Uncovering the Secrets of Time and Number
Rhythm and number underpin our lives, from the days of the week and the times of the day to the number of letters in the alphabet. But do we ever stop to consider the deeper meaning behind these every day realities? In Uncovering the Secrets of Time and Number Wolfgang Held offers a fascinating exploration of this question. He looks at why there are seven days in a week and how each day resonates with different soul moods in the human being, for example why Tuesday is a good day for making mistakes and why Friday is the day of beauty and creativity. He also explores the qualities of numbers from one to thirty-one, explaining how many things have an inherent number attached to them: one sun, two parents, three meals a day, four seasons. The practical insights brought together in this book can help the reader become more conscious of their relationship to time and number, allowing them to organise their lives in a harmonious way. Previously published as Rhythms of the Week and Other Explorations of Time and The Quality of Numbers 1 to 31.
Chemistry in Action: Making Molecular Movies with Ultrafast Electron Diffraction and Data Science
The thesis provides the necessary experimental and analytical tools to unambiguously observe the atomically resolved chemical reactions. A great challenge of modern science has been to directly observe atomic motions during structural transitions, and while this was first achieved through a major advance in electron source brightness, the information content was still limited and new methods for image reconstruction using femtosecond electron diffraction methods were needed. One particular challenge lay in reconciling the innumerable possible nuclear configurations with the observation of chemical reaction mechanisms that reproducibly give the same kind of chemistry for large classes of molecules. The author shows that there is a simple solution that occurs during barrier crossing in which the highly anharmonic potential at that point in nuclear rearrangements couples high- and low-frequency vibrational modes to give highly localized nuclear motions, reducing hundreds ofpotential degrees of freedom to just a few key modes. Specific examples are given in this thesis, including two photoinduced phase transitions in an organic system, a ring closure reaction, and two direct observations of nuclear reorganization driven by spin transitions. The emerging field of structural dynamics promises to change the way we think about the physics of chemistry and this thesis provides tools to make it happen.
On-Orbit Servicing: Next Generation of Space Activities
This book shares a range of new and diverse insights on On-Orbit Servicing (OOS), and examines its implications especially from political, legal, economic, and security perspectives. OSS has been evolving rapidly and presents both challenges and opportunities, such as in-space repairs, refuelling, refurbishment of spacecraft and servicing satellites, which could play a critical role in extending satellite lifecycles, while also representing a valuable next step in debris mitigation. At the same time, many legal questions have arisen in connection with OOS: the need to prevent hostile actions under the pretext of OSS; the distinction between governmental and non-governmental OOS operators; the status of re-worked and recycled space objects; the issue of control in terms of operations performed in orbit, i.e., in the international sphere; the status of objects manufactured in orbit and applicable law, including liability and registration; and the impacts on insurance law and risk management. Finally, the book examines the implications of OOS for emerging space actors in the Global South, and recommends a paradigm shift to help developing countries fully recognise the necessity and urgency of being involved in discussions on OSS, as opposed to leaving it up to the developed space actors. This book will be of great interest to practitioners, academics, and students working in the space sector and related fields.
Life Support Systems for Humans in Space
Life support systems are an integral part of crewed spacecraft designs and habitation systems. This textbook introduces the LSS capabilities that sustain humans who live and work in space, and it is written at a level appropriate for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.The book begins with the basics of space physiology before detailing the features that make up different kinds of life support systems. It includes concise descriptions of how atmospheric pressure is monitored, how oxygen levels are maintained, how waste management is achieved and how water is recycled, and also describes the processes of fire detection and suppression. Several chapters are devoted to chronicling the evolution of life support systems through the decades. Each chapter includes a list of learning objectives, summary sections and review questions. Additionally, various analogs for spaceflight life support systems are examined, including nuclear submarines and our natural life support system here on Earth! Overall, this book serves as an approachable primer for any student seeking to understand the intricacies of spacecraft life support systems.
Superradiance
This book focuses on one mechanism in black hole physics which has proven to be universal, multifaceted and with a rich phenomenology: rotational superradiance. This is an energy extraction process, whereby black holes can deposit their rotational energy in their surroundings, leading to Penrose processes, black-hole bombs, and even Hawking radiation. Black holes are key players in star formation mechanisms and as engines to some of the most violent events in our universe. Their simplicity and compactness make them perfect laboratories, ideally suited to probe new fields or modifications to the theory of gravity. Thus, black holes can also be used to probe some of the most important open problems in physics, including the nature of dark matter or the strong CP problem in particle physics. This monograph is directed to researchers and graduate students and provides a unified view of the subject, covering the theoretical machinery, experimental efforts in the laboratory, and astrophysics searches. It is focused on recent developments and works out a number of novel examples and applications, ranging from fundamental physics to astrophysics. Non-specialists with a scientific background should also find this text a valuable resource for understanding the critical issues of contemporary research in black-hole physics. This second edition stresses the role of ergoregions in superradiance, and completes its catalogue of energy-extraction processes. It presents a unified description of instabilities of spinning black holes in the presence of massive fields. Finally, it covers the first experimental observation of superradiance, and reviews the state-of-the-art in the searches for new light fields in the universe using superradiance as a mechanism.
Fuel for Change
This book, with its evidence and case studies from a wide variety of countries in both the Third World and the transitional economies of Eastern Europe, examines the World Bank's new energy policies. Written by well informed analysts in leading NGOs concerned with energy questions, this book seeks to add to the pressure on the Bank to shift its capital lending and policy advice in favour of sustainable energy, including serious investment in energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and energy provision for the rural poor. The Bank has traditionally been the leading multilateral financier of energy provision. Since 1992, it has begun to implement a reform programme based on privatization of the energy sector. This book explains the historical development of the Bank's energy policies. It outlines promising initiatives within the Bank for sustainable energy and explains why these are having little impact on mainstream energy lending. It describes how and why the Bank's energy polices have actually led to an increase in fossil fuel power plants in the top-ten low income countries, while continuing to marginalize renewable energy. While not wishing to launch an ideological attack on privatization, the authors are concerned with how the Bank has allowed regulatory processes to be highjacked by vested interests. Another problem is institutional barriers within the Bank itself. While a minority of staff are genuinely concerned to implement its excellent rhetoric about sustainable development, too many retain their market-fixated approach and do not support investments oriented to renewable energy sources, energy provision in rural areas or even energy efficient technologies. This book constitutes a powerful, policy-oriented critique of the Bank which often gives an impression of talking too much and changing its behaviour too little.
The Changing Energy Mix
Energy comes in many shapes and forms, from wind, solar power, geothermal, and biomass to coal, natural gas, and petroleum. The energy we consume is constantly changing, but the use of these resources-whether renewable or nonrenewable-has long-term impacts on our planet. While there has been this recent shift to renewable energy within the United States, the worldwide demand for all energy types continues to increase at a rapid rate. In fact, it has increased by 84% over the past twenty years. Despite their dwindling supply, these resources are still heavily relied on today. Coal still accounts for 30% of the electricity generated by the United States, even though natural gas is now the primary energy used to produce electricity. Likewise, only 7% of electricity usage worldwide is linked to solar and wind energy. In The Changing Energy Mix, Paul F. Meier compares twelve renewable and nonrenewable energy types using twelve common technical criteria. These criteria span projected reserves, cost to the consumer and supplier, energy balances, environmental issues, land area required, and lasting impacts. While explaining the pros and cons of these resources, Meier takes readers through the history of energy in the United States and world. He provides insight into energy sources, such as wind-powered and solar-powered electricity (which did not exist until the mid and late 80s, respectively), and he explains the constantly evolving world of energy. Breaking down the potential promises and struggles of transitioning to a more renewable energy-based economy, Meier explains the positive and negative implications of these various sources of energy. The resulting book equips readers with a unique understanding of the history, availability, technology, implementation cost, and concerns of renewable and nonrenewable energy.
Searching for Squarks
Introduction.- Theoretical Background.- The ATLAS Experiment.- Data Acquisition and Reconstruction.- Search for SUSY in Final States with Jets from Charm Quarks.- Soft b-tagging in Compressed SUSY Scenarios.- Conclusion.- Appendix.
Methods in Statistical Mechanics
This book presents a variety of techniques for tackling phenomena that are not amenable to the conventional approach based on the concept of probabilities. The methods described rely on the use of path integration, thermal Green functions, time-temperature propagators, Liouville operators, second quantization, and field correlators at finite density and temperature. Also exploring the statistical mechanics of unstable quantum systems, the book is intended as a supplementary or reference text for use in one-semester graduate courses on Quantum Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Electromagnetism, and Mathematical Methods in Physics.
BiomemsBiosensing Applications
This book highlights the latest advances in bioMEMS for biosensing applications. It comprehensively reviews different detection methods, including colorimetric, fluorescence, luminescence, bioluminescence, chemiluminescence, biochemiluminescence, and electrochemiluminescence, and presents various bioMEMS for each, together with recent examples. The book also offers an overview of the history of BioMEMS and the design and manufacture of the first bioMEMS-based devices.
Laura Bassi -- The World's First Woman Professor in Natural Philosophy
This book provides a fascinating insight into the life and scientific work of Laura Bassi, the first female member of the influential Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna and also the first woman to be appointed a university professor in physics, or universal philosophy as it was then termed. The book describes Laura Bassi's research activities and achievements, explaining the influence of Newton, her role in promoting Newtonian experimental physics in Bologna, and her work as an experimentalist, including on electricity. Much attention is paid to the context in which Bassi developed her career. The very considerable difficulties faced by a woman surrounded by male university teachers and members of the Academy are discussed, casting light on the constraints that led Bassi to set up the first experimental physics laboratory in her home, complete with the many instruments required for experimentation and private teaching. The aim is to provide a rounded and well-documentedaccount of the scientific endeavors and achievements of a too often overlooked scientist who struggled to overcome the prejudices of her age.
Giant Resonances
This volume presents a comprehensive introduction to the study of nuclear structure at finite temperature. This basic subject matter is supplemented with material taken from research on the structure of hot nuclei.
Foundations of Modern Global Seismology
Modern Global Seismology, Second Edition, is a complete, self-contained primer on seismology, featuring extensive coverage of all related aspects--from observational data through prediction--and emphasizing the fundamental theories and physics governing seismic waves, both natural and anthropogenic. Based on thoroughly class-tested material, the text provides a unique perspective on Earth's large-scale internal structure and dynamic processes, particularly earthquake sources, and the application of theory to the dynamic processes of the earth's upper layer. This insightful new edition is designed for accessibility and comprehension for graduate students entering the field.Exploration seismologists will also find it an invaluable resource on topics such as elastic-wave propagation, seismic instrumentation, and seismogram analysis.
Geometrical Optics of Weakly Anisotropic Media
This book explores recent developments in QIA and describes the application of the theory to different branches of wave physics, from plasma physics, quantum physics, and ionospheric radio wave propagation to acoustics, optics, and astrophysics.
Soft Matter: A Very Short Introduction
Soft matter science is concerned with soft materials such as polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, and foams, and has emerged as a rich interdisciplinary field over the last 30 years. Drawing on physics, chemistry, mathematics and engineering, soft matter links fundamental scientific ideas to everyday phenomena. One such example is 'polymers', encountered in plastic materials and melted cheese, which illustrate how 'sliminess' emerges from the flow and form of giant molecules. This Very Short Introduction delves into the field of soft matter, looking beneath the appearances of matter into its inner structure. Tom McLeish shows how Brownian Motion - the random local motion of molecules that gives rise to 'heat' - is an underlying principle of soft matter. From hair conditioner to honey, he discusses how the shared physical properties and characteristics of these materials influence the way they behave, and their industrial applications. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Liutex and Its Applications in Turbulence Research
Liutex and Its Applications in Turbulence Research reviews the history of vortex definition, provides an accurate mathematical definition of vortices, and explains their applications in flow transition, turbulent flow, flow control, and turbulent flow experiments. The book explains the term "Rortex" as a mathematically defined rigid rotation of fluids or vortex, which could help solve many longstanding problems in turbulence research. The accurate mathematical definition of the vortex is important in a range of industrial contexts, including aerospace, turbine machinery, combustion, and electronic cooling systems, so there are many areas of research that can benefit from the innovations described here. This book provides a thorough survey of the latest research in generalized and flow-thermal, unified, law-of-the-wall for wall-bounded turbulence. Important theory and methodologies used for developing these laws are described in detail, including: the classification of the conventional turbulent boundary layer concept based on proper velocity scaling; the methodology for identification of the scales of velocity, temperature, and length needed to establish the law; and the discovery, proof, and strict validations of the laws, with both Reynolds and Prandtl number independency properties using DNS data. The establishment of these statistical laws is important to modern fluid mechanics and heat transfer research, and greatly expands our understanding of wall-bounded turbulence.
Predictive Modelling for Energy Management and Power Systems Engineering
Predictive Modeling for Energy Management and Power Systems Engineering introduces readers to the cutting-edge use of big data and large computational infrastructures in energy demand estimation and power management systems. The book supports engineers and scientists who seek to become familiar with advanced optimization techniques for power systems designs, optimization techniques and algorithms for consumer power management, and potential applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence in this field. The book provides modeling theory in an easy-to-read format, verified with on-site models and case studies for specific geographic regions and complex consumer markets.
Elliptic Quantum Groups
This is the first book on elliptic quantum groups, i.e., quantum groups associated to elliptic solutions of the Yang-Baxter equation. Based on research by the author and his collaborators, the book presents a comprehensive survey on the subject including a brief history of formulations and applications, a detailed formulation of the elliptic quantum group in the Drinfeld realization, explicit construction of both finite and infinite-dimensional representations, and a construction of the vertex operators as intertwining operators of these representations. The vertex operators are important objects in representation theory of quantum groups. In this book, they are used to derive the elliptic q-KZ equations and their elliptic hypergeometric integral solutions. In particular, the so-called elliptic weight functions appear in such solutions. The author's recent study showed that these elliptic weight functions are identified with Okounkov's elliptic stableenvelopes for certain equivariant elliptic cohomology and play an important role to construct geometric representations of elliptic quantum groups. Okounkov's geometric approach to quantum integrable systems is a rapidly growing topic in mathematical physics related to the Bethe ansatz, the Alday-Gaiotto-Tachikawa correspondence between 4D SUSY gauge theories and the CFT's, and the Nekrasov-Shatashvili correspondences between quantum integrable systems and quantum cohomology. To invite the reader to such topics is one of the aims of this book.
Probability and Statistics in the Physical Sciences
This book, now in its third edition, offers a practical guide to the use of probability and statistics in experimental physics that is of value for both advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Focusing on applications and theorems and techniques actually used in experimental research, it includes worked problems with solutions, as well as homework exercises to aid understanding. Suitable for readers with no prior knowledge of statistical techniques, the book comprehensively discusses the topic and features a number of interesting and amusing applications that are often neglected. Providing an introduction to neural net techniques that encompasses deep learning, adversarial neural networks, and boosted decision trees, this new edition includes updated chapters with, for example, additions relating to generating and characteristic functions, Bayes' theorem, the Feldman-Cousins method, Lagrange multipliers for constraints, estimation of likelihood ratios, and unfolding problems.
Nonperturbative Topological Phenomena in QCD and Related Theories
This book introduces a variety of aspects in nonperturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), focusing on the topological objects present in gauge theories. These objects, like magnetic monopoles, instantons, instanto-dysons, sphalerons, QCD flux tubes, etc, are first introduced individually and, later, treated collectively. As ensembles, they produce various phenomena that can be modeled numerically in lattice gauge theories and such collective effects, produced on the lattice, are extensively discussed in some chapters. In turn, the notion of duality, which is crucial in modern field/string theories, is elucidated by taking into consideration the electric-magnetic duality, the Poisson duality, and the AdS/CFT duality. This monograph is based on various lectures given by Edward Shuryak at Stony Brook during the last three decades and it is meant for advanced graduate students and young researchers in theoretical and mathematical physics who are willing to consolidate theirknowledge in the topological phenomena encountered in fundamental QCD research.
Lost In Space-Time
Pez's senior disciple, Bodhi, gets drawn through a wormhole while prospecting in his Expeditionary Tug Utility ship to become lost in space-time. He is accompanied by his Quantum AI Humanoid Android, or QAISHA. Together they seek a planetary population with interstellar travel and end up assisting a planet on the verge of biosphere collapse to migrate to a pristine yellow sun third planet 28 light-years away. Next, they discover a planet population that has attained moral anarchy and is about to be invaded by an empire still dependent upon star-gates for travel between stars. In the process of liberating the enslaved planets of this empire, they discover the people of Pronotavasmi, who are advancing along the path of the Amonrahonian race and learn of a dire threat to all of the planetary systems they have become affiliated with. The threat is from the people who call themselves the Consumere, and who thrive on raping the resources of inhabited yellow and white sun planets. Bodhi must stop them.
Si Detectors and Characterization for Hep and Photon Science Experiment
This book reviews the HL-LHC experiments and the fourth-generation photon science experiments, discussing the latest radiation hardening techniques, optimization of device & process parameters using TCAD simulation tools, and the experimental characterization required to develop rad-hard Si detectors for x-ray induced surface damage and bulk damage by hadronic irradiation.Consisting of eleven chapters, it introduces various types of strip and pixel detector designs for the current upgrade, radiation, and dynamic range requirement of the experiments, and presents an overview of radiation detectors, especially Si detectors. It also describes the design of pixel detectors, experiments and characterization of Si detectors.The book is intended for researchers and master's level students with an understanding of radiation detector physics. It provides a concept that uses TCAD simulation to optimize the electrical performance of the devices used in the harsh radiation environment of the colliders and at XFEL.
Energy Crises, Volume 5
The 1970s were a decade of historic American energy crises--major interruptions in oil supplies from the Middle East, the country's most dangerous nuclear accident, and chronic shortages of natural gas. In Energy Crises, Jay Hakes brings his expertise in energy and presidential history to bear on the questions of why these crises occurred, how different choices might have prevented or ameliorated them, and what they have meant for the half-century since--and likely the half-century ahead. Hakes deftly intertwines the domestic and international aspects of the long-misunderstood fuel shortages that still affect our lives today. This approach, drawing on previously unavailable and inaccessible records, affords an insider's view of decision-making by three U.S. presidents, the influence of their sometimes-combative aides, and their often tortuous relations with the rulers of Iran and Saudi Arabia. Hakes skillfully dissects inept federal attempts to regulate oil prices and allocation, but also identifies the decade's more positive legacies--from the nation's first massive commitment to the development of alternative energy sources other than nuclear power, to the initial movement toward a less polluting, more efficient energy economy. The 1970s brought about a tectonic shift in the world of energy. Tracing these consequences to their origins in policy and practice, Hakes makes their lessons available at a critical moment--as the nation faces the challenge of climate change resulting from the burning of fossil fuels.
Inverse Spectral and Scattering Theory
The aim of this book is to provide basic knowledge of the inverse problems arising in various areas in mathematics, physics, engineering, and medical science. These practical problems boil down to the mathematical question in which one tries to recover the operator (coefficients) or the domain (manifolds) from spectral data. The characteristic properties of the operators in question are often reduced to those of Schr繹dinger operators. We start from the 1-dimensional theory to observe the main features of inverse spectral problems and then proceed to multi-dimensions. The first milestone is the Borg-Levinson theorem in the inverse Dirichlet problem in a bounded domain elucidating basic motivation of the inverse problem as well as the difference between 1-dimension and multi-dimension. The main theme is the inverse scattering, in which the spectral data is Heisenberg's S-matrix defined through the observation of the asymptotic behavior at infinity of solutions. Significant progress has been made in the past 30 years by using the Faddeev-Green function or the complex geometrical optics solution by Sylvester and Uhlmann, which made it possible to reconstruct the potential from the S-matrix of one fixed energy. One can also prove the equivalence of the knowledge of S-matrix and that of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for boundary value problems in bounded domains. We apply this idea also to the Dirac equation, the Maxwell equation, and discrete Schr繹dinger operators on perturbed lattices. Our final topic is the boundary control method introduced by Belishev and Kurylev, which is for the moment the only systematic method for the reconstruction of the Riemannian metric from the boundary observation, which we apply to the inverse scattering on non-compact manifolds. We stress that this book focuses on the lucid exposition of these problems and mathematical backgrounds by explaining the basic knowledge of functional analysis and spectral theory, omitting the technical details in order to make the book accessible to graduate students as an introduction to partial differential equations (PDEs) and functional analysis.
Novel Coronavirus 2019
This book highlights the genomic findings, observations, and analysis of DNA/RNA sequences and protein structure of the dreadful virus of this decade- COVID-19. The Corona group of viruses though known species, the strain that caused the Pandemic of 2019 is a completely new strain, belonging to the same corona family with a novel genetic make-up. This makes it a new pathogen which is causing the current outbreak leaving the global scientific community clueless of any therapeutic breakthrough. NCOV enjoys life threatening pathogenicity with mysterious genetic annotations. This book details and offers insights into its viral genetic arrangement, Virulence factors, probable mutations leading to the evolution of this new strain and more. It contains chapters on Virus evolutionary status and Genetic makeup leading to its pathogenicity which can be a new insight in understanding the nature of this clever microorganism and can pave way to the development of new drugs and Vaccinesor a novel diagnostic approach for the early prognosis of the disease. A dedicated chapter on annotation of NCOV-19 virulence genes, translation of the genes to protein product, annotation of the antigenic sites on these proteins is also included. In all, this brief is a complete genomic annotation insight of NCOV-19 using AI, Data analytics and Bioinformatics analysis. In the current situation, this book is an extensive preliminary resource for Medical practitioners, Researchers, Academicians, Scientists, Biochemists, Bioinformaticians and other professionals interested in understanding the genetics of Novel Coronavirus 19, the best possible drug targets, ideal vaccine candidates and novel prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers.
Features of the Solar Cyclone Tower Technology. Sensor Network for an Enhanced Solar Cyclone Tower
Master's Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Physics - Applied physics, Imperial College London, language: English, abstract: As the need to transition towards renewable energies becomes increasingly evident and a grow-ing number of regions are subject to more intense water stresses, various power-generation and electricity-production technologies are being developed. Among these, the Solar Cyclone Tower (SCT) appears to be a promising solution, for both electricity and water production, which is based on a renewable energy source: sunlight. In this thesis, the author explores the different features of the SCT technology, its operating concept and advantages. He also present a physical model which has been built for pedagogical uses. He discusses how the SCT's water and electricity production can be enhanced. Potential facilities which the SCT could host are also considered and the solar tower's overall advantages listed. We explain how various physical phenomena make environmental variables difficult to predict and challenging to probe. However, it is necessary to acquire real-time data on environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, insolation and airflow for a number of different reasons which he will discuss. He has thus undertaken a study and review of different temperature, humidity, insolation and airflow sensing technologies which are suitable for use in the SCT. He later characterised a simple temperature and humidity sensing device and, finally, presented the outline of a sensor placement algorithm and a method to find the optimal number of sensors.
Searches for the Supersymmetric Partner of the Top Quark, Dark Matter and Dark Energy at the Atlas Experiment
Astrophysical observations implying the existence of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, which are not described by the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics, have led to extensions of the SM predicting new particles that could be directly produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Based on 2015 and 2016 ATLAS proton-proton collision data, this thesis presents searches for the supersymmetric partner of the top quark, for Dark Matter, and for DarkEnergy, in signatures with jets and missing transverse energy.Muon detection is key to some of the most important LHC physics results, including the discovery of the Higgs boson and the measurement of its properties. The efficiency with which muons can be detected with the ATLAS detector is measured using Z boson decays. The performance of high-precision Monitored Drift Tube muon chambers under background rates similar to the ones expected for the High Luminosity-LHC is studied.
The Witness of the Stars
E. W. Bullinger was a 19th century English clergyman, scholar, and prolific author. He was best-known in his lifetime for the publication of a detailed Concordance and a six-part Companion Bible. In "The Witness of the Stars", first published in 1893, Bullinger takes the reader to the time before God left a written record of his word, or scripture. Bullinger rejects the pagan interpretation of constellations and finds instead proof of the word of God to be found in the stars. God has proclaimed his dominion over all of creation and that salvation may only be obtained through Jesus Christ and has left a record of this in the night sky for all to see. Considered by many to be the best of all books examining constellations in the context of Biblical stories and lessons, Bullinger explains the constellations and astrological signs in the context of a close reading of the scriptures. Astrological signs are an important part of many Biblical stories and "The Witness of the Stars" remains an instructive and insightful study on the relationship between the word of God and the heavens. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
Aspects of Scattering Amplitudes and Moduli Space Localization
This thesis proposes a new perspective on scattering amplitudes in quantum field theories. Their standard formulation in terms of sums over Feynman diagrams is replaced by a computation of geometric invariants, called intersection numbers, on moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces. It therefore gives a physical interpretation of intersection numbers, which have been extensively studied in the mathematics literature in the context of generalized hypergeometric functions. This book explores physical consequences of this formulation, such as recursion relations, connections to geometry and string theory, as well as a phenomenon called moduli space localization. After reviewing necessary mathematical background, including topology of moduli spaces of Riemann spheres with punctures and its fundamental group, the definition and properties of intersection numbers are presented. A comprehensive list of applications and relations to other objects is given, including those toscattering amplitudes in open- and closed-string theories. The highlights of the thesis are the results regarding localization properties of intersection numbers in two opposite limits: in the low- and the high-energy expansion. In order to facilitate efficient computations of intersection numbers the author introduces recursion relations that exploit fibration properties of the moduli space. These are formulated in terms of so-called braid matrices that encode the information of how points braid around each other on the corresponding Riemann surface. Numerous application of this approach are presented for computation of scattering amplitudes in various gauge and gravity theories. This book comes with an extensive appendix that gives a pedagogical introduction to the topic of homologies with coefficients in a local system.
Developing Nucleon Self-Energies to Generate the Ingredients for the Description of Nuclear Reactions
This thesis develops the dispersive optical model into a tool that allows for the assessment of the validity of nuclear reaction models, thereby generating unambiguous removal probabilities of nucleons from valence orbits using the electron-induced proton knockout reaction. These removal probabilities document the substantial quantitative degree in which nuclei deviate from the independent-particle model description. Another outcome reported within is the prediction for the neutron distribution of Ca-40, Ca-48, and Pb-208. The neutron radii of these nuclei have direct relevance for the understanding of neutron stars and are currently the subject of delicate experiments. Unlike other approaches, the current method is consistent with all other relevant data and describes nuclei beyond the independent-particle model. Finally, a new interpretation of the saturation probabilities of infinite nuclear matter is proposed suggesting that the semi-empirical mass formula must be supplemented with a better extrapolation from nuclei to infinite matter.
Renewable Energy and Sustainable Buildings
This book contains selected papers presented during the World Renewable Energy Network's 28thanniversary congress at the University of Kingston in London. The forum highlighted the integration of renewables and sustainable buildings as the best means to combat climate change. In-depth chapters written by the world's leading experts highlight the most current research and technological breakthroughs and discuss policy, renewable energy technologies and applications in all sectors - for heating and cooling, agricultural applications, water, desalination, industrial applications and for the transport sectors.Presents cutting-edge research in green building and renewable energy from all over the world;Covers the most up-to-date research developments, government policies, business models, best practices and innovations;Contains case studies and examples to enhance practical application of the technologies.
Basic Physics
This book is designed as a basic guide to Physics knowledge. This covers the following topics: vectors, concepts of physical variables, kinematics, motion with constant velocity, motion with constant acceleration, vertical launch upward and free fall, parabolic motion, circular motion and centripetal acceleration, varied circular motion and angular acceleration, particle dynamics, work and energy, impulse and momentum. This includes the deduction of many formulas to clarify the concepts and fill all the needs of the students to reach the foundations of Physics. Finally, another objective of the book is to achieve the interest and motivation of the students for the real nature of Physics.
Shock Phenomena in Granular and Porous Materials
Granular forms of common materials such as metals and ceramics, sands and soils, porous energetic materials (explosives, reactive mixtures), and foams exhibit interesting behaviors due to their heterogeneity and critical length scale, typically commensurate with the grain or pore size. Under extreme conditions of impact, granular and porous materials display highly localized phenomena such as fracture, inelastic deformation, and the closure of voids, which in turn strongly influence the bulk response. Due to the complex nature of these interactions and the short time scales involved, computational methods have proven to be powerful tools to investigate these phenomena. Thus, the coupled use of experiment, theory, and simulation is critical to advancing our understanding of shock processes in initially porous and granular materials. This is a comprehensive volume on granular and porous materials for researchers working in the area of shock and impact physics. The book is divided into three sections, where the first presents the fundamentals of shock physics as it pertains to the equation of state, compaction, and strength properties of porous materials. Building on these fundamentals, the next section examines several applications where dynamic processes involving initially porous materials are prevalent, focusing on the areas of penetration, planetary impact, and reactive munitions. The final section provides a look at emerging areas in the field, where the expansion of experimental and computational capabilities are opening the door for new opportunities in the areas of advanced light sources, molecular dynamics modeling, and additively manufactured porous structures. By intermixing experiment, theory, and simulation throughout, this book serves as an excellent, up-to-date desk reference for those in the field of shock compression science of porous and granular materials.
David Bohm
This authoritative biography addresses the life and work of the quantum physicist David Bohm. Although quantum physics is considered the soundest physical theory, its strange and paradoxical features have challenged - and continue to challenge - even the brightest thinkers. David Bohm dedicated his entire life to enhancing our understanding of quantum mysteries, in particular quantum nonlocality. His work took place at the height of the cultural/political upheaval in the 1950's, which led him to become the most notable American scientist to seek exile in the last century. The story of his life is as fascinating as his ideas on the quantum world are appealing.
Ground States of the Two-Dimensional Electron System at Half-Filling Under Hydrostatic Pressure
This thesis presents the discovery of a surprising phase transition between a topological and a broken symmetry phase. Phase transitions between broken symmetry phases involve a change in symmetry and those between topological phases require a change in topological order; in rare cases, however, transitions may occur between these two broad classes of phases in which the vanishing of the topological order is accompanied by the emergence of a broken symmetry. This thesis describes observations of such a special phase transition in the two-dimensional electron gas confined in the GaAs/AlGaAs structures. When tuned by hydrostatic pressure, the ν = 5/2 and ν = 7/2 fractional quantum Hall states, believed to be prototypical non-Abelian topological phases of the Pfaffian universality class, give way to an electronic nematic phase. Remarkably, the fractional quantum Hall states involved are due to pairing of emergent particles called composite fermions. The findings reported here, therefore, provide an interesting example of competition of pairing and nematicity. This thesis provides an introduction to quantum Hall physics of the two-dimensional electron gas, contains details of the high pressure experiments, and offers a discussion of the ramifications and of the origins of the newly reported phase transition.
Soft and Hard Probes of QCD Topological Structures in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions
This thesis makes significant advances in the quantitative understanding of two intrinsically linked yet technically very different phenomena in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Firstly, the thesis investigates the soft probe of strong interaction topological fluctuations in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) which is made possible via the anomalous chiral transport effects induced by such fluctuations. Here, the author makes contributions towards establishing the first comprehensive tool for quantitative prediction of the chiral magnetic effect in the QGP that is produced in heavy ion collision experiments. Secondly, the thesis deals with the hard probe of strongly coupled QGP created in heavy-ion collisions. In particular, this study addresses the basic question related to the nonperturbative color structure in the QGP via jet energy loss observables. The author further develops the CUJET computational model for jet quenching and uses it to analyze the topological degrees of freedom in quark-gluon plasma. The contributions this thesis makes towards these highly-challenging problems have already generated widespread impacts in the field of quark-gluon plasma and high-energy nuclear collisions.
The Physics of the Dark Photon
This book is about the dark photon which is a new gauge boson whose existence has been conjectured. Due to its interaction with the ordinary, visible photon, such a particle can be experimentally detected via specific signatures. In this book, the authors review the physics of the dark photon from the theoretical and experimental point of view. They discuss the difference between the massive and the massless case, highlighting how the two phenomena arise from the same vector portal between the dark and the visible sector. A review of the cosmological and astrophysical observations is provided, together with the connection to dark matter physics. Then, a perspective on current and future experimental limits on the parameters of the massless and massive dark photon is given, as well as the related bounds on milli-charged fermions. The book is intended for graduate students and young researchers who are embarking on dark photon research, and offers them a clear and up-to-date introduction to the subject.
Predicting the T2k Neutrino Flux and Measuring Oscillation Parameters
This thesis reports the calculation of neutrino production for the T2K experiment; the most precise a priori estimate of neutrino production that has been achieved for any accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiment to date. The production of intense neutrino beams at accelerator facilities requires exceptional understanding of chains of particle interactions initiated within extended targets. In this thesis, the calculation of neutrino production for T2K has been improved by using measurements of particle production from a T2K replica target, taken by the NA61/SHINE experiment. This enabled the reduction of the neutrino production uncertainty to the level of 5%, which will have a significant impact on neutrino oscillation and interaction measurements by T2K in the coming years. In addition to presenting the revised flux calculation methodology in an accessible format, this thesis also reports a joint T2K measurement ofmuon neutrino and antineutrino disappearance, and the accompanying electron neutrino and antineutrino appearance, with the updated beam constraint.
Management of Research Infrastructures: A South African Funding Perspective
This open access book provides an overview of the building blocks necessary for managing, steering and guiding the establishment of a research infrastructure (RI). It offers valuable insights into RI investment, access and management at the academic, grants management, agency and policy level, and serves as a useful guide for the research community, students, and those in the private sector wishing to understand the approaches and opportunities involved in the establishment, maintenance and management of research infrastructure platforms. Presenting a holistic view of RI investment and granting cycles from a South African perspective, the book's target audience includes those working in science diplomacy, policymaking and science grants councils (especially in Africa) as well as funders and donors.
Particle Physics Reference Library
This first open access volume of the handbook series contains articles on the standard model of particle physics, both from the theoretical and experimental perspective. It also covers related topics, such as heavy-ion physics, neutrino physics and searches for new physics beyond the standard model. A joint CERN-Springer initiative, the "Particle Physics Reference Library" provides revised and updated contributions based on previously published material in the well-known Landolt-Boernstein series on particle physics, accelerators and detectors (volumes 21A, B1, B2, C), which took stock of the field approximately one decade ago. Central to this new initiative is publication under full open access.
Soft Computing Techniques Based Identification of Hotspots in Images
Use of soft computing techniques in disaster prediction and management has interested measures at different levels. Soft computing techniques have given the humans the power and capability to identify events preluding the occurrence of major disasters. Even though it's quite impossible to forecast all natural calamities, it is imperative to identify methods that can forewarn the possible occurrence of an event. Soft computing techniques have been used by researchers to provide these fore warning capabilities. This research work is such an attempt to extensively investigate and exploit the power of soft computing techniques to identify the location of volcano hot spots. In this proposed research work different soft computing techniques have been studied for their suitability in identifying volcano hot spots in satellite images. Multi spectral satellite data have been employed for image processing and analysis. Suitable modification and improvements have been suggested for existing techniques like KNN, SVM, ANN, to increase the prediction performance and accuracy. As a part of this research work an ANFIS based system classifier has also been developed and tested for its performance.
Regenerative Braking System of Electric Vehicle Driven by BLDC Motor
Regenerative braking can improve energy usage efficiency and can extend the driving distance of Electric Vehicles. Innovative Regenerative Braking System of EV driven by BLDC motor is recommended. In this technique, Brushless DC motor is controlled by traditional Proportional Integral Derivative control, and the braking force distribution is done by ANFIS. This reasoning is quite sluggish compared to PID. Thus PID is used to control the negative torque of the motor when brake is pressed. This fresh elucidation has improved performance in regard to insight, strength and efficiency. The suggested system grants the result by analysing the speed of motor with its braking force and the vehicle's battery charge under the hardware implementation. The results illustrates that the Neuro-fuzzy logic and PID control can recognize the regenerative braking can prolong the driving distance of EV's under the condition of confirming quality of braking condition.
Geomagnetic disturbances due to solar and interplanetary sources
The Sun is the most prominent feature in our solar system. It is the largest object and contains approximately 98% of the total solar system mass. One hundred and nine Earths would be required to fit across the Sun's disk, and its interior could hold over 1.3 million Earths. The Sun's outer visible layer is called the photo-sphere and has a temperature of 6,000簞C (11,000簞F). This layer has a mottled appearance due to the turbulent eruptions of energy at the surface. Solar energy is created deep within the core of the Sun. It is here that the temperature (15,000,000簞 C; 27,000,000簞 F) and pressure (340 billion times Earth's air pressure at sea level) is so intense that nuclear reactions take place. This reaction causes four protons or hydrogen nuclei to fuse together to form one alpha particle or helium nucleus. The alpha particle is about 0.7 percent less massive than the four protons. The difference in mass is expelled as energy and is carried to the surface of the Sun, through a process known as convection, where it is released as light and heat. Energy generated in the Sun's core takes a million years to reach its surface.
Mechanism of GRAVITY Generation
This is a study of the mechanism of gravity generation.Why do apples fall?Gravity was a pushing force, not a pulling force. Given a priori assumption that space as a vacuum has a physical fine structure like continuum, it enables us to apply a continuum mechanics to the so-called "vacuum" of space.The pressure field derived from the geometrical structure of space is newly obtained by applying both continuum mechanics and General Relativity to space. The apples on the Earth will not be pulled by the Earth and fall, but will be pushed and fall in the direction of the Earth due to the pressure of the field in the curved space area around the Earth. This book is an attempt to explain the cause of gravity by applying the mechanical structure of space to General Relativity.
Cluster Structure of Water
Usual water has many unusual properties, the reason of which is its cluster structure. In our work, we investigate structure and spectral properties of different water clusters by means of vibrational spectroscopy and quantum-chemical simulation. In Chapter 1, structure peculiarities of water in liquid and solid states are studied. Chapter 2 is devoted to investigation of water clusters in matrix isolation.In Chapter 3, an effect of argon environment on water clusters trapped in low-temperature matrices is discussed.
Basics of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
1. Define the refrigeration as the process of transferring heat from one place to another. 2. Identify the major components of refrigeration and air- conditioning systems (Industrial, domestic, and automotive ) 3. Specify the characteristic properties of refrigerant substances. 4. Classify refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. 5. Compare mechanical and non-mechanical refrigeration systems. 6. Determine the capacity of a refrigeration system. 7. Deal with compressor as the heart part of mechanical refrigeration systems. 8. Distinguish the basic three types of compressors (reciprocating, rotary and centrifugal). 9. Handle the four methods of controlling compressor capacity. 10. Be familiar with the basic methods of defrosting evaporators. 11. Get acquainted with the common methods of cooling water for water-cooled condensers. 12. Master the techniques of charging and testing refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. 13. Operate the various types of metering devices involved in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems.
Flowing Matter
This open access book, published in the Soft and Biological Matter series, presents an introduction to selected research topics in the broad field of flowing matter, including the dynamics of fluids with a complex internal structure -from nematic fluids to soft glasses- as well as active matter and turbulent phenomena. Flowing matter is a subject at the crossroads between physics, mathematics, chemistry, engineering, biology and earth sciences, and relies on a multidisciplinary approach to describe the emergence of the macroscopic behaviours in a system from the coordinated dynamics of its microscopic constituents. Depending on the microscopic interactions, an assembly of molecules or of mesoscopic particles can flow like a simple Newtonian fluid, deform elastically like a solid or behave in a complex manner. When the internal constituents are active, as for biological entities, one generally observes complex large-scale collective motions. Phenomenology is further complicated by the invariable tendency of fluids to display chaos at the large scales or when stirred strongly enough. This volume presents several research topics that address these phenomena encompassing the traditional micro-, meso-, and macro-scales descriptions, and contributes to our understanding of the fundamentals of flowing matter. This book is the legacy of the COST Action MP1305 "Flowing Matter".
Dynamic Systems with Time Delays: Stability and Control
This book presents up-to-date research developments and novel methodologies to solve various stability and control problems of dynamic systems with time delays. First, it provides the new introduction of integral and summation inequalities for stability analysis of nominal time-delay systems in continuous and discrete time domain, and presents corresponding stability conditions for the nominal system and an applicable nonlinear system. Next, it investigates several control problems for dynamic systems with delays including H(infinity) control problemEvent-triggered control problems; Dynamic output feedback control problems; Reliable sampled-data control problems. Finally, some application topics covering filtering, state estimation, and synchronization are considered. The book will be a valuable resource and guide for graduate students, scientists, and engineers in the system sciences and control communities.
