4,915 research outputs found
Thermocurrents and their Role in high Q Cavity Performance
Over the past years it became evident that the quality factor of a
superconducting cavity is not only determined by its surface preparation
procedure, but is also influenced by the way the cavity is cooled down.
Moreover, different data sets exists, some of them indicate that a slow
cool-down through the critical temperature is favourable while other data
states the exact opposite. Even so there where speculations and some models
about the role of thermo-currents and flux-pinning, the difference in behaviour
remained a mystery. In this paper we will for the first time present a
consistent theoretical model which we confirmed by data that describes the role
of thermo-currents, driven by temperature gradients and material transitions.
We will clearly show how they impact the quality factor of a cavity, discuss
our findings, relate it to findings at other labs and develop mitigation
strategies which especially addresses the issue of achieving high quality
factors of so-called nitrogen doped cavities in horizontal test
Professionalism, golf coaching and a master of science degree
A distinction can be made between 'professionalisation', which is concerned with occupational status and standing, and 'professionalism,' which refers to matters of quality and standards of practice (especially specialized knowledge, ethics and altruism). The purpose of this stimulus article is to present key features of contemporary medical professionalism as a basis for critically reflecting on discourse associated with Tiger Woods' current coach, Sean Foley. It is suggested that that provision of a Master of Science degree in golf teaching/coaching would facilitate the development of 'professionalism' in golf coaches
Demanding stories: television coverage of sustainability, climate change and material demand
This paper explores the past, present and future role of broadcasting, above all via the medium of television, in shaping how societies talk, think about and act on climate change and sustainability issues. The paper explores these broad themes via a focus on the important but relatively neglected issue of material demand and opportunities for its reduction. It takes the outputs and decision-making of one of the world’s most influential broadcasters, the BBC, as its primary focus. The paper considers these themes in terms of stories, touching on some of the broader societal frames of understanding into which they can be grouped. Media decision-makers and producers from a range of genres frequently return to the centrality of ‘story’ in the development, commissioning and production of an idea. With reference to specific examples of programming, and drawing on interviews with media practitioners, the paper considers the challenges of generating broadcast stories that can inspire engagement in issues around climate change, and specifically material demand. The concluding section proposes actions and approaches that might help to establish material demand reduction as a prominent way of thinking about climate change and environmental issues more widely.
This article is part of the themed issue ‘Material demand reduction’
Constraining Dark Energy and Cosmological Transition Redshift with Type Ia Supernovae
The property of dark energy and the physical reason for acceleration of the
present universe are two of the most difficult problems in modern cosmology.
The dark energy contributes about two-thirds of the critical density of the
present universe from the observations of type-Ia supernova (SNe Ia) and
anisotropy of cosmic microwave background (CMB).The SN Ia observations also
suggest that the universe expanded from a deceleration to an acceleration phase
at some redshift, implying the existence of a nearly uniform component of dark
energy with negative pressure. We use the ``gold'' sample containing 157 SNe Ia
and two recent well-measured additions, SNe Ia 1994ae and 1998aq to explore the
properties of dark energy and the transition redshift. For a flat universe with
the cosmological constant, we measure , which
is consistent with Riess et al. The transition redshift is
. We also discuss several dark energy models that
define the of the parameterized equation of state of dark energy
including one parameter and two parameters ( being the ratio of the
pressure to energy density). Our calculations show that the accurately
calculated transition redshift varies from to
across these models. We also calculate the minimum
redshift at which the current observations need the universe to
accelerate.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
Constraints on Dark Energy Models from Weak Gravity Conjecture
We study the constraints on the dark energy model with constant equation of
state parameter and the holographic dark energy model by using the
weak gravity conjecture. The combination of weak gravity conjecture and the
observational data gives at the confidence level. The
holographic dark energy model realized by a scalar field is in swampland.Comment: 4 two column pages, 3 figures, accepted by Chin. Phys. Let
Primordial black hole constraints in cosmologies with early matter domination
Moduli fields, a natural prediction of any supergravity and
superstring-inspired supersymmetry theory, may lead to a prolonged period of
matter domination in the early Universe. This can be observationally viable
provided the moduli decay early enough to avoid harming nucleosynthesis. If
primordial black holes form, they would be expected to do so before or during
this matter dominated era. We examine the extent to which the standard
primordial black hole constraints are weakened in such a cosmology. Permitted
mass fractions of black holes at formation are of order , rather than
the usual or so. If the black holes form from density perturbations
with a power-law spectrum, its spectral index is limited to ,
rather than the obtained in the standard cosmology.Comment: 7 pages RevTeX file with four figures incorporated (uses RevTeX and
epsf). Also available by e-mailing ARL, or by WWW at
http://star-www.maps.susx.ac.uk/papers/infcos_papers.htm
Reconstruction of the Dark Energy equation of state
One of the main challenges of modern cosmology is to investigate the nature
of dark energy in our Universe. The properties of such a component are normally
summarised as a perfect fluid with a (potentially) time-dependent
equation-of-state parameter . We investigate the evolution of this
parameter with redshift by performing a Bayesian analysis of current
cosmological observations. We model the temporal evolution as piecewise linear
in redshift between `nodes', whose -values and redshifts are allowed to
vary. The optimal number of nodes is chosen by the Bayesian evidence. In this
way, we can both determine the complexity supported by current data and locate
any features present in . We compare this node-based reconstruction with
some previously well-studied parameterisations: the Chevallier-Polarski-Linder
(CPL), the Jassal-Bagla-Padmanabhan (JBP) and the Felice-Nesseris-Tsujikawa
(FNT). By comparing the Bayesian evidence for all of these models we find an
indication towards possible time-dependence in the dark energy
equation-of-state. It is also worth noting that the CPL and JBP models are
strongly disfavoured, whilst the FNT is just significantly disfavoured, when
compared to a simple cosmological constant . We find that our node-based
reconstruction model is slightly disfavoured with respect to the CDM
model.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, minor correction
Indicators for Spatial Planning and Territorial Cohesion: Stakeholder-Driven Selection Approach for Improving Usability at Regional and Local Levels
© 2015 Regional Studies Association.González A., Daly G., Pinch P., Adams N., Valtenbergs V., Burns M. C. and Johannesson H. Indicators for spatial planning and territorial cohesion: stakeholder-driven selection approach for improving usability at regional and local levels, Regional Studies. Reformed European Union Cohesion Policy aims at delivering a coherent investment policy to achieve the Europe 2020 Strategy goals and to reduce regional disparities. Spatial indicators measure progress towards agreed policy goals and support place-based approaches to policy implementation. Despite the range of indicators available, development of a standardized approach in support of Cohesion Policy has received little empirical attention. A set of key spatial indicators has been identified in a stakeholder-driven process. The methodological approach applied is presented and resulting indicators critically appraised with regards to their applicability and potential for assisting improved integration between Cohesion Policy and spatial planning
Genetic algorithms and the analysis of SnIa data
The Genetic Algorithm is a heuristic that can be used to produce model
independent solutions to an optimization problem, thus making it ideal for use
in cosmology and more specifically in the analysis of type Ia supernovae data.
In this work we use the Genetic Algorithms (GA) in order to derive a null test
on the spatially flat cosmological constant model CDM. This is done in
two steps: first, we apply the GA to the Constitution SNIa data in order to
acquire a model independent reconstruction of the expansion history of the
Universe and second, we use the reconstructed in conjunction with
the Om statistic, which is constant only for the CDM model, to derive
our constraints. We find that while CDM is consistent with the data at
the level, some deviations from CDM model at low redshifts
can be accommodated.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, to be published in the proceedings of the 14th
Conference on Recent Developments in Gravity (NEB-14), Ioannina, Greece, 8-11
June 201
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