Thermodynamic Measurements Using the Knudsen Cell Technique

The Knudsen cell technique has been used for over a century and is a valuable tool for measurement of vapor pressures and thermodynamic properties. It is based on a small enclosure (~1 cm long x 1 cm diameter) in which a condensed phase/vapor equilibria can be established. A small (<1 mm) orifice on the cell allows sampling of the vapor via a variety of techniques including weight loss, torsion effusion, target collection, and mass spectrometry. Many excellent measurements based on these methods have been reported. However in order to obtain reliable measurements, a variety of factors must be considered. They include proper cell material selection, accurate and uniform temperature control and measurement, and proper sampling of the vapor. Each of these factors are discussed in detail in this chapter. Typically these studies are conducted at high temperatures and it is a challenge to select an inert container material. Recommended materials are discussed and in some cases the container may be used as part of the system under study. Temperature control and measurement is perhaps the most important issue. In most systems, the furnace must be compact yet there can be no temperature gradient in the cell. Temperatures are measured with either a thermocouple or pyrometer and the relative advantages of each are discussed. Sampling method considerations depend on the particular technique. It is essential that all of the vapor or a representative portion of the vapor be sampled. The distribution of the effusate from a Knudsen cell is discussed and sampling positions discussed. Mass spectrometry is often used to study the effusing vapor and the relations between ion current and vapor pressure are discussed

Corals of the genus Porites are a locally abundant component of the epibiont community on mangrove prop roots at Calabash Caye, Turneffe Atoll, Belize

Mangroves are generally regarded as inhospitable for corals, but recent reports suggest they provide ecological refuge for some species. We surveyed diverse mangrove habitats on Turneffe Atoll, Belize, documenting 127 colonies of Porites divaricata (Thin Finger Coral) along 1858 m of mangrove prop roots at Calabash Caye and a much more diverse coral assemblage at Crooked Creek. At Calabash, corals were highly clumped, and varied widely in size and morphology, including large well-arborized colonies, encrusting forms with few branches, and new recruits with no branches, suggesting an age-structuredpopulation exhibiting extensive morphological plasticity. The data described here contributeto an emerging picture of mangroves as potentially critical habitat for many Caribbeancoral species.Accepted manuscrip

Elliptic curves over a finite field and the trace formula

We prove formulas for power moments for point counts of elliptic curves over a finite field $k$ such that the groups of $k$-points of the curves contain a chosen subgroup. These formulas express the moments in terms of traces of Hecke operators for certain congruence subgroups of $\operatorname{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$. As our main technical input we prove an Eichler-Selberg trace formula for a family of congruence subgroups of $\operatorname{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ which include as special cases the groups $\Gamma_1(N)$ and $\Gamma(N)$. Our formulas generalize results of Birch and Ihara (the case of the trivial subgroup, and the full modular group), and previous work of the authors (the subgroups $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$ and $(\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z})^2$ and congruence subgroups $\Gamma_0(2),\Gamma_0(4)$). We use these formulas to answer statistical questions about point counts for elliptic curves over a fixed finite field, generalizing results of Vl\v{a}du\c{t}, Gekeler, Howe, and others.Comment: To appear in Proc. London Math. Soc. 61 page

The Heterotic Green-Schwarz Superstring on an N=(2,0) Super-Worldsheet

By defining the heterotic Green-Schwarz superstring action on an N=(2,0) super-worldsheet, rather than on an ordinary worldsheet, many problems with the interacting Green-Schwarz superstring formalism can be solved. In the light-cone approach, superconformally transforming the light-cone super-worldsheet onto an N=(2,0) super-Riemann surface allows the elimination of the non-trivial interaction-point operators that complicate the evaluation of scattering amplitudes. In the Polyakov approach, the ten-dimensional heterotic Green-Schwarz covariant action defined on an N=(2,0) super-worldsheet can be gauge-fixed to a free-field action with non-anomalous N=(2,0) superconformal invariance, and integrating the exponential of the covariant action over all punctured N=(2,0) super-Riemann surfaces produces scattering amplitudes that closely resemble amplitudes obtained using the unitary light-cone approach.Comment: 33 page

The Lantern Vol. 76, No. 2, Spring 2009

• Coffee and Morning • Charlie Brown Testifies at the Trial of Westley Allan Dodd, Convicted Child Killer • In a Women\u27s Bathroom • The Naming • An Urban Nightmare • In the Yellow Kitchen • City Streets • Engineering • Walter Bixby Walks Through Hunsberger Woods • Sing a Happy Tune • Apology • Will You Wear a Helmet?! • Molly Can\u27t Answer the Phone • Marked Man • He\u27s Under a Lot of Pressure • Ne Me Quitte Pas • Last Night • All of Our Second Hand Books are Lightly Wornhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1174/thumbnail.jp

Improved Standardization of Type II-P Supernovae: Application to an Expanded Sample

In the epoch of precise and accurate cosmology, cross-confirmation using a variety of cosmographic methods is paramount to circumvent systematic uncertainties. Owing to progenitor histories and explosion physics differing from those of Type Ia SNe (SNe Ia), Type II-plateau supernovae (SNe II-P) are unlikely to be affected by evolution in the same way. Based on a new analysis of 17 SNe II-P, and on an improved methodology, we find that SNe II-P are good standardizable candles, almost comparable to SNe Ia. We derive a tight Hubble diagram with a dispersion of 10% in distance, using the simple correlation between luminosity and photospheric velocity introduced by Hamuy & Pinto 2002. We show that the descendent method of Nugent et al. 2006 can be further simplified and that the correction for dust extinction has low statistical impact. We find that our SN sample favors, on average, a very steep dust law with total to selective extinction R_V<2. Such an extinction law has been recently inferred for many SNe Ia. Our results indicate that a distance measurement can be obtained with a single spectrum of a SN II-P during the plateau phase combined with sparse photometric measurements.Comment: ApJ accepted version. Minor change