The thesis presents the development and testing of an automated fibre optic test system for the measurement of focal ratio degradation (FRD) in high numerical aperture fibres. In particular, the fibres under examination are being proposed for use in the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE), a new telescope currently being designed for wide-field surveys of the night sky. A critical subsystem of the MSE is the Fiber Transmission System (FiTS) that connects the focal plane to the telescope’s spectrographs. In preparation for MSE-FiTS, a method of characterizing the focal ratio degradation (FRD), between the input and output of every fibre, of candidate multi-mode fibres is highly important. The ultimate goal is the testing of all 4,332 fibres after assembly and prior to installation on MSE. An optical bench has been constructed to test the performance of an automated characterization system; a variation on the collimated beam test. Herein we present the underlying analysis FRD measurement method, the optical design of the test bench, the motion control system and the software for measuring FRD, and controlling the automated test system. The open-source automation software is also introduced; the Big FiTS Fibre Wrapper (Big FFW). The results of tests performed using the Big FFW on samples of candidate fibres are presented and compared with the results in the literature using manual methods. The results suggest that the candidate MSE fibre meets the science requirement of less than 5% focal ratio degradation for an f/2 input beam measured at the fibre output. There is less than 1% disagreement between the automated measurement method and manual methods reported in the literature. The fully automated system can measure the FRD of up to 10 fibres in a typical MSE fibre bundle configuration. / Graduate

Principen om självbestämmanderätt har utvecklats från att vara ett politiskt krav till en åberopbar juridisk rättighet i och med antagandet av Förenta Nationernas stadga 1945. Sedan dess har principen blivit sedvanerätt. Självbestämmanderätten har spelat en avgörande roll i att tiotals kolonier har blivit självständiga länder och suveräna stater under 1960 och 1970 talen i enlighet med FN:s avkolonialiserings resolutionen 1514 från 1960 (Avkoloniseringsdeklarationen-1960). Principen har ytterligare förstärkts genom FN:s resolution 2625 Friendly Relations Deklarationen (FRD-1970). FRD:s innehåll anses vara sedvanerätt (ICJ-Nicaragua Case). Genom FRD har för första gången självbestämmanderätten fått företräde före statssuveräniteten när en minoritet utsätts för ett omfattande förtyck eller förvägras rätten till intern självbestämmande inom moderstatens gränser och när moderstatens regering inte representerar hela befolkningen.   Koloniala makter, Storbritannien och Frankrike, ritade Mellanösterns karta 1916 genom att dra gränserna för fyra av de nya staterna genom Kurdistan vilket gjorde att Mellanösterns fjärde största folkgrupp, kurderna, hamnade som minoritet i de nybildade staterna (Turkiet, Iran, Syrien och Irak) efter första världskriget. Avkoloniserings resolutionen har inte tillämpats i kurder och Kurdistans fall trots att kurderna situation var en följd av de koloniala gränsdragningar. Resolutionen 1514 tolkades på ett sådant sätt att den kunde omfatta bara kolonialiserade territorier som inte hängde fysiskt ihop med moderstatens och territoriets folk skilde sig etniskt, språkligt och kulturellt från moderstatens befolkning.    Kurder och Kurdistans fall har varken prövats i enlighet med FRD som under vissa omständigheter ger minoriteter extern självbestämmanderätt eller enligt avkoloniserings- deklaration av Internationella domstolen, ICJ. Denna uppsats studerar förutsättningarna för kurdernas rätt till självbestämmande och Kurdistans självständighet med utgångspunkten i dagens folkrätt uttryckt annorlunda hur ser det ut relationen kurdernas anspråk på självbestämmande och självständighet och folkrätten.

El-Niño and La-Niña are believed to change the intensity and frequencies of extreme weather events globally. The present study aims to analyse the impact of El-Niño and La-Niña on the lightning activities of cloud systems and their associated precipitation and thermodynamic indices over the Eastern India regions (Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal) during the pre-monsoon season (March–May). Eastern India receives catastrophic thunderstorm events during the pre-monsoon season. The results suggest that the number of lightning flashes was higher in the El-Niño years than in the La-Niña periods, which helps convective activities to be developed over the study region. The precipitation variations showed similar patterns during El-Niño and La-Niña periods, but the magnitudes were higher in the latter. Results from the analysis of thermodynamic indices show that, during the La-Niña phase, the convective available potential energy (CAPE), convective inhibition (CIN), severe weather threat index (SWEAT), humidity index (HI), and total totals index (TTI) values increased, while the cross total index (CTI) and K index (KI) decreased. In contrast, the vertical total index (VTI) and Boyden index (BI) values showed less significant changes in both El-Niño and La-Niña periods. The anomalies of flash rate densities over most parts of our domain were positive during the El-Niño years and negative during the La-Niña years. Precipitation anomalies had a higher positive magnitude during the La-Niña phase, but had spatial variability similar to the El-Niño phase. The anomalies of most of the thermodynamic indices also showed noticeable differences between El-Niño and La-Niña periods, except for the HI index. El-Niño periods showed higher lightning and increased values of associated thermodynamic indices over eastern India, indicating more pronounced convective systems.

This master's thesis is aimed at the communication of Czechoslovak countrymen living in the Federal Republic of Germany (former West Germany) and Austria with Czechoslovakia during 1947 - 1967. The aim of the thesis is to find out how they've remained in contact with their homeland during the communist regime. The research is based on the study of the archival materials resulting from the activities of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, the institution which has been concerned with life of our countrymen until now. This thesis mainly analyses the contents and structure of the countrymen's correspondence with the institution as well as it describes the character and duration of the countrymen's visits to the homeland. The final part of the thesis is dedicated to analysing various forms and realizations of Czechoslovak former regime's ideological influence on the countrymen enforced by the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute as well as other institutions, like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since none of the communication of Czechoslovak offices with the emigrants was free of ideological propaganda. For countrymen had contact with homeland, whether in the form of correspondence or personal visits a great importance. Key words: countrymen, FRD (West Germany), Austria, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute,...

SALT HRS (Southern African Large Telescope High Resolution Échelle Spectrograph) is a high-resolution, high-efficiency spectrograph for the 11m SALT telescope in Sutherland, South Africa. The initial optical design work was performed at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Revisions to the concept, the mechanical design, manufacture, assembly and testing have been handled by the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, at Durham University in the United Kingdom. SALT HRS is a fibre-fed echelle grating spectrograph with four operational modes: low-, medium- and high-resolution and high-stability modes, having spectral resolutions of R ≈16000, 37000, 67000 and 67000 respectively over a wavelength range of 370-890nm. The instrument is of a dual channel, ‘white pupil’ design, in which the primary mirror acts to collimate light onto a single R4 echelle grating, and also to focus dispersed light to an intermediate focus. A dichroic beam-splitter separates the dispersed light into two separate spectral channels. Spherical pupil mirrors transfer the separated beams via a fold mirror to two wavelength-specific volume-phase holographic gratings (VPHGs) used as cross-dispersers. Cross-dispersed spectra are then imaged by two fully dioptric camera systems onto optimized CCD detectors. This thesis presents the results of the laboratory testing and specification of several critical sub-systems of SALT HRS, as well as the development of key software tools for the design verification and operation at the telescope. In Chapter 1 we first review the technical development of high-resolution spectroscopy and its specific implementation in SALT HRS. In Chapter 2 we develop a comprehensive throughput model of the entire system based on a combination of as-built performance and specific throughput measurements in the laboratory. This is used to make some specific predictions for the on-sky performance of SALT HRS and the magnitude limits for science targets. We also present a graphical exposure time calculator based on these measurements which can be used by an astronomer to plan their observations with SALT HRS. Chapter 3 contains a detailed treatise on the optical fibre system of SALT HRS. Considerations for the use of optical fibres in astronomy are provided, as are details of an optional double scrambler, and the various instrument fibre modes. Extensive measurements of focal ratio degradation (FRD) are also presented, with testing of input beam speed; wavelength; fibre bending; variable pupil mirror illumination; and vacuum tank pressure dependency. The systems for fibre management are reviewed, as is the fibre bundle assembly process. Testing of two further sub-systems is described in Chapter 4. Firstly the long-term stability of the mirror mounting mechanisms is determined. The advantages of cross-dispersion of echelle spectra using volume-phase holographic gratings are then discussed, and the results of diffraction efficiency measurements are given for both red and blue channel gratings. Modern CCD technologies are examined in Chapter 5, and the blue detector is experimentally characterized using photon transfer and quantum efficiency curves. It is also used for an investigation into cosmic ray events in CCDs. Results from shielding the detector using lead are described, as is an attempt to distinguish the source of the events based on their morphology. Finally, Chapter 6 deals with the handling of data produced by SALT HRS. Methods of wavelength calibration of the spectra are discussed, including the use of Thorium-Argon lamps and an iodine absorption cell. The implementation of a Python based quick-look data reduction pipeline is reviewed, with a description of the processes performed. A summary of the thesis is given in Chapter 7.

The goal of this project was to develop a measuring method and software code to determine and compare the focal ratio degradation of optical fibers for two different coupling technologies. One of the couplings used a fusing technology to splice the fiber, and the other coupling used a refractive index matching technology. Also, an optical fiber without any cleaving or splicing was used as a reference. A collimated beam test was developed as a method for measuring the focal ratio degradation for these different fiber couplings, and a software code was developed to process the results of the experiment. Using the collimated beam test and software code, the focal ratio degradation was calculated and compared between the couplings, and the results clearly stated that the reference fiber had the least focal ratio degradation. The fusing technology used for splicing the fiber had in comparison the least focal ratio degradation of the two different coupling technologies. The results were as expected and therefore the developed measuring method and software were estimated to have been carried out successfully. However, improvements to the measuring method and parts of the software could be done, especially regarding the background light which was a substantial source of error. In conclusion, the goal of the project was reached. / Inom astronomisk forskning används ofta optiska fibrer som informationslänk mellan teleskop och mätinstrument, eftersom de bidrar till att mätningar blir mer tillförlitliga då vibrationer och yttre miljöfaktorer får en mindre påverkan på resultaten. Inom detta projekt undersöktes ett par olika kopplingar av optiska fibrer och deras ljusförluster inom benämningen FRD (Focal ratio degradation). En mätmetod utvecklades tillsammans med en mjukvara som användes för nödvändiga beräkningar och analyser som ledde till att FRD kunde bestämmas. Metoden som användes kallas collimated beam test och innebar att parallellt ljus skickades in i ena fiberänden, vilket genererade en ring av ljus från den andra fiberänden. Mätningarna utfördes på tre olika fiber: en fiber var klyvd och sedan sammansmält, en annan fiber var klyvd och sedan ihopkopplad med hjälp av en vätska av matchande refraktionsindex och den tredje fibern var inte klyvd och fungerade som referens. Resultaten givna av mätningarna och mjukvaran var som man hade förväntat sig; FRD var minst för referensfibern och som högst för fibern med en koppling där refraktionsindex-matchande vätska användes. Även om det finns goda möjligheter att utveckla och förbättra mätmetoden, påvisades ett godtagbart resultat och målet med projektet ansågs därför vara uppnått.