521 research outputs found
Designing a miniaturised heated stage for in situ optical measurements of solid oxide fuel cell electrode surfaces, and probing the oxidation of solid oxide fuel cell anodes using in situ Raman spectroscopy
Wavefront Curvature in Optical Atomic Beam Clocks
Atomic clocks provide a reproducible basis for our understanding of time and
frequency. Recent demonstrations of compact optical clocks, employing thermal
atomic beams, have achieved short-term fractional frequency instabilities in
the , competitive with the best international frequency standards
available. However, a serious challenge inherent in compact clocks is the
necessarily smaller optical beams, which results in rapid variation in
interrogating wavefronts. This can cause inhomogeneous excitation of the
thermal beam leading to long term drifts in the output frequency. Here we
develop a model for Ramsey-Bord\'e interferometery using optical fields with
curved wavefronts and simulate the Ca beam clock experiment described in
[Olson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 073202 (2019)]. Olson et al.'s results had
shown surprising and unexplained behaviour in the response of the atoms in the
interrogation. Our model predicts signals consistent with experimental data and
can account for the significant sensitivity to laser geometry that was
reported. We find the signal-to-noise ratio is maximised when the laser is
uncollimated at the interrogation zones to minimise inhomogeneity, and also
identify an optimal waist size determined by both laser inhomogeneity and the
velocity distribution of the atomic beam. We investigate the shifts and
stability of the clock frequency, showing that the Gouy phase is the primary
source of frequency variations arising from laser geometry.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Automatic Redshift Determination by use of Principal Component Analysis --- I: Fundamentals
With the advent of very large redshift surveys of tens to hundreds of
thousands of galaxies reliable techniques for automatically determining galaxy
redshifts are becoming increasingly important. The most common technique
currently in common use is the cross-correlation of a galactic spectrum with a
set of templates. This series of papers presents a new method based on
Principal Component Analysis. The method generalizes the cross-correlation
approach by replacing the individual templates by a simultaneous linear
combination of orthogonal templates. This effectively eliminates the mismatch
between templates and data and provides for the possibility of better error
estimates. In this paper, the first of a series, the basic mathematics are
presented along with a simple demonstration of the application.Comment: 23 pages, 9 Figures, minor revisions, accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journa
Far-Infrared OH fluorescent emission in Sagittarius B2
We present Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) observations of 16OH and 18OH
toward Sgr B2 with a spectral resolution of 35 km/s. The OH J=5/2-3/2 and
J=3/2-1/2 rotational lines of the 2Pi1/2 ladder are seen in emission while the
cross-ladder transitions (from the 2Pi3/2 J=3/2 to the J=1/2, 3/2 and 5/2
levels of the 2Pi1/2ladder), and the 2Pi3/2 J=5/2-3/2 and J=7/2-5/2 lines are
detected in absorption. The 18OH 2Pi3/2 J=5/2-3/2 Lambda-doublet at 120 mu is
also observed in absorption. All OH Lambda-doublets are resolved (except the 98
mu) and show, in addition to the strong absorption at the velocity of Sgr B2,
several velocity components associated to the gas surrounding Sgr B2 and to the
foreground clouds along the line of sight.
No asymmetries in the line intensities of each doublet have been observed. We
have modeled the observations using a non-local radiative transfer code and
found that the OH absorption/emission must arise in a shell around Sgr B2 not
resolved by the ISO/LWS beam. The gas density is moderate, with upper limits of
10^4 cm^{-3} and 300 K in temperature. The OH abundance is high,(2-5)10^{-6}.
We argue that a widespread photon dominated region explains the enhancement of
OH abundance.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, accepted in ApJ Letter
HI Narrow Self-Absorption in Dark Clouds: Correlations with Molecular Gas and Implications for Cloud Evolution and Star Formation
We present the results of a comparative study of HI narrow self-absorption
(HINSA), OH, 13CO, and C18O in five dark clouds. The HINSA follows the
distribution of the emission of the carbon monoxide isotopologues, and has a
characteristic size close to that of 13CO. This confirms that the HINSA is
produced by cold HI which is well mixed with molecular gas in well-shielded
regions. The ratio of the atomic hydrogen density to total proton density for
these sources is 5 to 27 x 10^{-4}. Using cloud temperatures and the density of
HI, we set an upper limit to the cosmic ray ionization rate of 10^{-16} s^{-1}.
Comparison of observed and modeled fractional HI abundances indicates ages for
these clouds to be 10^{6.5} to 10^{7} yr. The low values of the HI density we
have determined make it certain that the time scale for evolution from an
atomic to an almost entirely molecular phase, must be a minimum of several
million years. This clearly sets a lower limit to the overall time scale for
star formation and the lifetime of molecular clouds
Herschel observations of the hydroxyl radical (OH) in young stellar objects
Water in Star-forming regions with Herschel (WISH) is a Herschel Key Program
investigating the water chemistry in young stellar objects (YSOs) during
protostellar evolution. Hydroxyl (OH) is one of the reactants in the chemical
network most closely linked to the formation and destruction of H2O.
High-temperature chemistry connects OH and H2O through the OH + H2 H2O + H
reactions. Formation of H2O from OH is efficient in the high-temperature regime
found in shocks and the innermost part of protostellar envelopes. Moreover, in
the presence of UV photons, OH can be produced from the photo-dissociation of
H2O. High-resolution spectroscopy of the OH 163.12 micron triplet towards HH 46
and NGC 1333 IRAS 2A was carried out with the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far
Infrared (HIFI) on board Herschel. The low- and intermediate-mass YSOs HH 46,
TMR 1, IRAS 15398-3359, DK Cha, NGC 7129 FIRS 2, and NGC 1333 IRAS 2A were
observed with the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) in four
transitions of OH and two [OI] lines. The OH transitions at 79, 84, 119, and
163 micron and [OI] emission at 63 and 145 micron were detected with PACS
towards the class I low-mass YSOs as well as the intermediate-mass and class I
Herbig Ae sources. No OH emission was detected from the class 0 YSO NGC 1333
IRAS 2A, though the 119 micron was detected in absorption. With HIFI, the
163.12 micron was not detected from HH 46 and only tentatively detected from
NGC 1333 IRAS 2A. The combination of the PACS and HIFI results for HH 46
constrains the line width (FWHM > 11 km/s) and indicates that the OH emission
likely originates from shocked gas. This scenario is supported by trends of the
OH flux increasing with the [OI] flux and the bolometric luminosity. Similar OH
line ratios for most sources suggest that OH has comparable excitation
temperatures despite the different physical properties of the sources.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (Herschel
special issue
Molecular excitation in the Interstellar Medium: recent advances in collisional, radiative and chemical processes
We review the different excitation processes in the interstellar mediumComment: Accepted in Chem. Re
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âStop-goâ policy and the restriction of post-war British house-building
From the mid-1950s to the early 1980s the Treasury and Bank of England successfully advocated a policy of restricting both private and public sector house-building, as a key but covert instrument of their wider âstop-goâ macroeconomic policy framework. While the intensity of restrictions varied over the economic cycle, private house-building was restricted (through limiting mortgage availability) for almost all this period. This was achieved by keeping building society interest rates low relative to other interest rates and thus starving the building society movement of mortgage funds. Mortgage restriction was never publicly discussed and sometimes operated alongside ambitious housing targets and well-publicised policy initiatives to boost housing demand. This paper outlines the evolution of house-building restriction, together with its impacts on the housing sector and the wider economy. We review the evolution of the policy framework and its consequences, compare the level and stability of British house-building during this period - historically and relative to other countries, and undertake time-series econometric analysis of its impacts on both house-building and house prices. Finally, implications for debates regarding stop-go policy, Britainâs housing problem, and the distributional consequences of government macroeconomic policy are discussed
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