Time Variability of Quasars: the Structure Function Variance

Significant progress in the description of quasar variability has been recently made by employing SDSS and POSS data. Common to most studies is a fundamental assumption that photometric observations at two epochs for a large number of quasars will reveal the same statistical properties as well-sampled light curves for individual objects. We critically test this assumption using light curves for a sample of $\sim$2,600 spectroscopically confirmed quasars observed about 50 times on average over 8 years by the SDSS stripe 82 survey. We find that the dependence of the mean structure function computed for individual quasars on luminosity, rest-frame wavelength and time is qualitatively and quantitatively similar to the behavior of the structure function derived from two-epoch observations of a much larger sample. We also reproduce the result that the variability properties of radio and X-ray selected subsamples are different. However, the scatter of the variability structure function for fixed values of luminosity, rest-frame wavelength and time is similar to the scatter induced by the variance of these quantities in the analyzed sample. Hence, our results suggest that, although the statistical properties of quasar variability inferred using two-epoch data capture some underlying physics, there is significant additional information that can be extracted from well-sampled light curves for individual objects.Comment: Presented at the "Classification and Discovery in Large Astronomical Surveys" meeting, Ringberg Castle, 14-17 October, 200

<i>‘What retention’ means to me</i>: the position of the adult learner in student retention

Studies of student retention and progression overwhelmingly appear adopt definitions that place the institution, rather than the student, at the centre. Retention is most often conceived in terms of linear and continuous progress between institutionally identified start and end points. This paper reports on research that considered data from 38 in-depth interviews conducted with individuals who had characteristics often associated with non-traditional engagement in higher education who between 2006 and 2010 had studied an ‘Introduction to HE’ module at one distance higher education institution, some of whom had progressed to further study at that institution, some of whom had not. The research deployed a life histories approach to seek a finer grained understanding of how individuals conceptualise their own learning journey and experience, in order to reflect on institutional conceptions of student retention. The findings highlight potential anomalies hidden within institutional retention rates – large proportions of the interview participants who were not ‘retained’ by the institution reported successful progression to and in other learning institutions and environments, both formal and informal. Nearly all described positive perspectives on lifelong learning which were either engendered or improved by the learning undertaken. This attests to the complexity of individuals’ lives and provides clear evidence that institution-centric definitions of retention and progression are insufficient to create truly meaningful understanding of successful individual learning journeys and experiences. It is argued that only through careful consideration of the lived experience of students and a re-conception of measures of retention, will we be able to offer real insight into improving student retention

Electro-optic techniques for longitudinal electron bunch diagnostics

Electro-optic techniques are becoming increasingly important in ultrafast electron bunch longitudinal diagnostics and have been successfully implemented at various accelerator laboratories. The longitudinal bunch shape is directly obtained from a single-shot, non-intrusive measurement of the temporal electric field profile of the bunch. Further- more, the same electro-optic techniques can be used to measure the temporal profile of terahertz / far-infrared opti- cal pulses generated by a CTR screen, at a bending magnet (CSR), or by an FEL. This contribution summarizes the re- sults obtained at FELIX and FLASH

Single shot longitudinal bunch profile measurements by temporally resolved electro-optical detection

For the high gain operation of a SASE FEL, extremely short electron bunches are essential to generate sufficiently high peak currents. At the superconducting linac of FLASH at DESY, we have installed an electro- optic measurement system to probe the time structure of the electric field of single ~100 fs electron bunches. In this technique, the field induced birefringence in an electro-optic crystal is encoded on a chirped picosecond laser pulse. The longitudinal electric field profile of the electron bunch is then obtained from the encoded optical pulse by a single shot cross correlation with a 35 fs laser pulse using a second harmonic crystal (temporal decoding). An electro-optical signal exhibiting a feature with 118 fs FWHM was observed, and this is close to the limit of resolution due to the material properties of the particular electro-optic crystal used. The measured electro-optic signals are compared to bunch shapes simultaneously measured with a transverse deflecting cavity

Electro-optic time profile monitors for femtosecond electron bunches at the soft x-ray free-electron laser FLASH

Precise measurements of the temporal profile of ultrashort electron bunches are of high interest for the optimization and operation of ultraviolet and x-ray free-electron lasers. The electro-optic (EO) technique has been applied for a single-shot direct visualization of the time profile of individual electron bunches at FLASH. This paper presents a thorough description of the experimental setup and the results. An absolute calibration of the EO technique has been performed utilizing simultaneous measurements with a transverse-deflecting radio-frequency structure that transforms the longitudinal bunch charge distribution into a transverse streak. EO signals as short as 60 fs (rms) have been observed using a gallium-phosphide (GaP) crystal, which is a new record in the EO detection of single electron bunches and close to the physical limit imposed by the EO material properties. The data are in quantitative agreement with a numerical simulation of the EO detection process

Benchmarking of electro-optic monitors for femtosecond electron bunches

The longitudinal profiles of ultrashort relativistic electron bunches at the soft x-ray free-electron laser FLASH have been investigated using two single-shot detection schemes: an electro-optic (EO) detector measuring the Coulomb field of the bunch and a radio-frequency structure transforming the charge distribution into a transverse streak. A comparison permits an absolute calibration of the EO technique. EO signals as short as 60 fs (rms) have been observed, which is a new record in the EO detection of single electron bunches and close to the limit given by the EO material properties

Single-shot longitudinal bunch profile measurements at FLASH using electro-optic detection:experiment, simulation, and validation

At the superconducting linac of FLASH at DESY, we have installed an electro-optic (EO) experiment for single- shot, non-destructive measurements of the longitudinal electric charge distribution of individual electron bunches. The time profile of the electric bunch field is electro- optically encoded onto a chirped titanium-sapphire laser pulse. In the decoding step, the profile is retrieved either from a cross-correlation of the encoded pulse with a 30 fs laser pulse, obtained from the same laser (electro- optic temporal decoding, EOTD), or from the spectral intensity of the transmitted probe pulse (electro-optic spectral decoding, EOSD). At FLASH, the longitudinally compressed electron bunches have been measured during FEL operation with a resolution of better than 50 fs. The electro-optic process in gallium phosphide was numerically simulated using as input data the bunch shapes determined with a transverse-deflecting RF structure. In this contribution, we present electro-optically measured bunch profiles and compare them with the simulation

Viewpoint: The Human Capital Approach to Inference

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the “human capital” approach to inference. Observed decisions by experts can be used to organize data on their decisions using simple machine learning techniques. The fact that the human capital of these experts is heterogeneous implies that errors in decision making are inevitable, which in turn allows us to identify the conditional average treatment effect for a wider class of situations than would be possible with randomized control trials. This point is illustrated with some data from medical decision making in the context of treating depression, heart disease, and adverse childbirth events

An ultrashort pulse ultra-violet radiation undulator source driven by a laser plasma wakefield accelerator

Narrow band undulator radiation tuneable over the wavelength range of 150–260 nm has been produced by short electron bunches from a 2 mm long laser plasma wakefield accelerator based on a 20 TW femtosecond laser system. The number of photons measured is up to 9 × 106 per shot for a 100 period undulator, with a mean peak brilliance of 1 × 1018 photons/s/mrad2/mm2/0.1% bandwidth. Simulations estimate that the driving electron bunch r.m.s. duration is as short as 3 fs when the electron beam has energy of 120–130 MeV with the radiation pulse duration in the range of 50–100 fs