A theoretical study of heterojunction and graded band gap type solar cells

The work performed concentrated on including multisun effects, high temperature effects, and electron irradiation effects into the computer analysis program for heterojunction and graded bandgap solar cells. These objectives were accomplished and the program is now available for such calculations

Analysis of supersonic conical flows

Method of characteristics analytical technique for flow predictions of supersonic cross flows over conical bodie

Modelling the Extreme X-ray Spectrum of IRAS 13224-3809

The extreme NLS1 galaxy IRAS 13224-3809 shows significant variability, frequency depended time lags, and strong Fe K line and Fe L features in the long 2011 XMM-Newton observation. In this work we study the spectral properties of IRAS 13224-3809 in detail, and carry out a series of analyses to probe the nature of the source, focusing in particular on the spectral variability exhibited. The RGS spectrum shows no obvious signatures of absorption by partially ionised material (warm absorbers). We fit the 0.3-10.0 keV spectra with a model that includes relativistic reflection from the inner accretion disc, a standard powerlaw AGN continuum, and a low-temperature (~0.1 keV) blackbody, which may originate in the accretion disc, either as direct or reprocessed thermal emission. We find that the reflection model explains the time-averaged spectrum well, and we also undertake flux-resolved and time-resolved spectral analyses, which provide evidence of gravitational light-bending effects. Additionally, the temperature and flux of the blackbody component are found to follow the $L\propto T^{4}$ relation expected for simple thermal blackbody emission from a constant emitting area, indicating a physical origin for this component.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Hybrid functionals within the all-electron FLAPW method: implementation and applications of PBE0

We present an efficient implementation of the PBE0 hybrid functional within the full-potential linearized augmented-plane-wave (FLAPW) method. The Hartree-Fock exchange term, which is a central ingredient of hybrid functionals, gives rise to a computationally expensive nonlocal potential in the one-particle Schroedinger equation. The matrix elements of this exchange potential are calculated with the help of an auxiliary basis that is constructed from products of FLAPW basis functions. By representing the Coulomb interaction in this basis the nonlocal exchange term becomes a Brillouin-zone (BZ) sum over vector-matrix-vector products. We show that the Coulomb matrix can be made sparse by a suitable unitary transformation of the auxiliary basis, which accelerates the computation of the vector-matrix-vector products considerably. Additionally, we exploit spatial and time-reversal symmetry to identify the nonvanishing exchange matrix elements in advance and to restrict the k summations for the nonlocal potential to an irreducible set of k points. Favorable convergence of the self-consistent-field cycle is achieved by a nested density-only and density-matrix iteration scheme. We discuss the convergence with respect to the parameters of our numerical scheme and show results for a variety of semiconductors and insulators, including oxide materials, where the PBE0 hybrid functional improves the band gaps and the description of localized states in comparison with the PBE functional. Furthermore, we find that in contrast to conventional local exchange-correlation functionals ferromagnetic EuO is correctly predicted to be a semiconductor.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Evolutionary L∞ identification and model reduction for robust control

An evolutionary approach for modern robust control oriented system identification and model reduction in the frequency domain is proposed. The technique provides both an optimized nominal model and a 'worst-case' additive or multiplicative uncertainty bounding function which is compatible with robust control design methodologies. In addition, the evolutionary approach is applicable to both continuous- and discrete-time systems without the need for linear parametrization or a confined problem domain for deterministic convex optimization. The proposed method is validated against a laboratory multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) test rig and benchmark problems, which show a higher fitting accuracy and provides a tighter L�¢���� error bound than existing methods in the literature do

Dynamic Resonance Effects in the Statistical Distributions of Asteroids and Comets

Some principles in the distribution of Centaurs and the "Scattered Disk" objects, as well as the Kuiper belt objects for its semi-major axes, eccentricities and inclinations of the orbits have been investigated. It has been established, that more than a half from them move on the resonant orbits and that is what has been predicted earlier. The divergence of the maximum in the observable distribution of the objects of the Kuiper belt for the semi-major axes with an exact orbital resonance has been interpreted.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. International Conference "100 years since Tunguska phenomenon: Past, present and future", (June 26-28, 2008. Russia, Moscow), International Conference "Modern problems of astronomy" (August 12-18, 2007, Ukraine, Odessa

Northern and Western Corn Rootworms in Minnesota

The occurrence and population changes of the northern corn rootworm, Diabrotica longicornis (Say), and the western corn rootworm, D. virgifera LeConte, were reviewed on the basis of information assembled at the Department of Agriculture of the State of Minnesota; and the Department of Entomology, Fisheries, and Wildlife and the Extension Entomologist\u27s Office of the University of Minnesota. The review shows no record of the northern species in Minnesota before 1899, but it appeared between 1899 and 1915. Populations were probably very law until 1932. Sporadic infestations were reported between 1932 and l 953. Progressive increase in infestation from 1954 paralleled an increase in continuous planting of corn. The western species reached Minnesota in 196 l. By 1968 it was found in practically all counties where the northern species was found . There was no displacement of the northern species by the western in Minnesota, as happened in some other localities

Trends and Variation in End-of-Life Care for Medicare Beneficiaries With Severe Chronic Illness

Provides an updated analysis of regional and hospital variations in end-of-life care for Medicare beneficiaries with chronic illnesses, including percentage of hospital deaths, days in intensive care units, and physician labor per patient

Improved detectivity of pyroelectric detectors

High detectivity single-element SBN pyroelectric detectors were fabricated. The theory and technology developments related to improved detector performance were identified and formulated. Improved methods of material characterization, thinning, mounting, blackening and amplifier matching are discussed. Detectors with detectivities of 1.3 x 10 to the 9th power square root of Hz/watt at 1 Hz are reported. Factors limiting performance and recommendations for future work are discussed