Enrique García-Berro Montilla

The population of white dwarf-main sequence binaries in the SDSS DR 12

We present a Monte Carlo population synthesis study of white dwarf-main sequence (WD+MS) binaries in the Galactic disc aimed at reproducing the ensemble properties of the entire population observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 12. Our simulations take into account all known observational biases and use the most up-to-date stellar evolutionary models. This allows us to perform a sound comparison between the simulations and the observational data. We find that the properties of the simulated and observed parameter distributions agree best when assuming low values of the common envelope efficiency (0.2-0.3), a result that is in agreement with previous findings obtained by observational and population synthesis studies of close SDSSWD+MS binaries.We also show that all synthetic populations that result from adopting an initial mass ratio distribution with a positive slope are excluded by observations. Finally, we confirm that the properties of the simulated WD+MS binary populations are nearly independent of the age adopted for the thin disc, on the contribution of WD+MS binaries from the thick disc (0-17 per cent of the total population) and on the assumed fraction of the internal energy that is used to eject the envelope during the common envelope phase (0.1-0.5).

The kinematics of the white dwarf population from the SDSS DR12

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society following peer review. The version of record [Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 469, Issue 2, 1 August 2017, Pages 2102–2120, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx796] is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/469/2/2102/3749527.

Interpolation of the magnetic field at the test masses in eLISA

A feasible design for a magnetic diagnostics subsystem for eLISA will be based on that of its precursor mission, LISA Pathfinder. Previous experience indicates that magnetic field estimation at the positions of the test masses has certain complications. This is due to two reasons. The first one is that magnetometers usually back-act due to their measurement principles (i.e., they also create their own magnetic fields), while the second is that the sensors selected for LISA Pathfinder have a large size, which conflicts with space resolution and with the possibility of having a sufficient number of them to properly map the magnetic field around the test masses. However, high-sensitivity and small-size sensors that significantly mitigate the two aforementioned limitations exist, and have been proposed to overcome these problems. Thus, these sensors will be likely selected for the magnetic diagnostics subsystem of eLISA. Here we perform a quantitative analysis of the new magnetic subsystem, as it is currently conceived, and assess the feasibility of selecting these sensors in the final configuration of the magnetic diagnostic subsystem.

Effectiveness of Problem Based Learning for Engineering Curriculum

The main purpose of this paper is to describe the process by which an initially limited-range practical nexperience, within the frame of a given subject in an aerospace engineering degree, might be expanded to nbecome the mother-subject itself. Particularly, the practical experience is a Model Rocket Workshop n(MRW), where students design, simulate, build, test and launch a small model rocket. The workshop is a nProblem Based Learning (PBL) experience that covers a wide spectrum of educational aspects, ranging nfrom theoretical disciplines, such as fluid dynamics and rocket dynamics, to topics more related to nexperimental work and hardware utilization like the certification of the rockets, as well as the rocket naltitude measurements. Students get rapidly involved in the project, and acquire several practical and ntransversal abilities, while developing a solid knowledge of the physics underlying aerospace engineering. nThe case study shows some problems and improvements, academic results and lessons learned from the nPBL approach. Finally, a series of new ideas related to MRW and the subject it belongs to are presented. nThe objective is to expand the MRW so that it embraces the totality of the activities that constitute this nmother-subject. As a consequence, the former would then become a new subject entirely based on PBL. nThe strategy aims at enabling an optimum transition from conventional learning to PBL.Cases on Technological Adaptability and Transnational Learning: Issues and Challenges contains case studies on divergent themes of personalized learning environments, inclusive learning for social change, innovative learning and assessment techniques, technology and international partnership and transnational collaboration for enhanced access under the core domain of technological adaptability and transnational learning.