Gabor Horvath - Böcker

This new edition presents a state-of-the-art exploration of polarized light and polarization vision. This includes underwater polarization, polarization signals, sky-polarimetric Viking navigation and astronomical polarization.

This new edition presents a state-of-the-art exploration of polarized light and polarization vision. Part I of the book examines polarization sensitivity across many animal taxa, including invertebrates and vertebrates, and it details both terrestrial and aquatic life. Part II is devoted to the description of environmental polarization with implications to animal and human polarization vision. This includes underwater polarization, polarization signals, sky-polarimetric Viking navigation and astronomical polarization. This part also examines polarized light pollution induced by anthropogenic factors, such as reflection off asphalt surfaces, glass panes, car bodies, and other man-made structures that are now known to form ecological traps for polarotactic insects. The new edition features a number of novelties, including chapters on trilobites, springtails, bats, seals, imaging polarimetry, and astronomical polarization.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Analytical and Stochastic Modelling Techniques and Applications, ASMTA 2014, held in Budapest, Hungary, in June/July 2014. The 18 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 27 submissions. The papers discuss the latest developments in analytical, numerical and simulation algorithms for stochastic systems, including Markov processes, queueing networks, stochastic Petri nets, process algebras, game theory, etc.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Analytical and Stochastic Modeling Techniques and Applications, ASMTA 2009, held in Madrid, Spain, in June 2009 in conjunction with ECMS 2009, the 23nd European Conference on Modeling and Simulation. The 27 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 55 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on telecommunication networks; wireless & mobile networks; simulation; quueing systems & distributions; queueing & scheduling in telecommunication networks; model checking & process algebra; performance & reliability analysis of various systems.

While the human eye can practically cope only with two aspects of light, brightness and colour, many animals use polarization as a further source of visual information. The text starts with an introduction into imaging polarimetry, an efficient technique for measuring light polarization, and moves onto a description of the various polarization patterns occurring in nature, such as celestial polarization.The major part of the book is dedicated to the fascinating question: How do animals use polarization patterns? Following a compendium of the physiology of polarization sensitivity, several case studies are presented, such as honeybees or ants using polarized light as a compass or aquatic animals orientating by the underwater polarization. Further, it is explained how man-made objects affecting the natural optical environment may disorientate animals. For instance, as in the case where oil or glass surfaces can be more attractive for water-seeking polarotactic insects than the water surface.