194,679 research outputs found
The Optical Polarization Properties of X-ray Selected BL Lacertae Objects
We discuss the optical polarization properties of X-ray selected BL Lacertae
objects (XSBLs) as determined from three years of monitoring 37 BL Lac objects
and candidates. The observed objects include a complete X-ray flux limited
sample drawn from the EMS Survey. The majority of the XSBLs classi- fied solely
on the appearance of their spectra are members of the class of BL~Lacs since
they possess intrinsically polarized and variable continua. The duty cycle of
polarized emission from XSBLs is 40\%. The majority of XSBLs (\%)
have preferred polarization position angles on time scales as long as three
years. This reflects stability in the geometry of the region emitting the
polarized optical emission. We discuss the observed spectral dependence of the
degree of polarization and some of the possible mechanisms for producing the
observed characteristics. While dilution of the polarized emission by the host
galaxy starlight is present in some objects, we demon- strate that the average
polarization properties derived from our observations are not drastically
affected by this effect. The objects in our monitored sample did not display
the larger than one magnitude variations generally used to characterize the
optical variability of blazars in general.Comment: LaTex file, 21 pages, with tables appended as a poscript file.
Contact [email protected] for postscript figure files. Institute for Advanced
Study number AST 93/4
Overview of a new slicing method: Fixed Abrasive Slicing Technique (FAST)
The fixed abrasive slicing technique (FAST) was developed to slice silicon ingots more effectively. It was demonstrated that 25 wafers/cm can be sliced from 10 cm diameter and 19 wafers/cm from 15 cm diameter ingots. This was achieved with a combination of machine development and wire-blade development programs. Correlation was established between cutting effectiveness and high surface speeds. A high speed slicer was designed and fabricated for FAST slicing. Wirepack life of slicing three 10 cm diameter ingots was established. Electroforming techniques were developed to control widths and prolong life of wire-blades. Economic analysis indicates that the projected add-on price of FAST slicing is compatible with the DOE price allocation to meet the 1986 cost goals
Wire blade development for Fixed Abrasive Slicing Technique (FAST) slicing
A low cost, effective slicing method is essential to make ingot technology viable for photovoltaics in terrestrial applications. The fixed abrasive slicing technique (FAST) combines the advantages of the three commercially developed techniques. In its development stage FAST demonstrated cutting effectiveness of 10 cm and 15 cm diameter workpieces. Wire blade development is still the critical element for commercialization of FAST technology. Both impregnated and electroplated wire blades have been developed; techniques have been developed to fix diamonds only in the cutting edge of the wire. Electroplated wires show the most near term promise and this approach is emphasized. With plated wires it has been possible to control the size and shape of the electroplating, it is expected that this feature reduces kerf and prolongs the life of the wirepack
Kinematics of a large-scale intraplate extending lithosphere: The Basin-Range
Upper lithospheric structure of the Cordilleran Basin Range (B-R) is characterised by an E-W symmetry of velocity layering. The crust is 25 km thick on its eastern active margin, thickening to 30 km within the central portion and thinning to approx. 25 km on the west. Pn velocities of 7.8 to 7.9 km/s characterize the upper mantle low velocity cushion, 7.4 km/s to 7.5 km/s, occurs at a depth of approx. 25 km in the eastern B-R and underlies the area of active extension. An upper-crustal low-velocity zone in the eastern B-R shows a marked P-wave velocity inversion of 7% at depths of 7 to 10 km also in the area of greatest extension. The seismic velocity models for this region of intraplate extension suggest major differences from that of a normal, thermally underformed continental lithosphere. Interpretations of seismic reflection data demonstrate the presence of extensive low-angle reflections in the upper-crust of the eastern B-R at depths from near-surface to 7 to 10 km. These reflections have been interpreted to represent low-angle normal fault detachments or reactivated thrusts. Seismic profiles across steeply-dipping normal faults in unconsolidated sediments show reflections from both planar to downward flatening (listric) faults that in most cases do not penetrate the low-angle detachments. These faults are interpreted as late Cenozoic and cataclastic mylonitic zones of shear displacement
Drawing Boundaries
In âOn Drawing Lines on a Mapâ (1995), I suggested that the different ways we have of drawing lines on maps open up a new perspective on ontology, resting on a distinction between two sorts of boundaries: fiat and bona fide. âFiatâ means, roughly: human-demarcation-induced. âBona fideâ means, again roughly: a boundary constituted by some real physical discontinuity. I presented a general typology of boundaries based on this opposition and showed how it generates a corresponding typology of the different sorts of objects which boundaries determine or demarcate. In this paper, I describe how the theory of fiat boundaries has evolved since 1995, how it has been applied in areas such as property law and political geography, and how it is being used in contemporary work in formal and applied ontology, especially within the framework of Basic Formal Ontology
Prospect for relic neutrino searches
Unlike the relic photons, relic neutrinos have not so far been observed. The
Cosmic Neutrino Background (CB) is the oldest relic from the Big Bang,
produced a few seconds after the Bang itself. Due to their impact in cosmology,
relic neutrinos may be revealed indireclty in the near future through
cosmological observations. In this talk we concentrate on other proposals, made
in the last 30 years, to try to detect the CB directly, either in
laboratory searches (through tiny accelerations they produce on macroscopic
targets) or through astrophysical observations (looking for absorption dips in
the flux of Ultra-High Energy neutrinos, due to the annihilation of these
neutrinos with relic neutrinos at the Z-resonance). We concentrate mainly on
the first of these two possibilities.Comment: Talk given at the Nobel Symposium on Neutrino Physics, Enkoping,
Sweden, Augus 19-24, 2004; 16 page
Low- Phononic Thermal Conductivity in Superconductors with Line Nodes
The phonon contribution to the thermal conductivity at low temperature in
superconductors with line nodes is calculated assuming that scattering by both
nodal quasiparticles and the sample boundaries is significant. It is determined
that, within the regime in which the quasiparticles are in the universal limit
and the phonon attenuation is in the hydrodynamic limit, there exists a wide
temperature range over which the phonon thermal conductivity varies as .
This behaviour comes from the fact that transverse phonons propagating along
certain directions do not interact with nodal quasiparticles and is thus found
to be required by the symmetry of the crystal and the superconducting gap,
independent of the model used for the electron-phonon interaction. The
-dependence of the phonon thermal conductivity occurs over a well-defined
intermediate temperature range: at higher the temperature-dependence is
found to be linear while at lower the usual (boundary-limited)
behaviour is recovered. Results are compared to recent measurements of the
thermal conductivity of Tl2201, and are shown to be consistent with the data.Comment: 4 page
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