A Fully Depleted pn-Junction CCD for Infrared-, UV- and X- ray detection

This paper describes the performance of the Fully Depleted pn-junction CCD (pn-CCD) system, developed for ESA's XMM-satellite mission for soft x-ray imaging and spectroscopy in the single photon counting mode in the 100 eV to 10 keV photon range. The 58 mm x 60 mm large pn-CCD array, designed and fabricated at the Semiconductor Lab (Halbleiterlabor) of the Max-Planck-Institut, uses pn-junctions for registers and as backside structure. This concept naturally enables full depletion of the detector volume independent of the silicon wafer's resistivity and thickness, and as such make it an efficient detector for the x-ray region and the infrared. For high detection efficiency in the soft x-ray region and UV, an ultrathin pn-CCD backside deadlayer has been realized. Each pn-CCD-channel is equipped with its own on-chip JFET amplifier which, in combination with the CAMEX-amplifier and multiplexing chip, facilitates parallel readout and fast data rate: the cooled pn-CCD system can be read out at a data rate up to 3 MHz with an electronic noise floor of ENC < 5 e-.     

Simple nonlinear recursions and the mean-field concept

Some questions concerning the formation of mean-field theories are analyzed by a consideration of simple nonlinear recursions. The results suggest that a general closure scheme does not exist, rather there is a great variety of closures, each of the valid in only a certain interval of the characteristic parameter. Furthermore, questions connected with the appearance of random behaviour in these deterministic systems and the modelling of random reversals are discussed.     

Modeling Hysteresis in Porous Media Flow via Relaxation

Two-phase flow in a porous medium can be modeled, using Darcy's law, in terms of the relative permeability functions of the two fluids (say, oil and water). The relative permeabilities generally depend not only on the fluid saturations but also on the direction in which the saturations are changing. During water injection, for example, the relative oil permeability k _ro falls gradually until a threshold is reached, at which stage the k _ro begins to decrease sharply. The latter stage is termed imbibition. If oil is subsequently injected, then k _ro does not recover along the imbibition path, but rather increases only gradually until another threshold is reached, whereupon it rises sharply. This second stage is called drainage, and the type of flow that occurs between the imbibition and drainage stages is called scanning flow. Changes in permeability during scanning flow are approximately reversible, whereas changes during drainage and imbibition are irreversible. Thus there is hysteresis, or memory, exhibited by the two-phase flow in the porous medium. In this work, we describe two models of permeability hysteresis. Common to both models is that the scanning flow regime is modeled with a family of curves along which the flow is reversible. In the Scanning Hysteresis Model (SHM), the scanning curves are bounded by two curves, the drainage and imbibition curves, where the flow can only occur in a specific direction. The SHM is a heuristic model consistent with experiments, but it does not have a nice mathematical specification. For instance, the algorithm for constructing solutions of Riemann problems involves several ad hoc assumptions. The Scanning Hysteresis Model with Relaxation (SHMR) augments the SHM by (a) allowing the scanning flow to extend beyond the drainage and imbibition curves and (b) treating these two curves merely as attractors of states outside the scanning region. The attraction, or relaxation, occurs on a time scale that corresponds to the redistribution of phases within the pores of the medium driven by capillary forces. By means of a formal Chapman–Enskog expansion, we show that the SHM with additional viscosity arises from the SHMR in the limit of vanishing relaxation time, provided that the diffusion associated with capillarity exceeds that induced by relaxation. Moreover, through a rigorous study of traveling waves in the SHMR, we show that the shock waves used to solve Riemann problems in the SHM are precisely those that have diffusive profiles. Thus the analysis of the SHMR justifies the SHM model. Simulations based on a simple numerical method for the simulation of flow with hysteresis confirm our analysis.     

Revised equipartition and minimum energy formula for magnetic field strength estimates from radio synchrotron observations

The commonly used classical equipartition or minimum‐energy estimate of total magnetic fields strengths from radio synchrotron intensities is of limited practical use because it is based on the hardly known ratio K of the total energies of cosmic ray protons and electrons and also has inherent problems. We present a revised formula, using the number density ratio K for which we give estimates. For particle acceleration in strong shocks K is about 40 and increases with decreasing shock strength. Our revised estimate for the field strength gives larger values than the classical estimate for flat radio spectra with spectral indices of about 0.5–0.6, but smaller values for steep spectra and total fields stronger than about 10 µG. In very young supernova remnants, for example, the classical estimate may be too large by up to 10×. On the other hand, if energy losses of cosmic ray electrons are important, K increases with particle energy and the equipartition field may be underestimated significantly. Our revised larger equipartition estimates in galaxy clusters and radio lobes are consistent with independent estimates from Faraday rotation measures, while estimates from the ratio between radio synchrotron and X‐ray inverse Compton intensities generally give much weaker fields. This may be explained e.g. by a concentration of the field in filaments. Our revised field strengths may also lead to major revisions of electron lifetimes in jets and radio lobes estimated from the synchrotron break frequency in the radio spectrum. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

GSD‐1G and MPI‐DING Reference Glasses for In Situ and Bulk Isotopic Determination

This paper contains the results of an extensive isotopic study of United States Geological Survey GSD‐1G and MPI‐DING reference glasses. Thirteen different laboratories were involved using high‐precision bulk (TIMS, MC‐ICP‐MS) and microanalytical (LA‐MC‐ICP‐MS, LA‐ICP‐MS) techniques. Detailed studies were performed to demonstrate the large‐scale and small‐scale homogeneity of the reference glasses. Together with previously published isotopic data from ten other laboratories, preliminary reference and information values as well as their uncertainties at the 95% confidence level were determined for H, O, Li, B, Si, Ca, Sr, Nd, Hf, Pb, Th and U isotopes using the recommendations of the International Association of Geoanalysts for certification of reference materials. Our results indicate that GSD‐1G and the MPI‐DING glasses are suitable reference materials for microanalytical and bulk analytical purposes.     

“Phasic” metropolitan settlers: a phase-based model for the distribution of households in US metropolitan regions

In this article, we develop a model for explaining spatial patterns in the distribution of households across metropolitan regions in the United States. First, we use housing consumption and residential mobility theories to construct a hypothetical probability distribution function for the consumption of housing services across three phases of household life span. We then hypothesize a second probability distribution function for the offering of housing services based on the distance from city center(s) at the metropolitan scale. Intersecting the two hypothetical probability functions, we develop a phase-based model for the distribution of households in US metropolitan regions. We argue that phase one households (young adults) are more likely to reside in central city locations, whereas phase two and three households are more likely to select suburban locations, due to their respective housing consumption behaviors. We provide empirical validation of our theoretical model with the data from the 2010 US Census for 35 large metropolitan regions.     

Deep scattering layers resolved by narrow‐beam echo sounder along 35°s in the south pacific

The narrow‐beam echo sounder (3.5° half angle, 20 kHz) is capable of resolving the configuration of deep scattering layers to 750 m and was used to study the ecology and population density of organisms that make up the layers. Several layers to 1,000 m depth were identified in the South Pacific Ocean, and the population densities calculated. Swimming speeds of possible predators are estimated at 0.2–0.3 m.sec‐¹. Among organisms calculated to range in length from 0.01 m to 0.07 m, the larger were interpreted as grazing on smaller organisms, after comparing results from two echo sounders of 12 kHz and 20 kHz frequencies respectively.     

Long‐term variability of proglacial groundwater‐fed hydrological systems in an area of glacier retreat,Skeiðarársandur,Iceland

Proglacial groundwater‐fed features, such as seeps, substantially impact proglacial geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology. However, there is a paucity of research on the impacts of climate change and glacier retreat on the extent of these important features. This paper aims to investigate the impact of glacier retreat on proglacial groundwater levels and on the extent of groundwater‐fed seeps. Research has taken place in western Skeiðarársandur, the large proglacial outwash plain of Skeiðarárjökull, a retreating temperate glacier in southeast Iceland. Changes in the extent of proglacial groundwater seeps were mapped using historical aerial photographs from 1986, 1997, and 2012. Proglacial groundwater levels were monitored in shallow boreholes between 2000 and 2012. The western margin of Skeiðarárjökull has retreated approximately 1 km beyond its position in 1986. However, this retreat was punctuated by short periods of readvance. The geomorphology and groundwater systems at the site were substantially impacted by the November 1996 jökulhlaup, whose deposits altered approximately 18% of the area of groundwater seeps. The surface areas of groundwater seeps and lakes in the study area have declined by ~97% between 1986 and 2012. Most of the decline took place after 1997, when the mean annual rate of retreat increased three‐fold. Groundwater levels also declined substantially between 2000 and 2012, although this trend varies spatially. The paper provides a conceptual model of the controls on proglacial shallow groundwater systems. Direct impacts of glacier retreat are suggested as the main cause for the declines in proglacial groundwater levels and in the extent of groundwater seeps. These declines are expected to adversely impact sandur ecology. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the REYNOLDS Stresses in Mean‒Field Hydrodynamics I. Incompressible Homogeneous Isotropic Turbulence

We consider an incompressible fluid undergoing turbulent motions. Using the methods of mean-field electrodynamics the relations between the REYNOLDS stresses and the mean velocity field are deduced in linear approximation. The homogeneous isotropic case is treated in more detail and we show that the effects can be described by a turbulent viscosity which proved to be positive in any case.