Theory of pixel lensing towards M31 - I. The density contribution and mass of MACHOs

POINT-AGAPE is an Angle-French collaboration which is employing the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) to conduct a pixel-lensing survey towards M31. Pixel lensing is a technique which permits the detection of microlensing against unresolved stellar fields. The survey aims to constrain the stellar population in M31, and also the distribution and nature of massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) in both M31 and the Galaxy.

The WR content of IC10 - first detection of WC9 stars in a low metallicity environment?

We present deep, narrow-hand photometry of the Local Group starburst galaxy IC10. Our dedicated photometric system provides detection of 13 new Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars and allows spectral subtypes to be assigned. Three of these new stars appear to be WC9 subtypes. If confirmed, these would be the very first WC9 stars ever detected in a low metallicity environment, hence putting strong new constraints on the formation and evolution models of massive stars. Eight of the new WR stars are of the WC subtype, which does not significantly modify the anomalously high WC/WN ratio in IC10. However it is likely that a number of Wolf-Rayet stars of the WNE and WC spectral subtypes are still to be discovered in the heart of the galaxy.

COLLISIONALLY EXCITED X-RAY LASER SCHEMES - PROGRESS AT RUTHERFORD APPLETON LABORATORY

Characteristics of the 3p-3s amplified spontaneous emission from Ne-like Ge plasma columns, generated by ablation from massive targets, have been studied in detail. In particular, the gain coefficients of the J = 2-1 lines at 23.2 and 23.6 nm have been measured as a function of incident intensity for a 1.05-mu-m wavelength pump laser beam. For 100-mu-m wide stripe targets and a fixed energy pump laser the maximum gain length product is achieved at an irradiance of

THE EXPANSION HISTORY OF ALUMINUM TARGETS RELEVANT TO X-RAY LASER SCHEMES

For the first time, the technique of point projection absorption spectroscopy - which uses an intense, point source of X-rays to project and spectrally disperse an image of a plasma onto a detector- has been shown to be applicable to the study of expanding aluminium plasmas generated by approximately 80ps (2-omega) laser pulses. Massive, stripe targets of approximately 125-mu-m width and wire targets of 25-mu-m diameter have been studied. Using a PET Bragg crystal as the dispersive element, a resolving power of approximately 3500 was achieved with spatial resolution at the 5-mu-m level in frame times of the order of 80ps. Reduction of the data for times up to 150ps after the peak of the incident laser pulse produced estimates of the temperature and densities present, as a function of space and time.

GAIN SCALING RELATIONSHIPS FOR NE-LIKE GE SLAB TARGETS

The gain coefficient of the strongest 3p --> 3s, J = 2 --> 1 lasing transition at 23.6 nm in the Ne-like Ge collisional excitation scheme has been measured, using the fundamental wavelength from a Nd:glass laser (1.06-mu-m), for a range of incident intensities on massive stripe targets up to 2.2 cm in length. From a threshold incident laser intensity of approximately 6 x 10(12) W/cm2, the gain coefficient rises to approximately 4.5 cm-1 for an irradiation intensity of approximately 2.5 x 10(13) W/cm2, tending towards still higher gain coefficients at higher incident intensities. For targets of maximum length, a gain-length product gL almost-equal-to 10 was reached with a resultant output power at 23.6 nm estimated to be at the approximately kW level. The beam divergence decreased with length to a minimum of approximately 7 mrad but no significant trend in beam pointing with plasma length was observed. From the trend in the gain coefficient, it appears that for a fixed energy laser irradiating a approximately 100-mu-m wide slab targets, an incident intensity of I(i) approximately 1.2 x 10(13) W/cm2 represents an optimum working level, assuming that plasma length is not limited by refractive effects. In addition to the usual valence electron excited 3p --> 3s transitions, the gain coefficient for the core excited 1s(2)2s2p(6)3d --> 1s(2)2s2p(6)3p transition at 19.9 nm has been measured to be approximately 1.5 cm-1 for an incident irradiance of approximately 2.5 x 10(13) W/cm2.

CHARACTERIZATION OF A LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA USING THE TECHNIQUE OF POINT-PROJECTION ABSORPTION-SPECTROSCOPY

The technique of point-projection spectroscopy has been shown to be applicable to the study of expanding aluminum plasmas generated by approximately 80 ps laser pulses incident on massive, aluminum stripe targets of approximately 125-mu-m width. Targets were irradiated at an intensity of 2.5 +/- 0.5 x 10(13) W/cm2 in a line focus geometry and under conditions similar to those of interest in x-ray laser schemes. Hydrogenic and heliumlike aluminum resonance lines were observed in absorption using a quasicontinuous uranium back-lighter plasma. Using a pentaerythrital Bragg crystal as the dispersive element, a resolving power of approximately 3500 was achieved with spatial resolution at the 5-mu-m level in frame times of the order of 100 ps. Reduction of the data for times up to 150 ps after the peak of the incident laser pulse produced estimates of the temperature and ion densities present, as a function of space and time. The one-dimensional Lagrangian hydrodynamic code MEDUSA coupled to the atomic physics non-local-thermodynamic-equilibrium ionized material package was used to simulate the experiment in planar geometry and has been shown to be consistent with the measurements.

Slievabawnogue Housing:Two Dwellings in A Disused Quarry

This project involves the construction of a dwelling in the outskirts of Dublin City. Situated in a disused quarry, the house act as an inhabited bridge, spanning between natural and man made outcrops, service structures and a shared entrance staircase. The houses language derives from the structure necessary to achieve these spans.
The section internally is modeled to present a variety of scales of spaces. More intimate living spaces and bedrooms occur in a lower, north-facing wing. Taller living spaces address the south.

Incorporating rainwater harvesting, wood-gasifying boilers, on site wind powered electrical generation, solar thermal panels and very high levels of insulation the houses are close to energy neutral. The fact that the house is constructed in massive timber construction means that 250 tonnes of carbon are sequestered in its construction. The design includes a 25yar replanting strategy to replace the existing coniferous-forested surrounds with native species in a coppiced planting strategy to allow ongoing fuel for the house, and cash crops to be sold on.

Located in an area of outstanding natural beauty the planning and design of the house involved research into patterns of rural development, the relationship between man made interventions and the natural landscape and the technology of the vernacular. This latter research forms part of the themes being explored under the Kevin Kieran Arts Council / OPW Bursary

Aims / Objectives Questions

1 To design and construct a low energy place to dwell.
2 To investigate the relationship between man-made interventions and new construction in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
3 To derive a language of construction that is contemporary in nature but refers to precedents embedded in the vernacular.
4 To develop a low-carbon form of construction that allows the construction of the house to act to sequester carbon
5 To make a contemporary addition in sympathy with the qualities of the existing site

Dense spectrum of resonances and particle capture in a near-black-hole metric

We show that a quantum scalar particle in the gravitational field of a massive body of radius R which slightly exceeds the Schwarzschild radius rs, possesses a dense spectrum of narrow resonances. Their lifetimes and density tend to infinity in the limit R?rs. We determine the cross section of the particle capture into these resonances and show that it is equal to the absorption cross section for a Schwarzschild black hole. Thus, a nonsingular static metric acquires black-hole properties before the actual formation of a black hole.

Nonlinear electrostatic excitations of charged dust in degenerate ultra-dense quantum dusty plasmas

The linear and nonlinear properties of low-frequency electrostatic excitations of charged dust particles (or defects) in a dense collisionless, unmagnetized Thomas-Fermi plasma are investigated. A fully ionized three-component model plasma consisting of electrons, ions, and negatively charged massive dust grains is considered. Electrons and ions are assumed to be in a degenerate quantum state, obeying the Thomas-Fermi density distribution, whereas the inertial dust component is described by a set of classical fluid equations. Considering large-amplitude stationary profile travelling-waves in a moving reference frame, the fluid evolution equations are reduced to a pseudo-energy-balance equation, involving a Sagdeev-type potential function. The analysis describes the dynamics of supersonic dust-acoustic solitary waves in Thomas-Fermi plasmas, and provides exact predictions for their dynamical characteristics, whose dependence on relevant parameters (namely, the ion-to-electron Fermi temperature ratio, and the dust concentration) is investigated. An alternative route is also adopted, by assuming weakly varying small-amplitude disturbances off equilibrium, and then adopting a multiscale perturbation technique to derive a Korteweg–de Vries equation for the electrostatic potential, and finally solving in terms for electric potential pulses (electrostatic solitons). A critical comparison between the two methods reveals that they agree exactly in the small-amplitude, weakly superacoustic limit. The dust concentration (Havnes) parameter h = Zd0nd0/ne0 affects the propagation characteristics by modifying the phase speed, as well as the electron/ion Fermi temperatures. Our results aim at elucidating the characteristics of electrostatic excitations in dust-contaminated dense plasmas, e.g., in metallic electronic devices, and also arguably in supernova environments, where charged dust defects may occur in the quantum plasma regime.

New generalized dispersion relation for low-frequency electromagnetic waves in Hall-magnetohydrodynamic dusty plasma

A generalized linear theory for electromagnetic waves in a homogeneous dusty magnetoplasma is presented. The waves described are characterized by a frequency which is much smaller (larger) than the electron gyrofrequency (dust plasma and dust gyrofrequencies), and a long wavelength (in comparison with the ion gyroradius and the electron skin depth). The generalized Hall- magnetohydrodynamic (GH-MHD) equations are derived by assuming massive charged dust macroparticles to be immobile, and Fourier transformed to obtain a general dispersion relation. The latter is analyzed to understand the influence of immobile charged dust grains on various electromagnetic wave modes in a magnetized dusty plasma.

Strong Coupling and Long-Range Collective Interactions in Optomechanical Arrays

We investigate the collective optomechanics of an ensemble of scatterers inside a Fabry-Pérot resonator and identify an optimized configuration where the ensemble is transmissive, in contrast to the usual reflective optomechanics approach. In this configuration, the optomechanical coupling of a specific collective mechanical mode can be several orders of magnitude larger than the single-element case, and long-range interactions can be generated between the different elements since light permeates throughout the array. This new regime should realistically allow for achieving strong single-photon optomechanical coupling with massive resonators, realizing hybrid quantum interfaces, and exploiting collective long-range interactions in arrays of atoms or mechanical oscillators.

The Doñana ecological disaster:contamination of a world heritage estuarine marsh ecosystem with acidified pyrite mine waste

One of the most important bird breeding and over wintering sites in the west of Europe, the Coto Doñana, was severely impacted by the release of 5 million cubic meters of acid waste from the processing of pyrite ore. The waste entered ecologically sensitive areas of the park (including breeding areas for internationally endangered bird species) causing sustained pH decreases from pH 8.5 to 4.5 and resulting in massive metal contamination of the impacted ecosystem. The contaminating sludge waste contained arsenic at 0.6%, lead at 1.2% and zinc at 0.8% on a dry weight basis. The acid conditions facilitated the solubilization of these metals, leading to water concentrations lethal for aquatic wildlife. The accident caused considerable fish and invertebrate kills and has severe consequences for the protected bird species dependent on the impacted habitats and adjacent areas.

COMPLETELY ITERATIVE, PIPELINED MULTIPLIER ARRAY SUITABLE FOR VLSI.

A pipelined array multiplier which has been derived by applying 'systolic array' principles at the bit level is described. Attention is focused on a circuit which is used to multiply streams of parallel unsigned data. Then an algorithm is given which demonstrates that, with only a simple modification to the basic cell, the same array can cope with two's complement numbers. The resulting structure has a number of features whch make it attractive to LSI and VLSI. These include regularity and modularity.

Numbered-up gas-liquid micro/milli channels reactor with modular flow distributor

Gas-liquid processing in microreactors remains mostly restricted to the laboratory scale due to the complexity and expenditure needed for an adequate numbering-up with a uniform flow distribution. Here, the numbering-up is presented for multi-phase (gas-liquid) flow in microreactor suitable for a production capacity of kg/h. Based on the barrier channels concept, the barrier-based micro/milli reactor (BMMR) is designed and fabricated to deliver flow non-uniformity of less than 10%. The BMMR consists of eight parallel channels all operated in the Taylor flow regime and with a liquid flow rate up to 150. mL/min. The quality of the flow distribution is reported by studying two aspects. The first aspect is the influence of different viscosities, surface tensions and flow rates. The second aspect is the influence of modularity by testing three different reaction channels type: (1) square channels fabricated in a stainless steel plate, (2) square channels fabricated in a glass plate, and (3) circular channels (capillaries) made of stainless steel. Additionally, the BMMR is compared to that of a single channel regard the slug and bubble lengths and bubble generation frequency. The results pave the ground for bringing multi-phase flow in microreactor one step closer for large scale production via numbering-up. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Amplitude-modulation characteristics of power-combining Class-E amplifier with finite choke

Power back-off performances of a new variant power-combining Class-E amplifier under different amplitude-modulation schemes such as continuous wave (CW), envelope elimination and restoration (EER), envelope tracking (ET) and outphasing are for the first time investigated in this study. Finite DC-feed inductances rather than massive RF chokes as used in the classic single-ended Class-E power amplifier (PA) resulted from the approximate yet effective frequency-domain circuit analysis provide the wherewithal to increase modulation bandwidth up to 80% higher than the classic single-ended Class-E PA. This increased modulation bandwidth is required for the linearity improvement in the EER/ET transmitters. The modified output load network of the power-combining Class-E amplifier adopting three-harmonic terminations technique relaxes the design specifications for the additional filtering block typically required at the output stage of the transmitter chain. Qualitative agreements between simulation and measurement results for all four schemes were achieved where the ET technique was proven superior to the other schemes. When the PA is used within the ET scheme, an increase of average drain efficiency of as high as 40% with respect to the CW excitation was obtained for a multi-carrier input signal with 12 dB peak-to-average power ratio. © 2011 The Institution of Engineering and Technology.