Sound, devoid of meaning, would not matter to us. It is the information sound conveys that helps the brain to understand its environment. Sound and its underlying meaning are always associated with time and space. There is no sound without spatial properties, and the brain always organizes this information within a temporal-spatial framework. This book is devoted to understanding the importance of meaning for spatial and related further aspects of hearing, including cross-modal inference. People, when exposed to acoustic stimuli, do not react directly to what they hear but rather to what they hear means to them. This semiotic maxim may not always apply, for instance, when the reactions are reflexive. But, where it does apply, it poses a major challenge to the builders of models of the auditory system. Take, for example, an auditory model that is meant to be implemented on a robotic agent for autonomous search-&-rescue actions. Or think of a system that can perform judgments on the sound quality of multimedia-reproduction systems. It becomes immediately clear that such a system needs * Cognitive capabilities, including substantial inherent knowledge * The ability to integrate information across different sensory modalities To realize these functions, the auditory system provides a pair of sensory organs, the two ears, and the means to perform adequate preprocessing of the signals provided by the ears. This is realized in the subcortical parts of the auditory system. In the title of a prior book, the term Binaural Listening is used to indicate a focus on sub-cortical functions. Psychoacoustics and auditory signal processing contribute substantially to this area. The preprocessed signals are then forwarded to the cortical parts of the auditory system where, among other things, recognition, classification, localization, scene analysis, assignment of meaning, quality assessment, and action planning take place. Also, information from different sensory modalities is integrated at this level. Between sub-cortical and cortical regions of the auditory system, numerous feedback loops exist that ultimately support the high complexity and plasticity of the auditory system. The current book concentrates on these cognitive functions. Instead of processing signals, processing symbols is now the predominant modeling task. Substantial contributions to the field draw upon the knowledge acquired by cognitive psychology. The keyword Binaural Understanding in the book title characterizes this shift. Both books, The Technology of Binaural Listening and the current one, have been stimulated and supported by AABBA, an open research group devoted to the development and application of models of binaural hearing. The current book is dedicated to technologies that help explain, facilitate, apply, and support various aspects of binaural understanding. It is organized into five parts, each containing three to six chapters in order to provide a comprehensive overview of this emerging area. Each chapter was thoroughly reviewed by at least two anonymous, external experts. The first part deals with the psychophysical and physiological effects of Forming and Interpreting Aural Objects as well as the underlying models. The fundamental concepts of reflexive and reflective auditory feedback are introduced. Mechanisms of binaural attention and attention switching are covered-as well as how auditory Gestalt rules facilitate binaural understanding. A general blackboard architecture is introduced as an example of how machines can learn to form and interpret aural objects to simulate human cognitive listening. The second part, Configuring and Understanding Aural Space, focuses on the human understanding of complex three-dimensional environments-covering the psychological and biological fundamentals of auditory space formation. This part further addresses the human mechanisms used to process information and interact in complex reverberant environments, such as concert halls and forests, and additionally examines how the auditory system can learn to understand and adapt to these environments. The third part is dedicated to Processing Cross-Modal Inference and highlights the fundamental human mechanisms used to integrate auditory cues with cues from other modalities to localize and form perceptual objects. This part also provides a general framework for understanding how complex multimodal scenes can be simulated and rendered. The fourth part, Evaluating Aural-scene Quality and Speech Understanding, focuses on the object-forming aspects of binaural listening and understanding. It addresses cognitive mechanisms involved in both the understanding of speech and the processing of nonverbal information such as Sound Quality and Quality-of- Experience. The aesthetic judgment of rooms is also discussed in this context. Models that simulate underlying human processes and performance are covered in addition to techniques for rendering virtual environments that can then be used to test these models. The fifth part deals with the Application of Cognitive Mechanisms to Audio Technology. It highlights how cognitive mechanisms can be utilized to create spatial auditory illusions using binaural and other 3D-audio technologies. Further, it covers how cognitive binaural technologies can be applied to improve human performance in auditory displays and to develop new auditory technologies for interactive robots. The book concludes with the application of cognitive binaural technologies to the next generation of hearing aids.

This book highlights leading-edge research in multi-disciplinary areas in Physics, Engineering, Medicine, and Health care, from the 6th IRC Conference on Science, Engineering and Technology (IRC-SET 2020) held in July 2020 at Singapore. The papers were shortlisted after extensive rounds of reviews by a panel of esteemed individuals who are pioneers in their domains. The book also contains excerpts of the speeches by eminent personalities who graced the occasion, thereby providing written documentation of the event.

With rising energy costs and the threat of diminishing resources affecting all international economies, the computation of energy required to extract and refine a resource--net energy analysis--has become an important component of energy analysis. This volume fills a major gap in the energy development literature by providing a full-length scholarly treatment of the subject. Written for energy researchers and managers in industries and utilities, "Net Energy AnalysiS" thoroughly explains the theoretical principles underlyiing net energy analysis, offers examples of how these principles are applied, and provides an impartial critique of current methods.

This book provides analytical and numerical methods for the estimation of dimension characteristics (Hausdorff, Fractal, Caratheodory dimensions) for attractors and invariant sets of dynamical systems and cocycles generated by smooth differential equations or maps in finite-dimensional Euclidean spaces or on manifolds. It also discusses stability investigations using estimates based on Lyapunov functions and adapted metrics. Moreover, it introduces various types of Lyapunov dimensions of dynamical systems with respect to an invariant set, based on local, global and uniform Lyapunov exponents, and derives analytical formulas for the Lyapunov dimension of the attractors of the Henon and Lorenz systems. Lastly, the book presents estimates of the topological entropy for general dynamical systems in metric spaces and estimates of the topological dimension for orbit closures of almost periodic solutions to differential equations.

This textbook presents the classical treatment of the problems of heat transfer in an exhaustive manner with due emphasis on understanding of the physics of the problems. This emphasis will be especially visible in the chapters on convective heat transfer. Emphasis is also laid on the solution of steady and unsteady two-dimensional heat conduction problems. Another special feature of the book is a chapter on introduction to design of heat exchangers and their illustrative design problems. A simple and understandable treatment of gaseous radiation has been presented. A special chapter on flat plate solar air heater has been incorporated that covers mathematical modeling of the air heater. The chapter on mass transfer has been written looking specifically at the needs of the students of mechanical engineering. The book includes a large number and variety of solved problems with supporting line diagrams. A number of application-based examples have been incorporated where applicable. The end-of-chapter exercise problems are supplemented with stepwise answers. Though the book has been primarily designed to serve as a complete textbook for undergraduate and graduate students of mechanical engineering, it will also be useful for students of chemical, aerospace, automobile, production, and industrial engineering streams. The book fully covers the topics of heat transfer coursework and can also be used as an excellent reference for students preparing for competitive graduate examinations.

This book gives a comprehensive introduction to the field of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and modules. In thirteen chapters, it addresses a wide range of topics including the spectrum of light received by PV devices, the basic functioning of a solar cell, and the physical factors limiting the efficiency of solar cells. It places particular emphasis on crystalline silicon solar cells and modules, which constitute today more than 90 % of all modules sold worldwide. Describing in great detail both the manufacturing process and resulting module performance, the book also touches on the newest developments in this sector, such as Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCON) and heterojunction modules, while dedicating a major chapter to general questions of module design and fabrication. Overall, it presents the essential theoretical and practical concepts of PV solar cells and modules in an easy-to-understand manner and discusses current challenges facing the global research and development community.

This well-documented and fascinating book tells how, over the centuries, a series of visionaries, scientists, technologists, and politicians fostered the involvement of Italy in space exploration. The lives of these pioneers was often far from easy, yet they persevered. The fruits of their efforts can today be witnessed in Italy's success within the cutting-edge space sector. Italy's history in space started at the end of the fourteenth century and continued with the development of fireworks. Later, the nineteenth century marked the beginning of research into rockets in a more scientific way. After World War II, rocket technology was advanced with the aid of German scientists, and in the 1960s Luigi Broglio, the father of Italian space exploration, designed the San Marco satellite. In 1979 the first Italian Space Plan was launched, but it was the foundation of the Italian Space Agency in 1988 that kick-started a program of exploration in various fields of cosmic research. The outcome was construction of the Vega launcher and collaboration in the International Space Station. Now the Italian space industry stands ready to play an important role in the Gateway orbital station. All of this history, and more, is explored in this riveting book.

This book presents different thermodynamic approaches in the area of constitutive theory: thermodynamics of irreversible processes, rational thermodynamics, and extended thermodynamics. These different approaches are analyzed with respect to their presuppositions, as well as to their results, and each method is applied to several important examples. In many cases these examples are archetypes for numerous technologically important materials; i.e. complex materials having an internal structure. Some of the examples dealt with in this book are liquid crystals, colloid suspensions, ans fiber suspensions. The book well serves students and researchers who have basic knowledge in continuum mechanics and thermodynamics. It provides a systematic overview of the vast field of thermodynamic constitutive theory, beginning from a historical perspective and concluding with outstanding questions in recent research.

Effects of many-body interactions and superconducting correlations have become central questions in the quantum transport community. While most previous works investigating current fluctuations in nanodevices have been restricted to the stationary regime, Seoane's thesis extends these studies to the time domain. It provides relevant information about the time onset of electronic correlations mediated by interactions and superconductivity. This knowledge is essential for the development of fast electronic devices, as well as novel applications requiring fast manipulations, such as quantum information processing. In addition, the thesis establishes contact with issues of broad current interest such as non-equilibrium quantum phase transitions.

This book offers, from both a theoretical and a computational perspective, an analysis of macroscopic mathematical models for description of charge transport in electronic devices, in particular in the presence of confining effects, such as in the double gate MOSFET. The models are derived from the semiclassical Boltzmann equation by means of the moment method and are closed by resorting to the maximum entropy principle. In the case of confinement, electrons are treated as waves in the confining direction by solving a one-dimensional Schroedinger equation obtaining subbands, while the longitudinal transport of subband electrons is described semiclassically. Limiting energy-transport and drift-diffusion models are also obtained by using suitable scaling procedures. An entire chapter in the book is dedicated to a promising new material like graphene. The models appear to be sound and sufficiently accurate for systematic use in computer-aided design simulators for complex electron devices. The book is addressed to applied mathematicians, physicists, and electronic engineers. It is written for graduate or PhD readers but the opening chapter contains a modicum of semiconductor physics, making it self-consistent and useful also for undergraduate students.

"Venus has always been associated with the feminine in astrology and in culture, yet little emphasis is placed upon the wisdom aspect of the planet. With the cycles of Venus we are given insight into the unfolding of wisdom within ourselves and society, especially with the cycle of Venus' inferior conjunctions - the so-called 2nd order cycle of the planet. In her timely and much-needed work, Firegazing, Gail has brilliantly outlined the meaning and import of these cycles and the deeper meaning of a planet that often only receives a passing notice in astrology, yet is so intimately connected with our own lives and what it is to be human. When Venus passes across the face of the solar orb, we are given opportunity to gaze into the very fire of the soul itself. Well done, Gail " - Malvin Artley

INDUCTION COIL THEORY AND APPLICATIONS BY E. TAYLOR JpNES, D. Sc. PROFESSOR OP NATURAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW LONDON SIR ISAAC PITMAN SONS, LTD. 1932 SIR ISAAC PITMAN SONS, LTD. PARKER STREET, KINGSWAY, LONDON, W. C. 2 THE PITMAN PRESS, BATH THE RIALTO, COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE 2 WEST 45TH STREET, NEW YORK SIR ISAAC PITMAN SONS CANADA, LTD. 7O BOND STREET, TORONTO PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE PITMAN PRESS, BATH PREFACE THE theory of the action of an induction coil, or that of any other form of oscillation transformer, is essentially a theory of the transient electric currents set flowing at some sudden or very rapid change jn the circumstances of one of a pair of coupled circuits. The precis-manner of variation of the currents depends upon the method by which they are started, but generally in inductive circuits it takes the form of two superposed oscillations which gradually die away while the system is adjusting itself to its new conditions. In many cases the currents, besides varying with time, are also variable along the wire owing to its distributed capacity a fact which is too often overlooked, with the consequence that erroneous state ments are sometimes made regarding fundamental matters, such as, for example, the law of electromagnetic induction which is discussed in Chapter I. The book contains a less detailed and more descriptive account of the action of induction coils than that given in the Theory of the Induction Coil published eleven years ago. All the essential features of the theory are, however, retained in the present account, and free use has been made of portions of the earlier book where they appeared suitable for the purposes of the presentone. As in the former book, oscillographic records are used largely to illustrate the subject, and many new examples are here collected, including some, in Chapter III, which illustrate the relative merits of coils and transformers as generators of high potentials. In using an induction coil or other generator for some prac tical purpose, it is important to understand the nature of the function which it has to perform. One such duty, for which induction coils are in general use at the present time, is that of producing ignition in motor-car engines, and an account of this subject is accordingly given in Chapter VIII, with a discussion of the relative effectiveness in ignition of different types of induction coil spark. vi PREFACE The induction coil has recently proved to be a very suitable generator of cathode ray beams for the study of electron diffraction phenomena, and a description of experiments by this method is given in Chapter VI. At the present time much use is made of the sustained oscillations of coupled circuits, especially those in which the amplitude is kept constant by the action of a triode valve. There is an important difference between such maintained oscillations and the transient vibrations which follow a sudden alteration of the circuit conditions. In the latter, both com ponent vibrations are usually strongly in evidence together, but in the oscillations maintained by a valve only one of the components is usually present, and it is only in very special circumstances that both oscillations can be maintained simul taneously. This question is discussed in Chapter IX, in which the conditions for the maintenance of one component, or the other, or of both together, areexplained. The author wishes to thank the Editors of the Philosophical Magazine, The Electrician, and the Journal of the Rontgen Society, for their kind permission to use articles and illustra tions which have been published in those journals. Much of the experimental work described in the following pages was carried out in the Physics Laboratory of the Uni versity College of North Wales, Bangor, and in the Natural Philosophy Department of the University of Glasgow...

This book summarizes the latest research on the structural geology of the mobile belts of the Indian subcontinent including the Himalayas, NE Himalayas, Bangladesh thrust belt, Andaman subduction zone, the Aravalli-Delhi, the Central India Tectonic Zone, the Singhbhum, the Eastern Ghats and the Southern granulite terrane. It offers essential information on deformational structures in the mobile belt, such as folding patterns, the character of the shear zone, shear strain analysis, and faults, as well as fault zone rocks. The findings presented here are based on field observations, mapping, sampling and analysis work (e.g. petrographic studies), as well as limited geochemical and geochronological analysis to support the findings. A discussion on the structural evolution of these mobile belts and their connections with other belts rounds out the coverage.

This volume offers an integrated understanding of how the theory of general relativity gained momentum after Einstein had formulated it in 1915. Chapters focus on the early reception of the theory in physics and philosophy and on the systematic questions that emerged shortly after Einstein's momentous discovery. They are written by physicists, historians of science, and philosophers, and were originally presented at the conference titled Thinking About Space and Time: 100 Years of Applying and Interpreting General Relativity, held at the University of Bern from September 12-14, 2017. By establishing the historical context first, and then moving into more philosophical chapters, this volume will provide readers with a more complete understanding of early applications of general relativity (e.g., to cosmology) and of related philosophical issues. Because the chapters are often cross-disciplinary, they cover a wide variety of topics related to the general theory of relativity. These include: Heuristics used in the discovery of general relativity Mach's Principle The structure of Einstein's theory Cosmology and the Einstein world Stability of cosmological models The metaphysical nature of spacetime The relationship between spacetime and dynamics The Geodesic Principle Symmetries Thinking About Space and Time will be a valuable resource for historians of science and philosophers who seek a deeper knowledge of the (early and later) uses of general relativity, as well as for physicists and mathematicians interested in exploring the wider historical and philosophical context of Einstein's theory.

This book introduces the reader into the field of the physics of processes occurring in porous media. It targets Master and PhD students who need to gain fundamental understanding the impact of confinement on transport and phase change processes. The book gives brief overviews of topics like thermodynamics, capillarity and fluid mechanics in order to launch the reader smoothly into the realm of porous media. In-depth discussions are given of phase change phenomena in porous media, single phase flow, unsaturated flow and multiphase flow. In order to make the topics concrete the book contains numerous example calculations. Further, as much experimental data as possible is plugged in to give the reader the ability to quantify phenomena.

Science often deals with hard-to-see phenomena, and they only stand out and become real when viewed through the lens of complex statistical tools. This book is not a textbook about statistics applied to science - there are already many excellent books to choose from - rather, it tries to give an overview of the basic principles that physical scientists use to analyze their data and bring out the order of Nature from the fog of background noise.

This accessible textbook offers a novel, concept-led approach to superconducting electronics, using the COMSOL Multiphysics software to help describe fundamental principles in an intuitive manner. Based on a course taught by the author and aimed primarily at engineering students, the book explains concepts effectively and efficiently, uncovering the "shortcut" to understanding each topic, enabling readers to quickly grasp the underlying essence. The book is divided into two main parts; the first part provides a general introduction to key topics encountered in superconductivity, illustrated using COMSOL simulations based on time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations and avoiding any deeply mathematical derivations. It includes numerous worked examples and problem sets with tips and solutions. The second part of the book is more conventional in nature, providing detailed derivations of the basic equations from first principles. This part covers more advanced topics, including the BCS-Gor'kov-Eliashberg approach to equilibrium properties of superconductors, the derivation of kinetic equations for nonequilibrium superconductors, and the derivation of time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations, used as the basis for COMSOL modeling in the first part. Supported throughout by an extensive library of COMSOL Multiphysics animations, the book serves as a uniquely accessible introduction to the field for engineers and others with a less rigorous background in physics and mathematics. However, it also features more detailed mathematical background for those wishing to delve further into the subject.

In the fourty-six years that have gone by since the first volume of Progress in Optics was published, optics has become one of the most dynamic fields of science. The volumes in this series which have appeared up to now contain more than 300 review articles by distinguished research workers, which have become permanent records for many important developments.
- Metamaterials
- Polarization Techniques
- Linear Baisotropic Mediums
- Ultrafast Optical Pulses
- Quantum Imaging
- Point-Spread Funcions
- Discrete Wigner Functions