The Variable Universe

A symposium to celebrate the life of Bohdan Paczynski (1940-2007), Lyman Spitzer Jr. Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at Princeton University, took place on 29-30 September 2007. Bohdan Paczynski impacted astronomy and astronomers alike with his innovative ideas, philosophies, and insight to astronomy, science and life in general. This volume has assembled thoughts, memories and scientific accomplishments influenced in one way or another by Bohdan, who was a Giant in his field. Nine friends, colleagues and admirers who have been touched by Paczynski personally, professionally, or both, contributed invited presentations. Topics in this volume include the influence of Bohdan Paczynski in the field of stellar evolution and variable stars, his crucial role in making the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) and the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) possible, and his revolutionary insistence on allowing anyone and everyone access to his stellar evolution code: The Paczynski Code. Also included are Bohdan's contributions to gravitational microlensing and the search for dark matter in the form of MACHOs. Particular emphasis is given to advances and unexpected discoveries from surveys such as MACHO, OGLE, and EROS. The impact Paczynski had on our understanding of gamma-ray bursts is also discussed. Finally, this celebration of Professor Bohdan Paczynski is completed with the addition of personal accounts of his life, brilliance, sense of humor, and inspiration to others. Paczynski's scientific contributions reach across all of astrophysics and bridge the gap between observation and theory. This book is of interest not only to those who knew him, but also to those who know of him and the immeasurable ways he left his mark on the community.

The Variable Man: Philip K DickHe fixed things--clocks, refrigerators, vidsenders and destinies. But he had no business in the future, where the calculators could not handle him. He was Earth's only hope--and its sure failure!The Misplaced Spaceship: Harry HarrisonIt might seem careless to lose track of something like a battleship but interstellar space is on a different scale of magnitude. A misplaced battleship in the wrong hands can be most dangerous.Youth: Isaac AsimovThey found the two strange animals the morning after they heard the thunder sounds. They knew that they could never show their new pets to their parents.Bread Overhead: Fritz LeiberThe Staff of Life suddenly anddisconcertingly sprouted wings--and mankind had to eat crow!Rainworm: Jakob ChapmanThe bond was only marred in one way. I relived her strongest memories and emotions: the explosion of Candeo--being flung from the inferno while the rest of her race sizzled in silence--the planet below a glowing brand.

A symposium to celebrate the life of Bohdan Paczynski (1940-2007), Lyman Spitzer Jr. Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at Princeton University, took place on 29-30 September 2007. Bohdan Paczynski impacted astronomy and astronomers alike with his innovative ideas, philosophies, and insight to astronomy, science and life in general. This volume has assembled thoughts, memories and scientific accomplishments influenced in one way or another by Bohdan, who was a Giant in his field. Nine friends, colleagues and admirers who have been touched by Paczynski personally, professionally, or both, contributed invited presentations. Topics in this volume include the influence of Bohdan Paczynski in the field of stellar evolution and variable stars, his crucial role in making the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) and the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) possible, and his revolutionary insistence on allowing anyone and everyone access to his stellar evolution code: The Paczynski Code. Also included are Bohdan's contributions to gravitational microlensing and the search for dark matter in the form of MACHOs. Particular emphasis is given to advances and unexpected discoveries from surveys such as MACHO, OGLE, and EROS. The impact Paczynski had on our understanding of gamma-ray bursts is also discussed. Finally, this celebration of Professor Bohdan Paczynski is completed with the addition of personal accounts of his life, brilliance, sense of humor, and inspiration to others. Paczynski's scientific contributions reach across all of astrophysics and bridge the gap between observation and theory. This book is of interest not only to those who knew him, but also to those who know of him and the immeasurable ways he left his mark on the community.

It is with great joy that we present a collection of essays written in honour of Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, who completed 60 years of age on July 19, 1998, by his friends and colleagues, including several of his for mer students. Jayant has had a long research career in astrophysics and cosmology, which he began at Cambridge in 1960, as a student of Sir Fred Hoyle. He started his work with a big bang, expounding on the steady state theory of the Universe and creating a new theory of gravity inspired by Mach's principle. He also worked on action-at-a-distance electrodynamics, inspired by the explorations of Wheeler, Feynman and Hogarth in that direction. This body of work established Jayant's rep utation as a bold and imaginative physicist who was ever willing to take a fresh look at fundamental issues, undeterred by conventional wis dom. This trait, undoubtedly inherited from his teacher and mentor, has always remained with Jayant. It is now most evident in his untir ing efforts to understand anomalies in quasar astronomy, and to develop the quasi-steady state cosmology, along with a group of highly distin guished astronomers including Halton Arp, Geoffrey Burbidge and Fred Hoyle. In spite of all this iconoclastic activity, Jayant remains a part of the mainstream; he appreciates as well as encourages good work along conventional lines by his students and colleagues. This is clear from the range of essays included in this volume, and the variety and distribution of the essayists.

The Young Universe presents four major physical and astrophysical themes related to these extreme phases of the primordial universe. In particular, it presents the physics of the primordial plasma and the concepts of quantum and particle physics necessary to describe this extreme state. It discusses the cosmological background radiation and explores inflation, an extremely rapid expansion phase that is believed to have occurred very early in cosmological history and to have shaped our present universe. The book also provides a synthesis of the dark matter problem.

Volume is indexed by Thomson Reuters CPCI-S (WoS). The objective of ICMST 2011 was to provide a platform where researchers, engineers, academics and industrial professionals from all over the world could present their research results and discuss developments in Manufacturing Science and Technology. This conference provided opportunities for delegates to exchange new ideas and applications face-to-face, to establish business or research contacts and to find global partners for future collaboration.

The three-volume set CCIS 761, CCIS 762, and CCIS 763 constitutes the thoroughly refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation, LSMS 2017, and of the International Conference on Intelligent Computing for Sustainable Energy and Environment, ICSEE 2017, held in Nanjing, China, in September 2017. The 208 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from over 625 submissions. The papers of this volume are organized in topical sections on: Biomedical Signal Processing; Computational Methods in Organism Modeling; Medical Apparatus and Clinical Applications; Bionics Control Methods, Algorithms and Apparatus; Modeling and Simulation of Life Systems; Data Driven Analysis; Image and Video Processing; Advanced Fuzzy and Neural Network Theory and Algorithms; Advanced Evolutionary Methods and Applications; Advanced Machine Learning Methods and Applications; Intelligent Modeling, Monitoring, and Control of Complex Nonlinear Systems; Advanced Methods for Networked Systems; Control and Analysis of Transportation Systems; Advanced Sliding Mode Control and Applications; Advanced Analysis of New Materials and Devices; Computational Intelligence in Utilization of Clean and Renewable Energy Resources; Intelligent Methods for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction; Intelligent Methods in Developing Electric Vehicles, Engines and Equipment; Intelligent Computing and Control in Power Systems; Modeling, Simulation and Control in Smart Grid and Microgrid; Optimization Methods; Computational Methods for Sustainable Environment.

This book provides readers with sufficient insight into battery equalization control technologies from both theoretical and engineering perspectives. Distinguished from most of the existing works that focus on the hardware design of active equalizers, this book intends to comprehensively introduce equalization control strategies for lithium-ion battery packs. The validity and reliability of the control strategies in this book have been verified by theory and experiments. This book summarizes the battery equalization technologies from the equalization system to the equalization control algorithm. From this book, readers who are interested in the area of battery management can have a broad view of cell equalization technologies. Readers who have no experience in the battery management area can learn the basic concept, analysis methods, and design principles of the cell equalization system for battery packs. Even for the readers who are occupied in this area, this book provides rich knowledge on engineering applications and future trends of battery equalization control.

How patterns--from diagrams of spacetime to particle trails revealed by supercolliders--offer clues to the fundamental workings of the physical world. Our universe might appear chaotic, but deep down it's simply a myriad of rules working independently to create patterns of action, force, and consequence. In Ten Patterns That Explain the Universe, Brian Clegg explores the phenomena that make up the very fabric of our world by examining ten essential sequenced systems. From diagrams that show the deep relationships between space and time to the quantum behaviors that rule the way that matter and light interact, Clegg shows how these patterns provide a unique view of the physical world and its fundamental workings. Guiding readers on a tour of our world and the universe beyond, Clegg describes the cosmic microwave background, sometimes called the "echo of the big bang," and how it offers clues to the universe's beginnings; the diagrams that illustrate Einstein's revelation of the intertwined nature of space and time; the particle trail patterns revealed by the Large Hadron Collider and other accelerators; and the simple-looking patterns that predict quantum behavior (and decorated Richard Feynman's van). Clegg explains how the periodic table reflects the underlying pattern of the configuration of atoms, discusses the power of the number line, demonstrates the explanatory uses of tree diagrams, and more.

The Master Set Universe is an in-depth investigation, through the realms of Quantum Mechanics and Mathematics, of the concept of the Master Set, an all-encompassing 'every thing', entirely self-referential in nature. Maxwell Katz makes use of a number of analogies to illustrate his themes. The way in which the Master Set projects the illusion of a 'mechanical world', for example, is likened to a computer game, which plays out certain events although, at the same time, it contains infinite possibilities within itself. Meaning and truth are analysed in the light of this Projective Realm. There are no absolutes; meaning is simply a way that we define ourselves, giving us perspective in the way we perceive all 'other'. The overriding feature of the Master Set Universe is its Oneness. From it comes every thing; it is every thing.