5,485 research outputs found
- Vectors for Three Dimensional Models
In this paper we apply the method of psi-vectors to three dimensional
statistical models. This method gives the correspondence between the Bazhanov
-- Baxter model and its vertex formulation. Considering psi-vectors for the
Planar model, we obtain its self-duality.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, no figure
Technoeconomic analysis of a methanol plant based on gasification of biomass and electrolysis of water
International audienceMethanol production process configurations based on renewable energy sources have been designed. The processes were analyzed in the thermodynamic process simulation tool DNA. The syngas used for the catalytic methanol production was produced by gasification of biomass, electrolysis of water, CO from post-combustion capture and autothermal reforming of natural gas or biogas. Underground gas storage of hydrogen and oxygen was used in connection with the electrolysis to enable the electrolyser to follow the variations in the power produced by renewables. Six plant configurations, each with a different syngas production method, were compared. The plants achieve methanol exergy efficiencies of 59-72%, the best from a configuration incorporating autothermal reforming of biogas and electrolysis of water for syngas production. The different processes in the plants are highly heat integrated, and the low-temperature waste heat is used for district heat production. This results in high total energy efficiencies (~90%) for the plants. The specific methanol costs for the six plants are in the range 11.8-25.3 âŹ/GJ. The lowest cost is obtained by a plant using electrolysis of water, gasification of biomass and autothermal reforming of natural gas for syngas production
Alpha-decay Rates of Yb and Gd in Solar Neutrino Detectors
The -decay rates for the nuclides Yb
and Gd have been estimated from transmission probabilities
in a systematic -nucleus potential and from an improved fit to
-decay rates in the rare-earth mass region. Whereas -decay of
Gd in natural gadolinium is a severe obstacle for the use of gadolinium
as a low-energy solar-neutrino detector, we show that
-decay does not contribute significantly to the background in a
ytterbium detector. An extremely long -decay lifetime of Yb
is obtained from calculation, which may be close to the sensitivity limit in a
low-background solar neutrino detector.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure; An author name was correcte
Tunneling and Drilling for OTEC Cold Water Pipes
This report summarizes the results of a study to determine the feasibility of using a tunnel or large-diameter drilled shaft as a conduit for transporting cold water from an ocean depth of 2000 ft to an ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plant located on shore. The report identifies five possible cold water pipe (CWP) approaches that are dependent on the geologic formation and hydrology of the site. For this survey, the site under consideration is Keahole Point on the west coast of the big island of Hawaii. The site was chosen because of the easy access to deep cold water provided by the steep offshore slope, the proximity to air and sea transportation, and the availability of land. The survey concludes that although many site-specific factors must be considered, tunneling or drilling is in general a viable option for meeting the long-term OTEC cost goals. This study was carried out for the United States Department of Energy (DOE) by the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) as part of the OTEC Cold Water Pipe Technology program.Prepared for the United States Department of Energy, Ocean Engineering Technology Division, under Contract Number DE-AC03-76-SF00700, Task 43532-6530
Strongly lensed SNe Ia in the era of LSST: observing cadence for lens discoveries and time-delay measurements
The upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will detect many strongly
lensed Type Ia supernovae (LSNe Ia) for time-delay cosmography. This will
provide an independent and direct way for measuring the Hubble constant ,
which is necessary to address the current tension in between
the local distance ladder and the early Universe measurements. We present a
detailed analysis of different observing strategies for the LSST, and quantify
their impact on time-delay measurement between multiple images of LSNe Ia. For
this, we produced microlensed mock-LSST light curves for which we estimated the
time delay between different images. We find that using only LSST data for
time-delay cosmography is not ideal. Instead, we advocate using LSST as a
discovery machine for LSNe Ia, enabling time delay measurements from follow-up
observations from other instruments in order to increase the number of systems
by a factor of 2 to 16 depending on the observing strategy. Furthermore, we
find that LSST observing strategies, which provide a good sampling frequency
(the mean inter-night gap is around two days) and high cumulative season length
(ten seasons with a season length of around 170 days per season), are favored.
Rolling cadences subdivide the survey and focus on different parts in different
years; these observing strategies trade the number of seasons for better
sampling frequency. In our investigation, this leads to half the number of
systems in comparison to the best observing strategy. Therefore rolling
cadences are disfavored because the gain from the increased sampling frequency
cannot compensate for the shortened cumulative season length. We anticipate
that the sample of lensed SNe Ia from our preferred LSST cadence strategies
with rapid follow-up observations would yield an independent percent-level
constraint on .Comment: 25 pages, 22 figures; accepted for publication in A&
Making the most of community energies:Three perspectives on grassroots innovation
Grassroots innovations for sustainability are attracting increasing policy attention. Drawing upon a wide range of empirical research into community energy in the UK, and taking recent support from national government as a case study, we apply three distinct analytical perspectives: strategic niche management; niche policy advocacy; and critical niches. Whilst the first and second perspectives appear to explain policy influence in grassroots innovation adequately, each also shuts out more transformational possibilities. We therefore argue that, if grassroots innovation is to realise its full potential, then we need to also pursue a third, critical niches perspective, and open up debate about more socially transformative pathways to sustainability
Gravitational waves, black holes and cosmic strings in cylindrical symmetry
Gravitational waves in cylindrically symmetric Einstein gravity are described
by an effective energy tensor with the same form as that of a massless Klein-
Gordon field, in terms of a gravitational potential generalizing the Newtonian
potential. Energy-momentum vectors for the gravitational waves and matter are
defined with respect to a canonical flow of time. The combined energy-momentum
is covariantly conserved, the corresponding charge being the modified Thorne
energy. Energy conservation is formulated as the first law expressing the
gradient of the energy as work and energy-supply terms, including the energy
flux of the gravitational waves. Projecting this equation along a trapping
horizon yields a first law of black-hole dynamics containing the expected term
involving area and surface gravity, where the dynamic surface gravity is
defined with respect to the canonical flow of time. A first law for dynamic
cosmic strings also follows. The Einstein equation is written as three wave
equations plus the first law, each with sources determined by the combined
energy tensor of the matter and gravitational waves.Comment: 10 pages, revtex. Published version with further detail
Architecture of a Silicon Strip Beam Position Monitor
A collaboration between Fermilab and the Institute for High Energy Physics
(IHEP), Beijing, has developed a beam position monitor for the IHEP test beam
facility. This telescope is based on 5 stations of silicon strip detectors
having a pitch of 60 microns. The total active area of each layer of the
detector is about 12x10 cm2. Readout of the strips is provided through the use
of VA1` ASICs mounted on custom hybrid printed circuit boards and interfaced to
Adapter Cards via copper-over-kapton flexible circuits. The Adapter Cards
amplify and level-shift the signal for input to the Fermilab CAPTAN data
acquisition nodes for data readout and channel configuration. These nodes
deliver readout and temperature data from triggered events to an analysis
computer over gigabit Ethernet links.Comment: Submitted to TWEPP 201
Charge neutralization in vacuum for non-conducting and isolated objects using directed low-energy electron and ion beams
We propose using ions and electrons of energy 1 eVâ10 eV for neutralizing the charges on the non-conducting or isolated surfaces of high-sensitivity experiments. The mirror surfaces of the test masses of the laser interferometer gravitational observatory are used as an example of the implementation of this method. By alternatively directing beams of positive and negative charges towards the mirror surfaces, we ensure the neutralization of the total charge as well as the equalization of the surface charge distribution to within a few eV of the potential of the ground reference of the vacuum system. This method is compatible with operation in high vacuum, does not require measuring the potential of the mirrors and is expected not to damage sensitive optical surfaces
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