And the nominations are…

Posted in Biographical, Sport with tags , on June 24, 2013 by telescoper

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of handing out an award. I even got to say “and the nominations are…” before reading out the name of the lucky winner. This was all part of a little event to celebrate “Commit to Get Fit“, a challenge run by Sussexsport which involved staff from all over the University embarking on a range of physical activities and which ran throughout May.

Anyway, staff taking part were encouraged to keep a blog about their experiences using the University’s SPLASH resource and it was my duty to present a prize on behalf of the jury. There turned out to be over 200 individual posts, which meant a lot of work reading them in the days leading up to the ceremony. As it happened, the prize for the best blog series was actually awarded to Gemma Farrell from the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), of which I happen to be Head. But it wasn’t a fix. Oh no…

Here’s me presenting the treasured brown envelope to Gemma.

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Anyway, the whole CTGF campaign seems to have gone off pretty well. Maybe I’ll even take part myself next year, as opposed to sitting on my backside reading blog posts…

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Cover

Posted in Cricket, Poetry with tags , , on June 23, 2013 by telescoper

Think twice
and then don’t

Zero tolerance
that’s me

Step out of line
and I’ll have you

sprawled in the dust
as the warning shot

screams past your ear
into the gloves

A sniper’s brain
a hair-trigger arm

Take me on?

Make my day

by Simon Rae

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The Glory of Love

Posted in Biographical, Jazz on June 22, 2013 by telescoper

I haven’t had any of my Dad’s favourite musician, Humphrey Lyttelton, on here for a while so here’s an old favourite. This is Humphrey Lyttelton and his Band vintage 1955, i.e. after the departure of brilliant trombonist Keith Christie, which consisted of Humphrey “Humph” Lyttelton himself (trumpet), John Picard (trombone), Wally “Trog” Fawkes (clarinet), Bruce Turner (alto sax), Johnny Parker (piano), Freddy Legon (guitar), Mickey Ashman (bass), and George “Hoppy” Hopkinson (drums).

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Strike Suspended

Posted in Brighton, Politics with tags , , on June 21, 2013 by telescoper

I worked quite late last night. When I finally got the bus home I checked up on Twitter, and found that CityClean workers who had been on strike had decided to suspend their strike action and return to work. It seems that Brighton and Hove Council made an offer which the GMB Union reps decided was worth putting to their membership. The strike is therefore suspended while a ballot takes place. There’s no guarantee that the offer will be accepted, of course, and the refuse collectors and the rest will presumably go back in strike if it isn’t, but in the meantime the CityClean staff will at least be working properly. This morning I saw signs of the cleanup starting. They seem to be concentrating on the main roads, so the residential streets are still an absolute nightmare, but at least it’s a start. It will probably take weeks to return to normal and “normal” for Brighton is in any case fairly grubby…

Relieved at the news I stopped off for a pint at my local in Kemptown. Most properties in this area are divided into flats (like mine) and there is therefore a very high density of occupation. Kemptown has consequently been hit particularly badly by the strike. Anyway, the offer made to CityClean operatives is covered by a confidentiality agreement so at this point the general public aren’t being told the terms. In the pub a rumour was going around that the offer that is now being put to a ballot has actually been on the table for some time, and that the Union is balloting on it now because public support for the strike has evaporated. I took that all with a pinch of salted peanuts, actually, but when there’s confidentiality it’s human nature that there should be rumour…

Anyway, at least there’s a light at the end of this very long and unpleasant tunnel. If the union does accept the offer made by the Council then hopefully the two sides can start to build a proper working relationship for the future without recrimination or triumphalism on either side.

To paraphrase the Book of Ecclesiastes: better is the end of a strike than the beginning thereof.

Anyway, before yesterday evening’s news I’d already decided to head out of Brighton for the weekend. Hopefully, the place will just a bit more inhabitable when I return to work on Monday.

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When is a strike not a strike? When it’s a scam…

Posted in Brighton, Politics with tags , , on June 20, 2013 by telescoper

Well, as the Brighton Bin Strike rumbles on it is rapidly become clear that a public health disaster is imminent. Here are three examples I snapped on the way into work this morning:

IMG-20130620-00134 IMG-20130620-00135 IMG-20130620-00136

Officially the 5-day strike comes to an end today and the City clean workers are supposed to return to work tomorrow morning, but on a “work to rule” which means the backlog will not be cleared over the weekend.

For next week the strikers have made plans for what they call “strategic action”. There are basically three groups of workers involved in the dispute: (i) refuse truck drivers; (ii) refuse collectors; and (iii) street cleaners. The plan is that groups (ii) and (iii) will go back to work, but (i) will remain on strike. This means that groups (ii) & (iii) will turn up for work, and receive full pay, but will be unable to carry out any of their duties because of the absence of drivers to drive the trucks essential for their operation. In effect, the Council Tax payers of Brighton & Hove will be paying for two out of the three groups but not getting any work in return. Presumably future action will rotate these groups, with a similar result.

People can make up their own mind about this tactic, which is intended to ensure that CityClean workers do not lose their entire income while on strike. My view, for what it’s worth, is that it is both cynical and immoral. Effectively, the CityClean operatives are planning to help themselves to Council Tax payers’ money in order to fund the strike, while still expecting the general public to endure the stench and filth generated by their decision to withdraw their labour. I began with some sympathy for the strikers, but I’m afraid if they persist in this action that sympathy will disappear entirely.

A strike is a strike, but the plan for next week is not a strike. It’s a scam.

Meanwhile, the other party to the dispute, Brighton & Hove City Council, is doing exactly nothing to resolve it. The strikers action, however, is not hurting them, it’s hurting the ordinary people of the city. It’s just a question of time before someone is injured (e.g. by broken glass) or contracts a disease from the rotting garbage littering the streets. Hundreds of small businesses, already struggling with the recession, many of which are dependent on the tourist trade for their income, will be forced under. The selfishness and intransigence of both sides is unconscionable. Moreover, the Council has a statutory responsibility to provide a refuse collection service, which is is clearly unable and/or unwilling to do.

We’ve reached the point where the national Government should intervene. And quickly.

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The Annunciation of Death

Posted in Opera with tags , , , , on June 19, 2013 by telescoper

It’s a lovely day so I thought I’d turn away to the doom and gloom of the ongoing bin strike towards a much cheerier subject: death. In the film about Stephen Hawking I saw last week there was a moving segment in which Hawking sought solace in music after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and given just a few years to live. The specific piece of music he discussed was the Annunciation of Death by Richard Wagner. Not being a Wagner expert I wasn’t familiar with this piece so did a bit of research over the weekend to find out more about it. That turned out to be quite interesting.

The Annunciation of Death turns out to be a leitmotif  appearing in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, often known as the Ring Cycle. Leitmotifs of various types occur throughout this epic series of four operas. Some are associated with individual characters, sometimes present on stage and sometimes absent but relevant to the drama. Other leitmotifs relate to specific emotional states, locations  or even inanimate objects (e.g. a sword).

The Annunciation of Death (in German: Todesverkundigen) makes its first appearance at the beginning of Act II Scene 4 of Die Walküre, the second Opera of the Ring Cycle, when Brünnhilde approaches to tell Siegmund of his impending death. You can see why Hawking thought of this when given his prognosis. This is the leitmotif

What’s interesting about this is that it is formed by the merger of two other leitmotifs, one relating to Erda, the Goddess of earth and the mother of the three Norns, who has the ability to see the future:

and another more generally associated with fate

Doom takes on a very specific manifestation for poor old Siegmund. Here is the leitmotif as it appears in the actual Opera, as part of the instrumental prelude to the glorious voice of the legendary Kirsten Flagstad as Brünnhilde singing Siegmund! Sieh’ auf mich!

I never expected to learn something new about Wagner by watching a film about Stephen Hawking, but there you go!

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The South-East Physics Network – The Sequel

Posted in Education, Science Politics with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 18, 2013 by telescoper

Every now and again I’m at a loss for something to blog about when a nice press release comes to the rescue. This announcement has just gone live, and I make no apology for repeating it here!

 

UPDATE: You can now read the University of Sussex take on this announcement here.

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SEPnet_extratext_black

New Investment in Physics Teaching and Research in South East England

The South East Physics network (SEPnet) and HEFCE are delighted to announce their plans to invest £13.1 million pounds to sustain physics undergraduate and postgraduate teaching provision, and world class research facilities, staff and doctoral training over the 5 years up to 2018. HEFCE will provide £2.75 million to maintain and expand the network, to establish a dedicated regional graduate training programme for physics postgraduate students and address physics specific issues of student participation and diversity. On top of the HEFCE contribution, each SEPnet partner will support and fund programmes of Outreach, Employability and Research.

The South East Physics Network (SEPnet) was formed after receiving a £12.5 million grant from HEFCE in 2008 as a network of six Physics departments in South East England at the Universities of Kent, Queen Mary University of London, Royal Holloway University of London, Southampton, Surrey and Sussex. The Science and Technology Facilities Council and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory provided additional funds and resources for collaborations in particle physics and astrophysics. The University of Portsmouth joined in 2010. The Open University and the University of Hertfordshire will join the network effective the 1st August 2013.

SEPnet Phase One has been tremendously successful for the partners in SEPnet and for physics in the region. The Outreach programme, regarded as an exemplar for collaborative outreach, uses the combined knowledge and resources of each partner to provide greater impact and reach and demonstrates that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It has succeeded in effectively exploiting the growing national interest in physics through its wide range of public engagement and schools activities. There has been a substantial increase in applications and intake for physics undergraduate courses and undergraduate numbers are now 90% higher in the SEPnet physics departments compared with 2007 and applications up approximately 115% – well above national trends.

Announcing the investment, SEPnet’s Independent Chair Professor Sir William Wakeham said “This is a major success for physics both in the region and nationally. HEFCE’s contribution via SEPnet has enabled the partners in the consortium to grow and develop their physics departments for the long term. Before SEPnet, physics departments had falling student numbers and lacked research diversity. Now they are robust and sustainable and the SEPnet consortium is an exemplar of collaboration in Higher Education.”

David Sweeney, Director of Research, Innovation and Skills, HEFCE said: “We are delighted to see the fruits of a very successful intervention to support what was once a vulnerable subject. HEFCE are pleased to provide funding for a new phase, particularly to address new challenges in the field of postgraduate training and widening participation. The expansion to include new physics departments is a testament to the success of the network and can only act to strengthen and diversify the collaboration.”

Sir Peter Knight, President of the Institute of Physics, expressed strong support for the government’s continued investments in the sciences generally and in physics specifically. “SEPnet has been an undoubted success in sustaining physics in the South East region and has strongly participated in contributing to its beneficial effects nationally. It is an exemplar of collaborative best practice in outreach, employability and research and we now look forward to collaborating in the critical areas of graduate training, public engagement and diversity.”

The specific programmes already being developed by the network include:

  1. a regional Graduate Network built on the strength of current SEPnet research collaborations and graduate training whose  primary objectives  will be to:
  • develop and deliver an exemplar programme of PhD transferable and leadership skills training delivered flexibly to create employment-ready physics doctoral graduates for the economic benefit of the UK;
  • increase employer engagement with HEIs including PhD internships,  industrially-sponsored  studentships and Knowledge Transfer fellowships;
  • enhance the impact  of SEPnet’s research via a clear, collaborative impact strategy;
  • enhance research environment diversity through engagement with Athena SWAN and the IoP’s Project Juno.
  1. Expansion of its employer engagement and internship programmes, widening the range of work experiences available to enhance undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) employability and progress to research degrees.
  2. Enhancement of its Outreach Programme  to deliver and disseminate  best practice in schools and public engagement and  increase diversity in  physics education.

The inclusion of new partners The Open University and University of Hertfordshire broadens the range of teaching and postgraduate research in the network. The University of Reading, about to introduce an undergraduate programme in Environmental Physics (Department of Meteorology), will join as an associate partner.

A key part of the contributions from each partner is the provision of “SEPnet PhD Studentships”, a programme to attract the brightest and best physics graduates to engage in a programme of collaborative research within the network, of joint supervision and with a broad technical and professional graduate training programme within the SEPnet Graduate Network.

The network will be led by the University of Southampton. Its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Don Nutbeam: “I am delighted that the University of Southampton, in partnership with nine other universities in the region, is able to build on the success of the SEPnet initiative to reinvigorate the university physics teaching and research and take it to a new level in the turbulent period ahead for the higher education sector. The SEPnet training programme brings novelty, quality and diversity to the regions physics postgraduates that we expect to be a model for other regions and subjects.”

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My Old Man’s A Dustman

Posted in Music, Politics on June 17, 2013 by telescoper

Apologies for the frivolity during the strike, but what are we ordinary Council Tax payers to do when their City turns into an enormous rubbish dump? You have to laugh sometimes, otherwise you’ll die of cholera.

But seriously, I know the refuse collectors are having a raw deal but the strike is affecting the people of Brighton, not the managers at the Council who are responsible for the problem (and are still collecting their salaries just as we are still paying our Council Tax). A serious public health issue is developing as a result of the strike and, well, two wrongs don’t make a right…

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Bunn on Bayes

Posted in Bad Statistics with tags , , , , on June 17, 2013 by telescoper

Just a quickie to advertise a nice blog post by Ted Bunn in which he takes down an article in Science by Bradley Efron, which is about frequentist statistics. I’ll leave it to you to read his piece, and the offending article, but couldn’t resist nicking his little graphic that sums up the matter for me:

Untitled-drawing1

The point is that as scientists we are interested in the probability of a model (or hypothesis)  given the evidence (or data) arising from an experiment (or observation). This requires inverse, or inductive, reasoning and it is therefore explicitly Bayesian. Frequentists focus on a different question, about the probability of the data given the model, which is not the same thing at all, and is not what scientists actually need. There are examples in which a frequentist method accidentally gives the correct (i.e. Bayesian) answer, but they are nevertheless still answering the wrong question.

I will make one further comment arising from the following excerpt from the Efron piece.

Bayes’ 1763 paper was an impeccable exercise in probability theory. The trouble and the subsequent busts came from overenthusiastic application of the theorem in the absence of genuine prior information, with Pierre-Simon Laplace as a prime violator.

I think this is completely wrong. There is always prior information, even if it is minimal, but the point is that frequentist methods always ignore it even if it is “genuine” (whatever that means). It’s not always easy to encode this information in a properly defined prior probability of course, but at least a Bayesian will not deliberately answer the wrong question in order to avoid thinking about it.

It is ironic that the pioneers of probability theory, such as Laplace, adopted a Bayesian rather than frequentist interpretation for his probabilities. Frequentism arose during the nineteenth century and held sway until recently. I recall giving a conference talk about Bayesian reasoning only to be heckled by the audience with comments about “new-fangled, trendy Bayesian methods”. Nothing could have been less apt. Probability theory pre-dates the rise of sampling theory and all the frequentist-inspired techniques that modern-day statisticians like to employ and which, in my opinion, have added nothing but confusion to the scientific analysis of statistical data.

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Universality in Space Plasmas?

Posted in Astrohype, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , , , , , on June 16, 2013 by telescoper

It’s been a while since I posted anything reasonably technical, largely because I’ve been too busy, so I thought I’d spend a bit of time today on a paper (by Livadiotis & McComas in the journal Entropy) that provoked a Nature News item a couple of weeks ago and caused a mild flutter around the internet.

Here’s the abstract of the paper:

In plasmas, Debye screening structures the possible correlations between particles. We identify a phase space minimum h* in non-equilibrium space plasmas that connects the energy of particles in a Debye sphere to an equivalent wave frequency. In particular, while there is no a priori reason to expect a single value of h* across plasmas, we find a very similar value of h* ≈ (7.5 ± 2.4)×10−22 J·s using four independent methods: (1) Ulysses solar wind measurements, (2) space plasmas that typically reside in stationary states out of thermal equilibrium and spanning a broad range of physical properties, (3) an entropic limit emerging from statistical mechanics, (4) waiting-time distributions of explosive events in space plasmas. Finding a quasi-constant value for the phase space minimum in a variety of different plasmas, similar to the classical Planck constant but 12 orders of magnitude larger may be revealing a new type of quantization in many plasmas and correlated systems more generally.

It looks an interesting claim, so I thought I’d have a look at the paper in a little more detail to see whether it holds up, and perhaps to explain a little to others who haven’t got time to wade through it themselves. I will assume a basic background knowledge of plasma physics, though, so turn away now if that puts you off!

For a start it’s probably a good idea to explain what this mysterious h* is. The authors define it via ½h*=εctc, where εc is defined to be “the smallest particle energy that can transfer information” and tc is “the correlation lifetime of Debye Sphere (i.e. volumes of radius the Debye Length for the plasma in question). The second of these can be straightforwardly defined in terms of the ratio between the Debye Length and the thermal sound speed; the authors argue that the first is given by εc=½(mi+me)u2, involving the electron and ion masses in the plasma and the information speed u which is taken to be the speed of a magnetosonic wave.

You might wonder why the authors decided to call their baby h*. Perhaps it’s because the definition looks a bit like the energy-time version of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, but I can’t be sure of that. In any case the resulting quantity has the same dimensions as Planck’s constant and is therefore measured in the same units (Js in the SI system).

Anyway, the claim is that h* is constant across a wide range of astrophysical plasmas. I’ve taken the liberty of copying the relevant Figure here:

constant_h

I have to say at this point I had the distinct sense of damp squib going off. The panel on the right purports to show the constancy of h* (y-axis) for plasmas of a wide range of number-densities (x-axis). However, but are shown on logarithmic scales and have enormously large error bars. To be sure, the behaviour looks roughly constant but to use this as a basis for claims of universality is, in my opinion, rather unjustified, especially since there may also be some sort of selection effect arising from the specific observational data used.

One of the authors is quoted in the Nature piece:

“We went into this thinking we’d find one value in one plasma, and another value in another plasma,” says McComas. “We were shocked and slightly horrified to find the same value across all of them. This is really a major deal.”

Perhaps it will turn out to be a major deal. But I’d like to see a lot more evidence first.

Plasma (astro)physics is a fascinating but very difficult subject, not because the underlying requations governing plasmas are especially complicated, but because the resulting behaviour is so sensitively dependent on small details; plasma therefore provide an excellent exemplar of what we mean by a complex physical system. As is the case in other situations where we lack the ability to do detailed calculations at the microscopic level, we do have to rely on more coarse=grained descriptions, so looking for patterns like this is a good thing to do, but I think the Jury is out.

Finally, I have to say I don’t approve of the authors talking about this in terms of “quantization”. Plasma physics is confusing enough as classical physics without confusing it with quantum theory. Opening the door to that is a big mistake, in my view. Who knows what sort of new age crankery might result?

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