1,934 research outputs found
X-ray response of tunnel junctions with a trapping layer
The use of trapping layers in superconductive tunnel junctions may drastically improve their functioning as X-ray detectors. Information about these trapping layers can be obtained from I/V-curves and X-ray spectra. The application of a magnetic field causes a substantial reduction of the bandgap in the trapping layer
Seeing motion and apparent motion
In apparent motion experiments, participants are presented with what is in fact a succession of two brief stationary stimuli at two different locations, but they report an impression of movement. Philosophers have recently debated whether apparent motion provides evidence in favour of a particular account of the nature of temporal experience. I argue that the existing discussion in this area is premised on a mistaken view of the phenomenology of apparent motion and, as a result, the space of possible philosophical positions has not yet been fully explored. In particular, I argue that the existence of apparent motion is compatible with an account of the nature of temporal experience that involves a version of direct realism. In doing so, I also argue against two other claims often made about apparent motion, viz. that apparent motion is the psychological phenomenon that underlies motion experience in the cinema, and that apparent motion is subjectively indistinguishable from real motion
New archaeointensity data from Italy and geomagnetic ïŹeld intensity variation in the Italian Peninsula
We present new archaeointensity results from three Italian kilns situated at Ascoli Satriano,
Vagnari and Fontanetto Po obtained with the Thellier modified by Coe double heating method.
These data complement the directional results previously published. All sites are dated on
the basis of archaeological information and/or thermoluminescence dating. The results are
corrected for the anisotropy of the thermoremanent magnetization and the cooling rate effects.
The new data are compared with previously published archaeointensity data from Italy and
nearby countries within 900 km radius from Viterbo. An initial data set including archaeointesity
data mainly coming from Italy, France, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary,
Greece and Bulgaria has been compiled. After the application of strict selection criteria, the
most reliable data have been used for the calculation of a preliminary Italian intensity secular
variation (SV) curve for the last 3000 yr. The new curve covers the 300 BCâ400 AD
and 1200â1900 AD periods. It is established by means of sliding windows of 200 yr shifted
by 100 yr. The lack of reliable data for the 1000â200 BC and 400â1200 AD time intervals
does not permit the calculation of a continuous curve. Clearly, more high-quality archaeointensity
data from Italy and Europe are still needed to draw a robust intensity SV curve for
the Italian Peninsula that could be used for archaeomagnetic dating in combination with the directional data
The Low Quiescent X-Ray Luminosity of the Transient X-Ray Burster EXO 1747-214
We report on X-ray and optical observations of the X-ray burster EXO
1747-214. This source is an X-ray transient, and its only known outburst was
observed in 1984-1985 by the EXOSAT satellite. We re-analyzed the EXOSAT data
to derive the source position, column density, and a distance upper limit using
its peak X-ray burst flux. We observed the EXO 1747-214 field in 2003 July with
the Chandra X-ray Observatory to search for the quiescent counterpart. We found
one possible candidate just outside the EXOSAT error circle, but we cannot rule
out the possibility that the source is unrelated to EXO 1747-214. Our
conclusion is that the upper limit on the unabsorbed 0.3-8 keV luminosity is L
< 7E31 erg/s, making EXO 1747-214 one of the faintest neutron star transients
in quiescence. We compare this luminosity upper limit to the quiescent
luminosities of 19 neutron star and 14 black hole systems and discuss the
results in the context of the differences between neutron stars and black
holes. Based on the theory of deep crustal heating by Brown and coworkers, the
luminosity implies an outburst recurrence time of >1300 yr unless some form of
enhanced cooling occurs within the neutron star. The position of the possible
X-ray counterpart is consistent with three blended optical/IR sources with
R-magnitudes between 19.4 and 19.8 and J-magnitudes between 17.2 and 17.6. One
of these sources could be the quiescent optical/IR counterpart of EXO 1747-214.Comment: 7 pages, accepted by the Astrophysical Journa
Domain-Wall Energies and Magnetization of the Two-Dimensional Random-Bond Ising Model
We study ground-state properties of the two-dimensional random-bond Ising
model with couplings having a concentration of antiferromagnetic
and of ferromagnetic bonds. We apply an exact matching algorithm which
enables us the study of systems with linear dimension up to 700. We study
the behavior of the domain-wall energies and of the magnetization. We find that
the paramagnet-ferromagnet transition occurs at compared to
the concentration at the Nishimory point, which means that the
phase diagram of the model exhibits a reentrance. Furthermore, we find no
indications for an (intermediate) spin-glass ordering at finite temperature.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figures, revTe
Interdigitated back contact silicon heterojunction solar cells Towards an industrially applicable structuring method
We report on the investigation and comparison of two different processing approaches for interdigitated back contacted silicon heterojunction solar cells our photolithography based reference procedure and our newly developed shadow mask process. To this end, we analyse fill factor losses in different stages of the fabrication process. We find that although comparably high minority carrier lifetimes of about 4 ms can be observed for both concepts, the shadow masked solar cells suffer yet from poorly passivated emitter regions and significantly higher series resistance. Approaches for addressing the observed issues are outlined and first solar cell results with efficiencies of about 17 and 23 for shadow masked and photolithographically structured solar cells, respectively, are presente
Teleworking practice in small and medium-sized firms: Management style and worker autonomy
In an empirical study of teleworking practices amongst small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in West London, organisational factors such as management attitudes, worker autonomy and employment flexibility were found to be more critical than technological provision in facilitating successful implementation. Consequently, we argue that telework in most SMEs appears as a marginal activity performed mainly by managers and specialist mobile workers
Relaxing the Irrevocability Requirement for Online Graph Algorithms
Online graph problems are considered in models where the irrevocability
requirement is relaxed. Motivated by practical examples where, for example,
there is a cost associated with building a facility and no extra cost
associated with doing it later, we consider the Late Accept model, where a
request can be accepted at a later point, but any acceptance is irrevocable.
Similarly, we also consider a Late Reject model, where an accepted request can
later be rejected, but any rejection is irrevocable (this is sometimes called
preemption). Finally, we consider the Late Accept/Reject model, where late
accepts and rejects are both allowed, but any late reject is irrevocable. For
Independent Set, the Late Accept/Reject model is necessary to obtain a constant
competitive ratio, but for Vertex Cover the Late Accept model is sufficient and
for Minimum Spanning Forest the Late Reject model is sufficient. The Matching
problem has a competitive ratio of 2, but in the Late Accept/Reject model, its
competitive ratio is 3/2
A note on anti-coordination and social interactions
This note confirms a conjecture of [Bramoull\'{e}, Anti-coordination and
social interactions, Games and Economic Behavior, 58, 2007: 30-49]. The
problem, which we name the maximum independent cut problem, is a restricted
version of the MAX-CUT problem, requiring one side of the cut to be an
independent set. We show that the maximum independent cut problem does not
admit any polynomial time algorithm with approximation ratio better than
, where is the number of nodes, and arbitrarily
small, unless P=NP. For the rather special case where each node has a degree of
at most four, the problem is still MAXSNP-hard.Comment: 7 page
"Where the mask ends and the face begins is not certain": Mediating ethnicity and cheating geography in Jonny Steinberg's Little Liberia
Mixing historical commentary, reportage, biography and personal stories, South
African writer Jonny Steinberg takes up the tale of a fractured African nation and its
diaspora in Little Liberia: An African Odyssey in New York City (2011). The "little
Liberia" founded in New York's urban jungle may have represented, for many of its
inhabitants, a way to "cheat geography" by recreating a home away from home, but
Little Liberia shows the reader it has not allowed them to cheat history. The book
deals with the lives of two inhabitants of Park Hill Avenue on Staten Island, where
nearly everyone is Liberian. Their conflict threatens to implode the community, igniting
suspicions and accusations that had been bottled up since their exile. The article
focuses on the interface of mediated ethnicity and citizenship related to the struggle
for power in the diasporic Liberian community on Staten Island. Attention is also paid
to feelings of identity of Little Liberia's author.DHE
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