845 research outputs found
On the Earth's tidal perturbations for the LARES satellite
Frame dragging, one of the outstanding phenomena predicted by General
Relativity, is efficiently studied by means of the laser-ranged satellites
LARES, LAGEOS and LAGEOS 2. The accurate analysis of the orbital perturbations
of Earth's solid and ocean tides has been relevant for increasing the accuracy
in the test of frame-dragging using these three satellites. The Earth's tidal
perturbations acting on the LARES satellite are obtained for the 110
significant modes of corresponding Doodson number and are exhibited to enable
the comparison to those of the LAGEOS and LAGEOS-2 satellites. For LARES we
represent 29 perturbation modes for l=2,3,4 for ocean tides.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, to appear in Eur Phys J Plus (subm. Sept 20,
2017
The Active Mirror Control of the MAGIC Telescope
One of the main design goals of the MAGIC telescopes is the very fast
repositioning in case of Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) alarms, implying a low weight of
the telescope dish. This is accomplished by using a space frame made of carbon
fiber epoxy tubes, resulting in a strong but not very rigid support structure.
Therefore it is necessary to readjust the individual mirror tiles to correct
for deformations of the dish under varying gravitational load while tracking an
object. We present the concept of the Active Mirror Control (AMC) as
implemented in the MAGIC telescopes and the actual performance reached.
Additionally we show that also telescopes using a stiff structure can benefit
from using an AMC.Comment: Contribution to the 30th ICRC, Merida, Mexico, July 2007 on behalf of
the MAGIC Collaboratio
Determination of the Night Sky Background around the Crab pulsar using its optical pulsation
The poor angular resolution of imaging gamma-ray telescopes is offset by the
large reflector areas of next generation telescopes such as MAGIC (17~m
diameter), which makes the study of optical emission associated with some
gamma-ray sources feasible. Furthermore, the extremely fast time response of
photomultipliers (PMs) makes them ideal detectors for fast (subsecond) optical
transients and periodic sources like pulsars. The optical pulse of the Crab
pulsar was detected with the HEGRA CT1 central pixel using a modified PM,
similar to the future MAGIC camera PMs. The purpose of these periodic
observations was to determine the light of the night sky (LONS) for the
galactic anticenter Crab region.Our results are between 2.5 and 3 times larger
than the previously measured LONS (outside the galactic plane), as expected
since the Crab pulsar is in the galactic plane, which implies a slightly higher
energy threshold for Crab observations, if the higher value of CT1 measured
LONS rate for galactic sources is used.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, accepted by Astroparticle Physic
Recent progress of GaAsP HPD development for the MAGIC telescope project
Today the Hybrid Photon Detector (HPD) is one of the few low light level
(LLL) sensors that can provide an excellent single and multiple photoelectron
(ph.e.) amplitude resolution. The recently developed HPDs for the MAGIC
telescope project with a GaAsP photocathode, namely the R9792U-40, provide a
peak quantum efficiency (QE) of more than 50% and a pulse width of ~2 nsec. In
addition, the afterpulsing rate of these tubes is very low compared to that of
conventional photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), i.e. the value is ~300 times lower.
Photocathode aging measurements showed life time of more than 10 years under
standard operating conditions of the Cherenkov Telescopes. Here we want to
report on the recent progress with the above mentioned HPDs.Comment: Contribution to the 30th ICRC, Merida Mexico, July 2007 on behalf of
the MAGIC Collaboratio
A weakly random Universe?
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is characterized by
well-established scales, the 2.7 K temperature of the Planckian spectrum and
the amplitude of the temperature anisotropy. These features were
instrumental in indicating the hot and equilibrium phases of the early history
of the Universe and its large scale isotropy, respectively. We now reveal one
more intrinsic scale in CMB properties. We introduce a method developed
originally by Kolmogorov, that quantifies a degree of randomness (chaos) in a
set of numbers, such as measurements of the CMB temperature in some region.
Considering CMB as a composition of random and regular signals, we solve the
inverse problem of recovering of their mutual fractions from the temperature
sky maps. Deriving the empirical Kolmogorov's function in the Wilkinson
Microwave Anisotropy Probe's maps, we obtain the fraction of the random signal
to be about 20 per cent, i.e. the cosmological sky is a weakly random one. The
paper is dedicated to the memory of Vladimir Arnold (1937-2010).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figs, A & A (Lett) in press; to match the published
versio
Assessment of competencies of public servants and analysis of the current practice of methods for assessing the consistency of competencies and labor functions of civil servants of Armenia
The level of development of the state as a whole depends on the professionalism of public servants, because the public servants participate in all processes of making state decisions and their further implementation. Professional staff can ensure successful implementation of all government development programs, because the personnel potential is thus the driving element affecting all the processes taking place in the state apparatus.The purpose of this paper is to identify the weaknesses of the management of the civil service personnel and to determine the methods for assessing competencies and labor functions of civil servants of Armenia. While carrying out the scientific research, the tasks were set to study the best foreign practices in the management of public servants’ competencies, to conduct a survey among public servants to look at the issues from their perspective, and to determine the most popular competencies in the civil service. Within the scope of the research international practice of personnel management in the public service as well as some related legal acts have been studied, and an internal survey has been conducted among the civil servants of the Republic of Armenia (40 people), including the civil servants from the State Social Security Service and the Ministry of Territorial Administration of Kotayk region.The study has revealed, that in Armenia personnel potential management in the public service sector is carried out at a rather low level, which requires fundamental changes. In that respect, timely and efficient staff training has been offered along with the implementation of competency assessment methods to job requirements. Also features of the ontological approach in solving the problems of personnel formation have been presented in the paper
Planck's confirmation of the M31 disk and halo rotation
Planck's data acquired during the first 15.4 months of observations towards
both the disk and halo of the M31 galaxy are analyzed. We confirm the existence
of a temperature asymmetry, previously detected by using the 7-year WMAP data,
along the direction of the M31 rotation, therefore indicative of a
Doppler-induced effect. The asymmetry extends up to about 10 degrees (about 130
kpc) from the M31 center. We also investigate the recent issue raised in Rubin
and Loeb (2014) about the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect from the diffuse hot
gas in the Local Group, predicted to generate a hot spot of a few degrees size
in the CMB maps in the direction of M31, where the free electron optical depth
gets the maximum value. We also consider the issue whether in the opposite
direction with respect to the M31 galaxy the same effect induces a minimum in
temperature in the Planck's maps of the sky. We find that the Planck's data at
100 GHz show an effect even larger than that expected.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table, 2 figures, in press as a Letter in A&
Planck revealed bulk motion of Centaurus A lobes
Planck data towards the active galaxy Centaurus A are analyzed in the 70, 100
and 143 GHz bands. We find a temperature asymmetry of the northern radio lobe
with respect to the southern one that clearly extends at least up to 5 degrees
from the Cen A center and diminishes towards the outer regions of the lobes.
That transparent parameter - the temperature asymmetry - thus has to carry a
principal information, i.e. indication on the line-of-sight bulk motion of the
lobes, while the increase of that asymmetry at smaller radii reveals the
differential dynamics of the lobes as expected at ejections from the center.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Letter to the Editor
(in press
Development of HPD Clusters for MAGIC-II
MAGIC-II is the second imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope of the MAGIC
observatory, which has recently been inaugurated on Canary island of La Palma.
We are currently developing a new camera based on clusters of hybrid photon
detectors (HPD) for the upgrade of MAGIC-II. The photon detectors feature a
GaAsP photocathode and an avalanche diode as electron bombarded anodes with
internal gain, and were supplied by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (R9792U-40). The
HPD camera with high quantum efficiency will increase the MAGIC-II sensitivity
and lower the energy threshold. The basic performance of the HPDs has been
measured and a prototype of an HPD cluster has been developed to be mounted on
MAGIC-II. Here we report on the status of the HPD cluster and the project of
eventually using HPD clusters in the central area of the MAGIC-II camera.Comment: Contribution to the 31st ICRC, Lodz, Poland, July 200
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