Optimal Alignment Sensing of a Readout Mode Cleaner Cavity

Critically coupled resonant optical cavities are often used as mode cleaners in optical systems to improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of a signal that is encoded as an amplitude modulation of a laser beam. Achieving the best SNR requires maintaining the alignment of the mode cleaner relative to the laser beam on which the signal is encoded. An automatic alignment system which is primarily sensitive to the carrier field component of the beam will not, in general, provide optimal SNR. We present an approach that modifies traditional dither alignment sensing by applying a large amplitude modulation on the signal field, thereby producing error signals that are sensitive to the signal sideband field alignment. When used in conjunction with alignment actuators, this approach can improve the detected SNR; we demonstrate a factor of 3 improvement in the SNR of a kilometer-scale detector of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory. This approach can be generalized to other types of alignment sensors

GPR Monitoring of Volumetric Water Content in Soils Applied to Highway Construction and Maintenance

An overview is given on two experiments, a controlled pit study and a transportation application in subasphalt soils. Both experiments show that common-offset ground-penetrating radar (GPR) reflection data can be used to estimate θv to a high degree of accuracy. The methodology developed in these two experiments provides a technique for obtaining quick, noninvasive, accurate, and high-resolution estimates of θv

Field-Scale Estimation of Volumetric Water Content Using Ground-Penetrating Radar Ground Wave Techniques

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) ground wave techniques were applied to estimate soil water content in the uppermost ∼10 cm of a 3 acre California vineyard several times over 1 year. We collected densely spaced GPR travel time measurements using 900 and 450 MHz antennas and analyzed these data to estimate water content. The spatial distribution of water content across the vineyard did not change significantly with time, although the absolute water content values varied seasonally and with irrigation. The GPR estimates of water content were compared to gravimetric water content, time domain reflectometry, and soil texture measurements. The comparisons of GPR-derived estimates of water content to gravimetric water content measurements showed that the GPR estimates had a root mean square error of volumetric water content of the order of 0.01. The results from this study indicate that GPR ground waves can be used to provide noninvasive, spatially dense estimates of shallow water content over large areas and in a rapid manner

Mapping the Volumetric Soil Water Content of a California Vineyard Using High-Frequency GPR Ground Wave Data

An attempt was made to establish the utility of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) as a quick and noninvasive field tool for shallow soil water content estimates as a function of space and time. Initially, detailed studies of collocated data, with electromagnetic velocity estimates from GPR data compared to gravimetric measurements of water content and to soil testure were carried out. Using the procedures developed during the detailed studies, full grids of GPR data were collected over the entire site several times. Data obtained indicate that incorporation of multiple frequency GPR grids can provide high-resolution estimates of soil water content variations as a function of depth as well as space and time

Dynamic Problems of Evolution

Evolution and growth of natural and man-made processes have impressed human beings from the very beginning. What is evolution? Is it the passage from an initial to a higher stage? What does "higher" mean in a world of many objectives? Is "higher" bound to the existence of monotonous indicators like entropy, or is it "gambling" within a predetermined combinatoric multifold of possibilities? Questions of this kind arise from the phenomena in our environment, from the spring-off of new species, but also from processes in our man-made technological world. How is the transition of basic innovation to technology and use of the corresponding products by society, what forecast can be made from increasing CO2, in the atmosphere on the impact on climate, from features of seismologic waves on future events etc. That means there is a strong connection between evolution processes and the emphasis of systems analysis as a help for strategic actions. This paper deals with general considerations about possible growth mechanisms as a base for creating valid growth models. But the main goal is to show how the parameters in growth models can be estimated using on one hand a fuzzy approach together with vector optimization and on the other hand a Bayesian approach. It can be seen that both approaches are useful and applicable and we get informations from one approach which the other one cannot give us. We studied already the growth of cracks in materials, processes well described in [10]. Preliminary results are contained in [13]. Research will be continued to identify the superposition of driving forces and of coupled systems in which oscillations can arise because of time delays between their driving-force pulses

Prolific fruit output by the invasive tree Bellucia pentamera Naudin (Melastomataceae) is enhanced by selective logging disturbance

Selective logging in tropical rain forests may promote population growth of invasive plants. The ability of invaders to respond, specifically in reproductive traits, to increase in resource abundance may allow them to increase their presence in the seed rain of recipient communities. The invasive pioneer tree Bellucia pentamera (Melastomataceae) is currently spreading within Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The park has also experienced periods of illegal, small‐scale, selective logging that seem to have facilitated population growth and spread of this invader. We first used fruiting frequency as a proxy for fruit output to make comparisons between B. pentamera and the native tree community of over 200 genera. We then constructed two Generalized Linear Autoregressive Moving Average (GLARMA) models using 13 months of phenology data to predict both fruiting frequency and crop size of B. pentamera under selective logging versus natural treefall disturbance regimes. Bellucia pentamera fruited at considerably higher frequency than all 200 native genera considered. This invader also responded positively to selective logging with both odds of being in fruit and crop sizes at least doubling in logged plots. Prolific seed output of B. pentamera is especially problematic within the lottery competition of tropical rain forest gap tree communities, in which prominence in the seed rain is particularly important. Furthermore, the reproductive response of B. pentamera to selective logging suggests that this harvesting practice may have a considerable role in facilitating this invasion in Southeast Asia.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144654/1/btp12545.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144654/2/btp12545_am.pd

Characterization of Soil Water Content Variability and Soil Texture Using GPR Groundwave Techniques

Accurate characterization of near-surface soil water content is vital for guiding agricultural management decisions and for reducing the potential negative environmental impacts of agriculture. Characterizing the near-surface soil water content can be difficult, as this parameter is often both spatially and temporally variable, and obtaining sufficient measurements to describe the heterogeneity can be prohibitively expensive. Understanding the spatial correlation of near-surface soil water content can help optimize data acquisition and improve understanding of the processes controlling soil water content at the field scale. In this study, ground penetrating radar (GPR) methods were used to characterize the spatial correlation of water content in a three acre field as a function of sampling depth, season, vegetation, and soil texture. GPR data were acquired with 450 MHz and 900 MHz antennas, and measurements of the GPR groundwave were used to estimate soil water content at four different times. Additional water content estimates were obtained using time domain reflectometry measurements, and soil texture measurements were also acquired. Variograms were calculated for each set of measurements, and comparison of these variograms showed that the horizontal spatial correlation was greater for deeper water content measurements than for shallower measurements. Precipitation and irrigation were both shown to increase the spatial variability of water content, while shallowly-rooted vegetation decreased the variability. Comparison of the variograms of water content and soil texture showed that soil texture generally had greater small-scale spatial correlation than water content, and that the variability of water content in deeper soil layers was more closely correlated to soil texture than were shallower water content measurements. Lastly, cross-variograms of soil texture and water content were calculated, and co-kriging of water content estimates and soil texture measurements showed that geophysically-derived estimates of soil water content could be used to improve spatial estimation of soil texture

Kohn-Luttinger instability of the t-t' Hubbard model in two dimensions: variational approach

An effective Hamiltonian for the Kohn-Luttinger superconductor is constructed and solved in the BCS approximation. The method is applied to the t-t' Hubbard model in two dimensions with the following results: (i) The superconducting phase diagram at half filling is shown to provide a weak-coupling analog of the recently proposed spin liquid state in the J_1-J_2 Heisenberg model. (ii) In the parameter region relevant for the cuprates we have found a nontrivial energy dependence of the gap function in the dominant d-wave pairing sector. The hot spot effect in the angular dependence of the superconducting gap is shown to be quite weak

DNA-Ormocer based biocomposite for fabrication of photonic structures

We report microfabrication of high quality photonicstructures such as two-dimensional photonic crystals and beam splitters from a high DNA load, photosensitive Ormocer nanocomposite. This nanocomposite combines the high dye loading capacity of DNA with the photopatternability and hardness of the Ormocer. The fabrication is performed with the two-photon lithography method. Detailed studies of the deoxyribonucleic acid distribution in the fabricatedstructures are conducted with Raman microscopy. We also demonstrate that the deoxyribonucleic acid based nanocomposite films cast on glass substrates are of high enough quality to support amplified spontaneous emission from dyes intercalated in the deoxyribonucleic acid