57,531 research outputs found
Fast pyrolysis of halogenated plastics recovered from waste computers
The disposal of waste computers is an issue that is gaining increasing interest around the world. In this paper, results from the fast pyrolysis in a fluidized bed reactor of three different waste computer monitor casings composed of mainly acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) copolymer and two different waste computer body casings composed of mostly poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) type polymers are presented. Preliminary characterization of the waste plastics was investigated using coupled thermogravimetric analysis-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (TGA-FT-IR). The results showed that the plastics decomposed in two stages. For the ABS-containing monitor casings, aromatic and aliphatic material were released in the first and second stages. The PVC-containing computer body casing samples showed a first-stage evolution of HCl and a second stage evolution of aromatic and aliphatic material and further HCl. In addition, each of the five plastics was fast-pyrolyzed in a laboratory-scale fluidized bed reactor at 500 °C. The fluidized bed pyrolysis led to the conversion of most of the plastics to pyrolysis oil, although the two PVC computer body cases produced large quantities of HCl. The pyrolysis oils were characterized by GC-MS and it was found that they were chemically very heterogeneous and contained a wide range of aliphatic, aromatic, halogenated, oxygenated, and nitrogenated compounds
Multivariate side-band subtraction using probabilistic event weights
A common situation in experimental physics is to have a signal which can not
be separated from a non-interfering background through the use of any cut. In
this paper, we describe a procedure for determining, on an event-by-event
basis, a quality factor (-factor) that a given event originated from the
signal distribution. This procedure generalizes the "side-band" subtraction
method to higher dimensions without requiring the data to be divided into bins.
The -factors can then be used as event weights in subsequent analysis
procedures, allowing one to more directly access the true spectrum of the
signal.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure
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Remarkable dynamics of nanoparticles in the urban atmosphere
Nanoparticles emitted from road traffic are the largest source of respiratory exposure for the general public living in urban areas. It has been suggested that the adverse health effects of airborne particles may scale with the airborne particle number, which if correct, focuses attention on the nanoparticle (less than 100 nm) size range which dominates the number count in urban areas. Urban measurements of particle size distributions have tended to show a broadly similar pattern dominated by a mode centred on 20â30 nm diameter particles emitted by diesel engine exhaust. In this paper we report the results of measurements of particle number concentration and size distribution made in a major London park as well as on the BT Tower, 160 m high. These measurements taken during the REPARTEE project (Regents Park and BT Tower experiment) show a remarkable shift in particle size distributions with major losses of the smallest particle class as particles are advected away from the traffic source. In the Park, the traffic related mode at 20â30 nm diameter is much reduced with a new mode at <10 nm. Size distribution measurements also revealed higher number concentrations of sub-50 nm particles at the BT Tower during days affected by higher turbulence as determined by Doppler Lidar measurements and indicate a loss of nanoparticles from air aged during less turbulent conditions. These results suggest that nanoparticles are lost by evaporation, rather than coagulation processes. The results have major implications for understanding the impacts of traffic-generated particulate matter on human health
Quantum computations with atoms in optical lattices: marker qubits and molecular interactions
We develop a scheme for quantum computation with neutral atoms, based on the
concept of "marker" atoms, i.e., auxiliary atoms that can be efficiently
transported in state-independent periodic external traps to operate quantum
gates between physically distant qubits. This allows for relaxing a number of
experimental constraints for quantum computation with neutral atoms in
microscopic potential, including single-atom laser addressability. We discuss
the advantages of this approach in a concrete physical scenario involving
molecular interactions.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure
Quintessence, the Gravitational Constant, and Gravity
Dynamical vacuum energy or quintessence, a slowly varying and spatially
inhomogeneous component of the energy density with negative pressure, is
currently consistent with the observational data. One potential difficulty with
the idea of quintessence is that couplings to ordinary matter should be
strongly suppressed so as not to lead to observable time variations of the
constants of nature. We further explore the possibility of an explicit coupling
between the quintessence field and the curvature. Since such a scalar field
gives rise to another gravity force of long range (\simg H^{-1}_0), the solar
system experiments put a constraint on the non-minimal coupling: |\xi| \siml
10^{-2}.Comment: 9 pages, a version to be published in Phys.Rev.
Role of semicore states in the electronic structure of group-III nitrides: An exact exchange study
The bandstructure of the zinc-blende phase of AlN, GaN, InN is calculated
employing the exact-exchange (EXX) Kohn-Sham density-functional theory and a
pseudopotential plane-wave approach. The cation semicore d electrons are
treated both as valence and as core states. The EXX bandgaps of AlN and GaN
(obtained with the Ga 3d electrons included as core states) are in excellent
agreement with previous EXX results, GW calculations and experiment. Inclusion
of the semicore d electrons as valence states leads to a large reduction in the
EXX bandgaps of GaN and InN. Contrary to common belief, the removal of the
self-interaction, by the EXX approach, does not account for the large
disagreement for the position of the semicore d electrons between the LDA
results and experiment.Comment: 10 pages including 3 figures; related publications can be found at
http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/th.htm
Strong Shift Equivalence of -correspondences
We define a notion of strong shift equivalence for -correspondences and
show that strong shift equivalent -correspondences have strongly Morita
equivalent Cuntz-Pimsner algebras. Our analysis extends the fact that strong
shift equivalent square matrices with non-negative integer entries give stably
isomorphic Cuntz-Krieger algebras.Comment: 26 pages. Final version to appear in Israel Journal of Mathematic
Spitzer Observations of the z=2.73 Lensed Lyman Break Galaxy, MS1512-cB58
We present Spitzer infrared (IR) photometry and spectroscopy of the lensed
Lyman break galaxy (LBG), MS1512-cB58 at z=2.73. The large (factor ~30)
magnification allows for the most detailed infrared study of an L*_UV(z=3) LBG
to date. Broadband photometry with IRAC (3-10 micron), IRS (16 micron), and
MIPS (24, 70 & 160 micron) was obtained as well as IRS spectroscopy spanning
5.5-35 microns. A fit of stellar population models to the optical/near-IR/IRAC
photometry gives a young age (~9 Myr), forming stars at ~98 M_sun/yr, with a
total stellar mass of ~10^9 M_sun formed thus far. The existence of an old
stellar population with twice the stellar mass can not be ruled out. IR
spectral energy distribution fits to the 24 and 70 micron photometry, as well
as previously obtained submm/mm, data give an intrinsic IR luminosity L_IR =
1-2 x10^11 L_sun and a star formation rate, SFR ~20-40 M_sun/yr. The UV derived
star formation rate (SFR) is ~3-5 times higher than the SFR determined using
L_IR or L_Halpha because the red UV spectral slope is significantly over
predicting the level of dust extinction. This suggests that the assumed
Calzetti starburst obscuration law may not be valid for young LBGs. We detect
strong line emission from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) at 6.2, 7.7,
and 8.6 microns. The line ratios are consistent with ratios observed in both
local and high redshift starbursts. Both the PAH and rest-frame 8 micron
luminosities predict the total L_IR based on previously measured relations in
starbursts. Finally, we do not detect the 3.3 micron PAH feature. This is
marginally inconsistent with some PAH emission models, but still consistent
with PAH ratios measured in many local star-forming galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. aastex format, 18 pages, 7 figure
Photometric Decomposition of Barred Galaxies
We present a non-parametric method for decomposition of the light of disk
galaxies into disk, bulge and bar components. We have developed and tested the
method on a sample of 68 disk galaxies for which we have acquired I-band
photometry. The separation of disk and bar light relies on the single
assumption that the bar is a straight feature with a different ellipticity and
position angle from that of the projected disk. We here present the basic
method, but recognise that it can be significantly refined. We identify bars in
only 47% of the more nearly face-on galaxies in our sample. The fraction of
light in the bar has a broad range from 1.3% to 40% of the total galaxy light.
If low-luminosity galaxies have more dominant halos, and if halos contribute to
bar stability, the luminosity functions of barred and unbarred galaxies should
differ markedly; while our sample is small, we find only a slight difference of
low significance.Comment: Accepted to appear in AJ, 36 pages, 9 figures, full on-line figures
available at http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~sellwood/Reese.htm
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