Metal spar/superhybrid shell composite fan blades

The use of superhybrid materials in the manufacture and testing of large fan blades is analyzed. The FOD resistance of large metal spar/superhybrid fan blades is investigated. The technical effort reported was comprised of: (1) preliminary blade design; (2) detailed analysis of two selected superhybrid blade designs; (3) manufacture of two process evaluation blades and destructive evaluation; and (4) manufacture and whirligig testing of six prototype superhybrid blades

Measuring brand image: Shopping centre case studies

'Branding' is well known for consumer products but power has shifted from manufacturers' brands towards retailers'. The term 'image' is more common than 'brand' in the context of shopping centres, but 'branding' may become more important. In this study, the authors first investigated qualitatively, asking shoppers to describe centres in 'personality' terms and eliciting clear descriptive differences between centres. For example, one in-town centre was 'dull, boring and old-fashioned . . . not exciting, just OK'; a larger regional centre was 'trendy, prestigious . . . strong, vibrant, big and colourful'. Second, the authors evaluated six UK shopping centres quantitatively using a questionnaire survey (n = 287). The 'strong and vibrant' centre scored significantly higher than the 'dull and boring' one. Despite 'branding' being little used by shopping centres, those with the better 'brand images' tended to have larger catchment areas, sales and rental incomes. The authors contend that brand management could pay rewards in terms of customer numbers, sales turnover and rental income

Strong Limit on a Variable Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio from Molecules in the Distant Universe

The Standard Model of particle physics assumes that the so-called fundamental constants are universal and unchanging. Absorption lines arising in molecular clouds along quasar sightlines offer a precise test for variations in the proton-to-electron mass ratio, mu, over cosmological time and distance scales. The inversion transitions of ammonia are particularly sensitive to mu compared to molecular rotational transitions. Comparing the available ammonia spectra observed towards the quasar B0218+357 with new, high-quality rotational spectra, we present the first detailed measurement of mu with this technique, limiting relative deviations from the laboratory value to |dmu/mu| < 1.8x10^{-6} (95% confidence level) at approximately half the Universe's current age - the strongest astrophysical constraint to date. Higher-quality ammonia observations will reduce both the statistical and systematic uncertainties in these measurements.Comment: Science, 20th June 2008. 22 pages, 5 figures (12 EPS files), 2 tables, including Supporting Online Material; v2: Corrected reference for laboratory mu-variation bound

Signatures of Cool Gas Fueling a Star-Forming Galaxy at Redshift 2.3

Galaxies are thought to be fed by the continuous accretion of intergalactic gas, but direct observational evidence has been elusive. The accreted gas is expected to orbit about the galaxy's halo, delivering not just fuel for star-formation but also angular momentum to the galaxy, leading to distinct kinematic signatures. Here we report observations showing these distinct signatures near a typical distant star-forming galaxy where the gas is detected using a background quasar passing 26 kpc from the host. Our observations indicate that gas accretion plays a major role in galaxy growth since the estimated accretion rate is comparable to the star-formation rate.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, version matching the proofed tex

A survey for redshifted molecular and atomic absorption lines - II. Associated HI, OH and millimetre lines in the z >~ 3 Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum sample

We present the results of a z>2.9 survey for HI 21-cm and molecular absorption in the hosts of radio quasars using the GMRT and the Tidbinbilla 70-m telescope. Previously published searches, which are overwhelmingly at redshifts of z<1, exhibit a 42% detection rate (31 out of 73 sources), and the inclusion of our survey yields a 17% detection rate (2 out of 12 sources) at z>2.5. We therefore believe that our high redshift selection is responsible for our exclusive non-detections, and find that at ultra-violet luminosities of >10e23 W/Hz, 21-cm absorption has never been detected. We also find this to not only apply to our targets, but also those at low redshift exhibiting similar luminosities, giving zero detections out of a total of 16 sources over z=0.24 to 3.8. This is in contrast to the < 10e23 W/Hz sources where there is a near 50% detection rate of 21-cm absorption. The mix of 21-cm detections and non-detections is currently attributed to orientation effects, where according to unified schemes of active galactic nuclei, 21-cm absorption is more likely to occur in sources designated as radio galaxies (type-2 objects, where the nucleus is viewed through dense obscuring circumnuclear gas) than in quasars(type-1 objects, where we have a direct view to the nucleus). However, due to the exclusively high ultra-violet luminosities of our targets it is not clear whether orientation effects alone can wholly account for the distribution, although there exists the possibility that the large luminosities are indicative of a changing demographic of galaxy types. We also find that below luminosities of ~10e23 W/Hz, both type-1 and type-2 objects have a 50% likelihood of exhibiting 21-cm absorption.Comment: 21 pages, accepted by MNRA

Halo gas cross sections and covering fractions of MgII absorption selected galaxies

We examine halo gas cross sections and covering fractions, fc, of intermediate-redshift Mg II absorption selected galaxies. We computed statistical absorber halo radii, Rx, using current values of dN/dz and Schechter luminosity function parameters, and have compared these values to the distribution of impact parameters and luminosities from a sample of 37 galaxies. For equivalent widths Wr(2796) ≥ 0.3 Å, we find 43 ≤ Rx ≤ 88 kpc, depending on the lower luminosity cutoff and the slope, β, of the Holmberg-like luminosity scaling, R ∝ α L^β . The observed distribution of impact parameters, D, are such that several absorbing galaxies lie at D > Rx and several non-absorbing galaxies lie at D ~ 0.5 for our sample. Moreover, the data suggest that halo radii of Mg II absorbing galaxies do not follow a luminosity scaling with β in the range of 0.2–0.28, if fc = 1 as previously reported. However, provided fc ~ 0.5, we find that halo radii can remain consistent with a Holmberg-like luminosity relation with β ≃ 0.2 and R∗ = Rx/√(fc) ~ 110 kpc. No luminosity scaling (β = 0) is also consistent with the observed distribution of impact parameters if fc ≤ 0.37. The data support a scenario in which gaseous halos are patchy and likely have non-symmetric geometric distributions about the galaxies. We suggest that halo gas distributions may not be governed primarily by galaxy mass/luminosity but also by stochastic processes local to the galaxy

Mass freezing in growing neutrino quintessence

Growing neutrino quintessence solves the coincidence problem for dark energy by a growing cosmological value of the neutrino mass which emerges from a cosmon-neutrino interaction stronger than gravity. The cosmon-mediated attraction between neutrinos induces the formation of large scale neutrino lumps in a recent cosmological epoch. We argue that the non-linearities in the cosmon field equations stop the further increase of the neutrino mass within sufficiently dense and large lumps. As a result, we find the neutrino induced gravitational potential to be substantially reduced when compared to linear extrapolations. We furthermore demonstrate that inside a lump the possible time variation of fundamental constants is much smaller than their cosmological evolution. This feature may reconcile current geophysical bounds with claimed cosmological variations of the fine structure constant.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures. Version published in PR