gravitational processes to the thermodynamics of the
intergalactic medium.Comment: ApJ accepted, 31 pages including 8 figures. Important material added;
references update
Evolution of X-ray cluster scaling relations in simulations with radiative cooling and non-gravitational heating
We investigate the redshift dependence of X-ray cluster scaling relations
drawn from three hydrodynamic simulations of the LCDM cosmology: a Radiative
model that incorporates radiative cooling of the gas, a Preheating model that
additionally heats the gas uniformly at high redshift, and a Feedback model
that self-consistently heats cold gas in proportion to its local star-formation
rate. While all three models are capable of reproducing the observed local
Lx-Tx relation, they predict substantially different results at high redshift
(to z=1.5), with the Radiative, Preheating and Feedback models predicting
strongly positive, mildly positive and mildly negative evolution, respectively.
The physical explanation for these differences lies in the structure of the
intracluster medium. All three models predict significant temperature
fluctuations at any given radius due to the presence of cool subclumps and, in
the case of the Feedback simulation, reheated gas. The mean gas temperature
lies above the dynamical temperature of the halo for all models at z=0, but
differs between models at higher redshift with the Radiative model having the
lowest mean gas temperature at z=1.5.
We have not attempted to model the scaling relations in a manner that mimics
the observational selection effects, nor has a consistent observational picture
yet emerged. Nevertheless, evolution of the scaling relations promises to be a
powerful probe of the physics of entropy generation in clusters. First
indications are that early, widespread heating is favored over an extended
period of heating that is associated with galaxy formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. Minor changes following referee's
comment
Electron effective mass in Sn-doped monoclinic single crystal -gallium oxide determined by mid-infrared optical Hall effect
The isotropic average conduction band minimum electron effective mass in
Sn-doped monoclinic single crystal -GaO is experimentally
determined by mid-infrared optical Hall effect to be
combining investigations on () and () surface cuts. This result
falls within the broad range of values predicted by theoretical calculations
for undoped -GaO. The result is also comparable to recent
density functional calculations using the
Gaussian-attenuation-Perdue-Burke-Ernzerhof hybrid density functional, which
predict an average effective mass of (arXiv:1704.06711
[cond-mat.mtrl-sci]). Within our uncertainty limits we detect no anisotropy for
the electron effective mass, which is consistent with most previous theoretical
calculations. We discuss upper limits for possible anisotropy of the electron
effective mass parameter from our experimental uncertainty limits, and we
compare our findings with recent theoretical results
Recommended from our members
Modeling software design diversity
Design diversity has been used for many years now as a means of achieving a degree of fault tolerance in software-based systems. Whilst there is clear evidence that the approach can be expected to deliver some increase in reliability compared with a single version, there is not agreement about the extent of this. More importantly, it remains difficult to evaluate exactly how reliable a particular diverse fault-tolerant system is. This difficulty arises because assumptions of independence of failures between different versions have been shown not to be tenable: assessment of the actual level of dependence present is therefore needed, and this is hard. In this tutorial we survey the modelling issues here, with an emphasis upon the impact these have upon the problem of assessing the reliability of fault tolerant systems. The intended audience is one of designers, assessors and project managers with only a basic knowledge of probabilities, as well as reliability experts without detailed knowledge of software, who seek an introduction to the probabilistic issues in decisions about design diversity
Local states of free bose fields
These notes contain an extended version of lectures given at the ``Summer
School on Large Coulomb Systems'' in Nordfjordeid, Norway, in august 2003. They
furnish a short introduction to the theory of quantum harmonic systems, or free
bose fields. The main issue addressed is the one of local states. I will adopt
the definition of Knight of ``strictly local excitation of the vacuum'' and
will then state and prove a generalization of Knight's Theorem which asserts
that finite particle states cannot be perfectly localized. It will furthermore
be explained how Knight's a priori counterintuitive result can be readily
understood if one remembers the analogy between finite and infinite dimensional
harmonic systems alluded to above. I will also discuss the link between the
above result and the so-called Newton-Wigner position operator thereby
illuminating, I believe, the difficulties associated with the latter. I will in
particular argue that those difficulties do not find their origin in special
relativity or in any form of causality violation, as is usually claimed
Phase diagram for morphological transitions of wetting films on chemically structured substrates
Using an interface displacement model we calculate the shapes of thin
liquidlike films adsorbed on flat substrates containing a chemical stripe. We
determine the entire phase diagram of morphological phase transitions in these
films as function of temperature, undersaturation, and stripe widthComment: 15 pages, RevTeX, 7 Figure
- …