Evidence of longterm cyclic evolution of radio pulsar periods

The measurements of pulsar frequency second derivatives have shown that they are 1e2...1e6 times larger than expected for standard pulsar spin-down law. Moreover, the second derivatives as well as braking indices are even negative for about half the pulsars. We explain these paradoxical results on the basis of the statistical analysis of the rotational parameters f0, f1 and f2 of the subset of 295 pulsars taken mostly from the ATNF database. We have found a strong correlation between f2 and f1 for both f2 > 0 (correlation coefficient r ~ 0.9) and f2 < 0 (r ~ 0.85), as well as between f0 and f1 (r ~ 0.6...0.7). We interpret these dependencies as evolutionary ones due to f1 being nearly proportional to the pulsars' age. The derived statistical relations as well as "anomalous" values of f2 are well described by assuming the existence of long-time variations of the spin-down rate. The pulsar frequency evolution, therefore, consists of secular change of f0_{ev}(t), f1_{ev}(t) and f2_{ev}(t) according to the power law with n ~ 5, the irregularities, observed within the timespan as timing noise, and the non-monotonous variations on the timescale of several tens of years, which is larger than that of the timespan. It is possible that the nature of long-term variations is similar to that of short-term ones. The idea of non-constant secular pulsars' braking index n is also analysed.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Advances in Space Research in the proceedings of the 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Beijing, July 200

3D-Fernsehen – Top oder Flop? Eine Marktanalyse

Nach Einschätzungen mehrerer Firmen aus der Unterhaltungselektronik während der »Internationalen Funkausstellung « (IFA) in Berlin 2010 und 2011 erwartet die Branche für die Zukunft vielversprechende Wachstumsraten für Fernsehgeräte mit integrierter 3D-Technologie. Diese relativ optimistische Prognose wurde zum Anlass genommen, eine Marktstudie mit dem Ziel durchzuführen, das Marktpotenzial für Fernsehgeräte mit 3D-Technologie zu untersuchen. Insgesamt wurden 261 Personen aus dem Raum Berlin-Brandenburg befragt, um Rückschlüsse auf deren Kaufbereitschaft für 3D-Fernsehgeräte ziehen zu können. Die empirischen Daten aus den Fragebögen wurden mit Hilfe des Statistik-Programms SPSS (Version 19) ausgewertet. Die Forschungsergebnisse sind im vorliegenden Artikel zusammengefasst.According to estimates from several firm executives in consumer electronics as announced during the »Internationale Funkausstellung« (IFA) in Berlin in 2010 and 2011, the market for TVs with integrated 3D technology indicates very promising growth rates for the future. This relatively optimistic forecast was taken as an opportunity to initiate a field research project. Research activity targets to investigate the market potential for TV sets with 3D-technology. A total of 261 people from the Berlin-Brandenburg region were interviewed. Data allow deductions about market potentials for 3D TVs in the future. The empirical data were analyzed using the statistical program SPSS (version 19). Research outcomes are summarized in this paper

EXPLANATION: Exoplanet and Transient Event Investigation Project—Optical Facilities and Solutions

Over the past decades, the achievements in astronomical instrumentation have given rise to a number of novel advanced studies related to the analysis of large arrays of observational data. One of the most famous of these studies is a study of transient events in the near and far space and a search for exoplanets. The main requirements for such kinds of projects are a simultaneous coverage of the largest possible field of view with the highest possible detection limits and temporal resolution. In this study, we present a similar project aimed at creating an extensive, continuously updated survey of transient events and exoplanets. To date, the core of the project incorporates several 0.07–2.5 m optical telescopes and the 6-m BTA telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of RAS (Russia), a number of other Russian observatories and the Bonhyunsan observatory of the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (South Korea). Our attention is mainly focused on the description of two groups of small, wide-angle optical telescopes for primary detection. All the telescopes are originally designed for the goals of the project and may be of interest to the scientific community. A description is also given for a new, high-precision optical spectrograph for the Doppler studies of transient and exoplanet events detected within the project. We present here the philosophy, expectations and first results obtained during the first year of running the project