Corpus-Based Transcription as an Approach to the Compositional Control of Timbre

Timbre space is a cognitive model useful to address the problem of structuring timbre in electronic music. The recent concept of corpus-based concatenative sound synthesis is proposed as an approach to timbral control in both real- and deferred-time applications. Using CataRT and related tools in the FTM and Gabor libraries for Max/MSP we describe a technique for real-time analysis of a live signal to pilot corpus-based synthesis, along with examples of compositional realizations in works for instruments, electronics, and sound installation. To extend this technique to computer-assisted composition for acoustic instruments, we develop tools using the Sound Description Interchange Format (SDIF) to export sonic descriptors to OpenMusic where they may be further manipulated and transcribed into an instrumental score. This presents a flexible technique for the compositional organization of noise-based instrumental sounds

Potential contributions of noncontact atomic force microscopy for the future Casimir force measurements

Surface electric noise, i.e., the non-uniform distribution of charges and potentials on a surface, poses a great experimental challenge in modern precision force measurements. Such a challenge is encountered in a number of different experimental circumstances. The scientists employing atomic force microscopy (AFM) have long focused their efforts to understand the surface-related noise issues via variants of AFM techniques, such as Kelvin probe force microscopy or electric force microscopy. Recently, the physicists investigating quantum vacuum fluctuation phenomena between two closely-spaced objects have also begun to collect experimental evidence indicating a presence of surface effects neglected in their previous analyses. It now appears that the two seemingly disparate science communities are encountering effects rooted in the same surface phenomena. In this report, we suggest specific experimental tasks to be performed in the near future that are crucial not only for fostering needed collaborations between the two communities, but also for providing valuable data on the surface effects in order to draw the most realistic conclusion about the actual contribution of the Casimir force (or van der Waals force) between a pair of real materials.Comment: The paper appeared in the Proceedings to the 12th International Conference on Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy (NC-AFM 2009) and Casimir 2009 Satellite Worksho

Formation of small-scale structure in SUSY CDM

The lightest supersymmetric particle, most likely the lightest neutralino, is one of the most prominent particle candidates for cold dark matter (CDM). We show that the primordial spectrum of density fluctuations in neutralino CDM has a sharp cut-off, induced by two different damping mechanisms. During the kinetic decoupling of neutralinos, non-equilibrium processes constitute viscosity effects, which damp or even absorb density perturbations in CDM. After the last scattering of neutralinos, free streaming induces neutralino flows from overdense to underdense regions of space. Both damping mechanisms together define a minimal mass scale for perturbations in neutralino CDM, before the inhomogeneities enter the nonlinear epoch of structure formation. We find that the very first gravitationally bound neutralino clouds ought to have masses above 10^{-6} solar masses, which is six orders of magnitude above the mass of possible axion miniclusters.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to appear in proceedings of "IDM 2002, 4th International Workshop on the Identification of Dark Matter

Scale dependence of cosmological backreaction

Due to the non-commutation of spatial averaging and temporal evolution, inhomogeneities and anisotropies (cosmic structures) influence the evolution of the averaged Universe via the cosmological backreaction mechanism. We study the backreaction effect as a function of averaging scale in a perturbative approach up to higher orders. We calculate the hierarchy of the critical scales, at which 10% effects show up from averaging at different orders. The dominant contribution comes from the averaged spatial curvature, observable up to scales of 200 Mpc. The cosmic variance of the local Hubble rate is 10% (5%) for spherical regions of radius 40 (60) Mpc. We compare our result to the one from Newtonian cosmology and Hubble Space Telescope Key Project data.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; v3: substantial modifications, new figure

Effects of weak self-interactions in a relativistic plasma on cosmological perturbations

The exact solutions for linear cosmological perturbations which have been obtained for collisionless relativistic matter within thermal field theory are extended to a self-interacting case. The two-loop contributions of scalar $\lambda\phi^4$ theory to the thermal graviton self-energy are evaluated, which give the $O(\lambda)$ corrections in the perturbation equations. The changes are found to be perturbative on scales comparable to or larger than the Hubble horizon, but the determination of the large-time damping behavior of subhorizon perturbations requires a resummation of thermally induced masses.Comment: 11 pages, REVTEX, 4 postscript figures included by epsf.sty - expanded version (more details on the resummation of thermal masses which is required for the late-time damping behaviour

Solomon Islands national situation analysis

The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (CRP AAS) was approved by the CGIAR Fund Council in July, 2011. Solomon Islands, one of five countries targeted by the program, began its rollout with a five month planning phase between August and December of 2011. Subsequent steps of the Program rollout include scoping, diagnosis and design. This report is the first to be produced during the scoping phase in Solomon Islands; it addresses the national setting and provides basic information on the context within which the AAS Program will operate. The macro level subjects of analysis provide initial baselines of national level indicators, policy context, power relationships and other factors relevant to the Program

Occam's razor meets WMAP

Using a variety of quantitative implementations of Occam's razor we examine the low quadrupole, the ``axis of evil'' effect and other detections recently made appealing to the excellent WMAP data. We find that some razors {\it fully} demolish the much lauded claims for departures from scale-invariance. They all reduce to pathetic levels the evidence for a low quadrupole (or any other low $\ell$ cut-off), both in the first and third year WMAP releases. The ``axis of evil'' effect is the only anomaly examined here that survives the humiliations of Occam's razor, and even then in the category of ``strong'' rather than ``decisive'' evidence. Statistical considerations aside, differences between the various renditions of the datasets remain worrying