The search for and detailed study of new particles and forces with the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of CERN is fundamentally dependent on the precise measurement of the rate at which proton-proton collisions produce any particles, the so-called luminosity. For the discovery of the Higgs candidate in 2012 the relative precision of this quantity was about 2.5%. To be able to observe deviations from Standard Model predictions for decay rates of this particle and others which can hint to new phenomena the targeted luminosity uncertainty is about 1%. Therefore, a new device, the pixel luminosity telescope has been built that counts charged collision products close to the LHC beam in real time. The development of the software interface dedicated to control its operation, monitor its activity, and store calibration and configuration information together with data into a database is the subject of this work. The interface was constrained by the need to be suitable for operation by expert as well as non-expert data taking personnel. In addition to operation at the detector level, the interface must also integrate into a framework that simultaneously collects luminosity information from other sub-detectors of CMS. Finally, it had to be built from common and well-tested software tools for reliability and the prospect of long-term availability.

This book describes the fundamentals of particle detectors as well as their applications. Detector development is an important part of nuclear, particle and astroparticle physics, and through its applications in radiation imaging, it paves the way for advancements in the biomedical and materials sciences. Knowledge in detector physics is one of the required skills of an experimental physicist in these fields. The breadth of knowledge required for detector development comprises many areas of physics and technology, starting from interactions of particles with matter, gas- and solid-state physics, over charge transport and signal development, to elements of microelectronics. The book's aim is to describe the fundamentals of detectors and their different variants and implementations as clearly as possible and as deeply as needed for a thorough understanding. While this comprehensive opus contains all the materials taught in experimental particle physics lectures or modules addressing detector physics at the Master's level, it also goes well beyond these basic requirements. This is an essential text for students who want to deepen their knowledge in this field. It is also a highly useful guide for lecturers and scientists looking for a starting point for detector development work.

This invaluable book, now in its second edition, covers a wide range of topics appropriate for both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in astrophysics. The book conveys a deep and coherent understanding of the stellar phenomena, and basic astrophysics of stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies and other heavenly bodies of interest. Since the first appearance of the book in 1997, significant progress has been made in different branches of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The second edition takes into account the developments of the subject which have taken place in the last decade. It discusses the latest introduction of L and T dwarfs in the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram (or H-R diagram). Other developments discussed pertain to standard solar model, solar neutrino puzzle, cosmic microwave background radiation, Drake equation, dwarf galaxies, ultra compact dwarf galaxies, compact groups and cluster of galaxies. Problems at the end of each chapter motivate the students to go deeper into the topics. Suggested readings at the end of each chapter have been complemented.

Learning to Think Spatially examines how spatial thinking might be incorporated into existing standards-based instruction across the school curriculum. Spatial thinking must be recognized as a fundamental part of Kâ€"12 education and as an integrator and a facilitator for problem solving across the curriculum. With advances in computing technologies and the increasing availability of geospatial data, spatial thinking will play a significant role in the information-based economy of the twenty-first century. Using appropriately designed support systems tailored to the Kâ€"12 context, spatial thinking can be taught formally to all students. A geographic information system (GIS) offers one example of a high-technology support system that can enable students and teachers to practice and apply spatial thinking in many areas of the curriculum.

This book features up-to-date technology applications to radiation detection. It synthesises several techniques of and approaches to radiation detection, covering a wide range of applications and addressing a large audience of experts and students.Many of the talks are in fact reviews of particular topics often not covered in standard books and other conferences, for instance, the medical physics section. To present these medical physics talks is crucial, since a large fraction of the community in medical physics are from the particle physics community. The same feature is true for astroparticle and space physics, which are relatively new fields.This book is unique in its scope. Except for IEEE, there is no other conference in the world that presents such a wide coverage of advanced technology applied to particle physics. However, unlike IEEE, more room is made in the book for reviews and general talks.

Mastering Cloud Computing is designed for undergraduate students learning to develop cloud computing applications. Tomorrow's applications won’t live on a single computer but will be deployed from and reside on a virtual server, accessible anywhere, any time. Tomorrow's application developers need to understand the requirements of building apps for these virtual systems, including concurrent programming, high-performance computing, and data-intensive systems. The book introduces the principles of distributed and parallel computing underlying cloud architectures and specifically focuses on virtualization, thread programming, task programming, and map-reduce programming. There are examples demonstrating all of these and more, with exercises and labs throughout. Explains how to make design choices and tradeoffs to consider when building applications to run in a virtual cloud environment Real-world case studies include scientific, business, and energy-efficiency considerations