A study of weather-dependent data links for deep space applications

Weather-dependent data links for deep space applications, and five potential system

Ab Initio study of neutron drops with chiral Hamiltonians

We report ab initio calculations for neutron drops in a 10 MeV external harmonic-oscillator trap using chiral nucleon-nucleon plus three-nucleon interactions. We present total binding energies, internal energies, radii and odd-even energy differences for neutron numbers N = 2 - 18 using the no-core shell model with and without importance truncation. Furthermore, we present total binding energies for N = 8, 16, 20, 28, 40, 50 obtained in a coupled-cluster approach. Comparisons with Green's Function Monte Carlo results, where available, using Argonne v8' with three-nucleon interactions reveal important dependences on the chosen Hamiltonian.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Computational studies of light acceptance and propagation in straight and curved multimodal active fibres

A Monte Carlo simulation has been performed to track light rays in cylindrical multimode fibres by ray optics. The trapping efficiencies for skew and meridional rays in active fibres and distributions of characteristic quantities for all trapped light rays have been calculated. The simulation provides new results for curved fibres, where the analytical expressions are too complex to be solved. The light losses due to sharp bending of fibres are presented as a function of the ratio of curvature to fibre radius and bending angle. It is shown that a radius of curvature to fibre radius ratio of greater than 65 results in a light loss of less than 10% with the loss occurring in a transition region at bending angles of pi/8 rad.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figure

Book Reviews

Reviews of the following books: Maine: A Bibliography of Its History by John D. Haskell, Jr.; Tombstones and Paving Blocks: The History of the Granite Industry in Maine by Roger E. Grindle; Josiah Volunteered: A Collection of Diaries, Letters and Photographs of Josiah H. Sturtevant, His Wife Helen and His Four Children edited by Arnold H. Sturtevan

Talk like an expert: The construction of expertise in news comments concerning climate change

This article explores how readers of UK newspapers construct expertise around climate change. It draws on 300 online readers’ comments on news items in The Guardian, Daily Mail and The Telegraph, concerning the release of the International Panel on Climate Change report calling for immediate action on climate change. Comments were analysed using discursive psychology. We identified a series of discursive strategies that commenters adopted to present themselves as experts in their commentary. The (mostly indirect) use of category entitlements (implicitly claiming themselves as expert) and the presentation of one’s argument as factual (based on direct or indirect technical knowledge or common sense) emerged as common ways in which readers made claims to expertise, both among the supporters and among the sceptics of climate change science. Our findings indicate that expertise is a fluid concept, constructed in diverse ways, with important implications for public engagement with climate change science

Exploring the psychological rewards of a familiar semirural landscape: connecting to local nature through a mindful approach

This study analyses a 53,000 word diary of a year engaging with nature through over 200 trips to a semi-rural landscape. Thematic analysis revealed two themes; the transition from observer to nature connectedness and the ways in which the natural environment was experienced once a connection was made. These themes are discussed in relation to theories that seek to explain the positive effect of nature and nature connectedness. The findings are important as they suggest that repeated engagement with local semi-rural countryside can lead to a mindful approach and psychological rewards that do not require travel into the wilderness. The work informs further research into outcomes and processes of nature based interventions such as: trip frequency, duration and diary keeping

Coherent Optimal Control of Multiphoton Molecular Excitation

We give a framework for molecular multiphoton excitation process induced by an optimally designed electric field. The molecule is initially prepared in a coherent superposition state of two of its eigenfunctions. The relative phase of the two superposed eigenfunctions has been shown to control the optimally designed electric field which triggers the multiphoton excitation in the molecule. This brings forth flexibility in desiging the optimal field in the laboratory by suitably tuning the molecular phase and hence by choosing the most favorable interfering routes that the system follows to reach the target. We follow the quantum fluid dynamical formulation for desiging the electric field with application to HBr molecule.Comment: 5 figure