Tornado detector and alarm

Automatic device which attaches to an active television set sounds an audible alarm when a tornado is within 29 km (18miles) of device

Warm Inflation with a General Form of the Dissipative Coefficient

We propose and investigate a general form of the dissipative coefficient $\Gamma=C_{\phi}T^{m}/\phi^{m-1}$ in warm inflation. We focus on discussing the strong dissipative processes $r=\Gamma/3H\gg1$ in the thermal state of approximate equilibrium. To this toy model, we give the slow-roll conditions, the amplitude and the index of the power spectrum under the general form of dissipative coefficient. Furthermore, the monomial potential and the hybrid-like potential are analyzed specifically. We conclude that the $m=0,3$ cases are worthy further investigation especially.Comment: 24 pages, no figures, to be published on JCA

Density fluctuations from warm inflation

Thermal fluctuations provide the main source of large scale density perturbations in warm inflationary models of the early universe. For the first time, general results are obtained for the power spectrum in the case when the friction coefficient in the inflaton equation of motion depends on temperature. A large increase in the amplitude of perturbations occurs when the friction coefficient increases with temperature. This has to be taken into account when constructing models of warm inflation. New results are also given for the thermal fluctuations in the weak regime of warm inflation when the friction coefficient is relatively small.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, ReVTe

SSME single-crystal turbine blade dynamics

A study was performrd to determine the dynamic characteristics of the Space Shuttle Main Engine high pressure fuel turbopump (HPFTP) blades made of single crystal (SC) material. The first and second stage drive turbine blades of HPFTP were examined. The nonrotating natural frequencies were determined experimentally and analytically. The experimental results of the SC second stage blade were used to verify the analytical procedures. The study examined the SC first stage blade natural frequencies with respect to crystal orientation at typical operating conditions. The SC blade dynamic response was predicted to be less than the directionally solidified base. Crystal axis orientation optimization indicated that the third mode interference will exist in any SC orientation

Study of the modulatory effects of the solar wind on galactic cosmic rays

Mathematical model using Monte Carlo method for modulation of galactic protons by solar win

Study of the modulatory effects of the solar wind on galactic cosmic rays Final report

Modulatory effects of solar wind on galactic cosmic ray

Reversing the Null: Regulation, Deregulation, and the Power of Ideas

It has been said that deregulation was an important source of the recent financial crisis. It may be more accurate, however, to say that a deregulatory mindset was an important source of the crisis - a mindset that, to a very significant extent, grew out of profound changes in academic thinking about the role of government. As scholars of political economy quietly shifted their focus from market failure to government failure over the second half of the twentieth century, they set the stage for a revolution in both government and markets, the full ramifications of which are still only beginning to be understood. This intellectual sea-change generated some positive effects, but also some negative ones, including (it seems) an excessively negative impression of the capacity of government to address problems in the marketplace. Today, as we consider the need for new regulation, particularly in the wake of the financial crisis, another fundamental shift in academic thinking about the role of government may be required - involving nothing less than a reversal of the prevailing null hypothesis in the study of political economy.

Constraints on the solid dark universe model

If the dark energy is modelled as a relativistic elastic solid then the standard CDM and $\Lambda$CDM models, as well as lattice configurations of cosmic strings or domain walls, are points in the two-dimensional parameter space $(w,c_{\rm s}^2)$. We present a detailed analysis of the best fitting cosmological parameters in this model using data from a range of observations. We find that the $\chi^2$ is improved by $\sim 10$ by including the two parameters and that the $w=-1$ $\Lambda$CDM model is only the best fit to the data when a large number of different datasets are included. Using CMB observations alone we find that $w=-0.38\pm 0.16$ and with the addition of Large-Scale Structure data $w=-0.62\pm 0.15$ and $\log c_{\rm s}=-0.77\pm 0.28$. We conclude that the models based on topological defects provide a good fit to the current data, although $\Lambda$CDM cannot be ruled out.Comment: 10 page

Evidence for massive neutrinos from CMB and lensing observations

We discuss whether massive neutrinos (either active or sterile) can reconcile some of the tensions within cosmological data that have been brought into focus by the recently released {\it Planck} data. We point out that a discrepancy is present when comparing the primary CMB and lensing measurements both from the CMB and galaxy lensing data using CFHTLenS, similar to that which arises when comparing CMB measurements and SZ cluster counts. A consistent picture emerges and including a prior for the cluster constraints and BAOs we find that: for an active neutrino model with 3 degenerate neutrinos, $\sum m_{\nu}= (0.320 \pm 0.081)\,{\rm eV}$, whereas for a sterile neutrino, in addition to 3 neutrinos with a standard hierarchy and $\sum m_{\nu}= 0.06\,{\rm eV}$, $m_{\nu, \, \rm sterile}^{\rm eff}= (0.450 \pm 0.124)\,{\rm eV}$ and $\Delta N_{\rm eff} = 0.45 \pm 0.23$. In both cases there is a significant detection of modification to the neutrino sector from the standard model and in the case of the sterile neutrino it is possible to reconcile the BAO and local $H_0$ measurements. However, a caveat to our result is some internal tension between the CMB and lensing/cluster observations, and the masses are in excess of those estimated from the shape of the matter power spectrum from galaxy surveys.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, clarifications added, comparison with WMAP-9 plus high-l added, version accepted in Physical Review Letter