This article examines the use of computer technology by the UK accounting profession. The first part of the paper examines the nature of the accounting environment and identifies a number of reasons why accounting automation should be an issue of general concern. A particular accounting task, auditing, is examined in detail to illustrate some of the factors affecting accounting automation. The second part of the paper reports the findings of an empirical examination of computerization amongst a number of different accounting groups with different working environments. Practitioners’ views on several factors constraining further technological innovation, and on factors motivating innovation, are analysed and examined. It is concluded that domain characteristics, historical factors and skill availability are amongst the most significant variables influencing automation.
High power laser-driven ion acceleration produces bright beams of energetic ions that have the potential to be applied in a wide range of sectors. The routine generation of optimised and stable ion beam properties is a key challenge for the exploitation of these novel sources. We demonstrate the optimisation of laser-driven proton acceleration in particle-in-cell simulations controlled by a Bayesian algorithm. Optimal laser and plasma conditions are identified four times faster for two input parameters, and approximately one thousand times faster for four input parameters, when compared to systematic and linear parametric variation. In addition, a non-trivial optimal condition for the front surface density scale length is discovered, which would have been difficult to identify by single variable scans. This approach enables rapid identification of optimal laser and target parameters in simulations, for use in guiding experiments, which has the potential to significantly accelerate the development and application of laser-plasma-based ion sources.
Laser-driven proton acceleration from ultrathin foils is investigated experimentally using f /3 and f /1 focusing. Higher energies achieved with f /3 are shown via simulations to result from self-focusing of the laser light in expanding foils that become relativistically transparent, enhancing the intensity. The increase in proton energy is maximized for an optimum initial target thickness, and thus expansion profile, with no enhancement occurring for targets that remain opaque, or with f /1 focusing to close to the laser wavelength. The effect is shown to depend on the drive laser pulse duration.
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