Phonon heat conduction in layered anisotropic crystals

The thermal properties of anisotropic crystals are of both fundamental and practical interest, but transport phenomena in anisotropic materials such as graphite remain poorly understood because solutions of the Boltzmann equation often assume isotropy. Here, we extend an analytical solution of the Boltzmann equation to highly anisotropic solids and examine its predictions for graphite. We show that the phonon mean free paths in the cross-plane direction can be comparable to those in the in-plane direction despite the low cross-plane thermal conductivity, which instead arises primarily from the differences in group velocities and phonon frequencies supported along each direction. Additionally, we demonstrate a method to reconstruct the anisotropic mean free path spectrum of crystals with arbitrary dispersion relations without any prior knowledge of their harmonic or anharmonic properties using observations of quasiballistic heat conduction

The Spanish and Mexican Baseline of California Tree and Shrubland Distributions Since the Late 18th Century

Historical distributions of 31 tree species, chaparral, and coastal sage scrub described by Spanish land explorers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (1769–1806) and in land grant diseños (1784–1846) are reconstructed at 634 localities across central and southern California. This baseline predates most formal botanical surveys by nearly a century, allowing for assessment of vegetation change over the broadest time frame for comparison with pre-historical evidences and future distributions. Spanish accounts are compared with historical sources in the Mexican era (1821–1848), American settlement (1848–1929), and modern range maps of the 1929–1934 Vegetation Type Map (VTM) survey. Among tree species that were recorded in Spanish explorations, the site-specific localities are consistent with VTM maps at the spatial resolution of the land expeditions. In contrast with massive deforestation across eastern North America since European colonization, hardwood and conifer forests in California sustained inconsequential cutting during Hispanic settlement. Spanish accounts and Mexican diseños occasionally provide remarkable detail of fine-scale distributions which have not changed over the past two centuries, including Pinus radiata forest at Cambria and Monterey, the eastern limit of Quercus lobata and Q. agrifolia woodlands with Aesculus californica in the Salinas Valley, as well as isolated stands of Cupressus macrocarpa and C. sargentii. Disjunct occurrences of trees in southern California were recorded at the same places they occur today, including an isolated grove of Q. engelmannii at the Baldwin Park Arboretum, and the Pinus coulteri stand in the mountains above Santa Barbara. The southern margin of mixed conifer forest in the San Bernardino Mountains has remained on the crest of the range since Garcés’ account in 1776. Long-term tree distributions are evaluated with respect to land use, grazing and climate change. We advocate the use of historical records as proxy data for climate change studies

Determining Phonon Mean Free Paths from Observations of Quasiballistic Thermal Transport

The mean free paths (MFPs) of thermal phonons are mostly unknown in many solids. Recent work indicates that MFPs may be measured using experimental observations of quasiballistic thermal transport, but the precise relationship between the measurements and the MFP distribution remains unclear. Here, we present a method that can accurately reconstruct the MFP distribution from quasiballistic thermal measurements without any assumptions regarding the phonon scattering mechanisms. Our result will enable a substantially improved understanding of thermal transport in many solids, particularly thermoelectrics

Welcome to the Family: A New Class of Cognizable Claims Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act

In its recent decision Hall v. Nalco, the Seventh Circuit became the first Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to recognize a Title VII claim arising from adverse employment action following from a woman’s pursuit of in vitro fertilization, a type of infertility treatment. The Seventh Circuit’s decision creates a possible conflict with the Eighth and Second Circuits, which have both refused to recognize a cognizable Title VII claim where an employer excludes infertility treatments from insurance benefits plans. Furthermore, the Seventh Circuit’s reasoning articulates a murky distinction between childbearing capacity and fertility—although discrimination based on childbearing capacity violates Title VII as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, discrimination based on fertility does not. Nevertheless, the Seventh Circuit correctly determined that adverse employment action based on an employee’s pursuit of infertility treatments is gender discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Welcome to the Family: A New Class of Cognizable Claims Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act

In its recent decision Hall v. Nalco, the Seventh Circuit became the first Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to recognize a Title VII claim arising from adverse employment action following from a woman’s pursuit of in vitro fertilization, a type of infertility treatment. The Seventh Circuit’s decision creates a possible conflict with the Eighth and Second Circuits, which have both refused to recognize a cognizable Title VII claim where an employer excludes infertility treatments from insurance benefits plans. Furthermore, the Seventh Circuit’s reasoning articulates a murky distinction between childbearing capacity and fertility—although discrimination based on childbearing capacity violates Title VII as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, discrimination based on fertility does not. Nevertheless, the Seventh Circuit correctly determined that adverse employment action based on an employee’s pursuit of infertility treatments is gender discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Radial Quasiballistic Transport in Time-Domain Thermoreflectance Studied Using Monte Carlo Simulations

Recently, a pump beam size dependence of thermal conductivity was observed in Si at cryogenic temperatures using time-domain thermal reflectance (TDTR). These observations were attributed to quasiballistic phonon transport, but the interpretation of the measurements has been semi-empirical. Here, we present a numerical study of the heat conduction that occurs in the full 3D geometry of a TDTR experiment, including an interface, using the Boltzmann transport equation. We identify the radial suppression function that describes the suppression in heat flux, compared to Fourier's law, that occurs due to quasiballistic transport and demonstrate good agreement with experimental data. We also discuss unresolved discrepancies that are important topics for future study

Active Thermal Extraction and Temperature Sensing of Near-field Thermal Radiation

Recently, we proposed an active thermal extraction (ATX) scheme that enables thermally populated surface phonon polaritons to escape into the far-field. The concept is based on a fluorescence upconversion process that also occurs in laser cooling of solids (LCS). Here, we present a generalized analysis of our scheme using the theoretical framework for LCS. We show that both LCS and ATX can be described with the same mathematical formalism by replacing the electron-phonon coupling parameter in LCS with the electron-photon coupling parameter in ATX. Using this framework, we compare the ideal efficiency and power extracted for the two schemes and examine the parasitic loss mechanisms. This work advances the application of ATX to manipulate near-field thermal radiation for applications such as temperature sensing and active radiative cooling

Active Thermal Extraction of Near-field Thermal Radiation

Radiative heat transport between materials supporting surface-phonon polaritons is greatly enhanced when the materials are placed at subwavelength separation as a result of the contribution of near-field surface modes. However, the enhancement is limited to small separations due to the evanescent decay of the surface waves. In this work, we propose and numerically demonstrate an active scheme to extract these modes to the far field. Our approach exploits the monochromatic nature of near-field thermal radiation to drive a transition in a laser gain medium, which, when coupled with external optical pumping, allows the resonant surface mode to be emitted into the far field. Our study demonstrates an approach to manipulate thermal radiation that could find applications in thermal management

High N, dry: Experimental nitrogen deposition exacerbates native shrub loss and nonnative plant invasion during extreme drought.

Hotter, longer, and more frequent global change-type drought events may profoundly impact terrestrial ecosystems by triggering widespread vegetation mortality. However, severe drought is only one component of global change, and ecological effects of drought may be compounded by other drivers, such as anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition and nonnative plant invasion. Elevated N deposition, for example, may reduce drought tolerance through increased plant productivity, thereby contributing to drought-induced mortality. High N availability also often favors invasive, nonnative plant species, and the loss of woody vegetation due to drought may create a window of opportunity for these invaders. We investigated the effects of multiple levels of simulated N deposition on a Mediterranean-type shrubland plant community in southern California from 2011 to 2016, a period coinciding with an extreme, multiyear drought in the region. We hypothesized that N addition would increase native shrub productivity, but that this would increase susceptibility to drought and result in increased shrub loss over time. We also predicted that N addition would favor nonnatives, especially annual grasses, leading to higher biomass and cover of these species. Consistent with these hypotheses, we found that high N availability increased native shrub canopy loss and mortality, likely due to the higher productivity and leaf area and reduced water-use efficiency we observed in shrubs subject to N addition. As native shrub cover declined, we also observed a concomitant increase in cover and biomass of nonnative annuals, particularly under high levels of experimental N deposition. Together, these results suggest that the impacts of extended drought on shrubland ecosystems may be more severe under elevated N deposition, potentially contributing to the widespread loss of native woody species and vegetation-type conversion