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The Tolman test for surface brightness dimming was originally proposed as a test for the expansion of the Universe. The test, which is independent of the details of the assumed cosmology, is based on comparisons of the surface brightness (SB) of identical objects at different cosmological distances. Claims have been made that the Tolman test provides compelling evidence against a static model for the Universe. In this paper we reconsider this subject by adopting a static Euclidean Universe with a linear Hubble relation at all z (which is not the standard Einstein -de Sitter model), resulting in a relation between flux and luminosity that is virtually indistinguishable from the one used for CDM models. Based on the analysis of the UV surface brightness of luminous disk galaxies from HUDF and GALEX datasets, reaching from the local Universe to z  5, we show that the surface brightness remains constant as expected in a SEU.A re-analysis of previously-published data used for the Tolman test at lower redshift, when treated within the same framework, confirms the results of the present analysis by extending our claim to elliptical galaxies. We conclude that available observations of galactic SB are consistent with a static Euclidean model of the Universe. 2We do not claim that the consistency of the adopted model with SB data is sufficient by itself to confirm what would be a radical transformation in our understanding of the cosmos. However, we believe this result is more than sufficient reason to examine further this combination of hypotheses.

Using a dense plasma focus device with a 50 kJ capacitor charge, we have observed fusion reactions from deuterium ions with record energies of >150 keV, which are confined for durations of 7-30 ns in the cores of plasmoids with typical radii of 300-500 lm and densities $3 Â 10 19 cm À3. We have for the first time simultaneously imaged the plasmoid at high (30 lm) resolution and measured trapped ion energy and neutron anisotropy. The isotropy of the neutron emission as well as other observations confirms that the observed neutrons per pulse of up to 1.5 Â 10 11 are produced mainly by confined ions, not an unconfined beam. The conditions achieved are of interest for aneutronic fusion, such as with pB11 fuel. V

In a non-expanding universe, surface brightness is independent of distance or redshift, while in an expanding universe it decreases rapidly with both. Similarly, for objects of the same luminosity, the angular radius of an object in a non-expanding universe declines with redshift, while in an expanding universe this radius increases for redshifts z > 1.25. The author and colleagues have previously shown that data for the surface brightness of disc galaxies are compatible with a static universe with redshift linearly proportional to distance at all z [static Euclidian universe (SEU) hypothesis]. In this paper, we examine the more conventional hypothesis that the universe is expanding, but that the actual radii of galaxies of a given luminosity increase with time (decrease with z), as others have proposed. We show that the radii data for both disc and elliptical galaxies are incompatible with any of the published size-evolution predictions based on an expanding universe. We find that all the physical mechanisms proposed for size evolution, such as galaxy mergers, lead to predictions that are in quantitative contradiction with either the radius data or other data sets, such as the observed rate of galaxy mergers. In addition, we find that when the effect of telescope resolution is taken into account, the r-z relationships for disc and elliptical galaxies are identical. Both are excellently fit by SEU predictions. An overall comparison of cosmological models requires examining all available data sets, but for this data set there is a clear contradiction of predictions based on an expanding universe hypothesis.

Surface brightness data can distinguish between a Friedman-Robertson-Walker expanding universe and a non-expanding universe. For surface brightness measured in AB magnitudes per angular area, all FRW models, regardless of cosmological parameters, predict that surface brightness declines with redshift as (z+1)^-3, while any non-expanding model predicts that surface brightness is constant with distance and thus with z. High-z UV surface brightness data for galaxies from the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and low-z data from GALEX are used to test the predictions of these two models up to z=6. A preliminary analysis presented here of samples observed at the same at-galaxy wavelengths in the UV shows that surface brightness is constant, mu=kz^0.026+-0.15, consistent with the non-expanding model. This relationship holds if distance is linearly proportional to z at all redshifts, but seems insensitive to the particular choice of d-z relationship. Attempts to reconcile the data with FRW predictions by assuming that high-z galaxies have intrinsically higher surface brightness than low-z galaxies appear to face insurmountable problems. The intrinsic FUV surface brightness required by the FRW models for high-z galaxies exceeds the maximum FUV surface brightness of any low-z galaxy by as much as a factor of 40. Dust absorption appears to make such extremely high intrinsic FUV surface brightness physically impossible. If confirmed by further analysis, the impossibility of such high-surface-brightness galaxies would rule out all FRW expanding universe (big bang) models.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of the First Crisis in Cosmology Conference, AIP proceedings series typos correcte

To reduce impurities in the dense plasma focus FF-1 device, we used monolithic tungsten electrodes with pre-ionization. With this new set-up, we demonstrated a three-fold reduction of impurities by mass and a ten-fold reduction by ion number. FF-1 produced a 50% increase in fusion yield over our previous copper electrodes, both for a single shot and for a mean of ten consecutive shots with the same conditions. These results represent a doubling of fusion yield as compared with any other plasma focus device with the same 60 kJ energy input. In addition, FF-1 produced a new single-shot record of 240 ± 20 keV for mean ion energy, a record for any confined fusion plasma, using any device, and a 50% improvement in ten-shot mean ion energy. With a deuterium-nitrogen mix and corona-discharge pre-ionization, we were also able to reduce the standard deviation in the fusion yield to about 15%, a four-fold reduction over the copper-electrode results. We intend to further reduce impurities with new experiments using microwave treatment of tungsten electrodes, followed by the use of beryllium electrodes.

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A plasma model of the origin of the light elements and the microwave background is presented. In contrast to the conventional Big Bang hypothesis, the model assumes that helium, deuterium and the microwave background were all generated by massive stars in the early stages of galaxy formation. The microwave background is scattered and isotropized by multi-GeV electrons trapped in the jets emitted by active galactic nuclei. The model produces reasonable amounts of heavy elements, accurately predicts the gamma-ray background intensity and spectrum, and explains the statistics of quasars, compact and extended radio sources.