Plasma loop and strapping field dynamics: reproducing solar eruptions in the laboratory

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are dramatic eruptions of large, plasma structures from the Sun. These eruptions are important because they can harm astronauts, damage electrical infrastructure, and cause auroras. A mysterious feature of these eruptions is that plasma-filled solar flux tubes first evolve slowly, but then suddenly erupt. One model, torus instability, predicts an explosive-like transition from slow expansion to fast acceleration, if the spatial decay of the ambient magnetic field exceeds a threshold.

We create arched, plasma filled, magnetic flux ropes similar to CMEs. Small, independently-powered auxiliary coils placed inside the vacuum chamber produce magnetic fields above the decay threshold that are strong enough to act on the plasma. When the strapping field is not too strong and not too weak, expansion force build up while the flux rope is in the strapping field region. When the flux rope moves to a critical height, the plasma accelerates quickly, corresponding to the observed slow-rise to fast-acceleration of most solar eruptions. This behavior is in agreement with the predictions of torus instability.

Historically, eruptions have been separated into gradual CMEs and impulsive CMEs, depending on the acceleration profile. Recent numerical studies question this separation. One study varies the strapping field profile to produce gradual eruptions and impulsive eruptions, while another study varies the temporal profile of the voltage applied to the flux tube footpoints to produce the two eruption types. Our experiment reproduced these different eruptions by changing the strapping field magnitude, and the temporal profile of the current trace. This suggests that the same physics underlies both types of CME and that the separation between impulsive and gradual classes of eruption is artificial.

Design and evaluation of an optical switching node

[EN]For a good development of elastic optical networks, the design of flexible optical switching nodes is required. This work analyses the previously proposed flexible architectures and, based on the most appropriate, which is the Architecture on Demand (AoD), proposes a specific configuration of the node that includes spatial and spectral switching and the wavelength conversion functionality with a low blocking probability and the minimum amount of modules; the characteristics of the traffic that the designed node is able to cope with are specified in the last chapter. An evaluation of the designed node is also done, and, compared to the other architectures, it is shown that the Architecture on Demand gives better results than others and that it has a higher potential for future developments.

Analog methods of nonlinear vibration analysis

This thesis presents methods by which electrical analogies can be obtained for nonlinear systems. The accuracy of these methods is investigated and several specific types of nonlinear equations are studied in detail.

In Part I a general method is given for obtaining electrical analogs of nonlinear systems with one degree of freedom. Loop and node methods are compared and the stability of the loop analogy is briefly considered.

Parts II and III give a description of the equipment and a discussion of its accuracy. Comparisons are made between experimental and analytic solutions of linear systems.

Part IV is concerned with systems having a nonlinear restoring force. In particular, solutions of Duffing's equation are obtained, both by using the electrical analogy and also by approximate analytical methods.

Systems with nonlinear damping are considered in Part V. Two specific examples are chosen: (1) forced oscillations and (2) self-excited oscillations (van der Pol’s equation). Comparisons are made with approximate analytic solutions.

Part VI gives experimental data for a system obeying Mathieu's equation. Regions of stability are obtained. Examples of subharmonic, ultraharmonic, and ultrasubharmonic oscillat1ons are shown.

Impact of polarized illumination on high NA imaging in ArF immersion lithography at 45 nm node

Immersion lithography has been considered as the mainstream technology to extend the feasibility of optical lithography to further technology nodes. Using proper polarized illumination in an immersion lithographic tool is a powerful means to enhance the image quality and process capability for high numerical aperture (NA) imaging. In this paper, the impact of polarized illumination on high NA imaging in ArF immersion lithography for 45 nm dense lines and semi-dense lines is studied by PROLITH simulation. The normalized image log slope (NILS) and exposure defocus (ED) window are simulated under various polarized illumination modes, and the impact of polarized illumination on image quality and process latitude is analyzed. (C) 2007 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Detecção e classificação de VTCDs em sistemas de distribuição de energia elétrica usando redes neurais artificiais.

O objetivo deste trabalho é conhecer e compreender melhor os imprevistos no fornecimento de energia elétrica, quando ocorrem as variações de tensão de curta duração (VTCD). O banco de dados necessário para os diagnósticos das faltas foi obtido através de simulações de um modelo de alimentador radial através do software PSCAD/EMTDC. Este trabalho utiliza um Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) com o intuito de detectar VTCDs e realizar a estimativa automática da frequência, do ângulo de fase e da amplitude das tensões e correntes da rede elétrica. Nesta pesquisa, desenvolveram-se duas redes neurais artificiais: uma para identificar e outra para localizar as VTCDs ocorridas no sistema de distribuição de energia elétrica. A técnica aqui proposta aplica-se a alimentadores trifásicos com cargas desequilibradas, que podem possuir ramais laterais trifásicos, bifásicos e monofásicos. No desenvolvimento da mesma, considera-se que há disponibilidade de medições de tensões e correntes no nó inicial do alimentador e também em alguns pontos esparsos ao longo do alimentador de distribuição. Os desempenhos das arquiteturas das redes neurais foram satisfatórios e demonstram a viabilidade das RNAs na obtenção das generalizações que habilitam o sistema para realizar a classificação de curtos-circuitos.

Breaking verbs. From event structure to syntactic categories in Basque

445 p.