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A new multi-spectral imaging system for examining paintings
A new multispectral system developed at the National Gallery is presented. The system is capable of measuring the spectral reflectance per pixel of a painting. These spectra are found to be almost as accurate as those recorded with a spectrophotometer; there is no need for any spectral reconstruction apart from a simple cubic interpolation between measured points. The procedure for recording spectra is described and the accuracy of the system is quantified. An example is presented of the use of the system to scan a painting of St. Mary Magdalene by Crivelli. The multispectral data are used in an attempt to identify some of the pigments found in the painting by comparison with a library of spectra obtained from reference pigments using the same system. In addition, it is shown that the multispectral data can be used to render a color image of the original under a chosen illuminant and that interband comparison can help to elucidate features of the painting, such as retouchings and underdrawing, that are not visible in trichromatic images
Non-invasive investigations of a wall painting using optical coherence tomography and hyperspectral imaging
Multispectral and hyperspectral imaging are efficient methods of measuring spectral reflectance at high spatial resolution. This non-invasive technique has been applied to the imaging of paintings over the last 20 years. PRISMS (Portable Remote Imaging System for Multispectral Scanning) was designed specifically for imaging wall paintings. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a low coherence interferometric technique capable of fast non-invasive imaging of subsurface microstructure. This paper shows the first application of in situ OCT imaging of a wall painting. The combination of PRISMS and OCT gives information on the varnish and paint layer structure, pigment identification, the state of degradation of the paint and varnish layers and informing curators on the painting schemes and techniques
Nonvacuum pseudoparticles, quantum tunneling and metastability
It is shown that nonvacuum pseudoparticles can account for quantum tunneling
and metastability. In particular the saddle-point nature of the pseudoparticles
is demonstrated, and the evaluation of path-integrals in their neighbourhood.
Finally the relation between instantons and bounces is used to derive a result
conjectured by Bogomolny and Fateyev.Comment: Latex, 16 pages, no figure
Winding number transitions at finite temperature in the Abelian-Higgs model
Following our earlier investigations we examine the quantum-classical winding
number transition in the Abelian-Higgs system. It is demonstrated that the
sphaleron transition in this system is of the smooth second order type in the
full range of parameter space. Comparison of the action of classical vortices
with that of the sphaleron supports our finding.Comment: final version, to appear in J. Phys.
Effects of topological edge states on the thermoelectric properties of Bi nanoribbons
Using first-principles calculations combined with Boltzmann transport theory,
we investigate the effects of topological edge states on the thermoelectric
properties of Bi nanoribbons. It is found that there is a competition between
the edge and bulk contributions to the Seebeck coefficients. However, the
electronic transport of the system is dominated by the edge states because of
its much larger electrical conductivity. As a consequence, a room temperature
value exceeding 3.0 could be achieved for both p- and n-type systems when the
relaxation time ratio between the edge and the bulk states is tuned to be 1000.
Our theoretical study suggests that the utilization of topological edge states
might be a promising approach to cross the threshold of the industrial
application of thermoelectricity
Orbital elements of barium stars formed through a wind accretion scenario
Taking the total angular momentum conservation in place of the tangential
momentum conservation, and considering the square and higher power terms of
orbital eccentricity e, the changes of orbital elements of binaries are
calculated for wind accretion scenario. These new equations are used to
quantitatively explain the observed (e,logP) properties of normal G, K giants
and barium stars. Our results reflect the evolution from G, K giant binaries to
barium binaries, moreover, the barium stars with longer orbital periods P>1600
days may be formed by accreting part of the ejecta from the intrinsic AGB stars
through wind accretion scenario.Comment: 7 pages, LaTex, 4 PS figures and 1 table included, accepted for
publication in A &
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