A Decade of Dark Energy: 1998 - 2008

The years 1998 to 2008 were very exciting years for cosmology. It was a pleasure to accept this invitation to describe my contributions to the development of our knowledge and understanding of the universe over the course of the past decade. Here, I begin by describing some of my work on radio galaxies as a modified standard yardstick and go on to describe model-independent studies of the accelerating universe and the properties of the dark energy. During the course of these studies, I came upon interesting ways to study the spin and other properties of supermassive black holes, some of which are briefly mentioned.Comment: Proceedings of the 2008 UCLA Conference "Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe," submitted to AIP Conference Proceedings, 6 page

Black Hole Spin Properties of 130 AGN

Supermassive black holes may be described by their mass and spin. When supermassive black holes are active, the activity provides a probe of the state of the black hole system. The spin of a hole can be estimated when the black hole mass and beam power of the source are known for sources with powerful outflows. Seventy-five sources for which both the black hole mass and beam power could be obtained are identified and used to obtain estimates of black hole spins. The 75 supermassive black holes studied include 52 FRII radio galaxies and 23 FRII radio loud quasars with redshifts ranging from about zero to two. The new values are combined with those obtained previously for 19 FRII radio galaxies, 7 FRII radio loud quasars, and 29 radio sources associated with CD galaxies to form samples of 71 FRII radio galaxies, 30 FRII quasars, and a total sample of 130 spin values; all of the sources are associated with massive elliptical galaxies. The new values obtained are similar to those obtained earlier at similar redshift, and range from about 0.1 to 1 for FRII sources. The overall results are consistent with those obtained previously: the spins tend to decrease with decreasing redshift for the FRII sources studied. There is a hint that the range of values of black hole spin at a given redshift is larger for FRII quasars than for FRII radio galaxies. There is no indication of a strong correlation between supermassive black hole mass and spin for the supermassive black holes studied here. The relation between beam power and black hole mass is obtained and used as a diagnostic of the outflows and the dependence of the magnetic field strength on black hole mass.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 5 table

Wind-shearing in gaseous protoplanetary disks

One of the first stages of planet formation is the growth of small planetesimals and their accumulation into large planetesimals and planetary embryos. This early stage occurs much before the dispersal of most of the gas from the protoplanetary disk. Due to their different aerodynamic properties, planetesimals of different sizes/shapes experience different drag forces from the gas at these stage. Such differential forces produce a wind-shearing effect between close by, different size planetesimals. For any two planetesimals, a wind-shearing radius can be considered, at which the differential acceleration due to the wind becomes greater than the mutual gravitational pull between the planetesimals. We find that the wind-shearing radius could be much smaller than the gravitational shearing radius by the Sun (the Hill radius), i.e. during the gas-phase of the disk wind-shearing could play a more important role than tidal perturbations by the Sun. Here we study the wind-shearing radii for planetesimal pairs of different sizes and compare it with gravitational shearing (drag force vs. gravitational tidal forces). We then discuss the role of wind-shearing for the stability and survival of binary planetesimals, and provide stability criteria for binary planetesimals embedded in a gaseous disk.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of IAU 276: The Astrophysics of planetary systems - formation, structure, and dynamical evolutio

Engineering enterprise through intellectual property education - pedagogic approaches

Engineering faculties, despite shrinking resources, are delivering to new enterprise agendas that must take account of the fuzzying of disciplinary boundaries. Learning and teaching, curriculum design and research strategies reflect these changes. Driven by changing expectations of how future graduates will contribute to the economy, academics in engineering and other innovative disciplines are finding it necessary to re-think undergraduate curricula to enhance students’ entrepreneurial skills, which includes their awareness and competence in respect of intellectual property rights [IPRs]. There is no well established pedagogy for educating engineers, scientists and innovators about intellectual property. This paper reviews some different approaches to facilitating non-law students’ learning about IP. Motivated by well designed ‘intended learning outcomes’ and assessment tasks, students can be encouraged to manage their learning... The skills involved in learning about intellectual property rights in this way can be applied to learning other key, but not core, subjects. At the same time, students develop the ability to acquire knowledge, rather than rely on receiving it, which is an essential competence for a ‘knowledge’ based worker

The effect of P2O5 on the viscosity of haplogranitic liquid

The effect of P2O5 on the viscosity of a haplogranitic (K2O-Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2) liquid has been determined at 1 atm pressure in the temperature interval of 700 - 1650°C. Viscosity measurements of a haplogranite, haplogranite + 5.1 wt.% P2O5 and haplogranite + 9.5 wt.% P2O5 have been performed using the concentric cylinder and micropenetration methods. The viscosity of haplogranite liquid decreases with the addition of P2O5 at all temperatures investigated. The viscosity decrease is nonlinear, with the strongest decrease exhibited at low P2O5 concentration. The temperature-dependence of the viscosity of all the investigated liquids is Arrhenian, as is the case for P2O5 liquid. The Arrhenian activation energy is slightly lower in the P2O5-bearing liquids than in the P2O5-free haplogranite with the result that the effect of P2O5 on viscosity is a (weak) function of temperature. At temperatures corresponding to the crystallization of phosphorus-rich granitic and pegmatitic systems the addition of 1 wt.% of P2O5 decreases the viscosity 0.2 log10 units. The effect of P2O5 on haplogranitic melt viscosity is much less than that for B2O3, F2O−1 on the same melt composition (Dingwell et al., 1992 and this study). This implies that P2O5 concentration gradients in high-silica melts during, for example, phosphate mineral growth or dissolution in granitic magmas, will not significantly influence melt viscosity

A partial molar volume for B 2 O 3 in haplogranitic melt

The densitiesa nd thermal expansivitieso f boron-bearingh aplogranitic glassesa nd Iiquids have been determined using a combination of scanning .florimetry and dilatomelry. B2O3 reduces the density of haplogranitic liquids (at 750'C) from 2.295 t 0.006 g cm-r to 2.237 + 0.005 g cm-3 wirh the addition of 8.92 wt. Vo 82o,. These densities have been converted into molar volumes in the binary system haplogranite - BrO3. The partial molar volume of 8203, calculated from a linear fit to the data at 750oC, is ,10.30 + 0.77 cmr mole-r in these melts. This value compares with a molar volume of pure B2O3 at this temperature of M.36 x. 0.22 cm3 mole-l (Napolitano et ol. 1965), indicating a negative excess volume of mixing along the haplogranite - B2O3 join. In comparison, at l3moc, the addition ot Na2O to B2O3 reduces the panial molar volume of B2O3 from 46.6 to 32.3 cm3 mole-r ar 45 molego Na2O (Riebling 1966).T he densityr esultsr eported here, along with the viscosity-reducinge ffect of B2O3o n granitic melts (Dingwell et al, 1992),s hould both significantlya cceleratep rocesseso f crystal-melt fractionation and facilitate the evolution of extremely fractionated igneous systems

The effect of F on the density of haplogranite melt

The densities and thermal expansivities of F-bearing haplogranitic glasses and liquids have been investigated using a combination of scanning calorimetry and dilatometry. F2O-1 reduces the density of haplogranitic liquids (at 750 °C) from 2.295 + 0.006 g/cm3 to 2.261 + 0.005 g/cm3 with the addition of 4.55 wt% F (0.33% per wt% of F added). The expansivities of the liquids increase with the addition of F2O-1 from 29.9 +- 3.0 x l0 -6/°C to 53.1 +- 1.4 x l0 -6/°C (at 750°C). Densities have been converted into molar volumes based on the haplogranite and F2O-1 components. The partial molar volume of F2O-1 has been calculated at 750°C to be 14.2 +- 1.3 cm3/mol in these melts. This value is close to the molar volume per O for several components of silicate melts. F and O have similar ionic and covalent radii, and thus the substitution of two F for one O yields approximately the volume change expected, assuming no secondaryc onsequencesfo r the averagec oordination number of cations. This is despite evidence from quenched melts that [6]Al exists in these compositions. F is significantly more effective (per wt% added) than B2O3 in reducing the density of haplogranitic melt. The effect of F on density reported here should complement the viscosity- reducing effect of F2O-1 on granitic melts in significantly acceleratingg ravity-driven processes of crystal-melt fractionation in F-rich igneous systems

Temperature-dependent thermal expansivities of silicate melts: The system anorthite-diopside

The temperature-dependent thermal expansivities of melts along the join anorthite-diopside have been determined on glassy and liquid samples using a combination of calorimetry, dilatometry, and Pt double bob Archimedean densitometry. Supercooled liquid volumes and molar thermal expansivities were determined using scanning calorimetric and dilatometric measurements of properties in the glass region and their behavior at the glass transition. The extraction of low-temperature liquid molar expansivities from dilatometry /calorimetry is based on an assumed equivalence of the relaxation of volume and enthalpy at the glass transition using a method developed and tested by Webb et al. (1992). This method corrects for transient effects at the glass transition which can lead to serious overestimates of liquid thermal expansivity from “peak” values. Superliquidus volumes were determined using double Pt bob Archimedean densitometry at temperatures up to 1650°C. The resulting data for liquid volumes near glass transition temperatures (810–920°C) and at superliquidus temperatures (1400–1650°C) are combined to yield thermal expansivities over the entire supercooled and stable liquid range. The molar expansivities are, in general, temperature dependent. The temperature-dependence of thermal expansivity increases from anorthite to diopside composition. The thermal expansivity of anorthite is essentially temperature independent, whereas that of diopside decreases by 50% between 800 and 1500°C, with the consequence that the thermal expansivities of the liquids in the anorthite-diopside system converge at high temperature

A remote sensing evaluation of potential for sinkhole occurrence

The relationship between lowering of the water table and sinkhole development in Pierson and in Hillsborough County, Florida was investigated. The locations of recently developed (1973) collapses were examined with respect to lineaments or fracture traces that are expressed in the terrain and visible in aerial photography and satellite imagery. It was anticipated that these relationships would provide the basis for establishment of criteria for mapping those land areas that have the greatest potential for sinkhole development. A very good correlation was found between mapped lineament intersections and known location of sinkhole occurrences for both study areas. This indicates that lineament and fracture trace mapping may be very useful in locating zones with the greatest potential for sinkhole development. It is further shown that this information is quite beneficial in land use planning applications

Determination of silicate liquid thermal expansivity using dilatometry and calorimetry

A method for the determination of relaxed silicate liquid molar volume and expansivity at temperatures just above the glass transition is discussed. The method involves the comparison of heat capacity and molar expansivity in the glass transition region. Glassy and liquid heat-capacity data are obtained using differential scanning calorimetry, and glassy thermal expansion data are obtained using scanning dilatometry. The molar expansivity of the liquid is calculated by a fictive temperature normalization of the relaxation behavior of both the heat capacity and the molar expansivity in the glass transition region, with the normalized heat capacity curve being used to extend the dilatometric data into the liquid temperature range. This comparison is based upon the assumed equivalence of the parameters describing the relaxation of volume and enthalpy. The molar expansivity of relaxed sodium trisilicate (Na2Si3O7) has been determined in this manner at temperatures above the glass transition temperature. This low-temperature determination of liquid molar expansivity has been tested against high-temperature liquid expansivity data obtained from high temperature Pt double bob Archimedean buoyancy measurements. The low-temperature molar expansivity (26.43±0.83xl0~4 cm3 mole"lßC_1 at 540°C) determined in this manner agrees within error with the high-temperature molar expansivity (23.29±1.39xl0~4 cm3 mole^ºC1 at 1400°C). This dilatometric/calorimetric method of liquid molar expansivity determination greatly increases the temperature range accessible for thermal expansion measurements. A weighted linear fit to the combined low and high temperature volume data gives a molar expansivity of 23.0010.25x10^ cm3 mole^ºC"1. The volume-temperature relationship thus derived reproduces the measured volumes from both dilatometry and densitometry with a RMSD value of 0.033 cm3 mole"1 or 0.14%. This represents a substantial increase in precision, which is especially important for liquids whose high liquidus temperatures restrict the temperature range accessible to liquid volume determinations