A method for increasing the output energy from newly developed passively Q-switched Er:glass eyesafe lasers is presented. The increase of energy is achieved by incorporating binary phase elements inside the laser cavities. Experimental results reveal that the output energies can be increased by more than a factor of two. Moreover, by manipulating the output phase with the binary phase elements,...

We present a simple menu cost model which explains the finding that firms are more likely to adjust prices upward than downward. Asymmetric adjustment to shocks arises naturally, even without trend inflation, from the desire of firms to keep industry prices as high as is sustainable and the non-convexity due to menu costs. It implies that aggregate demand shocks have asymmetric effects — negati...

Power electronic converters are becoming more and more popular for various industrial applications. To overcome the limitation of semiconductors current and voltage ratings in high power applications, series and parallel connection of switches is often considered an effective solution. In addition, stepped waveform in the output of inverter has better harmonic spectrum than 2-level waveform in ...

In this chapter we define the topology of 2D asymmetric tensor fields in terms of two graphs corresponding to the eigenvalue and eigenvector analysis for the tensor fields, respectively. Asymmetric tensor field topology can not only yield a concise representation of the field, but also provide a framework for spatial-temporal tracking of field features. Furthermore, inherent topological constra...

The most popular public key cryptosystems rely on assumptions from algebraic number theory, e.g., the difficulty of factorisation or the discrete logarithm. The set of problems on which secure public key systems can be based is therefore very small: e.g., a breakthrough in factorisation would make RSA insecure and hence affect our digital economy quite dramatically. This would be the case if qu...

The solar polar fields reverse because magnetic flux from decaying sunspots moves towards the poles, with a preponderance of flux from the trailing spots. If there is a strong asymmetry in the sense that most activity is in the Northern Hemisphere, then that excess flux will move to the North Pole and reverse that pole first. If later on, there is more activity in the South, then that flux will...