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Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > General
Electroweak Phase Transition and the Early Universe, a NATO Advanced Re- search Workshop, was held March 23-25, 1994, at the Hotel Tivoli in Sintra, Portugal. The meeting was co-sponsored by three other Lisbon-based institutions: the Fundac;ao Gulbenkian, J. N.!. C. T. (Junta Nacional para Investigac;ao Cientifica e Tecnologica) and G. T. A. E. (Grupo Teorico de Alta Energias). The workshop brought together a large number of theoretical physicists who are actively researching topics relevant to the understanding of the standard model of electroweak interactions in the early universe. We were pleased and overwhelmed by the positive, and sometimes instan- taneous response that our enterprise raised right from its inception. The old town of Sintra provided a serene and pleasant environment for the par- ticipants. Some heated and controversial discussions on many unanswered questions in the standard model took place throughout the three days of the workshop. If one consensus emerged from the meeting, it was the imperative need for non-perturbative techniques for the understanding of the electroweak phase transition.
The objective of the book is to find an answer to the rationale behind the human quest for the Mars exploration. As a comprehensive assessment for this query is undertaken, it is realized that the basic question 'Why Mars?' seeks various responses from technological, economic and geopolitical to strategic perspectives. The book is essentially targeted to understand India's desire to reach Mars. In the process, it also undertakes some implicit questioning of Mars programmes of various other states essentially to facilitate the setting up of the context for an assessment. The book is divided into two parts: Part I: This covers both science and politics associated with Mars missions in global scenario and discusses the salient features of various Mars Missions undertaken by various countries. Part II: This provides details in regards to India's Mars Mission.
Simon Newcomb (1835-1903) was an astronomer and mathematician remembered for his work in recalculating the major astronomical constants to a new international standard. He was a founding member of the American Astronomical Society and became its first president in 1899. Although Newcomb's mathematical work is well known, this autobiography, first published in 1903, focuses on his achievements and work as an astronomer. In it he provides an account of his scientific research with comments on his approach, which together with his descriptions of scientific discoveries and collaborations occurring in Washington DC show the variety of scientific research being conducted in the United States in the late nineteenth century. His detailed descriptions of how telescopes were used, together with accounts of his experience of working conditions in various observatories, provide valuable insights into astronomical research methods in the late nineteenth century.
Der bekannte Astronom Karl Schwarzschild (1873-1916) gilt als der Begrunder der Astrophysik und als hervorragender Forscher mit einer erstaunlichen Bandbreite seiner Interessen. Arbeiten zur Himmelsmechanik, Elektrodynamik und Relativitatstheorie weisen ihn als vorzuglichen Mathematiker und Physiker auf der Hohe seiner Zeit aus. Untersuchungen zur Photographischen Photometrie, Optik und Spektroskopie zeigen den versierten Beobachter, der sein Messinstrument beherrscht, und schliesslich arbeitete Schwarzschild als Astrophysiker und an Sternatmospharen, Kometen, Struktur und Dynamik von Sternsystemen. Die in seinem kurzen Leben entstandene Fulle an wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten ist in drei Banden der Gesamtausgabe gesammelt, erganzt durch biographisches Material und ein Essay des Nobelpreistragers S. Chandrasekhar im ersten Band, und Annotationen von Fachleuten in jedem der drei Bande."
Ultrasound is currently used in a wide spectrum of applications ranging from medical imaging to metal cutting. This book is about using ultrasound in nondestructive evaluation (NDE) inspections. Ultrasonic NDE uses high-frequency acoustic/elastic waves to evaluate components without affecting their integrity or performance. This technique is commonly used in industry (particularly in aerospace and nuclear power) to inspect safety-critical parts for flaws during in-service use. Other important uses of ultrasonic NDE involve process control functions during manufacturing and fundamental materials characterization studies. It is not difficult to set up an ultrasonic NDE measurement system to launch waves into a component and monitor the waves received from defects, such as cracks, even when those defects are deep within the component. It is difficult however to interpret quantitatively the signals received in such an ultrasonic NDE measurement process. For example based on the ultrasonic signal received from a crack, what is the size, shape, and orientation of the crack producing the signal? Answering such questions requires evaluation procedures based on a detailed knowledge of the physics of the entire ultrasonic measurement process. One approach to obtaining such knowledge is to couple quantitative experiments closely with detailed models of the entire ultrasonic measurement system itself. We refer to such models here as ultrasonic NDE measurement models. In other areas of engineering, models have revolutionized how engineering is practiced. A classic example is the impact of the finite-element method on elastic stress analysis.
This volume contains invited papers and contributions delivered at the International Conference on Hamiltonian Mechanics: Integrability and Chaotic Behaviour, held in Tornn, Poland during the summer of 1993. The conference was supported by the NATO Scientific and Environmental Affairs Division as an Advanced Research Workshop. In fact, it was the first scientific conference in all Eastern Europe supported by NATO. The meeting was expected to establish contacts between East and West experts as well as to study the current state of the art in the area of Hamiltonian Mechanics and its applications. I am sure that the informal atmosphere of the city of Torun, the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus, stimulated many valuable scientific exchanges. The first idea for this cnference was carried out by Prof Andrzej J. Maciejewski and myself, more than two years ago, during his visit in Greece. It was planned for about forty well-known scientists from East and West. At that time participation of a scientist from Eastern Europe in an Organising Committee of a NATO Conference was not allowed. But always there is the first time. Our plans for such a "small" conference, as a first attempt in the new European situation -the Europe without borders -quickly passed away. The names of our invited speakers, authorities in their field, were a magnet for many colleagues from all over the world.
Multiply charged ions have always been in the focus of atomic physics, astrophysics, plasma physics, and theoretical physics. Within the last few years, strong progress has been achieved in the development of ion sources, ion storage rings, ion traps, and methods to cool ions. As a consequence, nowadays, experiments with ensembles of multiply charged ions of brilliant quality are performed in many laboratories. The broad spectrum of the experiments demonstrates that these ions are an extremely versatile tool for investigations in pure and applied physics. It was the aim of this ASI to bring together scientists working in different fields of research with multiply charged ions in order to get an overview of the state of the art, to sound out possibilities for fruitful cooperations, and to discuss perspectives for the future. Accordingly, the programme of the ASI reached from established areas like QED calculations, weak interactions, x-ray astronomy, x-ray lasers, multi photon excitation, heavy-ion induced fusion, and ion-surface interactions up to the very recently opened areas like bound-beta decay, laser and x-ray spectroscopy, and spectrometry of ions in rings and traps, and the interaction of highly charged ions with biological cells. Impressive progress in nearly all of the fields could be reported during the meeting which is documented by the contributions to this volume. The theoretical understand ing of QED and correlation effects in few-electron heavy ions is rapidly developing."
The reader will find in this volume the Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute held in Cortina d' Ampezzo, Italy, between July 25 and August 6, 1993, under the title From Newton to Chaos: Modem Techniques for Understanding and Coping With Chaos inN-Body Dynamical Systems. This institute was the latest in a series of meetings held every three years from 1972 to 1990 in dynamical astronomy, theoretical mechanics and celestial mechanics. The proceedings from these institutes have been well-received in the international community of research workers in these disciplines. The present institute was well attended with 15 series of lectures being given by invited speakers: in addition some 40 presentations were made by the other participants. The majority of these contributions are included in these proceedings. The all-pervading influence of chaos in dynamical systems (of even a few variables) has now been universally recognised by researchers, a recognition forced on us by our ability, using powerful computer hardware and software, to tackle dynamical problems that until twenty-five years ago were intractable. Doubtless it was felt by many that these new techniques provided a break-through in celestial mechanics and its related disciplines. And so they were.
The 1996 Carg se Summer Institute on Frontiers in Particle Physics was organized by the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris (M. Levy), the Ecole Nonnale SupCrieure, Paris (J. lliopoulos), the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (R. Gastmans), and the Universite Catholique de Louvain (J.-M. Gerard), which, since 1975, have joined their efforts and worked in common. It was the twelfth Sunnner Institute on High Energy Physics organized jointly at Carg se by three of these universities. The Standard Model for fundamental interactions is constructed on two essential ingredients: the gauge symmetry and the mass generation mechanism. Now that the gauge theory aspect has been finnly established, the new challenge for the young researchers in elementary particle physics is the understanding of the origin of the masses. The standard Higgs mechanism is believed to be responsible for generating the masses of ALL fundamental particles. Professor D. Treille discussed the prospects for Higgs boson search and described the experimental determinations of the gauge boson masses. The influence of the top quark mass on electroweak processes has been emphasized by Professor J.L. Rosner, while Professor M. Neubert introduced the heavy-quark effective theory which allows you to get rid of heavy-quark masses. The theoretical determinations of the light quark masses have been critically analyzed by Professor H. Leutwyler. Professor A. Pich presented the various experimental tests on lepton universality and Professor R.L. MBssbauer reviewed our present knowledge on the neutrino masses."
The present volume gathers together the talks presented at the second colloquim on the Future Professional Communication in Astronomy (FPCA II), held at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) on 13-14 April 2010. This meeting provided a forum for editors, publishers, scientists, librarians and officers of learned societies to discuss the future of the field. The program included talks from leading researchers and practitioners and drew a crowd of approximately 50 attendees from 10 countries. These proceedings contain contributions from invited and contributed talks from leaders in the field, touching on a number of topics. Among them: - The role of disciplinary repositories such as ADS and arXiv in astronomy and the physical sciences; - Current status and future of Open Access Publishing models and their impact on astronomy and astrophysics publishing; - Emerging trends in scientific article publishing: semantic annotations, multimedia content, links to data products hosted by astrophysics archives; - Novel approaches to the evaluation of facilities and projects based on bibliometric indicators; - Impact of Government mandates, Privacy laws, and Intellectual Property Rights on the evolving digital publishing environment in astronomy; - Communicating astronomy to the public: the experience of the International Year of Astronomy 2009.
Optics is reborn. There is fresh new vitality in applying old techniques to new prob lems and fully exploring novel phenomena. Lasers, holography, stellar navigation, nonlinear phenomena, and remote sensing are subjects of the seventies, and their further development will increase our understanding of nature and the development of technology. This Series is devoted to provid ing ideas and data to nourish the growth of these scientific and engineering en deavors' for we feel strongly that science and engineering flourish best when they grow together. Some of the volumes in the Series will be devoted to the optical properties of materials, theories of the detailed mechanisms of absorption, reflection, and nonlinea r phenomena, and electro-optical coefficients. The understanding of such things leads to further engineering applications. Companions to such theoretical books will be compendia of property data; the triad is completed by monographs on the use of the materials in op tical and electro-optical systems. Laser materials, lasers, and laser sys tems form one of the groups which will comprise the full set of ready-reference material for the entire field. The Series will be intentionally international, including a fair sampling of Russian work. There are important benefits to be obtained in the alternate approaches often taken by our Soviet and other foreign colleagues (just as they can gain from studying ours)."
The International Conference, Orbis Scientiae 1996, focused on the topics: The Neutrino Mass, Light Cone Quantization, Monopole Condensation, Dark Matter, and Gravitational Waves which we have adopted as the title of these proceedings. Was there any exciting news at the conference? Maybe, it depends on who answers the question. There was an almost unanimous agreement on the overall success of the conference as was evidenced by the fact that in the after-dinner remarks by one of us (BNK) the suggestion of organizing the conference on a biannual basis was presented but not accepted: the participants wanted the continuation of the tradition to convene annually. We shall, of course, comply. The expected observation of gravitational waves will constitute the most exciting vindication of Einstein's general relativity. This subject is attracting the attention of the experimentalists and theorists alike. We hope that by the first decade of the third millennium or earlier, gravitational waves will be detected, opening the way for a search for gravitons somewhere in the universe, presumably through the observations in the CMBR. The theoretical basis of the graviton search will take us to quantum gravity and eventually to the modification of general relativity to include the Planck scale behavior of gravity -at energies 19 of the order of 10 Ge V.
The Optical Society of America Conference on Applications of High Fields and Short Wavelength Sources, held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, from March 20-22, 1997, was an exceptionally exciting conference. This conference was the seventh in a series of topical con ferences, held every two years, which are devoted to the generation and application of high field and short wavelength sources. The meeting was truly international in scope, with equal participation from both within and outside of the US. In the past two years, there has been dramatic progress in both laser and x-ray coher ent sources, both fundamental and applied. The 1997 meeting highlighted these advances, which are summarized in sections 1 and 2 of this volume. Terawatt-class lasers are now avail able in the UV or at high repetition rates. Michael Perry (LLNL) presented a keynote talk on petawatt class lasers and their applications in inertial confinement fusion, while Jorge Rocca (Colorado State University) presented a keynote talk on tabletop soft-x-ray lasers. Genera tion and measurement techniques are becoming very sophisticated throughout the UV and x ray region of the spectrum, and coherent sources have been extended to wavelengths below 30A. Phase control in the x-ray region is also now possible, and new phase-matching schemes in the UV have been experimentally demonstrated. It is clear that a new field of x-ray nonlin ear optics will deveiop rapidly over the next few years."
The concept of infinity is one of the most important, and at the same time, one of the most mysterious concepts of science. Already in antiquity many philosophers and mathematicians pondered over its contradictory nature. In mathematics, the contradictions connected with infinity intensified after the creation, at the end of the 19th century, of the theory of infinite sets and the subsequent discovery, soon after, of paradoxes in this theory. At the time, many scientists ignored the paradoxes and used set theory extensively in their work, while others subjected set-theoretic methods in mathematics to harsh criticism. The debate intensified when a group of French mathematicians, who wrote under the pseudonym of Nicolas Bourbaki, tried to erect the whole edifice of mathematics on the single notion of a set. Some mathematicians greeted this attempt enthusiastically while others regarded it as an unnecessary formalization, an attempt to tear mathematics away from life-giving practical applications that sustain it. These differences notwithstanding, Bourbaki has had a significant influence on the evolution of mathematics in the twentieth century. In this book we try to tell the reader how the idea of the infinite arose and developed in physics and in mathematics, how the theory of infinite sets was constructed, what paradoxes it has led to, what significant efforts have been made to eliminate the resulting contradictions, and what routes scientists are trying to find that would provide a way out of the many difficulties.
The Symposium .Symmetries in Science VI: From the Rotation Group to Quantum Algebras. was held at the Cloister Mehrerau, Bregenz, Austria, during the period August 2-7, 1992. The Symposium was held in honor of Professor Lawrence C. Biedenharn on the occasion of his 70th birthday. During the academic year 1966/67 I worked as research associate with Larry at Duke University and we have ever since maintained close contact. It was thus natural for me to take the initiative and to organize this Symposium in honor of Larry as a great scientist and friend. The response which the Symposium received showed the favorable reaction by the scientific community to the opportunity provided by the Symposium to honor our colleague, teacher and friend. Equally, the scientific contributions contained in this volume illustrate the high esteem in which he is held. I wish to thank all the scientists who participated in the Symposium and who contributed to this volume. It is due to their commitment that the Symposium was successful. Finally I need to thank those who provided financial and logistical assistance to the Symposium: Dr. John H. Guyon, President of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Dr. Russell R. Dutcher, Dean, College of Science at SIUC, Dr. Maurice A. Wright, Chairman, Department of Physics, SIUC, Dr. Victoria J. Molfese, Office of Research Developement and Administration, SIUC, as well as Dr. Martin Purtscher, Landeshauptmann, Land Vorarlberg Dr. Guntram Lins, Landesrat, Land Vorarlberg."
The NATO Advanced Study Institute on The Nuclear Equatioo of State was held at Peiiiscola Spain from May 22- June 3, 1989. The school was devoted to the advances, theoretical and experimental, made during the past fifteen years in the physics of nuclear matter under extreme conditions, such as high compression and high temperature. Moie than 300 people had applied for participatio- this demonstrates the tremendous interest in the various subjects presented at the school. Indeed, the topic of this school, namely the Nuclear Equatioo of State, * plays the central role in high energy heavy ion collisions; * contains the intriguing possibilities of various phase transitions (gas - vapor, meson condensation, quark - gluon plasma); * plays an important role in the static and dynamical behavior of stars, especially in supernova explosions and in neutron star stability. The investigation on the nuclear equation of state can only be accomplished in the laboratory by compressing and heating up nuclear matter and the only mechanism known to date to achieve this goal is through shock compression and -heating in violent high energy heavy ion collisions. This key mechanism has been proposed and highly disputed in of high energy heavy ion physics, the early 70's. It plays a central role in the whole field and particularly in our discussions during the two weeks at Peiiiscola.
The present volume contains the expanded lectures of a meeting on relativistic astrophysics, the goal of which was to provide a modern introduction to specific aspects of the field for young researchers, as well as for nonspecialists from related areas. Particular emphasis is placed on the theory of black holes and evolution, relativistic stars and jet hydrodynamics, as well as the production and detection of gravitational waves. The book is complemented by further contributions and animation supplied on the accompanying CD-ROM.
In their approach to Earth dynamics the authors consider the
fundamentals of "Jacobi Dynamics" (1987, Reidel) for two reasons.
First, because satellite observations have proved that the Earth
does not stay in hydrostatic equilibrium, which is the physical
basis of today's treatment of geodynamics. And secondly, because
satellite data have revealed a relationship between gravitational
moments and the potential of the Earth's outer force field
(potential energy), which is the basis of "Jacobi Dynamics." This
has also enabled the authors to come back to the derivation of the
classical virial theorem and, after introducing the volumetric
forces and moments, to obtain a generalized virial theorem in the
form of Jacobi's equation. Thus a physical explanation and rigorous
solution was found for the famous Jacobi's equation, where the
measure of the matter interaction is the energy.
The II international workshop on "Data Analysis in Astronomy" was intended to provide an overview on the state of the art and the trend in data analy sis and image processing in the context of their applications in Astronomy. The need for the organization of a second workshop in this subject derived from the steady. growing and development in the field and from the increasing cross-interaction between methods, technology and applications in Astronomy. The book is organized in four main sections: - Data Analysis Methodologies - Data Handling and Systems dedicated to Large Experiments - Parallel Processing - New Developments The topics which have been selected cover some of the main fields in data analysis in Astronomy. Methods that provide a major contribution to the physical interpretation of the data have been considered. Attention has been devoted to the description of the data analysis and handling organization in very large experiments. A review of the current major satellite and ground based experiments has been included. At the end of the book the following 'Panel Discussions' are included: - Data Analysis Trend in Optical and Radio Astronomy - Data Analysis Trend in X and Gamma Astronomy - Problems and Solutions in the Design of Very Large Experiments - Trend on Parallel Processing Algorithms These contributions in a sense summarize the 'live' reaction of the audience to the various topics.
If a heavy particle ion (atom, molecule, muon) collides with another in the gas phase at speeds approaching the speed of light, the time-dependent Dirac equation equation must be used for its description, including quantum electro-dynamic, special relativity and magnetic coupling effects. In this book we study one electron in the variety of rearrangement collisions: radiative and non-radiative capture, ionization, capture by pair (one electron, one positron) production and antihydrogen production. Our relativistic continuum distorted-wave theory accounts extremely well for the simultaneous behaviour of the electron with respect to the nuclear charges of the projectile and the target. This is the first book developed in this subject. Containing many diagrams and tables, and fully referenced, it goes beyond chapters in previous books. The relativistic continuum distorted-wave theory developed by the authors group, is shown to be fully Hermitean. Detailed mathematics are provided in nine appendices.
What is unorthodox in this book? Much has happened in the last few years, especially in terms of the somewhat surpris ing rate at which the theories presented herein have been gaining increasing acceptance and support even by the most skeptical professionals. Nevertheless, the purpose of this up-dated Preface is not to tell the biographical and acceptance story behind this book, but to bring together some non-physical and non technical conclusions for those readers who find the physico-mathematical sections of this book too difficult to follow. A secondary purpose is to present here some newer conclu sions, especially in general philosophy and in aesthetics. Yet, the main physico philosophical conclusions presented in this book are not to be summarized here. For that purpose one must tum to the text itself. * * * The theories presented here have been developed in total isolation. They were never presented in "professional conferences," as most current writers do. Whether or not that was important remains to be seen. Hence, all I can state to critics and enthusiastic follow ers alike is the fact that I do not belong to any 'formal discipline', 'pressure group', or 'pro fessional organization'."
I was introduced to Tiisi: and his Tadhkira some 19 years ago. That first meeting was neither happy nor auspicious. My graduate student notes from the time indicate a certain level of confusion and frustration; I seem to have had trouble with such words as tadwlr (epicycle), which was not to be found in my standard dictionary, and with the concept of solid-sphere astronomy, which, when found, was pooh-poohed in the standard sources. I had another, even more decisive reaction: boredom. Only the end of the term brought relief, and I was grateful to be on to other, more exciting aspects of the history of science. A few years later, I found myself, thanks to fellowships from Fulbright-Hays and the American Research Center in Egypt, happily immersed in the manu script collections of Damascus, Aleppo, and Cairo. Though I had intended to work on a topic in the history of mathematics, I was drawn, perhaps inevitably, to a certain type of astronomical writing falling under the rubric of hay' a. At first this fascination was based on sheer numbers; that so many medieval scientists could have written on such a subject must mean something, I told myself. (I was in a sociological mode at the time.
Laser physics and nonlinear optics are fields which have been intimately con nected from their beginning. Nonlinear optical effects such as second-har monic generation fulfil vital functions in many laser systems. Conversely advances in laser development quickly lead to progress in nonlinear optics. Of particular importance has been the development of tunable visible and uv lasers. With the ability to tune the laser frequency into close resonance with atomic transition frequencies, one can produce a large resonance en hancement of the nonlinearity. This permits the observation of a great var iety of nonlinear optical processes in dilute media such as atomic vapours. In recent years much of the research effort in nonlinear optics has been directed towards the use of such media, and it is this area which forms the subject of the present book. We review a wide range of nonlinear optical processes in atomic vapours, molecular gases and cryogenic liquids. At the same time we have tried to treat the subject in sufficient depth to be useful to research workers in the field. To achieve this, a measure of selectivity has been introduced by emphasising those nonlinear processes which are seen to have applications as sources of tunable coherent radiation. Thus we have not discussed in any detail those nonlinear processes whose main applications are in spec troscopy, such as Doppler-free two-photon absorption."
The purpose of this volume is to present the latest planetary studies of an international body of scientists concerned with the physical and chemical aspects of terrestrial planets. In recent years planetary science has developed in leaps and bounds. This is a result of the application of a broad range of scientific disciplines, particularly physical and chemical, to an understanding of the information received from manned and unmanned space exploration. The first five chapters expound on many of the past and recent observations in an attempt to develop meaningful physical-chemical models of planetary formation and evolution. For any discussion of the chemical processes in the solar nebula, it is important to understand the boundary conditions of the physical variables. In Chapter 1, Saf ranov and Vitjazev have laid down explicitly all the physical constraints and the problems of time-dependence of nebular evolutionary processes. Planetary scientists and students will find in this chapter a collection of astrophysical parameters on the transfer of angular momentum, formation of the disk and the gas envelope, nebular turbulence, physical mixing of particles of various origins and growth of planetesimals. The authors conclude their work with important information on ev olution of terrestrial planets. Although symbols are defined in the text of the article, readers who are not familiar with the many symbols and abbreviations in astrophysical literature will find it useful to consult the Appendix for explanations." |
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