New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics!

Posted in OJAp Papers, Open Access, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , , , , , on December 2, 2019 by telescoper

We have published another new paper at The Open Journal of Astrophysics. We actually published this one last week but (presumably because of the Thanksgiving holiday) it has taken longer than usual to register the DOI with Crossref and I held off mentioning this paper here until everything was sorted.

Here is a grab of the overlay:

The authors are Farhad Feroz and Mike Hobson of the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge (UK), Ewan Cameron (now at Oxford, UK) and Anthony N. Pettitt of Queensland University of Technology in Australia.

You can find the accepted version on the arXiv here. This version was accepted after modifications requested by the referee and editor. Because this is an overlay journal the authors have to submit the accepted version to the arXiv (which we then check against the copy submitted to us) before publishing; version 3 on the arXiv is the accepted version (which contains a link to updated software).

It is worth mentioning a couple of points about this paper.

The first is that it is mainly a statistical methods paper rather than astrophysics per se but it does contain applications to astrophysics and cosmology and, more relevantly, was posted on the `Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics’ section on the arXiv. The Editorial Board felt that we should consider it for publication because our rule for whether a paper can be considered for publication in the Open Journal of Astrophysics is stated clearly on our instructions for authors:

We apply a simple criterion to decide whether a paper is on a suitable topic for this journal, namely that if it it is suitable for the astro-ph section of the arXiv then it is suitable for The Open Journal of Astrophysics.

So far our publication list is dominated by papers in `Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics’ and `Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics’ (which is not surprising given its origin) but we would be very happy to get more submissions from other areas, especially Stellar and Planetary astrophysics. Hint! Hint!

The other point to make is that this paper actually appeared on the arXiv over six years ago and has been widely cited as a preprint but it has never previously been published by a journal. The Editorial Board felt that we should consider it for publication in order to ensure that it is properly curated and citations properly assigned, but we treated it as a new submission and sent it out for review just like any other paper. The review led to some changes and, most importantly, a few updates to the software which you can find here. The editorial process has been quite lengthy for this paper but I think we have done a valuable service to the community in reviewing and publishing this paper.

P.S. Just a reminder that we now have an Open Journal of Astrophysics Facebook page where you can follow updates from the Journal should you so wish..

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Yet another easy physics problem…

Posted in Cute Problems with tags , , , on December 2, 2019 by telescoper

Last week I posted a little physics problem that generated a large amount of traffic (at least by the standards of this blog), so I thought I’d try another one.

The examination comprised two papers in those days (and a practical exam); one paper had long questions, similar to the questions we set in university examinations these days, and the other consisted of short questions in a multiple-choice format. This question is one of the latter. Incientally, for those of you who have asked, the multiple-choice examination contained 50 such questions to be answered in 2½ hours, which is three minutes per question.

(You can assume that the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 ms-2.)

And here is a poll in which you may select your answer:

Comments on or criticisms of the question are welcome through the comments box…

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Two Years in Maynooth!

Posted in Biographical, Maynooth on December 1, 2019 by telescoper

Mí na Nollag (the Month of Christmas) is how you say December in the Irish language. Today is the first of that month, which it makes it precisely two years to the day since I started work at Maynooth University. That seems a very long time ago as so much has happened since I wrote my first blog post after arriving in Ireland!

When I first moved here quite a lot of people asked me why I was moving to Ireland so I wrote quite a long post about it here. In december 2017 I wouldn’t have predicted that the UK would still be in the European Union but as I said in that post:

I think it’s still quite possible that the Brexit project will fail under the weight of its own contradictions, but that no longer matters. The damage has already been done. The referendum campaign, followed by the callous and contemptuous attitude of the current UK Government towards EU nationals living in Britain, unleashed a sickening level of xenophobia that has made me feel like a stranger in my own country. Not everyone who voted `Leave’ is a bigot, of course, but every bigot voted for Brexit and the bigots are now calling all the shots. There are many on the far right of UK politics who won’t be satisfied until we have ethnic cleansing. Even if Brexit is stopped the genie of intolerance is out of the bottle and I don’t think it well ever be put back. Brexit will also doom the National Health Service and the UK university system, and clear the way for the destruction of workers’ rights and environmental protection. The poor and the sick will suffer, while only the rich swindlers who bought the referendum result will prosper. The country in which I was born, and in which I have lived for the best part of 54 years, is no longer something of which I want to be a part.

Although two years on Brexit still hasn’t happened, the intervening two years have confirmed my worst fears. England has become increasingly intolerant and xenophobic and the forthcoming General Election looks set to usher in an utterly terrible government of fraudsters, liars and charlatans who will destroy all that is decent in the United Kingdom. The one silver lining I can see is that there is a chance at least that within my lifetime there will be a united Ireland. I’m very much looking forward to the party if that happens!

I’ve had several academic visitors from the UK over the last few months (including two on Friday). None have asked why I moved to Ireland. With UK universities currently on strike and the wider domestic political situation a shitshow of epic proportions, I’m not surprised about that at all. Ireland is by no means a paradise, but I’m glad I’m here.

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Theoretical Physics at Maynooth University Open Days!

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , on November 30, 2019 by telescoper

Today, Saturday 30th November 2019, is another Open Day at Maynooth University.

I used to give Open Day talks quite frequently in a previous existence as Head of School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex and now I’m at it again, giving talks on behalf of the Department of Theoretical Physics.

If you’re coming along today, please say hello either at the lecture (2.10pm)) or at the stall in the Iontas Building from 10.30 each day where you can chat about the course or anything else vaguely related to Theoretical Physics. There are other stalls, of course, but the Theoretical Physics one is obviously way more interesting than the others!

I might have time to take a few snaps during the day. If I do I’ll post them here. In the meantime here is a summary of my talk:

UPDATE: I didn’t get time to take any pictures because we were busy all morning. The subject talk in the afternoon was absolutely packed out – way more people than I’ve seen at any other open days here at Maynooth – and loads of questions at the end. Very enjoyable but rather exhausting. I think I might head home for a nap!

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Open Day Friday

Posted in Biographical, Maynooth with tags , , , on November 29, 2019 by telescoper

It’s a busy day today in Maynooth with two very important jobs to do. Until lunchtime I’ll be preoccupied with an Open Day here at Maynooth University, the first of this year’s cycle. Here’s the poster advertising them (with dates included):

You’ll see that I have a new role as Poster Boy for Maynooth University, though they have understandably put me at the extreme edge of the poster (bottom right). I’ve got plenty of people helping on the stall in the Iontas Building today but I do have to give a talk to prospective students. There’s another Open Day tomorrow, for which I’ll be on the stall and doing the talk for most of the day.

Here’s a little promotional video:

Today’s  Open Day winds down by 2pm after which my second major task of the day begins. But that’s a secret, at least for the time being.

 

 

 

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R.I.P. Clive James (1939-2019) – Japanese Maple

Posted in Poetry with tags , on November 28, 2019 by telescoper

More sad news arrived yesterday with the announcement of the death at the age of 80 of broadcaster, writer and critic Clive James. Clive James had been gravely ill for some time and had longer than many people to come to terms with his own mortality. In addition to the other things I mentioned above, he was an accomplished poet as he demonstrated in this reflection on his own end in the farewell poem Japanese Maple which he wrote about five years ago:

Your death, near now, is of an easy sort.
So slow a fading out brings no real pain.
Breath growing short
Is just uncomfortable. You feel the drain
Of energy, but thought and sight remain:

Enhanced, in fact. When did you ever see
So much sweet beauty as when fine rain falls
On that small tree
And saturates your brick back garden walls,
So many Amber Rooms and mirror halls?

Ever more lavish as the dusk descends
This glistening illuminates the air.
It never ends.
Whenever the rain comes it will be there,
Beyond my time, but now I take my share.

My daughter’s choice, the maple tree is new.
Come autumn and its leaves will turn to flame.
What I must do
Is live to see that. That will end the game
For me, though life continues all the same:

Filling the double doors to bathe my eyes,
A final flood of colors will live on
As my mind dies,
Burned by my vision of a world that shone
So brightly at the last, and then was gone.

And here is the man himself reading it. It’s very moving to hear him read this verse, his voice recognisable with its Australian accent and characteristic vocal mannerisms, but it is the voice of an invalid, of a dying man, thin and fading.

R.I.P. Clive James (1939-2019)

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R.I.P. Jonathan Miller (1934-2019) – The Piano in Question

Posted in Music, Television with tags , , on November 27, 2019 by telescoper

I was very sad to read just now of the death of writer, humorist, director and polymath Dr Jonathan Miller who has passed away at the age of 85. The papers are already filled with tributes to Jonathan Miller to which I’ll add a personal recollection that made a big impression on me when I was young and which makes me remember Dr Miller with great fondness.

While I was at school I was captivated by the BBC TV series, directed and introduced by Jonathan Miller, called the Body in Question.

This episode, first broadcast in 1978, shows Dr Miller at the piano with Dudley Moore, his old friend from Beyond the Fringe. They’re exploring the mysterious process by which pianists manage to put their fingers on the right keys without apparently consciously thinking about the mechanical operations involved or even looking at the keyboard. Practice seems to program the hands so that the translation from sheet music to sound becomes second nature, but to those without the ability to effect the transformation (like myself), the process still seems almost miraculous.

R.I.P. Jonathan Miller (1934-2019)

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Another easy physics problem…

Posted in Cute Problems, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , on November 26, 2019 by telescoper

Many moons ago I posted an `easy’ physics problem from the Physics A-level paper I took in 1981. The examination comprised two papers in those days (and a practical exam); one paper had long questions, similar to the questions we set in university examinations these days, and the other consisted of short questions in a multiple-choice format. The question I posted was one of the latter type. I was reminded about it recently because, years on, it appears people are still trying it (and getting it wrong).

Anyway, since I’m teaching similar things to my first-year Mathematical Physics class I thought I’d put up another question from the same paper.

And here is a poll in which you may select your answer:

Comments on or criticisms of the question are welcome through the comments box…

 

 

 

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Solidarity with the UCU Strikers!

Posted in Education with tags , , on November 25, 2019 by telescoper

The anticipated strikes of staff from UK universities have begun: they will last from today (November 25th 2019) until December 4th. The cause of the dispute is twofold: (1) the long-running saga of the Universities pension scheme (about which there were strikes in 2018); and (2) over pay, equality, workloads and the ever-increasing casualisation of lecturing and other work.

Among the institutions to have voted for strike action are my previous employers in the UK Cardiff, Sussex and Nottingham. It remains to be seen what the impact of these strikes will be, but they could affect a very large number of students. Nobody likes going on strike but the UK higher education system is a very poor state right now, and many of my former colleagues feel that they have no alternative. It will be tough out there on the picket lines in the cold weather, and losing eight days’ pay before Christmas is no fun either, but that’s what it means to go on strike.

I’m no longer involved in the UK university system so can’t do much directly to support those taking industrial action but my own union, the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has expressed solidarity with UCU members so I thought the least I could do is wear my IFUT badge for the duration of the strike. It’s not as if Ireland is immune from casualisation and workload issues.

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New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics!

Posted in OJAp Papers, Open Access, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , , , on November 24, 2019 by telescoper

Yesterday we published another new paper at The Open Journal of Astrophysics. Here is a grab of the overlay:

The authors are Katarina MarKovic (now of JPL in California), Benjamin Bose (of the University of Geneva) and Alkistis Pourtsidou (Queen Mary, University of London).

You can find the accepted version on the arXiv here. This version was accepted after modifications requested by the referee and editor. Because this is an overlay journal the authors have to submit the accepted version to the arXiv (which we then check against the copy submitted to us) before publishing; version 2 on the arXiv is the accepted version.

I’d like to apologize to the authors for a delay in publishing this paper. It was ready to go a couple of weeks ago, but we had some trouble with an extension to the platform provided by Scholastica which was intended to register Digital Object Identifiers automatically and thus speed up the process. Unfortunately we found some bugs in, and other problems with, the new software and in the end have given up and reverted to the old manual registration process. Hopefully Scholastica will be able to offer a working system for DOI registration before too long.

Anyway, you will see that this is one for the `Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics’ folder. We would be happy to get more submissions from other areas, especially Stellar and Planetary astrophysics. Hint! Hint!

P.S. Just a reminder that we now have an Open Journal of Astrophysics Facebook page where you can follow updates from the Journal should you so wish..

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