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This thesis presents first successful experiments to carrier-envelope-phase stabilize a high-power mode-locked thin-disk oscillator and to compress the pulses emitted from this laser to durations of only a few-optical cycles. Moreover, the monograph introduces several methods to achieve power-scalability of compression and stabilization techniques. All experimental approaches are compared in detail and may serve as a guideline for developing high-power waveform controlled, few-cycle light sources which offer tremendous potential to exploit extreme nonlinear optical effects at unprecedentedly high repetition rates and to establish table-top infrared light sources with a unique combination of brilliance and bandwidth. As an example, the realization of a multi-Watt, multi-octave spanning, mid-infrared femtosecond source is described. The thesis starts with a basic introduction to the field of ultrafast laser oscillators. It subsequently presents additional details of previously published research results and establishes a connection between them. It therefore addresses both newcomers to, and experts in the field of high-power ultrafast laser development.
Everyone has heard about the Azores high – here is its home. A 3½ hour flight from London, the nine islands of the Azores – Santa Maria, São Miguel, Pico, Faial, São Jorge, Terceira, Graciosa, Flores and Corvo – are situated in the middle of the Atlantic. Still free from mass tourism, the archipelago, belonging to Portugal, is a Mecca for nature-lovers and individualists. The Azorean landscape is the very picture of extremity. Enchanting forests fuse with heavenly rolling hills and deep-blue crater lakes. Extinct volcanoes tower to the heavens and countless cleft valleys have been deeply cut through the volcanic stratum. The areas lying directly on the coast, often difficult to reac...
"A comprehensive and entertaining historical and botanical review, providing an enjoyable and cognitive read.”—Nature The foods we eat have a deep and often surprising past. From almonds and apples to tea and rice, many foods that we consume today have histories that can be traced out of prehistoric Central Asia along the tracks of the Silk Road to kitchens in Europe, America, China, and elsewhere in East Asia. The exchange of goods, ideas, cultural practices, and genes along these ancient routes extends back five thousand years, and organized trade along the Silk Road dates to at least Han Dynasty China in the second century BC. Balancing a broad array of archaeological, botanical, and ...
Atlantic Islands is a long-established cruising guide to the five island groups of the North Atlantic, commonly visited by those sailing the popular Atlantic crossing routes but increasingly enjoyed as cruising destinations in their own right. From the sun-baked lagoons of Bemuda to the verdant slopes of the Azores and Madeira, from the fiery landscapes of the Canaries to the less visited coastlines of the Cape Verdes, this seventh edition has thoroughly updated text and plans and is illustrated with numerous new photographs. Co-authors of the sixth edition, Anne Hammick and Hilary Keatinge, have been joined by Linda Lane Thornton who lives on and cruises in the Azores. Together they enrich ...
Biological invasions by alien (non-native) species are widely recognized as a significant component of human-caused global environmental change and the second most important cause of biodiversity decline. Alien species threaten many European ecosystems and have serious environmental, economic and health impacts. The DAISIE (Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe) project has now brought together all available information on alien species in Europe (terrestrial, aquatic and marine) and from all taxa (fungi, plants, animals). Thus for the first time, an overview and assessment of biological invasions in the Pan-European region is finally possible. The Handbook of Alien Specie...
This book deals with the question of whether religious worldviews fulfil an explanatory function in the lives of believers. After rebutting some common objections to this claim, the author proposes to understand the explanatory nature of religious belief along the lines of inference to the best explanation. This proposal is qualified in view of the peculiar nature of religious belief: It is stressed that the type of explanation concerned occurs within the bounds of religion alone, and loses its sense apart from the religious form of life. In unfolding his argument, the author draws heavily on ideas of explanation developed in the philosophy of science, pointing to differences and comparisons between religious and scientific explanations. The author concludes by considering some specific things that theism explains.