3,025 research outputs found
An 8-cm ion thruster characterization
The performance of the Ion Auxiliary Propulsion System (IAPS) thruster was increased to thrust T = 32 mN, specific impulse I sub sp = 4062 s, and thrust-to-power ratio T/P = 33 mN/kW. This performance was obtained by increasing the discharge power, accelerating voltage, propellant flow rate, and chamber magnetic field. Adding a plenum and main vaporizer for propellant distribution was the only major change required in the thruster. The modified thruster characterization is presented. A cathode magnet assembly did not improve performance. A simplified power processing unit was designed and evaluated. This unit decreased the parts count of the IAPS power processing unit by a factor of ten
Quantum Fluctuations and Excitations in Antiferromagnetic Quasicrystals
We study the effects of quantum fluctuations and the excitation spectrum for
the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a two-dimensional quasicrystal, by
numerically solving linear spin-wave theory on finite approximants of the
octagonal tiling. Previous quantum Monte Carlo results for the distribution of
local staggered magnetic moments and the static spin structure factor are
reproduced well within this approximate scheme. Furthermore, the magnetic
excitation spectrum consists of magnon-like low-energy modes, as well as
dispersionless high-energy states of multifractal nature. The dynamical spin
structure factor, accessible to inelastic neutron scattering, exhibits
linear-soft modes at low energies, self-similar structures with bifurcations
emerging at intermediate energies, and flat bands in high-energy regions. We
find that the distribution of local staggered moments stemming from the
inhomogeneity of the quasiperiodic structure leads to a characteristic energy
spread in the local dynamical spin susceptibility, implying distinct nuclear
magnetic resonance spectra, specific for different local environments.Comment: RevTex, 12 pages with 15 figure
Constraining neutrino masses with the ISW-galaxy correlation function
Temperature anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) are
affected by the late Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (lISW) effect caused by any
time-variation of the gravitational potential on linear scales. Dark energy is
not the only source of lISW, since massive neutrinos induce a small decay of
the potential on small scales during both matter and dark energy domination. In
this work, we study the prospect of using the cross-correlation between CMB and
galaxy density maps as a tool for constraining the neutrino mass. On the one
hand massive neutrinos reduce the cross-correlation spectrum because
free-streaming slows down structure formation; on the other hand, they enhance
it through their change in the effective linear growth. We show that in the
observable range of scales and redshifts, the first effect dominates, but the
second one is not negligible. We carry out an error forecast analysis by
fitting some mock data inspired by the Planck satellite, Dark Energy Survey
(DES) and Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). The inclusion of the
cross-correlation data from Planck and LSST increases the sensitivity to the
neutrino mass m_nu by 38% (and to the dark energy equation of state w by 83%)
with respect to Planck alone. The correlation between Planck and DES brings a
far less significant improvement. This method is not potentially as good for
detecting m_nu as the measurement of galaxy, cluster or cosmic shear power
spectra, but since it is independent and affected by different systematics, it
remains potentially interesting if the total neutrino mass is of the order of
0.2 eV; if instead it is close to the lower bound from atmospheric
oscillations, m_nu ~ 0.05 eV, we do not expect the ISW-galaxy correlation to be
ever sensitive to m_nu.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures. References added. Accepted for publication in
Phys.Rev.
New constraints on the observable inflaton potential from WMAP and SDSS
We derive some new constraints on single-field inflation from the Wilkinson
Microwave Anisotropy Probe 3-year data combined with the Sloan Luminous Red
Galaxy survey. Our work differs from previous analyses by focusing only on the
observable part of the inflaton potential, or in other words, by making
absolutely no assumption about extrapolation of the potential from its
observable region to its minimum (i.e., about the branch of the potential
responsible for the last ~50 inflationary e-folds). We only assume that
inflation starts at least a few e-folds before the observable Universe leaves
the Hubble radius, and that the inflaton rolls down a monotonic and regular
potential, with no sharp features or phase transitions. We Taylor-expand the
inflaton potential at order v=2, 3 or 4 in the vicinity of the pivot scale,
compute the primordial spectra of scalar and tensor perturbations numerically
and fit the data. For v>2, a large fraction of the allowed models is found to
produce a large negative running of the scalar tilt, and to fall in a region of
parameter space where the second-order slow-roll formalism is strongly
inaccurate. We release a code for the computation of inflationary perturbations
which is compatible with CosmoMC.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, codes available at
http://wwwlapp.in2p3.fr/~lesgourgues/inflation/. Version to be published in
Phys.Rev.
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The European Union’s External Action and International Law: A View From the Outside
This paper provides a summary of the workshop ‘The European Union’s External Action and International Law: A View From the Outside’ jointly hosted by the ESIL Interest Group ‘EU as a Global Actor’ and City Law School, International Law and Affairs Group (ILAG)
Spin depolarization in the transport of holes across GaMnAs/GaAlAs/p-GaAs
We study the spin polarization of tunneling holes injected from ferromagnetic
GaMnAs into a p-doped semiconductor through a tunneling barrier. We obtain an
upper limit to the spin injection rate. We find that spin-orbit interaction
interaction in the barrier and in the drain limits severely spin injection.
Spin depolarization is stronger when the magnetization is parallel to the
current than when is perpendicular to it.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev. B. 4 pages, 4 figure
Unpacking the difference between digital transformation and IT-enabled organizational transformation
Although digital transformation offers a number of opportunities for today’s organizations, information systems scholars and practitioners struggle to grasp what digital transformation really is, particularly in terms of how it differs from the well-established concept of information technology (IT)-enabled organizational transformation. By integrating literature from organization science and information systems research with two longitudinal case studies—one on digital transformation, the other on IT-enabled organizational transformation—we develop an empirically grounded conceptualization that sets these two phenomena apart. We find that there are two distinctive differences: (1) digital transformation activities leverage digital technology in (re)defining an organization’s value proposition, while IT-enabled organizational transformation activities leverage digital technology in supporting the value proposition, and (2) digital transformation involves the emergence of a new organizational identity, whereas IT-enabled organizational transformation involves the enhancement of an existing organizational identity. We synthesize these arguments in a process model to distinguish the different types of transformations and propose directions for future research
Surprise and error: Common neuronal architecture for the processing of errors and novelty
According to recent accounts, the processing of errors and generally infrequent, surprising (novel) events share a common neuroanat-omical substrate. Direct empirical evidence for this common processing network in humans is, however, scarce. To test this hypothesis, we administered a hybrid error-monitoring/novelty-oddball task in which the frequency of novel, surprising trials was dynamically matched to the frequency of errors. Using scalp electroencephalographic recordings and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we compared neural responses to errors with neural responses to novel events. In Experiment 1, independent component analysis of scalp ERP data revealed a common neural generator implicated in the generation of both the error-related negativity (ERN) and the novelty-related frontocentral N2. In Experiment 2, this pattern was confirmed by a conjunction analysis of event-related fMRI, which showed significantly elevated BOLD activity following both types of trials in the posterior medial frontal cortex, including the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC), the neuronal generator of the ERN. Together, these findings provide direct evidence of a common neural system underlying the processing of errors and novel events. This appears to be at odds with prominent theories of the ERN and aMCC. Inparticular, there inforcement learning theory of the ERN may need to be modified because it may not suffice as a fully integrative model of aMCC function. Whenever course and outcome of anaction violates expectancies (not necessarily related to reward), the aMCC seems to be engaged in evaluating the necessity of behavioral adaptation. © 2012 the authors
Recurrence Plot Based Measures of Complexity and its Application to Heart Rate Variability Data
The knowledge of transitions between regular, laminar or chaotic behavior is
essential to understand the underlying mechanisms behind complex systems. While
several linear approaches are often insufficient to describe such processes,
there are several nonlinear methods which however require rather long time
observations. To overcome these difficulties, we propose measures of complexity
based on vertical structures in recurrence plots and apply them to the logistic
map as well as to heart rate variability data. For the logistic map these
measures enable us not only to detect transitions between chaotic and periodic
states, but also to identify laminar states, i.e. chaos-chaos transitions. The
traditional recurrence quantification analysis fails to detect the latter
transitions. Applying our new measures to the heart rate variability data, we
are able to detect and quantify the laminar phases before a life-threatening
cardiac arrhythmia occurs thereby facilitating a prediction of such an event.
Our findings could be of importance for the therapy of malignant cardiac
arrhythmias
Spatial periodic and homogeneous transverse stress loading on ITER TF Nb3Sn bronze and internal tin strand
The transport properties of the superconducting Nb3Sn layers in the strands
strongly depend on the strain state. Knowledge of the influence of axial
strain, periodic bending and contact stress on the critical current (Ic) of the
used Nb3Sn strands is inevitable to gain sufficient confidence in an economic
design and stable operation of ITER CICCs. In the past years we have measured
the Ic and n-value of various ITER Nb3Sn strands with different layout in the
TARSIS facility, when subjected to spatial periodic contact stress at a
temperature of 4.2 K and in a magnet field of 12 T. Recently we have made the
setup suitable for application of homogeneous load along the length of the wire
(125 mm) in order to evaluate possible differences related to spatial stress
and possible current distribution. We present an overview of the results
obtained so far on an ITER TF bronze and internal tin strand.Comment: to be published in IEEE Trans Appl Supercon
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