Ion shock acceleration by large amplitude slow ion acoustic double layers in laser-produced plasmas

A kinetic model for the shock acceleration of ions in laser-produced plasmas is developed. A fraction of the warm ions are accelerated by the large amplitude monotonic potential of the shock created due the plasma compression and electron heating by the laser. The kinetic model for the monotonic shock is based on the slow ion acoustic double layer (SIADL). It is found that the amplitude of the large amplitude SIADL is almost uniquely defined by the electron temperature. Therefore, a balance between electron heating and plasma compression is needed for optimal ion acceleration by this scheme. Typical Mach numbers of the monotonic shocks are close to 1.5. The scheme could potentially produce monoenergetic ions with a relative energy spread of less than 1%. The model is compared with recent simulations and experiments, where efficient shocks acceleration and production of monoenergetic protons have been observed. Similarities and differences with other shock models are pointed out and discussed

Organic Action Plans. Development, implementation and evaluation. A resource manual for the organic food and farming sector

In 2004, the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming was launched. Many European countries have also developed national Organic Action Plans to promote and support organic agriculture. As part of the EU funded ORGAP project (“European Action Plan of Organic Food and Farming - Development of criteria and procedures for the evaluation of the EU Action Plan for Organic Agriculture”) a toolbox to evaluate and monitor the implementation of national and European Action Plans has been developed. In order to communicate the results of this project as widely as possible, a practical manual for initiating and evaluating Organic Action Plans has been produced. This manual has been created to inspire the people, organisations and institutions involved, or with an interest, in the organic food and farming sector to engage in the initiation, review, revision and renewal of regional, national and European Organic Action Plans. The objectives of the manual are to provide: • a tool for stakeholder involvement in future Action Plan development and implementation processes at EU, national and regional level • a guide to the use of the Organic Action Plan Evaluation Toolbox (ORGAPET) developed through the project The manual summarises the key lessons learnt from more than 10 years experience of development, implementation and evaluation of Organic Action Plans throughout Europe. The Organic Action Plan Evaluation Toolbox (ORGAPET), which includes comprehensive information to support the Organic Action Plan development and evaluation process is included with the manual as a CD-ROM, and is also accessible on-line at www.orgap.org/orgapet. The ORGAP website www.orgap.org provides a further information on the project and the European and national organic action plans. Published by: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland; IFOAM EU Group, Brussels Table of contents Foreword 1 1 Introduction 3 1.1 About this manual 3 1.2 Organic farming – origins, definition & principles 6 1.3 Development of organic food & farming in Europe 8 1.3.1 Organic food and farming regulation in Europe 10 1.3.2 Policy support for organic food and farming in Europe 11 2 Organic Action Plans – what are they about? 16 2.1 Why Organic Action Plans? 16 2.2 European Organic Action Plan 21 2.3 Overview of national and regional Organic Action Plans 23 3 Planning and implementing Organic Action Plans 28 3.1 Policy development 28 3.2 Defining organic sector development needs and potential 31 3.3 Defining policy goals and objectives 34 3.4 Involving stakeholders 40 3.4.1 The case for stakeholder involvement 40 3.4.2 Identifying relevant stakeholders 42 3.4.3 Participatory approaches for stakeholders involvement 44 3.5 Decision making: selecting, integrating and prioritising relevant measures 46 3.5.1 Deciding on policy instruments and action points 47 3.5.2 Priorities for action – allocating resources 50 3.6 Implementing Organic Action Plans 52 3.7 Including monitoring and evaluation of Organic Action Plans from outset 56 3.8 Managing communication 58 3.9 Development of Action Plans in countries that joined the EU in 2004 and later 59 4 Evaluating Organic Action Plans 61 4.1 Principles of evaluation 61 4.2 Conducting an evaluation 64 4.3 Evaluating Action Plan design and implementation 70 4.3.1 Evaluating programme design and implementation processes 70 4.3.2 Evaluating programme coherence 72 4.3.3 Evaluating stakeholder involvement 74 4.4 Evaluating Action Plan effects 78 4.4.1 Developing and using indicators for evaluation 78 4.5 Overall evaluation of Organic Action Plans – judging success 85 4.6 Evaluating Action Plans in countries that joined the EU in 2004 and later 89 5 Organic Action Plans – the Golden Rules 91 5.1 Key elements of Organic Action Plan development 91 5.2 The Golden rules for Organic Action Plan 93 References 96 Annex Detailed synopsis of ORGAPET 10

WISE J072003.20-084651.2: An Old and Active M9.5 + T5 Spectral Binary 6 pc from the Sun

[Abridged] We report observations of the recently discovered, nearby late-M dwarf WISE J072003.20-084651.2. Astrometric measurements obtained with TRAPPIST improve the distance measurement to 6.0$\pm$1.0 pc and confirm the low tangential velocity (3.5$\pm$0.6 km/s) reported by Scholz. Low-resolution optical spectroscopy indicates a spectral type of M9.5 and prominent H$\alpha$ emission ( = -4.68$\pm$0.06), but no evidence of subsolar metallicity or Li I absorption. Near-infrared spectroscopy reveals subtle peculiarities indicating the presence of a T5 binary companion, and high-resolution laser guide star adaptive optics imaging reveals a faint ($\Delta$H = 4.1) candidate source 0"14 (0.8 AU) from the primary. We measure a stable radial velocity of +83.8$\pm$0.3 km/s, indicative of old disk kinematics and consistent with the angular separation of the possible companion. We measure a projected rotational velocity of v sin i = 8.0$\pm$0.5 km/s, and find evidence of low-level variability (~1.5%) in a 13-day TRAPPIST lightcurve, but cannot robustly constrain the rotational period. We also observe episodic changes in brightness (1-2%) and occasional flare bursts (4-8%) with a 0.8% duty cycle, and order-of-magnitude variations in H$\alpha$ line strength. Combined, these observations reveal WISE J0720-0846 to be an old, very low-mass binary whose components straddle the hydrogen burning minimum mass, and whose primary is a relatively rapid rotator and magnetically active. It is one of only two known binaries among late M dwarfs within 10 pc of the Sun, both harboring a mid T-type brown dwarf companion. While this specific configuration is rare (1.4% probability), roughly 25% of binary companions to late-type M dwarfs in the local population are likely low-temperature T or Y brown dwarfs.Comment: 18 pages, 23 figures; accepted for publication in A

High-dimensional quantum dynamics of adsorption and desorption of H2_2 at Cu(111)

We performed high-dimensional quantum dynamical calculations of the dissociative adsorption and associative desorption of hydrogen on Cu(111). The potential energy surface (PES) is obtained from density functional theory calculations. Two regimes of dynamics are found, at low energies sticking is determined by the minimum energy barrier, at high energies by the distribution of barrier heights. Experimental results are well-reproduced qualitatively, but some quantitative discrepancies are identified as well.Comment: 4 two column pages, revtex, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let