BAYESIAN ANALYSIS OF WHITE NOISE LEVELS IN THE FIVE-YEAR WMAP DATA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Groeneboom, N. E.; Eriksen, H. K.; Gorski, K.; Huey, G.; Jewell, J.; Wandelt, B.

2009-01-01

We develop a new Bayesian method for estimating white noise levels in CMB sky maps, and apply this algorithm to the five-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data. We assume that the amplitude of the noise rms is scaled by a constant value, α, relative to a pre-specified noise level. We then derive the corresponding conditional density, P(α | s, C l , d), which is subsequently integrated into a general CMB Gibbs sampler. We first verify our code by analyzing simulated data sets, and then apply the framework to the WMAP data. For the foreground-reduced five-year WMAP sky maps and the nominal noise levels initially provided in the five-year data release, we find that the posterior means typically range between α = 1.005 ± 0.001 and α = 1.010 ± 0.001 depending on differencing assembly, indicating that the noise level of these maps are biased low by 0.5%-1.0%. The same problem is not observed for the uncorrected WMAP sky maps. After the preprint version of this letter appeared on astro-ph., the WMAP team has corrected the values presented on their web page, noting that the initially provided values were in fact estimates from the three-year data release, not from the five-year estimates. However, internally in their five-year analysis the correct noise values were used, and no cosmological results are therefore compromised by this error. Thus, our method has already been demonstrated in practice to be both useful and accurate.

WMAP - A Glimpse of the Early Universe

Science.gov (United States)

Wollack, Edward

2009-01-01

The early Universe was incredibly hot, dense, and homogeneous. A powerful probe of this time is provided by the relic radiation which we refer to today as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Images produced from this light contain the earliest glimpse of the Universe after the "Big Bang" and the signature of the evolution of its contents. By exploiting these clues, precise constraints on the age, mass density, and geometry of the early Universe can be derived. The history of this intriguing cosmological detective story will be reviewed. Recent results from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) will be presented.

WMAP five-year constraints on lepton asymmetry and radiation energy density: implications for Planck

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popa, L A; Vasile, A

2008-01-01

In this paper we set bounds on the radiation content of the Universe and neutrino properties by using the WMAP (Wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe) five-year CMB (cosmic microwave background) measurements complemented with most of the existing CMB and LSS (large scale structure) data (WMAP5+All), imposing also self-consistent BBN (big bang nucleosynthesis) constraints on the primordial helium abundance. We consider lepton asymmetric cosmological models parametrized by the neutrino degeneracy parameter ξ ν and the variation of the relativistic degrees of freedom, ΔN eff oth , due to possible other physical processes occurring between BBN and structure formation epochs. We get a mean value of the effective number of relativistic neutrino species of N eff = 2.98  2.27 3.60   1.65 4.37 , providing an important improvement over the similar result obtained from WMAP5+BAO+SN+HST (BAO: baryonic acoustic oscillations; SN: supernovae; HST: Hubble Space Telescope) data (Komatsu et al (WMAP Collaboration), 2008 Astrophys. J. Suppl. submitted [0803.0547]). We also find a strong correlation between Ω m h 2 and z eq , showing that we observe N eff mainly via the effect of z eq , rather than via neutrino anisotropic stress as claimed by the WMAP team (Komatsu et al (WMAP Collaboration), 2008 Astrophys. J. Suppl. submitted [0803.0547]). WMAP5+All data provide a strong bound on the helium mass fraction of Y p = 0.2486 ± 0.0085 (68% CL), that rivals the bound on Y p obtained from the conservative analysis of the present data on helium abundance. For the neutrino degeneracy parameter we find a bound of −0.216≤ξ ν ≤0.226 (68% CL), which represents an important improvement over the similar result obtained by using the WMAP three-year data. The inclusion in the analysis of LSS data reduces the upper limit of the neutrino mass to m ν ν and Y p down to σ(ξ ν )≅0.089 (68% CL) and σ(Y p ) = 0.013 (68% CL) respectively, values fully consistent with the BBN bounds on

The running-mass inflation model and WMAP

OpenAIRE

Covi, Laura; Lyth, David H.; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Odman, Carolina J.

2004-01-01

We consider the observational constraints on the running-mass inflationary model, and in particular on the scale-dependence of the spectral index, from the new Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy measurements performed by WMAP and from new clustering data from the SLOAN survey. We find that the data strongly constraints a significant positive scale-dependence of $n$, and we translate the analysis into bounds on the physical parameters of the inflaton potential. Looking deeper into sp...

Running-mass inflation model and WMAP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Covi, Laura; Lyth, David H.; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Odman, Carolina J.

2004-01-01

We consider the observational constraints on the running-mass inflationary model, and, in particular, on the scale dependence of the spectral index, from the new cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy measurements performed by WMAP and from new clustering data from the SLOAN survey. We find that the data strongly constraints a significant positive scale dependence of n, and we translate the analysis into bounds on the physical parameters of the inflaton potential. Looking deeper into specific types of interaction (gauge and Yukawa) we find that the parameter space is significantly constrained by the new data, but that the running-mass model remains viable

Searching for non-Gaussianity in the WMAP data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernui, A.; Reboucas, M. J.

2009-01-01

Some analyses of recent cosmic microwave background (CMB) data have provided hints that there are deviations from Gaussianity in the WMAP CMB temperature fluctuations. Given the far-reaching consequences of such a non-Gaussianity for our understanding of the physics of the early universe, it is important to employ alternative indicators in order to determine whether the reported non-Gaussianity is of cosmological origin, and/or extract further information that may be helpful for identifying its causes. We propose two new non-Gaussianity indicators, based on skewness and kurtosis of large-angle patches of CMB maps, which provide a measure of departure from Gaussianity on large angular scales. A distinctive feature of these indicators is that they provide sky maps of non-Gaussianity of the CMB temperature data, thus allowing a possible additional window into their origins. Using these indicators, we find no significant deviation from Gaussianity in the three and five-year WMAP Internal Linear Combination (ILC) map with KQ75 mask, while the ILC unmasked map exhibits deviation from Gaussianity, quantifying therefore the WMAP team recommendation to employ the new mask KQ75 for tests of Gaussianity. We also use our indicators to test for Gaussianity the single frequency foreground unremoved WMAP three and five-year maps, and show that the K and Ka maps exhibit a clear indication of deviation from Gaussianity even with the KQ75 mask. We show that our findings are robust with respect to the details of the method.

A LAST LOOK AT THE MICROWAVE HAZE/BUBBLES WITH WMAP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dobler, Gregory, E-mail: dobler@kitp.ucsb.edu [Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara Kohn Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)

2012-05-01

The microwave 'haze' was first discovered with the initial release of the full sky data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). It is diffuse emission toward the center of our Galaxy with spectral behavior that makes it difficult to categorize as any of the previously known emission mechanisms at those wavelengths. With now seven years of WMAP data publicly available, we have learned much about the nature of the haze, and with the release of data from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope and the discovery of the gamma-ray haze/bubbles, we have had a spectacular confirmation of its existence at other wavelengths. As the WMAP mission winds down and the Planck mission prepares to release data, I take a last look at what WMAP has to tell us about the origin of this unique Galactic feature. Much like the gamma rays, the microwave haze/bubbles is/are elongated in latitude with respect to longitude by a factor of roughly two, and at high latitudes, the microwave emission cuts off sharply above {approx}35 Degree-Sign (compared to {approx}50 Degree-Sign in the gammas). The hard spectrum of electrons required to generate the microwave synchrotron is consistent with that required to generate gamma-ray emission via inverse Compton scattering, though it is likely that these signals result from distinct regions of the spectrum ({approx}10 GeV for the microwaves and {approx}1 TeV for the gammas). While there is no evidence for significant haze polarization in the seven-year WMAP data, I demonstrate explicitly that it is unlikely such a signal would be detectable above the noise.

CORRELATION ANALYSIS BETWEEN TIBET AS-γ TeV COSMIC RAY AND WMAP NINE-YEAR DATA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yin, Qian-Qing; Zhang, Shuang-Nan, E-mail: zhangsn@ihep.ac.cn [Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics, Beijing 100049 (China)

2015-08-01

The WMAP team subtracted template-based foreground models to produce foreground-reduced maps, and masked point sources and uncertain sky regions directly; however, whether foreground residuals exist in the WMAP foreground-reduced maps is still an open question. Here, we use Pearson correlation coefficient analysis with AS-γ TeV cosmic ray (CR) data to probe possible foreground residuals in the WMAP nine-year data. The correlation results between the CR and foreground-contained maps (WMAP foreground-unreduced maps, WMAP template-based, and Maximum Entropy Method foreground models) suggest that: (1) CRs can trace foregrounds in the WMAP data; (2) at least some TeV CRs originate from the Milky Way; (3) foregrounds may be related to the existence of CR anisotropy (loss-cone and tail-in structures); (4) there exist differences among different types of foregrounds in the decl. range of <15°. Then, we generate 10,000 mock cosmic microwave background (CMB) sky maps to describe the cosmic variance, which is used to measure the effect of the fluctuations of all possible CMB maps to the correlations between CR and CMB maps. Finally, we do correlation analysis between the CR and WMAP foreground-reduced maps, and find that: (1) there are significant anticorrelations; and (2) the WMAP foreground-reduced maps are credible. However, the significant anticorrelations may be accidental, and the higher signal-to-noise ratio Planck SMICA map cannot reject the hypothesis of accidental correlations. We therefore can only conclude that the foreground residuals exist with ∼95% probability.

Fermi LAT and WMAP observations of the supernova remnant HB 21

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pivato, G. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia " G. Galilei," Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy); Hewitt, J. W. [CRESST, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250 (United States); Tibaldo, L. [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Acero, F.; Brandt, T. J. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Ballet, J. [Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Université Paris Diderot, Service d' Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); De Palma, F.; Giordano, F. [Dipartimento di Fisica " M. Merlin" dell' Università e del Politecnico di Bari, I-70126 Bari (Italy); Janssen, G. H. [University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Jóhannesson, G. [Science Institute, University of Iceland, IS-107 Reykjavik (Iceland); Smith, D. A., E-mail: giovanna.pivato@pd.infn.it, E-mail: john.w.hewitt@nasa.gov, E-mail: ltibaldo@slac.stanford.edu [Centre d' Études Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, IN2P3/CNRS, Université Bordeaux 1, BP120, F-33175 Gradignan Cedex (France)

2013-12-20

We present the analysis of Fermi Large Area Telescope γ-ray observations of HB 21 (G89.0+4.7). We detect significant γ-ray emission associated with the remnant: the flux >100 MeV is 9.4 ± 0.8 (stat) ± 1.6 (syst) × 10{sup –11} erg cm{sup –2} s{sup –1}. HB 21 is well modeled by a uniform disk centered at l = 88.°75 ± 0.°04, b = +4.°65 ± 0.°06 with a radius of 1.°19 ± 0.°06. The γ-ray spectrum shows clear evidence of curvature, suggesting a cutoff or break in the underlying particle population at an energy of a few GeV. We complement γ-ray observations with the analysis of the WMAP 7 yr data from 23 to 93 GHz, achieving the first detection of HB 21 at these frequencies. In combination with archival radio data, the radio spectrum shows a spectral break, which helps to constrain the relativistic electron spectrum, and, in turn, parameters of simple non-thermal radiation models. In one-zone models multiwavelength data favor the origin of γ rays from nucleon-nucleon collisions. A single population of electrons cannot produce both γ rays through bremsstrahlung and radio emission through synchrotron radiation. A predominantly inverse-Compton origin of the γ-ray emission is disfavored because it requires lower interstellar densities than are inferred for HB 21. In the hadronic-dominated scenarios, accelerated nuclei contribute a total energy of ∼3 × 10{sup 49} erg, while, in a two-zone bremsstrahlung-dominated scenario, the total energy in accelerated particles is ∼1 × 10{sup 49} erg.

Dark matter implications of the WMAP-Planck Haze

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Egorov, Andrey E.; Pierpaoli, Elena [University of Southern California, 3620 McClintock Ave., SGM 408, Los Angeles, CA 90089 (United States); Gaskins, Jennifer M. [California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Pietrobon, Davide, E-mail: egorov@usc.edu, E-mail: jgaskins@uva.nl, E-mail: pierpaol@usc.edu, E-mail: daddeptr@gmail.com [University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, 7 Gauss Rd, Berkeley CA 94720 (United States)

2016-03-01

Gamma rays and microwave observations of the Galactic Center and surrounding areas indicate the presence of anomalous emission, whose origin remains ambiguous. The possibility of dark matter annihilation explaining both signals through prompt emission at gamma rays and secondary emission at microwave frequencies from interactions of high-energy electrons produced in annihilation with the Galactic magnetic fields has attracted much interest in recent years. We investigate the dark matter interpretation of the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess by searching for the associated synchrotron emission in the WMAP and Planck microwave data. Considering various magnetic field and cosmic-ray propagation models, we predict the synchrotron emission due to dark matter annihilation in our Galaxy, and compare it with the WMAP and Planck data at 23–70 GHz. In addition to standard microwave foregrounds, we separately model the microwave counterpart to the Fermi Bubbles and the signal due to dark matter annihilation, and use component separation techniques to extract the signal associated with each template from the total emission. We confirm the presence of the Haze at the level of ≈7% of the total sky intensity at 23 GHz in our chosen region of interest, with a harder spectrum (I ∼ ν{sup −0.8}) than the synchrotron from regular cosmic-ray electrons. The data do not show a strong preference towards fitting the Haze by either the Bubbles or dark matter emission only. Inclusion of both components provides a better fit with a dark matter contribution to the Haze emission of ≈20% at 23 GHz, however, due to significant uncertainties in foreground modeling, we do not consider this a clear detection of a dark matter signal. We set robust upper limits on the annihilation cross section by ignoring foregrounds, and also report best-fit dark matter annihilation parameters obtained from a complete template analysis. We conclude that the WMAP and Planck data are consistent with a

Dark matter implications of the WMAP-Planck Haze

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Egorov, Andrey E.; Pierpaoli, Elena; Gaskins, Jennifer M.; Pietrobon, Davide

2016-01-01

Gamma rays and microwave observations of the Galactic Center and surrounding areas indicate the presence of anomalous emission, whose origin remains ambiguous. The possibility of dark matter annihilation explaining both signals through prompt emission at gamma rays and secondary emission at microwave frequencies from interactions of high-energy electrons produced in annihilation with the Galactic magnetic fields has attracted much interest in recent years. We investigate the dark matter interpretation of the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess by searching for the associated synchrotron emission in the WMAP and Planck microwave data. Considering various magnetic field and cosmic-ray propagation models, we predict the synchrotron emission due to dark matter annihilation in our Galaxy, and compare it with the WMAP and Planck data at 23–70 GHz. In addition to standard microwave foregrounds, we separately model the microwave counterpart to the Fermi Bubbles and the signal due to dark matter annihilation, and use component separation techniques to extract the signal associated with each template from the total emission. We confirm the presence of the Haze at the level of ≈7% of the total sky intensity at 23 GHz in our chosen region of interest, with a harder spectrum (I ∼ ν −0.8 ) than the synchrotron from regular cosmic-ray electrons. The data do not show a strong preference towards fitting the Haze by either the Bubbles or dark matter emission only. Inclusion of both components provides a better fit with a dark matter contribution to the Haze emission of ≈20% at 23 GHz, however, due to significant uncertainties in foreground modeling, we do not consider this a clear detection of a dark matter signal. We set robust upper limits on the annihilation cross section by ignoring foregrounds, and also report best-fit dark matter annihilation parameters obtained from a complete template analysis. We conclude that the WMAP and Planck data are consistent with a dark

Foreground removal from WMAP 7 yr polarization maps using an MLP neural network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard-Nielsen, Hans Ulrik

2012-01-01

. As a concrete example, the WMAP 7-year polarization data, the most reliable determination of the polarization properties of the CMB, has been analyzed. The analysis has adopted the frequency maps, noise models, window functions and the foreground models as provided by the WMAP Team, and no auxiliary data...

Inflation and WMAP three year data. Features have a feature.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Covi, L.; Hamann, J. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany); Melchiorri, A. [INFN, Roma (Italy)]|[Rome-3 Univ. (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica; Slosar, A. [Ljubljana Univ. (Slovenia). Faculty of Mathematics and Physics; Sorbera, I. [Rome-3 Univ. (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica

2006-06-15

The new three year WMAP data seem to confirm the presence of non-standard large scale features in the Cosmic Microwave Anisotropies power spectrum. While these features may hint at uncorrected experimental systematics, it is also possible to generate, in a cosmological way, oscillations on large angular scales by introducing a sharp step in the inflaton potential. Using current cosmological data, we derive constraints on the position, magnitude and gradient of a possible step in the inflaton potential. We show that a step in the potential, while strongly constrained by current data, is still allowed and may provide an interesting explanation to the currently measured deviations from the standard featureless spectrum. (Orig.)

Inflation and WMAP three year data. Features have a future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Covi, L.; Hamann, J.; Melchiorri, A.; Rome-3 Univ.; Slosar, A.; Sorbera, I.

2006-06-01

The new three year WMAP data seem to confirm the presence of non-standard large scale features in the Cosmic Microwave Anisotropies power spectrum. While these features may hint at uncorrected experimental systematics, it is also possible to generate, in a cosmological way, oscillations on large angular scales by introducing a sharp step in the inflaton potential. Using current cosmological data, we derive constraints on the position, magnitude and gradient of a possible step in the inflaton potential. We show that a step in the potential, while strongly constrained by current data, is still allowed and may provide an interesting explanation to the currently measured deviations from the standard featureless spectrum. (Orig.)

Measuring the cosmological background of relativistic particles with WMAP

CERN Document Server

Crotty, P; Pastor, S; Crotty, Patrick; Lesgourgues, Julien; Pastor, Sergio

2003-01-01

We show that the first year results of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) constrain very efficiently the energy density in relativistic particles in the universe. We derive new bounds on additional relativistic degrees of freedom expressed in terms of an excess in the effective number of light neutrinos Delta N_eff. Within the flat LambdaCDM scenario, the allowed range is Delta N_eff < 6 (95% CL) using WMAP data only, or -2.6 < Delta N_eff < 4 with the prior H_0= 72 \\pm 8 km/s/Mpc. When other cosmic microwave background and large scale structure experiments are taken into account, the window shrinks to -1.5 < Delta N_eff < 4.2. These results are in perfect agreement with the bounds from primordial nucleosynthesis. Non-minimal cosmological models with extra relativistic degrees of freedom are now severely restricted.

PROBING THE DARK FLOW SIGNAL IN WMAP 9 -YEAR AND PLANCK COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND MAPS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Atrio-Barandela, F. [Física Teórica, Universidad de Salamanca, E-37008 Salamanca (Spain); Kashlinsky, A. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and SSAI, Observational Cosmology Lab, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Ebeling, H. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); Fixsen, D. J. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and UMCP, Observational Cosmology Lab, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Kocevski, D., E-mail: atrio@usal.es, E-mail: Alexander.Kashlinsky@nasa.gov, E-mail: ebeling@ifa.hawaii.edu, E-mail: Dale.Fixsen@nasa.gov, E-mail: dale.kocevski@colby.edu [Physics and Astronomy, 5800 Mayflower Hill, Waterville, ME 04901 (United States)

2015-09-10

The “dark flow” dipole is a statistically significant dipole found at the position of galaxy clusters in filtered maps of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies. The dipole measured in WMAP 3-, 5-, and 7- year data releases was (1) mutually consistent, (2) roughly aligned with the all-sky CMB dipole, and (3) correlated with clusters’ X-ray luminosities. We analyzed WMAP 9 -year and Planck 1st- year data releases using a catalog of 980 clusters outside of the Kp0 mask to test our earlier findings. The dipoles measured on these new data sets are fully compatible with our earlier estimates, are similar in amplitude and direction to our previous results, and are in disagreement with the results of an earlier study by the Planck Collaboration. Furthermore, in the Planck data sets dipoles are found to be independent of frequency, ruling out the thermal Sunyaev–Zeldovich as the source of the effect. In the data of both WMAP and Planck we find a clear correlation between the dipole measured at the cluster location in filtered maps and the average anisotropy on the original maps, further proving that the dipole is associated with clusters. The dipole signal is dominated by the most massive clusters, with a statistical significance that is better than 99%, slightly larger than in WMAP. Since both data sets differ in foreground contributions, instrumental noise, and other systematics, the agreement between the WMAP and Planck dipoles argues against them being due to systematic effects in either of the experiments.

On the Origins of the CMB: Insight from the COBE, WMAP, and Relikt-1 Satellites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robitaille P.-M.

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The powerful “Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB” signal currently associated with the origins of the Universe is examined from a historical perspective and relative to the experimental context in which it was measured. Results from the COBE satellite are reviewed, with particular emphasis on the systematic error observed in determining the CMB temperature. The nature of the microwave signal emanating from the oceans is also discussed. From this analysis, it is demonstrated that it is improper for the COBE team to model the Earth as a 285 K blackbody source. The assignment of temperatures to objects that fail to meet the requirements set forth in Kirchhoff’s law constitutes a serious overextension of the laws of thermal emission. Using this evidence, and the general rule that powerful signals are associated with proximal sources, the CMB monopole signal is reassigned to the oceans. In turn, through the analysis of COBE, WMAP, and Relikt-1 data, the dipole signal is attributed to motion through a much weaker microwave field present both at the position of the Earth and at the second Lagrange point.

Mildly mixed coupled models vs. WMAP7 data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

La Vacca, Giuseppe; Bonometto, Silvio A.

2011-01-01

Mildly mixed coupled models include massive ν's and CDM-DE coupling. We present new tests of their likelihood vs. recent data including WMAP7, confirming it to exceed ΛCDM, although at ∼2--σ's. We then show the impact on the physics of the dark components of ν-mass detection in 3 H β-decay or 0νββ-decay experiments.

Low-ℓ power suppression in punctuated inflation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qureshi, Mussadiq H.; Iqbal, Asif; Malik, Manzoor A.; Souradeep, Tarun

2017-01-01

Motivated by Planck confirmation of an anomalously low value of the CMB temperature fluctuations up to multipole ℓ < 40, we in this paper try to explain such feature by investigating case of punctuated inflation scenario. This form of inflation potential is inspired by Minimal Super-symmetric Standard Model (MSSM) wherein suppression of curvature perturbation power at large scales is produced by introducing period of fast-roll phase of the inflation sandwiched between two stages of slow-roll phase. We apply Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to determine posterior distribution and the best fit values of the model parameters using recent WMAP9 and Planck data. We show that WMAP9 and Planck results are consistent with each other and that with Planck data we obtain tighter constraints for punctuated inflation parameters. We find that punctuated inflation leads to better fit in CMB data compared to simple power law model. The improvement in the fit to the WMAP9 data is Δ χ 2 ∼ 3.6 and for Planck the improvement is Δ χ 2 ∼ 5.4. We find that AIC does not discriminate between punctuated inflation and simple power law model for WMAP9 data. However, for Planck data we find that punctuated inflation is moderately preferred over a simple power law model.

Testing the dark matter origin of the WMAP-Planck haze with radio observations of spiral galaxies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlson, Eric; Linden, Tim; Profumo, Stefano [Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 (United States); Hooper, Dan, E-mail: erccarls@ucsc.edu, E-mail: dhooper@fnal.gov, E-mail: tlinden@ucsc.edu, E-mail: profumo@ucsc.edu [Center for Particle Astrophysics, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States)

2013-07-01

If the Galactic WMAP radio haze, as recently confirmed by Planck, is produced by dark matter annihilation or decay, similar diffuse radio halos should exist around other galaxies with physical properties comparable to the Milky Way. If instead the haze is due to an astrophysical mechanism peculiar to the Milky Way or to a transient event, a similar halo need not exist around all Milky Way ''twins''. We use radio observations of 66 spiral galaxies to test the dark matter origin of the haze. We select galaxies based on morphological type and maximal rotational velocity, and obtain their luminosities from a 1.49 GHz catalog and additional radio observations at other frequencies. We find many instances of galaxies with radio emission that is less than 5% as bright as naively expected from dark matter models that could produce the Milky Way haze, and at least 3 galaxies that are less than 1% as bright as expected, assuming dark matter distributions, magnetic fields, and cosmic ray propagation parameters equal to those of the Milky Way. For reasonable ranges for the variation of these parameters, we estimate the fraction of galaxies that should be expected to be significantly less bright in radio, and argue that this is marginally compatible with the observed distribution. While our findings therefore cannot rule out a dark matter origin for the radio haze at this time, we find numerous examples (including the Andromeda Galaxy) where, if dark matter is indeed the origin of the Milky Way haze, some mechanism must be in place to suppress the corresponding haze of the external galaxy. We point out that Planck data will offer opportunities to improve this type of constraint in a highly relevant frequency range and for a potentially larger set of candidate galaxies.

Searching for CPT violation with cosmic microwave background data from WMAP and BOOMERANG.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Bo; Li, Mingzhe; Xia, Jun-Qing; Chen, Xuelei; Zhang, Xinmin

2006-06-09

We search for signatures of Lorentz and violations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropies by using the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and the 2003 flight of BOOMERANG (B03) data. We note that if the Lorentz and symmetries are broken by a Chern-Simons term in the effective Lagrangian, which couples the dual electromagnetic field strength tensor to an external four-vector, the polarization vectors of propagating CMB photons will get rotated. Using the WMAP data alone, one could put an interesting constraint on the size of such a term. Combined with the B03 data, we found that a nonzero rotation angle of the photons is mildly favored: [Formula: See Text].

Low-ℓ power suppression in punctuated inflation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qureshi, Mussadiq H.; Iqbal, Asif; Malik, Manzoor A. [Department of Physics, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir 190006 (India); Souradeep, Tarun, E-mail: mussadiqqureshi111@gmail.com, E-mail: asifiqbal@kashmiruniversity.net, E-mail: mmalik@kashmiruniversity.ac.in, E-mail: tarun@iucaa.in [Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Post Bag 4, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007 (India)

2017-04-01

Motivated by Planck confirmation of an anomalously low value of the CMB temperature fluctuations up to multipole ℓ < 40, we in this paper try to explain such feature by investigating case of punctuated inflation scenario. This form of inflation potential is inspired by Minimal Super-symmetric Standard Model (MSSM) wherein suppression of curvature perturbation power at large scales is produced by introducing period of fast-roll phase of the inflation sandwiched between two stages of slow-roll phase. We apply Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to determine posterior distribution and the best fit values of the model parameters using recent WMAP9 and Planck data. We show that WMAP9 and Planck results are consistent with each other and that with Planck data we obtain tighter constraints for punctuated inflation parameters. We find that punctuated inflation leads to better fit in CMB data compared to simple power law model. The improvement in the fit to the WMAP9 data is Δ χ{sup 2} ∼ 3.6 and for Planck the improvement is Δ χ{sup 2} ∼ 5.4. We find that AIC does not discriminate between punctuated inflation and simple power law model for WMAP9 data. However, for Planck data we find that punctuated inflation is moderately preferred over a simple power law model.

Searching for planar signatures in WMAP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abramo, L. Raul; Bernui, Armando; Pereira, Thiago S.

2009-01-01

We search for planar deviations of statistical isotropy in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data by applying a recently introduced angular-planar statistics both to full-sky and to masked temperature maps, including in our analysis the effect of the residual foreground contamination and systematics in the foreground removing process as sources of error. We confirm earlier findings that full-sky maps exhibit anomalies at the planar (l) and angular (l) scales (l,l) = (2,5),(4,7), and (6,8), which seem to be due to unremoved foregrounds since this features are present in the full-sky map but not in the masked maps. On the other hand, our test detects slightly anomalous results at the scales (l,l) = (10,8) and (2,9) in the masked maps but not in the full-sky one, indicating that the foreground cleaning procedure (used to generate the full-sky map) could not only be creating false anomalies but also hiding existing ones. We also find a significant trace of an anomaly in the full-sky map at the scale (l,l) = (10,5), which is still present when we consider galactic cuts of 18.3% and 28.4%. As regards the quadrupole (l = 2), we find a coherent over-modulation over the whole celestial sphere, for all full-sky and cut-sky maps. Overall, our results seem to indicate that current CMB maps derived from WMAP data do not show significant signs of anisotropies, as measured by our angular-planar estimator. However, we have detected a curious coherence of planar modulations at angular scales of the order of the galaxy's plane, which may be an indication of residual contaminations in the full- and cut-sky maps

Testing a direction-dependent primordial power spectrum with observations of the cosmic microwave background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Yinzhe; Efstathiou, George; Challinor, Anthony

2011-01-01

Statistical isotropy is often assumed in cosmology and should be tested rigorously against observational data. We construct simple quadratic estimators to reconstruct asymmetry in the primordial power spectrum from CMB temperature and polarization data and verify their accuracy using simulations with quadrupole power asymmetry. We show that the Planck mission, with its millions of signal-dominated modes of the temperature anisotropy, should be able to constrain the amplitude of any spherical multipole of a scale-invariant quadrupole asymmetry at the 0.01 level (2σ). Almost independent constraints can be obtained from polarization at the 0.03 level after four full-sky surveys, providing an important consistency test. If the amplitude of the asymmetry is large enough, constraining its scale dependence should become possible. In scale-free quadrupole models with 1% asymmetry, consistent with the current limits from WMAP temperature data (after correction for beam asymmetries), Planck should constrain the spectral index q of power-law departures from asymmetry to Δq=0.3. Finally, we show how to constrain models with axisymmetry in the same framework. For scale-free quadrupole models, Planck should constrain the direction of the asymmetry to a 1σ accuracy of about 2 degrees using one year of temperature data.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmological Parameters from the 2008 Power Spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Dunkley, J.; Hlozek, R.; Sievers, J.; Acquaviva, V.; Ade, P. A. R.; Aguirre, P.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J. W.; Barrientos, L. F.; Battistelli, E. S.;

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the 600 less than l less than 8000 Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectrum at 148 GHz

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, J. W.; Acquaviva, V.; Ade, P. A. R.; Aguirre, P.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J. W.; Barrientos, L. F.; Bassistelli, E. S.; Bond, J. R.; Brown, B.;

Constraints on models with a break in the primordial power spectrum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Hong, E-mail: hongli@mail.ihep.ac.c [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, P.O. Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Theoretical Physics Center for Science Facilities (TPCSF), Chinese Academy of Science (China); Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100190 (China); Xia Junqing [Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste (Italy); Brandenberger, Robert [Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 University Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 2T8 (Canada); Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, P.O. Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Theoretical Physics Center for Science Facilities (TPCSF), Chinese Academy of Science (China); Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100190 (China); Zhang Xinmin [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, P.O. Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Theoretical Physics Center for Science Facilities (TPCSF), Chinese Academy of Science (China)

2010-07-05

One of the characteristics of the 'Matter Bounce' scenario, an alternative to cosmological inflation for producing a scale-invariant spectrum of primordial adiabatic fluctuations on large scales, is a break in the power spectrum at a characteristic scale, below which the spectral index changes from n{sub s}=1 to n{sub s}=3. We study the constraints which current cosmological data place on the location of such a break, and more generally on the position of the break and the slope at length scales smaller than the break. The observational data we use include the WMAP five-year data set (WMAP5), other CMB data from BOOMERanG, CBI, VSA, and ACBAR, large-scale structure data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS, their luminous red galaxies sample), Type Ia Supernovae data (the 'Union' compilation), and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Lyman-{alpha} forest power spectrum (Ly{alpha}) data. We employ the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to constrain the features in the primordial power spectrum which are motivated by the matter bounce model. We give an upper limit on the length scale where the break in the spectrum occurs.

Constraints on models with a break in the primordial power spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Hong; Xia Junqing; Brandenberger, Robert; Zhang Xinmin

2010-01-01

One of the characteristics of the 'Matter Bounce' scenario, an alternative to cosmological inflation for producing a scale-invariant spectrum of primordial adiabatic fluctuations on large scales, is a break in the power spectrum at a characteristic scale, below which the spectral index changes from n s =1 to n s =3. We study the constraints which current cosmological data place on the location of such a break, and more generally on the position of the break and the slope at length scales smaller than the break. The observational data we use include the WMAP five-year data set (WMAP5), other CMB data from BOOMERanG, CBI, VSA, and ACBAR, large-scale structure data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS, their luminous red galaxies sample), Type Ia Supernovae data (the 'Union' compilation), and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Lyman-α forest power spectrum (Lyα) data. We employ the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to constrain the features in the primordial power spectrum which are motivated by the matter bounce model. We give an upper limit on the length scale where the break in the spectrum occurs.

Features in the primordial spectrum: New constraints from WMAP7 and ACT data and prospects for the Planck mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benetti, Micol; Lattanzi, Massimiliano; Calabrese, Erminia; Melchiorri, Alessandro

2011-01-01

We update the constraints on possible features in the primordial inflationary density perturbation spectrum by using the latest data from the WMAP7 and ACT (Atacama Cosmology Telescope) cosmic microwave background experiments. The inclusion of new data significantly improves the constraints with respect to older work, especially to smaller angular scales. While we found no clear statistical evidence in the data for extensions to the simplest, featureless, inflationary model, models with a step provide a significantly better fit than standard featureless power-law spectra. We show that the possibility of a step in the inflationary potential like the one preferred by current data will soon be tested by the forthcoming temperature and polarization data from the Planck satellite mission.

Effect of the length of inflation on angular TT and TE power spectra in power-law inflation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirai, Shiro; Takami, Tomoyuki

2006-01-01

The effect of the length of inflation on the power spectra of scalar and tensor perturbations is estimated using the power-law inflation model with a scale factor of a(η) = (-η) p = t q . Considering various pre-inflation models with radiation-dominated or scalar matter-dominated periods before inflation in combination with two matching conditions, the temperature angular power spectrum (TT) and temperature-polarization cross-power spectrum (TE) are calculated and a likelihood analysis is performed. It is shown that the discrepancies between the Wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe (WMAP) data and the ΛCDM model, such as suppression of the spectrum at l = 2, 3 and oscillatory behaviour, may be explained by the finite length of inflation model if the length of inflation is near 60 e-folds and q ≥ 300. The proposed models retain similar values of χ 2 to that achieved by the ΛCDM model with respect to fit to the WMAP data, but display different characteristics of the angular TE power spectra at l ≤ 20

First observational tests of eternal inflation.

Science.gov (United States)

Feeney, Stephen M; Johnson, Matthew C; Mortlock, Daniel J; Peiris, Hiranya V

2011-08-12

The eternal inflation scenario predicts that our observable Universe resides inside a single bubble embedded in a vast inflating multiverse. We present the first observational tests of eternal inflation, performing a search for cosmological signatures of collisions with other bubble universes in cosmic microwave background data from the WMAP satellite. We conclude that the WMAP 7-year data do not warrant augmenting the cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant with bubble collisions, constraining the average number of detectable bubble collisions on the full sky N(s) < 1.6 at 68% C.L. Data from the Planck satellite can be used to more definitively test the bubble-collision hypothesis.

Taking the Measure of the Universe: Cosmology from the WMAP Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Hinshaw, Gary F.

2007-01-01

The data from the first three years of operation of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite provide detailed full-sky maps of the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropy and new full-sky maps of the polarization. Together, the data provide a wealth of cosmological information, including the age of the universe, the epoch when the first stars formed, and the overall composition of baryonic matter, dark matter, and dark energy. The results also provide constraints on the period of inflationary expansion in the very first moments of time. These and other aspects of the mission will be discussed.

Are all modes created equal? An analysis of the WMAP 5- and 7-year data without inflationary prejudice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gjerloew, Eirik; Elgaroey, Oystein

2011-01-01

We submit recent claims of hints of primordial tensor perturbations and a scale-dependent spectral index in the WMAP data to a closer scrutiny. Our approach differs in that we use different best-fit values at which to fix the parameters not to be varied, and in that we use CosmoMC, thus incorporating the WMAP likelihood code and EE and BB mode data. We introduce a new parameter to test the claims of a scale-dependent spectral index. While we do find some hints of a scale-dependent spectral index over the multipole range l=2-220, the change in maximum likelihood is too small to justify introducing a new parameter. We conclude that there is no significant detection of primordial tensor perturbations, and that the assumption of a scale-independent spectral index in this multipole range has little effect on the amount of primordial gravitational waves found.

Inflation after False Vacuum Decay observational Prospects after Planck

CERN Document Server

Bousso, Raphael; Senatore, Leonardo

2015-01-01

We assess potential signals of the formation of our universe by the decay of a false vacuum. Negative spatial curvature is one possibility, but the window for its detection is now small. However, another possible signal is a suppression of the CMB power spectrum at large angles. This arises from the steepening of the effective potential as it interpolates between a flat inflationary plateau and the high barrier separating us from our parent vacuum. We demonstrate that these two effects can be parametrically separated in angular scale. Observationally, the steepening effect appears to be excluded at large l; but it remains consistent with the slight lack of power below l about 30 found by the WMAP and Planck collaborations. We give two simple models which improve the fit to the Planck data; one with observable curvature and one without. Despite cosmic variance, we argue that future CMB polarization and most importantly large-scale structure observations should be able to corroborate the Planck anomaly if it is...

Foreground removal from WMAP 5 yr temperature maps using an MLP neural network

Science.gov (United States)

Nørgaard-Nielsen, H. U.

2010-09-01

Aims: One of the main obstacles for extracting the cosmic microwave background (CMB) signal from observations in the mm/sub-mm range is the foreground contamination by emission from Galactic component: mainly synchrotron, free-free, and thermal dust emission. The statistical nature of the intrinsic CMB signal makes it essential to minimize the systematic errors in the CMB temperature determinations. Methods: The feasibility of using simple neural networks to extract the CMB signal from detailed simulated data has already been demonstrated. Here, simple neural networks are applied to the WMAP 5 yr temperature data without using any auxiliary data. Results: A simple multilayer perceptron neural network with two hidden layers provides temperature estimates over more than 75 per cent of the sky with random errors significantly below those previously extracted from these data. Also, the systematic errors, i.e. errors correlated with the Galactic foregrounds, are very small. Conclusions: With these results the neural network method is well prepared for dealing with the high - quality CMB data from the ESA Planck Surveyor satellite. unknown author type, collab

New natural shapes of non-Gaussianity from high-derivative interactions and their optimal limits from WMAP 9-year data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Behbahani, Siavosh R.; Mirbabayi, Mehrdad; Senatore, Leonardo; Smith, Kendrick M.

2014-01-01

Given the fantastic experimental effort, it is important to thoroughly explore the signature space of inflationary models. The fact that higher derivative operators do not renormalize lower derivative ones allows us to find a large class of technically natural single-clock inflationary models where, in the context of the Effective Field Theory of Inflation, the leading interactions have many derivatives. We systematically explore the 3-point function induced by these models and their overlap with the standard equilateral and orthogonal templates. We find that in order to satisfactorily cover the signature space of these models, two new additional templates need to be included. We then perform the optimal analysis of the WMAP 9-year data for the resulting four templates, finding that the overall significance of a non-zero signal is between 2–2.5σ, depending on the choice of parameter space, partially driven by the preference for nonzero f NL orth in WMAP9

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Calibration with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Using Cross-Correlations

Science.gov (United States)

Hajian, Amir; Acquaviva, Viviana; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John William; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, John R.; Brown, Ben;

Observational constraints on variable equation of state parameters of dark matter and dark energy after Planck

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suresh Kumar

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we study a cosmological model in general relativity within the framework of spatially flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker space–time filled with ordinary matter (baryonic, radiation, dark matter and dark energy, where the latter two components are described by Chevallier–Polarski–Linder equation of state parameters. We utilize the observational data sets from SNLS3, BAO and Planck + WMAP9 + WiggleZ measurements of matter power spectrum to constrain the model parameters. We find that the current observational data offer tight constraints on the equation of state parameter of dark matter. We consider the perturbations and study the behavior of dark matter by observing its effects on CMB and matter power spectra. We find that the current observational data favor the cold dark matter scenario with the cosmological constant type dark energy at the present epoch.

Observational constraints on variable equation of state parameters of dark matter and dark energy after Planck

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Suresh; Xu, Lixin

2014-01-01

In this paper, we study a cosmological model in general relativity within the framework of spatially flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker space–time filled with ordinary matter (baryonic), radiation, dark matter and dark energy, where the latter two components are described by Chevallier–Polarski–Linder equation of state parameters. We utilize the observational data sets from SNLS3, BAO and Planck + WMAP9 + WiggleZ measurements of matter power spectrum to constrain the model parameters. We find that the current observational data offer tight constraints on the equation of state parameter of dark matter. We consider the perturbations and study the behavior of dark matter by observing its effects on CMB and matter power spectra. We find that the current observational data favor the cold dark matter scenario with the cosmological constant type dark energy at the present epoch

Signature of short distance physics on inflation power spectrum and CMB anisotropy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Das, Suratna; Mohanty, Subhendra

2009-01-01

The inflaton field responsible for inflation may not be a canonical fundamental scalar. It is possible that the inflaton is a composite of fermions or it may have a decay width. In these cases the standard procedure for calculating the power spectrum is not applicable and a new formalism needs to be developed to determine the effect of short range interactions of the inflaton on the power spectrum and the CMB anisotropy. We develop a general formalism for computing the power spectrum of curvature perturbations for such non-canonical cases by using the flat space Källén-Lehmann spectral function in curved quasi-de Sitter space assuming implicitly that the Bunch-Davis boundary conditions enforces the inflaton mode functions to be plane wave in the short wavelength limit and a complete set of mode functions exists in quasi-de Sitter space. It is observed that the inflaton with a decay width suppresses the power at large scale while a composite inflaton's power spectrum oscillates at large scales. These observations may be vindicated in the WMAP data and confirmed by future observations with PLANCK

Planck intermediate results LI. Features in the cosmic microwave background temperature power spectrum and shifts in cosmological parameters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aghanim, N.; Akrami, Y.; Ashdown, M.

2017-01-01

The six parameters of the standard ΛCDM model have best-fit values derived from the Planck temperature power spectrum that are shifted somewhat from the best-fit values derived from WMAP data. These shifts are driven by features in the Planck temperature power spectrum at angular scales that had ...

Foreground removal from WMAP 5 yr temperature maps using an MLP neural network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard-Nielsen, Hans Ulrik

2010-01-01

CMB signal makes it essential to minimize the systematic errors in the CMB temperature determinations. Methods. The feasibility of using simple neural networks to extract the CMB signal from detailed simulated data has already been demonstrated. Here, simple neural networks are applied to the WMAP 5...... yr temperature data without using any auxiliary data. Results. A simple multilayer perceptron neural network with two hidden layers provides temperature estimates over more than 75 per cent of the sky with random errors significantly below those previously extracted from these data. Also......, the systematic errors, i.e. errors correlated with the Galactic foregrounds, are very small. Conclusions. With these results the neural network method is well prepared for dealing with the high-quality CMB data from the ESA Planck Surveyor satellite. © ESO, 2010....

Determining cosmological parameters with the latest observational data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xia Junqing; Li Hong; Zhao Gongbo; Zhang Xinmin

2008-01-01

In this paper, we combine the latest observational data, including the WMAP five-year data (WMAP5), BOOMERanG, CBI, VSA, ACBAR, as well as the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and type Ia supernovae (SN) ''union'' compilation (307 sample), and use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to determine the cosmological parameters, such as the equation of state (EoS) of dark energy, the curvature of the universe, the total neutrino mass, and the parameters associated with the power spectrum of primordial fluctuations. In a flat universe, we obtain the tight limit on the constant EoS of dark energy as w=-0.977±0.056(stat)±0.057(sys). For the dynamical dark energy models with the time evolving EoS parametrized as w de (a)=w 0 +w 1 (1-a), we find that the best-fit values are w 0 =-1.08 and w 1 =0.368, while the ΛCDM model remains a good fit to the current data. For the curvature of the universe Ω k , our results give -0.012 k de =-1. When considering the dynamics of dark energy, the flat universe is still a good fit to the current data, -0.015 k s ≥1 are excluded at more than 2σ confidence level. However, in the framework of dynamical dark energy models, the allowed region in the parameter space of (n s ,r) is enlarged significantly. Finally, we find no strong evidence for the large running of the spectral index.

ANALYSIS OF WMAP 7 YEAR TEMPERATURE DATA: ASTROPHYSICS OF THE GALACTIC HAZE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pietrobon, Davide; Gorski, Krzysztof M.; Bartlett, James; Colombo, Loris P. L.; Jewell, Jeffrey B.; Pagano, Luca; Rocha, Graca; Lawrence, Charles R. [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099 (United States); Banday, A. J. [Universie de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, IRAP, Toulouse (France); Dobler, Gregory [Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara Kohn Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Hildebrandt, Sergi R. [Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Eriksen, Hans Kristian [Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029, Blindern, N-0315 Oslo (Norway); Saha, Rajib, E-mail: davide.pietrobon@jpl.nasa.gov [Physics Department, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal, MP 462023 (India)

2012-08-10

We perform a joint analysis of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and Galactic emission from the WMAP 7 year temperature data. Using the Commander code, based on Gibbs sampling, we simultaneously derive the CMB and Galactic components on scales larger than 1 Degree-Sign with improved sensitivity over previous work. We conduct a detailed study of the low-frequency Galactic foreground, focusing on the 'microwave haze' emission around the Galactic center. We demonstrate improved performance in quantifying the diffuse Galactic emission when including Haslam 408 MHz data and when jointly modeling the spinning and thermal dust emission. We examine whether the hypothetical Galactic haze can be explained by a spatial variation of the synchrotron spectral index, and find that the excess of emission around the Galactic center is stable with respect to variations of the foreground model. Our results demonstrate that the new Galactic foreground component-the microwave haze-is indeed present.

Probing modifications of general relativity using current cosmological observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Gongbo; Bacon, David J.; Koyama, Kazuya; Nichol, Robert C.; Song, Yong-Seon; Giannantonio, Tommaso; Pogosian, Levon; Silvestri, Alessandra

2010-01-01

We test general relativity (GR) using current cosmological data: the CMB from WMAP5 [E. Komatsu et al. (WMAP Collaboration), Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 180, 330 (2009)], the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect from the cross correlation of the CMB with six galaxy catalogs [T. Giannantonio et al., Phys. Rev. D 77, 123520 (2008)], a compilation of supernovae (SNe) type Ia including the latest Sloan Digital Sky Survey SNe [R. Kessler et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 185, 32 (2009).], and part of the weak lensing (WL) data from the Canada-Franco-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey [L. Fu et al., Astron. Astrophys. 479, 9 (2008); M. Kilbinger et al., Astron. Astrophys. 497, 677 (2009).] that probe linear and mildly nonlinear scales. We first test a model in which the effective Newtonian constant μ and the ratio of the two gravitational potentials, η, transit from the GR value to another constant at late times; in this case, we find that GR is fully consistent with the combined data. The strongest constraint comes from the ISW effect which would arise from this gravitational transition; the observed ISW signal imposes a tight constraint on a combination of μ and η that characterizes the lensing potential. Next, we consider four pixels in time and space for each function μ and η, and perform a principal component analysis, finding that seven of the resulting eight eigenmodes are consistent with GR within the errors. Only one eigenmode shows a 2σ deviation from the GR prediction, which is likely to be due to a systematic effect. However, the detection of such a deviation demonstrates the power of our time- and scale-dependent principal component analysis methodology when combining observations of structure formation and expansion history to test GR.

Neutrino cosmology after WMAP 7-year data and LHC first Z' bounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Anchordoqui, Luis Alfredo; Goldberg, Haim

2012-02-24

The gauge-extended U(1)(C)×SU(2)(L)×U(1)(I(R))×U(1)(L) model elevates the global symmetries of the standard model (baryon number B and lepton number L) to local gauge symmetries. The U(1)(L) symmetry leads to three superweakly interacting right-handed neutrinos. This also renders a B-L symmetry nonanomalous. The superweak interactions of these Dirac states permit ν(R) decoupling just above the QCD phase transition: 175 is < or approximately equal to T(ν(R))(dec)/MeV is < or approximately equal to 250. In this transitional region, the residual temperature ratio between ν(L) and ν(R) generates extra relativistic degrees of freedom at BBN and at the CMB epochs. Consistency with both WMAP 7-year data and recent estimates of the primordial 4He mass fraction is achieved for 3

POWER BEAMING LEAKAGE RADIATION AS A SETI OBSERVABLE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Benford, James N. [Microwave Sciences, 1041 Los Arabis Lane, Lafayette, CA 94549 (United States); Benford, Dominic J., E-mail: jimbenford@gmail.com [NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Observational Cosmology Laboratory, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

2016-07-10

The most observable leakage radiation from an advanced civilization may well be from the use of power beaming to transfer energy and accelerate spacecraft. Applications suggested for power beaming involve launching spacecraft to orbit, raising satellites to a higher orbit, and interplanetary concepts involving space-to-space transfers of cargo or passengers. We also quantify beam-driven launch to the outer solar system, interstellar precursors, and ultimately starships. We estimate the principal observable parameters of power beaming leakage. Extraterrestrial civilizations would know their power beams could be observed, and so could put a message on the power beam and broadcast it for our receipt at little additional energy or cost. By observing leakage from power beams we may find a message embedded on the beam. Recent observations of the anomalous star KIC 8462852 by the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) set some limits on extraterrestrial power beaming in that system. We show that most power beaming applications commensurate with those suggested for our solar system would be detectable if using the frequency range monitored by the ATA, and so the lack of detection is a meaningful, if modest, constraint on extraterrestrial power beaming in that system. Until more extensive observations are made, the limited observation time and frequency coverage are not sufficiently broad in frequency and duration to produce firm conclusions. Such beams would be visible over large interstellar distances. This implies a new approach to the SETI search: instead of focusing on narrowband beacon transmissions generated by another civilization, look for more powerful beams with much wider bandwidth. This requires a new approach for their discovery by telescopes on Earth. Further studies of power beaming applications should be performed, potentially broadening the parameter space of the observable features that we have discussed here.

Power filtration of CMB observational data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Novikov, D.I.; Naselsky, P.; Jørgensen, H.E.

2001-01-01

We propose a power filter Cp for linear reconstruction of the CMB signal from one-dimensional scans of observational maps. This Gp filter preserves the power spectrum of the CMB signal in contrast to the Wiener filter which diminishes the power spectrum of the reconstructed CMB signal. We demonst...

Observability of wind power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonot, J.P.; Fraisse, J.L.

2009-01-01

The total installed capacity of wind power grows from a few hundred MW at the beginning of 2005 to 3400 MW at the end of 2008. With such a trend, a total capacity of 7000 MW could be reached by 2010. The natural variability of wind power and the difficulty of its predictability require a change in the traditional way of managing supply/demand balance, day-ahead margins and the control of electrical flows. As a consequence, RTE operators should be informed quickly and reliably of the real time output power of wind farms and of its evolvement some hours or days ahead to ensure the reliability of the French electrical power system. French specificities are that wind farms are largely spread over the territory, that 95 % of wind farms have an output power below 10 MW and that they are connected to the distribution network. In this context, new tools were necessary to acquire as soon as possible data concerning wind power. In two years long, RTE set up an observatory of wind production 'IPES system' enable to get an access to the technical characteristics of the whole wind farms, to observe in real time 75 % of the wind generation and to implement a forecast model related to wind generation. (authors)

FERMI-LAT AND WMAP OBSERVATIONS OF THE PUPPIS A SUPERNOVA REMNANT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hewitt, J. W. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Grondin, M.-H. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik, D-69029 Heidelberg (Germany); Lemoine-Goumard, M.; Reposeur, T. [Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux-Gradignan, Universite Bordeaux 1, CNRS/IN2p3, F-33175 Gradignan (France); Ballet, J. [Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot, Service d' Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); Tanaka, T., E-mail: john.w.hewitt@nasa.gov, E-mail: marie-helene.grondin@mpi-hd.mpg.de, E-mail: lemoine@cenbg.in2p3.fr [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)

2012-11-10

We report the detection of GeV {gamma}-ray emission from the supernova remnant (SNR) Puppis A with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. Puppis A is among the faintest SNRs yet detected at GeV energies, with a luminosity of only 2.7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 34} (D/2.2 kpc){sup 2} erg s{sup -1} between 1 and 100 GeV. The {gamma}-ray emission from the remnant is spatially extended, with a morphology matching that of the radio and X-ray emission, and is well described by a simple power law with an index of 2.1. We attempt to model the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED), from radio to {gamma}-rays, using standard nonthermal emission mechanisms. To constrain the relativistic electron population we use 7 years of Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data to extend the radio spectrum up to 93 GHz. Both leptonic- and hadronic-dominated models can reproduce the nonthermal SED, requiring a total content of cosmic-ray electrons and protons accelerated in Puppis A of at least W {sub CR} Almost-Equal-To (1-5) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 49} erg.

The influence of super-horizon scales on cosmological observables generated during inflation

Science.gov (United States)

Matarrese, Sabino; Musso, Marcello A.; Riotto, Antonio

2004-05-01

Using the techniques of out-of-equilibrium field theory, we study the influence on properties of cosmological perturbations generated during inflation on observable scales coming from fluctuations corresponding today to scales much bigger than the present Hubble radius. We write the effective action for the coarse grained inflaton perturbations, integrating out the sub-horizon modes, which manifest themselves as a coloured noise and lead to memory effects. Using the simple model of a scalar field with cubic self-interactions evolving in a fixed de Sitter background, we evaluate the two- and three-point correlation function on observable scales. Our basic procedure shows that perturbations do preserve some memory of the super-horizon scale dynamics, in the form of scale dependent imprints in the statistical moments. In particular, we find a blue tilt of the power spectrum on large scales, in agreement with the recent results of the WMAP collaboration which show a suppression of the lower multipoles in the cosmic microwave background anisotropies, and a substantial enhancement of the intrinsic non-Gaussianity on large scales.

Cosmological parameters from pre-planck cosmic microwave background measurements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Calabrese, E.; Hlozek, R.; Battaglia, N.; Battistelli, E.; Bond, J.; Chluba, J.; Crichton, D.; Das, S.; Devlin, M.; Dunkley, J.; Dünner, R.; Farhang, M.; Gralla, M.; Hajian, A.; Halpern, M.; Hasselfield, M.; Hincks, A.; Irwin, K.; Kosowsky, A.; Louis, T.; Marriage, T.; Moodley, K.; Newburgh, L.; Niemack, M.; Nolta, M.; Page, L.; Sehgal, N.; Sherwin, B.; Sievers, J.; Sifon, Andalaft C.J.; Spergel, D.; Staggs, S.; Switzer, E.; Wollack, E.

2013-01-01

Recent data from the WMAP, ACT and SPT experiments provide precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background temperature power spectrum over a wide range of angular scales. The combination of these observations is well fit by the standard, spatially flat {$Lambda$}CDM cosmological model,

What do parameterized Om(z) diagnostics tell us in light of recent observations?

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Jing-Zhao; Cao, Shuo; Biesiada, Marek; Xu, Teng-Peng; Wu, Yan; Zhang, Si-Xuan; Zhu, Zong-Hong

2018-06-01

In this paper, we propose a new parametrization for Om(z) diagnostics and show how the most recent and significantly improved observations concerning the H(z) and SN Ia measurements can be used to probe the consistency or tension between the ΛCDM model and observations. Our results demonstrate that H 0 plays a very important role in the consistency test of ΛCDM with H(z) data. Adopting the Hubble constant priors from Planck 2013 and Riess, one finds considerable tension between the current H(z) data and ΛCDM model and confirms the conclusions obtained previously by others. However, with the Hubble constant prior taken from WMAP9, the discrepancy between H(z) data and ΛCDM disappears, i.e., the current H(z) observations still support the cosmological constant scenario. This conclusion is also supported by the results derived from the Joint Light-curve Analysis (JLA) SN Ia sample. The best-fit Hubble constant from the combination of H(z)+JLA ({H}0={68.81}-1.49+1.50 km s‑1 Mpc‑1) is very consistent with results derived both by Planck 2013 and WMAP9, but is significantly different from the recent local measurement by Riess.

Observations of the Polarisation of the Anomalous Microwave Emission: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. A. Rubiño-Martín

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The observational status of the polarisation of the anomalous microwave emission (AME is reviewed, both for individual compact Galactic regions as well as for the large-scale Galactic emission. There are six Galactic regions with existing polarisation constraints in the relevant range of 10–40 GHz: four dust clouds (Perseus, ρ Ophiuchi, LDN1622, and Pleiades and two HII regions (LPH96 and the Helix nebula. These constraints are discussed in detail and are complemented by deriving upper limits on the polarisation of the AME for those objects without published WMAP constraints. For the case of large-scale emission, two recent works, based on WMAP data, are reviewed. Currently, the best constraints on the fractional polarisation of the AME, at frequencies near the peak of the emission (i.e., 20–30 GHz, are at the level of ~1% (95.4% confidence level. Finally, we compare these constraints with the predictions of some theoretical AME models and discuss the possible impact of polarised AME on future primordial B-mode experiments.

COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND LIKELIHOOD APPROXIMATION BY A GAUSSIANIZED BLACKWELL-RAO ESTIMATOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rudjord, Oe.; Groeneboom, N. E.; Eriksen, H. K.; Huey, Greg; Gorski, K. M.; Jewell, J. B.

2009-01-01

We introduce a new cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature likelihood approximation called the Gaussianized Blackwell-Rao estimator. This estimator is derived by transforming the observed marginal power spectrum distributions obtained by the CMB Gibbs sampler into standard univariate Gaussians, and then approximating their joint transformed distribution by a multivariate Gaussian. The method is exact for full-sky coverage and uniform noise and an excellent approximation for sky cuts and scanning patterns relevant for modern satellite experiments such as the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and Planck. The result is a stable, accurate, and computationally very efficient CMB temperature likelihood representation that allows the user to exploit the unique error propagation capabilities of the Gibbs sampler to high ls. A single evaluation of this estimator between l = 2 and 200 takes ∼0.2 CPU milliseconds, while for comparison, a singe pixel space likelihood evaluation between l = 2 and 30 for a map with ∼2500 pixels requires ∼20 s. We apply this tool to the five-year WMAP temperature data, and re-estimate the angular temperature power spectrum, C l , and likelihood, L(C l ), for l ≤ 200, and derive new cosmological parameters for the standard six-parameter ΛCDM model. Our spectrum is in excellent agreement with the official WMAP spectrum, but we find slight differences in the derived cosmological parameters. Most importantly, the spectral index of scalar perturbations is n s = 0.973 ± 0.014, 1.9σ away from unity and 0.6σ higher than the official WMAP result, n s = 0.965 ± 0.014. This suggests that an exact likelihood treatment is required to higher ls than previously believed, reinforcing and extending our conclusions from the three-year WMAP analysis. In that case, we found that the suboptimal likelihood approximation adopted between l = 12 and 30 by the WMAP team biased n s low by 0.4σ, while here we find that the same approximation

Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Observations: Beam Maps and Window Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, R. S.; Weiland, J. L.; Odegard, N.; Wollack, E.; Hinshaw, G.; Larson, D.; Bennett, C. L.; Halpern, M.; Page, L.; Dunkley, J.; Gold, B.; Jarosik, N.; Kogut, A.; Limon, M.; Nolta, M. R.; Spergel, D. N.; Tucker, G. S.; Wright, E. L.

2009-02-01

Cosmology and other scientific results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) mission require an accurate knowledge of the beam patterns in flight. While the degree of beam knowledge for the WMAP one-year and three-year results was unprecedented for a CMB experiment, we have significantly improved the beam determination as part of the five-year data release. Physical optics fits are done on both the A and the B sides for the first time. The cutoff scale of the fitted distortions on the primary mirror is reduced by a factor of ~2 from previous analyses. These changes enable an improvement in the hybridization of Jupiter data with beam models, which is optimized with respect to error in the main beam solid angle. An increase in main-beam solid angle of ~1% is found for the V2 and W1-W4 differencing assemblies. Although the five-year results are statistically consistent with previous ones, the errors in the five-year beam transfer functions are reduced by a factor of ~2 as compared to the three-year analysis. We present radiometry of the planet Jupiter as a test of the beam consistency and as a calibration standard; for an individual differencing assembly, errors in the measured disk temperature are ~0.5%. WMAP is the result of a partnership between Princeton University and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Scientific guidance is provided by the WMAP Science Team.

Planck intermediate results LI. Features in the cosmic microwave background temperature power spectrum and shifts in cosmological parameters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aghanim, N.; Akrami, Y.; Ashdown, M.

2017-01-01

never before been measured to cosmic-variance level precision. We have investigated these shifts to determine whether they are within the range of expectation and to understand their origin in the data. Taking our parameter set to be the optical depth of the reionized intergalactic medium τ, the baryon...... density ωb, the matter density ωm, the angular size of the sound horizon θ∗, the spectral index of the primordial power spectrum, ns, and Ase- 2τ (where As is the amplitude of the primordial power spectrum), we have examined the change in best-fit values between a WMAP-like large angular-scale data set...

Spectrum of the Anomalous Microwave Emission in the North Celestial Pole with WMAP 7-Year Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Bonaldi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We estimate the frequency spectrum of the diffuse anomalous microwave emission (AME on the North Celestial Pole (NCP region of the sky with the Correlated Component Analysis (CCA component separation method applied to WMAP 7-yr data. The NCP is a suitable region for this analysis because the AME is weakly contaminated by synchrotron and free-free emission. By modeling the AME component as a peaked spectrum we estimate the peak frequency to be 21.7±0.8 GHz, in agreement with previous analyses which favored νp < 23 GHz. The ability of our method to correctly recover the position of the peak is verified through simulations. We compare the estimated AME spectrum with theoretical spinning dust models to constrain the hydrogen density nH. The best results are obtained with densities around 0.2–0.3 cm−3, typical of warm ionised medium (WIM to warm neutral medium (WNM conditions. The degeneracy with the gas temperature prevents an accurate determination of nH, especially for low hydrogen ionization fractions, where densities of a few cm−3 are also allowed.

Observational constraints on phantom power-law cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaeonikhom, Chakkrit; Gumjudpai, Burin; Saridakis, Emmanuel N.

2011-01-01

We investigate phantom cosmology in which the scale factor is a power law, and we use cosmological observations from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) and observational Hubble data, in order to impose complete constraints on the model parameters. We find that the power-law exponent is β∼-6.51 -0.25 +0.24 , while the Big Rip is realized at t s ∼104.5 -2.0 +1.9 Gyr, in 1σ confidence level. Providing late-time asymptotic expressions, we find that the dark-energy equation-of-state parameter at the Big Rip remains finite and equal to w DE ∼-1.153, with the dark-energy density and pressure diverging. Finally, we reconstruct the phantom potential.

Deconvolution map-making for cosmic microwave background observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armitage, Charmaine; Wandelt, Benjamin D.

2004-01-01

We describe a new map-making code for cosmic microwave background observations. It implements fast algorithms for convolution and transpose convolution of two functions on the sphere [B. Wandelt and K. Gorski, Phys. Rev. D 63, 123002 (2001)]. Our code can account for arbitrary beam asymmetries and can be applied to any scanning strategy. We demonstrate the method using simulated time-ordered data for three beam models and two scanning patterns, including a coarsened version of the WMAP strategy. We quantitatively compare our results with a standard map-making method and demonstrate that the true sky is recovered with high accuracy using deconvolution map-making

Optimized Large-scale CMB Likelihood and Quadratic Maximum Likelihood Power Spectrum Estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Gjerløw, E.; Colombo, L. P. L.; Eriksen, H. K.; Górski, K. M.; Gruppuso, A.; Jewell, J. B.; Plaszczynski, S.; Wehus, I. K.

2015-11-01

We revisit the problem of exact cosmic microwave background (CMB) likelihood and power spectrum estimation with the goal of minimizing computational costs through linear compression. This idea was originally proposed for CMB purposes by Tegmark et al., and here we develop it into a fully functioning computational framework for large-scale polarization analysis, adopting WMAP as a working example. We compare five different linear bases (pixel space, harmonic space, noise covariance eigenvectors, signal-to-noise covariance eigenvectors, and signal-plus-noise covariance eigenvectors) in terms of compression efficiency, and find that the computationally most efficient basis is the signal-to-noise eigenvector basis, which is closely related to the Karhunen-Loeve and Principal Component transforms, in agreement with previous suggestions. For this basis, the information in 6836 unmasked WMAP sky map pixels can be compressed into a smaller set of 3102 modes, with a maximum error increase of any single multipole of 3.8% at ℓ ≤ 32 and a maximum shift in the mean values of a joint distribution of an amplitude-tilt model of 0.006σ. This compression reduces the computational cost of a single likelihood evaluation by a factor of 5, from 38 to 7.5 CPU seconds, and it also results in a more robust likelihood by implicitly regularizing nearly degenerate modes. Finally, we use the same compression framework to formulate a numerically stable and computationally efficient variation of the Quadratic Maximum Likelihood implementation, which requires less than 3 GB of memory and 2 CPU minutes per iteration for ℓ ≤ 32, rendering low-ℓ QML CMB power spectrum analysis fully tractable on a standard laptop.

Primordial helium abundance from CMB: A constraint from recent observations and a forecast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichikawa, Kazuhide; Sekiguchi, Toyokazu; Takahashi, Tomo

2008-01-01

We studied a constraint on the primordial helium abundance Y p from current and future observations of CMB. Using the currently available data from WMAP, ACBAR, CBI, and BOOMERANG, we obtained the constraint as Y p =0.25 -0.07 +0.10 at 68% confidence level. We also provide a forecast for the Planck experiment using the Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. In addition to forecasting the constraint on Y p , we investigate how assumptions for Y p affect constraints on the other cosmological parameters.

Cosmological constraints on the amplitude of relic gravitational waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novosyadlij, B.; Apunevich, S.

2005-01-01

The evolution of the amplitude of relic gravitational waves (RGW) generated in early Universe has been analyzed. The analytical approximation is presented for angular power spectrum of cosmic microwave background anisotropies caused by gravitational waves through Sachs-Wolfe effect. The estimate of the most probable value for this amplitude was obtained on the basis of observation data on cosmic microwave background anisotropies from COBE, WMAP and BOOMERanG experiments along with large-scale structure observations

Nonsynchronous vibrations observed in a supercritical power transmission shaft

Science.gov (United States)

Darlow, M. S.; Zorzi, E. S.

1979-01-01

A flexible shaft is prone to a number of vibration phenomena which occur at frequencies other than synchronous with rotational speed. Nonsynchronous vibrations from several sources were observed while running a test rig designed to simulate the operation of a supercritical power transmission shaft. The test rig was run first with very light external damping and then with a higher level of external damping, for comparison. As a result, the effect of external damping on the nonsynchronous vibrations of the test rig was observed. All of these nonsynchronous vibrations were of significant amplitude. Their presence in the vibrations spectra for a supercritical power transmission shaft at various speeds in the operating range indicates that very careful attention to all of the vibration spectra should be made in any supercritical power transmission shafting. This paper presents a review of the analysis performed and a comparison with experimental data. A thorough discussion of the observed nonsynchronous whirl is also provided.

Observations of Earth space by self-powered stations in Antarctica.

Science.gov (United States)

Mende, S B; Rachelson, W; Sterling, R; Frey, H U; Harris, S E; McBride, S; Rosenberg, T J; Detrick, D; Doolittle, J L; Engebretson, M; Inan, U; Labelle, J W; Lanzerotti, L J; Weatherwax, A T

2009-12-01

Coupling of the solar wind to the Earth magnetosphere/ionosphere is primarily through the high latitude regions, and there are distinct advantages in making remote sensing observations of these regions with a network of ground-based observatories over other techniques. The Antarctic continent is ideally situated for such a network, especially for optical studies, because the larger offset between geographic and geomagnetic poles in the south enables optical observations at a larger range of magnetic latitudes during the winter darkness. The greatest challenge for such ground-based observations is the generation of power and heat for a sizable ground station that can accommodate an optical imaging instrument. Under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation, we have developed suitable automatic observing platforms, the Automatic Geophysical Observatories (AGOs) for a network of six autonomous stations on the Antarctic plateau. Each station housed a suite of science instruments including a dual wavelength intensified all-sky camera that records the auroral activity, an imaging riometer, fluxgate and search-coil magnetometers, and ELF/VLF and LM/MF/HF receivers. Originally these stations were powered by propane fuelled thermoelectric generators with the fuel delivered to the site each Antarctic summer. A by-product of this power generation was a large amount of useful heat, which was applied to maintain the operating temperature of the electronics in the stations. Although a reasonable degree of reliability was achieved with these stations, the high cost of the fuel air lift and some remaining technical issues necessitated the development of a different type of power unit. In the second phase of the project we have developed a power generation system using renewable energy that can operate automatically in the Antarctic winter. The most reliable power system consists of a type of wind turbine using a simple permanent magnet rotor and a new type of power

Enhancement of observability and protection of smart power system

Science.gov (United States)

Siddique, Abdul Hasib

It is important for a modern power grid to be smarter in order to provide reliable and sustainable supply of electricity. Traditional way of receiving data from the wired system is a very old and outdated technology. For a quicker and better response from the electric system, it is important to look at wireless systems as a feasible option. In order to enhance the observability and protection it is important to integrate wireless technology with the modern power system. In this thesis, wireless network based architecture for wide area monitoring and an alternate method for performing current measurement for protection of generators and motors, has been adopted. There are basically two part of this project. First part deals with the wide area monitoring of the power system and the second part focuses more on application of wireless technology from the protection point of view. A number of wireless method have been adopted in both the part, these includes Zigbee, analog transmission (Both AM and FM) and digital transmission. The main aim of our project was to propose a cost effective wide area monitoring and protection method which will enhance the observability and stability of power grid. A new concept of wireless integration in the power protection system has been implemented in this thesis work.

Observer-Based Load Frequency Control for Island Microgrid with Photovoltaic Power

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chaoxu Mu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available As renewable energy is widely integrated into the power system, the stochastic and intermittent power generation from renewable energy may cause system frequency deviating from the prescribed level, especially for a microgrid. In this paper, the load frequency control (LFC of an island microgrid with photovoltaic (PV power and electric vehicles (EVs is investigated, where the EVs can be treated as distributed energy storages. Considering the disturbances from load change and PV power, an observer-based integral sliding mode (OISM controller is designed to regulate the frequency back to the prescribed value, where the neural network observer is used to online estimate the PV power. Simulation studies on a benchmark microgrid system are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of OISM controller, and comparative results also demonstrate that the proposed method has a superior performance for stabilizing the frequency over the PID control.

A measurement of the cosmic microwave background B-mode polarization power spectrum at sub-degree scales with POLARBEAR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ade, P. A. R. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3XQ (United Kingdom); Akiba, Y.; Hasegawa, M. [The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Hayama, Miura District, Kanagawa 240-0115 (Japan); Anthony, A. E.; Halverson, N. W. [Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States); Arnold, K.; Atlas, M.; Barron, D.; Boettger, D.; Elleflot, T.; Feng, C. [Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093-0424 (United States); Borrill, J.; Errard, J. [Computational Cosmology Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Chapman, S. [Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2 (Canada); Chinone, Y.; Flanigan, D. [Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Dobbs, M.; Gilbert, A. [Physics Department, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4 (Canada); Fabbian, G. [AstroParticule et Cosmologie, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité (France); Grainger, W. [Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, STFC, Swindon, SN2 1SZ (United Kingdom); Collaboration: Polarbear Collaboration; and others

2014-10-20

We report a measurement of the B-mode polarization power spectrum in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using the POLARBEAR experiment in Chile. The faint B-mode polarization signature carries information about the universe's entire history of gravitational structure formation, and the cosmic inflation that may have occurred in the very early universe. Our measurement covers the angular multipole range 500 < ℓ < 2100 and is based on observations of an effective sky area of 25 deg{sup 2} with 3.'5 resolution at 150 GHz. On these angular scales, gravitational lensing of the CMB by intervening structure in the universe is expected to be the dominant source of B-mode polarization. Including both systematic and statistical uncertainties, the hypothesis of no B-mode polarization power from gravitational lensing is rejected at 97.2% confidence. The band powers are consistent with the standard cosmological model. Fitting a single lensing amplitude parameter A{sub BB} to the measured band powers, A{sub BB}=1.12±0.61(stat){sub −0.12}{sup +0.04}(sys)±0.07(multi), where A{sub BB} = 1 is the fiducial WMAP-9 ΛCDM value. In this expression, 'stat' refers to the statistical uncertainty, 'sys' to the systematic uncertainty associated with possible biases from the instrument and astrophysical foregrounds, and 'multi' to the calibration uncertainties that have a multiplicative effect on the measured amplitude A{sub BB}.

Is the 2MASS dipole convergent?

OpenAIRE

Chodorowski, Michał; Bilicki, Maciej; Mamon, Gary A.; Jarrett, Thomas

2010-01-01

We study the growth of the clustering dipole of galaxies from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). We find that the dipole does not converge before the completeness limit of the 2MASS Extended Source Catalog, i.e. up to about 300 Mpc/h. We compare the observed growth of the dipole with the theoretically expected, conditional growth for the LambdaCDM power spectrum and cosmological parameters constrained by WMAP. The observed growth turns out to be within 1-sigma confidence level of the theo...

CLUSTERING OF SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY III PHOTOMETRIC LUMINOUS GALAXIES: THE MEASUREMENT, SYSTEMATICS, AND COSMOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ho, Shirley; White, Martin; Schlegel, David J.; Seljak, Uros; Reid, Beth; Cuesta, Antonio; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Seo, Hee-Jong; De Putter, Roland; Ross, Ashley J.; Percival, Will J.; Saito, Shun; Schlafly, Eddie; Hernández-Monteagudo, Carlos; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Blanton, Michael; Skibba, Ramin; Schneider, Don; Mena, Olga; Viel, Matteo

2012-01-01

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) surveyed 14,555 deg 2 , and delivered over a trillion pixels of imaging data. We present a study of galaxy clustering using 900,000 luminous galaxies with photometric redshifts, spanning between z = 0.45 and z = 0.65, constructed from the SDSS using methods described in Ross et al. This data set spans 11,000 deg 2 and probes a volume of 3 h –3 Gpc 3 , making it the largest volume ever used for galaxy clustering measurements. We describe in detail the construction of the survey window function and various systematics affecting our measurement. With such a large volume, high-precision cosmological constraints can be obtained given careful control and understanding of the observational systematics. We present a novel treatment of the observational systematics and its applications to the clustering signals from the data set. In this paper, we measure the angular clustering using an optimal quadratic estimator at four redshift slices with an accuracy of ∼15%, with a bin size of δ l = 10 on scales of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs; at l ∼ 40-400). We also apply corrections to the power spectra due to systematics and derive cosmological constraints using the full shape of the power spectra. For a flat ΛCDM model, when combined with cosmic microwave background Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7 (WMAP7) and H 0 constraints from using 600 Cepheids observed by Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3; HST), we find Ω Λ = 0.73 ± 0.019 and H 0 to be 70.5 ± 1.6 s –1 Mpc –1 km. For an open ΛCDM model, when combined with WMAP7 + HST, we find Ω K = 0.0035 ± 0.0054, improved over WMAP7+HST alone by 40%. For a wCDM model, when combined with WMAP7+HST+SN, we find w = –1.071 ± 0.078, and H 0 to be 71.3 ± 1.7 s –1 Mpc –1 km, which is competitive with the latest large-scale structure constraints from large spectroscopic surveys such as the SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7) and WiggleZ. We also find that systematic-corrected power

On what scale should inflationary observables be constrained?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cortes, Marina; Liddle, Andrew R.; Mukherjee, Pia

2007-01-01

We examine the choice of scale at which constraints on inflationary observables are presented. We describe an implementation of the hierarchy of inflationary consistency equations which ensures that they remain enforced on different scales, and then seek to optimize the scale for presentation of constraints on marginalized inflationary parameters from WMAP3 data. For models with spectral index running, we find a strong variation of the constraints through the range of observational scales available, and optimize by finding the scale which decorrelates constraints on the spectral index n S and the running. This scale is k=0.017 Mpc -1 , and gives a reduction by a factor of more than four in the allowed parameter area in the n S -r plane (r being the tensor-to-scalar ratio) relative to k=0.002 Mpc -1 . These optimized constraints are similar to those obtained in the no-running case. We also extend the analysis to a larger compilation of data, finding essentially the same conclusions

On minimally parametric primordial power spectrum reconstruction and the evidence for a red tilt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verde, Licia; Peiris, Hiranya

2008-01-01

The latest cosmological data seem to indicate a significant deviation from scale invariance of the primordial power spectrum when parameterized either by a power law or by a spectral index with non-zero 'running'. This deviation, by itself, serves as a powerful tool for discriminating among theories for the origin of cosmological structures such as inflationary models. Here, we use a minimally parametric smoothing spline technique to reconstruct the shape of the primordial power spectrum. This technique is well suited to searching for smooth features in the primordial power spectrum such as deviations from scale invariance or a running spectral index, although it would recover sharp features of high statistical significance. We use the WMAP three-year results in combination with data from a suite of higher resolution cosmic microwave background experiments (including the latest ACBAR 2008 release), as well as large-scale structure data from SDSS and 2dFGRS. We employ cross-validation to assess, using the data themselves, the optimal amount of smoothness in the primordial power spectrum consistent with the data. This minimally parametric reconstruction supports the evidence for a power law primordial power spectrum with a red tilt, but not for deviations from a power law power spectrum. Smooth variations in the primordial power spectrum are not significantly degenerate with the other cosmological parameters

Observational constraints on the primordial curvature power spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Emami, Razieh; Smoot, George F.

2018-01-01

CMB temperature fluctuation observations provide a precise measurement of the primordial power spectrum on large scales, corresponding to wavenumbers 10‑3 Mpc‑1 lesssim k lesssim 0.1 Mpc‑1, [1-7, 11]. Luminous red galaxies and galaxy clusters probe the matter power spectrum on overlapping scales (0.02 Mpc‑1 lesssim k lesssim 0.7 Mpc‑1 [10, 12-20]), while the Lyman-alpha forest reaches slightly smaller scales (0.3 Mpc‑1 lesssim k lesssim 3 Mpc‑1 [22]). These observations indicate that the primordial power spectrum is nearly scale-invariant with an amplitude close to 2 × 10‑9, [5, 23-28]. These observations strongly support Inflation and motivate us to obtain observations and constraints reaching to smaller scales on the primordial curvature power spectrum and by implication on Inflation. We are able to obtain limits to much higher values of k lesssim 105 Mpc‑1 and with less sensitivity even higher k lesssim 1019‑ 1023 Mpc‑1 using limits from CMB spectral distortions and other limits on ultracompact minihalo objects (UCMHs) and Primordial Black Holes (PBHs). PBHs are one of the known candidates for the Dark Matter (DM). Due to their very early formation, they could give us valuable information about the primordial curvature perturbations. These are complementary to other cosmological bounds on the amplitude of the primordial fluctuations. In this paper, we revisit and collect all the published constraints on both PBHs and UCMHs. We show that unless one uses the CMB spectral distortion, PBHs give us a very relaxed bounds on the primordial curvature perturbations. UCMHs, on the other hand, are very informative over a reasonable k range (3 lesssim k lesssim 106 Mpc‑1) and lead to significant upper-bounds on the curvature spectrum. We review the conditions under which the tighter constraints on the UCMHs could imply extremely strong bounds on the fraction of DM that could be PBHs in reasonable models. Failure to satisfy these conditions would

Observational constraints on the types of cosmic strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sazhina, Olga S.; Sazhin, Mikhail V.; Scognamiglio, Diana

2014-01-01

This paper is aimed at setting observational limits to the number of cosmic strings (Nambu-Goto, Abelian-Higgs, semilocal) and other topological defects (textures). Radio maps of CMB anisotropy, provided by the space mission Planck for various frequencies, were filtered and then processed by the method of convolution with modified Haar functions (MHF) to search for cosmic string candidates. This method was designed to search for solitary strings, without additional assumptions as regards the presence of networks of such objects. The sensitivity of the MHF method is δT ∼ 10 μK in a background of δT ∼ 100 μK. The comparison of these with previously known results on search string network shows that strings can only be semilocal in the range of 1 / 5, with the upper restriction on individual string tension (linear density) of Gμ/c 2 ≤ 7.36 x 10 -7 . The texture model is also legal. There are no strings with Gμ/c 2 > 7.36 x 10 -7 . However, a comparison with the data for the search of non-Gaussian signals shows that the presence of several (up to three) Nambu-Goto strings is also possible. For Gμ/c 2 ≤ 4.83 x 10 -7 the MHF method is ineffective because of unverifiable spurious string candidates. Thus the existence of strings with tensions Gμ/c 2 ≤ 4.83 x 10 -7 is not prohibited but it is beyond the Planck data possibilities. The same string candidates have been found in the WMAP 9-year data. Independence of Planck and WMAP data sets serves as an additional argument to consider those string candidates as very promising. However, the final proof should be given by optical deep surveys. (orig.)

Cosmic microwave background anomalies in an open universe.

Science.gov (United States)

Liddle, Andrew R; Cortês, Marina

2013-09-13

We argue that the observed large-scale cosmic microwave anomalies, discovered by WMAP and confirmed by the Planck satellite, are most naturally explained in the context of a marginally open universe. Particular focus is placed on the dipole power asymmetry, via an open universe implementation of the large-scale gradient mechanism of Erickcek et al. Open inflation models, which are motivated by the string landscape and which can excite "supercurvature" perturbation modes, can explain the presence of a very-large-scale perturbation that leads to a dipole modulation of the power spectrum measured by a typical observer. We provide a specific implementation of the scenario which appears compatible with all existing constraints.

Estimation of inflation parameters for Perturbed Power Law model using recent CMB measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukherjee, Suvodip; Das, Santanu; Souradeep, Tarun; Joy, Minu

2015-01-01

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is an important probe for understanding the inflationary era of the Universe. We consider the Perturbed Power Law (PPL) model of inflation which is a soft deviation from Power Law (PL) inflationary model. This model captures the effect of higher order derivative of Hubble parameter during inflation, which in turn leads to a non-zero effective mass m eff for the inflaton field. The higher order derivatives of Hubble parameter at leading order sources constant difference in the spectral index for scalar and tensor perturbation going beyond PL model of inflation. PPL model have two observable independent parameters, namely spectral index for tensor perturbation ν t and change in spectral index for scalar perturbation ν st to explain the observed features in the scalar and tensor power spectrum of perturbation. From the recent measurements of CMB power spectra by WMAP, Planck and BICEP-2 for temperature and polarization, we estimate the feasibility of PPL model with standard ΛCDM model. Although BICEP-2 claimed a detection of r=0.2, estimates of dust contamination provided by Planck have left open the possibility that only upper bound on r will be expected in a joint analysis. As a result we consider different upper bounds on the value of r and show that PPL model can explain a lower value of tensor to scalar ratio (r<0.1 or r<0.01) for a scalar spectral index of n s =0.96 by having a non-zero value of effective mass of the inflaton field m 2 eff /H 2 . The analysis with WP + Planck likelihood shows a non-zero detection of m 2 eff /H 2 with 5.7 σ and 8.1 σ respectively for r<0.1 and r<0.01. Whereas, with BICEP-2 likelihood m 2 eff /H 2  = −0.0237 ± 0.0135 which is consistent with zero

Asymmetric beams and CMB statistical anisotropy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanson, Duncan; Lewis, Antony; Challinor, Anthony

2010-01-01

Beam asymmetries result in statistically anisotropic cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps. Typically, they are studied for their effects on the CMB power spectrum, however they more closely mimic anisotropic effects such as gravitational lensing and primordial power asymmetry. We discuss tools for studying the effects of beam asymmetry on general quadratic estimators of anisotropy, analytically for full-sky observations as well as in the analysis of realistic data. We demonstrate this methodology in application to a recently detected 9σ quadrupolar modulation effect in the WMAP data, showing that beams provide a complete and sufficient explanation for the anomaly.

Testing Cosmology with Cosmic Sound Waves

CERN Document Server

Corasaniti, Pier Stefano

2008-01-01

WMAP observations have accurately determined the position of the first two peaks and dips in the CMB temperature power spectrum. These encode information on the ratio of the distance to the last scattering surface to the sound horizon at decoupling. However pre-recombination processes can contaminate this distance information. In order to assess the amplitude of these effects we use the WMAP data and evaluate the relative differences of the CMB peaks and dips multipoles. We find that the position of the first peak is largely displaced with the respect to the expected position of the sound horizon scale at decoupling. In contrast the relative spacings of the higher extrema are statistically consistent with those expected from perfect harmonic oscillations. This provides evidence for a scale dependent phase shift of the CMB oscillations which is caused by gravitational driving forces affecting the propagation of sound waves before recombination. By accounting for these effects we have performed a MCMC likelihoo...

Optimized Adaptive Perturb and Observe Maximum Power Point Tracking Control for Photovoltaic Generation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luigi Piegari

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The power extracted from PV arrays is usually maximized using maximum power point tracking algorithms. One of the most widely used techniques is the perturb & observe algorithm, which periodically perturbs the operating point of the PV array, sometime with an adaptive perturbation step, and compares the PV power before and after the perturbation. This paper analyses the most suitable perturbation step to optimize maximum power point tracking performance and suggests a design criterion to select the parameters of the controller. Using this proposed adaptive step, the MPPT perturb & observe algorithm achieves an excellent dynamic response by adapting the perturbation step to the actual operating conditions of the PV array. The proposed algorithm has been validated and tested in a laboratory using a dual input inductor push-pull converter. This particular converter topology is an efficient interface to boost the low voltage of PV arrays and effectively control the power flow when input or output voltages are variable. The experimental results have proved the superiority of the proposed algorithm in comparison of traditional perturb & observe and incremental conductance techniques.

ACOUSTIC SCALE FROM THE ANGULAR POWER SPECTRA OF SDSS-III DR8 PHOTOMETRIC LUMINOUS GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seo, Hee-Jong; Ho, Shirley; White, Martin; Reid, Beth; Schlegel, David J.; Cuesta, Antonio J.; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Ross, Ashley J.; Percival, Will J.; Nichol, Robert C.; Saito, Shun; De Putter, Roland; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Xu Xiaoying; Skibba, Ramin; Schneider, Donald P.; Verde, Licia; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Brewington, Howard; Brinkmann, J.

2012-01-01

We measure the acoustic scale from the angular power spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Data Release 8 imaging catalog that includes 872, 921 galaxies over ∼10,000 deg 2 between 0.45 A (z)/r s = 9.212 +0.416 – 0 .404 at z = 0.54, and therefore D A (z) = 1411 ± 65 Mpc at z = 0.54; the result is fairly independent of assumptions on the underlying cosmology. Our measurement of angular diameter distance D A (z) is 1.4σ higher than what is expected for the concordance ΛCDM, in accordance to the trend of other spectroscopic BAO measurements for z ∼> 0.35. We report constraints on cosmological parameters from our measurement in combination with the WMAP7 data and the previous spectroscopic BAO measurements of SDSS and WiggleZ. We refer to our companion papers (Ho et al.; de Putter et al.) for investigations on information of the full power spectrum.

Τhe observational and empirical thermospheric CO2 and NO power do not exhibit power-law behavior; an indication of their reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Varotsos, C. A.; Efstathiou, M. N.

2018-03-01

In this paper we investigate the evolution of the energy emitted by CO2 and NO from the Earth's thermosphere on a global scale using both observational and empirically derived data. In the beginning, we analyze the daily power observations of CO2 and NO received from the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) equipment on the NASA Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite for the entire period 2002-2016. We then perform the same analysis on the empirical daily power emitted by CO2 and NO that were derived recently from the infrared energy budget of the thermosphere during 1947-2016. The tool used for the analysis of the observational and empirical datasets is the detrended fluctuation analysis, in order to investigate whether the power emitted by CO2 and by NO from the thermosphere exhibits power-law behavior. The results obtained from both observational and empirical data do not support the establishment of the power-law behavior. This conclusion reveals that the empirically derived data are characterized by the same intrinsic properties as those of the observational ones, thus enhancing the validity of their reliability.

CLUSTERING OF SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY III PHOTOMETRIC LUMINOUS GALAXIES: THE MEASUREMENT, SYSTEMATICS, AND COSMOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ho, Shirley; White, Martin; Schlegel, David J.; Seljak, Uros; Reid, Beth [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd, MS 50R-5045, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Cuesta, Antonio; Padmanabhan, Nikhil [Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States); Seo, Hee-Jong [Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, LBL and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); De Putter, Roland [ICC, University of Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Marti i Franques 1, E-08028 Barcelona (Spain); Ross, Ashley J.; Percival, Will J. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Saito, Shun [Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley, CA (United States); Schlafly, Eddie [Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, 60 Garden St. MS 20, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Hernandez-Monteagudo, Carlos [Centro de Estudios de Fisica del Cosmos de Aragon (CEFCA), Plaza de San Juan 1, planta 2, E-44001 Teruel (Spain); Sanchez, Ariel G. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse 1, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Blanton, Michael [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Skibba, Ramin [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Schneider, Don [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Mena, Olga [Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular, Universidad de Valencia-CSIC (Spain); Viel, Matteo, E-mail: cwho@lbl.gov [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G. B. Tiepolo 11, I-34131 Trieste (Italy); and others

2012-12-10

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) surveyed 14,555 deg{sup 2}, and delivered over a trillion pixels of imaging data. We present a study of galaxy clustering using 900,000 luminous galaxies with photometric redshifts, spanning between z = 0.45 and z = 0.65, constructed from the SDSS using methods described in Ross et al. This data set spans 11,000 deg{sup 2} and probes a volume of 3 h {sup -3} Gpc{sup 3}, making it the largest volume ever used for galaxy clustering measurements. We describe in detail the construction of the survey window function and various systematics affecting our measurement. With such a large volume, high-precision cosmological constraints can be obtained given careful control and understanding of the observational systematics. We present a novel treatment of the observational systematics and its applications to the clustering signals from the data set. In this paper, we measure the angular clustering using an optimal quadratic estimator at four redshift slices with an accuracy of {approx}15%, with a bin size of {delta}{sub l} = 10 on scales of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs; at l {approx} 40-400). We also apply corrections to the power spectra due to systematics and derive cosmological constraints using the full shape of the power spectra. For a flat {Lambda}CDM model, when combined with cosmic microwave background Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7 (WMAP7) and H{sub 0} constraints from using 600 Cepheids observed by Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3; HST), we find {Omega}{sub {Lambda}} = 0.73 {+-} 0.019 and H{sub 0} to be 70.5 {+-} 1.6 s{sup -1} Mpc{sup -1} km. For an open {Lambda}CDM model, when combined with WMAP7 + HST, we find {Omega}{sub K} = 0.0035 {+-} 0.0054, improved over WMAP7+HST alone by 40%. For a wCDM model, when combined with WMAP7+HST+SN, we find w = -1.071 {+-} 0.078, and H{sub 0} to be 71.3 {+-} 1.7 s{sup -1} Mpc{sup -1} km, which is competitive with the latest large-scale structure constraints from large spectroscopic

High Voltage Overhead Power Line Routing under an Objective Observability Criterion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Alfredo Fernandez-Jimenez

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The construction of new high voltage overhead power lines (HVOPLs has become a controversial issue for electricity companies due to social opposition. Citizens are concerned about how these power lines may have an impact on their lives, basically caused by their effects on health and safety. Visual impact is one of the most easily perceived. Although there are several published works that deal with the assessment of the visual impact produced by HVOPLs, no methodology has been proposed to assess this impact from an objective perspective. This work presents an original methodology which helps to identify the optimal routes for a new HVOPL under an objective observability criterion, enabling the selection of those with the lowest visibility in a zone. The application of the proposed methodology achieves a set of routes that links new HVOPL origin and destination points creating a corridor which includes all possible routes with an observability of its towers under a threshold limit. This methodology is illustrated by a real-life use corresponding to the selection of the route with least observability for a new power line in La Rioja (Spain. The results obtained may help to achieve a consensus between key stakeholders since it is focused on the specific issues of the planned HVOPL and its observability from an objective perspective.

Observational constraints on dark energy and cosmic curvature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yun; Mukherjee, Pia

2007-01-01

Current observational bounds on dark energy depend on our assumptions about the curvature of the universe. We present a simple and efficient method for incorporating constraints from cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy data and use it to derive constraints on cosmic curvature and dark energy density as a free function of cosmic time using current CMB, Type Ia supernova (SN Ia), and baryon acoustic oscillation data. We show that there are two CMB shift parameters, R≡√(Ω m H 0 2 )r(z CMB ) (the scaled distance to recombination) and l a ≡πr(z CMB )/r s (z CMB ) (the angular scale of the sound horizon at recombination), with measured values that are nearly uncorrelated with each other. Allowing nonzero cosmic curvature, the three-year WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) data give R=1.71±0.03, l a =302.5±1.2, and Ω b h 2 =0.02173±0.00082, independent of the dark energy model. The corresponding bounds for a flat universe are R=1.70±0.03, l a =302.2±1.2, and Ω b h 2 =0.022±0.00082. We give the covariance matrix of (R,l a ,Ω b h 2 ) from the three-year WMAP data. We find that (R,l a ,Ω b h 2 ) provide an efficient and intuitive summary of CMB data as far as dark energy constraints are concerned. Assuming the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) prior of H 0 =72±8 (km/s) Mpc -1 , using 182 SNe Ia (from the HST/GOODS program, the first year Supernova Legacy Survey, and nearby SN Ia surveys), (R,l a ,Ω b h 2 ) from WMAP three-year data, and SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey) measurement of the baryon acoustic oscillation scale, we find that dark energy density is consistent with a constant in cosmic time, with marginal deviations from a cosmological constant that may reflect current systematic uncertainties or true evolution in dark energy. A flat universe is allowed by current data: Ω k =-0.006 -0.012-0.025 +0.013+0.025 for assuming that the dark energy equation of state w X (z) is constant, and Ω k =-0.002 -0.018-0.032 +0.018+0.041 for w X (z

4. VACUI RATIONE. OBSERVABILITY AND CAUSAL POWERS OF A NONENTITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enrico Pasini

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The notion of the vacuum is transmitted to early modern natural philosophy mainly in two versions: macroscopic void space, as a component of standard atomist theories; and microscopic void spaces interspersed within matter, that according to the pneumatic literature can be forcefully collected into artificial vacua of the first sort. Both kinds of natural vacua are directly or indirectly connected to causal effects, that may be attributed to different causal powers, directly or indirectly pertaining to the vacuum itself. The question also arises whether the purported physical vacuum ought to be observable, either directly or through the presence versus the testable absence of the same causal powers. In contrast to natural philosophy, within the medical discourse—more open to different interpretations of phenomena connected with the vacuum—even the question of observability might present unexpected facets.

Does the small CMB quadrupole moment suggest new physics?

CERN Document Server

Cline, J M; Lesgourgues, Julien; Cline, James M.; Crotty, Patrick; Lesgourgues, Julien

2003-01-01

Motivated by WMAP's confirmation of an anomalously low value of the quadrupole moment of the CMB temperature fluctuations, we investigate the effects on the CMB of cutting off the primordial power spectrum P(k) at low wave numbers. This could arise, for example, from a break in the inflaton potential, a prior period of matter or radiation domination, or an oscillating scalar field which couples to the inflaton. We reanalyze the full WMAP parameter space supplemented by a low-k cutoff for P(k). The temperature correlations by themselves are better fit by a cutoff spectrum, but including the TE temperature-polarization spectrum reduces this preference to a 1.4 sigma effect. Inclusion of large scale structure data does not change the conclusion. If taken seriously, the low-k cutoff is correlated with optical depth so that reionization occurs even earlier than indicated by the WMAP analysis.

Planck constraints on monodromy inflation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Easther, Richard; Flauger, Raphael

2014-01-01

We use data from the nominal Planck mission to constrain modulations in the primordial power spectrum associated with monodromy inflation. The largest improvement in fit relative to the unmodulated model has Δχ 2 ≈ 10 and we find no evidence for a primordial signal, in contrast to a previous analysis of the WMAP9 dataset, for which Δχ 2 ≈ 20. The Planck and WMAP9 results are broadly consistent on angular scales where they are expected to agree as far as best-fit values are concerned. However, even on these scales the significance of the signal is reduced in Planck relative to WMAP, and is consistent with a fit to the ''noise'' associated with cosmic variance. Our results motivate both a detailed comparison between the two experiments and a more careful study of the theoretical predictions of monodromy inflation

THE LOCAL DUST FOREGROUNDS IN THE MICROWAVE SKY. I. THERMAL EMISSION SPECTRA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dikarev, Valeri; Preuss, Oliver; Solanki, Sami; Krueger, Harald; Krivov, Alexander

2009-01-01

Analyses of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation maps made by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) have revealed anomalies not predicted by the standard inflationary cosmology. In particular, the power of the quadrupole moment of the CMB fluctuations is remarkably low, and the quadrupole and octopole moments are aligned mutually and with the geometry of the solar system. It has been suggested in the literature that microwave sky pollution by an unidentified dust cloud in the vicinity of the solar system may be the cause for these anomalies. In this paper, we simulate the thermal emission by clouds of spherical homogeneous particles of several materials. Spectral constraints from the WMAP multi-wavelength data and earlier infrared observations on the hypothetical dust cloud are used to determine the dust cloud's physical characteristics. In order for its emissivity to demonstrate a flat, CMB-like wavelength dependence over the WMAP wavelengths (3 through 14 mm), and to be invisible in the infrared light, its particles must be macroscopic. Silicate spheres of several millimeters in size and carbonaceous particles an order of magnitude smaller will suffice. According to our estimates of the abundance of such particles in the zodiacal cloud and trans-Neptunian belt, yielding the optical depths of the order of 10 -7 for each cloud, the solar system dust can well contribute 10 μK (within an order of magnitude) in the microwaves. This is not only intriguingly close to the magnitude of the anomalies (about 30 μK), but also alarmingly above the presently believed magnitude of systematic biases of the WMAP results (below 5 μK) and, to an even greater degree, of the future missions with higher sensitivities, e.g., Planck.

Observability and Decision Support for Supervision of Distributed Power System Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pertl, Michael

approach for real-time voltage estimation in active distribution grids, and a modeling approach to harness the flexibility of an aggregation of electric vehicles. For improved monitoring and maintaining power system stability, a decision support tool for transient stability preventive control, based...... stability margin is presented. The approach delivers a near optimal solution in terms of cost minimization due to its sequential nature and shows to be robust when applied to larger power systems. The general problem of low distribution grid observability is addressed by proposing a data-driven approach...... results in additional demand for charging which will require large investments in power distribution, transmission, and generation. However, this demand is often also flexible in time and can be actively managed to reduce the required investments and to enhance power system operation. Harnessing...

Emitted Power of Jupiter Based on Cassini CIRS and VIMS Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Liming; Baines, Kevin H.; Smith, Mark A.; West, Robert A.; Perez-Hoyos, Santiago; Trammel, Harold J.; Simon-Miller, Amy A.; Conrath, Barney J.; Gierasch, Peter J.; Orton, Glenn S.;

Performances improvement of maximum power point tracking perturb and observe method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Egiziano, L.; Femia, N.; Granozio, D.; Petrone, G.; Spagnuolo, G. [Salermo Univ., Salermo (Italy); Vitelli, M. [Seconda Univ. di Napoli, Napoli (Italy)

2006-07-01

Perturb and observe best operation conditions were investigated in order to identify edge efficiency performance capabilities of a maximum power point (MPP) tracking technique for photovoltaic (PV) applications. The strategy was developed to ensure a 3-points behavior across the MPP under a fixed irradiation level with a central point blocked on the MPP and 2 operating points operating at voltage values that guaranteed the same power levels. The system was also devised to quickly detect the MPP movement in the presence of varying atmospheric conditions by increasing the perturbation so that the MPP was guaranteed within a few sampling periods. A perturbation equation was selected where amplitude was represented as a function of the actual power drawn from the PV field together with the adoption of a parabolic interpolation of the sequence of the final 3 acquired voltage power couples corresponding to as many operating points. The technique was developed to ensure that the power difference between 2 consecutive operating points was higher than the power quantization error. Simulations were conducted to demonstrate that the proposed technique arranged operating points symmetrically around the MPP. The average power of the 3-points set was achieved by means of the parabolic prediction. Experiments conducted to validate the simulation showed a reduced power oscillation below the MPP and a real power gain. 2 refs., 8 figs.

Correlated adiabatic and isocurvature cosmic microwave background fluctuations in the wake of the results from the wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe.

Science.gov (United States)

Väliviita, Jussi; Muhonen, Vesa

2003-09-26

In general correlated models, in addition to the usual adiabatic component with a spectral index n(ad1) there is another adiabatic component with a spectral index n(ad2) generated by entropy perturbation during inflation. We extend the analysis of a correlated mixture of adiabatic and isocurvature cosmic microwave background fluctuations of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) group, who set the two adiabatic spectral indices equal. Allowing n(ad1) and n(ad2) to vary independently we find that the WMAP data favor models where the two adiabatic components have opposite spectral tilts. Using the WMAP data only, the 2sigma upper bound for the isocurvature fraction f(iso) of the initial power spectrum at k(0)=0.05 Mpc(-1) increases somewhat, e.g., from 0.76 of n(ad2)=n(ad1) models to 0.84 with a prior n(iso)<1.84 for the isocurvature spectral index.

Observational hints on the Big Bounce

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mielczarek, Jakub; Kurek, Aleksandra; Szydłowski, Marek; Kamionka, Michał

2010-01-01

In this paper we study possible observational consequences of the bouncing cosmology. We consider a model where a phase of inflation is preceded by a cosmic bounce. While we consider in this paper only that the bounce is due to loop quantum gravity, most of the results presented here can be applied for different bouncing cosmologies. We concentrate on the scenario where the scalar field, as the result of contraction of the universe, is driven from the bottom of the potential well. The field is amplified, and finally the phase of the standard slow-roll inflation is realized. Such an evolution modifies the standard inflationary spectrum of perturbations by the additional oscillations and damping on the large scales. We extract the parameters of the model from the observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation. In particular, the value of inflaton mass is equal to m = (1.7±0.6)·10 13 GeV. In our considerations we base on the seven years of observations made by the WMAP satellite. We propose the new observational consistency check for the phase of slow-roll inflation. We investigate the conditions which have to be fulfilled to make the observations of the Big Bounce effects possible. We translate them to the requirements on the parameters of the model and then put the observational constraints on the model. Based on assumption usually made in loop quantum cosmology, the Barbero-Immirzi parameter was shown to be constrained by γ < 1100 from the cosmological observations. We have compared the Big Bounce model with the standard Big Bang scenario and showed that the present observational data is not informative enough to distinguish these models

Nonlinear observer designs for fuel cell power systems

Science.gov (United States)

Gorgun, Haluk

A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that combines hydrogen and oxygen, with the aid of electro-catalysts, to produce electricity. A fuel cell consists of a negatively charged anode, a positively charged cathode and an electrolyte, which transports protons or ions. A low temperature fuel cell has an electrical potential of about 0.7 Volt when generating a current density of 300--500 mA/cm2. Practical fuel cell power systems will require a combination of several cells in series (a stack) to satisfy the voltage requirements of specific applications. Fuel cells are suitable for a potentially wide variety of applications, from stationary power generation in the range of hundreds of megawatts to portable electronics in the range of a couple of watts. Efficient operation of a fuel cell system requires advanced feedback control designs. Reliable measurements from the system are necessary to implement such designs. However, most of the commercially available sensors do not operate properly in the reformate and humidified gas streams in fuel cell systems. Sensors working varying degrees of success are too big and costly, and sensors that are potentially low cost are not reliable or do not have the required life time [28]. Observer designs would eliminate sensor needs for measurements, and make feedback control implementable. Since the fuel cell system dynamics are highly nonlinear, observer design is not an easy task. In this study we aim to develop nonlinear observer design methods applicable to fuel cell systems. In part I of the thesis we design an observer to estimate the hydrogen partial pressure in the anode channel. We treat inlet partial pressure as an unknown slowly varying parameter and develop an adaptive observer that employs a nonlinear voltage injection term. However in this design Fuel Processing System (FPS) dynamics are not modelled, and their effect on the anode dynamics are treated as plant uncertainty. In part II of the thesis we study the FPS

Direct Power Control for Three-Phase Two-Level Voltage-Source Rectifiers Based on Extended-State Observation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Song, Zhanfeng; Tian, Yanjun; Yan, Zhuo

2016-01-01

This paper proposed a direct power control strategy for three-phase two-level voltage-source rectifiers based on extended-state observation. Active and reactive powers are directly regulated in the stationary reference frame. Similar to the family of predictive controllers whose inherent characte......This paper proposed a direct power control strategy for three-phase two-level voltage-source rectifiers based on extended-state observation. Active and reactive powers are directly regulated in the stationary reference frame. Similar to the family of predictive controllers whose inherent...

Study of inflationary generalized cosmic Chaplygin gas for standard and tachyon scalar fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharif, M.; Saleem, Rabia [University of the Punjab, Department of Mathematics, Lahore (Pakistan)

2014-07-15

We consider an inflationary universe model in the context of the generalized cosmic Chaplygin gas by taking the matter field as standard and tachyon scalar fields. We evaluate the corresponding scalar fields and scalar potentials during the intermediate and logamediate inflationary regimes by modifying the first Friedmann equation. In each case, we evaluate the number of e-folds, scalar as well as tensor power spectra, scalar spectral index, and the important observational parameter, the tensor-scalar ratio in terms of inflation. The graphical behavior of this parameter shows that the model remains incompatible with WMAP7 and Planck observational data in each case. (orig.)

Study of inflationary generalized cosmic Chaplygin gas for standard and tachyon scalar fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharif, M.; Saleem, Rabia

2014-01-01

We consider an inflationary universe model in the context of the generalized cosmic Chaplygin gas by taking the matter field as standard and tachyon scalar fields. We evaluate the corresponding scalar fields and scalar potentials during the intermediate and logamediate inflationary regimes by modifying the first Friedmann equation. In each case, we evaluate the number of e-folds, scalar as well as tensor power spectra, scalar spectral index, and the important observational parameter, the tensor-scalar ratio in terms of inflation. The graphical behavior of this parameter shows that the model remains incompatible with WMAP7 and Planck observational data in each case. (orig.)

The construction of power in family medicine bedside teaching: a video observation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rees, Charlotte E; Ajjawi, Rola; Monrouxe, Lynn V

2013-02-01

Bedside teaching is essential for helping students develop skills, reasoning and professionalism, and involves the learning triad of student, patient and clinical teacher. Although current rhetoric espouses the sharing of power, the medical workplace is imbued with power asymmetries. Power is context-specific and although previous research has explored some elements of the enactment and resistance of power within bedside teaching, this exploration has been conducted within hospital rather than general practice settings. Furthermore, previous research has employed audio-recorded rather than video-recorded observation and has therefore focused on language and para-language at the expense of non-verbal communication and human-material interaction. A qualitative design was adopted employing video- and audio-recorded observations of seven bedside teaching encounters (BTEs), followed by short individual interviews with students, patients and clinical teachers. Thematic and discourse analyses of BTEs were conducted. Power is constructed by students, patients and clinical teachers throughout different BTE activities through the use of linguistic, para-linguistic and non-verbal communication. In terms of language, participants construct power through the use of questions, orders, advice, pronouns and medical/health belief talk. With reference to para-language, participants construct power through the use of interruption and laughter. In terms of non-verbal communication, participants construct power through physical positioning and the possession or control of medical materials such as the stethoscope. Using this paper as a trigger for discussion, we encourage students and clinical teachers to reflect critically on how their verbal and non-verbal communication constructs power in bedside teaching. Students and clinical teachers need to develop their awareness of what power is, how it can be constructed and shared, and what it means for the student

Application of Bayesian model averaging to measurements of the primordial power spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parkinson, David; Liddle, Andrew R.

2010-01-01

Cosmological parameter uncertainties are often stated assuming a particular model, neglecting the model uncertainty, even when Bayesian model selection is unable to identify a conclusive best model. Bayesian model averaging is a method for assessing parameter uncertainties in situations where there is also uncertainty in the underlying model. We apply model averaging to the estimation of the parameters associated with the primordial power spectra of curvature and tensor perturbations. We use CosmoNest and MultiNest to compute the model evidences and posteriors, using cosmic microwave data from WMAP, ACBAR, BOOMERanG, and CBI, plus large-scale structure data from the SDSS DR7. We find that the model-averaged 95% credible interval for the spectral index using all of the data is 0.940 s s is specified at a pivot scale 0.015 Mpc -1 . For the tensors model averaging can tighten the credible upper limit, depending on prior assumptions.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: cosmological parameters from three seasons of data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sievers, Jonathan L.; Appel, John William; Hlozek, Renée A.; Nolta, Michael R.; Battaglia, Nick; Bond, J. Richard; Acquaviva, Viviana; Addison, Graeme E.; Amiri, Mandana; Battistelli, Elia S.; Burger, Bryce; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Brown, Ben; Calabrese, Erminia; Chervenak, Jay; Crichton, Devin; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.

2013-01-01

We present constraints on cosmological and astrophysical parameters from high-resolution microwave background maps at 148 GHz and 218 GHz made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in three seasons of observations from 2008 to 2010. A model of primary cosmological and secondary foreground parameters is fit to the map power spectra and lensing deflection power spectrum, including contributions from both the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect and the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect, Poisson and correlated anisotropy from unresolved infrared sources, radio sources, and the correlation between the tSZ effect and infrared sources. The power ℓ 2 C ℓ /2π of the thermal SZ power spectrum at 148 GHz is measured to be 3.4±1.4  μK 2 at ℓ = 3000, while the corresponding amplitude of the kinematic SZ power spectrum has a 95% confidence level upper limit of 8.6  μK 2 . Combining ACT power spectra with the WMAP 7-year temperature and polarization power spectra, we find excellent consistency with the LCDM model. We constrain the number of effective relativistic degrees of freedom in the early universe to be N eff = 2.79±0.56, in agreement with the canonical value of N eff = 3.046 for three massless neutrinos. We constrain the sum of the neutrino masses to be Σm ν < 0.39 eV at 95% confidence when combining ACT and WMAP 7-year data with BAO and Hubble constant measurements. We constrain the amount of primordial helium to be Y p = 0.225±0.034, and measure no variation in the fine structure constant α since recombination, with α/α 0 = 1.004±0.005. We also find no evidence for any running of the scalar spectral index, dn s /dln k = −0.004±0.012

Problematizing special observation in psychiatry: Foucault, archaeology, genealogy, discourse and power/knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, C; Cutcliffe, J

2006-12-01

Special observation by mental health professionals is the recommended approach for those people deemed as at risk or risky. Recent research and academic writing have challenged the benefits of observing people/patients who are defined as 'at risk', and a more human engagement process is being recommended. Despite this assault, practice has not changed substantively, suggesting a need for a thorough exploration and questioning of the practices and process. The paper outlines three Foucaultian approaches to historical analysis. It applies aspects of Foucault's archaeology/genealogy, discourse and power/knowledge to explore the practices of special observation as a means of controlling risk, especially suicide risk. We identify the regulatory function of the 'gaze', professional codes and government policy in relation to restricting professional practices. We argue that observation can be related to moral therapy, wherein the person relinquishes madness for responsibility through a disciplinary process and, in governing risk, a 'professional industry' is created. The regulation of statements about people with mental health issues are exposed and related to what can be said and done by professionals. Finally, we look at productive power in relation to observation, and how it is intimately related to resistance. We conclude with 'soft' recommendations for practice discursively produced through the writing of the paper.

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION- A POWERFUL TOOL FOR CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shanjida Halim

2018-05-01

Full Text Available For making teaching and learning more visible, classroom observation plays a central role. It provides teachers with constructive critical feedback in order to improve their classroom management and instructional techniques. For teachers it is important to observe the interaction between teacher-learner within the classroom because it can determine the learning opportunities that students get. Not only that, classroom observation encourages colleagues to collaborate to improve teacher practice and student learning. Feedback from classroom observations is an effective way for providing teachers with the information they need about their classroom behavior, and it can help them in their continuous professional development (CPD. This paper is based upon a practical approach to professional development among teachers through classroom observation. Since we, as teachers, are not born with innate teaching abilities, in fact, we learn and develop gradually with the help of some practical approaches, and classroom observation is a well-known powerful practical approach in primary and higher education to help teachers improve their teaching quality. This article mainly highlights the importance of classroom observation and its guidelines adapted from Observing Classes-CETaL. Further, it emphasizes the limitations of classroom observation, and suggests the ways to carry it out effectively based upon Observing Classes CETaL Model.

Placement of Synchronized Measurements for Power System Observability during Cascaded Outages

Science.gov (United States)

Thirugnanasambandam, Venkatesh; Jain, Trapti

2017-11-01

Cascaded outages often result in power system islanding followed by a blackout and therefore considered as a severe disturbance. Maintaining the observability of each island may help in taking proper control actions to preserve the stability of individual islands thus, averting system collapse. With this intent, a strategy for placement of synchronized measurements, which can be obtained from phasor measurement units (PMU), has been proposed in this paper to keep the system observable during cascaded outages also. Since, all the cascaded failures may not lead to islanding situations, therefore, failures leading to islanding as well as non-islanding situations have been considered. A topology based algorithm has been developed to identify the islanding/non-islanding condition created by a particular cascaded event. Additional contingencies such as single line loss and single PMU failure have also been considered after the occurrence of cascaded events. The proposed method is further extended to incorporate the measurement redundancy, which is desirable for a reliable state estimation. The proposed scheme is tested on IEEE 14-bus, IEEE 30-bus and a practical Indian 246-bus networks. The numerical results ensure the observability of the power system under system intact as well as during cascaded islanding and non-islanding disturbances.

Planck 2015 results. V. LFI calibration

CERN Document Server

Ade, P.A.R.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A.J.; Barreiro, R.B.; Bartolo, N.; Battaglia, P.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoit, A.; Benoit-Levy, A.; Bernard, J.P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bielewicz, P.; Bock, J.J.; Bonaldi, A.; Bonavera, L.; Bond, J.R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F.R.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Butler, R.C.; Calabrese, E.; Cardoso, J.F.; Catalano, A.; Chamballu, A.; Christensen, P.R.; Colombi, S.; Colombo, L.P.L.; Crill, B.P.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R.D.; Davis, R.J.; de Bernardis, P.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Dickinson, C.; Diego, J.M.; Dole, H.; Donzelli, S.; Dore, O.; Douspis, M.; Ducout, A.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Elsner, F.; Ensslin, T.A.; Eriksen, H.K.; Fergusson, J.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Frejsel, A.; Galeotta, S.; Galli, S.; Ganga, K.; Giard, M.; Giraud-Heraud, Y.; Gjerlow, E.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Gorski, K.M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Hansen, F.K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D.L.; Henrot-Versille, S.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S.R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W.A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K.M.; Hurier, G.; Jaffe, A.H.; Jaffe, T.R.; Juvela, M.; Keihanen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T.S.; Knoche, J.; Krachmalnicoff, N.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lahteenmaki, A.; Lamarre, J.M.; Lasenby, A.; Lattanzi, M.; Lawrence, C.R.; Leahy, J.P.; Leonardi, R.; Lesgourgues, J.; Levrier, F.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P.B.; Linden-Vornle, M.; Lopez-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P.M.; Macias-Perez, J.F.; Maggio, G.; Maino, D.; Mandolesi, N.; Mangilli, A.; Maris, M.; Martin, P.G.; Martinez-Gonzalez, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; McGehee, P.; Meinhold, P.R.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Mitra, S.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Moss, A.; Munshi, D.; Murphy, J.A.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C.B.; Norgaard-Nielsen, H.U.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Paci, F.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paoletti, D.; Partridge, B.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Pearson, T.J.; Peel, M.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Pettorino, V.; Piacentini, F.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Pratt, G.W.; Prezeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.L.; Rachen, J.P.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renzi, A.; Rocha, G.; Romelli, E.; Rosset, C.; Rossetti, M.; Roudier, G.; Rubino-Martin, J.A.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Santos, D.; Savelainen, M.; Scott, D.; Seiffert, M.D.; Shellard, E.P.S.; Spencer, L.D.; Stolyarov, V.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.S.; Sygnet, J.F.; Tauber, J.A.; Tavagnacco, D.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Tuovinen, J.; Turler, M.; Umana, G.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Van Tent, B.; Vassallo, T.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Wade, L.A.; Wandelt, B.D.; Watson, R.; Wehus, I.K.; Wilkinson, A.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

2016-01-01

We present a description of the pipeline used to calibrate the Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) timelines into thermodynamic temperatures for the Planck 2015 data release, covering 4 years of uninterrupted operations. As in the 2013 data release, our calibrator is provided by the spin-synchronous modulation of the CMB dipole, exploiting both the orbital and solar components. Our 2015 LFI analysis provides an independent Solar dipole estimate in excellent agreement with that of HFI and within $1\\sigma$ (0.3 % in amplitude) of the WMAP value. This 0.3 % shift in the peak-to-peak dipole temperature from WMAP and a global overhaul of the iterative calibration code increases the overall level of the LFI maps by 0.45 % (30 GHz), 0.64 % (44 GHz), and 0.82 % (70 GHz) in temperature with respect to the 2013 Planck data release, thus reducing the discrepancy with the power spectrum measured by WMAP. We estimate that the LFI calibration uncertainty is at the level of 0.20 % for the 70 GHz map, 0.26 % for the 44 GHz...

NuSTAR Results and Future Plans for Magnetar and Rotation-Powered Pulsar Observations

Science.gov (United States)

An, H.; Kaspi, V. M.; Archibald, R.; Bachetti, M.; Bhalerao, V.; Bellm, E. C.; Beloborodov, A. M.; Boggs, S. E.; Chakrabarty, D.; Christensen, F. E.;

Ring power balance observing plasma stability constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, R.B.; Logan, B.G.

1982-01-01

Ring power balance is performed for an E-ring stabilized tandem mirror reactor, taking into account constraints imposed by plasma stability. The two most important criteria are the stability of the core interchange and hot electron interchange modes. The former determines the ring thickness, the latter determines the minimum hot electron temperature; both quantities are important for power balance. The combination of the hot electron interchange constraint and the fact that the barrier density is low places the operating point on the synchrotron dominated branch of power balance. The reference case considered here requires a reasonable 34 MW of heating power deposited in the rings. We also have examined the sensitivity of the required ring power on uncertainties in the numerical coefficients of the stability constraints. We have found that the heating power is strongly affected

Constraining monodromy inflation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peiris, Hiranya V.; Easther, Richard; Flauger, Raphael

2013-01-01

We use cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from the 9-year WMAP release to derive constraints on monodromy inflation, which is characterized by a linear inflaton potential with a periodic modulation. We identify two possible periodic modulations that significantly improve the fit, lowering χ 2 by approximately 10 and 20. However, standard Bayesian model selection criteria assign roughly equal odds to the modulated potential and the unmodulated case. A modulated inflationary potential can generate substantial primordial non-Gaussianity with a specific and characteristic form. For the best-fit parameters to the WMAP angular power spectrum, the corresponding non-Gaussianity might be detectable in upcoming CMB data, allowing nontrivial consistency checks on the predictions of a modulated inflationary potential

The Cosmic Abundance of 3He: Green Bank Telescope Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Balser, Dana; Bania, Thomas

2018-01-01

The Big Bang theory for the origin of the Universe predicts that during the first ~1,000 seconds significant amounts of the light elements (2H, 3He, 4He, and 7Li) were produced. Many generations of stellar evolution in the Galaxy modifies these primordial abundances. Observations of the 3He+ hyperfine transition in Galactic HII regions reveals a 3He/H abundance ratio that is constant with Galactocentric radius to within the uncertainties, and is consistent with the primordial value as determined from cosmic microwave background experiments (e.g., WMAP). This "3He Plateau" indicates that the net production and destruction of 3He in stars is approximately zero. Recent stellar evolution models that include thermohaline mixing, however, predict that 3He/H abundance ratios should slightly decrease with Galactocentric radius, or in places in the Galaxy with lower star formation rates. Here we discuss sensitive Green Bank Telescope (GBT) observations of 3He+ at 3.46 cm in a subset of our HII region sample. We develop HII region models and derive accurate 3He/H abundance ratios to better constrain these new stellar evolution models.

Non-gaussianity from the trispectrum and vector field perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valenzuela-Toledo, Cesar A.; Rodriguez, Yeinzon

2010-01-01

We use the δN formalism to study the trispectrum T ζ of the primordial curvature perturbation ζ when the latter is generated by vector field perturbations, considering the tree-level and one-loop contributions. The order of magnitude of the level of non-gaussianity in the trispectrum, τ NL , is calculated in this scenario and related to the order of magnitude of the level of non-gaussianity in the bispectrum, f NL , and the level of statistical anisotropy in the power spectrum, g ζ . Such consistency relations will put under test this scenario against future observations. Comparison with the expected observational bound on τ NL from WMAP, for generic inflationary models, is done.

Visibility-based angular power spectrum estimation in low-frequency radio interferometric observations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Choudhuri, Samir; Bharadwaj, Somnath; Ghosh, Abhik; Ali, Sk. Saiyad

2014-01-01

We present two estimators to quantify the angular power spectrum of the sky signal directly from the visibilities measured in radio interferometric observations. This is relevant for both the foregrounds and the cosmological 21-cm signal buried therein. The discussion here is restricted to the

Study on application of Doppler SODAR as meteorological observation tool at nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katayose, Naoto; Akai, Yukio.

1993-01-01

Among the remote sensing devices usable for meteorological observation, which became possible with the advent of modern science and technology, Doppler SODAR was selected for further study aimed at its practical application for nuclear power plants. This device was installed for testing purpose at a Japanese nuclear power and data collection (wind speed and direction) was carried out throughout one year there. The data on the selected SODAR have shown a correlation with those collected by the conventional method which is good enough to justify the SODAR's practical use at nuclear power plants. (author)

Holographic dark energy models: a comparison from the latest observational data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Miao; Li, Xiao-Dong; Wang, Shuang; Zhang, Xin

2009-01-01

The holographic principle of quantum gravity theory has been applied to the dark energy (DE) problem, and so far three holographic DE models have been proposed: the original holographic dark energy (HDE) model, the agegraphic dark energy (ADE) model, and the holographic Ricci dark energy (RDE) model. In this work, we perform the best-fit analysis on these three models, by using the latest observational data including the Union+CFA3 sample of 397 Type Ia supernovae (SNIa), the shift parameter of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) given by the five-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP5) observations, and the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurement from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The analysis shows that for HDE, χ min 2 = 465.912; for RDE, χ min 2 = 483.130; for ADE, χ min 2 = 481.694. Among these models, HDE model can give the smallest χ 2 min . Besides, we also use the Bayesian evidence (BE) as a model selection criterion to make a comparison. It is found that for HDE, ADE, and RDE, Δln BE = −0.86, −5.17, and −8.14, respectively. So, it seems that the HDE model is more favored by the observational data

Observability and Decision Support for Supervision of Distributed Power System Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pertl, Michael

in NorthernCalifornia. Two possible applications of the model are presented: peak reduction compared to uncontrolled charging, and an energy arbitrage scenario. Overall, it is shown that a combination of classical and innovative approaches can contribute to improved situation awareness of control room...... operational information, relevant to the current grid condition, need to be developed. This dissertation covers three areas where specific challenges for improved observability and decision support in future control rooms are addressed: Classical large power system stability issues, innovative data......-network-based approach for real-time voltage estimation in active distribution grids, and a modeling approach to harness the flexibility of an aggregation of electric vehicles. For improved monitoring and maintaining power system stability, a decision support tool for transient stability preventive control, based...

Observing power blackouts from space - A disaster related study

Science.gov (United States)

Aubrecht, C.; Elvidge, C. D.; Ziskin, D.; Baugh, K. E.; Tuttle, B.; Erwin, E.; Kerle, N.

2009-04-01

In case of emergency disaster managers worldwide require immediate information on affected areas and estimations of the number of affected people. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, wind and ice storms often involve failures in the electrical power generation system and grid. Near real time identification of power blackouts gives a first impression of the area affected by the event (Elvidge et al. 2007), which can subsequently be linked to population estimations. Power blackouts disrupt societal activities and compound the difficulties associated with search and rescue, clean up, and the provision of food and other supplies following a disastrous event. Locations and spatial extents of power blackouts are key considerations in planning and execution of the primary disaster missions of emergency management organizations. To date only one satellite data source has been used successfully for the detection of power blackouts. Operated by NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) offers a unique capability to observe lights present at the Earth's surface at night. Including a pair of visible and thermal spectral bands and originally designed to detect moonlit clouds, this sensor enables mapping of lights from cities and towns, gas flares and offshore platforms, fires, and heavily lit fishing boats. The low light imaging of the OLS is accomplished using a photomultiplier tube (PMT) which intensifies the visible band signal at night. With 14 orbits collected per day and a 3.000 km swath width, each OLS is capable of collecting a complete set of images of the Earth every 24 hours. NGDC runs the long-term archive for OLS data with the digital version extending back to 1992. OLS data is received by NGDC in near real time (1-2 hours from acquisition) and subscription based services for the near real time data are provided for users all over the

A minimal order observer based frequency control strategy for an integrated wind-battery-diesel power system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howlader, Abdul Motin; Izumi, Yuya; Uehara, Akie; Urasaki, Naomitsu; Senjyu, Tomonobu; Yona, Atsushi; Saber, Ahmed Yousuf

2012-01-01

Wind energy is a fluctuating resource which can diverge quickly and causes the frequency deviation. To overcome this problem, the current paper deals with a frequency control scheme for a small power system by a coordinated control strategy of a wind turbine generator (WTG) and a battery energy storage system (BESS). The small power system composes of a wind turbine, a battery storage and a diesel generator. A minimal order observer is utilized as a disturbance observer to estimate the load of the power system. The load deviations are considered in a frequency domain. The low frequency component is reduced by the pitch angle control system of the WTG, while the high frequency component is reduced by the charge/discharge of the BESS, respectively. The output power command of the BESS is determined according to the state of charge, the high frequency component of the frequency deviation and the load variation. The proposed method is compared with the conventional method in different cases. By using the proposed method, the capacity of the battery is decreased by the charge/discharge of the BESS in long term. To enhance the control performance, the generalized predictive control (GPC) method is introduced to the pitch angle control system of the WTG. Effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the numerical simulations. -- Highlights: ► A coordinated control method for a WTG and a BESS in the small power system. ► To achieve this objective, a minimal order observer is utilized. ► The output power command of the WTG is based on the wind speed and the estimated frequency deviations. ► The output power the WTG is controlled by the GPC based robust pitch angle control system. ► The output power command of the BESS is determined by the state of charge and the estimated frequency deviations.

Observation of voltage fluctuations in a superconducting magnet during MHD power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, R.P.; Niemann, R.C.; Kraimer, M.R.; Zinneman, T.E.

1978-01-01

Fluctuating voltage signals on the potential taps of the ANL 5.0 T MHD Superconducting Dipole Magnet have been observed during MHD power generation at the U-25B Facility at the High Temperature Institute (IVTAN) Moscow, USSR. Various other thermodynamic and electrical parameters of the U-25B flow train have been recorded, and statistical analysis concerning correlations between the phenomena with a view of discerning causal interdependence is in progress. Voltage fluctuations observed at the magnet terminals are analyzed with special emphasis on magnet stability

INDICATION OF THE BLACK HOLE POWERED JET IN M87 BY VSOP OBSERVATIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asada, Keiichi; Nakamura, Masanori; Pu, Hung-Yi, E-mail: asada@asiaa.sinica.edu.tw, E-mail: nakamura@asiaa.sinica.edu.tw, E-mail: hypu@asiaa.sinica.edu.tw [Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, P.O. Box 23-141, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China)

2016-12-10

In order to study the collimation and acceleration mechanism of relativistic jets, the jet streamline of M87 at milliarcsecond scale is extensively investigated with images from VSOP observations at 1.6 and 5 GHz. Thanks to the higher angular resolution of VSOP, especially in the direction transverse to the jet, we resolved the jet streamline into three ridgelines at the scale of milli arcseconds. While the properties of the outer two ridgelines are in good agreement with those measured in previous observations and can be expressed by one power-law line with a power law index of 1.7, an inner ridgeline is clearly observed for the first time. We compared the measured size with the outermost streamline expected by Blandford and Znajek's parabolic solutions, which are anchored at the event horizon, with different black hole spin parameters. We revealed that the observed inner ridgeline is narrower than the prediction, suggesting the origin of the inner ridgeline to be part of a spine originating from the spinning black hole. The inner ridgeline becomes very dim at large distances from the central engine at 5 GHz. We considered two possible cases for this; Doppler beaming and/or radiative cooling. Either case seems to be reasonable for its explanation, and future multi-frequency observations will discriminate those two possibilities.

Observations on Power-Efficiency Trends in Mobile Communication Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kari Jyrkkä

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Computing solutions used in mobile communications equipment are similar to those in personal and mainframe computers. The key differences between the implementations at chip level are the low leakage silicon technology and lower clock frequency used in mobile devices. The hardware and software architectures, including the operating system principles, are strikingly similar, although the mobile computing systems tend to rely more on hardware accelerators. As the performance expectations of mobile devices are increasing towards the personal computer level and beyond, power efficiency is becoming a major bottleneck. So far, the improvements of the silicon processes in mobile phones have been exploited by software designers to increase functionality and to cut development time, while usage times, and energy efficiency, have been kept at levels that satisfy the customers. Here we explain some of the observed developments and consider means of improving energy efficiency. We show that both processor and software architectures have a big impact on power consumption. Properly targeted research is needed to find the means to explicitly optimize system designs for energy efficiency, rather than maximize the nominal throughputs of the processor cores used.

Observations on Power-Efficiency Trends in Mobile Communication Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jyrkkä Kari

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Computing solutions used in mobile communications equipment are similar to those in personal and mainframe computers. The key differences between the implementations at chip level are the low leakage silicon technology and lower clock frequency used in mobile devices. The hardware and software architectures, including the operating system principles, are strikingly similar, although the mobile computing systems tend to rely more on hardware accelerators. As the performance expectations of mobile devices are increasing towards the personal computer level and beyond, power efficiency is becoming a major bottleneck. So far, the improvements of the silicon processes in mobile phones have been exploited by software designers to increase functionality and to cut development time, while usage times, and energy efficiency, have been kept at levels that satisfy the customers. Here we explain some of the observed developments and consider means of improving energy efficiency. We show that both processor and software architectures have a big impact on power consumption. Properly targeted research is needed to find the means to explicitly optimize system designs for energy efficiency, rather than maximize the nominal throughputs of the processor cores used.

Non-gaussianity from the trispectrum and vector field perturbations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valenzuela-Toledo, Cesar A., E-mail: cavalto@ciencias.uis.edu.c [Escuela de Fisica, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Ciudad Universitaria, Bucaramanga (Colombia); Rodriguez, Yeinzon, E-mail: yeinzon.rodriguez@uan.edu.c [Escuela de Fisica, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Ciudad Universitaria, Bucaramanga (Colombia); Centro de Investigaciones, Universidad Antonio Narino, Cra 3 Este 47A-15, Bogota D.C. (Colombia)

2010-03-01

We use the deltaN formalism to study the trispectrum T{sub z}eta of the primordial curvature perturbation zeta when the latter is generated by vector field perturbations, considering the tree-level and one-loop contributions. The order of magnitude of the level of non-gaussianity in the trispectrum, tau{sub NL}, is calculated in this scenario and related to the order of magnitude of the level of non-gaussianity in the bispectrum, f{sub NL}, and the level of statistical anisotropy in the power spectrum, g{sub z}eta. Such consistency relations will put under test this scenario against future observations. Comparison with the expected observational bound on tau{sub NL} from WMAP, for generic inflationary models, is done.

Pramana – Journal of Physics | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

We present an overview of the implications of the WMAP data for particle physics. The standard parameter set and characterising the inflaton potential can be related to the power-law indices characterising deviation of the CMB spectrum from the scale invariant form. Different classes of inflation potentials are in turn ...

What have we learnt from Wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe?

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

data: the temperature-polarization correlation, correlations with large scale structure, the large-scale power deficit and its implications, and the search for non-Gaussianity. Keywords. Cosmology; cosmic microwave background. PACS Nos 95.85.Bh; 98.80.Es. 1. What makes the WMAP data so special? Just over a year ago, ...

Power system observability and dynamic state estimation for stability monitoring using synchrophasor measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Kai; Qi, Junjian; Kang, Wei

2016-08-01

Growing penetration of intermittent resources such as renewable generations increases the risk of instability in a power grid. This paper introduces the concept of observability and its computational algorithms for a power grid monitored by the wide-area measurement system (WAMS) based on synchrophasors, e.g. phasor measurement units (PMUs). The goal is to estimate real-time states of generators, especially for potentially unstable trajectories, the information that is critical for the detection of rotor angle instability of the grid. The paper studies the number and siting of synchrophasors in a power grid so that the state of the system can be accurately estimated in the presence of instability. An unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is adopted as a tool to estimate the dynamic states that are not directly measured by synchrophasors. The theory and its computational algorithms are illustrated in detail by using a 9-bus 3-generator power system model and then tested on a 140-bus 48-generator Northeast Power Coordinating Council power grid model. Case studies on those two systems demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach using a limited number of synchrophasors for dynamic state estimation for stability assessment and its robustness against moderate inaccuracies in model parameters.

High-resolution backscatter power observations of 440-MHz E region coherent echoes at Millstone Hill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foster, J.C.; Tetenbaum, D.

1991-01-01

A 40-μs pulse length has been used to provide 10-s temporal and 6-km range resolution observations of E region coherent backscatter from the premidnight eastward electrojet region to the north of Millstone Hill. The observations can be divided into two categories: strong events in which the backscattered amplitude nears saturation and weak events in which spatial structure and large-amplitude variations are common. Calibrated observations find a typical volume scattering coefficient of ∼10 -11 m -1 at 440 MHz during strong events with a maximum level of 9 x 10 -10 m -1 observed for brief intervals. During less intense events the radar backscatter is modulated by ∼30dB in amplitude at Pc 5 frequencies (150-500 s) by waves with spatial wavelength 50-100 km. The observations support the premise that the weak irregularities grow linearly with electric field strength and reach a saturation amplitude beyond which the oscillating electric field of the Pc pulsation has little effect. The observed variation of backscattered power with range is interpreted using a geometrical model which accounts for the detailed antenna beam pattern, a magnetic aspect angle sensitivity of -10 dB per degree, and a thin layer of irregularities centered at 110 km altitude. For strongly driven conditions a comparison of the range variation of backscattered power with the thin layer model suggests that the signal power becomes increasingly dominated by strong scatters confined to a narrower altitude range. The apparent altitude extent of the strongest irregularities decreases by a factor of 2 as the amplitude of the backscattered signal increases by a factor of 10

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmological Parameters from Three Seasons of Data

Science.gov (United States)

Seivers, Jonathan L.; Hlozek, Renee A.; Nolta, Michael R.; Acquaviva, Viviana; Addison, Graeme E.; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Barrientos, L. Felipe;

EurObserv'ER's 2010 wind power barometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2011-01-01

For the first time in 20 years, the growth of the global wind power market faltered, stumbling by 5.8% to 35.7 GW in 2010. On one hand, the North American market has taken a knock while the European market has slowed down, on the other hand, Asian market growth has crept up steadily and now has a grip on more than half the global market. At the end of 2010 we had 194.5 GW of wind power installed across the world among which 84.3 GW installed in the European Union. Germany and Spain lead the European Union list for installed wind power with respectively 27.21 GW and 20.68 GW but when this capacity is divided by the population, Denmark ranks first with 686, 6 kW/1000 inhabitants followed by Spain with 449.6 KW/1000 inhabitants. 2010 was a record year for offshore wind power. The offshore share of the total wind power market rose to 12.2% in 2010. First available estimates indicate that the European Union's wind energy electricity output for 2010 should reach 147 TWh, which is an 11.2% rise on 2009. In 2010, the global leading manufacturer is probably Chinese. Back to 2009, the top 4 wind turbines suppliers were Vestas (Denmark), GE Wind (Usa), Sinovel (China) and Enercon (Germany). (A.C.)

Precipitation and total power consumption in the ionosphere: Global MHD simulation results compared with Polar and SNOE observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Palmroth

2006-05-01

Full Text Available We compare the ionospheric electron precipitation morphology and power from a global MHD simulation (GUMICS-4 with direct measurements of auroral energy flux during a pair of substorms on 28-29 March 1998. The electron precipitation power is computed directly from global images of auroral light observed by the Polar satellite ultraviolet imager (UVI. Independent of the Polar UVI measurements, the electron precipitation energy is determined from SNOE satellite observations on the thermospheric nitric oxide (NO density. We find that the GUMICS-4 simulation reproduces the spatial variation of the global aurora rather reliably in the sense that the onset of the substorm is shown in GUMICS-4 simulation as enhanced precipitation in the right location at the right time. The total integrated precipitation power in the GUMICS-4 simulation is in quantitative agreement with the observations during quiet times, i.e., before the two substorm intensifications. We find that during active times the GUMICS-4 integrated precipitation is a factor of 5 lower than the observations indicate. However, we also find factor of 2-3 differences in the precipitation power among the three different UVI processing methods tested here. The findings of this paper are used to complete an earlier objective, in which the total ionospheric power deposition in the simulation is forecasted from a mathematical expression, which is a function of solar wind density, velocity and magnetic field. We find that during this event, the correlation coefficient between the outcome of the forecasting expression and the simulation results is 0.83. During the event, the simulation result on the total ionospheric power deposition agrees with observations (correlation coefficient 0.8 and the AE index (0.85.

Litmus Test for Cosmic Hemispherical Asymmetry in the Cosmic Microwave Background B-Mode Polarization.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukherjee, Suvodip; Souradeep, Tarun

2016-06-03

Recent measurements of the temperature field of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) provide tantalizing evidence for violation of statistical isotropy (SI) that constitutes a fundamental tenet of contemporary cosmology. CMB space based missions, WMAP, and Planck have observed a 7% departure in the SI temperature field at large angular scales. However, due to higher cosmic variance at low multipoles, the significance of this measurement is not expected to improve from any future CMB temperature measurements. We demonstrate that weak lensing of the CMB due to scalar perturbations produces a corresponding SI violation in B modes of CMB polarization at smaller angular scales. The measurability of this phenomenon depends upon the scales (l range) over which power asymmetry is present. Power asymmetry, which is restricted only to l<64 in the temperature field, cannot lead to any significant observable effect from this new window. However, this effect can put an independent bound on the spatial range of scales of hemispherical asymmetry present in the scalar sector.

NuSTAR Observations of the Powerful Radio-Galaxy Cygnus A

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reynolds, Christopher S.; Lohfink, Anne M.; Ogle, Patrick M.

2015-01-01

We present NuSTAR observations of the powerful radio galaxy Cygnus A,focusing on the central absorbed active galactic nucleus (AGN). Cygnus A is embedded in a cool-core galaxy cluster, and hence we also examine archival XMM-Newton data to facilitate the decomposition of the spectrum into the AGN...... and intracluster medium (ICM) components. NuSTAR gives a source-dominated spectrum of the AGN out to >70keV. In gross terms, the NuSTAR spectrum of the AGN has the form of a power law (Γ~1.6-1.7) absorbed by a neutral column density of NH~1.6x1023 cm-2. However, we also detect curvature in the hard (>10ke......V (90% confidence). Interestingly, the absorbed power-law plus reflection modelleaves residuals suggesting the absorption/emission from a fast(15,000-26,000km/s), high column-density (NW>3x1023 cm-2), highly ionized (ξ~2,500 erg cm/s-1) wind. A second, even faster ionized wind component is also...

An explanation for the universal 3.5 power-law observed in currency markets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas A. Johnson

Full Text Available We present a mathematical theory to explain a recent empirical finding in the Physics literature (Zhao et al., 2013 in which the distributions of waiting-times between discrete events were found to exhibit power-law tails with an apparent universal exponent: α∼3.5. This new theory provides the first ever qualitative and quantitative explanation of Zhao et al.’s surprising finding. It also provides a mechanistic description of the origin of the observed universality, assigning its cause to the emergence of dynamical feedback processes between evolving clusters of like-minded agents. Keywords: Complex systems, Econophysics, Collective, Power law

Observations and insights from low power and shutdown studies: Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant during POS 5 of a refueling outage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitehead, D.W.; Brown, T.D.; Forester, J.A.

1995-04-01

With the recent completion of the documentation of the results from the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant Low Power and Shutdown (LP and S) project funded by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), detailed probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) information from a boiling water reactor (BWR) for a specific time period in LP and S conditions became available for examination. This report contains observations and insights extracted from an examination of: (1) results in the LP and S documentation; (2) the specific models and assumptions used in the LP and S analyses; (3) selected results from the full-power analysis; (4) the experience of the analysts who performed the original LP and S study; and (5) results from sensitivity calculations performed as part of this project to help determine the impact that model assumptions and data values had on the results from the original LP and S analysis. Specifically, this study makes observations on and develops insights from the estimates of core damage frequency and aggregate risk (early fatalities and total latent cancer fatalities) associated with operations during plant operational state (POS) 5 (i.e., basically cold shutdown as defined by Technical Specifications) during a refueling outage for traditional internal events. A discussion of similarities and differences between full power accidents and accidents during LP and S conditions is provided. As part of this discussion, core damage frequency and risks results are presented on a per hour and per calendar year basis, allowing alternative perspectives on both the core damage frequency and risk associated with these two operational states

Planck intermediate results. XXIV. Constraints on variation of fundamental constants

CERN Document Server

Ade, P A R; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A.J.; Barreiro, R.B.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoit-Levy, A.; Bernard, J.P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bielewicz, P.; Bond, J.R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F.R.; Burigana, C.; Butler, R.C.; Calabrese, E.; Chamballu, A.; Chiang, H.C.; Christensen, P.R.; Clements, D.L.; Colombo, L.P.L.; Couchot, F.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R.D.; Davis, R.J.; de Bernardis, P.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Diego, J.M.; Dole, H.; Dore, O.; Dupac, X.; Ensslin, T.A.; Eriksen, H.K.; Fabre, O.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Galeotta, S.; Galli, S.; Ganga, K.; Giard, M.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Gorski, K.M.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Hansen, F.K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D.L.; Henrot-Versille, S.; Hernandez-Monteagudo, C.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S.R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W.A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K.M.; Jaffe, A.H.; Jones, W.C.; Keihanen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kneissl, R.; Knoche, J.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lamarre, J.M.; Lasenby, A.; Lawrence, C.R.; Leonardi, R.; Lesgourgues, J.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P.B.; Linden-Vornle, M.; Lopez-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P.M.; Macias-Perez, J.F.; Mandolesi, N.; Maris, M.; Martin, P.G.; Martinez-Gonzalez, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; Mazzotta, P.; Meinhold, P.R.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Menegoni, E.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Miville-Deschenes, M.A.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Moss, A.; Munshi, D.; Murphy, J.A.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Norgaard-Nielsen, H.U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Oxborrow, C.A.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paoletti, D.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Ponthieu, N.; Popa, L.; Pratt, G.W.; Prunet, S.; Rachen, J.P.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renault, C.; Ricciardi, S.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Roudier, G.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Spencer, L.D.; Stolyarov, V.; Sudiwala, R.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.S.; Sygnet, J.F.; Tauber, J.A.; Tavagnacco, D.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Uzan, J.P.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Van Tent, B.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Wade, L.A.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

2015-01-01

Any variation of the fundamental physical constants, and more particularly of the fine structure constant, $\\alpha$, or of the mass of the electron, $m_e$, would affect the recombination history of the Universe and cause an imprint on the cosmic microwave background angular power spectra. We show that the Planck data allow one to improve the constraint on the time variation of the fine structure constant at redshift $z\\sim 10^3$ by about a factor of 5 compared to WMAP data, as well as to break the degeneracy with the Hubble constant, $H_0$. In addition to $\\alpha$, we can set a constraint on the variation of the mass of the electron, $m_{\\rm e}$, and on the simultaneous variation of the two constants. We examine in detail the degeneracies between fundamental constants and the cosmological parameters, in order to compare the limits obtained from Planck and WMAP and to determine the constraining power gained by including other cosmological probes. We conclude that independent time variations of the fine structu...

Clutch pressure estimation for a power-split hybrid transmission using nonlinear robust observer

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Bin; Zhang, Jianwu; Gao, Ji; Yu, Haisheng; Liu, Dong

2018-06-01

For a power-split hybrid transmission, using the brake clutch to realize the transition from electric drive mode to hybrid drive mode is an available strategy. Since the pressure information of the brake clutch is essential for the mode transition control, this research designs a nonlinear robust reduced-order observer to estimate the brake clutch pressure. Model uncertainties or disturbances are considered as additional inputs, thus the observer is designed in order that the error dynamics is input-to-state stable. The nonlinear characteristics of the system are expressed as the lookup tables in the observer. Moreover, the gain matrix of the observer is solved by two optimization procedures under the constraints of the linear matrix inequalities. The proposed observer is validated by offline simulation and online test, the results have shown that the observer achieves significant performance during the mode transition, as the estimation error is within a reasonable range, more importantly, it is asymptotically stable.

WMAP constraints on the Cardassian model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sen, A.A.; Sen, S.

2003-01-01

We investigate the constraints on the Cardassian model using the recent results from the Wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe for the locations of the peaks of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy spectrum. We find that the model is consistent with the recent observational data for a certain range of the model parameter n and the cosmological parameters. We find that the Cardassian model is favored compared to the ΛCDM model for a higher spectral index (n s ≅1) together with a lower value of the Hubble parameter h (h≤0.71). But for smaller values of n s , both ΛCDM and Cardassian models are equally favored. Also, irrespective of supernova constraints, CMB data alone predict the current acceleration of the Universe in this model. We have also studied the constraint on σ 8 , the rms density fluctuations at the 8h -1 Mpc scale

Warm anisotropic inflationary universe model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharif, M.; Saleem, Rabia

2014-01-01

This paper is devoted to the study of warm inflation using vector fields in the background of a locally rotationally symmetric Bianchi type I model of the universe. We formulate the field equations, and slow-roll and perturbation parameters (scalar and tensor power spectra as well as their spectral indices) in the slow-roll approximation. We evaluate all these parameters in terms of the directional Hubble parameter during the intermediate and logamediate inflationary regimes by taking the dissipation factor as a function of the scalar field as well as a constant. In each case, we calculate the observational parameter of interest, i.e., the tensor-scalar ratio in terms of the inflaton. The graphical behavior of these parameters shows that the anisotropic model is also compatible with WMAP7 and the Planck observational data. (orig.)

Warm anisotropic inflationary universe model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharif, M.; Saleem, Rabia [University of the Punjab, Department of Mathematics, Lahore (Pakistan)

2014-02-15

This paper is devoted to the study of warm inflation using vector fields in the background of a locally rotationally symmetric Bianchi type I model of the universe. We formulate the field equations, and slow-roll and perturbation parameters (scalar and tensor power spectra as well as their spectral indices) in the slow-roll approximation. We evaluate all these parameters in terms of the directional Hubble parameter during the intermediate and logamediate inflationary regimes by taking the dissipation factor as a function of the scalar field as well as a constant. In each case, we calculate the observational parameter of interest, i.e., the tensor-scalar ratio in terms of the inflaton. The graphical behavior of these parameters shows that the anisotropic model is also compatible with WMAP7 and the Planck observational data. (orig.)

Punctuated inflation and the low CMB multipoles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jain, Rajeev Kumar; Sriramkumar, L.; Chingangbam, Pravabati; Gong, Jinn-Ouk; Souradeep, Tarun

2009-01-01

We investigate inflationary scenarios driven by a class of potentials which are similar in form to those that arise in certain minimal supersymmetric extensions of the standard model. We find that these potentials allow a brief period of departure from inflation sandwiched between two stages of slow roll inflation. We show that such a background behavior leads to a step like feature in the scalar power spectrum. We set the scales such that the drop in the power spectrum occurs at a length scale that corresponds to the Hubble radius today — a feature that seems necessary to explain the lower power observed in the quadrupole moment of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. We perform a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to determine the values of the model parameters that provide the best fit to the recent WMAP 5-year data for the CMB angular power spectrum. We find that an inflationary spectrum with a suppression of power at large scales that we obtain leads to a much better fit (with just one extra parameter, χ eff 2 improves by 6.62) of the observed data when compared to the best fit reference ΛCDM model with a featureless, power law, primordial spectrum

Expected Power-Utility Maximization Under Incomplete Information and with Cox-Process Observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimoto, Kazufumi; Nagai, Hideo; Runggaldier, Wolfgang J.

2013-01-01

We consider the problem of maximization of expected terminal power utility (risk sensitive criterion). The underlying market model is a regime-switching diffusion model where the regime is determined by an unobservable factor process forming a finite state Markov process. The main novelty is due to the fact that prices are observed and the portfolio is rebalanced only at random times corresponding to a Cox process where the intensity is driven by the unobserved Markovian factor process as well. This leads to a more realistic modeling for many practical situations, like in markets with liquidity restrictions; on the other hand it considerably complicates the problem to the point that traditional methodologies cannot be directly applied. The approach presented here is specific to the power-utility. For log-utilities a different approach is presented in Fujimoto et al. (Preprint, 2012).

Expected Power-Utility Maximization Under Incomplete Information and with Cox-Process Observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujimoto, Kazufumi, E-mail: m_fuji@kvj.biglobe.ne.jp [Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., Corporate Risk Management Division (Japan); Nagai, Hideo, E-mail: nagai@sigmath.es.osaka-u.ac.jp [Osaka University, Division of Mathematical Science for Social Systems, Graduate School of Engineering Science (Japan); Runggaldier, Wolfgang J., E-mail: runggal@math.unipd.it [Universita di Padova, Dipartimento di Matematica Pura ed Applicata (Italy)

2013-02-15

We consider the problem of maximization of expected terminal power utility (risk sensitive criterion). The underlying market model is a regime-switching diffusion model where the regime is determined by an unobservable factor process forming a finite state Markov process. The main novelty is due to the fact that prices are observed and the portfolio is rebalanced only at random times corresponding to a Cox process where the intensity is driven by the unobserved Markovian factor process as well. This leads to a more realistic modeling for many practical situations, like in markets with liquidity restrictions; on the other hand it considerably complicates the problem to the point that traditional methodologies cannot be directly applied. The approach presented here is specific to the power-utility. For log-utilities a different approach is presented in Fujimoto et al. (Preprint, 2012).

Multiwavelength Observations of the Powerful Gamma-ray Quasar PKS 1510-089: Clues on the Jet Composition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kataoka, J.; Madejski, G.; Sikora, M.; Roming, P.; Chester, M.M.; Grupe, D.; Tsubuku, Y.; Sato, R.; Kawai, N.; Tosti, G.; Impiombato, D.; Kovalev, Y.Y.; Kovalev, Y.A.; Edwards, Philip G.; Wagner, S.J.; Moderski, R.; Stawarz, L.; Takahashi, T.; Watanabe, S.

2007-09-28

We present the results from a multiwavelength campaign conducted in August 2006 of the powerful {gamma}-ray quasar PKS 1510--089 (z = 0.361). This campaign commenced with a deep Suzaku observation lasting three days for a total exposure time of 120 ks, and continued with Swift monitoring over 18 days. Besides Swift observations, which sampled the optical/UV flux in all 6 UVOT filters as well as the X-ray spectrum in the 0.3--10 keV energy range, the campaign included ground-based optical and radio data, and yielded a quasi-simultaneous broad-band spectral energy distribution from 109 Hz to 1019 Hz. Thanks to its low instrumental background, the Suzaku observation provided a high S/N X-ray spectrum, which is well represented by an extremely hard power-law with photon index {Gamma}{approx_equal}1.2, augmented by a soft component apparent below 1 keV, which is well described by a black-body model with temperature kT {approx_equal}0.2 keV. Monitoring by Suzaku revealed temporal variability which is different between the low and high energy bands, again suggesting the presence of a second, variable component in addition to the primary power-law emission. We model the broadband spectrum of PKS 1510--089 assuming that the high energy spectral component results from Comptonization of infrared radiation produced by hot dust located in the surrounding molecular torus. In the adopted internal shock scenario, the derived model parameters imply that the power of the jet is dominated by protons but with a number of electrons/positrons exceeding a number of protons by a factor {approx} 10. We also find that inhomogeneities responsible for the shock formation, prior to the collision may produce bulk-Compton radiation which can explain the observed soft X-ray excess and possible excess at {approx} 18 keV. We note, however, that the bulk-Compton interpretation is not unique, and the observed soft excess could arise as well via some other processes discussed briefly in the text.

Quantifying the BICEP2-Planck tension over gravitational waves.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kendrick M; Dvorkin, Cora; Boyle, Latham; Turok, Neil; Halpern, Mark; Hinshaw, Gary; Gold, Ben

2014-07-18

The recent BICEP2 measurement of B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background (r = 0.2(-0.05)(+0.07)), a possible indication of primordial gravity waves, appears to be in tension with the upper limit from WMAP (r < 0.13 at 95% C.L.) and Planck (r < 0.11 at 95% C.L.). We carefully quantify the level of tension and show that it is very significant (around 0.1% unlikely) when the observed deficit of large-scale temperature power is taken into account. We show that measurements of TE and EE power spectra in the near future will discriminate between the hypotheses that this tension is either a statistical fluke or a sign of new physics. We also discuss extensions of the standard cosmological model that relieve the tension and some novel ways to constrain them.

Characterization of microdose damage caused by single heavy ion observed in trench type power MOSFETs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikeda, Naomi; Kuboyama, Satoshi; Maru, Akifumi; Tamura, Takashi; Hirao, Toshio; Abe, Hiroshi

2010-01-01

It was demonstrated that anomalously large degradation observed in power MOSFETs was caused by a single heavy ion. It was identified as a microdose effect and successfully characterized by several parameters extracted from experimental data. (author)

Cosmological Imprints of a Generalized Chaplygin Gas Model for the Early Universe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bouhmadi-Lopez, Mariam; /Lisbon, CENTRA; Chen, Pisin; /Taiwan, Natl. Taiwan U. /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Liu, Yen-Wei; /Taiwan, Natl. Taiwan U.

2012-06-06

We propose a phenomenological model for the early universe where there is a smooth transition between an early quintessence phase and a radiation-dominated era. The matter content is modeled by an appropriately modified Chaplygin gas for the early universe. We constrain the model observationally by mapping the primordial power spectrum of the scalar perturbations to the latest data of WMAP7. We compute as well the spectrum of the primordial gravitational waves as would be measured today. We show that the high frequencies region of the spectrum depends on the free parameter of the model and most importantly this region of the spectrum can be within the reach of future gravitational waves detectors.

Solar thermal and concentrated solar power barometer - EurObserv'ER - May 2013

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-05-01

The European concentrated solar power plant market is steeling itself for tough time ahead. The number of projects under construction is a pittance compared with 2012 that was an excellent year for installations (an additional 802.5 MW of capacity recorded). This drop is the result of the moratorium on renewable energy power plants introduced by the Spanish government. The European solar thermal market is hardly any more encouraging. EurObserv'ER holds that it slipped for the fourth year in a row (it dropped 5.5% between 2011 and 2012). The newly-installed solar thermal collector surface area in the EU now stands at 3.4 million m 2 , far short of its 2008 installation record of 4.6 million m 2

Improvement of maximum power point tracking perturb and observe algorithm for a standalone solar photovoltaic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awan, M.M.A.; Awan, F.G.

2017-01-01

Extraction of maximum power from PV (Photovoltaic) cell is necessary to make the PV system efficient. Maximum power can be achieved by operating the system at MPP (Maximum Power Point) (taking the operating point of PV panel to MPP) and for this purpose MPPT (Maximum Power Point Trackers) are used. There are many tracking algorithms/methods used by these trackers which includes incremental conductance, constant voltage method, constant current method, short circuit current method, PAO (Perturb and Observe) method, and open circuit voltage method but PAO is the mostly used algorithm because it is simple and easy to implement. PAO algorithm has some drawbacks, one is low tracking speed under rapid changing weather conditions and second is oscillations of PV systems operating point around MPP. Little improvement is achieved in past papers regarding these issues. In this paper, a new method named 'Decrease and Fix' method is successfully introduced as improvement in PAO algorithm to overcome these issues of tracking speed and oscillations. Decrease and fix method is the first successful attempt with PAO algorithm for stability achievement and speeding up of tracking process in photovoltaic system. Complete standalone photovoltaic system's model with improved perturb and observe algorithm is simulated in MATLAB Simulink. (author)

Velocity Drives Greater Power Observed During Back Squat Using Cluster Sets.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, Jonathan M; Kreutzer, Andreas; Jenke, Shane C; Phillips, Melody D; Mitchell, Joel B; Jones, Margaret T

2016-01-01

This investigation compared the kinetics and kinematics of cluster sets (CLU) and traditional sets (TRD) during back squat in trained (RT) and untrained (UT) men. Twenty-four participants (RT = 12, 25 ± 1 year, 179.1 ± 2.2 cm, 84.6 ± 2.1 kg; UT = 12, 25 ± 1 year, 180.1 ± 1.8 cm, 85.4 ± 3.8 kg) performed TRD (4 × 10, 120-second rest) and CLU (4 × (2 × 5) 30 seconds between clusters; 90 seconds between sets) with 70% one repetition maximum, randomly. Kinematics and kinetics were sampled through force plate and linear position transducers. Resistance-trained produced greater overall force, velocity, and power; however, similar patterns were observed in all variables when comparing conditions. Cluster sets produced significantly greater force in isolated repetitions in sets 1-3, while consistently producing greater force due to a required reduction in load during set 4 resulting in greater total volume load (CLU, 3302.4 ± 102.7 kg; TRD, 3274.8 ± 102.8 kg). Velocity loss was lessened in CLU resulting in significantly higher velocities in sets 2 through 4. Furthermore, higher velocities were produced by CLU during later repetitions of each set. Cluster sets produced greater power output for an increasing number of repetitions in each set (set 1, 5 repetitions; sets 2 and 3, 6 repetitions; set 4, 8 repetitions), and the difference between conditions increased over subsequent sets. Time under tension increased over each set and was greater in TRD. This study demonstrates greater power output is driven by greater velocity when back squatting during CLU; therefore, velocity may be a useful measure by which to assess power.

Detecting, categorizing and forecasting large romps in wind farm power output using meteorological observations and WPPT

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cutler, N.; Kay, M.; Jacka, K.

2007-01-01

The Wind Power Prediction Tool (WPPT) has been installed in Australia for the first time, to forecast the power output from the 65MW Roaring 40s Renewable Energy P/L Woolnorth Bluff Point wind form. This article analyses the general performance of WPPT as well as its performance during large romps...... (swings) in power output. In addition to this, detected large ramps are studied in detail and categorized. WPPT combines wind speed and direction forecasts from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology regional numerical weather prediction model, MesoLAPS, with real-time wind power observations to make hourly...... forecasts of the wind farm power output. The general performances of MesoLAPS and WPPTore evaluated over I year using the root mean square error (RMSE). The errors are significantly lower than for basic benchmark forecasts but higher than for many other WPPT installations, where the site conditions...

Turbulent Cloud Structure and Power Spectrum from 23 years of HST Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Cosentino, Richard; Simon, Amy; Morales-Juberias, Raul

2018-01-01

Images of Jupiter’s clouds show that turbulence is a ubiquitous phenomenon over many orders of scale size. According to Kolmogorov’s theory for turbulence, the frequency/distribution of clouds at various scales can be used to produce an energy power spectrum of a passive tracer. Kolmogorov theory predicts the spectral slopes for “shallow” and “deep” fluids in motion by following how energy is injected and dissipated in the fluid. We are quantifying the turbulent nature of Jupiter’s clouds over 23 years of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations using an algorithm first presented in Choi and Showman (2011, Icarus 216). We applied the power spectrum fitting algorithm to a variety of filters from available HST data and tested its sensitivity to free parameters and compare our results to Choi and Showman (2011). We will comment on the evidence for a 2D turbulent regime In Jupiter’s clouds and will report on empirical values found in the spectra and their physical interpretations, such as the Rhines scale. We also will report on the behavior of the passive tracer power spectrum and trends that exist over time for different latitudinal regions, primarily the belts and zones and the north and south equatorial belts.

The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation-A Unique Window on the Early Universe

Science.gov (United States)

Hinshaw, Gary

2010-01-01

The cosmic microwave background radiation is the remnant heat from the Big Bang. It provides us with a unique probe of conditions in the early universe, long before any organized structures had yet formed. The anisotropy in the radiation's brightness yields important clues about primordial structure and additionally provides a wealth of information about the physics of the early universe. Within the framework of inflationary dark matter models, observations of the anisotropy on sub-degree angular scales reveals the signatures of acoustic oscillations of the photon-baryon fluid at a redshift of 11 00. Data from the first seven years of operation of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite provide detailed full-sky maps of the cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization anisotropy. Together, the data provide a wealth of cosmological information, including the age of the universe, the epoch when the first stars formed, and the overall composition of baryonic matter, dark matter, and dark energy. The results also provide constraints on the period of inflationary expansion in the very first moments of time. WMAP, part of NASA's Explorers program, was launched on June 30, 2001. The WMAP satellite was produced in a partnership between the Goddard Space Flight Center and Princeton University. The WMAP team also includes researchers at the Johns Hopkins University; the Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics; University of Texas; Oxford University; University of Chicago; Brown University; University of British Columbia; and University of California, Los Angeles.

A Method for Determining Pseudo-measurement State Values for Topology Observability of State Estimation in Power Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Urano, Shoichi; Mori, Hiroyuki

This paper proposes a new technique for determining of state values in power systems. Recently, it is useful for carrying out state estimation with data of PMU (Phasor Measurement Unit). The authors have developed a method for determining state values with artificial neural network (ANN) considering topology observability in power systems. ANN has advantage to approximate nonlinear functions with high precision. The method evaluates pseudo-measurement state values of the data which are lost in power systems. The method is successfully applied to the IEEE 14-bus system.

ACOUSTIC SCALE FROM THE ANGULAR POWER SPECTRA OF SDSS-III DR8 PHOTOMETRIC LUMINOUS GALAXIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seo, Hee-Jong [Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, LBL and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Ho, Shirley; White, Martin; Reid, Beth; Schlegel, David J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Cuesta, Antonio J.; Padmanabhan, Nikhil [Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States); Ross, Ashley J.; Percival, Will J.; Nichol, Robert C. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Saito, Shun [Department of Astronomy, 601 Campbell Hall, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); De Putter, Roland [Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular, Valencia (Spain); Eisenstein, Daniel J. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, MS 20, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Xu Xiaoying; Skibba, Ramin [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Schneider, Donald P. [Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Verde, Licia [Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats, Barcelona (Spain); Bizyaev, Dmitry; Brewington, Howard; Brinkmann, J. [Apache Point Observatory, 2001 Apache Point Road, Sunspot, NM 88349 (United States); and others

2012-12-10

We measure the acoustic scale from the angular power spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Data Release 8 imaging catalog that includes 872, 921 galaxies over {approx}10,000 deg{sup 2} between 0.45 < z < 0.65. The extensive spectroscopic training set of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey luminous galaxies allows precise estimates of the true redshift distributions of galaxies in our imaging catalog. Utilizing the redshift distribution information, we build templates and fit to the power spectra of the data, which are measured in our companion paper, to derive the location of Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) while marginalizing over many free parameters to exclude nearly all of the non-BAO signal. We derive the ratio of the angular diameter distance to the sound horizon scale D{sub A} (z)/r{sub s} = 9.212{sup +0.416}{sub -{sub 0.404}} at z = 0.54, and therefore D{sub A} (z) = 1411 {+-} 65 Mpc at z = 0.54; the result is fairly independent of assumptions on the underlying cosmology. Our measurement of angular diameter distance D{sub A} (z) is 1.4{sigma} higher than what is expected for the concordance {Lambda}CDM, in accordance to the trend of other spectroscopic BAO measurements for z {approx}> 0.35. We report constraints on cosmological parameters from our measurement in combination with the WMAP7 data and the previous spectroscopic BAO measurements of SDSS and WiggleZ. We refer to our companion papers (Ho et al.; de Putter et al.) for investigations on information of the full power spectrum.

Comparison of distance information given by SN Ia, BAO and CMB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Hong

2011-01-01

The observations of Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia), Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) and Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) provide powerful tools for the measurement of cosmological parameters. One of the most useful information encodes in the distance measured by those probes. In this Letter, we test the coherence of the observational information provided by SN Ia, BAO and CMB experiments. We make two kinds of comparison: the first is the constraints on cosmological parameters of the equation of state parameter (EoS) of dark energy (DE) and matter budget parameter Ω m from the latest data by global fitting, and we find the large discrepancy from those different probes. The second comparison is performed among the derived distance information from these observations at certain appointed redshift, the results show that the distance provided by WMAP5 are larger than those from SN Ia and BAO on the whole.

Why weight? Modelling sample and observational level variability improves power in RNA-seq analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ruijie; Holik, Aliaksei Z; Su, Shian; Jansz, Natasha; Chen, Kelan; Leong, Huei San; Blewitt, Marnie E; Asselin-Labat, Marie-Liesse; Smyth, Gordon K; Ritchie, Matthew E

2015-09-03

Variations in sample quality are frequently encountered in small RNA-sequencing experiments, and pose a major challenge in a differential expression analysis. Removal of high variation samples reduces noise, but at a cost of reducing power, thus limiting our ability to detect biologically meaningful changes. Similarly, retaining these samples in the analysis may not reveal any statistically significant changes due to the higher noise level. A compromise is to use all available data, but to down-weight the observations from more variable samples. We describe a statistical approach that facilitates this by modelling heterogeneity at both the sample and observational levels as part of the differential expression analysis. At the sample level this is achieved by fitting a log-linear variance model that includes common sample-specific or group-specific parameters that are shared between genes. The estimated sample variance factors are then converted to weights and combined with observational level weights obtained from the mean-variance relationship of the log-counts-per-million using 'voom'. A comprehensive analysis involving both simulations and experimental RNA-sequencing data demonstrates that this strategy leads to a universally more powerful analysis and fewer false discoveries when compared to conventional approaches. This methodology has wide application and is implemented in the open-source 'limma' package. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Population morbidity in the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant observation zone as an integral part of public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Khomenko, I M; Zakladna, N V; Orlova, N M

2017-12-01

To evaluate the health status of adult population living in the Ukrainian nuclear power industry obser vation zone on the example of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. System review, analytic, sociological survey and statistical methods. There was established an increase in the incidence of digestive diseases among adult population in Nikopol of Dnipropetrovsk region, which is included in the Zaporizhzhia NPP observation zone. The highest increase was observed in the incidence of peptic ulcer, gastritis and duodenitis, cholecystitis and cholangitis by 340 %, 305 % and 83 %, respectively. In connection with the residence in industrially developed region and NPP life extension in Ukraine, the possible influence of harmful factors on health status of the population of observation zones, an increase in the incidence of digestive diseases among adult population, there is required continuous monitoring and detailed study of public health. I. M. Khomenko, N. V. Zakladna, N. M. Orlova.

A Saturn Ring Observer Mission Using Multi-Mission Radioisotope Power Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abelson, Robert D.; Spilker, Thomas R.; Shirley, James H.

2006-01-01

Saturn remains one of the most fascinating planets within the solar system. To better understand the complex ring structure of this planet, a conceptual Saturn Ring Observer (SRO) mission is presented that would spend one year in close proximity to Saturn's A and B rings, and perform detailed observations and measurements of the ring particles and electric and magnetic fields. The primary objective of the mission would be to understand ring dynamics, including the microphysics of individual particles and small scale (meters to a few kilometers) phenomena such as particle agglomeration behavior. This would be accomplished by multispectral imaging of the rings at multiple key locations within the A and B rings, and by ring-particle imaging at an unprecedented resolution of 0.5 cm/pixel. The SRO spacecraft would use a Venus-Earth-Earth-Jupiter Gravity Assist (VEEJGA) and be aerocaptured into Saturn orbit using an advanced aeroshell design to minimize propellant mass. Once in orbit, the SRO would stand off from the ring plane 1 to 1.4 km using chemical thrusters to provide short propulsive maneuvers four times per revolution, effectively causing the SRO vehicle to 'hop' above the ring plane. The conceptual SRO spacecraft would be enabled by the use of a new generation of multi-mission Radioisotope Power Systems (RPSs) currently being developed by NASA and DOE. These RPSs include the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) and Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG). The RPSs would generate all necessary electrical power (≥330 We at beginning of life) during the 10-year cruise and 1-year science mission (∼11 years total). The RPS heat would be used to maintain the vehicle's operating and survival temperatures, minimizing the need for electrical heaters. Such a mission could potentially launch in the 2015-2020 timeframe, with operations at Saturn commencing in approximately 2030

Powerful non-geoeffective interplanetary disturbance of July 2012 observed by muon hodoscope URAGAN

Science.gov (United States)

Astapov, I. I.; Barbashina, N. S.; Petrukhin, A. A.; Shutenko, V. V.; Veselovsky, I. S.

2015-12-01

The most powerful coronal mass ejection of the 24th solar cycle took place on the opposite side of the Sun on July 23, 2012 and had no geomagnetic consequences. Nevertheless, as a result of passing of the ejection through the heliosphere, variations of galactic cosmic rays flux were observed on the Earth. These variations were registered by the muon hodoscope URAGAN (MEPhI, Moscow). Muon flux angular distributions on the Earth's surface are reported and analyzed.

Improved dark energy detection through the polarization-assisted cross correlation of the cosmic microwave background with radio sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Guo-Chin; Ng, Kin-Wang; Pen, Ue-Li

2011-01-01

Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect can be estimated by cross-correlating the cosmic microwave background (CMB) sky with tracers of the local matter distribution. At late cosmic time, the dark energy-induced decay of gravitation potential generates a cross correlation signal on large angular scales. The dominant noise is the intrinsic CMB anisotropies from the inflationary epoch. In this paper we use CMB polarization to reduce this intrinsic noise. We cross-correlate the microwave sky observed by Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) with the radio source catalog compiled by NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) to study the efficiency of the noise suppression. We find that the error bars are reduced by about 4 to 14% and the statistical power in the signal is improved.

Data-constrained reionization and its effects on cosmological parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pandolfi, S.; Ferrara, A.; Choudhury, T. Roy; Mitra, S.; Melchiorri, A.

2011-01-01

We perform an analysis of the recent WMAP7 data considering physically motivated and viable reionization scenarios with the aim of assessing their effects on cosmological parameter determinations. The main novelties are: (i) the combination of cosmic microwave background data with astrophysical results from quasar absorption line experiments; (ii) the joint variation of both the cosmological and astrophysical [governing the evolution of the free electron fraction x e (z)] parameters. Including a realistic, data-constrained reionization history in the analysis induces appreciable changes in the cosmological parameter values deduced through a standard WMAP7 analysis. Particularly noteworthy are the variations in Ω b h 2 =0.02258 -0.00056 +0.00057 [WMAP7 (Sudden)] vs Ω b h 2 =0.02183±0.00054[WMAP7+ASTRO (CF)] and the new constraints for the scalar spectral index, for which WMAP7+ASTRO (CF) excludes the Harrison-Zel'dovich value n s =1 at >3σ. Finally, the electron-scattering optical depth value is considerably decreased with respect to the standard WMAP7, i.e. τ e =0.080±0.012. We conclude that the inclusion of astrophysical data sets, allowing to robustly constrain the reionization history, in the extraction procedure of cosmological parameters leads to relatively important differences in the final determination of their values.

A discrepancy observed in the dipole anisotropy in the radio sky at 1.4 GHz and that in the CMBR – A threat to the cosmological principle?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singal, Ashok K

2014-01-01

According to the cosmological principle, the sky brightness at any frequency should appear uniform in all directions to an observer considered to be fixed in the co-moving coordinate system of the expanding universe. However a peculiar motion of the observer introduces a dipole anisotropy in the observed sky brightness, which should be independent of the observing frequency. We have examined the angular distribution in the radio-sky brightness, i.e., an integrated emission from discrete sources per unit solid angle, from the NVSS sample containing 1.8 million discrete radio sources at 1.4 GHz. Our results give a dipole anisotropy which is in the same direction as that of the CMBR from the COBE or WMAP, but the magnitude we find is about 4 times larger at a statistically significant (about 3σ) level. A genuine difference between the two dipoles cannot arise from the observer's motion alone, and it would imply intrinsically anisotropic universe, with anisotropy changing with the epoch. This would violate the cosmological principle where isotropy of the universe is assumed for all epochs, and on which the whole modern cosmology is based upon

Ozone Monitoring Instrument Observations of Interannual Increases in SO2 Emissions from Indian Coal-fired Power Plants During 2005-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Zifeng; Streets, David D.; de Foy, Benjamin; Krotkov, Nickolay A.

2014-01-01

Due to the rapid growth of electricity demand and the absence of regulations, sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from coal-fired power plants in India have increased notably in the past decade. In this study, we present the first interannual comparison of SO2 emissions and the satellite SO2 observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) for Indian coal-fired power plants during the OMI era of 2005-2012. A detailed unit-based inventory is developed for the Indian coal-fired power sector, and results show that its SO2 emissions increased dramatically by 71 percent during 2005-2012. Using the oversampling technique, yearly high-resolution OMI maps for the whole domain of India are created, and they reveal a continuous increase in SO2 columns over India. Power plant regions with annual SO2 emissions greater than 50 Gg year-1 produce statistically significant OMI signals, and a high correlation (R equals 0.93) is found between SO2 emissions and OMI-observed SO2 burdens. Contrary to the decreasing trend of national mean SO2 concentrations reported by the Indian Government, both the total OMI-observed SO2 and average SO2 concentrations in coal-fired power plant regions increased by greater than 60 percent during 2005-2012, implying the air quality monitoring network needs to be optimized to reflect the true SO2 situation in India.

Kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect with Projected Fields: A Novel Probe of the Baryon Distribution with Planck, WMAP, and WISE Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, J Colin; Ferraro, Simone; Battaglia, Nick; Liu, Jia; Spergel, David N

2016-07-29

The kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (KSZ) effect-the Doppler boosting of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons due to Compton scattering off free electrons with nonzero bulk velocity-probes the abundance and the distribution of baryons in the Universe. All KSZ measurements to date have explicitly required spectroscopic redshifts. Here, we implement a novel estimator for the KSZ-large-scale structure cross-correlation based on projected fields: it does not require redshift estimates for individual objects, allowing KSZ measurements from large-scale imaging surveys. We apply this estimator to cleaned CMB temperature maps constructed from Planck and WMAP data and a galaxy sample from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). We measure the KSZ effect at 3.8σ-4.5σ significance, depending on the use of additional WISE galaxy bias constraints. We verify that our measurements are robust to possible dust emission from the WISE galaxies. Assuming the standard Λ cold dark matter cosmology, we directly constrain (f_{b}/0.158)(f_{free}/1.0)=1.48±0.19 (statistical error only) at redshift z≈0.4, where f_{b} is the fraction of matter in baryonic form and f_{free} is the free electron fraction. This is the tightest KSZ-derived constraint reported to date on these parameters. Astronomers have long known that baryons do not trace dark matter on ∼ kiloparsec scales and there has been strong evidence that galaxies are baryon poor. The consistency between the f_{b} value found here and the values inferred from analyses of the primordial CMB and big bang nucleosynthesis verifies that baryons approximately trace the dark matter distribution down to ∼ megaparsec scales. While our projected-field estimator is already competitive with other KSZ approaches when applied to current data sets (because we are able to use the full-sky WISE photometric survey), it will yield enormous signal-to-noise ratios when applied to upcoming high-resolution, multifrequency CMB surveys.

Observation and modeling of the evolution of Texas power plant plumes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Zhou

2012-01-01

Full Text Available During the second Texas Air Quality Study 2006 (TexAQS II, a full range of pollutants was measured by aircraft in eastern Texas during successive transects of power plant plumes (PPPs. A regional photochemical model is applied to simulate the physical and chemical evolution of the plumes. The observations reveal that SO₂ and NO_y were rapidly removed from PPPs on a cloudy day but not on the cloud-free days, indicating efficient aqueous processing of these compounds in clouds. The model reasonably represents observed NO_x oxidation and PAN formation in the plumes, but fails to capture the rapid loss of SO₂ (0.37 h⁻¹ and NO_y (0.24 h⁻¹ in some plumes on the cloudy day. Adjustments to the cloud liquid water content (QC and the default metal concentrations in the cloud module could explain some of the SO₂ loss. However, NO_y in the model was insensitive to QC. These findings highlight cloud processing as a major challenge to atmospheric models. Model-based estimates of ozone production efficiency (OPE in PPPs are 20–50 % lower than observation-based estimates for the cloudy day.

Spacecraft radio scattering observations of the power spectrum of electron density fluctuations in the solar wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woo, R.; Armstrong, J.W.

1979-01-01

Solar wind electron density power spectra in the solar equatorial region are inferred from observations of phase scintillations and spectral broadening made with the Viking, Helios, and Pioneer spacecraft. The heliocentric distance range covered is 2--215 R/sub S/, and for some observations close to the sun the spectra extend to fluctuation frequencies as high as 100 Hz. For heliocentric distances > or approx. =20 R/sub S/ the equivalent spacecraft-measured one-dimensional density spectrym V/sub n/e is well modeled by a single power law (f/sup -alpha/) in the frequency range 10 -4 -5 x 10 -2 Hz. The mean spectral index α is 1.65, very close to the Kolmogorov value of 5/3. Under the assumption of constant solar wind speed, V/sub n/e varies as R/sup -3.45/, where R is heliocentric distance. Within 20 R/sub S/, V/sub n/e can still be modeled by a single power law over the frequency range 10 -3 -10 1 Hz, but the spectral index becomes smaller, αapprox.1.1. The flattening of the density spectrum with 20 R/sub S/ is presumably associated with energy deposition in the near-sun region and acceleration of the solar wind

Orbifold line topology and the cosmic microwave background

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rathaus, Ben; Ben-David, Assaf; Itzhaki, Nissan, E-mail: ben.rathaus@gmail.com, E-mail: bd.assaf@gmail.com, E-mail: nitzhaki@post.tau.ac.il [Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69978 (Israel)

2013-10-01

We extend our study of a universe with a non-classical stringy topology, and consider an orbifold line topology, R × R{sup 2}/Z{sub p}. This topology has a fixed line and identifies each point in space with p−1 other points. An observable imprint of an orbifold line on the CMB is the appearance of up to (p−1)/2 pairs of matching circles. Searching the WMAP data for matching circles, we can rule out an orbifold line topology with p up to 10, except for p = 8. While the significance of the peak at p = 8 varies between data releases of WMAP, it does not appear in Planck data, enabling us to rule out p = 8 as well.

How does pressure gravitate? Cosmological constant problem confronts observational cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Narimani, Ali; Afshordi, Niayesh; Scott, Douglas

2014-08-01

An important and long-standing puzzle in the history of modern physics is the gross inconsistency between theoretical expectations and cosmological observations of the vacuum energy density, by at least 60 orders of magnitude, otherwise known as the cosmological constant problem. A characteristic feature of vacuum energy is that it has a pressure with the same amplitude, but opposite sign to its energy density, while all the precision tests of General Relativity are either in vacuum, or for media with negligible pressure. Therefore, one may wonder whether an anomalous coupling to pressure might be responsible for decoupling vacuum from gravity. We test this possibility in the context of the Gravitational Aether proposal, using current cosmological observations, which probe the gravity of relativistic pressure in the radiation era. Interestingly, we find that the best fit for anomalous pressure coupling is about half-way between General Relativity (GR), and Gravitational Aether (GA), if we include Planck together with WMAP and BICEP2 polarization cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. Taken at face value, this data combination excludes both GR and GA at around the 3 σ level. However, including higher resolution CMB observations (``highL'') or baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) pushes the best fit closer to GR, excluding the Gravitational Aether solution to the cosmological constant problem at the 4- 5 σ level. This constraint effectively places a limit on the anomalous coupling to pressure in the parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) expansion, ζ4 = 0.105 ± 0.049 (+highL CMB), or ζ4 = 0.066 ± 0.039 (+BAO). These represent the most precise measurement of this parameter to date, indicating a mild tension with GR (for ΛCDM including tensors, with 0ζ4=), and also among different data sets.

How does pressure gravitate? Cosmological constant problem confronts observational cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narimani, Ali; Scott, Douglas; Afshordi, Niayesh

2014-01-01

An important and long-standing puzzle in the history of modern physics is the gross inconsistency between theoretical expectations and cosmological observations of the vacuum energy density, by at least 60 orders of magnitude, otherwise known as the cosmological constant problem. A characteristic feature of vacuum energy is that it has a pressure with the same amplitude, but opposite sign to its energy density, while all the precision tests of General Relativity are either in vacuum, or for media with negligible pressure. Therefore, one may wonder whether an anomalous coupling to pressure might be responsible for decoupling vacuum from gravity. We test this possibility in the context of the Gravitational Aether proposal, using current cosmological observations, which probe the gravity of relativistic pressure in the radiation era. Interestingly, we find that the best fit for anomalous pressure coupling is about half-way between General Relativity (GR), and Gravitational Aether (GA), if we include Planck together with WMAP and BICEP2 polarization cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. Taken at face value, this data combination excludes both GR and GA at around the 3 σ level. However, including higher resolution CMB observations (''highL'') or baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) pushes the best fit closer to GR, excluding the Gravitational Aether solution to the cosmological constant problem at the 4- 5 σ level. This constraint effectively places a limit on the anomalous coupling to pressure in the parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) expansion, ζ 4  = 0.105 ± 0.049 (+highL CMB), or ζ 4  = 0.066 ± 0.039 (+BAO). These represent the most precise measurement of this parameter to date, indicating a mild tension with GR (for ΛCDM including tensors, with 0ζ 4 =), and also among different data sets

Observations of ozone formation in power plant plumes and implications for ozone control strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ryerson, T.B.; Trainer, M.; Holloway, J.S.; Parrish, D.D.; Huey, L.G.; Sueper, D.T.; Frost, G.J.; Donnelly, S.G.; Schauffler, S.; Atlas, E.L.; Kuster, W.C.; Goldan, P.D.; Huebler, G.; Meagher, J.F.; Fehsenfeld, F.C. [NOAA, Boulder, CO (USA). Aeronomy Lab.

2001-04-27

Data taken in aircraft transects of emissions plumes from rural US coal-fired power plants were used to confirm and quantify the nonlinear dependence of tropospheric ozone formation on plume NOx (NO plus NO{sub 2}) concentration, which is determined by plant NOx emission rate and atmospheric dispersion. The ambient availability of reactive volatile organic compounds, principally biogenic isoprene, was also found to modular ozone production rate and yield in these rural plumes. Differences of a factor of 2 or greater in plume ozone formation rates and yields as a function of NOx and volatile organic compound concentrations were consistently observed. These large differences suggest that consideration of power plant NOx emission rates and geographic locations in current and future US ozone control strategies could substantially enhance the efficacy of NOx reductions from these sources. 18 refs., 4 figs.

concentrated solar power and solar thermal Barometer - EurObserv'ER - May 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-05-01

European concentrated solar power capacity remained stable in 2014 and will probably post a negligible increase in 2015. Construction work on a number of new facilities in Italy that are scheduled for commissioning in 2016 and 2017 could commence in the second half of the year. The European solar thermal market for producing heat, domestic hot water and heating has not found the recipe for recovery. According to EurObserv'ER, the market contracted by a further 3.7% from its 2013 level which is the sixth decrease in a row

Observer and data-driven model based fault detection in Power Plant Coal Mills

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fogh Odgaard, Peter; Lin, Bao; Jørgensen, Sten Bay

2008-01-01

model with motor power as the controlled variable, data-driven methods for fault detection are also investigated. Regression models that represent normal operating conditions (NOCs) are developed with both static and dynamic principal component analysis and partial least squares methods. The residual...... between process measurement and the NOC model prediction is used for fault detection. A hybrid approach, where a data-driven model is employed to derive an optimal unknown input observer, is also implemented. The three methods are evaluated with case studies on coal mill data, which includes a fault......This paper presents and compares model-based and data-driven fault detection approaches for coal mill systems. The first approach detects faults with an optimal unknown input observer developed from a simplified energy balance model. Due to the time-consuming effort in developing a first principles...

Large-Scale Corrections to the CMB Anisotropy from Asymptotic de Sitter Mode

Science.gov (United States)

Sojasi, A.

2018-01-01

In this study, large-scale effects from asymptotic de Sitter mode on the CMB anisotropy are investigated. Besides the slow variation of the Hubble parameter onset of the last stage of inflation, the recent observational constraints from Planck and WMAP on spectral index confirm that the geometry of the universe can not be pure de Sitter in this era. Motivated by these evidences, we use this mode to calculate the power spectrum of the CMB anisotropy on the large scale. It is found that the CMB spectrum is dependent on the index of Hankel function ν which in the de Sitter limit ν → 3/2, the power spectrum reduces to the scale invariant result. Also, the result shows that the spectrum of anisotropy is dependent on angular scale and slow-roll parameter and these additional corrections are swept away by a cutoff scale parameter H ≪ M ∗ < M P .

Inflation with primordial broken power law spectrum as an alternative to the concordance cosmological model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pandolfi, Stefania; Giusarma, Elena; Lattanzi, Massimiliano; Melchiorri, Alessandro

2010-01-01

We consider cosmological models with a non-scale-invariant spectrum of primordial perturbations and assess whether they represent a viable alternative to the concordance ΛCDM model. We find that in the framework of a model selection analysis, the WMAP and 2dF data do not provide any conclusive evidence in favor of one or the other kind of model. However, when a marginalization over the entire space of nuisance parameters is performed, models with a modified primordial spectrum and Ω Λ =0 are strongly disfavored.

Cosmic Topology: Studying The Shape And Size Of Our Universe

Science.gov (United States)

Yzaguirre, Amelia; Hajian, A.

2010-01-01

The question of the size and the shape of our universe is a very old problem that has received considerable attention over the past few years. The simplest cosmological model predicts that the mean density of the universe is very close to the critical density, admitting a local geometry of the universe that is flat. Current results from different cosmological observations confirm this to the percent level accuracy. General Relativity (being a local theory) only determines local geometry, which allows for the possibility of a multiply connected universe with a zero (or small) curvature. To study the global shape, or topology, of the universe, one can use cosmological observations on large scales. In this project we investigate the possibility of a ``small universe'', that is, a compact finite space, by searching for planar symmetries in the CMB anisotropy maps provided by the five-year WMAP observations in two foreground cleaned maps (WMAP ILC map and the Tegmark, et al. (TOH) map ). Our results strongly suggest that the small universe model is not a viable topology for the universe.

Dynamical 3-Space Predicts Hotter Early Universe: Resolves CMB-BBN 7-Li and 4-He Abundance Anomalies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cahill R. T.

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The observed abundances of 7-Li and 4-He are significantly inconsistent with the predictions from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN when using the $Lambda$CDM cosmological model together with the value for $Omega_B h^2 = 0.0224pm0.0009$ from WMAP CMB fluctuations, with the value from BBN required to fit observed abundances being $0.009 < Omega_B h^2 < 0.013$. The dynamical 3-space theory is shown to predict a 20% hotter universe in the radiation-dominated epoch, which then results in a remarkable parameter-free agreement between the BBN and the WMAP value for $Omega_B h^2$. The dynamical 3-space also gives a parameter-free fit to the supernova redshift data, and predicts that the flawed $Lambda$CDM model would require $Omega_Lambda = 0.73$ and $Omega_M = 0.27$ to fit the 3-space dynamics Hubble expansion, and independently of the supernova data. These results amount to the discovery of new physics for the early universe that is matched by numerous other successful observational and experimental tests.

Dynamical 3-Space Predicts Hotter Early Universe: Resolves CMB-BBN 7-Li and 4-He Abundance Anomalies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cahill R. T.

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The observed abundances of 7 Li and 4 He are significantly inconsistent with the pre- dictions from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN when using the CDM cosmolog- ical model together with the value for B h 2 = 0 : 0224 0 : 0009 from WMAP CMB fluctuations, with the value from BBN required to fit observed abundances being 0 : 009 < B h 2 < 0 : 013. The dynamical 3-space theory is shown to predict a 20% hot- ter universe in the radiation-dominated epoch, which then results in a remarkable parameter-free agreement between the BBN and the WMAP value for B h 2 . The dy- namical 3-space also gives a parameter-free fit to the supernova redshift data, and pre- dicts that the flawed CDM model would require = 0 : 73 and M = 0 : 27 to fit the 3-space dynamics Hubble expansion, and independently of the supernova data. These results amount to the discovery of new physics for the early universe that is matched by numerous other successful observational and experimental tests.

Human observer detection experiments with mammograms and power-law noise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgess, Arthur E.; Jacobson, Francine L.; Judy, Philip F.

2001-01-01

We determined contrast thresholds for lesion detection as a function of lesion size in both mammograms and filtered noise backgrounds with the same average power spectrum, P(f )=B/f 3 . Experiments were done using hybrid images with digital images of tumors added to digitized normal backgrounds, displayed on a monochrome monitor. Four tumors were extracted from digitized specimen radiographs. The lesion sizes were varied by digital rescaling to cover the range from 0.5 to 16 mm. Amplitudes were varied to determine the value required for 92% correct detection in two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) and 90% for search experiments. Three observers participated, two physicists and a radiologist. The 2AFC mammographic results demonstrated a novel contrast-detail (CD) diagram with threshold amplitudes that increased steadily (with slope of 0.3) with increasing size for lesions larger than 1 mm. The slopes for prewhitening model observers were about 0.4. Human efficiency relative to these models was as high as 90%. The CD diagram slopes for the 2AFC experiments with filtered noise were 0.44 for humans and 0.5 for models. Human efficiency relative to the ideal observer was about 40%. The difference in efficiencies for the two types of backgrounds indicates that breast structure cannot be considered to be pure random noise for 2AFC experiments. Instead, 2AFC human detection with mammographic backgrounds is limited by a combination of noise and deterministic masking effects. The search experiments also gave thresholds that increased with lesion size. However, there was no difference in human results for mammographic and filtered noise backgrounds, suggesting that breast structure can be considered to be pure random noise for this task. Our conclusion is that, in spite of the fact that mammographic backgrounds have nonstationary statistics, models based on statistical decision theory can still be applied successfully to estimate human performance

Forecasting neutrino masses from combining KATRIN and the CMB observations: Frequentist and Bayesian analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Host, Ole; Lahav, Ofer; Abdalla, Filipe B.; Eitel, Klaus

2007-12-01

We present a showcase for deriving bounds on the neutrino masses from laboratory experiments and cosmological observations. We compare the frequentist and Bayesian bounds on the effective electron neutrino mass mβ which the KATRIN neutrino mass experiment is expected to obtain, using both an analytical likelihood function and Monte Carlo simulations of KATRIN. Assuming a uniform prior in mβ, we find that a null result yields an upper bound of about 0.17 eV at 90% confidence in the Bayesian analysis, to be compared with the frequentist KATRIN reference value of 0.20 eV. This is a significant difference when judged relative to the systematic and statistical uncertainties of the experiment. On the other hand, an input mβ=0.35eV, which is the KATRIN 5σ detection threshold, would be detected at virtually the same level. Finally, we combine the simulated KATRIN results with cosmological data in the form of present (post-WMAP) and future (simulated Planck) observations. If an input of mβ=0.2eV is assumed in our simulations, KATRIN alone excludes a zero neutrino mass at 2.2σ. Adding Planck data increases the probability of detection to a median 2.7σ. The analysis highlights the importance of combining cosmological and laboratory data on an equal footing.

Forecasting neutrino masses from combining KATRIN and the CMB observations: Frequentist and Bayesian analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Host, Ole; Lahav, Ofer; Abdalla, Filipe B.; Eitel, Klaus

2007-01-01

We present a showcase for deriving bounds on the neutrino masses from laboratory experiments and cosmological observations. We compare the frequentist and Bayesian bounds on the effective electron neutrino mass m β which the KATRIN neutrino mass experiment is expected to obtain, using both an analytical likelihood function and Monte Carlo simulations of KATRIN. Assuming a uniform prior in m β , we find that a null result yields an upper bound of about 0.17 eV at 90% confidence in the Bayesian analysis, to be compared with the frequentist KATRIN reference value of 0.20 eV. This is a significant difference when judged relative to the systematic and statistical uncertainties of the experiment. On the other hand, an input m β =0.35 eV, which is the KATRIN 5σ detection threshold, would be detected at virtually the same level. Finally, we combine the simulated KATRIN results with cosmological data in the form of present (post-WMAP) and future (simulated Planck) observations. If an input of m β =0.2 eV is assumed in our simulations, KATRIN alone excludes a zero neutrino mass at 2.2σ. Adding Planck data increases the probability of detection to a median 2.7σ. The analysis highlights the importance of combining cosmological and laboratory data on an equal footing

Forecasts for CMB μ and i-type spectral distortion constraints on the primordial power spectrum on scales 8∼4 Mpc−1 with the future Pixie-like experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khatri, Rishi; Sunyaev, Rashid A.

2013-01-01

Silk damping at redshifts 1.5 × 10 4 ∼ 6 erases CMB anisotropies on scales corresponding to the comoving wavenumbers 8∼ 4 Mpc −1 (10 5 ∼ 8 ). This dissipated energy is gained by the CMB monopole, creating distortions from a blackbody in the CMB spectrum of the μ-type and the i-type. We study, using Fisher matrices, the constraints we can get from measurements of these spectral distortions on the primordial power spectrum from future experiments such as Pixie, and how these constraints change as we change the frequency resolution and the sensitivity of the experiment. We show that the additional information in the shape of the i-type distortions, in combination with the μ-type distortions, allows us to break the degeneracy between the amplitude and the spectral index of the power spectrum on these scales and leads to much tighter constraints. We quantify the information contained in both the μ-type distortions and the i-type distortions taking into account the partial degeneracy with the y-type distortions and the temperature of the blackbody part of the CMB. We also calculate the constraints possible on the primordial power spectrum when the spectral distortion information is combined with the CMB anisotropies measured by the WMAP, SPT, ACT and Planck experiments

A SEARCH FOR CONCENTRIC CIRCLES IN THE 7 YEAR WILKINSON MICROWAVE ANISOTROPY PROBE TEMPERATURE SKY MAPS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wehus, I. K.; Eriksen, H. K.

2011-01-01

In this Letter, we search for concentric circles with low variance in cosmic microwave background sky maps. The detection of such circles would hint at new physics beyond the current cosmological concordance model, which states that the universe is isotropic and homogeneous, and filled with Gaussian fluctuations. We first describe a set of methods designed to detect such circles, based on matched filters and χ 2 statistics, and then apply these methods to the best current publicly available data, the 7 year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) temperature sky maps. We compare the observations with an ensemble of 1000 Gaussian ΛCDM simulations. Based on these tests, we conclude that the WMAP sky maps are fully compatible with the Gaussian and isotropic hypothesis as measured by low-variance ring statistics.

Solar thermal and concentrated solar power barometer - EurObserv'ER - May 2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-05-01

27545 MWth: the EU's solar thermal base to date at the end of 2011. After two years of sharp decline, the European solar thermal market is bottoming out. The EurObserv'ER survey findings are that the installation figure fell just 1.9% in comparison with 2010, giving a newly-installed collector area of 3.7 million m 2 . The concentrated solar power sector has been forging ahead alongside the heat production applications, and at the end of 2011 installed capacity passed the one gigawatt mark in Spain for the first time with 1157.2 MWe

Synchronous Buck Converter with Perturb and Observe Maximum Power Point Tracking Implemented on a Low-Cost Arduino-microcontroller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emad Talib Hashim

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Maximum power point tracking (MPPT is used in photovoltaic (PV systems to enhance efficiency and maximize the output power of PV module, regardless the variation of temperature, irradiation, and the electrical characteristics of the load. A new MPPT system has been presented in this research, consisting of a synchronous DC-DC step-down Buck converter controlled by an Arduino microcontroller based unit. The MPPT process with Perturb and Observe method is performed with a DC-DC converter circuit to overcome the problem of voltage mismatch between the PV modules and the loads. The proposing system has high efficiency, lower cost and can be easily modified to handle more energy sources. The test results indicate that the use of the proposed MPPT control with the designed synchronous Buck converter increases the PV output power; hence increases the overall solar system efficiency. The synchronous Buck converter test results used in this design showed high converter efficiency up to 95% of the power produced from the solar module, leading to reduce power loss caused by the power transfer process from PV module to the loads.

A Study on Sunward-propagating Alfvénic Fluctuations with a Power-law Spectrum (SAFP) Observed by the WIND Spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, X.; Wu, H.; Tu, C. Y.; Wang, L.; He, J.; Tian, H.

2017-12-01

Sunward-propagating Alfvénic fluctuations with a power-law spectrum (SAFP) have been recently reported to be a significant physical phenomenon in the solar wind. However, some characteristics of these SAFPs are still unknown. Here we develop a new method for identifying SAFPs. In this method, we can identify all SAFPs with any value of θRB (angle between the global magnetic field and the radial direction). We find 508 SAFPs using the WIND spacecraft observation from 1995 to 2014. We also find that SAFP occurs more frequently when θRB equals 90°. The spectral index with an average -1.77 changes continuously from -2.18 for the parallel to -1.71 for the perpendicular. SAFPs occur more at the maximum and tend to be observed in the slow solar wind especially at solar minimum. We also apply the new method to identify anti-sunward-propagating Alfvénic fluctuations with a power-law spectrum (AFP) for comparison. The number of SAFPs is much less than AFPs, and the cases with local bending account for about half of all observed cases. SAFPs have a preference for negative σc and ASFs for positive. The statistical results demonstrate that SAFP has a steeper and weaker power spectrum and present a weaker power anisotropy than that of AFP. These new results may reveal new insight into the physical mechanism of the SAFP generation.

Observational constraint on the interacting dark energy models including the Sandage-Loeb test

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ming-Jian; Liu, Wen-Biao

2014-05-01

Two types of interacting dark energy models are investigated using the type Ia supernova (SNIa), observational data (OHD), cosmic microwave background shift parameter, and the secular Sandage-Loeb (SL) test. In the investigation, we have used two sets of parameter priors including WMAP-9 and Planck 2013. They have shown some interesting differences. We find that the inclusion of SL test can obviously provide a more stringent constraint on the parameters in both models. For the constant coupling model, the interaction term has been improved to be only a half of the original scale on corresponding errors. Comparing with only SNIa and OHD, we find that the inclusion of the SL test almost reduces the best-fit interaction to zero, which indicates that the higher-redshift observation including the SL test is necessary to track the evolution of the interaction. For the varying coupling model, data with the inclusion of the SL test show that the parameter at C.L. in Planck priors is , where the constant is characteristic for the severity of the coincidence problem. This indicates that the coincidence problem will be less severe. We then reconstruct the interaction , and we find that the best-fit interaction is also negative, similar to the constant coupling model. However, for a high redshift, the interaction generally vanishes at infinity. We also find that the phantom-like dark energy with is favored over the CDM model.

Mapping the CMB with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe

Science.gov (United States)

Hinshaw, Gary F.

2007-01-01

The data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite provide detailed full-sky maps of the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropy and new full-sky maps of the polarization. Together, the data provide a wealth of cosmological information, including the age of the universe, the epoch when the first stars formed, and the overall composition of baryonic matter, dark matter, and dark energy. The results also provide constraints on the period of inflationary expansion in the very first moments of time. These and other aspects of the mission results will be discussed and commented on. WMAP, part of NASA's Explorers program, was launched on June 30,200 1. The WMAP satellite was produced in a partnership between the Goddard Space Flight Center and Princeton University. The WMAP team also includes researchers at the Johns Hopkins University; the Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics; University of Texas; University of Chicago; Brown University; University of British Columbia; and University of California, Los Angeles.

Ground based observations of Pc3-Pc5 geomagnetic pulsation power at Antarctic McMurdo station

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. G. Maclennan

1998-06-01

Full Text Available The two horizontal geomagnetic components and, measured by a fluxgate magnetometer at Antarctic McMurdo station (corrected geomagnetic coordinates 80.0° S, 327.5° E, are analyzed for the period May-June 1994; the spectral powers are calculated and integrated over three frequency intervals corresponding to the nominal ranges. The time dependence of those integrated powers and their correlations with northern auroral indices and solar wind speed are considered. The observations are compared with previous results reported from Terra Nova Bay station (located near McMurdo at the same corrected geomagnetic latitude during Antarctic summer intervals. The differences found between the two stations are discussed in terms of the seasonal dependence of geomagnetic field line configurations in the near cusp region.

Planck 2013 results. XXIII. Isotropy and Statistics of the CMB

CERN Document Server

Ade, P.A.R.; Armitage-Caplan, C.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Atrio-Barandela, F.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A.J.; Barreiro, R.B.; Bartlett, J.G.; Bartolo, N.; Battaner, E.; Battye, R.; Benabed, K.; Benoit, A.; Benoit-Levy, A.; Bernard, J.P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bielewicz, P.; Bobin, J.; Bock, J.J.; Bonaldi, A.; Bonavera, L.; Bond, J.R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F.R.; Bridges, M.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Butler, R.C.; Cardoso, J.F.; Catalano, A.; Challinor, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chary, R.R.; Chiang, L.Y.; Chiang, H.C.; Christensen, P.R.; Church, S.; Clements, D.L.; Colombi, S.; Colombo, L.P.L.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B.P.; Cruz, M.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R.D.; Davis, R.J.; de Bernardis, P.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Delouis, J.M.; Desert, F.X.; Diego, J.M.; Dole, H.; Donzelli, S.; Dore, O.; Douspis, M.; Ducout, A.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Elsner, F.; Ensslin, T.A.; Eriksen, H.K.; Fantaye, Y.; Fergusson, J.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Frommert, M.; Galeotta, S.; Ganga, K.; Giard, M.; Giardino, G.; Giraud-Heraud, Y.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Gorski, K.M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Hansen, M.; Hansen, F.K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D.; Helou, G.; Henrot-Versille, S.; Hernandez-Monteagudo, C.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S.R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W.A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K.M.; Jaffe, T.R.; Jaffe, A.H.; Jones, W.C.; Juvela, M.; Keihanen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kim, J.; Kisner, T.S.; Knoche, J.; Knox, L.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lahteenmaki, A.; Lamarre, J.M.; Lasenby, A.; Laureijs, R.J.; Lawrence, C.R.; Leahy, J.P.; Leonardi, R.; Leroy, C.; Lesgourgues, J.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P.B.; Linden-Vornle, M.; Lopez-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P.M.; Macias-Perez, J.F.; Maffei, B.; Maino, D.; Mandolesi, N.; Mangilli, A.; Marinucci, D.; Maris, M.; Marshall, D.J.; Martin, P.G.; Martinez-Gonzalez, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; Matthai, F.; Mazzotta, P.; McEwen, J.D.; Meinhold, P.R.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Mikkelsen, K.; Mitra, S.; Miville-Deschenes, M.A.; Molinari, D.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Moss, A.; Munshi, D.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C.B.; Norgaard-Nielsen, H.U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Osborne, S.; Oxborrow, C.A.; Paci, F.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paoletti, D.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Peiris, H.V.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Pogosyan, D.; Polenta, G.; Ponthieu, N.; Popa, L.; Poutanen, T.; Pratt, G.W.; Prezeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.L.; Rachen, J.P.; Rath, C.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renault, C.; Renzi, A.; Ricciardi, S.; Riller, T.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Rosset, C.; Rotti, A.; Roudier, G.; Rubino-Martin, J.A.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Santos, D.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Seiffert, M.D.; Shellard, E.P.S.; Souradeep, T.; Spencer, L.D.; Starck, J.L.; Stolyarov, V.; Stompor, R.; Sudiwala, R.; Sureau, F.; Sutter, P.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.S.; Sygnet, J.F.; Tauber, J.A.; Tavagnacco, D.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Tuovinen, J.; Turler, M.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Van Tent, B.; Varis, J.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Vittorio, N.; Wade, L.A.; Wandelt, B.D.; Wehus, I.K.; White, M.; Wilkinson, A.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

2014-01-01

The two fundamental assumptions of the standard cosmological model - that the initial fluctuations are statistically isotropic and Gaussian - are rigorously tested using maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy from the Planck satellite. Deviations from isotropy have been found and demonstrated to be robust against component separation algorithm, mask choice and frequency dependence. Many of these anomalies were previously observed in the WMAP data, and are now confirmed at similar levels of significance (about 3 sigma). However, we find little evidence for non-Gaussianity, with the exception of a few statistical signatures that seem to be associated with specific anomalies. In particular, we find that the quadrupole-octopole alignment is also connected to a low observed variance of the CMB signal. A power asymmetry is now found to persist to scales corresponding to about l=600, and can be described in the low-l regime by a phenomenological dipole modulation model. However, any primordial powe...

Observational constraints on scalar field models of dark energy with barotropic equation of state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sergijenko, Olga; Novosyadlyj, Bohdan; Durrer, Ruth

2011-01-01

We constrain the parameters of dynamical dark energy in the form of a classical or tachyonic scalar field with barotropic equation of state jointly with other cosmological parameters using the following datasets: the CMB power spectra from WMAP7, the baryon acoustic oscillations in the space distribution of galaxies from SDSS DR7, the power spectrum of luminous red galaxies from SDSS DR7 and the light curves of SN Ia from 2 different compilations: Union2 (SALT2 light curve fitting) and SDSS (SALT2 and MLCS2k2 light curve fittings). It has been found that the initial value of dark energy equation of state parameter is constrained very weakly by most of the data while the other cosmological parameters are well constrained: their likelihoods and posteriors are similar, their forms are close to Gaussian (or half-Gaussian) and the confidence ranges are narrow. The most reliable determinations of the best-fit value and 1σ confidence range for the initial value of the dark energy equation of state parameter are obtained from the combined datasets including SN Ia data from the full SDSS compilation with MLCS2k2 light curve fitting. In all such cases the best-fit value of this parameter is lower than the value of corresponding parameter for current epoch. Such dark energy loses its repulsive properties and in future the expansion of the Universe changes into contraction. We also perform a forecast for the Planck mock data and show that they narrow significantly the confidence ranges of cosmological parameters values, moreover, their combination with SN SDSS compilation with MLCS2k2 light curve fitting may exclude the fields with initial equation of state parameter > −0.1 at 2σ confidence level

Community-based approaches to strategic environmental assessment: Lessons from Costa Rica

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinclair, A. John; Sims, Laura; Spaling, Harry

2009-01-01

This paper describes a community-based approach to strategic environmental assessment (SEA) using a case study of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad's (ICE) watershed management agricultural program (WMAP) in Costa Rica. The approach focused on four highly interactive workshops that used visioning, brainstorming and critical reflection exercises. Each workshop represented a critical step in the SEA process. Through this approach, communities in two rural watersheds assessed the environmental, social and economic impacts of a proposed second phase for WMAP. Lessons from this community-based approach to strategic environmental assessment include a recognition of participants learning what a participatory SEA is conceptually and methodologically; the role of interactive techniques for identifying positive and negative impacts of the proposed program and generating creative mitigation strategies; the effect of workshops in reducing power differentials among program participants (proponent, communities, government agencies); and, the logistical importance of notice, timing and location for meaningful participation. The community-based approach to SEA offers considerable potential for assessing regional (watershed) development programs focused on sustainable resource-based livelihoods

Anisotropies in the cosmic neutrino background after Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe five-year data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Bernardis, Francesco; Pagano, Luca; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Serra, Paolo; Cooray, Asantha

2008-01-01

We search for the presence of cosmological neutrino background (CNB) anisotropies in recent Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) five-year data using their signature imprinted on modifications to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy power spectrum. By parameterizing the neutrino background anisotropies with the speed viscosity parameter c vis , we find that the WMAP five-year data alone provide only a weak indication for CNB anisotropies with c vis 2 >0.06 at the 95% confidence level. When we combine CMB anisotropy data with measurements of galaxy clustering, the SN-Ia Hubble diagram, and other cosmological information, the detection increases to c vis 2 >0.16 at the same 95% confidence level. Future data from Planck, combined with a weak lensing survey such as the one expected with DUNE from space, will be able to measure the CNB anisotropy parameter at about 10% accuracy. We discuss the degeneracy between neutrino background anisotropies and other cosmological parameters such as the number of effective neutrinos species and the dark energy equation of state

Dodecahedral space topology as an explanation for weak wide-angle temperature correlations in the cosmic microwave background.

Science.gov (United States)

Luminet, Jean-Pierre; Weeks, Jeffrey R; Riazuelo, Alain; Lehoucq, Roland; Uzan, Jean-Philippe

2003-10-09

The current 'standard model' of cosmology posits an infinite flat universe forever expanding under the pressure of dark energy. First-year data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) confirm this model to spectacular precision on all but the largest scales. Temperature correlations across the microwave sky match expectations on angular scales narrower than 60 degrees but, contrary to predictions, vanish on scales wider than 60 degrees. Several explanations have been proposed. One natural approach questions the underlying geometry of space--namely, its curvature and topology. In an infinite flat space, waves from the Big Bang would fill the universe on all length scales. The observed lack of temperature correlations on scales beyond 60 degrees means that the broadest waves are missing, perhaps because space itself is not big enough to support them. Here we present a simple geometrical model of a finite space--the Poincaré dodecahedral space--which accounts for WMAP's observations with no fine-tuning required. The predicted density is Omega(0) approximately 1.013 > 1, and the model also predicts temperature correlations in matching circles on the sky.

The Relativistic Effect of the Deviation between the CMB Temperatures Obtained by the COBE Satellite

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rabounski D.

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The Far-Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS on the COBE satellite, gives different temperatures of the Cosmic Microwave Background. This deviation has a theoretical explanation in the Doppler effect on the dipole (weak component of the radiation, the true microwave background of the Universe that moves at 365 km/sec, if the monopole (strong component of the radiation is due to the Earth. Owing to the Doppler effect, the dipole radiation temperature (determined by the 1st derivative of the monopole is lower than the monopole radiation temperature, with a value equal to the observed deviation. By this theory, the WMAP and PLANCK satellites, targeting the L2 point in the Sun-Earth-Moon system, should be insensitive to the monopole radiation. In contrast to the launched WMAP satellite, the PLANCK satellite will have on board absolute instruments which will not be able to detect the measured temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background. That the monopole (strong component of the observed Cosmic Microwave Background is generated by the Earth is given a complete theoretical proof herein.

Application of Cherenkov light observation to reactor measurements (1). Estimation of reactor power from Cherenkov light intensity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Keiichi; Takeuchi, Tomoaki; Kimura, Nobuaki; Ohtsuka, Noriaki; Tsuchiya, Kunihiko; Sano, Tadafumi; Nakajima, Ken; Homma, Ryohei; Kosuge, Fumiaki

2015-01-01

Development of the reactor measurement system was started to obtain the real-time in-core nuclear and thermal information, where the quantitative measurement of brightness of Cherenkov light was investigated. The system would be applied as a monitoring system in severe accidents and for the advanced operation management technology in existing LWRs. The calculation and the observation were performed to obtain the quantity of the Cherenkov light caused by the gamma and beta rays emitted from the fuels in the core of Kyoto University Research Reactor. The results indicate that the real-time reactor power can be estimated from the brightness of the Cherenkov light observed by a CCD camera. This method can also work for the estimation of the burn-up of spent fuels at commercial reactors. Since the observed brightness value of the Cherenkov light was influenced by the camera position, the optical observation method should be improved to achieve high accuracy observation. (author)

Power Burst Facility: power oscillation problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lussie, W.G.; Wadkins, R.P.; Wells, R.A.

1975-01-01

In late 1973 PBF achieved a power level of 15 MW. During this period of operation fluctuations in reactor power were observed. Many possible causes of these fluctuations were considered and a number of nuclear and non-nuclear tests were conducted. Initial instrumentation installed in the core showed coolant outlet temperature variations of 10 0 F for several fuel cannisters and approximately 10 percent power variations at 15 MW. Power spectral density analysis showed a predominant frequency of 0.05 to 0.06 HZ. The testing program to determine the cause of the power oscillations is described

An observational study of powered wheelchair provision in Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Salatino, Claudia; Andrich, Renzo; Converti, R M; Saruggia, M

2016-01-01

Powered wheelchairs are complex and expensive assistive devices that must be selected and configured on the basis of individual user needs, lifestyle, motivation, driving ability, and environment. Providing agencies often require evidence that their financial investment will lead to a successful outcome. The authors surveyed a sample of 79 users who had obtained powered wheelchairs from a Regional Health Service in Italy in the period 2008-2013. Follow-up interviews were conducted at the users' homes in order to collect information about wheelchair use, and its effectiveness, usefulness, and economic impact. The instruments used in the interviews included an introductory questionnaire, QUEST (Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology), PIADS (Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale), FABS/M (Facilitators and Barriers Survey/Mobility), and SCAI (Siva Cost Analysis Instrument). The results indicated positive outcomes, especially in relation to user satisfaction and psychosocial impact. A number of barriers were identified in various settings that sometimes restrict user mobility, and suggest corrective actions. The provision of a powered wheelchair generated considerable savings in social costs for most users: an average of about $38,000 per person over a projected 5-year period was estimated by comparing the cost of the intervention with that of non-intervention.

Instantaneous power control of a high speed permanent magnet synchronous generator based on a sliding mode observer and a phase locked loop

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Jiandong; Fan, Shaogui; Wu, Fengjiang; Sun, Li; Wang, Guanglin

2018-06-01

This paper proposes an instantaneous power control method for high speed permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG), to realize the decoupled control of active power and reactive power, through vector control based on a sliding mode observer (SMO), and a phase locked loop (PLL). Consequently, the high speed PMSG has a high internal power factor, to ensure efficient operation. Vector control and accurate estimation of the instantaneous power require an accurate estimate of the rotor position. The SMO is able to estimate the back electromotive force (EMF). The rotor position and speed can be obtained using a combination of the PLL technique and the phase compensation method. This method has the advantages of robust operation, and being resistant to noise when estimating the position of the rotor. Using instantaneous power theory, the relationship between the output active power, reactive power, and stator current of the PMSG is deduced, and the power constraint condition is analysed for operation at the unit internal power factor. Finally, the accuracy of the rotor position detection, the instantaneous power detection, and the control methods are verified using simulations and experiments.

Observer design for DC/DC power converters with bilinear averaged model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spinu, V.; Dam, M.C.A.; Lazar, M.

2012-01-01

Increased demand for high bandwidth and high efficiency made full state-feedback control solutions very attractive to power-electronics community. However, full state measurement is economically prohibitive for a large range of applications. Moreover, state measurements in switching power converters

General Forced Oscillations in a Real Power Grid Integrated with Large Scale Wind Power

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ping Ju

2016-07-01

Full Text Available According to the monitoring of the wide area measurement system, inter-area oscillations happen more and more frequently in a real power grid of China, which are close to the forced oscillation. Applying the conventional forced oscillation theory, the mechanism of these oscillations cannot be explained well, because the oscillations vary with random amplitude and a narrow frequency band. To explain the mechanism of such oscillations, the general forced oscillation (GFO mechanism is taken into consideration. The GFO is the power system oscillation excited by the random excitations, such as power fluctuations from renewable power generation. Firstly, properties of the oscillations observed in the real power grid are analyzed. Using the GFO mechanism, the observed oscillations seem to be the GFO caused by some random excitation. Then the variation of the wind power measured in this power gird is found to be the random excitation which may cause the GFO phenomenon. Finally, simulations are carried out and the power spectral density of the simulated oscillation is compared to that of the observed oscillation, and they are similar with each other. The observed oscillation is thus explained well using the GFO mechanism and the GFO phenomenon has now been observed for the first time in real power grids.

Constraining cosmological parameters with observational data including weak lensing effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Hong [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Theoretical Physics Center for Science Facilities (TPCSF), Chinese Academy of Science (China)], E-mail: hongli@mail.ihep.ac.cn; Liu Jie [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Xia Junqing [Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Beirut 2-4, I-34014 Trieste (Italy); Sun Lei; Fan Zuhui [Department of Astronomy, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Tao Charling; Tilquin, Andre [Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, CNRS/IN2P3-Luminy and Universite de la Mediterranee, Case 907, F-13288 Marseille Cedex 9 (France); Zhang Xinmin [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Theoretical Physics Center for Science Facilities (TPCSF), Chinese Academy of Science (China)

2009-05-11

In this Letter, we study the cosmological implications of the 100 square degree Weak Lensing survey (the CFHTLS-Wide, RCS, VIRMOS-DESCART and GaBoDS surveys). We combine these weak lensing data with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements from the WMAP5, BOOMERanG, CBI, VSA, ACBAR, the SDSS LRG matter power spectrum and the Type Ia Supernoave (SNIa) data with the 'Union' compilation (307 sample), using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to determine the cosmological parameters, such as the equation-of-state (EoS) of dark energy w, the density fluctuation amplitude {sigma}{sub 8}, the total neutrino mass {sigma}m{sub {nu}} and the parameters associated with the power spectrum of the primordial fluctuations. Our results show that the {lambda}CDM model remains a good fit to all of these data. In a flat universe, we obtain a tight limit on the constant EoS of dark energy, w=-0.97{+-}0.041 (1{sigma}). For the dynamical dark energy model with time evolving EoS parameterized as w{sub de}(a)=w{sub 0}+w{sub a}(1-a), we find that the best-fit values are w{sub 0}=-1.064 and w{sub a}=0.375, implying the mildly preference of Quintom model whose EoS gets across the cosmological constant boundary during evolution. Regarding the total neutrino mass limit, we obtain the upper limit, {sigma}m{sub {nu}}<0.471 eV (95% C.L.) within the framework of the flat {lambda}CDM model. Due to the obvious degeneracies between the neutrino mass and the EoS of dark energy model, this upper limit will be relaxed by a factor of 2 in the framework of dynamical dark energy models. Assuming that the primordial fluctuations are adiabatic with a power law spectrum, within the {lambda}CDM model, we find that the upper limit on the ratio of the tensor to scalar is r<0.35 (95% C.L.) and the inflationary models with the slope n{sub s}{>=}1 are excluded at more than 2{sigma} confidence level. In this Letter we pay particular attention to the contribution from the weak lensing data and

Neutrino mass and the reionization history of the Universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popa, L.A.; Burigana, C.; Mandolesi, N.

2005-01-01

We investigate the role of a HDM component in the form of the three massive neutrino flavors for the reionization history of the Universe. Assuming a flat background cosmology described by the best fit power low ΛCDM model with WMAP data (Ω b h 2 =0.024, Ω m h 2 =0.14, h=0.72), we analyze the role of the neutrino mass for the properties of the gas in the intergalactic medium (IGM), showing that the temporal evolution of the hydrogen and helium ionization fractions are sensitive to the neutrino mass, with important implications for the CMB anisotropy and polarization angular power spectra

Effect of earthquake and tsunami. Ground motion and tsunami observed at nuclear power station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hijikata, Katsuichirou

2012-01-01

Fukushima Daiichi and Daini Nuclear Power Stations (NPSs) were struck by the earthquake off the pacific coast in the Tohoku District, which occurred at 14:46 on March 11, 2011. Afterwards, tsunamis struck the Tohoku District. In terms of the earthquake observed at the Fukushima NPSs, the acceleration response spectra of the earthquake movement observed on the basic board of reactor buildings exceeded the acceleration response spectra of the response acceleration to the standard seismic ground motion Ss for partial periodic bands at the Fukushima Daiichi NPS. As for the Fukushima Daini NPS, the acceleration response spectra of the earthquake movement observed on the basic board of the reactor buildings was below the acceleration response spectra of the response acceleration to the standard seismic ground motion Ss. Areas inundated by Tsunami at each NPS were investigated and tsunami inversion analysis was made to build tsunami source model to reproduce tide record, tsunami height, crustal movement and inundated area, based on tsunami observation records in the wide areas from Hokkaido to Chiba prefectures. Tsunami heights of Fukushima Daiichi and Daini NPSs were recalculated as O.P. +13m and +9m respectively and tsunami peak height difference was attributed to the extent of superposition of tsunami waves of tsunami earthquake type of wave source in the area along interplane trench off the coast in the Fukushima prefecture and interplane earthquake type of wave source in rather deep interplate area off the coast in the Miyagi prefecture. (T. Tanaka)

Effect of current sheets on the solar wind magnetic field power spectrum from the Ulysses observation: from Kraichnan to Kolmogorov scaling.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, G; Miao, B; Hu, Q; Qin, G

2011-03-25

The MHD turbulence theory developed by Iroshnikov and Kraichnan predicts a k(-1.5) power spectrum. Solar wind observations, however, often show a k(-5/3) Kolmogorov scaling. Based on 3 years worth of Ulysses magnetic field data where over 28,000 current sheets are identified, we propose that the current sheet is the cause of the Kolmogorov scaling. We show that for 5 longest current-sheet-free periods the magnetic field power spectra are all described by the Iroshnikov-Kraichnan scaling. In comparison, for 5 periods that have the most number of current sheets, the power spectra all exhibit Kolmogorov scaling. The implication of our results is discussed.

CROSS-CORRELATIONS AS A COSMOLOGICAL CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pullen, Anthony R.; Doré, Olivier; Chang, Tzu-Ching; Lidz, Adam

2013-01-01

We present a new procedure to measure the large-scale carbon monoxide (CO) emissions across cosmic history. As a tracer of large-scale structure (LSS), the CO gas content as a function of redshift can be quantified by its three-dimensional fluctuation power spectra. Furthermore, cross-correlating CO emission with other LSS tracers offers a way to measure the emission as a function of scale and redshift. Here we introduce the model relevant for such a cross-correlation measurement between CO and other LSS tracers, and between different CO rotational lines. We propose a novel use of cosmic microwave background (CMB) data and attempt to extract redshifted CO emissions embedded in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data set. We cross-correlate the all-sky WMAP7 data with LSS data sets, namely, the photometric quasar sample and the luminous red galaxy sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Releases 6 and 7, respectively. We are unable to detect a cross-correlation signal with either CO(1-0) or CO(2-1) lines, mainly due to the instrumental noise in the WMAP data. However, we are able to rule out models more than three times greater than our more optimistic model. We discuss the cross-correlation signal from the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect and dust as potential contaminants, and quantify their impact for our CO measurements. We discuss forecasts for current CMB experiments and a hypothetical future CO-focused experiment, and propose to cross-correlate CO temperature data with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment Lyα-emitter sample, for which a signal-to-noise ratio of 58 is possible.

ALMA observing strategies

OpenAIRE

Biggs, Andy

2018-01-01

The ALMA Observing Tool (OT) is a Java-based tool used to prepare ALMA observations. In this talk, I highlight the particular features relevant to setting up single dish observations when these are needed to observe sources where the largest angular scale requires the addition of the total power antennas.

ALMA Observing Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Biggs, Andy

2018-03-01

The ALMA Observing Tool (OT) is a Java-based tool used to prepare ALMA observations. In this talk, I highlight the particular features relevant to setting up single dish observations when these are needed to observe sources where the largest angular scale requires the addition of the total power antennas.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Wildlife Detection and Observation Technologies at a Solar Power Tower Facility.

Science.gov (United States)

Diehl, Robert H; Valdez, Ernest W; Preston, Todd M; Wellik, Michael J; Cryan, Paul M

2016-01-01

Solar power towers produce electrical energy from sunlight at an industrial scale. Little is known about the effects of this technology on flying animals and few methods exist for automatically detecting or observing wildlife at solar towers and other tall anthropogenic structures. Smoking objects are sometimes observed co-occurring with reflected, concentrated light ("solar flux") in the airspace around solar towers, but the identity and origins of such objects can be difficult to determine. In this observational pilot study at the world's largest solar tower facility, we assessed the efficacy of using radar, surveillance video, and insect trapping to detect and observe animals flying near the towers. During site visits in May and September 2014, we monitored the airspace surrounding towers and observed insects, birds, and bats under a variety of environmental and operational conditions. We detected and broadly differentiated animals or objects moving through the airspace generally using radar and near solar towers using several video imaging methods. Video revealed what appeared to be mostly small insects burning in the solar flux. Also, we occasionally detected birds flying in the solar flux but could not accurately identify birds to species or the types of insects and small objects composing the vast majority of smoking targets. Insect trapping on the ground was somewhat effective at sampling smaller insects around the tower, and presence and abundance of insects in the traps generally trended with radar and video observations. Traps did not tend to sample the larger insects we sometimes observed flying in the solar flux or found dead on the ground beneath the towers. Some of the methods we tested (e.g., video surveillance) could be further assessed and potentially used to automatically detect and observe flying animals in the vicinity of solar towers to advance understanding about their effects on wildlife.

Evaluating the effectiveness of wildlife detection and observation technologies at a solar power tower facility

Science.gov (United States)

Diehl, Robert H.; Valdez, Ernest W.; Preston, Todd M.; Wellik, Mike J.; Cryan, Paul

2016-01-01

Solar power towers produce electrical energy from sunlight at an industrial scale. Little is known about the effects of this technology on flying animals and few methods exist for automatically detecting or observing wildlife at solar towers and other tall anthropogenic structures. Smoking objects are sometimes observed co-occurring with reflected, concentrated light (“solar flux”) in the airspace around solar towers, but the identity and origins of such objects can be difficult to determine. In this observational pilot study at the world’s largest solar tower facility, we assessed the efficacy of using radar, surveillance video, and insect trapping to detect and observe animals flying near the towers. During site visits in May and September 2014, we monitored the airspace surrounding towers and observed insects, birds, and bats under a variety of environmental and operational conditions. We detected and broadly differentiated animals or objects moving through the airspace generally using radar and near solar towers using several video imaging methods. Video revealed what appeared to be mostly small insects burning in the solar flux. Also, we occasionally detected birds flying in the solar flux but could not accurately identify birds to species or the types of insects and small objects composing the vast majority of smoking targets. Insect trapping on the ground was somewhat effective at sampling smaller insects around the tower, and presence and abundance of insects in the traps generally trended with radar and video observations. Traps did not tend to sample the larger insects we sometimes observed flying in the solar flux or found dead on the ground beneath the towers. Some of the methods we tested (e.g., video surveillance) could be further assessed and potentially used to automatically detect and observe flying animals in the vicinity of solar towers to advance understanding about their effects on wildlife.

On the waterfall behavior in hybrid inflation

OpenAIRE

Kodama, Hideo; Kohri, Kazunori; Nakayama, Kazunori

2011-01-01

We revisit the hybrid inflation model focusing on the dynamics of the waterfall field in an analytical way. It is shown that inflation may last long enough during the waterfall regime for some parameter regions, confirming the claim of Clesse. In this case the scalar spectral index becomes red, and can fall into the best fit range of the WMAP observation.

Hybrid inflation revisited in light of WMAP5 data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rehman, Mansoor Ur; Shafi, Qaisar; Wickman, Joshua R.

2009-01-01

We study the effects of including one-loop radiative corrections in a nonsupersymmetric hybrid inflationary model. These corrections can arise from Yukawa couplings between the inflaton and right-handed neutrinos, and induce a maximum in the potential which admits hilltop-type solutions in addition to the standard hybrid solutions. We obtain a red-tilted spectral index n s , consistent with Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 5 yr analysis data, for sub-Planckian values of the field. This is in contrast to the tree level hybrid analysis, in which a red-tilted spectrum is achieved only for trans-Planckian values of the field. Successful reheating is obtained at the end of the inflationary phase via a conversion of the inflaton and waterfall fields into right-handed neutrinos, whose subsequent decay can explain the observed baryon asymmetry via leptogenesis.

Integrated Power and Attitude Control Design of Satellites Based on a Fuzzy Adaptive Disturbance Observer Using Variable-Speed Control Moment Gyros

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhongyi Chu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available To satisfy the requirements for small satellites that seek agile slewing with peak power, this paper investigates integrated power and attitude control using variable-speed control moment gyros (VSCMGs that consider the mass and inertia of gimbals and wheels. The paper also details the process for developing the controller by considering various environments in which the controller may be implemented. A fuzzy adaptive disturbance observer (FADO is proposed to estimate and compensate for the effects of equivalent disturbances. The algorithms can simultaneously track attitude and power. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the control approach, which exhibits an improvement of 80 percent compared with alternate approaches that do not employ a FADO.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: CMB polarization at 200 < ℓ < 9000

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naess, Sigurd; Allison, Rupert; Calabrese, Erminia [Sub-Department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Hasselfield, Matthew [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); McMahon, Jeff; Coughlin, Kevin; Datta, Rahul [Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48103 (United States); Niemack, Michael D.; De Bernardis, Francesco [Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Addison, Graeme E.; Amiri, Mandana [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Ade, Peter A. R. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff, Wales CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Battaglia, Nick [McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Physics, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh PA 15213 (United States); Beall, James A.; Britton, Joe; Cho, Hsiao-mei [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Bond, J Richard [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Crichton, Devin [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Das, Sudeep [Department of High Energy Physics, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Devlin, Mark J., E-mail: sigurd.naess@astro.ox.ac.uk [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); and others

2014-10-01

We report on measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and celestial polarization at 146 GHz made with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) in its first three months of observing. Four regions of sky covering a total of 270 square degrees were mapped with an angular resolution of 1.3'. The map noise levels in the four regions are between 11 and 17 μK-arcmin. We present TT, TE, EE, TB, EB, and BB power spectra from three of these regions. The observed E-mode polarization power spectrum, displaying six acoustic peaks in the range 200 < ℓ < 3000, is an excellent fit to the prediction of the best-fit cosmological models from WMAP9+ACT and Planck data. The polarization power spectrum, which mainly reflects primordial plasma velocity perturbations, provides an independent determination of cosmological parameters consistent with those based on the temperature power spectrum, which results mostly from primordial density perturbations. We find that without masking any point sources in the EE data at ℓ < 9000, the Poisson tail of the EE power spectrum due to polarized point sources has an amplitude less than 2.4 μ {sup 2} at ℓ = 3000 at 95% confidence. Finally, we report that the Crab Nebula, an important polarization calibration source at microwave frequencies, has 8.7% polarization with an angle of 150.7{sup o} ± 0.6{sup o} when smoothed with a 5' Gaussian beam.

Delayed recombination and cosmic parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galli, Silvia; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Bean, Rachel; Silk, Joseph

2008-01-01

Current cosmological constraints from cosmic microwave background anisotropies are typically derived assuming a standard recombination scheme, however additional resonance and ionizing radiation sources can delay recombination, altering the cosmic ionization history and the cosmological inferences drawn from the cosmic microwave background data. We show that for recent observations of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy, from the Wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe satellite mission (WMAP) 5-year survey and from the arcminute cosmology bolometer array receiver experiment, additional resonance radiation is nearly degenerate with variations in the spectral index, n s , and has a marked effect on uncertainties in constraints on the Hubble constant, age of the universe, curvature and the upper bound on the neutrino mass. When a modified recombination scheme is considered, the redshift of recombination is constrained to z * =1078±11, with uncertainties in the measurement weaker by 1 order of magnitude than those obtained under the assumption of standard recombination while constraints on the shift parameter are shifted by 1σ to R=1.734±0.028. From the WMAP5 data we obtain the following constraints on the resonance and ionization sources parameters: ε α i <0.058 at 95% c.l.. Although delayed recombination limits the precision of parameter estimation from the WMAP satellite, we demonstrate that this should not be the case for future, smaller angular scales measurements, such as those by the Planck satellite mission.

Physics Colloquium | 25 February

CERN Multimedia

2013-01-01

Critical Tests of Theory of the Early Universe using the Cosmic Microwave Background, by Prof. Eiichiro Komatsu, Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Garching, (Germany). Monday 25 February 2013 at 17:00 École de Physique, Auditoire Stueckelberg 24, quai Ernest-Ansermet, 1211 Genève 4 Abstract: The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the fossil light of the Big Bang, is the oldest light that one can ever hope to observe in our Universe. The CMB provides us with a direct image of the Universe when it was still an "infant" - 380,000 years old. The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) has mapped the microwave sky in five frequency bands for nine years since 2001, creating a full-sky CMB map with the unprecedented precision. The WMAP data have enabled us to obtain a wealth of cosmological information, such as the composition, age, geometry, and history of the Universe. Yet, can we go further and learn about the primordial universe, when it was much younge...

Study on team evaluation (5). On application of behavior observation-based teamwork evaluation sheet for power plant operator team

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasou, Kunihide; Sugihara, Yoshikuni

2009-01-01

This report discusses the range of application of the behavior observation-based teamwork evaluation sheet. Under the concept of this method, teamwork evaluation sheet is developed, which assumes a certain single failure (failure of feed water transmitter). The evaluation sheets are applied to evaluate team work of 26 thermal power plant operator teams in combined under abnormal operating conditions of failure of feed water transmitter, feed draft fan or steam flow governor. As a result of ANOVA, it finds that there are no differences between 3 kinds of single failure. In addition, the similar analysis is executed to 3 kinds of multiple failures (steam generator tube rapture, loss of coolant accident and loss of secondary coolant accident) under which 7 PWR nuclear power plant operator teams are evaluated. As a result, ANOVA shows no differences between 3 kinds of multiple failures. These results indicate that a behavior observation-based team work evaluation sheet, which is designed for a certain abnormal condition, is applicable to the abnormal conditions that have the same development of abnormal conditions. (author)

Cosmological Constraints from the SDSS maxBCG Cluster Catalog

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rozo, Eduardo; /CCAPP; Wechsler, Risa H.; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Rykoff, Eli S.; /UC, Santa Barbara; Annis, James T.; /Fermilab; Becker, Matthew R.; /Chicago U. /KICP, Chicago; Evrard, August E.; /Michigan U. /Michigan U., MCTP; Frieman, Joshua A.; /Fermilab /KICP, Chicago /Chicago U.; Hansen, Sarah M.; /UC, Santa Cruz; Hao, Jia; /Michigan U.; Johnston, David E.; /Northwestern U.; Koester, Benjamin P.; /KICP, Chicago /Chicago U.; McKay, Timothy A.; /Michigan U. /Michigan U., MCTP; Sheldon, Erin S.; /Brookhaven; Weinberg, David H.; /CCAPP /Ohio State U.

2009-08-03

We use the abundance and weak lensing mass measurements of the SDSS maxBCG cluster catalog to simultaneously constrain cosmology and the richness-mass relation of the clusters. Assuming a flat {Lambda}CDM cosmology, we find {sigma}{sub 8}({Omega}{sub m}/0.25){sup 0.41} = 0.832 {+-} 0.033 after marginalization over all systematics. In common with previous studies, our error budget is dominated by systematic uncertainties, the primary two being the absolute mass scale of the weak lensing masses of the maxBCG clusters, and uncertainty in the scatter of the richness-mass relation. Our constraints are fully consistent with the WMAP five-year data, and in a joint analysis we find {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.807 {+-} 0.020 and {Omega}{sub m} = 0.265 {+-} 0.016, an improvement of nearly a factor of two relative to WMAP5 alone. Our results are also in excellent agreement with and comparable in precision to the latest cosmological constraints from X-ray cluster abundances. The remarkable consistency among these results demonstrates that cluster abundance constraints are not only tight but also robust, and highlight the power of optically-selected cluster samples to produce precision constraints on cosmological parameters.

BOOK REVIEW: Observational Cosmology Observational Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, Dale Andrew

2013-04-01

. However, these are usually pointed to in the 'further reading' section at the end of each chapter. I found this to be a welcome compromise: derivations are important but tedious; you should have access to them, but they would bog down a book such as this. Some of the experimental techniques of modern-day cosmology are of sufficient complexity that they require a thorough explanation of the particulars of an experiment intertwined with the fundamentals of cosmology. This is where the book both shines and stumbles. Learning spherical harmonics as an abstraction is a bore. But if you know it will help you to interpret the latest WMAP results, it seems like a vital tool. Pairing topics like these is great for motivation, but at times the execution is lacking. Spherical harmonics are dispensed with in a few paragraphs and a handful of equations. And there are no exercises provided to help students master the basics. This lack of outlets for students to test their knowledge is a serious issue. There are no problem sets at the end of each chapter. Occasionally an exercise is interspersed into the text, but these are relatively rare. The burden will be on the professor to come up with interesting problems to challenge students on most of the topics. A related problem is that the math in the book is too advanced for most undergraduates. After consultation with a British colleague, I don't think this is just a difference between expectations in the American and British systems. In addition to the aforementioned spherical harmonics, advanced Fourier techniques and complicated matrices are presented, with too little background provided. Even tensors are brushed on. Observational Cosmology also tries to serve as a kind of primer on the terminology used by cosmologists. Perhaps this is to help students understand talks, where knowledge of such esoterica as BzK galaxies, Schmidt laws, and Shapiro delays is assumed. This is admirable, and often succeeds, but the result is a book that is

Power coefficient anomaly in JOYO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamamoto, H

1980-12-15

Operation of the JOYO experimental fast reactor with the MK-I core has been divided into two phases: (1) 50 MWt power ascension and operation; and (2) 75 MWt power ascension and operation. The 50 MWt power-up tests were conducted in August 1978. In these tests, the measured reactivity loss due to power increases from 15 MWt to 50 MWt was 0.28% ..delta.. K/K, and agreed well with the predicted value of 0.27% ..delta.. K/K. The 75 MWt power ascension tests were conducted in July-August 1979. In the process of the first power increase above 50 MWt to 65 MWt conducted on July 11, 1979, an anomalously large negative power coefficient was observed. The value was about twice the power coefficient values measured in the tests below 50 MW. In order to reproduce the anomaly, the reactor power was decreased and again increased up to the maximum power of 65 MWt. However, the large negative power coefficient was not observed at this time. In the succeeding power increase from 65 MWt to 75 MWt, a similar anomalous power coefficient was again observed. This anomaly disappeared in the subsequent power ascensions to 75 MWt, and the magnitude of the power coefficient gradually decreased with power cycles above the 50 MWt level.

An update on the big bang nucleosynthesis prediction for 7Li: the problem worsens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cyburt, Richard H; Fields, Brian D; Olive, Keith A

2008-01-01

The lithium problem arises from the significant discrepancy between the primordial 7 Li abundance as predicted by big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) theory and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) baryon density, and the pre-Galactic lithium abundance inferred from observations of metal-poor (Population II) stars. This problem has loomed for the past decade, with a persistent discrepancy of a factor of 2–3 in 7 Li/H. Recent developments have sharpened all aspects of the Li problem. Namely: (1) BBN theory predictions have sharpened due to new nuclear data; in particular, the uncertainty on the reaction rate for 3 He(α,γ) 7 Be has reduced to 7.4%, nearly a factor of 2 tighter than previous determinations. (2) The WMAP five-year data set now yields a cosmic baryon density with an uncertainty reduced to 2.7%. (3) Observations of metal-poor stars have tested for systematic effects. With these, we now find that the BBN+WMAP predicts 7 Li/H = (5.24 −0.67 +0.71 ) × 10 −10 . The central value represents an increase by 23%, most of which is due to the upward shift in the 3 He(α,γ) 7 Be rate. More significant is the reduction in the 7 Li/H uncertainty by almost a factor of 2, tracking the reduction in the 3 He(α,γ) 7 Be error bar. These changes exacerbate the Li problem; the discrepancy is now a factor 2.4 or 4.2σ (from globular cluster stars) to 4.3 or 5.3σ (from halo field stars). Possible resolutions to the lithium problem are briefly reviewed, and key experimental and astronomical measurements highlighted

Power System Observation by using Synchronized Phasor Measurements as a Smart Device

Science.gov (United States)

Mitani, Yasunori

Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) is an apparatus which detects the absolute value of phase angle in sinusoidal signal. When more than two units are located distantly apart from each other, and they are synchronized with GPS signal which tells us the information on exact time, it becomes ready to get phase differences between two distant places. Thus, PMU with GPS receiver is applied to the monitoring of AC power system dynamics and usually installed at substations of transmission lines. The states of power network are uniquely determined by the active and reactive power and the magnitude and phase angle of voltage in each node. Among these values the phase angle had not been easily obtained until the scheme of time synchronism with GPS appeared. In this report, the history of GPS and PMU, and the current status of the applications in power systems in the world are presented. In Japan we are developing a power system monitoring system with PMUs installed at University's campuses with 100V outlets, which is called Campus WAMS. This report also introduces some results from the Campus WAMS briefly.

Single-field inflation constraints from CMB and SDSS data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finelli, Fabio; Hamann, Jan; Leach, Samuel M.; Lesgourgues, Julien

2010-01-01

We present constraints on canonical single-field inflation derived from WMAP five year, ACBAR, QUAD, BICEP data combined with the halo power spectrum from SDSS LRG7. Models with a non-scale-invariant spectrum and a red tilt n S S = 1, tensor-to-scalar ratio r = 0) at high significance. Assuming no running of the spectral indices, we derive constraints on the parameters (n S , r) and compare our results with the predictions of simple inflationary models. The marginalised credible intervals read n S = 0.962 +0.028 −0.026 and r 2 ≅ 5.8, allowing inflationary stages producing a sizable negative running −0.063 +0.061 −0.049 and larger tensor-scalar ratio r < 0.33 at the 95% c.l. This requires large values of the third derivative of the inflaton potential within the observable range. We derive bounds on this derivative under the assumption that the inflaton potential can be approximated as a third order polynomial within the observable range

Effects of a primordial magnetic field with log-normal distribution on the cosmic microwave background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamazaki, Dai G.; Ichiki, Kiyotomo; Takahashi, Keitaro

2011-01-01

We study the effect of primordial magnetic fields (PMFs) on the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We assume the spectrum of PMFs is described by log-normal distribution which has a characteristic scale, rather than power-law spectrum. This scale is expected to reflect the generation mechanisms and our analysis is complementary to previous studies with power-law spectrum. We calculate power spectra of energy density and Lorentz force of the log-normal PMFs, and then calculate CMB temperature and polarization angular power spectra from scalar, vector, and tensor modes of perturbations generated from such PMFs. By comparing these spectra with WMAP7, QUaD, CBI, Boomerang, and ACBAR data sets, we find that the current CMB data set places the strongest constraint at k≅10 -2.5 Mpc -1 with the upper limit B < or approx. 3 nG.

Observations on some current issues pertaining to nuclear power plant seismic design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, W.J.

1982-01-01

In this paper the author addresses some of those areas in which it is believed major research and development should be undertaken in the years immediately ahead if significant advances in earthquake engineering especially applicable to nuclear power plant design are to be achieved. From the standpoint of excitation (loading) the paper dwells extensively on concepts of so-called effective acceleration, with some comments also given on response spectra and modifications thereto. In the areas of resistance of structures attention is devoted to the topics of damping, ductility (energy absorption), and associated margins of strength to resist overloading. The need for developing comprehensive field measurement programs of ground and structural response throughout the world is cited. Future progress in earthquake engineering hinges in large part on developing a confirmatory basis for the technology, partly through continuing developments of analysis techniques and corresponding laboratory testing, but most importantly field observations in actual earthquakes which can be interpreted rationally to lend verification and support to the theoretical and design bases. Finally, the important topic of equipment seismic resistance is singled out for attention. (orig.)

A Simple Checking Algorithm with Perturb and Observe Maximum Power Point Tracking for Partially Shaded Photovoltaic System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rozana Alik

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a simple checking algorithm for maximum power point tracking (MPPT technique for Photovoltaic (PV system using Perturb and Observe (P&O algorithm. The main benefit of this checking algorithm is the simplicity and efficiency of the system whose duty cycle produced by the MPPT is smoother and changes faster according to maximum power point (MPP. This checking algorithm can determine the maximum power first before the P&O algorithm takes place to identify the voltage at MPP (VMPP, which is needed to calculate the duty cycle for the boost converter. To test the effectiveness of the algorithm, a simulation model of PV system has been carried out using MATLAB/Simulink under different level of irradiation; or in other words partially shaded condition of PV array. The results from the system using the proposed approach prove to have faster response and low ripple. Besides, the results are close to the desired outputs and exhibit an approximately 98.25% of the system efficiency. On the other hand, the system with conventional P&O MPPT seems to be unstable and has higher percentage of error. In summary, the proposed method is useful under varying level of irradiation with higher efficiency of the system.

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SMALL-SCALE STRUCTURE IN LOCAL GALACTIC NEUTRAL HYDROGEN AND IN THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND OBSERVED BY PLANCK

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verschuur, Gerrit L., E-mail: gverschu@naic.edu [Arecibo Observatory, HC3 Box 53995, Arecibo, PR 00612 (United States)

2015-11-01

High-resolution galactic neutral hydrogen (HI) data obtained with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) over 56 square degrees of sky around l = 132°, b = 25° are compared with small-scale structure in the Cosmic Microwave Background observed by PLANCK, specifically at 143 and 857 GHz, as well as with 100 μm observations from the IRIS survey. The analysis uses data in 13 2° × 2° sub-areas found in the IRSA database at IPAC. The results confirm what has been reported previously; nearby galactic HI features and high-frequency continuum sources believed to be cosmological are in fact clearly associated. While several attempts strongly suggest that the associations are statistically significant, the key to understanding the phenomenon lies in the fact that in any given area HI is associated with cirrus dust at certain HI velocities and with 143 GHz features at different velocities. At the same time, for the 13 sub-areas studied, there is very little overlap between the dust and 143 GHz features. The data do not imply that the HI itself gives rise to the high-frequency continuum emission. Rather, they appear to indicate undiagnosed brightness enhancements indirectly associated with the HI. If low density interstellar electrons concentrated into clumps, or observed in directions where their integrated line-of-sight column densities are greater than the background in a manner similar to the phenomena that give rise to structure in diffuse HI structure, they will profoundly affect attempts to create a foreground electron mask used for processing PLANCK as well as WMAP data.

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SMALL-SCALE STRUCTURE IN LOCAL GALACTIC NEUTRAL HYDROGEN AND IN THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND OBSERVED BY PLANCK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verschuur, Gerrit L.

2015-01-01

High-resolution galactic neutral hydrogen (HI) data obtained with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) over 56 square degrees of sky around l = 132°, b = 25° are compared with small-scale structure in the Cosmic Microwave Background observed by PLANCK, specifically at 143 and 857 GHz, as well as with 100 μm observations from the IRIS survey. The analysis uses data in 13 2° × 2° sub-areas found in the IRSA database at IPAC. The results confirm what has been reported previously; nearby galactic HI features and high-frequency continuum sources believed to be cosmological are in fact clearly associated. While several attempts strongly suggest that the associations are statistically significant, the key to understanding the phenomenon lies in the fact that in any given area HI is associated with cirrus dust at certain HI velocities and with 143 GHz features at different velocities. At the same time, for the 13 sub-areas studied, there is very little overlap between the dust and 143 GHz features. The data do not imply that the HI itself gives rise to the high-frequency continuum emission. Rather, they appear to indicate undiagnosed brightness enhancements indirectly associated with the HI. If low density interstellar electrons concentrated into clumps, or observed in directions where their integrated line-of-sight column densities are greater than the background in a manner similar to the phenomena that give rise to structure in diffuse HI structure, they will profoundly affect attempts to create a foreground electron mask used for processing PLANCK as well as WMAP data

Simulation and analysis of an isolated full-bridge DC/DC boost converter operating with a modified perturb and observe maximum power point tracking algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Calebe A. Matias

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the present study is to simulate and analyze an isolated full-bridge DC/DC boost converter, for photovoltaic panels, running a modified perturb and observe maximum power point tracking method. The zero voltage switching technique was used in order to minimize the losses of the converter for a wide range of solar operation. The efficiency of the power transfer is higher than 90% for large solar operating points. The panel enhancement due to the maximum power point tracking algorithm is 5.06%.

Power Talk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Hongpeng; Yang, Yongheng; Loh, Poh Chiang

2016-01-01

In this paper, a novel communication strategy called Power Talk is introduced to realize the power line communication among the Voltage Source Converters (VSC) of DC MicroGrids (MGs). Each VSC transmits information by changing the control parameters, and receives information by observing the local...

Markov chain Monte Carlo exploration of minimal supergravity with implications for dark matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baltz, Edward A.; Gondolo, Paolo

2004-01-01

We explore the full parameter space of Minimal Supergravity (mSUGRA), allowing all four continuous parameters (the scalar mass m 0 , the gaugino mass m 1/2 , the trilinear coupling A 0 , and the ratio of Higgs vacuum expectation values tan β) to vary freely. We apply current accelerator constraints on sparticle and Higgs masses, and on the b→sγ branching ratio, and discuss the impact of the constraints on g μ -2. To study dark matter, we apply the WMAP constraint on the cold dark matter density. We develop Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques to explore the parameter regions consistent with WMAP, finding them to be considerably superior to previously used methods for exploring supersymmetric parameter spaces. Finally, we study the reach of current and future direct detection experiments in light of the WMAP constraint. (author)

Markov Chain Monte Carlo Exploration of Minimal Supergravity with Implications for Dark Matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baltz, E

2004-01-01

We explore the full parameter space of Minimal Supergravity (mSUGRA), allowing all four continuous parameters (the scalar mass m 0 , the gaugino mass m 1/2 , the trilinear coupling A 0 , and the ratio of Higgs vacuum expectation values tan β) to vary freely. We apply current accelerator constraints on sparticle and Higgs masses, and on the b → sγ branching ratio, and discuss the impact of the constraints on g μ -2. To study dark matter, we apply the WMAP constraint on the cold dark matter density. We develop Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques to explore the parameter regions consistent with WMAP, finding them to be considerably superior to previously used methods for exploring supersymmetric parameter spaces. Finally, we study the reach of current and future direct detection experiments in light of the WMAP constraint

Towards a New Framework for Soft Power: An Observation of China’s Confucius Institute

OpenAIRE

LEE, Kyoungtaek

2010-01-01

There are many controversial and differing opinions concerning Nye’s concept of soft power which have lead to some confusion in our understanding of what soft power actually is. By analyzing a given governmental agency, i.e. China’s Confucius Institute, I will show the problem inherent in Nye’s term soft power. I will analyze the concept of soft power as a combination of two meanings: ‘soft’ and ‘power’. I believe this research could offer a new perspective on the concept of soft power and co...

Structure formation cosmic rays: Identifying observational constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prodanović T.

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Shocks that arise from baryonic in-fall and merger events during the structure formation are believed to be a source of cosmic rays. These "structure formation cosmic rays" (SFCRs would essentially be primordial in composition, namely, mostly made of protons and alpha particles. However, very little is known about this population of cosmic rays. One way to test the level of its presence is to look at the products of hadronic reactions between SFCRs and the ISM. A perfect probe of these reactions would be Li. The rare isotope Li is produced only by cosmic rays, dominantly in αα → 6Li fusion reactions with the ISM helium. Consequently, this nuclide provides a unique diagnostic of the history of cosmic rays. Exactly because of this unique property is Li affected most by the presence of an additional cosmic ray population. In turn, this could have profound consequences for the Big-Bang nucleosynthesis: cosmic rays created during cosmic structure formation would lead to pre-Galactic Li production, which would act as a "contaminant" to the primordial 7Li content of metalpoor halo stars. Given the already existing problem of establishing the concordance between Li observed in halo stars and primordial 7Li as predicted by the WMAP, it is crucial to set limits to the level of this "contamination". However, the history of SFCRs is not very well known. Thus we propose a few model-independent ways of testing the SFCR species and their history, as well as the existing lithium problem: 1 we establish the connection between gamma-ray and Li production, which enables us to place constraints on the SFCR-made lithium by using the observed Extragalactic Gamma-Ray Background (EGRB; 2 we propose a new site for testing the primordial and SFCR-made lithium, namely, low-metalicity High-Velocity Clouds (HVCs, which retain the pre-Galactic composition without any significant depletion. Although using one method alone may not give us strong constraints, using them in

Long term operation of nuclear power plants – IAEA SALTO missions observations and trends

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krivanek, Robert, E-mail: r.krivanek@iaea.org [Operational Safety Section, Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna 1400 (Austria); Havel, Radim, E-mail: Radim.Havel@gmail.com [RESCO, Nitranska 894/8, 10100 Praha 10 (Czech Republic)

2016-08-15

Highlights: • During the period 2005–mid 2015, 22 SALTO peer review missions and 2 LTO modules of OSART missions were conducted. • Analysis of these mission results and main trends observed are gathered in this paper. • The main task of the assessment performed was to evaluate and give a weight to the evaluation. • Results of SALTO follow-up missions as well as OSART follow-up missions with LTO module are summarized. • The SALTO peer review service is strongly recommended for NPPs prior to entering LTO period. - Abstract: This paper builds on paper “Long term operation of nuclear power plants – IAEA SALTO peer review service and its results”, NED8070, presented in Nuclear Engineering and Design in September 2014. This paper presents the analysis of SALTO mission results and main trends observed so that all the most important results of SALTO missions are gathered in one paper. The paper also includes the results of LTO module reviews performed in the frame of OSART missions where applicable as well as follow-up missions. This paper is divided in three main Sections. Section 1 provides brief introduction to SALTO peer review service. Section 2 provides overview of performed SALTO missions and LTO modules of OSART missions performed between 2005 and mid-2015. Section 3 summarizes the most significant observations and trends resulting from the missions between 2005 and mid-2015. Section 4 summarizes the results of SALTO follow-up missions as well as OSART follow-up missions.

Power system observability with minimum phasor measurement ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

Due to the high cost of having a PMU at each node, some of the studies performed in ..... through the process of expanding, which makes the observational topologies, ...... FACTS controllers”, International Journal of Engineering, Science and ...

NOx lifetimes and emissions of cities and power plants in polluted background estimated by satellite observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Liu

2016-04-01

Full Text Available We present a new method to quantify NOx emissions and corresponding atmospheric lifetimes from OMI NO2 observations together with ECMWF wind fields without further model input for sources located in a polluted background. NO2 patterns under calm wind conditions are used as proxy for the spatial patterns of NOx emissions, and the effective atmospheric NOx lifetime is determined from the change of spatial patterns measured at larger wind speeds. Emissions are subsequently derived from the NO2 mass above the background, integrated around the source of interest. Lifetimes and emissions are estimated for 17 power plants and 53 cities located in non-mountainous regions across China and the USA. The derived lifetimes for the ozone season (May–September are 3.8 ± 1.0 h (mean ± standard deviation with a range of 1.8 to 7.5 h. The derived NOx emissions show generally good agreement with bottom-up inventories for power plants and cities. Regional inventory shows better agreement with top-down estimates for Chinese cities compared to global inventory, most likely due to different downscaling approaches adopted in the two inventories.

Non-minimal inflation revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nozari, Kourosh; Shafizadeh, Somayeh

2010-01-01

We reconsider an inflationary model that inflaton field is non-minimally coupled to gravity. We study the parameter space of the model up to the second (and in some cases third) order of the slow-roll parameters. We calculate inflation parameters in both Jordan and Einstein frames, and the results are compared in these two frames and also with observations. Using the recent observational data from combined WMAP5+SDSS+SNIa datasets, we study constraints imposed on our model parameters, especially the non-minimal coupling ξ.

Experimental observations of the spatial structure of wave-like disturbances generated in midlatitude ionosphere by high power radio waves

Science.gov (United States)

Kunitsyn, V.; Andreeva, E.; Padokhin, A. M.; Nazarenko, M.; Frolov, V.; Komrakov, G.; Bolotin, I.

2012-12-01

We present the results of the experiments carried out in 2009-2012 on the Sura heating facility (Radio Physical Research Institute, N. Novgorod, Russia) on modification of the midlatitude ionosphere by powerful HF radiowaves. The experiments were conducted using O-mode radiowaves at frequencies lower than critical frequency of the ionospheric F2 layer both in daytime and nighttime ionosphere. Various schemes of the radiation of the heating wave were used including square wave modulation of the effective radiated power (ERP) at various frequencies and power stepping. Radio transmissions of the low- (Parus/Tsikada) and high-orbital (GPS/GLONASS) navigational satellites received at the mobile network of receiving sites were used for the remote sensing of the heated area of the ionosphere. The variations in the slant total electron content (TEC), which are proportional to the reduced phase of navigational signals, were studied for the satellite passes for which ionospheric penetration points crossed the disturbed area during HF heating. The variations in TEC caused by HF heating are identified in a number of examples. It is shown that the GNSS TEC spectra contain frequency components corresponding to the modulation periods of the ERP of the heating wave. The manifestations of the heating-induced variations in TEC are most prominent in the area of magnetic zenith of the pumping wave. Different behavior of TEC variations was observed during nighttime and daytime heating experiments. In daytime conditions the pump wave switched ON causes the increase of TEC while in the nighttime it causes a decrease in TEC. This can be explained by the different contribution of the processes responsible for the increase and decrease of TEC in daytime in nighttime conditions. In this work we also present the first time radiotomographic reconstructions of the spatial structure of the wave-like disturbances, generated in the ionosphere by high-power radio waves radiated by the Sura heater

Visual observation of boiling in high power liquid target

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peeples, J. L.; Stokely, M. H.; Poorman, M. C.; Magerl, M.; Wieland, B. W. [Bruce Technologies Inc., 1939 Evans Rd. Cary, NC 27513 (United States); IBA Molecular, 801 Forestwood Dr. Romeoville, IL 60446 (United States); Bruce Technologies Inc., 1939 Evans Rd. Cary, NC 27513 (United States)

2012-12-19

A top pressurized, batch style, 3.15 mL total volume (2.5 mL fill volume) water target with transparent viewing windows was operated on an IBA 18/9 cyclotron at 18 MeV proton energy and beam power up to 1.1 kW. Video recordings documented bubble formation and transport, and blue light from de-excitation of water molecules produced images of proton beam stopping geometry including location of the Bragg peak.

Power-Hop: A Pervasive Observation for Real Complex Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-14

e.g., power grid, the Internet and the web-graph), social (e.g., friendship networks — Facebook , Gowalla—and co- authorship networks ), urban (e.g...Mislove A., Cha M. and Gummadi K.P. On the evolution of user interaction in Facebook . In Proc. Workshop on Online Social Networks 2009. doi...scale-free distribution is pervasive and describes a large variety of networks , ranging from social and urban to technological and biological networks

THE POWER OF IMAGING: CONSTRAINING THE PLASMA PROPERTIES OF GRMHD SIMULATIONS USING EHT OBSERVATIONS OF Sgr A*

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chan, Chi-Kwan; Psaltis, Dimitrios; Özel, Feryal [Steward Observatory and Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Narayan, Ramesh [Institute for Theory and Computation, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Sadowski, Aleksander, E-mail: chanc@email.arizona.edu [MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

2015-01-20

Recent advances in general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations have expanded and improved our understanding of the dynamics of black-hole accretion disks. However, current simulations do not capture the thermodynamics of electrons in the low density accreting plasma. This poses a significant challenge in predicting accretion flow images and spectra from first principles. Because of this, simplified emission models have often been used, with widely different configurations (e.g., disk- versus jet-dominated emission), and were able to account for the observed spectral properties of accreting black holes. Exploring the large parameter space introduced by such models, however, requires significant computational power that exceeds conventional computational facilities. In this paper, we use GRay, a fast graphics processing unit (GPU) based ray-tracing algorithm, on the GPU cluster El Gato, to compute images and spectra for a set of six general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations with different magnetic field configurations and black-hole spins. We also employ two different parametric models for the plasma thermodynamics in each of the simulations. We show that, if only the spectral properties of Sgr A* are used, all 12 models tested here can fit the spectra equally well. However, when combined with the measurement of the image size of the emission using the Event Horizon Telescope, current observations rule out all models with strong funnel emission, because the funnels are typically very extended. Our study shows that images of accretion flows with horizon-scale resolution offer a powerful tool in understanding accretion flows around black holes and their thermodynamic properties.

Increasing effective number of neutrinos by decaying particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ichikawa, K.; Kawasaki, M.; Nakayama, K.; Senami, M. [Tokyo Univ. (Japan). Inst. for Cosmic Ray Research; Takahashi, F. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany)

2007-03-15

We present models of decaying particles to increase the effective number of neutrinos N{sub {nu}} after big bang nucleosynthesis but before the structure formation begins. We point out that our scenario not only solves the discrepancy between the constraints on N{sub {nu}} from these two epochs, but also provides a possible answer to deeper inconsistency in the estimation of the matter power spectrum amplitude at small scales, represented by {sigma}{sub 8}, between the WMAP and some small scale matter power measurements such as the Lyman-{alpha} forest and weak lensing. We consider (a) saxion decay into two axions; (b) gravitino decay into axino and axion; (c) Dirac right-handed sneutrino decay into gravitino and right-handed neutrino. (orig.)

Observations of Crassostrea virginica cultured in the heated effluent and discharged radionuclides of a nuclear power reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, A.H.; Hess, C.T.; Smith, C.W.

1976-06-01

American oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were rafted for 26 months at four sites in the effluent waters near Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Reactor in Montsweag Bay and at a control site in the adjacent Damariscotta River. In an evaluation of the thermal effluent for aquaculture, comparisons are made among the sites of the effects of heated effluent on oyster growth and condition, and the uptake and retention of gamma-ray emitting radionuclides. Growth and uptake of radionuclides were observed to be accelerated at the warmer water sites. Both experimental results and calculations for 58 Co and 54 Mn are presented

Can power spectrum observations rule out slow-roll inflation?

OpenAIRE

Vieira, J. P. P.; Byrnes, Christian T.; Lewis, Antony

2017-01-01

The spectral index of scalar perturbations is an important observable that allows us to learn about inflationary physics. In particular, a detection of a significant deviation from a constant spectral index could enable us to rule out the simplest class of inflation models. We investigate whether future observations could rule out canonical single-field slow-roll inflation given the parameters allowed by current observational constraints. We find that future measurements of a constant running...

Low power arcjet performance

Science.gov (United States)

Curran, Francis M.; Sarmiento, Charles J.

1990-01-01

An experimental investigation was performed to evaluate arcjet operation at low power. A standard, 1 kW, constricted arcjet was run using nozzles with three different constrictor diameters. Each nozzle was run over a range of current and mass flow rates to explore stability and performance in the low power regime. A standard pulse-width modulated power processor was modified to accommodate the high operating voltages required under certain conditions. Stable, reliable operation at power levels below 0.5 kW was obtained at efficiencies between 30 and 40 percent. The operating range was found to be somewhat dependent on constrictor geometry at low mass flow rates. Quasi-periodic voltage fluctuations were observed at the low power end of the operating envelope. The nozzle insert geometry was found to have little effect on the performance of the device. The observed performance levels show that specific impulse levels above 350 seconds can be obtained at the 0.5 kW power level.

Tunable Reflective Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer: A Technique for High Resolving Power, Wide Field Of View Observation Of Diffuse Emission Line Sources

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini, Seyedeh Sona

The purpose of this dissertation is to discuss the need for new technology in broadband high-resolution spectroscopy based on the emerging technique of Spatial Heterodyne Spectroscopy (SHS) and to propose new solutions that should enhance and generalize this technology to other fields. Spectroscopy is a proven tool for determining compositional and other properties of remote objects. Narrow band imaging and low resolving spectroscopic measurements provide information about composition, photochemical evolution, energy distribution and density. The extension to high resolving power provides further access to temperature, velocity, isotopic ratios, separation of blended sources, and opacity effects. In current high resolving power devices, the drawback of high-resolution spectroscopy is bound to the instrumental limitations of lower throughput, the necessity of small entrance apertures, sensitivity, field of view, and large physical instrumental size. These limitations quickly become handicapping for observation of faint and/or extended targets and for spacecraft encounters. A technique with promise for the study of faint and extended sources at high resolving power is the reflective format of the Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer (SHS). SHS instruments are compact and naturally tailored for both high etendue (defined in section 2.2.5) and high resolving power. In contrast, to achieve similar spectral grasp, grating spectrometers require large telescopes. For reference, SHS is a cyclical interferometer that produces Fizeau fringe pattern for all other wavelengths except the tuned wavelength. The large etendue obtained by SHS instruments makes them ideal for observations of extended, low surface brightness, isolated emission line sources, while their intrinsically high spectral resolution enables one to study the dynamical and physical properties described above. This document contains four chapters. Chapter 1, introduces a class of scientific targets that formerly have

COSMOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS FROM THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY MaxBCG CLUSTER CATALOG

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozo, Eduardo; Weinberg, David H.; Wechsler, Risa H.; Rykoff, Eli S.; Annis, James T.; Frieman, Joshua A.; Becker, Matthew R.; Evrard, August E.; Hao Jiangang; McKay, Timothy A.; Hansen, Sarah M.; Johnston, David E.; Koester, Benjamin P.; Sheldon, Erin S.

2010-01-01

We use the abundance and weak-lensing mass measurements of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey maxBCG cluster catalog to simultaneously constrain cosmology and the richness-mass relation of the clusters. Assuming a flat ΛCDM cosmology, we find σ 8 (Ω m /0.25) 0.41 = 0.832 ± 0.033 after marginalization over all systematics. In common with previous studies, our error budget is dominated by systematic uncertainties, the primary two being the absolute mass scale of the weak-lensing masses of the maxBCG clusters, and uncertainty in the scatter of the richness-mass relation. Our constraints are fully consistent with the WMAP five-year data, and in a joint analysis we find σ 8 = 0.807 ± 0.020 and Ω m = 0.265 ± 0.016, an improvement of nearly a factor of 2 relative to WMAP5 alone. Our results are also in excellent agreement with and comparable in precision to the latest cosmological constraints from X-ray cluster abundances. The remarkable consistency among these results demonstrates that cluster abundance constraints are not only tight but also robust, and highlight the power of optically selected cluster samples to produce precision constraints on cosmological parameters.

Lithium in Very Metal-poor Dwarf Stars -- Problems for Standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambert, David L.

2004-01-01

The standard model of primordial nucleosynthesis by the Big Bang as selected by the WMAP-based estimate of the baryon density (Ωbh2) predicts an abundance of 7Li that is a factor of three greater than the generally reported abundance for stars on the Spite plateau, and an abundance of 6Li that is about a thousand times less than is found for some stars on the plateau. This review discusses and examines these two discrepancies. They can likely be resolved without major surgery on the standard model of the Big Bang. In particular, stars on the Spite plateau may have depleted their surface lithium abundance over their long lifetime from the WMAP-based predicted abundances down to presently observed abundances, and synthesis of 6Li (and 7Li) via α + α fusion reactions may have occurred in the early Galaxy. Yet, there remain fascinating ways in which to remove the two discrepancies involving aspects of a new cosmology, particularly through the introduction of exotic particles

astroplan: Observation planning package for astronomers

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Brett M.; Tollerud, Erik; Sipocz, Brigitta; Deil, Christoph; Douglas, Stephanie T.; Berlanga Medina, Jazmin; Vyhmeister, Karl; Price-Whelan, Adrian M.; Jeschke, Eric

2018-02-01

astroplan is a flexible toolbox for observation planning and scheduling. It is powered by Astropy (ascl:1304.002); it works for Python beginners and new observers, and is powerful enough for observatories preparing nightly and long-term schedules as well. It calculates rise/set/meridian transit times, alt/az positions for targets at observatories anywhere on Earth, and offers built-in plotting convenience functions for standard observation planning plots (airmass, parallactic angle, sky maps). It can also determine the observability of sets of targets given an arbitrary set of constraints (i.e., altitude, airmass, moon separation/illumination, etc.).

Can power spectrum observations rule out slow-roll inflation?

Science.gov (United States)

Vieira, J. P. P.; Byrnes, Christian T.; Lewis, Antony

2018-01-01

The spectral index of scalar perturbations is an important observable that allows us to learn about inflationary physics. In particular, a detection of a significant deviation from a constant spectral index could enable us to rule out the simplest class of inflation models. We investigate whether future observations could rule out canonical single-field slow-roll inflation given the parameters allowed by current observational constraints. We find that future measurements of a constant running (or running of the running) of the spectral index over currently available scales are unlikely to achieve this. However, there remains a large region of parameter space (especially when considering the running of the running) for falsifying the assumed class of slow-roll models if future observations accurately constrain a much wider range of scales.

Effect of Extended State Observer and Automatic Voltage Regulator on Synchronous Machine Connected to Infinite Bus Power System

Science.gov (United States)

Angu, Rittu; Mehta, R. K.

2018-04-01

This paper presents a robust controller known as Extended State Observer (ESO) in order to improve the stability and voltage regulation of a synchronous machine connected to an infinite bus power system through a transmission line. The ESO-based control scheme is implemented with an automatic voltage regulator in conjunction with an excitation system to enhance the damping of low frequency power system oscillations, as the Power System Stabilizer (PSS) does. The implementation of PSS excitation control techniques however requires reliable information about the entire states, though they are not always directly measureable. To address this issue, the proposed ESO provides the estimate of system states as well as disturbance state together in order to improve not only the damping but also compensates system efficiently in presence of parameter uncertainties and external disturbances. The Closed-Loop Poles (CLPs) of the system have been assigned by the symmetric root locus technique, with the desired level of system damping provided by the dominant CLPs. The performance of the system is analyzed through simulating at different operating conditions. The control method is not only capable of providing zero estimation error in steady-state, but also shows robustness in tracking the reference command under parametric variations and external disturbances. Illustrative examples have been provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed methodology.

Tachyon mediated non-Gaussianity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dutta, Bhaskar; Leblond, Louis; Kumar, Jason

2008-01-01

We describe a general scenario where primordial non-Gaussian curvature perturbations are generated in models with extra scalar fields. The extra scalars communicate to the inflaton sector mainly through the tachyonic (waterfall) field condensing at the end of hybrid inflation. These models can yield significant non-Gaussianity of the local shape, and both signs of the bispectrum can be obtained. These models have cosmic strings and a nearly flat power spectrum, which together have been recently shown to be a good fit to WMAP data. We illustrate with a model of inflation inspired from intersecting brane models.

Observation of theoretical power saturation by the KHI free electron laser device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oda, Fumihiko; Yokoyama, Minoru; Kawai, Masayuki; Miura, Hidenori; Koike, Hidehito; Sobajima, Masaaki; Nomaru, Keiji; Kuroda, Haruo

2002-01-01

The saturation of free electron laser (FEL) output power by the KHI-FEL device was achieved on 3rd, October 2000 at the wavelength of 9.3 μm. The FEL device has operated thereafter successfully in the wavelength region between 4.0 and 16.0 μm. The macropulse average FEL power of 37.5 kW, which is the theoretical saturation level, has been obtained at the wavelength of 7.9 μm. The net FEL gain was estimated to be 16%. (author)

Observations of 50/60 Hz Power Line Radiation in the Low Latitude Ionosphere Detected by the Electric Field Instrument on the C/NOFS Satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Pfaff, R. F., Jr.; Freudenreich, H. T.; Simoes, F. A.; Liebrecht, M. C.; Farrell, W.

2017-12-01

One of the most ubiquitous forms of EM radiation emanating from the earth's surface is that of power line radiation. Associated with AC electric power generation, such emissions are typically launched along conducting power lines that may travel hundreds, or even thousands of km, from generating stations. The fundamental frequencies of such emissions are characteristically 50 Hz or 60 Hz, depending on the regional standards for power generation/consumption. The frequency of this radiation is well below that of the plasma frequency of the ionosphere (typically several MHz) and hence is expected to reflect back to the earth and propagate in the waveguide formed by the earth's surface and the bottom ledge of the ionosphere, typically near 100 km. Given that such power lines are widespread on the exposed lithosphere, the leakage of some ELF emissions associated with electric power generation might nevertheless be expected in the ionosphere, in the same manner in which a small fraction of the power associated with ELF Schumann resonances and lightning sferics have been shown to penetrate into the ionosphere. We present direct measurements of 50/60 Hz power line radiation detected by in situ probes on an orbiting satellite in the earth's ionosphere. The data were gathered by the Vector Electric Field Investigation (VEFI) tri-axial double probe detector flown on the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellite. C/NOFS was launched in April, 2008 into a low latitude (13 deg inclination) orbit with perigee and apogee of 400 km and 850 km, respectively. The electric field wave data were gathered by ELF receivers comprised of two orthogonal broadband channels sampled at 512 s/sec each, and digitized with 16 bit A/D converters. The data show distinct 60 Hz emissions while the satellite sampled within the Brazilian sector whereas distinct 50 Hz emissions were detected over India. Other, less distinct, emissions were observed over Africa and southeast Asia

On Dark Energy and the Observed Smooth Transition from Deceleration to an Accelerating Expansion Of Our Big Bang Universe

Science.gov (United States)

Greyber, Howard D.

2010-01-01

My Strong Magnetic Field model (SMF) for the Origin of Magnetic Fields at Combination Time analyzes this first-order transition in the Big Bang Model, (Astro-ph0509223), an age of about 400,000 years. SMF exploits facts about the rapid Spinodal Decomposition instability and other facts from plasma physics, that determine the morphology and dynamics of our universe. This leads to a unique Supercluster topology with all the mass, visible and invisible, on the shell of an ellipsoid surrounding an extremely high vacuum void. SMF assumes, in accord with Einstein's theory of general relativity's Lambda term (1918), that there exists a finite "cosmological" constant of energy (ees), representing the negative pressure/repulsive gravitational force associated with every unit volume of empty space. However, over billions of years, the force of attractive gravity from all the matter, visible and invisible, on the Supercluster shell, dramatically reduced the density of particles in the Supercluster's central high vacuum region. Thus, eventually, the ees repulsive gravity force overcame any attractive gravity in the Supercluster's huge central region and an accelerating expansion of the Supercluster began. The region where the ees repulsive gravity force dominates is perhaps what the WMAP satellite authors have termed "Dark Energy". Our Big Bang universe probably has similar Superclusters with voids everywhere in the universe, as astronomers have suggested, thus producing the observed quite smooth transition to an accelerating expansion of our entire Big Bang universe. This matches what two independent, international groups of astronomers both separately observed and concluded in 1998.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Galaxy Clusters Detected Via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect

Science.gov (United States)

Sehgal, Neelima; Trac, Hy; Acquaviva, Viviana; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, J. Richard;

Planck CMB Anomalies: Astrophysical and Cosmological Secondary Effects and the Curse of Masking

Science.gov (United States)

Rassat, Anais

2016-07-01

Large-scale anomalies have been reported in CMB data with both WMAP and Planck data. These could be due to foreground residuals and or systematic effects, though their confirmation with Planck data suggests they are not due to a problem in the WMAP or Planck pipelines. If these anomalies are in fact primordial, then understanding their origin is fundamental to either validate the standard model of cosmology or to explore new physics. We investigate three other possible issues: 1) the trade-off between minimising systematics due to foreground contamination (with a conservative mask) and minimising systematics due to masking, 2) astrophysical secondary effects (the kinetic Doppler quadrupole and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect), and 3) secondary cosmological signals (the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect). We address the masking issue by considering new procedures that use both WMAP and Planck to produce higher quality full-sky maps using the sparsity methodology (LGMCA maps). We show the impact of masking is dominant over that of residual foregrounds, and the LGMCA full-sky maps can be used without further processing to study anomalies. We consider four official Planck PR1 and two LGMCA CMB maps. Analysis of the observed CMB maps shows that only the low quadrupole and quadrupole-octopole alignment seem significant, but that the planar octopole, Axis of Evil, mirror parity and cold spot are not significant in nearly all maps considered. After subtraction of astrophysical and cosmological secondary effects, only the low quadrupole may still be considered anomalous, meaning the significance of only one anomaly is affected by secondary effect subtraction out of six anomalies considered. In the spirit of reproducible research all reconstructed maps and codes are available online.

Modernization of existing power plants. Progress in automation and process control/observation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanna, I.

1996-01-01

Numerous power plants are now getting on in years, and their owners have to face the question 'New plant or upgrade job ?'. Experience in the past few years has shown that in many cases modernization/upgrading of existing plants is a more favorable option than building a complete new power plant. Advantages like lower capital investment costs and avoidance of licensing risks for new plants constitute important motives for choosing the upgrade option in numerous power plants modernization projects. The defined objective here is to ensure the units' operating capability for another 20 to 25 years, sometimes supplemented by meticulous compliance with current environmental impact legislation. Another cogent argument emerges from automation engineering advances in modern-day control systems which make an effective contribution to meeting upgrading objective like: equipment/material -friendly operation, extended useful lifetime, enhanced plant reliability, enhanced plant availability, improved plant efficiency, optimized staffing levels, enhanced cost-effectiveness, compliance with today's international standards. In this context special attention is paid to the economical aspects and to the increase of plant availability. (author). 6 figs

Observability in electric power networks: identification critical measures methods; Observabilidade em redes de energia eletrica: metodos de identificacao de medidas criticas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

London Junior, Joao Bosco Augusto

1997-07-01

One of the most important functions of the control and operation centers is to maintain service reliability in a electrical power system. In order to obtain a reliable operation of the power system, it is important to identify the critical measurements, and then to improve the measurement system using pseudo measurements. The goal of this work is to determine more efficient methods for critical measurement identification. A brief review of the some methods for observability analysis as well as two methodologies to identify critical measurements are presented. The first method has a combinatorial nature; the second one is supported by uni modular M matrix (incidence matrix of measurements for branches) and A matrix (incidence matrix of branch for nodes). The second method needs a combinatorial algorithm to be feasible, so that it becomes a slow method. Two new methods for critical measurements identification are presented in this work: the first one is based on the theory developed by Bretas (1996a), to analyse observability using graph paths; the second methods is supported y the Slutsker and Scudder (1987) theory, where identification is reached throughout the analysis of the jacobian matrix. (author)

Robust Neutrino Constraints by Combining Low Redshift Observations with the CMB

CERN Document Server

Reid, Beth A; Jimenez, Raul; Mena, Olga

2010-01-01

We illustrate how recently improved low-redshift cosmological measurements can tighten constraints on neutrino properties. In particular we examine the impact of the assumed cosmological model on the constraints. We first consider the new HST H0 = 74.2 +/- 3.6 measurement by Riess et al. (2009) and the sigma8*(Omegam/0.25)^0.41 = 0.832 +/- 0.033 constraint from Rozo et al. (2009) derived from the SDSS maxBCG Cluster Catalog. In a Lambda CDM model and when combined with WMAP5 constraints, these low-redshift measurements constrain sum mnu<0.4 eV at the 95% confidence level. This bound does not relax when allowing for the running of the spectral index or for primordial tensor perturbations. When adding also Supernovae and BAO constraints, we obtain a 95% upper limit of sum mnu<0.3 eV. We test the sensitivity of the neutrino mass constraint to the assumed expansion history by both allowing a dark energy equation of state parameter w to vary, and by studying a model with coupling between dark energy and dark...

Power transport to the PDX scoop limiter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kugel, H.W.; Bol, K.; Budny, R.

1986-07-01

Power transport to the PDX graphite scoop limiter was measured during both ohmic- and neutral-beam-heated discharges by observing its front face temperatures using an infrared camera. Measurements were made as a function of plasma density, current, position, fueling mode, and heating power for both co- and counter-neutral beam injection. The measured thermal load on the scoop limiter was 25 to 50% of the total plasma heating power. The measured peak front face midplane temperature was 1500 0 C corresponding to a peak surface power density of 3 kW/cm 2 . This power density implies an effective parallel power flow of 54 kW/cm 2 in agreement with the radial power distribution extrapolated from TVTS and calorimetry measurements. Symmetric and asymmetric thermal loads were observed. The asymmetric heat loads were predominantly skewed toward the respective ion drift directions for both co- and counter-injected beams. The results of transport calculations are consistent with the direction and magnitude of the observed asymmetries

A study on the observation system for autonomous, distributed and cooperative function in a future type nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuoka, Takeshi; Numano, Masayoshi; Someya, Minoru; Fukuto, Junji; Mitomo, Nobuo; Miyazaki, Keiko; Matsukura, Hiroshi; Niwa, Yasuyuki; Takahashi, Masato

2000-01-01

The concept of advanced future plants are discussed by five research institutes; Ship Research Institute, Electrotechnical Laboratory, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, and Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (Cross-over group). And, an autonomous plant is identified as a future type plant. In this future type plant, there are many agents that consist plant sub-systems or plant components and have artificial intelligence. They are distributed in plant and have autonomous functions, and cooperate each other to establish total plant function. Even if the plant has autonomous function, human operators have to always watch the plant state. Therefore, the needs of the observation system for autonomous, distributed, and cooperative functions are strongly required. The present paper has presented a new idea about the observation system, and developed fundamental functions for this observation system, that is, plant function model, auto-classification of plant states, three dimensional graphical display, expression of robot group's activity. Also, autonomous plant simulator has been developed for this research activity. Finally, the effectiveness of this observation system has been evaluated by experiments of operator's reaction to this system. (author)

Large power factor and anomalous Hall effect and their correlation with observed linear magneto resistance in Co-doped Bi2Se3 3D topological insulator

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Rahul; Shukla, K. K.; Kumar, A.; Okram, G. S.; Singh, D.; Ganeshan, V.; Lakhani, Archana; Ghosh, A. K.; Chatterjee, Sandip

2016-09-01

Magnetoresistance (MR), thermo power, magnetization and Hall effect measurements have been performed on Co-doped Bi2Se3 topological insulators. The undoped sample shows that the maximum MR as a destructive interference due to a π-Berry phase leads to a decrease of MR. As the Co is doped, the linearity in MR is increased. The observed MR of Bi2Se3 can be explained with the classical model. The low temperature MR behavior of Co doped samples cannot be explained with the same model, but can be explained with the quantum linear MR model. Magnetization behavior indicates the establishment of ferromagnetic ordering with Co doping. Hall effect data also supports the establishment of ferromagnetic ordering in Co-doped Bi2Se3 samples by showing the anomalous Hall effect. Furthermore, when spectral weight suppression is insignificant, Bi2Se3 behaves as a dilute magnetic semiconductor. Moreover, the maximum power factor is observed when time reversal symmetry (TRS) is maintained. As the TRS is broken the power factor value is decreased, which indicates that with the rise of Dirac cone above the Fermi level the anomalous Hall effect and linearity in MR increase and the power factor decreases.

Six years of atmospheric CO2 observations at Mt. Fuji recorded with a battery-powered measurement system

Science.gov (United States)

Nomura, Shohei; Mukai, Hitoshi; Terao, Yukio; Machida, Toshinobu; Nojiri, Yukihiro

2017-03-01

We developed a battery-powered carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement system for monitoring at the summit of Mt. Fuji (3776 m a.s.l.), which experiences very low temperatures (below -20 °C) and severe environmental conditions without access to gridded electricity for 10 months (from September to June). Our measurement system used 100 batteries to run the measurement unit during these months. These batteries were charged during the 2-month summer season when gridded electricity was available, using a specially designed automatic battery-charging system. We installed this system in summer 2009 at the Mt. Fuji weather station; observations of atmospheric CO2 concentration were taken through December 2015. Measurements were never interrupted by a lack of battery power except for two cases in which lightning damaged a control board. Thus we obtained CO2 data during about 94 % of the 6-year period. Analytical performances (stability and accuracy) were better than 0.1 ppm, as tested by checking working standards and comparisons with flask sampling.Observational results showed that CO2 mole fractions at Mt. Fuji demonstrated clear seasonal variation. The trend and the variability of the CO2 growth rate observed at Mt. Fuji were very similar to those of the Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO). Seasonally, the concentration at Mt. Fuji was 2-10 ppm lower in summer and 2-12 ppm higher in winter than those at MLO. The lower concentrations at Mt. Fuji in summer are mainly attributed to episodes of air mass transport from Siberia or China, where CO2 is taken up by the terrestrial biosphere. On the other hand, the relatively higher concentrations in winter seem to reflect the high percentage of air masses originating from China or Southeast Asia during this period, which carry increased anthropogenic carbon dioxide. These results show that Mt. Fuji is not very influenced by local sources but rather by the sources and sinks over a very large region.Thus we conclude that, as this system could

Observation of a periodic runaway in the reactive Ar/O2 high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyedmohammad Shayestehaminzadeh

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This paper reports the observation of a periodic runaway of plasma to a higher density for the reactive discharge of the target material (Ti with moderate sputter yield. Variable emission of secondary electrons, for the alternating transition of the target from metal mode to oxide mode, is understood to be the main reason for the runaway occurring periodically. Increasing the pulsing frequency can bring the target back to a metal (or suboxide mode, and eliminate the periodic transition of the target. Therefore, a pulsing frequency interval is defined for the reactive Ar/O2 discharge in order to sustain the plasma in a runaway-free mode without exceeding the maximum power that the magnetron can tolerate.

When Power Shapes Interpersonal Behavior: Low Relationship Power Predicts Men’s Aggressive Responses to Low Situational Power

Science.gov (United States)

Overall, Nickola C.; Hammond, Matthew D.; McNulty, James K.; Finkel, Eli J.

2016-01-01

When does power in intimate relationships shape important interpersonal behaviors, such as psychological aggression? Five studies tested whether possessing low relationship power was associated with aggressive responses, but (1) only within power-relevant relationship interactions when situational power was low, and (2) only by men because masculinity (but not femininity) involves the possession and demonstration of power. In Studies 1 and 2, men lower in relationship power exhibited greater aggressive communication during couples’ observed conflict discussions, but only when they experienced low situational power because they were unable to influence their partner. In Study 3, men lower in relationship power reported greater daily aggressive responses toward their partner, but only on days when they experienced low situational power because they were either (a) unable to influence their partner or (b) dependent on their partner for support. In Study 4, men who possessed lower relationship power exhibited greater aggressive responses during couples’ support-relevant discussions, but only when they had low situational power because they needed high levels of support. Study 5 provided evidence for the theoretical mechanism underlying men’s aggressive responses to low relationship power. Men who possessed lower relationship power felt less manly on days they faced low situational power because their partner was unwilling to change to resolve relationship problems, which in turn predicted greater aggressive responses to their partner. These results demonstrate that fully understanding when and why power is associated with interpersonal behavior requires differentiating between relationship and situational power. PMID:27442766

Nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bupp, I.C.

1991-01-01

Is a nuclear power renaissance likely to occur in the United States? This paper investigates the many driving forces that will determine the answer to that question. This analysis reveals some frequently overlooked truths about the current state of nuclear technology: An examination of the issues also produces some noteworthy insights concerning government regulations and related technologies. Public opinion will play a major role in the unfolding story of the nuclear power renaissance. Some observers are betting that psychological, sociological, and political considerations will hod sway over public attitudes. Others wager that economic and technical concerns will prevail. The implications for the nuclear power renaissance are striking

Warm Inflation with Nonminimal Derivative Coupling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rashidi, N.; Nozari, Kourosh; Shoukrani, M.

2014-01-01

We study the effects of the nonminimal derivative coupling on the dissipative dynamics of the warm inflation where the scalar field is nonminimally coupled to gravity via its kinetic term. We present a detailed calculation of the cosmological perturbations in this setup. We use the recent observational data from the joint data set of WMAP9 + BAO + H 0 and also the Planck satellite data to constrain our model parameters for natural and chaotic inflation potentials. We study also the levels of non-Gaussianity in this warm inflation model and we confront the result with recent observational data from the Planck satellite

Distribution of deep water wave power around the Indian coast based on ship observations

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Chandramohan, P.; Nayak, B.U.; RamaRaju, V.S.

distribution of wave power in different directions over a year for each grid is presented. The annual mean wave power along the Indian coast varies from 11.4 to 15.2 KW per metre length of wave crest with a maximum of 15.2 KW for the regions off south Kerala...

Modeling of Maximum Power Point Tracking Controller for Solar Power System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aryuanto Soetedjo

2012-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT controller for solar power system is modeled using MATLAB Simulink. The model consists of PV module, buck converter, and MPPT controller. The contribution of the work is in the modeling of buck converter that allowing the input voltage of the converter, i.e. output voltage of PV is changed by varying the duty cycle, so that the maximum power point could be tracked when the environmental changes. The simulation results show that the developed model performs well in tracking the maximum power point (MPP of the PV module using Perturb and Observe (P&O Algorithm.

Observations of electron heating during 28 GHz microwave power application in proto-MPEX

Science.gov (United States)

Biewer, T. M.; Bigelow, T. S.; Caneses, J. F.; Diem, S. J.; Green, D. L.; Kafle, N.; Rapp, J.; Proto-MPEX Team

2018-02-01

The Prototype Material Plasma Exposure Experiment at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory utilizes a variety of power systems to generate and deliver a high heat flux plasma onto the surface of material targets. In the experiments described here, a deuterium plasma is produced via a ˜100 kW, 13.56 MHz RF helicon source, to which ˜20 kW of 28 GHz microwave power is applied. The electron density and temperature profiles are measured using a Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic, and indicate that the electron density is centrally peaked. In the core of the plasma column, the electron density is higher than the cut-off density (˜0.9 × 1019 m-3) for the launched mixture of X- and O-mode electron cyclotron heating waves to propagate. TS measurements indicate electron temperature increases from ˜5 eV to ˜20 eV during 28 GHz power application when the neutral deuterium pressure is reduced below 0.13 Pa (˜1 mTorr.).

First observations of power MOSFET burnout with high energy neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oberg, D.L.; Wert, J.L.; Normand, E.; Majewski, P.P.; Wender, S.A.

1996-01-01

Single event burnout was seen in power MOSFETs exposed to high energy neutrons. Devices with rated voltage ≥400 volts exhibited burnout at substantially less than the rated voltage. Tests with high energy protons gave similar results. Burnout was also seen in limited tests with lower energy protons and neutrons. Correlations with heavy-ion data are discussed. Accelerator proton data gave favorable comparisons with burnout rates measured on the APEX spacecraft. Implications for burnout at lower altitudes are also discussed

Power line emission 50/60 Hz and Schumann resonances observed by microsatellite Chibis-M in the Earth's ionosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Dudkin, Denys; Pilipenko, Vyacheslav; Dudkin, Fedir; Pronenko, Vira; Klimov, Stanislav

2015-04-01

The overhead power lines are the sources of intense wideband electromagnetic (EM) emission, especially in ELF-VLF range, because of significant length (up to a few thousand kilometers) and strong 50/60 Hz currents with noticeable distortion. The radiation efficiency of the power line emission (PLE) increases with the harmonic order, so they are well observed by ground-based EM sensors. However their observations by low orbiting satellites (LEO) are very rare, particularly at basic harmonic 50/60 Hz, because of the ionospheric plasma opacity in ELF band. The Schumann resonance (SR) is the narrow-band EM noise that occurs due to the global thunderstorm activity in the Earth-ionosphere cavity. The first five eigenmodes of the SR are 7.8, 14.3, 20.8, 27.3 and 33.8 Hz and, thus, SR harmonics are also strongly absorbed by the Earth ionosphere. The published numerical simulations show that the penetration depth of such an ELF emission into the Earth's ionosphere is limited to 50-70 km for electric field and 120-240 km for magnetic field. From this follows, that PLE and SR can hardly ever be detected by LEO satellites, i.e. above the F-layer of ionosphere. In spite of this fact, these emissions were recently observed with use of the electric field antennas placed on the satellites C/NOFS (USA) and Chibis-M (Russia). Microsatellite Chibis-M was launched on January 24, 2012, at 23:18:30 UTC from the cargo ship "Progress M-13M" to circular orbit with altitude ~500 km and inclination ~52° . Chibis-M mass is about 40 kg where one third is a scientific instrumentation. The dimensions of the microsatellite case are 0.26x0.26x0.54 m with the outside mounted solar panels, service and scientific instrumentation. The main scientific objective of Chibis-M is the theoretical model verification for the atmospheric gamma-ray bursts. It requires the study of the accompanying EM processes such as the plasma waves produced by the lightning discharges in the VLF band. Chibis-M decayed on 15

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON THE DELEGATION OF POWERS TO NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN UNION LEVEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silviu Alexandru Lăzărescu Simion

2012-11-01

Full Text Available In the context of Romania's accession to the European Union, have created the conditions to issue a new category of delegation of powers at the national level, used in the management of EU funds. Thus, delegation under delegation agreements concluded between ministries function with role management authorities and legal entities subordinated, coordination or subordination or coordination outside a hierarchy is a concrete way to exercise the powers conferred by the provisions Romania Community and pursue assimilated by delegating temporary administrative office.

What's Next for Big Bang Nucleosynthesis?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cyburt, R.H.

2005-01-01

Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) plays an important role in the standard hot big bang cosmology. BBN theory is used to predict the primordial abundances of the lightest elements, hydrogen, helium and lithium. Comparison between the predicted and observationally determined light element abundances provides a general test of concordance and can be used to fix the baryon content in the universe. Measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies now supplant BBN as the premier baryometer, especially with the latest results from the WMAP satellite. With the WMAP baryon density, the test of concordance can be made even more precise. Any disagreement between theory predictions and observations requires careful discussion. Several possibilities exist to explain discrepancies; (1) observational systematics (either physical or technical) may not be properly treated in determining primordial light element abundances (2) nuclear inputs that determine the BBN predictions may have unknown systematics or may be incomplete, and (3) physics beyond that included in the standard BBN scenario may need to be included in the theory calculation. Before we can be absolutely sure new physics is warranted, points (1) and (2) must be addressed and ruled out. All of these scenarios rely on experimental or observational data to make definitive statements of their applicability and range of validity, which currently is not at the level necessary to discern between these possibilities with high confidence. Thus, new light element abundance observations and nuclear experiments are needed to probe these further. Assuming concordance is established, one can use the light element observations to explore the evolution from their primordial values. This can provide useful information on stellar evolution, cosmic rays and other nuclear astrophysics. When combined with detailed models, BBN, the CMB anisotropy and nuclear astrophysics can provide us with information about the populations

Effects of viscous pressure on warm inflationary generalized cosmic Chaplygin gas model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharif, M.; Saleem, Rabia, E-mail: msharif.math@pu.edu.pk, E-mail: rabiasaleem1988@yahoo.com [Department of Mathematics, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590 (Pakistan)

2014-12-01

This paper is devoted to study the effects of bulk viscous pressure on an inflationary generalized cosmic Chaplygin gas model using FRW background. The matter contents of the universe are assumed to be inflaton and imperfect fluid. We evaluate inflaton fields, potentials and entropy density for variable as well as constant dissipation and bulk viscous coefficients in weak as well as high dissipative regimes during intermediate era. In order to discuss inflationary perturbations, we evaluate entropy density, scalar (tensor) power spectra, their corresponding spectral indices, tensor-scalar ratio and running of spectral index in terms of inflaton which are constrained using recent Planck, WMAP7 and Bicep2 probes.

Effects of viscous pressure on warm inflationary generalized cosmic Chaplygin gas model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharif, M.; Saleem, Rabia

2014-01-01

This paper is devoted to study the effects of bulk viscous pressure on an inflationary generalized cosmic Chaplygin gas model using FRW background. The matter contents of the universe are assumed to be inflaton and imperfect fluid. We evaluate inflaton fields, potentials and entropy density for variable as well as constant dissipation and bulk viscous coefficients in weak as well as high dissipative regimes during intermediate era. In order to discuss inflationary perturbations, we evaluate entropy density, scalar (tensor) power spectra, their corresponding spectral indices, tensor-scalar ratio and running of spectral index in terms of inflaton which are constrained using recent Planck, WMAP7 and Bicep2 probes

Smoothing expansion rate data to reconstruct cosmological matter perturbations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez, J.E.; Alcaniz, J.S.; Carvalho, J.C., E-mail: javierernesto@on.br, E-mail: alcaniz@on.br, E-mail: jcarvalho@on.br [Departamento de Astronomia, Observatório Nacional, Rua Gal. José Cristino, 77, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20921-400 (Brazil)

2017-08-01

The existing degeneracy between different dark energy and modified gravity cosmologies at the background level may be broken by analyzing quantities at the perturbative level. In this work, we apply a non-parametric smoothing (NPS) method to reconstruct the expansion history of the Universe ( H ( z )) from model-independent cosmic chronometers and high- z quasar data. Assuming a homogeneous and isotropic flat universe and general relativity (GR) as the gravity theory, we calculate the non-relativistic matter perturbations in the linear regime using the H ( z ) reconstruction and realistic values of Ω {sub m} {sub 0} and σ{sub 8} from Planck and WMAP-9 collaborations. We find a good agreement between the measurements of the growth rate and f σ{sub 8}( z ) from current large-scale structure observations and the estimates obtained from the reconstruction of the cosmic expansion history. Considering a recently proposed null test for GR using matter perturbations, we also apply the NPS method to reconstruct f σ{sub 8}( z ). For this case, we find a ∼ 3σ tension (good agreement) with the standard relativistic cosmology when the Planck (WMAP-9) priors are used.

Hunting for primordial non-Gaussianity in the cosmic microwave background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komatsu, Eiichiro

2010-01-01

Since the first limit on the (local) primordial non-Gaussianity parameter, f NL , was obtained from the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) data in 2002, observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have been playing a central role in constraining the amplitudes of various forms of non-Gaussianity in primordial fluctuations. The current 68% limit from the 7-year data of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) is f NL = 32 ± 21, and the Planck satellite is expected to reduce the uncertainty by a factor of 4 in a few years from now. If f NL >> 1 is found by Planck with high statistical significance, all single-field models of inflation would be ruled out. Moreover, if the Planck satellite finds f NL ∼ 30, then it would be able to test a broad class of multi-field models using the 4-point function (trispectrum) test of τ NL ≥ (6f NL /5) 2 . In this paper, we review the methods (optimal estimator), results (WMAP 7-year) and challenges (secondary anisotropy, second-order effect and foreground) of measuring primordial non-Gaussianity from the CMB data, present a science case for the trispectrum and conclude with future prospects.

Smoothing expansion rate data to reconstruct cosmological matter perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez, J.E.; Alcaniz, J.S.; Carvalho, J.C.

2017-01-01

The existing degeneracy between different dark energy and modified gravity cosmologies at the background level may be broken by analyzing quantities at the perturbative level. In this work, we apply a non-parametric smoothing (NPS) method to reconstruct the expansion history of the Universe ( H ( z )) from model-independent cosmic chronometers and high- z quasar data. Assuming a homogeneous and isotropic flat universe and general relativity (GR) as the gravity theory, we calculate the non-relativistic matter perturbations in the linear regime using the H ( z ) reconstruction and realistic values of Ω m 0 and σ 8 from Planck and WMAP-9 collaborations. We find a good agreement between the measurements of the growth rate and f σ 8 ( z ) from current large-scale structure observations and the estimates obtained from the reconstruction of the cosmic expansion history. Considering a recently proposed null test for GR using matter perturbations, we also apply the NPS method to reconstruct f σ 8 ( z ). For this case, we find a ∼ 3σ tension (good agreement) with the standard relativistic cosmology when the Planck (WMAP-9) priors are used.

A Child's Power in Game-Play

Science.gov (United States)

McLeod, Julie; Lin, Lin

2010-01-01

This paper is the first of its series that studies the power children have in game-play and examines its implications for teaching and learning. As a start, the paper describes a framework of power based on a synthesis of various types of power underlined in literature. The paper then looks into the power issue through observation and interviews…

Heliospheric Observations of Energetic Particles

Science.gov (United States)

Summerlin, Errol J.

2011-01-01

Heliospheric observations of energetic particles have shown that, on long time averages, a consistent v^-5 power-law index arises even in the absence of transient events. This implies an ubiquitous acceleration process present in the solar wind that is required to generate these power-law tails and maintain them against adiabatic losses and coulomb-collisions which will cool and thermalize the plasma respectively. Though the details of this acceleration process are being debated within the community, most agree that the energy required for these tails comes from fluctuations in the magnetic field which are damped as the energy is transferred to particles. Given this source for the tail, is it then reasonable to assume that the turbulent LISM should give rise to such a power-law tail as well? IBEX observations clearly show a power-law tail of index approximately -5 in energetic neutral atoms. The simplest explanation for the origins of these ENAs are that they are energetic ions which have charge-exchanged with a neutral atom. However, this would imply that energetic ions possess a v^-5 power-law distribution at keV energies at the source of these ENAs. If the source is presumed to be the LISM, it provides additional options for explaining the, so called, IBEX ribbon. This presentation will discuss some of these options as well as potential mechanisms for the generation of a power-law spectrum in the LISM.

Planck CMB anomalies: astrophysical and cosmological secondary effects and the curse of masking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rassat, A.; Starck, J.-L.; Paykari, P.; Sureau, F.; Bobin, J.

2014-01-01

Large-scale anomalies have been reported in CMB data with both WMAP and Planck data. These could be due to foreground residuals and or systematic effects, though their confirmation with Planck data suggests they are not due to a problem in the WMAP or Planck pipelines. If these anomalies are in fact primordial, then understanding their origin is fundamental to either validate the standard model of cosmology or to explore new physics. We investigate three other possible issues: 1) the trade-off between minimising systematics due to foreground contamination (with a conservative mask) and minimising systematics due to masking, 2) astrophysical secondary effects (the kinetic Doppler quadrupole and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect), and 3) secondary cosmological signals (the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect). We address the masking issue by considering new procedures that use both WMAP and Planck to produce higher quality full-sky maps using the sparsity methodology (LGMCA maps). We show the impact of masking is dominant over that of residual foregrounds, and the LGMCA full-sky maps can be used without further processing to study anomalies. We consider four official Planck PR1 and two LGMCA CMB maps. Analysis of the observed CMB maps shows that only the low quadrupole and quadrupole-octopole alignment seem significant, but that the planar octopole, Axis of Evil, mirror parity and cold spot are not significant in nearly all maps considered. After subtraction of astrophysical and cosmological secondary effects, only the low quadrupole may still be considered anomalous, meaning the significance of only one anomaly is affected by secondary effect subtraction out of six anomalies considered. In the spirit of reproducible research all reconstructed maps and codes will be made available for download here http://www.cosmostat.org/anomaliesCMB.html

Planck CMB anomalies: astrophysical and cosmological secondary effects and the curse of masking

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rassat, A. [Laboratoire d' Astrophysique (LASTRO), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 51 Chemin des Maillettes, Observatoire de Sauverny, Versoix, CH-1290 (Switzerland); Starck, J.-L.; Paykari, P.; Sureau, F.; Bobin, J., E-mail: anais.rassat@epfl.ch, E-mail: jstarck@cea.fr, E-mail: paniez.paykari@cea.fr, E-mail: florent.sureau@cea.fr, E-mail: jbobin@cea.fr [Laboratoire AIM, UMR CEA-CNRS-Paris, Irfu, SAp, CEA Saclay, Gif-Sur-Yvette Cedex, F-91191 France (France)

2014-08-01

Large-scale anomalies have been reported in CMB data with both WMAP and Planck data. These could be due to foreground residuals and or systematic effects, though their confirmation with Planck data suggests they are not due to a problem in the WMAP or Planck pipelines. If these anomalies are in fact primordial, then understanding their origin is fundamental to either validate the standard model of cosmology or to explore new physics. We investigate three other possible issues: 1) the trade-off between minimising systematics due to foreground contamination (with a conservative mask) and minimising systematics due to masking, 2) astrophysical secondary effects (the kinetic Doppler quadrupole and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect), and 3) secondary cosmological signals (the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect). We address the masking issue by considering new procedures that use both WMAP and Planck to produce higher quality full-sky maps using the sparsity methodology (LGMCA maps). We show the impact of masking is dominant over that of residual foregrounds, and the LGMCA full-sky maps can be used without further processing to study anomalies. We consider four official Planck PR1 and two LGMCA CMB maps. Analysis of the observed CMB maps shows that only the low quadrupole and quadrupole-octopole alignment seem significant, but that the planar octopole, Axis of Evil, mirror parity and cold spot are not significant in nearly all maps considered. After subtraction of astrophysical and cosmological secondary effects, only the low quadrupole may still be considered anomalous, meaning the significance of only one anomaly is affected by secondary effect subtraction out of six anomalies considered. In the spirit of reproducible research all reconstructed maps and codes will be made available for download here http://www.cosmostat.org/anomaliesCMB.html.

Cosmological parameter analysis including SDSS Lyα forest and galaxy bias: Constraints on the primordial spectrum of fluctuations, neutrino mass, and dark energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seljak, Uros; Makarov, Alexey; McDonald, Patrick; Anderson, Scott F.; Bahcall, Neta A.; Cen, Renyue; Gunn, James E.; Lupton, Robert H.; Schlegel, David J.; Brinkmann, J.; Burles, Scott; Doi, Mamoru; Ivezic, Zeljko; Kent, Stephen; Loveday, Jon; Munn, Jeffrey A.; Nichol, Robert C.; Ostriker, Jeremiah P.; Schneider, Donald P.; Berk, Daniel E. Vanden

2005-01-01

We combine the constraints from the recent Lyα forest analysis of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the SDSS galaxy bias analysis with previous constraints from SDSS galaxy clustering, the latest supernovae, and 1st year WMAP cosmic microwave background anisotropies. We find significant improvements on all of the cosmological parameters compared to previous constraints, which highlights the importance of combining Lyα forest constraints with other probes. Combining WMAP and the Lyα forest we find for the primordial slope n s =0.98±0.02. We see no evidence of running, dn/dlnk=-0.003±0.010, a factor of 3 improvement over previous constraints. We also find no evidence of tensors, r 2 model is within the 2-sigma contour, V∝φ 4 is outside the 3-sigma contour. For the amplitude we find σ 8 =0.90±0.03 from the Lyα forest and WMAP alone. We find no evidence of neutrino mass: for the case of 3 massive neutrino families with an inflationary prior, eV and the mass of lightest neutrino is m 1 ν λ =0.72±0.02, w(z=0.3)=-0.98 -0.12 +0.10 , the latter changing to w(z=0.3)=-0.92 -0.10 +0.09 if tensors are allowed. We find no evidence for variation of the equation of state with redshift, w(z=1)=-1.03 -0.28 +0.21 . These results rely on the current understanding of the Lyα forest and other probes, which need to be explored further both observationally and theoretically, but extensive tests reveal no evidence of inconsistency among different data sets used here

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Galaxy Clusters Detected via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sehgal, N.

2011-01-01

We present constraints on cosmological parameters based on a sample of Sunyaev-Zeldovich-selected galaxy clusters detected in a millimeter-wave survey by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The cluster sample used in this analysis consists of 9 optically-confirmed high-mass clusters comprising the high-significance end of the total cluster sample identified in 455 square degrees of sky surveyed during 2008 at 148GHz. We focus on the most massive systems to reduce the degeneracy between unknown cluster astrophysics and cosmology derived from SZ surveys. We describe the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal with a 4-parameter fit. Marginalizing over the values of the parameters in this fit with conservative priors gives σ 8 = 0.851 ± 0.115 and w = -1.14 ± 0.35 for a spatially-flat wCDM cosmological model with WMAP 7-year priors on cosmological parameters. This gives a modest improvement in statistical uncertainty over WMAP 7-year constraints alone. Fixing the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal to a fiducial relation obtained from numerical simulations and calibrated by X-ray observations, we find σ 8 = 0.821 ± 0.044 and w = -1.05 ± 0.20. These results are consistent with constraints from WMAP 7 plus baryon acoustic oscillations plus type Ia supernoava which give σ 8 = 0.802 ± 0.038 and w = -0.98 ± 0.053. A stacking analysis of the clusters in this sample compared to clusters simulated assuming the fiducial model also shows good agreement. These results suggest that, given the sample of clusters used here, both the astrophysics of massive clusters and the cosmological parameters derived from them are broadly consistent with current models.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Galaxy Clusters Detected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sehgal, Neelima; Trac, Hy; Acquaviva, Viviana; Ade, Peter A.R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Barrientos, L.Felipe; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, J.Richard; Brown, Ben; Burger, Bryce; Chervenak, Jay; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon R.; Doriese, W.Bertrand; Dunkley, Joanna; Dunner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fisher, Ryan P.

2011-08-18

We present constraints on cosmological parameters based on a sample of Sunyaev-Zeldovich-selected galaxy clusters detected in a millimeter-wave survey by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The cluster sample used in this analysis consists of 9 optically-confirmed high-mass clusters comprising the high-significance end of the total cluster sample identified in 455 square degrees of sky surveyed during 2008 at 148GHz. We focus on the most massive systems to reduce the degeneracy between unknown cluster astrophysics and cosmology derived from SZ surveys. We describe the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal with a 4-parameter fit. Marginalizing over the values of the parameters in this fit with conservative priors gives {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.851 {+-} 0.115 and w = -1.14 {+-} 0.35 for a spatially-flat wCDM cosmological model with WMAP 7-year priors on cosmological parameters. This gives a modest improvement in statistical uncertainty over WMAP 7-year constraints alone. Fixing the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal to a fiducial relation obtained from numerical simulations and calibrated by X-ray observations, we find {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.821 {+-} 0.044 and w = -1.05 {+-} 0.20. These results are consistent with constraints from WMAP 7 plus baryon acoustic oscillations plus type Ia supernoava which give {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.802 {+-} 0.038 and w = -0.98 {+-} 0.053. A stacking analysis of the clusters in this sample compared to clusters simulated assuming the fiducial model also shows good agreement. These results suggest that, given the sample of clusters used here, both the astrophysics of massive clusters and the cosmological parameters derived from them are broadly consistent with current models.

OB ASSOCIATIONS AT THE UPPER END OF THE MILKY WAY LUMINOSITY FUNCTION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahman, Mubdi; Matzner, Christopher D.; Moon, Dae-Sik, E-mail: mubdi@pha.jhu.edu [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada)

2013-04-01

The Milky Way's most luminous, young, and massive (M {approx}> 10{sup 4} M{sub Sun }) star clusters and OB associations have largely evaded detection despite knowledge of their surrounding H II regions. We search for these clusters and associations within the 40 star-forming complexes from Rahman and Murray in the 13 most luminous Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) free-free emission sources of the Galaxy. Selecting for objects with the dust-reddened colors of OB stars, we identify new candidate associations using the Two Micron All Sky Survey point-source catalog. In 40 star-forming complexes searched, 22 contain cluster/association candidates with sizes and masses in the range of 3'-26' and 10{sup 2.3}-10{sup 5} M{sub Sun }. Of the 22 candidates, at least seven have estimated masses {approx}> 10{sup 4} M{sub Sun }, doubling the number of such massive clusters known in the Galaxy. Only one of the searched WMAP sources remains without a candidate. Applying our method to a statistically similar set of test locations, we estimate that 3.0 {+-} 0.6 of our 22 candidate associations are unrelated to the star-forming complexes. In addition, the apparent extinctions of our candidate associations correlate well with the predictions from a Galactic model. These facts, along with the clear detection of a known OB association and the previous spectral verification of one cluster found by this method, validate our method. In eight of the most luminous WMAP sources, the candidate associations can account for the observed free-free flux. With our new compilation, the Galactic census of young, massive stellar associations may now be about half complete.

Extreme value analysis of meteorological parameters observed during the period 1994-2001 at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramkumar, S.; Dole, M.L.; Nankar, D.P.; Rajan, M.P.; Gurg, R.P.

2003-01-01

In the design of engineering structures, an understanding of extreme weather conditions that may occur at the site of interest is very essential, so that the structures can be designed to withstand such situations. In this report an analysis of extreme values of meteorological parameters observed at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station site for the period 1994 -2001 is described. The parameters considered are maximum and minimum air temperature, maximum wind speed and gust, and maximum rainfall in a month, in a day, in an hour and annual rainfall. The extreme value analysis reveals that annual rainfall, maximum monthly rainfall, minimum air temperature and maximum wind speed at 10 m obey Fisher-Tippet Type -1 distribution whereas maximum daily rainfall, maximum hourly rainfall, maxinlum air temperature and maximum wind speed at 30 m obey Fisher-Tippet Type -2 distribution function. There is no difference in correlation coefficients and fit both extreme value distribution function. Co-efficients of the distribution functions for each variable are established. Extreme values of parameters corresponding to return periods of 50 and 100 years are derived. These derived extreme values are particularly useful for arriving at suitable design basis values to ensure the safety of any civil structure in and around Kakrapar Atomic Power Station site with respect to stresses due to weather conditions. (author)

Dynamics of polynomial Chaplygin gas warm inflation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jawad, Abdul [COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Department of Mathematics, Lahore (Pakistan); Chaudhary, Shahid [Sharif College of Engineering and Technology, Department of Mathematics, Lahore (Pakistan); Videla, Nelson [Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Instituto de Fisica, Valparaiso (Chile)

2017-11-15

In the present work, we study the consequences of a recently proposed polynomial inflationary potential in the context of the generalized, modified, and generalized cosmic Chaplygin gas models. In addition, we consider dissipative effects by coupling the inflation field to radiation, i.e., the inflationary dynamics is studied in the warm inflation scenario. We take into account a general parametrization of the dissipative coefficient Γ for describing the decay of the inflaton field into radiation. By studying the background and perturbative dynamics in the weak and strong dissipative regimes of warm inflation separately for the positive and negative quadratic and quartic potentials, we obtain expressions for the most relevant inflationary observables as the scalar power spectrum, the scalar spectral, and the tensor-to-scalar ratio. We construct the trajectories in the n{sub s}-r plane for several expressions of the dissipative coefficient and compare with the two-dimensional marginalized contours for (n{sub s}, r) from the latest Planck data. We find that our results are in agreement with WMAP9 and Planck 2015 data. (orig.)

Cosmic microwave background trispectrum and primordial magnetic field limits.

Science.gov (United States)

Trivedi, Pranjal; Seshadri, T R; Subramanian, Kandaswamy

2012-06-08

Primordial magnetic fields will generate non-gaussian signals in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) as magnetic stresses and the temperature anisotropy they induce depend quadratically on the magnetic field. We compute a new measure of magnetic non-gaussianity, the CMB trispectrum, on large angular scales, sourced via the Sachs-Wolfe effect. The trispectra induced by magnetic energy density and by magnetic scalar anisotropic stress are found to have typical magnitudes of approximately a few times 10(-29) and 10(-19), respectively. Observational limits on CMB non-gaussianity from WMAP data allow us to conservatively set upper limits of a nG, and plausibly sub-nG, on the present value of the primordial cosmic magnetic field. This represents the tightest limit so far on the strength of primordial magnetic fields, on Mpc scales, and is better than limits from the CMB bispectrum and all modes in the CMB power spectrum. Thus, the CMB trispectrum is a new and more sensitive probe of primordial magnetic fields on large scales.

Single-field inflation constraints from CMB and SDSS data

CERN Document Server

Finelli, Fabio; Leach, Samuel M; Lesgourgues, Julien

2010-01-01

We present constraints on canonical single-field inflation derived from WMAP five year, ACBAR, QUAD, BICEP data combined with the halo power spectrum from SDSS LRG7. Models with a non-scale-invariant spectrum and a red tilt n_s < 1 are now preferred over the Harrison-Zel'dovich model (n_s = 1, tensor-to-scalar ratio r = 0) at high significance. Assuming no running of the spectral indices, we derive constraints on the parameters (n_s, r) and compare our results with the predictions of simple inflationary models. The marginalised credible intervals read n_s = 0.962^{+0.028}_{-0.026} and r < 0.17 (at 95% confidence level). Interestingly, the 68% c.l. contours favour mainly models with a convex potential in the observable region, but the quadratic potential model remains inside the 95% c.l. contours. We demonstrate that these results are robust to changes in the datasets considered and in the theoretical assumptions made. We then consider a non-vanishing running of the spectral indices by employing differen...

China's power policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayer, M.

2006-01-01

Whether the People's Republic of China may develop to an economical super-government in future depends on the amount of power and resources of this land. The security of power supply is in an extremely prominent position in the Agenda of the Chinese government. Under this aspect the author of the contribution under consideration reports on the power policy of China. The main aspects of this contribution are: (a) Trends of power consumption, productions and imports of power; (b) Power political targets, measures and instruments of China; (c) Characteristics, national and international impacts of the power policy of China. Due to the economical activities of the chinese oil industry worldwide as well as due to the increasing dependence from imports of petroleum and natural oil, China becomes a global player. Thus, one may expect an intensification of Beijing's economical activities with an increased military component. Nevertheless, the power policy of China is an important factor in the global competition according to fossil resources. In order to understand the future behaviour of China's power policy, one may have to take notice of the strategies relating the power policy and relating to foreign affairs. Furthermore, trends and problematic areas concerning the securitization of the power supply in the national area have to be observed

Predicted and observed cooling tower plume rise and visible plume length at the John E. Amos power plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanna, S R

1976-01-01

A one-dimensional numerical cloud growth model and several empirical models for plume rise and cloud growth are compared with twenty-seven sets of observations of cooling tower plumes from the 2900 MW John E. Amos power plant in West Virginia. The three natural draft cooling towers are 200 m apart. In a cross wind, the plumes begin to merge at a distance of about 500 m downwind. In calm conditions, with reduced entrainment, the plumes often do not merge until heights of 1000 m. The average plume rise, 750 m, is predicted well by the models, but day-to-day variations are simulated with a correlation coefficient of about 0.5. Model predictions of visible plume length agree, on the average, with observations for visible plumes of short to moderate length (less than about 1 km). The prediction of longer plumes is hampered by our lack of knowledge of plume spreading after the plumes level off. Cloud water concentrations predicted by the numerical model agree with those measured in natural cumulus clouds (about 0.1 to 1 g kg/sup -1/).

Determining SUSY model parameters and masses at the LHC using cross sections, kinematic edges and other observables

CERN Document Server

White, M J; Parker, M A

2005-01-01

We address the problem of mass measurements of supersymmetric particles at the Large Hadron Collider, using the ATLAS detector as an example. By using Markov Chain sampling techniques to combine standard measurements of kinematic edges in the invariant mass distributions of decay products with a measurement of a missing $p_T$ cross-section, we show that the precision of mass measurements at the LHC can be dramatically improved, even when we do not assume that we have measured the kinematic endpoints precisely, or that we have identified exactly which particles are involved in the decay chain causing the endpoints. The generality of the technique is demonstrated in a preliminary investigation of a non-universal SUGRA model, in which we relax the requirements of mSUGRA by breaking the degeneracy of the GUT scale gaugino masses. The model studied is compatible with the WMAP limits on dark matter relic density.

Supersymmetric Hybrid Inflation with Non-Minimal Kähler potential

CERN Document Server

Bastero-Gil, M; Shafi, Q

2007-01-01

Minimal supersymmetric hybrid inflation based on a minimal Kahler potential predicts a spectral index n_s\\gsim 0.98. On the other hand, WMAP three year data prefers a central value n_s \\approx 0.95. We propose a class of supersymmetric hybrid inflation models based on the same minimal superpotential but with a non-minimal Kahler potential. Including radiative corrections using the one-loop effective potential, we show that the prediction for the spectral index is sensitive to the small non-minimal corrections, and can lead to a significantly red-tilted spectrum, in agreement with WMAP.

Supersymmetric hybrid inflation with non-minimal Kahler potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bastero-Gil, M.; King, S.F.; Shafi, Q.

2007-01-01

Minimal supersymmetric hybrid inflation based on a minimal Kahler potential predicts a spectral index n s ∼>0.98. On the other hand, WMAP three year data prefers a central value n s ∼0.95. We propose a class of supersymmetric hybrid inflation models based on the same minimal superpotential but with a non-minimal Kahler potential. Including radiative corrections using the one-loop effective potential, we show that the prediction for the spectral index is sensitive to the small non-minimal corrections, and can lead to a significantly red-tilted spectrum, in agreement with WMAP

Culture and concepts of power.

Science.gov (United States)

Torelli, Carlos J; Shavitt, Sharon

2010-10-01

Five studies indicate that conceptualizations of power are important elements of culture and serve culturally relevant goals. These studies provide converging evidence that cultures nurture different views of what is desirable and meaningful to do with power. Vertical individualism is associated with a conceptualization of power in personalized terms (i.e., power is for advancing one's personal status and prestige), whereas horizontal collectivism is associated with a conceptualization of power in socialized terms (i.e., power is for benefiting and helping others). Cultural variables are shown to predict beliefs about appropriate uses of power, episodic memories about power, attitudes in the service of power goals, and the contexts and ways in which power is used and defended. Evidence for the cultural patterning of power concepts is observed at both the individual level and the cultural-group level of analysis.

Excess B‐modes extracted from the Planck polarization maps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard-Nielsen, Hans Ulrik

2016-01-01

on both temperature and polarization data obtained by the WMAP satellite. The main goal of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of neural networks for extracting the CMB signal from the Planck polarization data with high precision. Both auto‐correlation and cross‐correlation power spectra within...... a mask covering about 63 % of the sky have been used together with a “high pass filter” in order to minimize the influence of the remaining systematic errors in the Planck Q and U maps. Using the Planck 2015 released polarization maps, a BB power spectrum have been extracted by Multilayer Perceptron...... tensor to scalar ratios). The feasibility of the neural network to remove the residual systematics from the available Planck polarization data to a high level has been demonstrated. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)...

Observing System Simulation Experiments for Fun and Profit

Science.gov (United States)

Prive, Nikki C.

2015-01-01

Observing System Simulation Experiments can be powerful tools for evaluating and exploring both the behavior of data assimilation systems and the potential impacts of future observing systems. With great power comes great responsibility - given a pure modeling framework, how can we be sure our results are meaningful? The challenges and pitfalls of OSSE calibration and validation will be addressed, as well as issues of incestuousness, selection of appropriate metrics, and experiment design. The use of idealized observational networks to investigate theoretical ideas in a fully complex modeling framework will also be discussed

Rocket observations at the northern edge of the eastward electrojet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cahill, L.J. Jr.; Arnoldy, R.L.; Taylor, W.W.L.

1980-01-01

A Nike-Tomahawk rocket was launched north over two quiet, late evening auroral arcs in March 1975. A northward magnetic disturbance was observed on the ground under the rocket trajectory. South of the arcs the northward electric field was 60 mV/m, indicating strong westward plasma flow. An eastward electrojet current layer was penetrated in the upward flight. Precipitating electrons were observed over each arc. The electric field decreased to below 20 mV/m over each arc and recovered to 50 mV/m between the arcs. Using the observed electron flux and a model of the ionosphere, the Hall and Pedersen conductivities were calculated. These conductivities were used, with the observed electric field, to calculate the eastward and northward components of the horizontal ionospheric currents. The eastward current calculated south of the first arc agreed well with the observed eastward electrojet current. The power dissipated by the Pedersen current Σ/sub p/EPSILON 2 was also calculated and compared with the power carried by the precipitating electrons. The Joule power decreased abruptly in the auroral arcs, as the pricipitating electron power increased. The total dissipated power was approximately the same inside the arcs, between them, and south of the luminosity. North of the aurora the electric field and dissipated power remained low. Field-aligned currents carried by the observed electrons were about a factor of 3 lower than those inferred from the magnetic field measurements. Likewise, current continuity arguments to keep the auroral current system divergence free required a larger field-aligned current than that obtained from the particle detectors

Integrated Control for Small Power Wind Generator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongliang Liu

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The control strategies of the small power wind generator are usually divided into the maximum power point tracking (MPPT case, which requires the wind generator produce power as much as possible, and the power limited control (PLC case that demands the wind generator produce a power level following the load requirement. Integration of these two operating cases responding to flexible and sophisticated power demands is the main topic of this article. A small power wind generator including the sluggish mechanical dynamic phenomenon, which uses the permanent magnet synchronous generator, is introduced to validate different control methods integrating MPPT and PLC cases and based on hysteresis control. It is a matter of an indirect power control method derived from three direct methods following perturb and observe principle as well as from a look-up table. To analyze and compare the proposed power control methods, which are implemented into an emulator of a small power wind generator, a power demand profile is used. This profile is randomly generated based on measured rapid wind velocity data. Analyzing experimental results, from the power viewpoint, all proposed methods reveal steady-state error with big amount of peak resulting from the nature of perturb and observe.

Scalar perturbation in warm tachyon inflation in LQC in light of Plank and BICEP2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Setare, M.R., E-mail: rezakord@ipm.ir [Department of Science, Campus of Bijar, University of Kurdistan, Bijar (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Kamali, V., E-mail: vkamali1362@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, 65178 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2014-12-12

We study warm-tachyon inflationary universe model in the context of the effective field theory of loop quantum cosmology. In slow-roll approximation the primordial perturbation spectrums for this model are calculated. We also obtain the general expressions of the tensor-to-scalar ratio and scalar spectral index. We develop this model by using exponential potential, the characteristics of this model are presented in great details. The parameters of the model are restricted by recent observational data from Planck, WMAP9 and BICEP2.

Novel jet observables from machine learning

Science.gov (United States)

Datta, Kaustuv; Larkoski, Andrew J.

2018-03-01

Previous studies have demonstrated the utility and applicability of machine learning techniques to jet physics. In this paper, we construct new observables for the discrimination of jets from different originating particles exclusively from information identified by the machine. The approach we propose is to first organize information in the jet by resolved phase space and determine the effective N -body phase space at which discrimination power saturates. This then allows for the construction of a discrimination observable from the N -body phase space coordinates. A general form of this observable can be expressed with numerous parameters that are chosen so that the observable maximizes the signal vs. background likelihood. Here, we illustrate this technique applied to discrimination of H\\to b\\overline{b} decays from massive g\\to b\\overline{b} splittings. We show that for a simple parametrization, we can construct an observable that has discrimination power comparable to, or better than, widely-used observables motivated from theory considerations. For the case of jets on which modified mass-drop tagger grooming is applied, the observable that the machine learns is essentially the angle of the dominant gluon emission off of the b\\overline{b} pair.

Accuracy of clinical observations of push-off during gait after stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

McGinley, Jennifer L; Morris, Meg E; Greenwood, Ken M; Goldie, Patricia A; Olney, Sandra J

2006-06-01

To determine the accuracy (criterion-related validity) of real-time clinical observations of push-off in gait after stroke. Criterion-related validity study of gait observations. Rehabilitation hospital in Australia. Eleven participants with stroke and 8 treating physical therapists. Not applicable. Pearson product-moment correlation between physical therapists' observations of push-off during gait and criterion measures of peak ankle power generation from a 3-dimensional motion analysis system. A high correlation was obtained between the observational ratings and the measurements of peak ankle power generation (Pearson r =.98). The standard error of estimation of ankle power generation was .32W/kg. Physical therapists can make accurate real-time clinical observations of push-off during gait following stroke.

Cosmological parameter estimation using particle swarm optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, Jayanti; Souradeep, Tarun

2012-06-01

Constraining theoretical models, which are represented by a set of parameters, using observational data is an important exercise in cosmology. In Bayesian framework this is done by finding the probability distribution of parameters which best fits to the observational data using sampling based methods like Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). It has been argued that MCMC may not be the best option in certain problems in which the target function (likelihood) poses local maxima or have very high dimensionality. Apart from this, there may be examples in which we are mainly interested to find the point in the parameter space at which the probability distribution has the largest value. In this situation the problem of parameter estimation becomes an optimization problem. In the present work we show that particle swarm optimization (PSO), which is an artificial intelligence inspired population based search procedure, can also be used for cosmological parameter estimation. Using PSO we were able to recover the best-fit Λ cold dark matter (LCDM) model parameters from the WMAP seven year data without using any prior guess value or any other property of the probability distribution of parameters like standard deviation, as is common in MCMC. We also report the results of an exercise in which we consider a binned primordial power spectrum (to increase the dimensionality of problem) and find that a power spectrum with features gives lower chi square than the standard power law. Since PSO does not sample the likelihood surface in a fair way, we follow a fitting procedure to find the spread of likelihood function around the best-fit point.

Constraints on dark matter annihilation from CMB observations before Planck

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopez-Honorez, Laura [Theoretische Natuurkunde, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and The International Solvay Institutes, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium); Mena, Olga; Palomares-Ruiz, Sergio; Vincent, Aaron C., E-mail: llopezho@vub.ac.be, E-mail: omena@ific.uv.es, E-mail: sergio.palomares.ruiz@ist.utl.pt, E-mail: vincent@ific.uv.es [Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC), CSIC-Universitat de València, Apartado de Correos 22085, E-46071 Valencia (Spain)

2013-07-01

We compute the bounds on the dark matter (DM) annihilation cross section using the most recent Cosmic Microwave Background measurements from WMAP9, SPT'11 and ACT'10. We consider DM with mass in the MeV–TeV range annihilating 100% into either an e{sup +}e{sup −} or a μ{sup +}μ{sup −} pair. We consider a realistic energy deposition model, which includes the dependence on the redshift, DM mass and annihilation channel. We exclude the canonical thermal relic abundance cross section ((σv) = 3 × 10{sup −26}cm{sup 3}s{sup −1}) for DM masses below 30 GeV and 15 GeV for the e{sup +}e{sup −} and μ{sup +}μ{sup −} channels, respectively. A priori, DM annihilating in halos could also modify the reionization history of the Universe at late times. We implement a realistic halo model taken from results of state-of-the-art N-body simulations and consider a mixed reionization mechanism, consisting on reionization from DM as well as from first stars. We find that the constraints on DM annihilation remain unchanged, even when large uncertainties on the halo model parameters are considered.

Running-mass inflation model and primordial black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drees, Manuel; Erfani, Encieh

2011-01-01

We revisit the question whether the running-mass inflation model allows the formation of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) that are sufficiently long-lived to serve as candidates for Dark Matter. We incorporate recent cosmological data, including the WMAP 7-year results. Moreover, we include ''the running of the running'' of the spectral index of the power spectrum, as well as the renormalization group ''running of the running'' of the inflaton mass term. Our analysis indicates that formation of sufficiently heavy, and hence long-lived, PBHs still remains possible in this scenario. As a by-product, we show that the additional term in the inflaton potential still does not allow significant negative running of the spectral index

One millimeter continuum observations of high redshift quasars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ennis, D.J.; Soifer, B.T.

1981-01-01

Upper limits to the one-millimeter continuum flux densities of the high redshift quasars B2 1225 + 31, Ton 490, and PHL 957 are presented. The upper limit to the power observed from these quasars at 1 mm is, on the average, one half of the observed power in the continuum at L-alpha. These observations are used to constrain the temperature of a hypothetical dust shell which reddens the quasar line and continuum emission by an extinction optical depth sufficient to account for the anomalously low L-alpha/H-alpha emission line ratio observed in each of these quasars. For the quasars studied, dust shell temperatures between 25 K and 50 to 95 K are prohibited by the present data. A dust shell at a temperature within this span reradiating all the power absorbed from the quasar ultraviolet continuum would produce a one-millimeter flux density greater than the measured upper limit. The average radius of the model dust shell cannot be between 70 kpc and 1 Mpc

The power spectrum of inflationary attractors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broy, Benedict J.; Westphal, Alexander; Roest, Diederik

2014-08-01

Inflationary attractors predict the spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio to take specific values that are consistent with Planck. An example is the universal attractor for models with a generalised non-minimal coupling, leading to Starobinsky inflation. In this letter we demonstrate that it also predicts a specific relation between the amplitude of the power spectrum and the number of e-folds. The length and height of the inflationary plateau are related via the non-minimal coupling: in a wide variety of examples, the observed power normalisation leads to at least 55 flat e-foldings. Prior to this phase, the inflationary predictions vary and can account for the observational indications of power loss at large angular scales.

Power system damping - Structural aspects of controlling active power

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samuelsson, O.

1997-04-01

Environmental and economical aspects make it difficult to build new power lines and to reinforce existing ones. The continued growth in demand for electric power must therefore to a great extent be met by increased loading of available lines. A consequence is that power system damping is reduced, leading to a risk of poorly damped power oscillations between the generators. This thesis proposes the use of controlled active loads to increase damping of such electro-mechanical oscillations. The focus is on structural aspects of controller interaction and of sensor and actuator placement. On-off control based on machine frequency in a single machine infinite bus system is analysed using energy function analysis and phase plane plots. An on-off controller with estimated machine frequency as input has been implemented. At a field test it damped oscillations of a 0.9 MW hydro power generator by controlling a 20kW load. The linear analysis uses two power system models with three and twenty-three machines respectively. Each damper has active power as output and local bus frequency or machine frequency as input. The power system simulator EUROSTAG is used both for generation of the linearized models and for time simulations. Measures of active power mode controllability and phase angle mode observability are obtained from the eigenvectors of the differential-algebraic models. The geographical variation in the network of these quantities is illustrated using the resemblance to bending modes of flexible mechanical structures. Eigenvalue sensitivities are used to determine suitable damper locations. A spring-mass equivalent to an inter-area mode provides analytical expressions, that together with the concept of impedance matching explain the structural behaviour of the power systems. For large gains this is investigated using root locus plots. 64 refs, 99 figs, 20 tabs

Fisher matrix forecast on cosmological parameters from the dark energy survey 2-point angular correlation function

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sobreira, F.; Rosenfeld, R. [Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (IFT/UNESP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Inst. Fisica Teorica; Simoni, F. de; Costa, L.A.N. da; Gaia, M.A.G.; Ramos, B.; Ogando, R.; Makler, M. [Laboratorio Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia (LIneA), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2011-07-01

Full text: We study the cosmological constraints expected for the upcoming project Dark Energy Survey (DES) with the full functional form of the 2-point angular correlation function. The angular correlation function model applied in this work includes the effects of linear redshift-space distortion, photometric redshift errors (assumed to be Gaussian) and non-linearities prevenient from gravitational infall. The Fisher information matrix is constructed with the full covariance matrix, which takes the correlation between nearby redshift shells in a proper manner. The survey was sliced into 20 redshift shells in the range 0:4 {<=} z {<=} 1:40 with a variable angular scale in order to search only the scale around the signal from the baryon acoustic oscillation, therefore well within the validity of the non-linear model employed. We found that under those assumptions and with a flat {Lambda}CDM WMAP7 fiducial model, the DES will be able to constrain the dark energy equation of state parameter w with a precision of {approx} 20% and the cold dark matter with {approx} 11% when marginalizing over the other 25 parameters (bias is treated as a free parameter for each shell). When applying WMAP7 priors on {Omega}{sub baryon}, {Omega} c{sub dm}, n{sub s}, and HST priors on the Hubble parameter, w is constrained with {approx} 9% precision. This shows that the full shape of the angular correlation function with DES data will be a powerful probe to constrain cosmological parameters. (author)

FY 2000 report on the survey of the stabilization of wind power generation power system, etc.; 2000 nendo furyoku hatsuden denryoku keito anteika nado chosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-03-01

For the purpose of elucidating effects of output fluctuations at the time of quantity introduction of wind power generation, conducted were observation of wind characteristics in Hokkaido and analysis of the characteristics, estimation of fluctuations in wind power output, analysis of fluctuations in system frequency, etc. In the observation of wind characteristics, wind velocity/wind direction were measured at observation posts of 30 wind turbines installed at 16 sites in Hokkaido. Concerning the conversion into wind power output, 10 cases were selected such as the case of passage of low atmospheric pressure, etc., and the generator unit and wind firm were simulated in detail. In the estimation of wind power output, good agreement with the results estimated was confirmed at points very near to posts of observation of wind characteristics. As to the evaluation of effects of wind power generation to the system, power system frequencies were simulated using the models constructed and using capacity and kinds of frequency adjusted power source as parameter. As a result, it was indicated that there was a possibility of frequency's sharply fluctuating in case the surplus energy in frequency adjustment is reduced by fluctuations in demand and further in case wind power output is fluctuated. (NEDO)

Beyond the Standard Model of Cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellis, John; Nanopoulos, D. V.

2004-01-01

Recent cosmological observations of unprecented accuracy, by WMAP in particular, have established a 'Standard Model' of cosmology, just as LEP established the Standard Model of particle physics. Both Standard Models raise open questions whose answers are likely to be linked. The most fundamental problems in both particle physics and cosmology will be resolved only within a framework for Quantum Gravity, for which the only game in town is string theory. We discuss novel ways to model cosmological inflation and late acceleration in a non-critical string approach, and discuss possible astrophysical tests

Inflation driven by single geometric tachyon with D-brane orbiting around NS5-branes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Pyung Seong; Jun, Gyeong Yun; Panigrahi, Kamal L.; Sami, M.

2012-01-01

We investigate models in which inflation is driven by a single geometrical tachyon. We assume that the D-brane as a probe brane in the background of NS5-branes has non-zero angular momentum which is shown to play similar role as the number of the scalar fields of the assisted inflation. We demonstrate that the angular momentum corrected effective potential allows to account for the observational constraint on COBE normalization, spectral index n S and the tensor to scalar ratio of perturbations consistent with WMAP seven years data.

From first light to reionization

CERN Document Server

Stiavelli, Massimo S

2009-01-01

This up-to-date and concise account of a critical period of the early universe directly links the latest theories and experiments. Targeted at cosmological problems rather than specific methods, it begins with an introduction reviewing the early universe and looks at why reionization is important. The process of reionization analyzes simple analytical considerations and compares existing observations, while a further chapter describes some of the issues regarding the transition from Population III to Population II stars, as well as the constraints that can be derived from WMAP. Further chapter

War Powers Litigation Initiated by Members of Congress Since the Enactment of the War Powers Resolution

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-17

separation of powers . Prominent on the surface of any case held to involve a political question is found a textually demonstrable constitutional...and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia again affirmed. The district court stated as a predicate that the separation of powers doctrine...grave separation of powers issues” and observed that courts traditionally have been reluctant “to intercede in disputes between the political

Electric field of the power terrestrial sources observed by microsatellite Chibis-M in the Earth's ionosphere in frequency range 1-60 Hz

Science.gov (United States)

Dudkin, Fedir; Korepanov, Valery; Dudkin, Denis; Pilipenko, Vyacheslav; Pronenko, Vira; Klimov, Stanislav

2015-07-01

The power line emission (PLE) 50/60 Hz and the Schumann resonance (SR) harmonics were detected by the use of a compact electrical field sensor of length 0.42 m during microsatellite Chibis-M mission in years 2012-2014. The initial orbit of Chibis-M has altitude 500 km and inclination 52°. We present the space distribution of PLE and its connections with the possible overhead power lines. PLE has been recorded both in the shade and sunlit parts of the orbits as opposed to SR which have been recorded only in the nightside of the Earth. The cases of an extra long distance of PLE propagation in the Earth's ionosphere and increased value of SR Q factor have been also observed. These results should stimulate the ionosphere model refinement for ultralow frequency and extremely low frequency electromagnetic wave propagation as well as a study on new possibility of the ionosphere diagnostics.

THE EFFECTS OF TRANSIENTS ON PHOTOSPHERIC AND CHROMOSPHERIC POWER DISTRIBUTIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samanta, T.; Banerjee, D.; Pant, V. [Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Koramangala, Bangalore 560034 (India); Henriques, V. M. J.; Prasad, S. Krishna; Mathioudakis, M.; Jess, D., E-mail: tsamanta@iiap.res.in, E-mail: v.henriques@qub.ac.uk [Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN (United Kingdom)

2016-09-01

We have observed a quiet-Sun region with the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope equipped with the CRISP Imaging SpectroPolarimeter. High-resolution, high-cadence, H α line scanning images were taken to observe different layers of the solar atmosphere from the photosphere to upper chromosphere. We study the distribution of power in different period bands at different heights. Power maps of the upper photosphere and the lower chromosphere show suppressed power surrounding the magnetic-network elements, known as “magnetic shadows.” These also show enhanced power close to the photosphere, traditionally referred to as “power halos.” The interaction between acoustic waves and inclined magnetic fields is generally believed to be responsible for these two effects. In this study we explore whether small-scale transients can influence the distribution of power at different heights. We show that the presence of transients, like mottles, Rapid Blueshifted Excursions (RBEs), and Rapid Redshifted Excursions (RREs), can strongly influence the power maps. The short and finite lifetime of these events strongly affects all power maps, potentially influencing the observed power distribution. We show that Doppler-shifted transients like RBEs and RREs that occur ubiquitously can have a dominant effect on the formation of the power halos in the quiet Sun. For magnetic shadows, transients like mottles do not seem to have a significant effect on the power suppression around 3 minutes, and wave interaction may play a key role here. Our high-cadence observations reveal that flows, waves, and shocks manifest in the presence of magnetic fields to form a nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic system.

Some observations on stray magnetic fields and power outputs from short-wave diathermy equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lau, R.W.M.; Dunscombe, P.B.

1984-04-01

Recent years have seen increasing interest in the possible hazards arising from the use of nonionizing electromagnetic radiation. Relatively large and potentially hazardous fields are to be found in the vicinity of short-wave and microwave equipment used in physiotherapy departments to produce therapeutic temperature rises. This note reports the results of measurements of the stray magnetic field and power output of a conventional short-wave diathermy unit when applied to tissue-equivalent phantoms. The dependence of these quantities on the variables, i.e. power setting of the unit, capacitor plate size, phantom size and phantom-capacitor plate separation, are discussed.

Controllers with Minimal Observation Power (Application to Timed Systems)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bulychev, Petr; Cassez, Franck; David, Alexandre

2012-01-01

We consider the problem of controller synthesis under imper- fect information in a setting where there is a set of available observable predicates equipped with a cost function. The problem that we address is the computation of a subset of predicates sufficient for control and whose cost is minimal...

Consideration of nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smart, I.

1982-01-01

Mr. Smart notes that the optimistic promise of nuclear energy for developing countries has not been met, but feels that nuclear power can still provide a growing share of energy during the transition from oil dependence. He observes that cost-benefit analyses vary for each country, but good planning and management can give nuclear power a positive future for those developing countries which can establish a need for it; have access to the economic, technological, and human resources necessary to develop and operate it; and can make nuclear power compatible with the social, economic, and cultural structure. 11 references

General conditions for electric power supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1981-01-01

If it is uncertain whether future power bills will be paid fully, it is admissible to take an action claiming a declaration which states that the electricity rate payment boycotter has no right to non-payment nor a right to withhold payment towards the electricity supply utility, and that the electricity supply utility has the right to stop energy supply because of reduced electricity rate payments effected and/or announced, and to denounce the contract without observing any term of notice. If the electricity buyer reduces a power bill to be paid without any legal grounds, the electricity supply utility has the right to stop power supplies and to denounce the power supply contract without observing any term of notice. The freedom of thought and the freedom of opinion must not be expressed by reducing power bills to be paid. Basic rights discontinue to be effective as soon as a contract or law is broken. A weighing of protected interests is not effected if the exercise of a basic law is unlawful. (orig./HP) [de

Power Struggles. The Montessori Observer. Volume 31, Number 1

Science.gov (United States)

International Montessori Society (NJ3), 2010

2010-01-01

"The Montessori Observer" is mailed four times each year, in March, May, September and November, to Society members throughout the world. The purpose is to provide news and information about the Society's work in Montessori education, and to extend awareness of Montessori principles throughout the world. This issue contains a feature…

Excess B-modes extracted from the Planck polarization maps

Science.gov (United States)

Nørgaard-Nielsen, H. U.

2016-06-01

One of the main obstacles for extracting the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from mm/submm observations is the pollution from the main Galactic components: synchrotron, free-free and thermal dust emission. The feasibility of using simple neural networks to extract CMB has been demonstrated on both temperature and polarization data obtained by the WMAP satellite. The main goal of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of neural networks for extracting the CMB signal from the Planck polarization data with high precision. Both auto-correlation and cross-correlation power spectra within a mask covering about 63 % of the sky have been used together with a ``high pass filter'' in order to minimize the influence of the remaining systematic errors in the Planck Q and U maps. Using the Planck 2015 released polarization maps, a BB power spectrum have been extracted by Multilayer Perceptron neural networks. This spectrum contains a bright feature with signal to noise ratios ≃ 4.5 within 200 ≤ l ≤ 250. The spectrum is significantly brighter than the BICEP2 2015 spectrum, with a spectral behaviour quite different from the ``canonical'' models (weak lensing plus B-modes spectra with different tensor to scalar ratios). The feasibility of the neural network to remove the residual systematics from the available Planck polarization data to a high level has been demonstrated.

Attitudes of the general public and electric power company employees toward nuclear power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komiyama, Hisashi

1997-01-01

We conducted an awareness survey targeted at members of the general public residing in urban areas and in areas scheduled for construction of nuclear power plants as well as employees of electric power company in order to determine the awareness and attitude structures of people residing near scheduled construction sites of nuclear power plants with respect to nuclear power generation, and to examine ways of making improvements in terms of promoting nuclear power plant construction sites. Analysis of those results revealed that there are no significant differences in the awareness and attitudes of people residing in urban areas and in areas near scheduled construction sites. On the contrary, a general sense of apprehension regarding the construction of nuclear power plants was observed common to both groups. In addition, significant differences in awareness and attitudes with respect to various factors were determined to exist between members of the general public residing in urban areas and scheduled construction sites and employees of electric power company. (author)

Observation of dynamic interactions between fundamental and second-harmonic modes in a high-power sub-terahertz gyrotron operating in regimes of soft and hard self-excitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Teruo; Tatematsu, Yoshinori; Yamaguchi, Yuusuke; Ikeuchi, Shinji; Ogasawara, Shinya; Yamada, Naoki; Ikeda, Ryosuke; Ogawa, Isamu; Idehara, Toshitaka

2012-10-12

Dynamic mode interaction between fundamental and second-harmonic modes has been observed in high-power sub-terahertz gyrotrons [T. Notake et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 225002 (2009); T. Saito et al. Phys. Plasmas 19, 063106 (2012)]. Interaction takes place between a parasitic fundamental or first-harmonic (FH) mode and an operating second-harmonic (SH) mode, as well as among SH modes. In particular, nonlinear excitation of the parasitic FH mode in the hard self-excitation regime with assistance of a SH mode in the soft self-excitation regime was clearly observed. Moreover, both cases of stable two-mode oscillation and oscillation of the FH mode only were observed. These observations and theoretical analyses of the dynamic behavior of the mode interaction verify the nonlinear hard self-excitation of the FH mode.

Nuclear power experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-01-01

The International Conference on Nuclear Power Experience, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency, was held at the Hofburg Conference Center, Vienna, Austria, from 13 to 17 September 1982. Almost 1200 participants and observers from 63 countries and 20 organizations attended the conference. The 239 papers presented were grouped under the following seven main topics: planning and development of nuclear power programmes; technical and economic experience of nuclear power production; the nuclear fuel cycle; nuclear safety experience; advanced systems; international safeguards; international co-operation. The proceedings are published in six volumes. The sixth volume contains a complete Contents of Volume 1 to 5, a List of Participants, Authors and Transliteration Indexes, a Subject Index and an Index of Papers by Number

Observation of snowfall with a low-power FM-CW K-band radar (Micro Rain Radar)

Science.gov (United States)

Kneifel, Stefan; Maahn, Maximilian; Peters, Gerhard; Simmer, Clemens

2011-06-01

Quantifying snowfall intensity especially under arctic conditions is a challenge because wind and snow drift deteriorate estimates obtained from both ground-based gauges and disdrometers. Ground-based remote sensing with active instruments might be a solution because they can measure well above drifting snow and do not suffer from flow distortions by the instrument. Clear disadvantages are, however, the dependency of e.g. radar returns on snow habit which might lead to similar large uncertainties. Moreover, high sensitivity radars are still far too costly to operate in a network and under harsh conditions. In this paper we compare returns from a low-cost, low-power vertically pointing FM-CW radar (Micro Rain Radar, MRR) operating at 24.1 GHz with returns from a 35.5 GHz cloud radar (MIRA36) for dry snowfall during a 6-month observation period at an Alpine station (Environmental Research Station Schneefernerhaus, UFS) at 2,650 m height above sea level. The goal was to quantify the potential and limitations of the MRR in relation to what is achievable by a cloud radar. The operational MRR procedures to derive standard radar variables like effective reflectivity factor ( Z e) or the mean Doppler velocity ( W) had to be modified for snowfall since the MRR was originally designed for rain observations. Since the radar returns from snowfall are weaker than from comparable rainfall, the behavior of the MRR close to its detection threshold has been analyzed and a method is proposed to quantify the noise level of the MRR based on clear sky observations. By converting the resulting MRR- Z e into 35.5 GHz equivalent Z e values, a remaining difference below 1 dBz with slightly higher values close to the noise threshold could be obtained. Due to the much higher sensitivity of MIRA36, the transition of the MRR from the true signal to noise can be observed, which agrees well with the independent clear sky noise estimate. The mean Doppler velocity differences between both radars

New constraints on modelling the random magnetic field of the MW

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beck, Marcus C.; Nielaba, Peter [Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, D-78457 Konstanz (Germany); Beck, Alexander M.; Dolag, Klaus [University Observatory Munich, Scheinerstr. 1, D-81679 Munich (Germany); Beck, Rainer [Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Strong, Andrew W., E-mail: marcus.beck@uni-konstanz.de, E-mail: abeck@usm.uni-muenchen.de, E-mail: rbeck@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de, E-mail: dolag@usm.uni-muenchen.de, E-mail: aws@mpe.mpg.de, E-mail: peter.nielaba@uni-konstanz.de [Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Giessenbachstr. 1, D-85748 Garching (Germany)

2016-05-01

We extend the description of the isotropic and anisotropic random component of the small-scale magnetic field within the existing magnetic field model of the Milky Way from Jansson and Farrar, by including random realizations of the small-scale component. Using a magnetic-field power spectrum with Gaussian random fields, the NE2001 model for the thermal electrons and the Galactic cosmic-ray electron distribution from the current GALPROP model we derive full-sky maps for the total and polarized synchrotron intensity as well as the Faraday rotation-measure distribution. While previous work assumed that small-scale fluctuations average out along the line-of-sight or which only computed ensemble averages of random fields, we show that these fluctuations need to be carefully taken into account. Comparing with observational data we obtain not only good agreement with 408 MHz total and WMAP7 22 GHz polarized intensity emission maps, but also an improved agreement with Galactic foreground rotation-measure maps and power spectra, whose amplitude and shape strongly depend on the parameters of the random field. We demonstrate that a correlation length of 0≈22 pc (05 pc being a 5σ lower limit) is needed to match the slope of the observed power spectrum of Galactic foreground rotation-measure maps. Using multiple realizations allows us also to infer errors on individual observables. We find that previously-used amplitudes for random and anisotropic random magnetic field components need to be rescaled by factors of ≈0.3 and 0.6 to account for the new small-scale contributions. Our model predicts a rotation measure of −2.8±7.1 rad/m{sup 2} and 04.4±11. rad/m{sup 2} for the north and south Galactic poles respectively, in good agreement with observations. Applying our model to deflections of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays we infer a mean deflection of ≈3.5±1.1 degree for 60 EeV protons arriving from CenA.

Mobile nuclear power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, B.

1988-11-01

This report is meant to present a general survey of the mobile nuclear power systems and not a detailed review of their technical accomplishments. It is based in published material mainly up to 1987. Mobile nuclear power systems are of two fundamentally different kinds: nuclear reactors and isotopic generators. In the reactors the energy comes from nuclear fission and in the isotopic generators from the radioactive decay of suitable isotopes. The reactors are primarily used as power sourves on board nuclear submarines and other warships but have also been used in the space and in remote places. Their thermal power has ranged from 30 kWth (in a satellite) to 175 MWth (on board an aircraft carrier). Isotopic generators are suitable only for small power demands and have been used on board satellites and spaceprobes, automatic weatherstations, lighthouses and marine installations for navigation and observation. (author)

IRAS observations of starburst galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sekiguchi, K.

1987-01-01

Far infrared properties of Starburst galaxies were analyzed using IRAS observations at 25, 60, and 100 micrometers. Seventy-nine of 102 Starburst galaxies from the list of Balzano were detected. These galaxies have high IR luminosities of up to a few 10 to the 12th power L sub 0 and concentrate in a small area of the IR color - color diagram. The IR power law spectral indices, alpha, lie within the ranges -2.5 < alpha(60,25)< -1.5 and -1.5 < alpha(100,60)< 0. These observed indices can be interpreted in terms of a cold disk component and a warm component. More than 80% of the 60 micrometer emission comes from the warm component. The fraction of the 60 micrometer emission attributable to the warm component can be used as an activity indicator

System Study: Emergency Power System 1998-2014

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schroeder, John Alton [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States). Risk Assessment and Management Services Dept.

2015-12-01

This report presents an unreliability evaluation of the emergency power system (EPS) at 104 U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. Demand, run hours, and failure data from fiscal year 1998 through 2014 for selected components were obtained from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Consolidated Events Database (ICES). The unreliability results are trended for the most recent 10 year period while yearly estimates for system unreliability are provided for the entire active period. An extremely statistically significant increasing trend was observed for EPS system unreliability for an 8-hour mission. A statistically significant increasing trend was observed for EPS system start-only unreliability.

Socioeconomic impact of photovoltaic power at Schuchuli, Arizona

Science.gov (United States)

Bahr, D.; Garrett, B. G.; Chrisman, C.

1980-01-01

The social and economic impact of photovoltaic power on a small, remote native American village is studied. Village history, group life, energy use in general, and the use of photovoltaic-powered appliances are discussed. No significant impacts due to the photovoltaic power system were observed.

Photoelectric observations of CH Cygni

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luud, L; Ruusalepp, M; Vennik, Ya

1977-01-01

UBV observations of the peculiar variable star CH Cygni from 1968 up to 1974 are presented. HD 182691 served as a comparison star. It turned out that the colours are in accordance with a model for a symbiotic star. The colour-magnitude diagrams of CH Cygni allow dividing the period of the observations into two parts in dependence on the activity of CH Cygni. Observed brightness variations are analyzed by using autocorrelation, crosscorrelation, and power spectral density functions. It has been found that brightness variations have some periods which are given.

Multi-scale Modeling of Power Plant Plume Emissions and Comparisons with Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Costigan, K. R.; Lee, S.; Reisner, J.; Dubey, M. K.; Love, S. P.; Henderson, B. G.; Chylek, P.

2011-12-01

The Remote Sensing Verification Project (RSVP) test-bed located in the Four Corners region of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico offers a unique opportunity to develop new approaches for estimating emissions of CO2. Two major power plants located in this area produce very large signals of co-emitted CO2 and NO2 in this rural region. In addition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintaining Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) on each of the power plant stacks, the RSVP program has deployed an array of in-situ and remote sensing instruments, which provide both point and integrated measurements. To aid in the synthesis and interpretation of the measurements, a multi-scale atmospheric modeling approach is implemented, using two atmospheric numerical models: the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with chemistry (WRF-Chem; Grell et al., 2005) and the HIGRAD model (Reisner et al., 2003). The high fidelity HIGRAD model incorporates a multi-phase Lagrangian particle based approach to track individual chemical species of stack plumes at ultra-high resolution, using an adaptive mesh. It is particularly suited to model buoyancy effects and entrainment processes at the edges of the power plant plumes. WRF-Chem is a community model that has been applied to a number of air quality problems and offers several physical and chemical schemes that can be used to model the transport and chemical transformation of the anthropogenic plumes out of the local region. Multiple nested grids employed in this study allow the model to incorporate atmospheric variability ranging from synoptic scales to micro-scales (~200 m), while including locally developed flows influenced by the nearby complex terrain of the San Juan Mountains. The simulated local atmospheric dynamics are provided to force the HIGRAD model, which links mesoscale atmospheric variability to the small-scale simulation of the power plant plumes. We will discuss how these two models are applied and

Extragalactic background light from hierarchical galaxy formation. Gamma-ray attenuation up to the epoch of cosmic reionization and the first stars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inoue, Yoshiyuki [Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Kavli Inst. for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology; Inoue, Susumu [Max Planck Inst. for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg (Germany); Univ. of Tokyo (Japan). Inst. for Cosmic Ray Research; Kobayashi, Masakazu A. R. [Ehime Univ., Matsuyama (Japan). Research Center for Space and Cosmic Evolution; Makiya, Ryu [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Astronomy; Niino, Yuu [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka (Tokyo). Optical and Infrared Astronomy Division; Totani, Tomonori [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Astronomy

2013-04-26

Here, we present a new model of the extragalactic background light (EBL) and corresponding γγ opacity for intergalactic gamma-ray absorption from z = 0 up to z = 10, based on a semi-analytical model of hierarchical galaxy formation that reproduces key observed properties of galaxies at various redshifts. Including the potential contribution from Population III stars and following the cosmic reionization history in a simplified way, the model is also broadly consistent with available data concerning reionization, particularly the Thomson scattering optical depth constraints from Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). In comparison with previous EBL studies up to z ~ 3-5, our predicted γγ opacity is in general agreement for observed gamma-ray energy below 400/(1 + z) GeV, whereas it is a factor of ~2 lower above this energy because of a correspondingly lower cosmic star formation rate, even though the observed ultraviolet (UV) luminosity is well reproduced by virtue of our improved treatment of dust obscuration and direct estimation of star formation rate. Moreover, the horizon energy at which the gamma-ray opacity is unity does not evolve strongly beyond z ~ 4 and approaches ~20 GeV. The contribution of Population III stars is a minor fraction of the EBL at z = 0, and is also difficult to distinguish through gamma-ray absorption in high-z objects, even at the highest levels allowed by the WMAP constraints. Nevertheless, the attenuation due to Population II stars should be observable in high-z gamma-ray sources by telescopes such as Fermi or the Cherenkov Telescope Array and provide a valuable probe of the evolving EBL in the rest-frame UV. Our detailed results of our model are publicly available in numerical form at http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~yinoue/Download.html.

New architectures for space power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehsani, M.; Patton, A.D.; Biglic, O.

1992-01-01

Electric power generation and conditioning have experienced revolutionary development over the past two decades. Furthermore, new materials such as high energy magnets and high temperature superconductors are either available or on the horizon. The authors' work is based on the promise that new technologies are an important driver of new power system concepts and architectures. This observation is born out by the historical evolution of power systems both in terrestrial and aerospace applications. This paper will introduce new approaches to designing space power systems by using several new technologies

Detection of gravitational lensing in the cosmic microwave background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Kendrick M.; Zahn, Oliver; Dore, Olivier

2007-01-01

Gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), a long-standing prediction of the standard cosmological model, is ultimately expected to be an important source of cosmological information, but first detection has not been achieved to date. We report a 3.4σ detection, by applying quadratic estimator techniques to all sky maps from the Wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe (WMAP) satellite, and correlating the result with radio galaxy counts from the NRAO VLA sky survey (NVSS). We present our methodology including a detailed discussion of potential contaminants. Our error estimates include systematic uncertainties from density gradients in NVSS, beam effects in WMAP, galactic microwave foregrounds, resolved and unresolved CMB point sources, and the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect

The study of three-dimensional net method of deformation observation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia Jinyun

1996-12-01

Due to the influence of all kinds of factors, when buildings and equipment of nuclear power stations, water power stations and so on are in their service, deformations always happen to them. Especially, the breakage, the slide of edge danger rocks and basic displacement in the area of nuclear power station site can all interfere its regular operation, even endanger safety. But the traditional trigonometric net control can not obtain high precise deformation observation. So, topographic balanced vertical deviations are applied. The slope distance is divided rationally into horizontal and vertical components, then the precise vertical component is used to participate in restricting the deflection in order to enhance the observation post's precision. Meanwhile, the element model is selected, high precise monitoring net of three-dimensional deformation is set up, using astro-geodetic deflection of the vertical to correct the observation values. In this way, the earth error of height is given, the plane coordinate is defined by paralleling some plane of reference ellipsoid. This method may satisfy the deformation observation in the projects such as nuclear power stations or so. (8 figs., 5 tabs.)

Large scale power suppression in a multifield landscape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanco-Pillado, Jose J.; Frazer, Jonathan; Sousa, Kepa; Dias, Mafalda

2015-01-01

Power suppression of the cosmic microwave background on the largest observable scales could provide valuable clues about the particle physics underlying inflation. Here we consider the prospect of power suppression in the context of the multifield landscape. Based on the assumption that our observable universe emerges from a tunnelling event and that the relevant features originate purely from inflationary dynamics, we find that the power spectrum not only contains information on single-field dynamics, but also places strong constraints on all scalar fields present in the theory. We find that the simplest single-field models giving rise to power suppression do not generalise to multifield models in a straightforward way, as the resulting superhorizon evolution of the curvature perturbation tends to erase any power suppression present at horizon crossing. On the other hand, multifield effects do present a means of generating power suppression which to our knowledge has so far not been considered. We propose a mechanism to illustrate this, which we dub flume inflation

Large scale power suppression in a multifield landscape

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blanco-Pillado, Jose J.; Frazer, Jonathan; Sousa, Kepa [Department of Theoretical Physics, Bizkaiako Campusa/Campus de Bizkaia, Posta Kodea 48940, Leioa, Bizkaia (Spain); Dias, Mafalda, E-mail: josejuan.blanco@ehu.es, E-mail: m.dias@sussex.ac.uk, E-mail: j.frazer@ucl.ac.uk, E-mail: kepa.sousa@ehu.es [Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Maths and Physical Sciences, University of Sussex, Pevensey II Building, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH (United Kingdom)

2015-08-01

Power suppression of the cosmic microwave background on the largest observable scales could provide valuable clues about the particle physics underlying inflation. Here we consider the prospect of power suppression in the context of the multifield landscape. Based on the assumption that our observable universe emerges from a tunnelling event and that the relevant features originate purely from inflationary dynamics, we find that the power spectrum not only contains information on single-field dynamics, but also places strong constraints on all scalar fields present in the theory. We find that the simplest single-field models giving rise to power suppression do not generalise to multifield models in a straightforward way, as the resulting superhorizon evolution of the curvature perturbation tends to erase any power suppression present at horizon crossing. On the other hand, multifield effects do present a means of generating power suppression which to our knowledge has so far not been considered. We propose a mechanism to illustrate this, which we dub flume inflation.

Periodical inspection in nuclear power stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

Periodical inspection is presently being made of eight nuclear power plants in nuclear power stations. Up to the present time, in three of them, failures as follows have been observed. (1) Unit 3 (PWR) of the Mihama Power Station in The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. Nineteen heat-transfer tubes of the steam generators were plugged up due to failure. A fuel assembly with a failed spring fixture and in another the control-rod cluster with a failed control rod fixture were replaced. (2) Unit 2 (PWR) of the Oi Power Station in The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. Eight heat-transfer tubes of the heat exchangers were plugged up due to failure. (3) Unit 6 (BWR) of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station I in The Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. A fuel assembly with leakage was replaced. (Mori, K.)

Cosmology favoring extra radiation and sub-eV mass sterile neutrinos as an option.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamann, Jan; Hannestad, Steen; Raffelt, Georg G; Tamborra, Irene; Wong, Yvonne Y Y

2010-10-29

Precision cosmology and big-bang nucleosynthesis mildly favor extra radiation in the Universe beyond photons and ordinary neutrinos, lending support to the existence of low-mass sterile neutrinos. We use the WMAP 7-year data, small-scale cosmic microwave background observations from ACBAR, BICEP, and QuAD, the SDSS 7th data release, and measurement of the Hubble parameter from HST observations to derive credible regions for the assumed common mass scale m{s} and effective number N{s} of thermally excited sterile neutrino states. Our results are compatible with the existence of one or perhaps two sterile neutrinos, as suggested by LSND and MiniBooNE, if m{s} is in the sub-eV range.

Galaxy Formation

CERN Document Server

Longair, Malcolm S

2008-01-01

This second edition of Galaxy Formation is an up-to-date text on astrophysical cosmology, expounding the structure of the classical cosmological models from a contemporary viewpoint. This forms the background to a detailed study of the origin of structure and galaxies in the Universe. The derivations of many of the most important results are derived by simple physical arguments which illuminate the results of more advanced treatments. A very wide range of observational data is brought to bear upon these problems, including the most recent results from WMAP, the Hubble Space Telescope, galaxy surveys like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, studies of Type 1a supernovae, and many other observations.

Inflation with improved D3-brane potential and the fine tunings associated with the model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, Amna; Sami, M.; Deshamukhya, Atri; Panda, Sudhakar

2011-01-01

We revisit our earlier investigations of the brane-antibrane inflation in a warped deformed conifold background, reported in Phys. Lett. B 674, 131 (2009), where now we include the contributions to the inflation potential arising from imaginary anti-self-dual (IASD) fluxes including the term with irrational scaling dimension discovered recently in arXiv:0912.4268 and arXiv:1001.5028. We observe that these corrections to the effective potential help in relaxing the severe fine tunings associated with the earlier analysis. Required number of e-folds, observational constraint on COBE normalization and low value of the tensor to scalar ratio are achieved which is consistent with WMAP seven years data. (orig.)

Large Scale Integration of Renewable Power Sources into the Vietnamese Power System

Science.gov (United States)

Kies, Alexander; Schyska, Bruno; Thanh Viet, Dinh; von Bremen, Lueder; Heinemann, Detlev; Schramm, Stefan

2017-04-01

The Vietnamese Power system is expected to expand considerably in upcoming decades. Power capacities installed are projected to grow from 39 GW in 2015 to 129.5 GW by 2030. Installed wind power capacities are expected to grow to 6 GW (0.8 GW 2015) and solar power capacities to 12 GW (0.85 GW 2015). This goes hand in hand with an increase of the renewable penetration in the power mix from 1.3% from wind and photovoltaics (PV) in 2015 to 5.4% by 2030. The overall potential for wind power in Vietnam is estimated to be around 24 GW. Moreover, the up-scaling of renewable energy sources was formulated as one of the priorized targets of the Vietnamese government in the National Power Development Plan VII. In this work, we investigate the transition of the Vietnamese power system towards high shares of renewables. For this purpose, we jointly optimise the expansion of renewable generation facilities for wind and PV, and the transmission grid within renewable build-up pathways until 2030 and beyond. To simulate the Vietnamese power system and its generation from renewable sources, we use highly spatially and temporally resolved historical weather and load data and the open source modelling toolbox Python for Power System Analysis (PyPSA). We show that the highest potential of renewable generation for wind and PV is observed in southern Vietnam and discuss the resulting need for transmission grid extensions in dependency of the optimal pathway. Furthermore, we show that the smoothing effect of wind power has several considerable beneficial effects and that the Vietnamese hydro power potential can be efficiently used to provide balancing opportunities. This work is part of the R&D Project "Analysis of the Large Scale Integration of Renewable Power into the Future Vietnamese Power System" (GIZ, 2016-2018).

Simple emergent power spectra from complex inflationary physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dias, Mafalda; Frazer, Jonathan; Marsh, M.C. David

2016-04-01

We construct ensembles of random scalar potentials for N f interacting scalar fields using non-equilibrium random matrix theory, and use these to study the generation of observables during small-field inflation. For N f =O(few), these heavily featured scalar potentials give rise to power spectra that are highly non-linear, at odds with observations. For N f >>1, the superhorizon evolution of the perturbations is generically substantial, yet the power spectra simplify considerably and become more predictive, with most realisations being well approximated by a linear power spectrum. This provides proof of principle that complex inflationary physics can give rise to simple emergent power spectra. We explain how these results can be understood in terms of large N f universality of random matrix theory.

Stable indications of relic gravitational waves in Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data and forecasts for the Planck mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, W.; Baskaran, D.; Grishchuk, L. P.

2009-01-01

The relic gravitational waves are the cleanest probe of the violent times in the very early history of the Universe. They are expected to leave signatures in the observed cosmic microwave background anisotropies. We significantly improved our previous analysis [W. Zhao, D. Baskaran, and L. P. Grishchuk, Phys. Rev. D 79, 023002 (2009)] of the 5-year WMAP TT and TE data at lower multipoles l. This more general analysis returned essentially the same maximum likelihood result (unfortunately, surrounded by large remaining uncertainties): The relic gravitational waves are present and they are responsible for approximately 20% of the temperature quadrupole. We identify and discuss the reasons by which the contribution of gravitational waves can be overlooked in a data analysis. One of the reasons is a misleading reliance on data from very high multipoles l and another a too narrow understanding of the problem as the search for B modes of polarization, rather than the detection of relic gravitational waves with the help of all correlation functions. Our analysis of WMAP5 data has led to the identification of a whole family of models characterized by relatively high values of the likelihood function. Using the Fisher matrix formalism we formulated forecasts for Planck mission in the context of this family of models. We explore in detail various 'optimistic', 'pessimistic', and 'dream case' scenarios. We show that in some circumstances the B-mode detection may be very inconclusive, at the level of signal-to-noise ratio S/N=1.75, whereas a smarter data analysis can reveal the same gravitational wave signal at S/N=6.48. The final result is encouraging. Even under unfavorable conditions in terms of instrumental noises and foregrounds, the relic gravitational waves, if they are characterized by the maximum likelihood parameters that we found from WMAP5 data, will be detected by Planck at the level S/N=3.65.

Affecting microclimate in surroundings of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skulec, S.; Janiskova, M.

1990-01-01

The influence of nuclear power plants on regional climate was observed and studied. Cooling towers emit waste heat and humidity and the resulting primary effects consist of local changes in air temperature and humidity. Secondary effects could be changes in all meteorologic parameters depending on the primary changes. A series of mathematical models was created to evaluate long-term climate changes depending on the power range, type of cooling, regional climate, etc. The first generation of the models, finished in 1986, was based on conservative estimates of the effects observed. The second generation was developed between 1986 and 1988 and should provide more realistic values. Simulated results were compared with the observed data. Although the verification of the models has not yet been finished, the agreement between the simulated results and the observed values seems to be good. The results show that the influence of nuclear power plants on the climate is almost not observable and cannot be registered by usual measuring methods. (J.J.). 4 figs., 2 tabs., 6 refs

Government observations on the fourth report from the Committee (Session 1989-90) on the cost of nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

This report consists of the government's response to the Energy Committee's conclusions about the cost of nuclear power generation in the United Kingdom and the practicalities involved in the possible privatisation of the nuclear power industry. The report was published on 5th December 1990. The report covers the process of privatisation criticisms of Kleinwort Benson, arrangements accounting for and calculating costs of nuclear power and the risks associated with nuclear generating capacity, the Fossil Fuel Levy, some issues particular to Scotland and Sizewell B power station. (author)

Problems of power plant capital demands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slechta, V.; Bohal, L.

1986-01-01

The problems are discussed of requirements for investment for power plants in Czechoslovakia. Since the construction was finished of coal-burning 110 MW power plants with six power units, specific capital cost has steadily been growing. The growth amounts to 6 to 8% per year while the principle has been observed that specific capital cost decreases with increased unit power. Attention is paid to the cost of the subcontractors of the building and technological parts of a power plant and to the development of productivity of labour. A comparison is tabulated of cost for coal-burning power plants with 100 MW and 200 MW units and for nuclear power plants with WWER-440 reactors. Steps are suggested leading to a reduction of the capital cost of nuclear power plants. It is stated that should not these steps be taken, the envisaged development of nuclear power would be unbearable for the Czechoslovak national economy. (Z.M.). 8 tabs., 3 refs

Financing nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheriffah Noor Khamseah Al-Idid Syed Ahmad Idid

2009-01-01

Global energy security and climate change concerns sparked by escalating oil prices, high population growth and the rapid pace of industrialization are fueling the current interest and investments in nuclear power. Globally, a significant number policy makers and energy industry leaders have identified nuclear power as a favorable alternative energy option, and are presently evaluating either a new or an expanded role for nuclear power. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that as of October 2008, 14 countries have plans to construct 38 new nuclear reactors and about 100 more nuclear power plants have been written into the development plans of governments for the next three decades. Hence as new build is expected to escalate, issues of financing will become increasingly significant. Energy supply, including nuclear power, considered as a premium by government from the socio-economic and strategic perspective has traditionally been a sector financed and owned by the government. In the case for nuclear power, the conventional methods of financing include financing by the government or energy entity (utility or oil company) providing part of the funds from its own resources with support from the government. As national financing is, as in many cases, insufficient to fully finance the nuclear power plants, additional financing is sourced from international sources of financing including, amongst others, Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) and Multilateral Development Institutions. However, arising from the changing dynamics of economics, financing and business model as well as increasing concerns regarding environmental degradation , transformations in methods of financing this energy sector has been observed. This paper aims to briefly present on financing aspects of nuclear power as well as offer some examples of the changing dynamics of financing nuclear power which is reflected by the evolution of ownership and management of nuclear power plants

A Fast Radio Burst Search Method for VLBI Observation

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lei; Tong, Fengxian; Zheng, Weimin; Zhang, Juan; Tong, Li

2018-02-01

We introduce the cross-spectrum-based fast radio burst (FRB) search method for Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) observation. This method optimizes the fringe fitting scheme in geodetic VLBI data post-processing, which fully utilizes the cross-spectrum fringe phase information and therefore maximizes the power of single-pulse signals. Working with cross-spectrum greatly reduces the effect of radio frequency interference compared with using auto-power spectrum. Single-pulse detection confidence increases by cross-identifying detections from multiple baselines. By combining the power of multiple baselines, we may improve the detection sensitivity. Our method is similar to that of coherent beam forming, but without the computational expense to form a great number of beams to cover the whole field of view of our telescopes. The data processing pipeline designed for this method is easy to implement and parallelize, which can be deployed in various kinds of VLBI observations. In particular, we point out that VGOS observations are very suitable for FRB search.

Power oscillations in BWR reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Espinosa P, G.

2002-01-01

One of the main problems in the operation of BWR type reactors is the instability in power that these could present. One type of oscillations and that is the objective of this work is the named density wave, which is attributed to the thermohydraulic processes that take place in the reactor core. From the beginnings of the development of BWR reactors, the stability of these has been an important aspect in their design, due to its possible consequences on the fuel integrity. The reactor core operates in two phase flow conditions and it is observed that under certain power and flow conditions, power instabilities appear. Studying this type of phenomena is complex, due to that a reactor core is constituted approximately by 27,000 fuel bars with different distributions of power and flow. The phenomena that cause the instability in BWR reactors continue being matter of scientific study. In the literature mainly in nuclear subject, it can be observed that exist different methods and approximations for studying this type of phenomena, nevertheless, their results are focused to establish safety limits in the reactor operation, instead of studying in depth of the knowledge about. Also in this line sense of the reactor data analysis, the oscillations characteristic frequencies are obtained for trying to establish if the power is growing or decreasing. In addition to that before mentioned in this paper it is presented a rigorous study applying the volumetric average method, for obtaining the vacuum waves propagation velocities and its possible connection with the power oscillations. (Author)

Evaluation of Control and Protection System for Loss of Electrical Power Supply System of Water-Cooling Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suhaemi, Tjipta; Djen Djen; Setyono; Jambiar, Riswan; Rozali, Bang; Setyo P, Dwi; Tjahyono, Hendro

2000-01-01

Evaluation of control and protection system for loss of electrical power supply system of water-cooled nuclear power plant has been done. The loss of electrical power supply. The accident covered the loss of external electrical load and loss of ac power to the station auxiliaries. It is analysed by studying and observing the mechanism of electrical power system and mechanism of related control and protection system. The are two condition used in the evaluation i e without turbine trip and with turbine trip. From the evaluation it is concluded that the control and protection system can handled the failure caused by the loss of electrical power system

Revising the predictions of inflation for the cosmic microwave background anisotropies.

Science.gov (United States)

Agulló, Iván; Navarro-Salas, José; Olmo, Gonzalo J; Parker, Leonard

2009-08-07

We point out that, if quantum field renormalization is taken into account and the counterterms are evaluated at the Hubble-radius crossing time or few e-foldings after it, the predictions of slow-roll inflation for both the scalar and the tensorial power spectrum change significantly. This leads to a change in the consistency condition that relates the tensor-to-scalar amplitude ratio with spectral indices. A reexamination of the potentials varphi;{2} and varphi;{4} shows that both are compatible with five-year WMAP data. Only when the counterterms are evaluated at much larger times beyond the end of inflation does one recover the standard predictions. The alternative predictions presented here may soon come within the range of measurement of near-future experiments.

A Neural-Network-Based Nonlinear Adaptive State-Observer for Pressurized Water Reactors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhe Dong

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Although there have been some severe nuclear accidents such as Three Mile Island (USA, Chernobyl (Ukraine and Fukushima (Japan, nuclear fission energy is still a source of clean energy that can substitute for fossil fuels in a centralized way and in a great amount with commercial availability and economic competitiveness. Since the pressurized water reactor (PWR is the most widely used nuclear fission reactor, its safe, stable and efficient operation is meaningful to the current rebirth of the nuclear fission energy industry. Power-level regulation is an important technique which can deeply affect the operation stability and efficiency of PWRs. Compared with the classical power-level controllers, the advanced power-level regulators could strengthen both the closed-loop stability and control performance by feeding back the internal state-variables. However, not all of the internal state variables of a PWR can be obtained directly by measurements. To implement advanced PWR power-level control law, it is necessary to develop a state-observer to reconstruct the unmeasurable state-variables. Since a PWR is naturally a complex nonlinear system with parameters varying with power-level, fuel burnup, xenon isotope production, control rod worth and etc., it is meaningful to design a nonlinear observer for the PWR with adaptability to system uncertainties. Due to this and the strong learning capability of the multi-layer perceptron (MLP neural network, an MLP-based nonlinear adaptive observer is given for PWRs. Based upon Lyapunov stability theory, it is proved theoretically that this newly-built observer can provide bounded and convergent state-observation. This observer is then applied to the state-observation of a special PWR, i.e., the nuclear heating reactor (NHR, and numerical simulation results not only verify its feasibility but also give the relationship between the observation performance and observer parameters.

Tunable All Reflective Spatial Heterodyne Spectroscopy, A Technique For High Resolving Power Observation OI Defused Emission Line Sources

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini, Seyedeh Sona

The solar system presents a challenge to spectroscopic observers, because it is an astrophysically low energy environment populated with often angularly extended targets (e.g, interplanetary medium, comets, planetary upper atmospheres, and planet and satellite near space environments). Spectroscopy is a proven tool for determining compositional and other properties of remote objects. Narrow band imaging and low resolving spectroscopic measurements provide information about composition, photochemical evolution, energy distribution and density. The extension to high resolving power provides further access to temperature, velocity, isotopic ratios, separation of blended sources, and opacity effects. The drawback of high-resolution spectroscopy comes from the instrumental limitations of lower throughput, the necessity of small entrance apertures, sensitivity, field of view, and large physical instrumental size. These limitations quickly become definitive for faint and/or extended targets and for spacecraft encounters. An emerging technique with promise for the study of faint, extended sources at high resolving power is the all-reflective form of the Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer (SHS). SHS instruments are compact and naturally possess both high etendue and high resolving power. To achieve similar spectral grasp, grating spectrometers require big telescopes. SHS is a common-path beam Fourier transform interferometer that produces Fizeau fringe pattern for all other wavelengths except the tuned wavelength. Compared to similar Fourier transform Spectrometers (FTS), SHS has considerably relaxed optical tolerances that make it easier to use in the visible and UV spectral ranges. The large etendue of SHS instruments makes them ideal for observations of extended, low surface brightness, isolated emission line sources, while their intrinsically high spectral resolution enables the study of the dynamical and spectral characteristics described above. SHS also combines very

Power in Transition: Empowering Discourses on Sustainability Transitions

OpenAIRE

Avelino, Flor

2011-01-01

textabstractThis is a book about power and transformative change. It explores how groups of people who are trying to transform the mobility system are affected by notions of change and power, and how they deal with the dilemmas of power. Academic literature on power and transitions offers concepts to grasp phenomena in practice. And visa versa, observing these practices allows us to gain new understanding of power in relation to transformative change. More specifically, this book is about pow...

Dual Mode Low Power Hall Thruster, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Sample and return missions desire and missions like Saturn Observer require a low power Hall thruster that can operate at high thrust to power as well as high...

Wind power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gipe, P.

2007-01-01

This book is a translation of the edition published in the USA under the title of ''wind power: renewable energy for home, farm and business''. In the wake of mass blackouts and energy crises, wind power remains a largely untapped resource of renewable energy. It is a booming worldwide industry whose technology, under the collective wing of aficionados like author Paul Gipe, is coming of age. Wind Power guides us through the emergent, sometimes daunting discourse on wind technology, giving frank explanations of how to use wind technology wisely and sound advice on how to avoid common mistakes. Since the mid-1970's, Paul Gipe has played a part in nearly every aspect of wind energy development from installing small turbines to promoting wind energy worldwide. As an American proponent of renewable energy, Gipe has earned the acclaim and respect of European energy specialists for years, but his arguments have often fallen on deaf ears at home. Today, the topic of wind power is cropping up everywhere from the beaches of Cape Cod to the Oregon-Washington border, and one wind turbine is capable of producing enough electricity per year to run 200 average American households. Now, Paul Gipe is back to shed light on this increasingly important energy source with a revised edition of Wind Power. Over the course of his career, Paul Gipe has been a proponent, participant, observer, and critic of the wind industry. His experience with wind has given rise to two previous books on the subject, Wind Energy Basics and Wind Power for Home and Business, which have sold over 50,000 copies. Wind Power for Home and Business has become a staple for both homeowners and professionals interested in the subject, and now, with energy prices soaring, interest in wind power is hitting an all-time high. With chapters on output and economics, Wind Power discloses how much you can expect from each method of wind technology, both in terms of energy and financial savings. The book updated models

Power oscillation of the Mod-0 wind turbine

Science.gov (United States)

Seidel, R. C.

1978-01-01

The Mod-0 power has noise components with varying frequency patterns. Magnitudes reach more than forty percent power at the frequency of twice per rotor revolution. Analysis of a simple torsional model of the power train predicts less than half the observed magnitude and does not explain the shifting frequencies of the noise patterns.

Efficient evaluation of angular power spectra and bispectra

Science.gov (United States)

Assassi, Valentin; Simonović, Marko; Zaldarriaga, Matias

2017-11-01

Angular statistics of cosmological observables are hard to compute. The main difficulty is due to the presence of highly-oscillatory Bessel functions which need to be integrated over. In this paper, we provide a simple and fast method to compute the angular power spectrum and bispectrum of any observable. The method is based on using an FFTlog algorithm to decompose the momentum-space statistics onto a basis of power-law functions. For each power law, the integrals over Bessel functions have a simple analytical solution. This allows us to efficiently evaluate these integrals, independently of the value of the multipole l. In particular, this method significantly speeds up the evaluation of the angular bispectrum compared to existing methods. To illustrate our algorithm, we compute the galaxy, lensing and CMB temperature angular power spectrum and bispectrum.

Simple emergent power spectra from complex inflationary physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dias, Mafalda; Frazer, Jonathan [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany); Marsh, M.C. David [Cambridge Univ. (United Kingdom). Dept. of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP)

2016-04-15

We construct ensembles of random scalar potentials for N{sub f} interacting scalar fields using non-equilibrium random matrix theory, and use these to study the generation of observables during small-field inflation. For N{sub f}=O(few), these heavily featured scalar potentials give rise to power spectra that are highly non-linear, at odds with observations. For N{sub f}>>1, the superhorizon evolution of the perturbations is generically substantial, yet the power spectra simplify considerably and become more predictive, with most realisations being well approximated by a linear power spectrum. This provides proof of principle that complex inflationary physics can give rise to simple emergent power spectra. We explain how these results can be understood in terms of large N{sub f} universality of random matrix theory.

Observational constraints on loop quantum cosmology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bojowald, Martin; Calcagni, Gianluca; Tsujikawa, Shinji

2011-11-18

In the inflationary scenario of loop quantum cosmology in the presence of inverse-volume corrections, we give analytic formulas for the power spectra of scalar and tensor perturbations convenient to compare with observations. Since inverse-volume corrections can provide strong contributions to the running spectral indices, inclusion of terms higher than the second-order runnings in the power spectra is crucially important. Using the recent data of cosmic microwave background and other cosmological experiments, we place bounds on the quantum corrections.

The soft notion of China's 'soft power'

OpenAIRE

Breslin, Shaun

2011-01-01

· Although debates over Chinese soft power have increased in\\ud recent years, there is no shared definition of what ‘soft power’\\ud actually means. The definition seems to change depending on\\ud what the observer wants to argue.\\ud · External analyses of soft power often include a focus on\\ud economic relations and other material (hard) sources of power\\ud and influence.\\ud · Many Chinese analyses of soft power focus on the promotion of a\\ud preferred (positive) understanding of China’s inter...

A General Probabilistic Forecasting Framework for Offshore Wind Power Fluctuations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trombe, Pierre-Julien; Pinson, Pierre; Madsen, Henrik

2012-01-01

Accurate wind power forecasts highly contribute to the integration of wind power into power systems. The focus of the present study is on large-scale offshore wind farms and the complexity of generating accurate probabilistic forecasts of wind power fluctuations at time-scales of a few minutes...... fluctuations are characterized by highly volatile dynamics which are difficult to capture and predict. Due to the lack of adequate on-site meteorological observations to relate these dynamics to meteorological phenomena, we propose a general model formulation based on a statistical approach and historical wind...... power measurements only. We introduce an advanced Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation method to account for the different features observed in an empirical time series of wind power: autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity and regime-switching. The model we propose is an extension of Markov...

Power and fairness in a generalized ultimatum game.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia

Full Text Available Power is the ability to influence others towards the attainment of specific goals, and it is a fundamental force that shapes behavior at all levels of human existence. Several theories on the nature of power in social life exist, especially in the context of social influence. Yet, in bargaining situations, surprisingly little is known about its role in shaping social preferences. Such preferences are considered to be the main explanation for observed behavior in a wide range of experimental settings. In this work, we set out to understand the role of bargaining power in the stylized environment of a Generalized Ultimatum Game (GUG. We modify the payoff structure of the standard Ultimatum Game (UG to investigate three situations: two in which the power balance is either against the proposer or against the responder, and a balanced situation. We find that other-regarding preferences, as measured by the amount of money donated by participants, do not change with the amount of power, but power changes the offers and acceptance rates systematically. Notably, unusually high acceptance rates for lower offers were observed. This finding suggests that social preferences may be invariant to the balance of power and confirms that the role of power on human behavior deserves more attention.

Pion observables and QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, C.D.

1995-01-01

Herein the application of the DSE approach to the calculation of pion observables is described using: the π-π scattering lengths (a 0 0 , a 2 0 , a 1 1 , a 0 2 , a 2 2 ) and associated partial wave amplitudes; the π 0 → γγ decay width; and the charged pion form factor, F π (q 2 ), as illustrative examples. Since this approach provides a straightforward, microscopic description of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking (DχSB) and confinement, the calculation of pion observables is a simple and elegant illustrative example of its power and efficacy. (orig.)

Analytical criteria for fuel failure modes observed in reactivity initiated accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luxat, J.C.

2005-01-01

The behaviour of nuclear fuel subjected to a short duration power pulse is of relevance to LWR and CANDU reactor safety. A Reactivity Initiated Accident (RIA) in an LWR would subject fuel to a short duration power pulse of large amplitude, whereas in CANDU a large break Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) would subject fuel to a longer duration, lower amplitude power excursion. The energy generated in the fuel during the power pulse is a key parameter governing the fuel response. This paper reviews the various power pulse tests that have been conducted in research reactors over the past three decades and summarizes the fuel failure modes that that have been observed in these tests. A simple analytical model is developed to characterize fuel behaviour under power pulse conditions and the model is applied to assess the experimental data from the power pulse tests. It is shown that the simple model provides a good basis for establishing criteria that demarcate the observed fuel failure modes for the various fuel designs that have been used in these tests. (author)

Five-minute oscillation power within magnetic elements in the solar atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jain, Rekha; Gascoyne, Andrew; Hindman, Bradley W.; Greer, Benjamin

2014-01-01

It has long been known that magnetic plage and sunspots are regions in which the power of acoustic waves is reduced within the photospheric layers. Recent observations now suggest that this suppression of power extends into the low chromosphere and is also present in small magnetic elements far from active regions. In this paper we investigate the observed power suppression in plage and magnetic elements, by modeling each as a collection of vertically aligned magnetic fibrils and presuming that the velocity within each fibril is the response to buffeting by incident p modes in the surrounding field-free atmosphere. We restrict our attention to modeling observations made near the solar disk center, where the line-of-sight velocity is nearly vertical and hence, only the longitudinal component of the motion within the fibril contributes. Therefore, we only consider the excitation of axisymmetric sausage waves and ignore kink oscillations as their motions are primarily horizontal. We compare the vertical motion within the fibril with the vertical motion of the incident p mode by constructing the ratio of their powers. In agreement with observational measurements we find that the total power is suppressed within strong magnetic elements for frequencies below the acoustic cut-off frequency. However, further physical effects need to be examined for understanding the observed power ratios for stronger magnetic field strengths and higher frequencies. We also find that the magnitude of the power deficit increases with the height above the photosphere at which the measurement is made. Furthermore, we argue that the area of the solar disk over which the power suppression extends increases as a function of height.

Effects of high power ion Bernstein waves on a tokamak plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, M.; Beiersdorfer, P.; Bell, R.

1987-04-01

Ion Bernstein wave heating (IBWH) has been investigated on PLT with up to 650 kW of rf power coupled to the plasma, exceeding the ohmic power of 550 kW. Plasma antenna loading of 2 Ω has been observed, resulting in 80 to 90% of the rf power being coupled to the plasma. An ion heating efficiency of ΔT/sub i/(0)n/sub e//P/sub rf/ = 6 x 10 13 eV cm -3 /kW, without high energy tail ions, has been observed up to the maximum rf power. The deuterium particle confinement during high power IBWH increases significantly (as much as 300%). Associated with it, a longer injected impurity confinement time, reduced drift wave turbulence activity, frequency shifts of drfit wave turbulence, and development of a large negative edge potential were observed. The energy confinement time, however, shows some degradation from the ohmic value, which can be attributed to the enhanced radiation loss observed during IBWH. The ion heating and energy confinement time are relatively independent of plasma current

VLT-MAD Observations of Trumpler 14

Science.gov (United States)

Rochau, B.; Brandner, W.; Stolte, A.; Henning, T.; da Rio, N.; Gennaro, M.; Hormuth, F.; Marchetti, E.; Amico, P.

We present H and KS observations of the young massive cluster Trumpler 14 obtained with the MCAO system VLT-MAD which provides homogeneous Strehl ratios over a large field of view. We derived maximum Strehl ratios of 9.8% and 12.6% with mean Strehl ratios of 6.0% and 5.9% with in H and K_S, respectively, revealing significant improvement of the spatial PSF stability compared to SCAO systems. We detected 2-3 times more sources than comparable seeing-limited observations, and comparison of the colour-magnitude diagram with isochrones reveals a very young cluster that originated in a starburst-like event 1 ± 0.5 Myr ago. We also tentatively detect hints for an older population of 3 Myr. The mass function between 0.25 Msun and 3.2 Msun appears as a broken power law with a change of the power law slope at m_c ˜ 0.53+0.12-0.10 Msun. Shallow power law slopes are found to be Gamma_{PD,PMS1} = ˜ 0.48 ± 0.11 above m_c and Gamma_{PD,PMS2} = 0.68 ± 0.30 below m_c.

ONE THOUSAND AND ONE CLUSTERS: MEASURING THE BULK FLOW WITH THE PLANCK ESZ AND X-RAY-SELECTED GALAXY CLUSTER CATALOGS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mody, Krishnan [Mathematics Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Hajian, Amir, E-mail: kmody@princeton.edu, E-mail: ahajian@cita.utoronto.ca [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada)

2012-10-10

We present our measurement of the 'bulk flow' using the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) seven-year data. As the tracer of peculiar velocities, we use Planck Early Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Detected Cluster Catalog and a compilation of X-ray-detected galaxy cluster catalogs based on ROSAT All-Sky Survey. We build a full-sky kSZ template and fit it to the WMAP data in W band. Using a Wiener filter we maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the kSZ cluster signal in the data. We find no significant detection of the bulk flow, and our results are consistent with the {Lambda}CDM prediction.

Supergravity modification of D-term hybrid inflation: Solving the cosmic string and spectral index problems via a right-handed sneutrino

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Chiamin; McDonald, John

2006-01-01

Supergravity corrections due to the energy density of a right-handed sneutrino can generate a negative mass squared for the inflaton, flattening the inflaton potential and reducing the spectral index and inflaton energy density. For the case of D-term hybrid inflation, we show that the spectral index can be lowered from the conventional value n=0.98 to a value within the range favored by the latest WMAP analysis, n=0.951 -0.019 +0.015 . The modified energy density is consistent with nonobservation of cosmic strings in the CMB if n<0.946. The WMAP lower bound on the spectral index implies that the D-term cosmic string contribution may be very close present CMB limits, contributing at least 5% to the CMB multipoles

Thermal gravitational waves in accelerating universe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B Ghayour

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Gravitational waves are considered in thermal vacuum state. The amplitude and spectral energy density of gravitational waves are found enhanced in thermal vacuum state compared to its zero temperature counterpart. Therefore, the allowed amount of enhancement depends on the upper bound of WMAP-5 and WMAP-7 for the amplitude and spectral energy density of gravitational waves. The enhancement of amplitude and spectral energy density of the waves in thermal vacuum state is consistent with current accelerating phase of the universe. The enhancement feature of amplitude and spectral energy density of the waves is independent of the expansion model of the universe and hence the thermal effect accounts for it. Therefore, existence of thermal gravitational waves is not ruled out

Thin-film technology development for the PowerSphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simburger, Edward J.; Matsumoto, James H.; Giants, Thomas W.; Garcia, Alexander; Liu, Simon; Rawal, Suraj P.; Perry, Alan R.; Marshall, Craig H.; Lin, John K.; Scarborough, Stephen E.; Curtis, Henry B.; Kerslake, Thomas W.; Peterson, Todd T.

2005-01-01

The PowerSphere concept consists of a relatively large spherical solar array, which would be deployed from a microsatellite. The PowerSphere will enable microsatellite missions across NASA enterprises and DoD missions by providing ample electric power at an affordable cost. The PowerSphere design provides attitude-independent electric power and thermal control for an enclosed microsatellite payload. The specific power design is scalable, robust in high radiation environments and provides sufficient electric power to allow the use of electric propulsion. Electric propulsion enables precise positioning of microsatellites, which is required for inspectors that would be deployed to observe the International Space Station, Space Shuttle or large unmanned spacecraft

First experimental observation of cyclotron superradiance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ginzburg, N S; Zotova, I V; Sergeev, A S; Konoplev, I V [Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod (Russian Federation). Inst. of Applied Physics; Shpak, V G; Yalandin, M I; Shunajlov, C A; Ulmaskulov, M P [Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg (Russian Federation). Inst. of Electrophysics

1997-12-31

The first experimental observation of cyclotron superradiance from subnanosecond high-current electron bunches moving through waveguide systems is reported. Ultrashort microwave K{sub {alpha}} band pulses with a power of 200 kW and duration less than 0.5 ns were observed in the regime of group synchronism when the electron bunch drift velocity coincided with the group velocity of the electromagnetic waves. (author). 2 figs., 13 refs.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Beam Measurements and the Microwave Brightness Temperatures of Uranus and Saturn

Science.gov (United States)

Hasselfield, Matthew; Moodley, Kavilan; Bond, J. Richard; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dunkley, Joanna; Dunner, Rolando; Fowler, Joseph W.; Gallardo, Patricio; Gralla, Megan B.;

A study of the optimum draft of multiple resonance power buoys for maximizing electric power production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyuck-Min Kweon

2014-12-01

Full Text Available To maximize electric power production using wave energy extractions from resonance power buoys, the maximum motion displacement spectra of the buoys can primarily be obtained under a given wave condition. In this study, wave spectra observed in shoaling water were formulated. Target resonance frequencies were established from the arithmetic means of modal frequency bands and the peak frequencies. The motion characteristics of the circular cylindrical power buoys with corresponding drafts were then calculated using numerical models without considering PTO damping force. Results showed that the heave motions of the power buoys in shoaling waters with insufficient drafts produced greater amplification effects than those in deep seas with sufficient drafts.

Running of featureful primordial power spectra

Science.gov (United States)

Gariazzo, Stefano; Mena, Olga; Miralles, Victor; Ramírez, Héctor; Boubekeur, Lotfi

2017-06-01

Current measurements of the temperature and polarization anisotropy power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) seem to indicate that the naive expectation for the slow-roll hierarchy within the most simple inflationary paradigm may not be respected in nature. We show that a primordial power spectrum with localized features could in principle give rise to the observed slow-roll anarchy when fitted to a featureless power spectrum. From a model comparison perspective, and assuming that nature has chosen a featureless primordial power spectrum, we find that, while with mock Planck data there is only weak evidence against a model with localized features, upcoming CMB missions may provide compelling evidence against such a nonstandard primordial power spectrum. This evidence could be reinforced if a featureless primordial power spectrum is independently confirmed from bispectrum and/or galaxy clustering measurements.

Thermoelectric power of PrMg3

Science.gov (United States)

Isikawa, Yosikazu; Somiya, Kazuya; Koyanagi, Huruto; Mizushima, Toshio; Kuwai, Tomohiko; Tayama, Takashi

2010-01-01

PrMg3 is supposed to be one of the strongly correlated electron systems originated from the hybridization between the Pr 4f and conduction electrons, because the gigantic electronic specific heat coefficient C/T was observed at low temperatures. However, a typical behaviour of - ln T dependence was not observed in the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity. The thermoelectric power S is a powerful tool to investigate the density of states at the Fermi energy. We measured carefully the thermoelectric power of PrMg3 in the temperature range between 2 and 300 K. S is extremely small, ranged within ±1 μV/K over the whole temperature. The value of S/T at low temperature limit was also significantly smaller than expected from the specific heat results. We therefore conclude that the density of state at the Fermi level is not enhanced in PrMg3.

Thermoelectric power of PrMg3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isikawa, Yosikazu; Somiya, Kazuya; Koyanagi, Huruto; Mizushima, Toshio; Kuwai, Tomohiko; Tayama, Takashi

2010-01-01

PrMg 3 is supposed to be one of the strongly correlated electron systems originated from the hybridization between the Pr 4f and conduction electrons, because the gigantic electronic specific heat coefficient C/T was observed at low temperatures. However, a typical behaviour of - ln T dependence was not observed in the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity. The thermoelectric power S is a powerful tool to investigate the density of states at the Fermi energy. We measured carefully the thermoelectric power of PrMg 3 in the temperature range between 2 and 300 K. S is extremely small, ranged within ±1 μV/K over the whole temperature. The value of S/T at low temperature limit was also significantly smaller than expected from the specific heat results. We therefore conclude that the density of state at the Fermi level is not enhanced in PrMg 3 .

Observation of solar flare by Hinotori SXT/HXM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohki, Ken-ichiro; Takakura, Tatsuo; Tsuneta, Sukehisa; Nitta, Nariaki; Makishima, Kazuo.

1982-01-01

Solar flares were observed by SXT (hard X-ray two-dimensional observation system) and HXM (hard X-ray spectrometer) on Hinotori. The results of two-dimensional analysis of 20 flares are reported in this paper. Various images of hard X-ray were observed. Hard X-ray bursts with relatively long duration may be generated in corona. The hard X-ray flare generated on the solar disc gives information on the relative position to the H flare. The examples of this hard X-ray images are presented. The HXM can observe the hard X-ray spectra up to 350 keV. The flares with duration less than 5 min have the spectra coninciding with the thermal radiation from a single temperature before the peak, and power law type non-thermal radiation spectra after the peak. The hard X-ray flares with duration longer than 10 min have power law type spectra. (Kato, T.)

Early NICER Observations of Magnetars and Young Pulsars

Science.gov (United States)

Nynka, Melania

2018-01-01

Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) is an X-ray telescope attached to the International Space Station (ISS). Launched in June 2017, it is designed to precisely measure the masses and radii of neutron stars (NS) and probe NS equations of state. But its precision timing capabilities and large effective area uniquely position NICER for the study of magnetars. The NICER Magnetar & Magnetosphere (M&M) science working group focuses on studying highly-magnetized neutron stars, a diverse program that includes magnetars, high-B pulsars, rotation powered pulsars, and isolated neutron stars. Our ongoing campaign has already observed targets such as 4U 0142+61, a magnetar in outburst with coincident NuSTAR and Swift observations, the radio rotation powered Vela pulsar PSR B0833-45, and a transient magnetar XTE J1810-197. I will discuss the goals of the M&M program, spectral and temporal results from the observed targets, and an overview of upcoming observations.

Magnetospheric structure of rotation powered pulsars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arons, J. (California Univ., Berkeley, CA (USA) California Univ., Livermore, CA (USA). Inst. of Geophysics and Planetary Physics)

1991-01-07

I survey recent theoretical work on the structure of the magnetospheres of rotation powered pulsars, within the observational constraints set by their observed spindown, their ability to power synchrotron nebulae and their ability to produce beamed collective radio emission, while putting only a small fraction of their energy into incoherent X- and gamma radiation. I find no single theory has yet given a consistent description of the magnetosphere, but I conclude that models based on a dense outflow of pairs from the polar caps, permeated by a lower density flow of heavy ions, are the most promising avenue for future research. 106 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.

Operational water management applications of snowcovered area observations

Science.gov (United States)

Rango, A.; Salomonson, V. V.; Foster, J. L.

1975-01-01

An effort was made to evaluate the utility of satellite snowcover observations for seasonal streamflow prediction. On a representative, large watershed(10 to the 5th power to 10 to the sixth power sq km) it was found, based on six years of data, that meteorological satellite observations of snow cover early in the snowmelt season exhibit a relationship to seasonal runoff having a statistically significant coefficient of determination of 0.92. Analyses of LANDSAT-1 snow-cover observations over the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming reveals that for areas with infrequent cloud cover the extent of snowcover and its change with time can be monitored on watersheds as small as 10 sq km in areal extent. The change in the snow cover with time as observed from LANDSAT-1 is found to reflect major differences in seasonal runoff from high altitude (mean altitude 3 km) and low altitude ( 3 km) watersheds. There are quantitative indications that LANDSAT observations over small watersheds could be used in a manner similar to that employed for meteorological satellite observations to relate the percent of a basin snowcovered on a given data to seasonal runoff.

Cosmic microwave background power asymmetry from non-Gaussian modulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Fabian; Hui, Lam

2013-01-04

Non-Gaussianity in the inflationary perturbations can couple observable scales to modes of much longer wavelength (even superhorizon), leaving as a signature a large-angle modulation of the observed cosmic microwave background power spectrum. This provides an alternative origin for a power asymmetry that is otherwise often ascribed to a breaking of statistical isotropy. The non-Gaussian modulation effect can be significant even for typical ~10(-5) perturbations while respecting current constraints on non-Gaussianity if the squeezed limit of the bispectrum is sufficiently infrared divergent. Just such a strongly infrared-divergent bispectrum has been claimed for inflation models with a non-Bunch-Davies initial state, for instance. Upper limits on the observed cosmic microwave background power asymmetry place stringent constraints on the duration of inflation in such models.

New varying speed of light theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magueijo, Joao

2003-01-01

We review recent work on the possibility of a varying speed of light (VSL). We start by discussing the physical meaning of a varying-c, dispelling the myth that the constancy of c is a matter of logical consistency. We then summarize the main VSL mechanisms proposed so far: hard breaking of Lorentz invariance; bimetric theories (where the speeds of gravity and light are not the same); locally Lorentz invariant VSL theories; theories exhibiting a colour-dependent speed of light; varying-c induced by extra dimensions (e.g. in the brane-world scenario); and field theories where VSL results from vacuum polarization or CPT violation. We show how VSL scenarios may solve the cosmological problems usually tackled by inflation, and also how they may produce a scale-invariant spectrum of Gaussian fluctuations, capable of explaining the WMAP data. We then review the connection between VSL and theories of quantum gravity, showing how 'doubly special' relativity has emerged as a VSL effective model of quantum space-time, with observational implications for ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and gamma ray bursts. Some recent work on the physics of 'black' holes and other compact objects in VSL theories is also described, highlighting phenomena associated with spatial (as opposed to temporal) variations in c. Finally, we describe the observational status of the theory. The evidence is currently slim-redshift dependence in the atomic fine structure, anomalies with UHECRs, and (to a much lesser extent) the acceleration of the universe and the WMAP data. The constraints (e.g. those arising from nucleosynthesis or geological bounds) are tight but not insurmountable. We conclude with the observational predictions of the theory and the prospects for its refutation or vindication

Power dynamics and questioning in elementary science lessons

Science.gov (United States)

Reinsvold, Lori Ann

Discourse interactions between a teacher and students in an inquiry-based fourth-grade science classroom were analyzed to investigate how power dynamics and questioning strategies within elementary science lessons help support students in building their science understanding. Five inquiry-based classroom sessions were observed; verbal interactions were audio- and video-recorded. Research data consisted of observation transcripts, teacher interviews, student work, and instructional materials. Analyses were conducted on the frequencies of utterances, participation roles, power categories, and questioning categories. Results revealed that when students used more frequent power, (a) no significant differences were noted between frequencies of teacher and student talk, (b) the teacher posed more questions than did the students, and (c) students explained what they knew and asked questions to clarify their understanding. When the teacher used more frequent power, she asked questions to provide students opportunities to negotiate investigative processes and explain what they knew and how they knew it. Evidence of student understanding of the science concepts was found in how students used subject matter to discuss what they knew and how they knew it. Pre-service and in-service teachers should be encouraged to consider how their use of power and questioning strategies can engage students to reflect on how they build understanding of science concepts. Teachers can use Professional Learning Communities to reflect on how their practice engages students. Future research should be employed to observe classrooms across an entire school year to determine how power and questioning dynamics flow among students and teachers and change over time. Research can also be used to understand the influence of gender and culture on power and questioning dynamics in classroom settings.

Acoustic power delivery to pipeline monitoring wireless sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiziroglou, M E; Boyle, D E; Wright, S W; Yeatman, E M

2017-05-01

The use of energy harvesting for powering wireless sensors is made more challenging in most applications by the requirement for customization to each specific application environment because of specificities of the available energy form, such as precise location, direction and motion frequency, as well as the temporal variation and unpredictability of the energy source. Wireless power transfer from dedicated sources can overcome these difficulties, and in this work, the use of targeted ultrasonic power transfer as a possible method for remote powering of sensor nodes is investigated. A powering system for pipeline monitoring sensors is described and studied experimentally, with a pair of identical, non-inertial piezoelectric transducers used at the transmitter and receiver. Power transmission of 18mW (Root-Mean-Square) through 1m of a118mm diameter cast iron pipe, with 8mm wall thickness is demonstrated. By analysis of the delay between transmission and reception, including reflections from the pipeline edges, a transmission speed of 1000m/s is observed, corresponding to the phase velocity of the L(0,1) axial and F(1,1) radial modes of the pipe structure. A reduction of power delivery with water-filling is observed, yet over 4mW of delivered power through a fully-filled pipe is demonstrated. The transmitted power and voltage levels exceed the requirements for efficient power management, including rectification at cold-starting conditions, and for the operation of low-power sensor nodes. The proposed powering technique may allow the implementation of energy autonomous wireless sensor systems for monitoring industrial and network pipeline infrastructure. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ulysses observations of magnetic waves due to newborn interstellar pickup ions. II. Application of turbulence concepts to limiting wave energy and observability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cannon, Bradford E. [Physics Department, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306 (United States); Smith, Charles W.; Isenberg, Philip A.; Vasquez, Bernard J.; Joyce, Colin J. [Physics Department and Space Science Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 (United States); Murphy, Neil [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mail Stop 180-600, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Nuno, Raquel G., E-mail: bc13h@my.fsu.edu, E-mail: Charles.Smith@unh.edu, E-mail: Phil.Isenberg@unh.edu, E-mail: Bernie.Vasquez@unh.edu, E-mail: cjl46@wildcats.unh.edu, E-mail: Neil.Murphy@jpl.nasa.gov, E-mail: raquel.nuno@asu.edu [School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 (United States)

2014-06-01

The low-frequency magnetic waves that arise from the isotropization of newborn interstellar pickup ions (PUIs) are reasonably well described by linear and quasi-linear kinetic theory in so far as those theories predict the wave frequency and polarization in the spacecraft frame. Those theories fail to describe the scarce observability of the waves. Quasilinear theory predicts that the wave power should accumulate over long periods of time as the relatively weak kinetic instability slowly adds power to the observed spectrum. At the same time it has been argued that the same wave energy must serve as a secondary source of thermal ion heating in the outer heliosphere once the initial turbulence is depleted. To the extent that turbulent transport of the wave energy acts against the spectrally confined accumulation of wave energy, turbulence should be a limiting factor in observability. We argue that turbulence does limit the observability of the waves and we use turbulence theory to predict the observed wave energy. We compare this prediction against a database of 502 wave observations attributed to newborn interstellar PUIs observed by the Ulysses spacecraft.

Ulysses observations of magnetic waves due to newborn interstellar pickup ions. II. Application of turbulence concepts to limiting wave energy and observability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cannon, Bradford E.; Smith, Charles W.; Isenberg, Philip A.; Vasquez, Bernard J.; Joyce, Colin J.; Murphy, Neil; Nuno, Raquel G.

2014-01-01

The low-frequency magnetic waves that arise from the isotropization of newborn interstellar pickup ions (PUIs) are reasonably well described by linear and quasi-linear kinetic theory in so far as those theories predict the wave frequency and polarization in the spacecraft frame. Those theories fail to describe the scarce observability of the waves. Quasilinear theory predicts that the wave power should accumulate over long periods of time as the relatively weak kinetic instability slowly adds power to the observed spectrum. At the same time it has been argued that the same wave energy must serve as a secondary source of thermal ion heating in the outer heliosphere once the initial turbulence is depleted. To the extent that turbulent transport of the wave energy acts against the spectrally confined accumulation of wave energy, turbulence should be a limiting factor in observability. We argue that turbulence does limit the observability of the waves and we use turbulence theory to predict the observed wave energy. We compare this prediction against a database of 502 wave observations attributed to newborn interstellar PUIs observed by the Ulysses spacecraft.

A Long-Distance RF-Powered Sensor Node with Adaptive Power Management for IoT Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Pizzotti, Matteo; Perilli, Luca; Del Prete, Massimo; Fabbri, Davide; Canegallo, Roberto; Dini, Michele; Masotti, Diego; Costanzo, Alessandra; Franchi Scarselli, Eleonora; Romani, Aldo

2017-07-28

We present a self-sustained battery-less multi-sensor platform with RF harvesting capability down to -17 dBm and implementing a standard DASH7 wireless communication interface. The node operates at distances up to 17 m from a 2 W UHF carrier. RF power transfer allows operation when common energy scavenging sources (e.g., sun, heat, etc.) are not available, while the DASH7 communication protocol makes it fully compatible with a standard IoT infrastructure. An optimized energy-harvesting module has been designed, including a rectifying antenna (rectenna) and an integrated nano-power DC/DC converter performing maximum-power-point-tracking (MPPT). A nonlinear/electromagnetic co-design procedure is adopted to design the rectenna, which is optimized to operate at ultra-low power levels. An ultra-low power microcontroller controls on-board sensors and wireless protocol, to adapt the power consumption to the available detected power by changing wake-up policies. As a result, adaptive behavior can be observed in the designed platform, to the extent that the transmission data rate is dynamically determined by RF power. Among the novel features of the system, we highlight the use of nano-power energy harvesting, the implementation of specific hardware/software wake-up policies, optimized algorithms for best sampling rate implementation, and adaptive behavior by the node based on the power received.

A Long-Distance RF-Powered Sensor Node with Adaptive Power Management for IoT Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matteo Pizzotti

2017-07-01

Full Text Available We present a self-sustained battery-less multi-sensor platform with RF harvesting capability down to −17 dBm and implementing a standard DASH7 wireless communication interface. The node operates at distances up to 17 m from a 2 W UHF carrier. RF power transfer allows operation when common energy scavenging sources (e.g., sun, heat, etc. are not available, while the DASH7 communication protocol makes it fully compatible with a standard IoT infrastructure. An optimized energy-harvesting module has been designed, including a rectifying antenna (rectenna and an integrated nano-power DC/DC converter performing maximum-power-point-tracking (MPPT. A nonlinear/electromagnetic co-design procedure is adopted to design the rectenna, which is optimized to operate at ultra-low power levels. An ultra-low power microcontroller controls on-board sensors and wireless protocol, to adapt the power consumption to the available detected power by changing wake-up policies. As a result, adaptive behavior can be observed in the designed platform, to the extent that the transmission data rate is dynamically determined by RF power. Among the novel features of the system, we highlight the use of nano-power energy harvesting, the implementation of specific hardware/software wake-up policies, optimized algorithms for best sampling rate implementation, and adaptive behavior by the node based on the power received.

Observation of Parametric Instability in Advanced LIGO.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Matthew; Gras, Slawek; Fritschel, Peter; Miller, John; Barsotti, Lisa; Martynov, Denis; Brooks, Aidan; Coyne, Dennis; Abbott, Rich; Adhikari, Rana X; Arai, Koji; Bork, Rolf; Kells, Bill; Rollins, Jameson; Smith-Lefebvre, Nicolas; Vajente, Gabriele; Yamamoto, Hiroaki; Adams, Carl; Aston, Stuart; Betzweiser, Joseph; Frolov, Valera; Mullavey, Adam; Pele, Arnaud; Romie, Janeen; Thomas, Michael; Thorne, Keith; Dwyer, Sheila; Izumi, Kiwamu; Kawabe, Keita; Sigg, Daniel; Derosa, Ryan; Effler, Anamaria; Kokeyama, Keiko; Ballmer, Stefan; Massinger, Thomas J; Staley, Alexa; Heinze, Matthew; Mueller, Chris; Grote, Hartmut; Ward, Robert; King, Eleanor; Blair, David; Ju, Li; Zhao, Chunnong

2015-04-24

Parametric instabilities have long been studied as a potentially limiting effect in high-power interferometric gravitational wave detectors. Until now, however, these instabilities have never been observed in a kilometer-scale interferometer. In this Letter, we describe the first observation of parametric instability in a gravitational wave detector, and the means by which it has been removed as a barrier to progress.

Single-Phase Single-Stage Grid Tied Solar PV System with Active Power Filtering Using Power Balance Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Yashi; Hussain, Ikhlaq; Singh, Bhim; Mishra, Sukumar

2018-03-01

In this paper, power quality features such as harmonics mitigation, power factor correction with active power filtering are addressed in a single-stage, single-phase solar photovoltaic (PV) grid tied system. The Power Balance Theory (PBT) with perturb and observe based maximum power point tracking algorithm is proposed for the mitigation of power quality problems in a solar PV grid tied system. The solar PV array is interfaced to a single phase AC grid through a Voltage Source Converter (VSC), which provides active power flow from a solar PV array to the grid as well as to the load and it performs harmonics mitigation using PBT based control. The solar PV array power varies with sunlight and due to this, the solar PV grid tied VSC works only 8-10 h per day. At night, when PV power is zero, the VSC works as an active power filter for power quality improvement, and the load active power is delivered by the grid to the load connected at the point of common coupling. This increases the effective utilization of a VSC. The system is modelled and simulated using MATLAB and simulated responses of the system at nonlinear loads and varying environmental conditions are also validated experimentally on a prototype developed in the laboratory.

Origin of ΔNeff as a result of an interaction between dark radiation and dark matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjaelde, Ole Eggers; Das, Subinoy; Moss, Adam

2012-01-01

Results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and recently from the South Pole Telescope (SPT) have indicated the possible existence of an extra radiation component in addition to the well known three neutrino species predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. In this paper, we explore the possibility of the apparent extra dark radiation being linked directly to the physics of cold dark matter (CDM). In particular, we consider a generic scenario where dark radiation, as a result of an interaction, is produced directly by a fraction of the dark matter density effectively decaying into dark radiation. At an early epoch when the dark matter density is negligible, as an obvious consequence, the density of dark radiation is also very small. As the Universe approaches matter radiation equality, the dark matter density starts to dominate thereby increasing the content of dark radiation and changing the expansion rate of the Universe. As this increase in dark radiation content happens naturally after Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), it can relax the possible tension with lower values of radiation degrees of freedom measured from light element abundances compared to that of the CMB. We numerically confront this scenario with WMAP+ACT and WMAP+SPT data and derive an upper limit on the allowed fraction of dark matter decaying into dark radiation

Probing CPT violation with CMB polarization measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xia Junqing, E-mail: xia@sissa.i [Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Beirut 2-4, I-34014 Trieste (Italy); Li Hong; Zhang Xinmin [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, P.O. Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Theoretical Physics Center for Science Facilities (TPCSF), Chinese Academy of Science (China)

2010-04-12

The electrodynamics modified by the Chern-Simons term L{sub cs}approxp{sub m}uA{sub n}uF-tilde{sup m}u{sup n}u with a non-vanishing p{sub m}u violates the Charge-Parity-Time Reversal symmetry (CPT) and rotates the linear polarizations of the propagating Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) photons. In this Letter we measure the rotation angle DELTAalpha by performing a global analysis on the current CMB polarization measurements from the five-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP5), BOOMERanG 2003 (B03), BICEP and QUaD using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. Neglecting the systematic errors of these experiments, we find that the results from WMAP5, B03 and BICEP all are consistent and their combination gives DELTAalpha=-2.62+-0.87deg (68% C.L.), indicating a 3sigma detection of the CPT violation. The QUaD data alone gives DELTAalpha=0.59+-0.42deg (68% C.L.) which has an opposite sign for the central value and smaller error bar compared to that obtained from WMAP5, B03 and BICEP. When combining all the polarization data together, we find DELTAalpha=0.09+-0.36deg (68% C.L.) which significantly improves the previous constraint on DELTAalpha and test the validity of the fundamental CPT symmetry at a higher level.

Economic trends of tokamak power plants independent of physics scaling models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reid, R.L.; Steiner, D.

1978-01-01

This study examines the effects of plasma radius, field on axis, plasma impurity level, and aspect ratio on power level and unit capital cost, $/kW/sub e/, of tokamak power plants sized independent of plasma physics scaling models. It is noted that tokamaks sized in this manner are thermally unstable based on trapped particle scaling relationships. It is observed that there is an economic advantage for larger power level tokamaks achieved by physics independent sizing; however, the incentive for increased power levels is less than that for fission reactors. It is further observed that the economic advantage of these larger power level tokamaks is decreased when plasma thermal stability measures are incorporated, such as by increasing the plasma impurity concentration. This trend of economy with size obtained by physics independent sizing is opposite to that observed when the tokamak designs are constrained to obey the trapped particle and empirical scaling relationships

Observing positive and negative AGN feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Cresci, Giovanni; Maiolino, Roberto

2018-03-01

Galaxy-scale outflows powered by actively accreting supermassive black holes are routinely detected, and they have been associated with both the suppression and triggering of star formation. Recent observational evidence and simulations are favouring a delayed mechanism that connects outflows and star formation.

Stretched exponentials and power laws in granular avalanching

Science.gov (United States)

Head, D. A.; Rodgers, G. J.

1999-02-01

We introduce a model for granular surface flow which exhibits both stretched exponential and power law avalanching over its parameter range. Two modes of transport are incorporated, a rolling layer consisting of individual particles and the overdamped, sliding motion of particle clusters. The crossover in behaviour observed in experiments on piles of rice is attributed to a change in the dominant mode of transport. We predict that power law avalanching will be observed whenever surface flow is dominated by clustered motion.

Isotropic radio background from quark nugget dark matter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lawson, Kyle; Zhitnitsky, Ariel R., E-mail: arz@physics.ubc.ca

2013-07-09

Recent measurements by the ARCADE2 experiment unambiguously show an excess in the isotropic radio background at frequencies below the GHz scale. We argue that this excess may be a natural consequence of the interaction of visible and dark matter in the early universe if the dark matter consists of heavy nuggets of quark matter. Explanation of the observed radio band excess requires the introduction of no new parameters, rather we exploit the same dark matter model and identical normalization parameters to those previously used to explain other excesses of diffuse emission from the centre of our galaxy. These previously observed excesses include the WMAP Haze of GHz radiation, keV X-ray emission and MeV gamma-ray radiation.

CMB anomalies and the effects of local features of the inflaton potential

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cadavid, Alexander Gallego [Kyoto University, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto (Japan); ICRANet, Pescara (Italy); Universidad de Antioquia, Instituto de Fisica, Medellin (Colombia); Romano, Antonio Enea [Kyoto University, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto (Japan); University of Torino, Department of Physics, Turin (Italy); Universidad de Antioquia, Instituto de Fisica, Medellin (Colombia); Gariazzo, Stefano [University of Torino, Department of Physics, Turin (Italy); INFN, Sezione di Torino, Turin (Italy); Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (CSIC-Universitat de Valencia), Paterna, Valencia (Spain)

2017-04-15

Recent analysis of the WMAP and Planck data have shown the presence of a dip and a bump in the spectrum of primordial perturbations at the scales k = 0.002 Mpc{sup -1}, respectively. We analyze for the first time the effects of a local feature in the inflaton potential to explain the observed deviations from scale invariance in the primordial spectrum. We perform a best-fit analysis of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation temperature and polarization data. The effects of the features can improve the agreement with observational data respect to the featureless model. The best-fit local feature affects the primordial curvature spectrum mainly in the region of the bump, leaving the spectrum unaffected on other scales. (orig.)

Testing the effects from dark radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yi; Gong Yungui

2013-01-01

In this paper, the effects of dark radiation (DR) are tested. Theoretically, the phase-space analysis method is applied to check whether the model is consist with the history of our universe which shows positive results. Observationally, by using the observational data (SuperNovae Legacy Survey (SNLS), Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 9 Years Result (WMAP9), Planck First Data Release (PLANCK), baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), Hubble parameter data (H(z)) and Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN)), the DR is found to have the effect of wiping out the tension between the SNLS data and the other data in a flat ΛCDM model. The effects of DR also make the best fit value of N eff slightly larger than 3.04. (paper)

Isotropic radio background from quark nugget dark matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawson, Kyle; Zhitnitsky, Ariel R.

2013-01-01

Recent measurements by the ARCADE2 experiment unambiguously show an excess in the isotropic radio background at frequencies below the GHz scale. We argue that this excess may be a natural consequence of the interaction of visible and dark matter in the early universe if the dark matter consists of heavy nuggets of quark matter. Explanation of the observed radio band excess requires the introduction of no new parameters, rather we exploit the same dark matter model and identical normalization parameters to those previously used to explain other excesses of diffuse emission from the centre of our galaxy. These previously observed excesses include the WMAP Haze of GHz radiation, keV X-ray emission and MeV gamma-ray radiation

A Low-Power and Low-Voltage Power Management Strategy for On-Chip Micro Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ismail Cevik

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Fundamental characteristics of on-chip micro solar cell (MSC structures were investigated in this study. Several MSC structures using different layers in three different CMOS processes were designed and fabricated. Effects of PN junction structure and process technology on solar cell performance were measured. Parameters for low-power and low-voltage implementation of power management strategy and boost converter based circuits utilizing fractional voltage maximum power point tracking (FVMPPT algorithm were determined. The FVMPPT algorithm works based on the fraction between the maximum power point operation voltage and the open circuit voltage of the solar cell structure. This ratio is typically between 0.72 and 0.78 for commercially available poly crystalline silicon solar cells that produce several watts of power under typical daylight illumination. Measurements showed that the fractional voltage ratio is much higher and fairly constant between 0.82 and 0.85 for on-chip mono crystalline silicon micro solar cell structures that produce micro watts of power. Mono crystalline silicon solar cell structures were observed to result in better power fill factor (PFF that is higher than 74% indicating a higher energy harvesting efficiency.

Sliding mode control and observation

CERN Document Server

Shtessel, Yuri; Fridman, Leonid; Levant, Arie

2014-01-01

The sliding mode control methodology has proven effective in dealing with complex dynamical systems affected by disturbances, uncertainties and unmodeled dynamics. Robust control technology based on this methodology has been applied to many real-world problems, especially in the areas of aerospace control, electric power systems, electromechanical systems, and robotics. Sliding Mode Control and Observation represents the first textbook that starts with classical sliding mode control techniques and progresses toward newly developed higher-order sliding mode control and observation algorithms and their applications. The present volume addresses a range of sliding mode control issues, including: *Conventional sliding mode controller and observer design *Second-order sliding mode controllers and differentiators *Frequency domain analysis of conventional and second-order sliding mode controllers *Higher-order sliding mode controllers and differentiators *Higher-order sliding mode observers *Sliding mode disturbanc...

Modelling and automatic reactive power control of isolated wind-diesel hybrid power systems using ANN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bansal, R.C.

2008-01-01

This paper presents an artificial neural network (ANN) based approach to tune the parameters of the static var compensator (SVC) reactive power controller over a wide range of typical load model parameters. The gains of PI (proportional integral) based SVC are optimised for typical values of the load voltage characteristics (n q ) by conventional techniques. Using the generated data, the method of multi-layer feed forward ANN with error back propagation training is employed to tune the parameters of the SVC. An ANN tuned SVC controller has been applied to control the reactive power of a variable slip/speed isolated wind-diesel hybrid power system. It is observed that the maximum deviations of all parameters are more for larger values of n q . It has been shown that initially synchronous generator supplies the reactive power required by the induction generator and/or load, and the latter reactive power is purely supplied by the SVC

Modelling and automatic reactive power control of isolated wind-diesel hybrid power systems using ANN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bansal, R.C. [Electrical and Electronics Engineering Division, School of Engineering and Physics, The University of the South Pacific, Suva (Fiji)

2008-02-15

This paper presents an artificial neural network (ANN) based approach to tune the parameters of the static var compensator (SVC) reactive power controller over a wide range of typical load model parameters. The gains of PI (proportional integral) based SVC are optimised for typical values of the load voltage characteristics (n{sub q}) by conventional techniques. Using the generated data, the method of multi-layer feed forward ANN with error back propagation training is employed to tune the parameters of the SVC. An ANN tuned SVC controller has been applied to control the reactive power of a variable slip/speed isolated wind-diesel hybrid power system. It is observed that the maximum deviations of all parameters are more for larger values of n{sub q}. It has been shown that initially synchronous generator supplies the reactive power required by the induction generator and/or load, and the latter reactive power is purely supplied by the SVC. (author)

Parareal in Time for Dynamic Simulations of Power Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gurrala, Gurunath [ORNL; Dimitrovski, Aleksandar D [ORNL; Pannala, Sreekanth [ORNL; Simunovic, Srdjan [ORNL; Starke, Michael R [ORNL

2015-01-01

In recent years, there have been significant developments in parallel algorithms and high performance parallel computing platforms. Parareal in time algorithm has become popular for long transient simulations (e.g., molecular dynamics, fusion, reacting flows). Parareal is a parallel algorithm which divides the time interval into sub-intervals and solves them concurrently. This paper investigates the applicability of the parareal algorithm to power system dynamic simulations. Preliminary results on the application of parareal for multi-machine power systems are reported in this paper. Two widely used test systems, WECC 3-generator 9-bus system, New England 10-generator 39- bus system, is used to explore the effectiveness of the parareal. Severe 3 phase bus faults are simulated using both the classical and detailed models of multi-machine power systems. Actual Speedup of 5-7 times is observed assuming ideal parallelization. It has been observed that the speedup factors of the order of 20 can be achieved by using fast coarse approximations of power system models. Dependency of parareal convergence on fault duration and location has been observed.

Wind power forecast error smoothing within a wind farm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saleck, Nadja; Bremen, Lueder von

2007-01-01

Smoothing of wind power forecast errors is well-known for large areas. Comparable effects within a wind farm are investigated in this paper. A Neural Network was taken to predict the power output of a wind farm in north-western Germany comprising 17 turbines. A comparison was done between an algorithm that fits mean wind and mean power data of the wind farm and a second algorithm that fits wind and power data individually for each turbine. The evaluation of root mean square errors (RMSE) shows that relative small smoothing effects occur. However, it can be shown for this wind farm that individual calculations have the advantage that only a few turbines are needed to give better results than the use of mean data. Furthermore different results occurred if predicted wind speeds are directly fitted to observed wind power or if predicted wind speeds are first fitted to observed wind speeds and then applied to a power curve. The first approach gives slightly better RMSE values, the bias improves considerably

Spatial variation of AIA coronal Fourier power spectra

Science.gov (United States)

Ireland, J.; Mcateer, R. T. J.

2015-12-01

We describe a study of the spatial distribution of the properties of the Fourier power spectrum of time-series of AIA 171Å and 193Å data. The area studied includes examples of physically different components of the corona, such as coronal moss, a sunspot, quiet Sun and fan loop footpoints. We show that a large fraction of the power spectra are well modeled by a power spectrum that behaves like a power law f-n (n>0)at lower frequencies f, dropping to a constant value at higher frequencies. We also show that there are areas where the power spectra are better described by the above power spectrum model, plus a narrow band oscillatory feature, centered in the 3-5 minute oscillation range. These narrow-band spectral features are thought to be due to the propagation of oscillations from lower down in solar atmosphere to hotter. This allows us to produce maps of large areas of the corona showing where the propagation from one waveband to another does and does not occur. This is an important step in understanding wave propagation in different layers in the corona. We also show the 171Å and 193Å power spectrum power law indices are correlated, with 171Å power law indices in the range n = 1.8 to 2.8, and 193Å power law indices n = 2 to 3.5 approximately. Maps of the power law index show that different ranges of values of the power law indices occur in spatially contiguous parts of the corona, indicating that local spatial structure may play a role in defining the power law index value. Taken with our previous result from Ireland et al. (2015) that physically different parts of the corona have different mean values of the power law index, this new result strongly suggests that the same mechanism producing the observed power law power spectrum is operating everywhere across the corona. We discuss the nanoflare hypothesis as a possible explanation of these observations.

Relic gravitational waves in the accelerating Universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yang; Yuan Yefei; Zhao Wen; Chen Yingtian

2005-01-01

Recent observations have indicated that the Universe at the present stage is in an accelerating expansion, a process that has great implications. We evaluate the spectrum of relic gravitational waves in the current accelerating Universe and find that there are new features appearing in the resulting spectrum as compared to the decelerating models. In the low-frequency range the peak of the spectrum is now located at a frequency ν E ∼ (OMEGA m /OMEGA Λ ) 1/3 ν H , where ν H is the Hubble frequency, and there appears a new segment of spectrum between ν E and ν H . In all other intervals of frequencies ≥ν H , the spectral amplitude acquires an extra factor (OMEGA m /OMEGA Λ ), due to the current acceleration; otherwise the shape of the spectrum is similar to that in the decelerating models. The recent WMAP result of CMB anisotropies is used to normalize the amplitude for gravitational waves. The slope of the power spectrum depends sensitively on the scale factor a(τ) ∝ vertical bar τ vertical bar 1+β during the inflationary stage with β = -2 for the exact de Sitter space. With increasing β, the resulting spectrum is tilted to be flatter with more power at high frequencies, and the sensitivity of the second science run of the LIGO detectors puts a restriction on the parameter β ≤ -1.8. We also give a numerical solution which confirms these features

Observability of Low Voltage grids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martin-Loeches, Ruben Sánchez; Iov, Florin; Kemal, Mohammed Seifu

2017-01-01

Low Voltage (LV) distribution power grids are experiencing a transformation from a passive to a more active role due to the increasing penetration of distributed generation, heat pumps and electrical vehicles. The first step towards a smarter operation of LV electrical systems is to provide grid ...... an updated state of the art on DSSE-AMI based, adaptive data collection techniques and database management system types. Moreover, the ongoing Danish RemoteGRID project is presented as a realistic case study.......Low Voltage (LV) distribution power grids are experiencing a transformation from a passive to a more active role due to the increasing penetration of distributed generation, heat pumps and electrical vehicles. The first step towards a smarter operation of LV electrical systems is to provide grid....... It becomes unrealistic to provide near real time full observability of the LV grid by applying Distribution System State Estimation (DSSE) utilizing the classical data collection and storage/preprocessing techniques. This paper investigates up-todate the observability problem in LV grids by providing...

On the impact of large angle CMB polarization data on cosmological parameters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lattanzi, Massimiliano; Mandolesi, Nazzareno; Natoli, Paolo [Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Università di Ferrara, Via Giuseppe Saragat 1, I-44122 Ferrara (Italy); Burigana, Carlo; Gruppuso, Alessandro; Trombetti, Tiziana [Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna (Italy); Gerbino, Martina [The Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Polenta, Gianluca [Agenzia Spaziale Italiana Science Data Center, Via del Politecnico snc, 00133, Roma (Italy); Salvati, Laura, E-mail: lattanzi@fe.infn.it, E-mail: burigana@iasfbo.inaf.it, E-mail: martina.gerbino@fysik.su.se, E-mail: gruppuso@iasfbo.inaf.it, E-mail: nazzareno.mandolesi@unife.it, E-mail: paolo.natoli@unife.it, E-mail: gianluca.polenta@asdc.asi.it, E-mail: laura.salvati@ias.u-psud.fr, E-mail: trombetti@iasfbo.inaf.it [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, I-00185 Roma (Italy)

2017-02-01

We study the impact of the large-angle CMB polarization datasets publicly released by the WMAP and Planck satellites on the estimation of cosmological parameters of the ΛCDM model. To complement large-angle polarization, we consider the high resolution (or 'high-ℓ') CMB datasets from either WMAP or Planck as well as CMB lensing as traced by Planck 's measured four point correlation function. In the case of WMAP, we compute the large-angle polarization likelihood starting over from low resolution frequency maps and their covariance matrices, and perform our own foreground mitigation technique, which includes as a possible alternative Planck 353 GHz data to trace polarized dust. We find that the latter choice induces a downward shift in the optical depth τ, roughly of order 2σ, robust to the choice of the complementary high resolution dataset. When the Planck 353 GHz is consistently used to minimize polarized dust emission, WMAP and Planck 70 GHz large-angle polarization data are in remarkable agreement: by combining them we find τ = 0.066 {sup +0.012}{sub −0.013}, again very stable against the particular choice for high-ℓ data. We find that the amplitude of primordial fluctuations A {sub s} , notoriously degenerate with τ, is the parameter second most affected by the assumptions on polarized dust removal, but the other parameters are also affected, typically between 0.5 and 1σ. In particular, cleaning dust with Planck 's 353 GHz data imposes a 1σ downward shift in the value of the Hubble constant H {sub 0}, significantly contributing to the tension reported between CMB based and direct measurements of the present expansion rate. On the other hand, we find that the appearance of the so-called low ℓ anomaly, a well-known tension between the high- and low-resolution CMB anisotropy amplitude, is not significantly affected by the details of large-angle polarization, or by the particular high-ℓ dataset employed.

Power laws in Ising nanostripes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drzewinski, A.; Sznajd, J.; Szota, K.

2005-01-01

The results of high accuracy density-matrix renormalization-group calculations for infinite Ising stripes of finite widths 100 ≤ L ≤ 400 are presented. It is shown that in the presence of the small external magnetic field the infinite system critical power laws can be observed for L of order hundreds nm. The single power law describes the field dependence of the magnetization or the longitudinal correlation length only on the infinite system critical isotherm independently of the value of L. The approximate power law which describes how the magnetization varies with a distance from the infinite system critical point for several directions in the plane (temperature, external field) is also studied. (author)

AC power flow importance measures considering multi-element failures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Jian; Dueñas-Osorio, Leonardo; Chen, Changkun; Shi, Congling

2017-01-01

Quantifying the criticality of individual components of power systems is essential for overall reliability and management. This paper proposes an AC-based power flow element importance measure, while considering multi-element failures. The measure relies on a proposed AC-based cascading failure model, which captures branch overflow, bus load shedding, and branch failures, via AC power flow and optimal power flow analyses. Taking the IEEE 30, 57 and 118-bus power systems as case studies, we find that N-3 analyses are sufficient to measure the importance of a bus or branch. It is observed that for a substation bus, its importance is statistically proportional to its power demand, but this trend is not observed for power plant buses. While comparing with other reliability, functionality, and topology-based importance measures popular today, we find that a DC power flow model, although better correlated with the benchmark AC model as a whole, still fails to locate some critical elements. This is due to the focus of DC-based models on real power that ignores reactive power. The proposed importance measure is aimed to inform decision makers about key components in complex systems, while improving cascading failure prevention, system backup setting, and overall resilience. - Highlights: • We propose a novel importance measure based on joint failures and AC power flow. • A cascading failure model considers both AC power flow and optimal power flow. • We find that N-3 analyses are sufficient to measure the importance of an element. • Power demand impacts the importance of substations but less so that of generators. • DC models fail to identify some key elements, despite correlating with AC models.

Power-Law Statistics of Driven Reconnection in the Magnetically Closed Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Klimchuk, J. A.; DeVore, C. R.; Knizhnik, K. J.; Uritskiy, V. M.

2018-01-01

Numerous observations have revealed that power-law distributions are ubiquitous in energetic solar processes. Hard X-rays, soft X-rays, extreme ultraviolet radiation, and radio waves all display power-law frequency distributions. Since magnetic reconnection is the driving mechanism for many energetic solar phenomena, it is likely that reconnection events themselves display such power-law distributions. In this work, we perform numerical simulations of the solar corona driven by simple convective motions at the photospheric level. Using temperature changes, current distributions, and Poynting fluxes as proxies for heating, we demonstrate that energetic events occurring in our simulation display power-law frequency distributions, with slopes in good agreement with observations. We suggest that the braiding-associated reconnection in the corona can be understood in terms of a self-organized criticality model driven by convective rotational motions similar to those observed at the photosphere.

Power-law Statistics of Driven Reconnection in the Magnetically Closed Corona

Science.gov (United States)

Knizhnik, K. J.; Uritsky, V. M.; Klimchuk, J. A.; DeVore, C. R.

2018-01-01

Numerous observations have revealed that power-law distributions are ubiquitous in energetic solar processes. Hard X-rays, soft X-rays, extreme ultraviolet radiation, and radio waves all display power-law frequency distributions. Since magnetic reconnection is the driving mechanism for many energetic solar phenomena, it is likely that reconnection events themselves display such power-law distributions. In this work, we perform numerical simulations of the solar corona driven by simple convective motions at the photospheric level. Using temperature changes, current distributions, and Poynting fluxes as proxies for heating, we demonstrate that energetic events occurring in our simulation display power-law frequency distributions, with slopes in good agreement with observations. We suggest that the braiding-associated reconnection in the corona can be understood in terms of a self-organized criticality model driven by convective rotational motions similar to those observed at the photosphere.

Subsampling for graph power spectrum estimation

KAUST Repository

Chepuri, Sundeep Prabhakar; Leus, Geert

2016-01-01

In this paper we focus on subsampling stationary random signals that reside on the vertices of undirected graphs. Second-order stationary graph signals are obtained by filtering white noise and they admit a well-defined power spectrum. Estimating the graph power spectrum forms a central component of stationary graph signal processing and related inference tasks. We show that by sampling a significantly smaller subset of vertices and using simple least squares, we can reconstruct the power spectrum of the graph signal from the subsampled observations, without any spectral priors. In addition, a near-optimal greedy algorithm is developed to design the subsampling scheme.

Subsampling for graph power spectrum estimation

KAUST Repository

Chepuri, Sundeep Prabhakar

2016-10-06

In this paper we focus on subsampling stationary random signals that reside on the vertices of undirected graphs. Second-order stationary graph signals are obtained by filtering white noise and they admit a well-defined power spectrum. Estimating the graph power spectrum forms a central component of stationary graph signal processing and related inference tasks. We show that by sampling a significantly smaller subset of vertices and using simple least squares, we can reconstruct the power spectrum of the graph signal from the subsampled observations, without any spectral priors. In addition, a near-optimal greedy algorithm is developed to design the subsampling scheme.

Constant-roll tachyon inflation and observational constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Qing; Gong, Yungui; Fei, Qin

2018-05-01

For the constant-roll tachyon inflation, we derive the analytical expressions for the scalar and tensor power spectra, the scalar and tensor spectral tilts and the tensor to scalar ratio to the first order of epsilon1 by using the method of Bessel function approximation. The derived ns-r results are compared with the observations, we find that only the constant-roll inflation with ηH being a constant is consistent with the observations and observations constrain the constant-roll inflation to be slow-roll inflation. The tachyon potential is also reconstructed for the constant-roll inflation which is consistent with the observations.

Maximum power point tracker based on fuzzy logic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daoud, A.; Midoun, A.

2006-01-01

The solar energy is used as power source in photovoltaic power systems and the need for an intelligent power management system is important to obtain the maximum power from the limited solar panels. With the changing of the sun illumination due to variation of angle of incidence of sun radiation and of the temperature of the panels, Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) enables optimization of solar power generation. The MPPT is a sub-system designed to extract the maximum power from a power source. In the case of solar panels power source. the maximum power point varies as a result of changes in its electrical characteristics which in turn are functions of radiation dose, temperature, ageing and other effects. The MPPT maximum the power output from panels for a given set of conditions by detecting the best working point of the power characteristic and then controls the current through the panels or the voltage across them. Many MPPT methods have been reported in literature. These techniques of MPPT can be classified into three main categories that include: lookup table methods, hill climbing methods and computational methods. The techniques vary according to the degree of sophistication, processing time and memory requirements. The perturbation and observation algorithm (hill climbing technique) is commonly used due to its ease of implementation, and relative tracking efficiency. However, it has been shown that when the insolation changes rapidly, the perturbation and observation method is slow to track the maximum power point. In recent years, the fuzzy controllers are used for maximum power point tracking. This method only requires the linguistic control rules for maximum power point, the mathematical model is not required and therefore the implementation of this control method is easy to real control system. In this paper, we we present a simple robust MPPT using fuzzy set theory where the hardware consists of the microchip's microcontroller unit control card and

FERMI OBSERVATIONS OF GRB 090510: A SHORT-HARD GAMMA-RAY BURST WITH AN ADDITIONAL, HARD POWER-LAW COMPONENT FROM 10 keV TO GeV ENERGIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackermann, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Borgland, A. W.; Bouvier, A.; Asano, K.; Atwood, W. B.; Axelsson, M.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Bregeon, J.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G.; Baring, M. G.; Bastieri, D.; Bhat, P. N.; Bissaldi, E.; Bonamente, E.

2010-01-01

We present detailed observations of the bright short-hard gamma-ray burst GRB 090510 made with the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi observatory. GRB 090510 is the first burst detected by the LAT that shows strong evidence for a deviation from a Band spectral fitting function during the prompt emission phase. The time-integrated spectrum is fit by the sum of a Band function with E peak = 3.9 ± 0.3 MeV, which is the highest yet measured, and a hard power-law component with photon index -1.62 ± 0.03 that dominates the emission below ∼20 keV and above ∼100 MeV. The onset of the high-energy spectral component appears to be delayed by ∼0.1 s with respect to the onset of a component well fit with a single Band function. A faint GBM pulse and a LAT photon are detected 0.5 s before the main pulse. During the prompt phase, the LAT detected a photon with energy 30.5 +5.8 -2.6 GeV, the highest ever measured from a short GRB. Observation of this photon sets a minimum bulk outflow Lorentz factor, Γ∼> 1200, using simple γγ opacity arguments for this GRB at redshift z = 0.903 and a variability timescale on the order of tens of ms for the ∼100 keV-few MeV flux. Stricter high confidence estimates imply Γ ∼> 1000 and still require that the outflows powering short GRBs are at least as highly relativistic as those of long-duration GRBs. Implications of the temporal behavior and power-law shape of the additional component on synchrotron/synchrotron self-Compton, external-shock synchrotron, and hadronic models are considered.

Forbush decreases observed 40 mwe underground in 1978

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benko, G.; Kecskemety, K.; Neuprandt, G.; Somogyi, A.J.

1982-01-01

Forbush decreases observed 40 mwe underground at Budapest in the first half of 1978 have been analysed together with the data of several neutron monitor stations in Europe. Assuming a power-exponential type spectrum for the variations spectrum in space as a function of rigidity, the best fitting values of power and upper cut-off rigidity have been calculated from maximum decrement by means of the weighted least squares method

Nuclear position in power generation sector - under the pressure of anti-global warming and power market reform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, Taizo

2005-01-01

The future structure surrounding fuel choice in power generation sector should be understood how to evaluate actual and potential merit and demerit both in economic and environmental aspects on nuclear power generation. That is i.e. nuclear can be understood as superior power source without GHGs and on the other hand, as unfavorable power source which might cause some critical dangers due to its hazardous radioactive nuclear waste. On this specific characteristic, this theme on fuel choice surrounding nuclear in power generation sector could be understood as a highly cultural problem as much as economic and political one. For instance, we can observe quite opposite direction with each other on nuclear power development in European countries like France and Finland on one hand and Germany and Sweden on the other hand. Looking at Asian countries, we also observe the very reality of high economic growth with rapid growth of electricity demand like China. What on earth, is it really possible without nuclear power source for such gigantic countries. I will develop my personal idea on nuclear power source based on Japanese experience towards successfully managing nuclear power technologies in the world, consisting of developing countries with growing economies and of advanced ones with rather matured nuclear technology under the pressure of environmentally restricted world order. My basic view point to discuss nuclear power problem has, conclusionally speaking, several aspects; The first one is in the relation with deregulation or liberalization of electricity market, which has been undergoing among such developed countries as OECD member countries i.e. USA, EU, Japan and other countries. Deregulation or liberalization of electricity market seems to be the inevitable process towards more matured market economy among developed countries group, and that process inevitably forces management of power companies towards more near sighted attitude if those companies are

Power distribution changes caused by subcooled nucleate boiling at Callaway Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konya, M.J.; Bryant, K.R.; Hopkins, D.L.

1993-01-01

This paper reports the results of an evaluation undertaken by Union Electric (UE) and Westinghouse to explain anomalous behavior of the core axial power distribution at the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant. The behavior was characterized by a gradual unexpected power shift toward the bottom of the core and was first detected during cycle 4 at a core average burnup of approximately 7,000 MWD/MTU. Once started, the power shift continued until burnup effects became dominant and caused power to shift back to the top of the core at the end of the cycle. In addition to the anomalous power distribution, UE observed that estimated critical control rod position (ECP) deviations increased to over 500 pcm (0.5%Δk/k) during Cycles 4 and 5. ECPs for plant restarts that occurred early in each cycle agreed well with measured critical conditions. However, this agreement disappeared for restarts that occurred later in core life. After analyzing relevant data, performing scoping calculations and reviewing industry experience, the authors concluded that the power distribution anomaly was most likely caused by subcooled nucleate boiling. Crud deposition on the fuel was believed to enhance the subcooled boiling. The ECP deviations were a secondary effect of the power shift, since void fraction, axial burnup and xenon distributions departed design predictions during a substantial portion of the fuel cycles. Significant evidence supporting these conclusions include incore detector indications of flux depressions between intermediate flow mixing (IFM) and structural grids. In addition, visual exam results show the presence of crud deposits on fuel pins

Power decreases trust in social exchange.

Science.gov (United States)

Schilke, Oliver; Reimann, Martin; Cook, Karen S

2015-10-20

How does lacking vs. possessing power in a social exchange affect people's trust in their exchange partner? An answer to this question has broad implications for a number of exchange settings in which dependence plays an important role. Here, we report on a series of experiments in which we manipulated participants' power position in terms of structural dependence and observed their trust perceptions and behaviors. Over a variety of different experimental paradigms and measures, we find that more powerful actors place less trust in others than less powerful actors do. Our results contradict predictions by rational actor models, which assume that low-power individuals are able to anticipate that a more powerful exchange partner will place little value on the relationship with them, thus tends to behave opportunistically, and consequently cannot be trusted. Conversely, our results support predictions by motivated cognition theory, which posits that low-power individuals want their exchange partner to be trustworthy and then act according to that desire. Mediation analyses show that, consistent with the motivated cognition account, having low power increases individuals' hope and, in turn, their perceptions of their exchange partners' benevolence, which ultimately leads them to trust.

galario: Gpu Accelerated Library for Analyzing Radio Interferometer Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Tazzari, Marco; Beaujean, Frederik; Testi, Leonardo

2017-10-01

The galario library exploits the computing power of modern graphic cards (GPUs) to accelerate the comparison of model predictions to radio interferometer observations. It speeds up the computation of the synthetic visibilities given a model image (or an axisymmetric brightness profile) and their comparison to the observations.

Multiangle lidar observations of the Atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Lalitkumar Prakash, Pawar; Choukiker, Yogesh Kumar; Raghunath, K.

2018-04-01

Atmospheric Lidars are used extensively to get aerosol parameters like backscatter coefficient, backscatter ratio etc. National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki (13°N, 79°E), India has a powerful lidar which has alt-azimuth capability. Inversion method is applied to data from observations of lidar system at different azimuth and elevation angles. Data Analysis is described and Observations in 2D and 3D format are discussed. Presence of Cloud and the variation of backscatter parameters are seen in an interesting manner.

Bank market power, factor reallocation, and aggregate growth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Inklaar, Robert; Koetter, Michael; Noth, Felix

Using a unique firm-level sample of approximately 700,000 firm-year observations of German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this study seeks to identify the effect of bank market power on aggregate growth components. We test for a pre-crisis sample whether bank market power spurs or

Power and the objectification of social targets.

Science.gov (United States)

Gruenfeld, Deborah H; Inesi, M Ena; Magee, Joe C; Galinsky, Adam D

2008-07-01

Objectification has been defined historically as a process of subjugation whereby people, like objects, are treated as means to an end. The authors hypothesized that objectification is a response to social power that involves approaching useful social targets regardless of the value of their other human qualities. Six studies found that under conditions of power, approach toward a social target was driven more by the target's usefulness, defined in terms of the perceiver's goals, than in low-power and baseline conditions. This instrumental response to power, which was linked to the presence of an active goal, was observed using multiple instantiations of power, different measures of approach, a variety of goals, and several types of instrumental and noninstrumental target attributes. Implications for research on the psychology of power, automatic goal pursuit, and self-objectification theory are discussed.

Ab initio estimates of the size of the observable universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Page, Don N.

2011-01-01

When one combines multiverse predictions by Bousso, Hall, and Nomura for the observed age and size of the universe in terms of the proton and electron charge and masses with anthropic predictions of Carter, Carr, and Rees for these masses in terms of the charge, one gets that the age of the universe should be roughly the inverse 64th power, and the cosmological constant should be around the 128th power, of the proton charge. Combining these with a further renormalization group argument gives a single approximate equation for the proton charge, with no continuous adjustable or observed parameters, and with a solution that is within 8% of the observed value. Using this solution gives large logarithms for the age and size of the universe and for the cosmological constant that agree with the observed values within 17%

Ab initio estimates of the size of the observable universe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Page, Don N., E-mail: profdonpage@gmail.com [Department of Physics, 4-183 CCIS, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E1 Canada (Canada)

2011-09-01

When one combines multiverse predictions by Bousso, Hall, and Nomura for the observed age and size of the universe in terms of the proton and electron charge and masses with anthropic predictions of Carter, Carr, and Rees for these masses in terms of the charge, one gets that the age of the universe should be roughly the inverse 64th power, and the cosmological constant should be around the 128th power, of the proton charge. Combining these with a further renormalization group argument gives a single approximate equation for the proton charge, with no continuous adjustable or observed parameters, and with a solution that is within 8% of the observed value. Using this solution gives large logarithms for the age and size of the universe and for the cosmological constant that agree with the observed values within 17%.

Large-Angle CMB Suppression and Polarisation Predictions

CERN Document Server

Copi, C.J.; Schwarz, D.J.; Starkman, G.D.

2013-01-01

The anomalous lack of large angle temperature correlations has been a surprising feature of the CMB since first observed by COBE-DMR and subsequently confirmed and strengthened by WMAP. This anomaly may point to the need for modifications of the standard model of cosmology or may show that our Universe is a rare statistical fluctuation within that model. Further observations of the temperature auto-correlation function will not elucidate the issue; sufficiently high precision statistical observations already exist. Instead, alternative probes are required. In this work we explore the expectations for forthcoming polarisation observations. We define a prescription to test the hypothesis that the large-angle CMB temperature perturbations in our Universe represent a rare statistical fluctuation within the standard cosmological model. These tests are based on the temperature-Q Stokes parameter correlation. Unfortunately these tests cannot be expected to be definitive. However, we do show that if this TQ-correlati...

Modular Power Electronic Converters in the Power Range 1 to 10 kW

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klimczak, Pawel

Thanks to CO2 emission reduction policies and increasing prices of fossil fuels a significant growth in field of sustainable energy sources (SES) is being observed during last decade. A government support and take-off projects in Europe and US shall ensure an increasing trend in future too. Some...... of SES based plants , like hydro-, geothermal-, biofuel-plants, use synchronous generators directly connected to the grid. But some other SES technologies, like fuel cell or photovoltaic, require a power electronic converter between the energy source and the load or the grid. Work presented...... in this thesis concentrates on dc-dc non-isolated converters suitable for high voltage gain applications, like uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and some of sustainable energy sources. A special attention is on reduction of power losses and efficiency improvements in non-isolated dc-dc step-up converters...

Infrared observations of Seyfert galaxies and quasars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neugebauer, G.

1978-01-01

The infrared energy distributions of the Seyfert galaxies apparently contain three components: a galactic stellar component, a thermal component from heated dust, plus a nonthermal component. The appearance of the infrared energy distribution depends on which component dominates. There is also a correlation observed between the infrared energy distribution and the Khachikian Weedman class. Preliminary data on bright quasars are given. The infrared energy distributions generally increase into the infrared with a power law slope of approximately 1. In detail they differ from power laws with a significant fraction emitting most of their energy near 3μm. No differences in radio loud and radio quiet are obvious from the infrared energy distributions. The variability of the quasars in the infrared is generally correlated with the variability in the visible, although significant exceptions have been observed. (Auth.)

Online short-term solar power forecasting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bacher, Peder; Madsen, Henrik; Nielsen, Henrik Aalborg

2009-01-01

This paper describes a new approach to online forecasting of power production from PV systems. The method is suited to online forecasting in many applications and in this paper it is used to predict hourly values of solar power for horizons of up to 36 hours. The data used is fifteen......-minute observations of solar power from 21 PV systems located on rooftops in a small village in Denmark. The suggested method is a two-stage method where first a statistical normalization of the solar power is obtained using a clear sky model. The clear sky model is found using statistical smoothing techniques....... Then forecasts of the normalized solar power are calculated using adaptive linear time series models. Both autoregressive (AR) and AR with exogenous input (ARX) models are evaluated, where the latter takes numerical weather predictions (NWPs) as input. The results indicate that for forecasts up to two hours...

The Transparency–Power Nexus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flyverbom, Mikkel; Christensen, Lars Thøger; Krause Hansen, Hans

2015-01-01

develops an analytical language along two dimensions: “observational control” and “regularizing control.” Within this framework, we look at (a) attempts to carry out control through observation, (b) identity-oriented forms of normative control, (c) strategically ambiguous articulations of transparency......, and (d) attempts to normalize and institutionalize behavior across organizational settings through the use of reporting and ranking systems. In the concluding section, we discuss how our conceptualization might nuance and enrich future studies of the transparency–power nexus and we point to some...

Toward power scaling in an acetylene mid-infrared hollow-core optical fiber gas laser: effects of pressure, fiber length, and pump power

Science.gov (United States)

Weerasinghe, H. W. Kushan; Dadashzadeh, Neda; Thirugnanasambandam, Manasadevi P.; Debord, Benoît.; Chafer, Matthieu; Gérôme, Frédéric; Benabid, Fetah; Corwin, Kristan L.; Washburn, Brian R.

2018-02-01

The effect of gas pressure, fiber length, and optical pump power on an acetylene mid-infrared hollow-core optical fiber gas laser (HOFGLAS) is experimentally determined in order to scale the laser to higher powers. The absorbed optical power and threshold power are measured for different pressures providing an optimum pressure for a given fiber length. We observe a linear dependence of both absorbed pump energy and lasing threshold for the acetylene HOFGLAS, while maintaining a good mode quality with an M-squared of 1.15. The threshold and mode behavior are encouraging for scaling to higher pressures and pump powers.

MU head echo observations of the 2010 Geminids: radiant, orbit, and meteor flux observing biases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Kero

2013-03-01

Full Text Available We report Geminid meteor head echo observations with the high-power large-aperture (HPLA Shigaraki middle and upper atmosphere (MU radar in Japan (34.85° N, 136.10° E. The MU radar observation campaign was conducted from 13 December 2010, 08:00 UTC to 15 December, 20:00 UTC and resulted in 48 h of radar data. A total of ~ 270 Geminids were observed among ~ 8800 meteor head echoes with precisely determined orbits. The Geminid head echo activity is consistent with an earlier peak than the visual Geminid activity determined by the International Meteor Organization (IMO. The observed flux of Geminids is a factor of ~ 3 lower than the previously reported flux of the 2009 Orionids measured with an identical MU~radar setup. We use the observed flux ratio to discuss the relation between the head echo mass–velocity selection effect, the mass distribution indices of meteor showers and the mass threshold of the MU radar.