The Diversity of Objections to Inequality

This is the text of The Lindley Lecture for 1996, given by T.M. Scanlon, an American philosopher

Immorality and Irrationality

Does immorality necessarily involve irrationality? The question is often taken to be among the deepest in moral philosophy. But apparently deep questions sometimes admit of deflationary answers. In this case we can make way for a deflationary answer by appealing to dualism about rationality, according to which there are two fundamentally distinct notions of rationality: structural rationality and substantive rationality. I have defended dualism elsewhere. Here, I’ll argue that it allows us to embrace a sensible – I will not say boring – moderate view about the relationship between immorality and irrationality: roughly, that immorality involves substantive irrationality, but not structural irrationality. I defend this moderate view, and argue that many of the arguments for less moderate views turn either on missing the distinction between substantive and structural rationality, or on misconstruing it

ƿ-adic Fourier analysis

Let Dk be the ring of integers of a finite extension of Q(_p), and let h ɛ Q≥(_0) be in its value group. This thesis considers the space of locally analytic functions of order h on Ok with values in Cp-. that is, functions that are defined on each disc of radius by a convergent power series. A necessary and sufficient condition for a sequence of polynomials, with coefficient in C(_p), to be orthogonal in this space is given, generalising a result of Amice [1] . This condition is used to prove that a particular sequence of polynomials defined in Schneider Teitelbaum [19] is not orthogonal

MIG gas shielding : Economic savings without detriment to quality

Over the years a number of claims have been made related to potential savings of the shielding gas used in the MIG process. A number of work streams have been set up to consider such areas from a technical and economic standpoint. The use of small helium additions has particular benefits and despite an increase in unit cost, the overriding benefits are achieved in reduced manhour cost. A similar situation has been established when using a high frequency process to switch shielding gases during welding. The outcome from this was very similar to that already described. Overlaid on these has been the increasing use of a technique that visualises actual gas flow during welding by the use of laser backlighting. Some preliminary work in this area is described particularly related to the effect of drafts on the gas distribution. A recent development on the market place is a piece of equipment, which regulates the gas flow automatically and synchronously with the welding current. Gas savings in the region of 50-60% have been obtained. Data has been produced to illustrate these benefits. The potential benefit of developing a computational fluid dynamic model of the gas flow is also described, and early development stages of the model shown. However, there will always exist the very basic management need to minimise leaks from the gas delivery systems

The development and application of time resolved PIV at the University of Strathclyde

This paper describes the development of time resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV) within the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde. The Department's first PIV systems were developed on a limited budget and used existing and second hand equipment. The original technique which, employed 16mm high speed cinematography, is described. The introduction and development of low cost systems employing high speed digital video (HSDV) is discussed and, finally, the Department's new time resolved PIV system, supplied by Dantec Dynamics, is introduced. For each of the PIV systems that have been developed a critical analysis of their functionality is given and samples of the data that they have been produced are shown. Data are presented from systems such as de-rotated centrifugal impellers, air bubbles growing in columns of water, pulsatile jets and vortex shedding

Structural and magnetic characterization of the complete delafossite solid solution (CuAlO2){1-x}(CuCrO2){x}

We have prepared the complete delafossite solid solution series between diamagnetic CuAlO2 and the t2g^3 frustrated antiferromagnet CuCrO2. The evolution with composition x in CuAl(1-x)Cr(x)O2 of the crystal structure and magnetic properties has been studied and is reported here. The room-temperature unit cell parameters follow the Vegard law and increase with x as expected. The effective moment is equal to the Cr^3+ spin-only S = 3/2 value throughout the entire solid solution. Theta is negative, indicating that the dominant interactions are antiferromagnetic, and its magnitude increases with Cr substitution. For dilute Cr compositions, J_BB was estimated by mean-field theory to be 2.0 meV. Despite the sizable Theta, long-range antiferromagnetic order does not develop until very large x, and is preceeded by glassy behavior. Data presented here, and that on dilute Al-substitution from Okuda et al., suggest that the reduction in magnetic frustration due to the presence of non-magnetic Al does not have as dominant an effect on magnetism as chemical disorder and dilution of the magnetic exchange. For all samples, the 5 K isothermal magnetization does not saturate in fields up to 5 T and minimal hysteresis is observed. The presence of antiferromagnetic interactions is clearly evident in the sub-Brillouin behavior with a reduced magnetization per Cr atom. An inspection of the scaled Curie plot reveals that significant short-range antiferromagnetic interactions occur in CuCrO2 above its Neel temperature, consistent with its magnetic frustration. Uncompensated short-range interactions are present in the Al-substituted samples and are likely a result of chemical disorder

Rationality as the Rule of Reason

The demands of rationality are linked both to our subjective normative perspective (given that rationality is a person-level concept) and to objective reasons or favoring relations (given that rationality is non-contingently authoritative for us). In this paper, I propose a new way of reconciling the tension between these two aspects: roughly, what rationality requires of us is having the attitudes that correspond to our take on reasons in the light of our evidence, but only if it is competent. I show how this view can account for structural rationality on the assumption that intentions and beliefs as such involve competent perceptions of downstream reasons, and explore various implications of the account

Numerical simulation of centrifugal pumps

The power computers increase and the specific calculation software development have made possible, nowadays, the numerical simulation of flow and energy transfer inside the turbomachinery. To teach Fluid Mechanics is not easy not only for the professors but also for the students because the theoretical part must be complemented with a technical part where students can see the phenomena. However, specially in hydraulic turbomachinery, we canít see the phenomena except if we have a specific material, for example a PIV. Even if we would have this material, the access to specific parts of turbomachinery is not possible due to its constructive layout. The use of numerical simulation tools allows us to obtain data in inaccessible positions for the experimentation, as well as the study of unusual or dangerous performances. With the numerical simulation, the pressure fluctuation at any point of the pump can be easily obtained. Other important results are the radial forces on the impeller, which have a significant variation with the working points. One of the advantages of this kind of modelling is the ease to carry out changes in the geometry, parametric studies and analysis of anomalous operation conditions