817 research outputs found
Funding for Universal Service Obligations in Electricity Sector : the case of green power development
The process of deregulation in network industries, in particular in the electric sector, raises the problem of Ăžnancing the Universal Service Obligations (USO) corresponding to the production, transport and distribution operations. In this paper, we study three ways of funding for an USO of production, especially the "green" electricity development: the Ăžnancing with cross-subsidies, the implementation of a fund (financing by a tax) and finally a voluntary funding system by direct subscriptions of consumers. We notably show that this last one Pareto dominates mostly, from a welfare point of view, the other scenarios.ELECTRICITY ; ENVIRONMENT ; REGULATION ; NETWORK ; UNIVERSAL SERVICE,
Long-term Multi-wavelength Observations of GRS 1758-258 and the ADAF Model
We present a long-term multi-wavelength light curve of Galactic black hole
candidate GRS 1758-258 by combining previously published and archival data from
GRANAT, ROSAT, CGRO, RXTE, SAX, ASCA, EXOSAT, and the VLA. In addition we
include first spectral results from the balloon-borne Gamma-ray Arcminute
Telescope Imaging System (GRATIS). In light of divergent analyses of the
1991-1993 ROSAT observations, we have re-analyzed these data; we find the soft
X-rays track the hard X-rays, and that the fits require no black-body
component-- indicating that GRS 1758-258 did not go to the high state in 1993.
We offer an interpretation based on the ADAF model for a system with mdot
\ltsim mdot_crit. We find the 1990-1993 coeval hard and soft X-ray observations
support the ADAF predictions. We discuss a new way to constrain black-hole mass
with spectral data and the ADAF theory, and apply this technique to GRS
1758-258 to find M_1 \gtsim 8--9 M_sol at an assumed distance of 8.5 kpc.
Further investigations of the ADAF model allow us to evaluate the model
critically against the data and flux-flux diagram of Barret, McClintock &
Grindlay (1996) and to understand the limits of the latter's ``X-ray burster
box.''Comment: 32 pp., AASTEX, 8 ps figures, accepted to Ap
Identification of the optical and near-infrared counterpart of GRS 1758-258
Context. Understood to be a microquasar in the Galactic center region, GRS
1758-258 has not yet been unambiguously identified to have an
optical/near-infrared counterpart, mainly because of the high absorption and
the historic lack of suitable astrometric stars, which led to the use of
secondary astrometric solutions. Although it is considered with 1E 1740.7-2942
as the prototypical microquasar in the Galactic center region, the Galactic
origin of both sources has not yet been confirmed. Aims. We attempt to improve
previous astrometry to identify a candidate counterpart to GRS 1758-258. We
present observations with the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC), in which we
try to detect any powerful emission lines that would infer an extragalactic
origin of this source. Methods. We use modern star catalogues to reanalyze
archival images of the GRS 1758-258 field in the optical and near-infrared
wavelengths, and compute a new astrometric solution. We also reanalyzed
archival radio data of GRS 1758-258 to determine a new and more accurate radio
position. Results. Our improved astrometric solution for the GRS 1758-258 field
represents a significant advancement on previous works and allows us to
identify a single optical/near-infrared source, which we propose as the
counterpart of GRS 1758-258. The GTC spectrum of this source is however of low
signal-to-noise ratio and does not rule out a Galactic origin. Hence, new
spectral observations are required to confirm or discard a Galactic nature.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic
XMM-Newton Observation of the Black Hole Microquasar GRS 1758-258
The XMM-Newton X-ray observatory pointed the galactic black hole candidate
and microquasar GRS 1758-258 in September 2000 for about 10 ks during a program
devoted to the scan of the Galactic Center regions. Preliminary results from
EPIC MOS camera data are presented here. The data indicate that the source
underwent a state transition from its standard low-hard state to an
intermediate state. For the first time in this source the ultra-soft component
of the accretion disk, which black hole binaries display in intermediate or
high-soft states, was clearly detected and measured thanks to the high spectral
capabilities of XMM-Newton.Comment: To appear in the Proc. of the Gamma-Ray Astrophysics 2001 Symposium,
4-6 April 2001, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.. American Institute of Physics
(AIP) series: 5 pages, 6 PS figures, latex, uses aipproc.cls aipproc.st
Emission of ions and charged soot particles by aircraft engines
In this article, a model which examines the formation and evolution of chemiions in an aircraft engine is proposed. This model which includes chemiionisation, electron thermo-emission, electron attachment to soot particles and to neutral molecules, electron-ion and ion-ion recombination, ion-soot interaction, allows the determination of the ion concentration at the exit of the combustor and at the nozzle exit of the engine. It also allows the determination of the charge of the soot particles. For the engine considered, the upper limit for the ion emission index EI<sub>i</sub> is of the order of (2-5) x10<sup>16</sup> ions/kg-fuel if ion-soot interactions are ignored and the introduction of ion-soot interactions lead about to a 50% reduction. The results also show that most of the soot particles are either positively or negatively charged, the remaining neutral particles representing approximately 20% of the total particles. A comparison of the model results with the available ground-based experimental data obtained on the ATTAS research aircraft engines during the SULFUR experiments (Schumann, 2002) shows an excellent agreement
Structure of the Radio Source 3C 120 at 8.4 GHz from VLBA+ Observations in 2002
Maps of the radio source 3C 120 obtained from VLBA+ observations at 8.4 GHz
at five epochs in January - September 2002 are presented. The images were
reconstructed using the maximum entropy method and the Pulkovo VLBImager
software package for VLBI mapping. Apparent superluminal motions of the
brightest jet knots have been estimated. The speeds of jet knots decreases with
distance from the core, changing from 5.40+-0.48c $ to 2.00+-0.48c over 10 mas
(where c is the speed of light) for a Hubble constant of 65 km/s/Mpc. This can
be explained by interaction of the jet with the medium through which it
propagates.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 5 table
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