QUEST on DASI: a South Pole CMB polarization experiment

QUEST on DASI is a ground-based, high-sensitivity, high-resolution (ℓ_max2500) experiment designed to map CMB polarization at 100 and 150 GHz and to measure the power spectra from E-modes, B-modes from lensing of the CMB, and B-modes from primordial gravitational waves. The experiment comprises a 2.6 m Cassegrain optical system, equipped with an array of 62 polarization-sensitive bolometers (PSBs), located at the South Pole. The instrument is designed to minimize systematic effects; features include differencing of pairs of orthogonal PSBs within a single feed, a rotatable achromatic waveplate, and axisymmetric rotatable optics. In addition the South Pole location allows both repeatable and highly controlled observations. QUEST on DASI will commence operation in early 2005.     

Factors influencing the stability of smectite sealants

Smectite is a mineral, but a mineral with distinct chemical properties. Structural changes in minerals may require millions of years of aging to complete, but a chemical reaction may be completed in only 4 to 5 min.

Some of the problems of smectite seals are described in this paper, together with methods of avoiding these hazards.     

The QUaD experiment

QUaD is a 31 pixel array of polarization sensitive bolometer pairs coupled to a 2.6 m Cassegrain radio telescope. The telescope is attached to the mount originally built for the DASI experiment and located at the South Pole. The telescope system is described along with details of instrumental characterization studies which we have performed. A first season of CMB observations is complete and the second season underway. Details of the current status of these observations and their analysis are presented.     

A comparative study of the depth of maximum of simulated air shower longitudinal profiles

A comparative study of simulated air shower longitudinal profiles is presented. An appropriate thinning level for the calculations is first determined empirically. High statistics results are then provided, over a wide energy range (10^14.0–10^20.5 eV), for proton and iron primaries, using four combinations of the and program frameworks, and the SIBYLL and QGSjet high energy hadronic interaction models. These results are compared to existing experimental data. The way in which the first interaction controls X_max is investigated, as is the distribution of X_max.     

A measurement of the flux of cosmic ray iron at 5×10 eV

We present results from the initial flight of our Balloon Air CHerenkov (BACH) payload. BACH detects air Cherenkov radiation from cosmic ray nuclei as coincident flashes in two optical modules. The flight (dubbed PDQ–BACH) took place on April 22, 1998 from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. During an exposure of 2.75 h, with a typical threshold energy for iron nuclei of 2.2×10¹³ eV, we observed several events cleanly identifiable as iron group nuclei. Analysis of the data yields a new flux measurement that is fully consistent with that reported by other investigations.     

Status of CMB polarization measurements from DASI and other experiments

We review the current status and future plans for polarization measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation, as well as the cosmology these measurements will address. After a long period of increasingly sensitive upper limits, the DASI experiment has detected the E-mode polarization and both the DASI and WMAP experiments have detected the TE correlation. These detections provide confirmation of the standard model of adiabatic primordial density fluctuations consistent with inflationary models. The WMAP TE correlation on large angular scales provides direct evidence of significant reionization at higher redshifts than had previously been supposed. These detections mark the beginning of a new era in CMB measurements and the rich cosmology that can be gleaned from them.     

Modified bentonite (Sodium Smectite) sealant membrane

A smectite-coated polypropylene membrane has strength, ease of placement and inspection, plus strong resistance to leakage of hazardous waste liquids or slurries. Natural smectite must be modified by chemical additives to develop resistance to contamination.     

Geomoney: An option on frost, going long on clouds

The paper adopts a cultural economy approach to explore the emergence of a market in so-called weather derivatives, referred to in the paper as a form of ‘geomoney’. These are specially designed financial products that allow firms to protect their profits against the impact of changing weather conditions. The paper approaches the emergence of this market, and the issues its growth raises, in three interlinked stages. Weather derivatives are located amongst the hybrid collective that is contemporary finance and are analysed through the conceptual apparatus afforded by a cultural economy approach to finance. The paper employs this analytical line to examine the assumptions and models that enable the weather to be turned into a risk and then be transported and traded within capital markets. Through specific examples of weather products together with a discussion of the International Finance Corporation’s recent involvement in this market, the paper suggests something of the ‘world making’ capabilities of finance theory and the politics of finance often hidden beneath the mathematical models. The paper concludes by highlighting not only the usefulness of a cultural economy of finance to geographers but, in light of the examples discussed, the need for cultural economy to recognise and to engage critically in its analysis the politics that such a conceptual approach to the making of financial markets exposes.     

The trade in wild pig meat: Australia and Japan

Socioeconomic developments in Japan since World War Two have influenced the supply of wild pig meat (inoshishi niku) from Japanese domestic sources. Trends in the supply of meat from wild boar as well as the development of the farming of wild boar in Japan are discussed. The special nature of trading in wild pig meat in Japan is outlined. Australian exports of wild pig meat to Japan depend upon developments within Japan and the relevant links are identified. Some historical background is also provided on the Australian game industry supplying wild pig meat, the location and the structure of the industry are specified and the economic value of the industry is discussed, including its exports and prices paid for wild pig meat. Comparative aspects of the industry and of trade in wild pig meat in Japan and in Australia are highlighted. In conclusion, difficulties involved in identifying the Australian product in the Japanese market are noted.