Gravitational waves emitted by extrasolar planetary systems

In this paper we consider the Extra-solar Planetary Systems recently discovered in our Galaxy as potential sources of gravitational waves. We estimate the frequency and characteristic amplitude of the radiation they emit due to the orbital motion, using the quadrupole formalism. In addition, we check whether the conditions needed for the resonant excitation of the f- and g-modes of the central star can be fulfilled. By a Roche-lobe analysis, we show that there could exist systems in which the low-order g-modes could be excited, although this does not happen in the systems discovered up to now.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication on International Journal of Modern Physics D. Table 6 and minor typos correcte

Disseny per a edició digital: l'experiència de Domus

En los últimos años, uno de los fenómenos más relevantes que está emergiendo como línea de desarrollo en el ámbito de la edición en línea es la búsqueda de una experiencia de lectura lo más fluida posible en diferentes soportes y dispositivos. A pesar de la rápida proliferación de ediciones en iPad de muchas revistas y periódicos, la tendencia dominante parece buscar, en lugar de "layouts" específicos para cada soporte, un código que se pueda adaptar a las dimensiones físicas de los diferentes dispositivos. La historia del nacimiento de la edición digital de la revista "Domus" puede ofrecer una interesante aproximación en esta época concreta de cambio y evolución.In recent years one of the most relevant fields of development in online publications is the search for new supports and devices that will enable reading experiences to be as smooth and free-flowing as possible. In spite of the swift proliferation of iPad editions of many magazines and newspapers, theprevailing trend seems not favour the idea of specific layouts for each support, but rather to find a code that may be adapted to the physical dimensions of the different devices. The story of the birth of the digital edition of the review Domus offers an interesting perspective of this specific period of evolution and change.En aquests darrers anys, un dels fenòmens més rellevants que està sorgint com a línia de desenvolupament en el camp de l'edició en línia és la recerca d'una experiència de lectura el més fluïda possible en diferents suports i dispositius. Malgrat la ràpida proliferació d'edicions iPad de moltes revistes i diaris, la tendència dominant sembla buscar, en lloc de "layouts" específics per a cada suport, un codi que es pugui adaptar a les dimensions físiques dels diferents dispositius. La història del naixement digital de la revista "Domus" pot oferir una interessant aproximació a aquesta etapa concreta de canvi i evolució

A Study of e+e- -> H0A0 -> bbbb at 3 TeV at CLIC

The precise determination of the masses of the CP-odd and -even heavy Higgs bosons is an important part of the study of Supersymmetry and its relation with cosmology through dark matter. This note presents a determination of the A0 boson mass with the e+e- -> H0A0 -> b b b b process for a dark matter motivated cMSSM scenario with M(A) = 1141 GeV at CLIC. The analysis is performed with full simulation and reconstruction at 3 TeV accounting for beamstrahlung effects. SM and SUSY backgrounds are considered and the effect of the overlay of gamma gamma -> hadrons events on the signal is studied for various assumptions for the detector time-stamping capabilities. The di-jet mass resolution is improved by applying a kinematic fit. The A0 mass can be determined with a statistical accuracy of ~3-5 GeV for 3 inverse ab of statistics and 0 to 20 bunch crossings of gamma gamma background integrated in one event, respectively.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

The Bus Goes Wireless: Routing-Free Data Collection with QoS Guarantees in Sensor Networks

Abstract—We present the low-power wireless bus (LWB), a new communication paradigm for QoS-aware data collection in lowpower sensor networks. The LWB maps all communication onto network floods by using Glossy, an efficient flooding architecture for wireless sensor networks. Therefore, unlike current solutions, the LWB requires no information of the network topology, and inherently supports networks with mobile nodes and multiple data sinks. A LWB prototype implemented in Contiki guarantees bounded end-to-end communication delay and duplicate-free, inorder packet delivery—key QoS requirements in many control and mission-critical applications. Experiments on two testbeds demonstrate that the LWB prototype outperforms state-of-theart data collection and link layer protocols, in terms of reliability and energy efficiency. For instance, we measure an average radio duty cycle of 1.69 % and an overall data yield of 99.97 % in a typical data collection scenario with 85 sensor nodes on Twist. I

Microwave Irradiation Effects on Random Telegraph Signal in a MOSFET

We report on the change of the characteristic times of the random telegraph signal (RTS) in a MOSFET operated under microwave irradiation up to 40 GHz as the microwave field power is raised. The effect is explained by considering the time dependency of the transition probabilities due to a harmonic voltage generated by the microwave field that couples with the wires connecting the MOSFET. From the dc current excited into the MOSFET by the microwave field we determine the corresponding equivalent drain voltage. The RTS experimental data are in agreement with the prediction obtained with the model, making use of the voltage data measured with the independent dc microwave induced current. We conclude that when operating a MOSFET under microwave irradiation, as in single spin resonance detection, one has to pay attention into the effects related to microwave irradiation dependent RTS changes.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Retirement Systems, Demography, Happiness and Welfare Redistribution

This research investigates whether an equity improvement within retirement-systems domain may positively influence demography, people’s happiness and their financial conditions. In particular, a fertility-boosting policy has been tested, acting on the contributory rate. This project has been carried out by using software simulation and with specific Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE) methodology. Two virtual worlds have been created, in order to try to reproduce Italian society. In the first model, (W1), vertical equity has been improved, while in the second one, (W2), it is has not. Five further variants of these two worlds have been produced by altering some parameters, in order to test our hypothesis through several simulations. The research outcomes prove that an equity improvement can positively influence demographic trends, can increase the level of happiness in the society, and can grant a more homogeneous welfare redistribution.Retirement systems, demography, happiness, wealth distribution, equity, software simulation, Agent Based Computational Economics

Non-invasive monitoring and control in silicon photonics by CMOS integrated electronics

As photonics breaks away from today's device level toward large scale of integration and complex systems-on-a-chip, concepts like monitoring, control and stabilization of photonic integrated circuits emerge as new paradigms. Here, we show non-invasive monitoring and feedback control of high quality factor silicon photonics resonators assisted by a transparent light detector directly integrated inside the cavity. Control operations are entirely managed by a CMOS microelectronic circuit, hosting many parallel electronic read-out channels, that is bridged to the silicon photonics chip. Advanced functionalities, such as wavelength tuning, locking, labeling and swapping are demonstrated. The non-invasive nature of the transparent monitor and the scalability of the CMOS read-out system offer a viable solution for the control of arbitrarily reconfigurable photonic integrated circuits aggregating many components on a single chip