Exploring computational power markets with evolutionary algorithms

The recent deregulation of the electric industry in the United States opened some sectors of the power market to competition. This work addresses a computational restructured wholesale electricity market. The goal of the study is to model agent driven bilateral power market auctions where the players are represented by autonomous intelligent agents. Different aspects of the market are considered. Some of them are studies on structural and strategic market power of buyers and sellers varies with changes in relative concentration and relative capacity. Others are cases where players attempt to benefit from causing instabilities like brownouts and blackouts, as well as economic instabilities by applying different gaming strategies. Agents are modeled using various evolutionary programming techniques, such as reinforced learning, genetic algorithms and genetic programming. The results suggest that some of the solutions are suitable for robust industrial applications

Femtosecond optical parametric generators and amplifiers for the near infrared based on BiB 3 O 6

ABSTRACT We describe the most relevant optical properties of BiB 3 O 6 (BIBO), that make this material an attractive candidate for nonlinear frequency conversion of laser light in general, and down-conversion of femtosecond laser sources operating near 800 nm in particular. Experimental results are presented in the high-energy, low-repetition-rate (1 kHz) regime, demonstrating the unique versatility of BIBO for efficient generation of femtosecond pulses in the infrared up to ~3 μm

High-power Femtosecond Optical Parametric Amplification at 1 kHz in BiB 3 O 6 pumped at 800 nm

Abstract: Substantial power scaling of a travelling-wave femtosecond optical parametric amplifier, pumped near 800 nm by a 1 kHz Ti:sapphire laser amplifier, is demonstrated using monoclinic BiB 3 O 6 in a two stage scheme with continuum seeding. Total energy output (signal plus idler) exceeding 1 mJ is achieved, corresponding to an intrinsic conversion efficiency of ≈32% for the second stage. The tunability extends from 1.1 to 2.9 µm. The high parametric gain and broad amplification bandwidth of this crystal allowed the maintenance of the pump pulse duration, leading to pulse lengths less than 140 fs, both for the signal and idler pulses, even at such high output levels

High-power Femtosecond Optical Parametric Amplification at 1 kHz in BiB 3 O 6 pumped at 800 nm

Abstract: Substantial power scaling of a travelling-wave femtosecond optical parametric amplifier, pumped near 800 nm by a 1 kHz Ti:sapphire laser amplifier, is demonstrated using monoclinic BiB 3 O 6 in a two stage scheme with continuum seeding. Total energy output (signal plus idler) exceeding 1 mJ is achieved, corresponding to an intrinsic conversion efficiency of ≈32% for the second stage. The tunability extends from 1.1 to 2.9 µm. The high parametric gain and broad amplification bandwidth of this crystal allowed the maintenance of the pump pulse duration, leading to pulse lengths less than 140 fs, both for the signal and idler pulses, even at such high output levels