238,835 research outputs found
Variation in Lepidopteran Occurrence in Hemlock-Dominated and Deciduous-Dominated Forests of Central Appalachia
Eastern hemlock, (Tsuga canadensis Carrière, Pinaceae), is threatened with extirpation by an exotic invasive herbivore, the hemlock woolly adelgid, (Adelges tsugae Annand, Homoptera: Adelgidae). Given this threat, a broader and more detailed knowledge of the community associated with eastern hem- lock is merited. As Lepidoptera are important members of forest communities, this study was initiated to determine the relative occurrence of Lepidoptera in hemlock-dominated and deciduous-dominated habitats by evaluating abundance, species richness, temporal variation, and composition overlap. Lepidoptera were surveyed using blacklight traps from May – August 2010 at two collection sites in the Appalachian region of eastern Kentucky. The first collection site was within a forest stand dominated by mixed deciduous species, the second site possessed an overstory of eastern hemlock. Lepidoptera ≥ 20 mm in wingspan were identified and enumerated, yielding a total of 1,020 individuals of ≥ 137 species and 18 families. The total number of Lepidoptera captured in May and June was fewer than in July and August (P ≤ 0.05). The composition of the assemblage varied between collection sites as well as seasonally; 85 species were identified at the deciduous site and 107 species were identified at the hemlock site. While 27 species were recorded only at the deciduous site, 49 species were unique to the hemlock site. Of those unique to the hemlock site, five species were either detritivores or conifer specialists. These data demonstrate the importance of both deciduous and hemlock-dominated forest habitats for many species of Lepidoptera in Appalachia. Our study forms a foundation for understanding species richness patterns of Lepidoptera in hemlock forests in North America and is a useful baseline for comparisons of richness and diversity post invasion by the hemlock woolly adelgid
Spatial and Wavenumber Resolution of Doppler Reflectometry
Doppler reflectometry spatial and wavenumber resolution is analyzed within
the framework of the linear Born approximation in slab plasma model. Explicit
expression for its signal backscattering spectrum is obtained in terms of
wavenumber and frequency spectra of turbulence which is assumed to be radially
statistically inhomogeneous. Scattering efficiency for both back and forward
scattering (in radial direction) is introduced and shown to be inverse
proportional to the square of radial wavenumber of the probing wave at the
fluctuation location thus making the spatial resolution of diagnostics
sensitive to density profile. It is shown that in case of forward scattering
additional localization can be provided by the antenna diagram. It is
demonstrated that in case of backscattering the spatial resolution can be
better if the turbulence spectrum at high radial wavenumbers is suppressed. The
improvement of Doppler reflectometry data localization by probing beam focusing
onto the cut-off is proposed and described. The possibility of Doppler
reflectometry data interpretation based on the obtained expressions is shown.Comment: http://stacks.iop.org/0741-3335/46/114
Effective slip over superhydrophobic surfaces in thin channels
Superhydrophobic surfaces reduce drag by combining hydrophobicity and
roughness to trap gas bubbles in a micro- and nanoscopic texture. Recent work
has focused on specific cases, such as striped grooves or arrays of pillars,
with limited theoretical guidance. Here, we consider the experimentally
relevant limit of thin channels and obtain rigorous bounds on the effective
slip length for any two-component (e.g. low-slip and high-slip) texture with
given area fractions. Among all anisotropic textures, parallel stripes attain
the largest (or smallest) possible slip in a straight, thin channel for
parallel (or perpendicular) orientation with respect to the mean flow. For
isotropic (e.g. chessboard or random) textures, the Hashin-Strikman conditions
further constrain the effective slip. These results provide a framework for the
rational design of superhydrophobic surfaces.Comment: 4+ page
On the stationarity of linearly forced turbulence in finite domains
A simple scheme of forcing turbulence away from decay was introduced by
Lundgren some time ago, the `linear forcing', which amounts to a force term
linear in the velocity field with a constant coefficient. The evolution of
linearly forced turbulence towards a stationary final state, as indicated by
direct numerical simulations (DNS), is examined from a theoretical point of
view based on symmetry arguments. In order to follow closely the DNS the flow
is assumed to live in a cubic domain with periodic boundary conditions. The
simplicity of the linear forcing scheme allows one to re-write the problem as
one of decaying turbulence with a decreasing viscosity. Scaling symmetry
considerations suggest that the system evolves to a stationary state, evolution
that may be understood as the gradual breaking of a larger approximate symmetry
to a smaller exact symmetry. The same arguments show that the finiteness of the
domain is intimately related to the evolution of the system to a stationary
state at late times, as well as the consistency of this state with a high
degree of isotropy imposed by the symmetries of the domain itself. The
fluctuations observed in the DNS for all quantities in the stationary state can
be associated with deviations from isotropy. Indeed, self-preserving isotropic
turbulence models are used to study evolution from a direct dynamical point of
view, emphasizing the naturalness of the Taylor microscale as a self-similarity
scale in this system. In this context the stationary state emerges as a stable
fixed point. Self-preservation seems to be the reason behind a noted similarity
of the third order structure function between the linearly forced and freely
decaying turbulence, where again the finiteness of the domain plays an
significant role.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, changes in the discussion at the end of section
VI, formula (60) correcte
Half-ordered state in the anisotropic Haldane-gap antiferromagnet NDMAP
Neutron diffraction experiments performed on the Haldane gap material NDMAP
in high magnetic fields applied at an angle to the principal anisotropy axes
reveal two consecutive field-induced phase transitions. The low-field phase is
the gapped Haldane state, while at high fields the system exhibits
3-dimensional long-range Neel order. In a peculiar phase found at intermediate
fields only half of all the spin chains participate in the long-range ordering,
while the other half remains disordered and gapped.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Quark loop contribution to \pi^0 \to 4\gamma
We find the contribution of constituent quark loop mechanism to the branching
ratio B_{4\gamma} = \Gamma_{4\gamma}/\Gamma_{4\gamma} \sim 5.45 \cdot 10^{-16}
for the reasonable choice of constituent quark mass m \sim 280 MeV. This result
is in agreement with vector-dominance approach result obtained years ago. Thus
the main contribution arises from QED mechanism \pi^0 \to \gamma (\gamma^*) \to
\gamma (3\gamma) including light-light scattering block with electron loop.
This contribution was investigated in paper of one of us and gave B_{4\gamma}
\sim 2.6 \cdot 10^{-11}.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
New algorithm for the computation of the partition function for the Ising model on a square lattice
A new and efficient algorithm is presented for the calculation of the
partition function in the Ising model. As an example, we use the
algorithm to obtain the thermal dependence of the magnetic spin susceptibility
of an Ising antiferromagnet for a square lattice with open boundary
conditions. The results agree qualitatively with the prediction of the Monte
Carlo simulations and with experimental data and they are better than the mean
field approach results. For the lattice, the algorithm reduces the
computation time by nine orders of magnitude.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.
Dependence of X-Ray Burst Models on Nuclear Reaction Rates
X-ray bursts are thermonuclear flashes on the surface of accreting neutron
stars and reliable burst models are needed to interpret observations in terms
of properties of the neutron star and the binary system. We investigate the
dependence of X-ray burst models on uncertainties in (p,),
(,), and (,p) nuclear reaction rates using fully
self-consistent burst models that account for the feedbacks between changes in
nuclear energy generation and changes in astrophysical conditions. A two-step
approach first identified sensitive nuclear reaction rates in a single-zone
model with ignition conditions chosen to match calculations with a
state-of-the-art 1D multi-zone model based on the {\Kepler} stellar evolution
code. All relevant reaction rates on neutron deficient isotopes up to mass 106
were individually varied by a factor of 100 up and down. Calculations of the 84
highest impact reaction rate changes were then repeated in the 1D multi-zone
model. We find a number of uncertain reaction rates that affect predictions of
light curves and burst ashes significantly. The results provide insights into
the nuclear processes that shape X-ray burst observables and guidance for
future nuclear physics work to reduce nuclear uncertainties in X-ray burst
models.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables, submitte
DIRECT Distances to Nearby Galaxies Using Detached Eclipsing Binaries and Cepheids. III. Variables in the Field M31C
We undertook a long term project, DIRECT, to obtain the direct distances to
two important galaxies in the cosmological distance ladder -- M31 and M33 --
using detached eclipsing binaries (DEBs) and Cepheids. While rare and difficult
to detect, DEBs provide us with the potential to determine these distances with
an accuracy better than 5%. The extensive photometry obtained in order to
detect DEBs provides us with good light curves for the Cepheid variables. These
are essential to the parallel project to derive direct Baade-Wesselink
distances to Cepheids in M31 and M33. For both Cepheids and eclipsing binaries,
the distance estimates will be free of any intermediate steps.
As a first step in the DIRECT project, between September 1996 and October
1997 we obtained 95 full/partial nights on the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.2 m
telescope and 36 full nights on the Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT 1.3 m telescope to
search for DEBs and new Cepheids in the M31 and M33 galaxies. In this paper,
third in the series, we present the catalog of variable stars, most of them
newly detected, found in the field M31C [(alpha,delta)=(11.10, 41.42) deg,
J2000.0}]. We have found 115 variable stars: 12 eclipsing binaries, 35 Cepheids
and 68 other periodic, possible long period or non-periodic variables. The
catalog of variables, as well as their photometry and finding charts, is
available via anonymous ftp and the World Wide Web. The complete set of the CCD
frames is available upon request.Comment: submitted to the Astronomical Journal, 39 pages, 27 figures; paper
and data available at ftp://cfa-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/kstanek/DIRECT/ and
through WWW at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kstanek/DIRECT
Large Rapidity Gap Processes in Proton-Nucleus Collisions
The cross sections for a variety of channels of proton-nucleus interaction
associated with large gaps in rapidity are calculated within the Glauber-Gribov
theory. We found inelastic shadowing corrections to be dramatically enhanced
for such events. We employ the light-cone dipole formalism which allows to
calculate the inelastic corrections to all orders of the multiple interaction.
Although Gribov corrections are known to make nuclear matter more transparent,
we demonstrate that in some instances they lead to an opaqueness. Numerical
calculations are performed for the energies of the HERA-B experiment, and the
RHIC-LHC colliders.Comment: 19 page
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