7,275 research outputs found
Are we using the most appropriate methodologies to assess the sensitivity of rainforest biodiversity to habitat disturbance?
Accurately assessing how biodiversity responds in the Anthropocene is vital. To do so, a number of indicator taxa are
commonly used to monitor human-impacted forests and the subsequent recovery of their biodiversity. This makes monitoring
more economically feasible, yet only valuable if the responses observed truly reflect the status of biodiversity. Many
challenges exist for getting this monitoring right, including choosing the most effective indicators and ultimately choosing the
most appropriate methods to capture trends. We have reason to believe that the methods currently used to assess humanimpacted
tropical forest might be misrepresenting trends related to the degree of impact of disturbance to biodiversity and
to the value of secondary forests for biodiversity conservation. Using recent case studies that assessed butterflies, we
challenge the paradigm that fruit-baited butterfly traps are the best method for assessing human-impacted tropical forests, and
that their use solely along the forest floor is underestimating the impacts to biodiversity in tropical forests. We suggest that
alternative or additional methods could provide a more representative picture of the overall butterfly biodiversity responses
to human-impacted tropical forests and that similar assessments of other groups and methods should be carried out
Saddle Points and Stark Ladders: Exact Calculations of Exciton Spectra in Superlattices
A new, exact method for calculating excitonic absorption in superlattices is
described. It is used to obtain high resolution spectra showing the saddle
point exciton feature near the top of the miniband. The evolution of this
feature is followed through a series of structures with increasing miniband
width. The Stark ladder of peaks produced by an axial electric field is
investigated, and it is shown that for weak fields the line shapes are strongly
modified by coupling to continuum states, taking the form of Fano resonances.
The calculated spectra, when suitably broadened, are found to be in good
agreement with experimental results.Comment: 9 pages Revtex v3.0, followed by 4 uuencoded postscript figures,
SISSA-CM-94-00
Vacuum polarization induced by a uniformly accelerated charge
We consider a point charge fixed in the Rindler coordinates which describe a
uniformly accelerated frame. We determine an integral expression of the induced
charge density due to the vacuum polarization at the first order in the fine
structure constant. In the case where the acceleration is weak, we give
explicitly the induced electrostatic potential.Comment: 13 pages, latex, no figures, to appear in Int. J. Theor. Phys
Partition function of the eight-vertex model with domain wall boundary condition
We derive the recursive relations of the partition function for the
eight-vertex model on an square lattice with domain wall boundary
condition. Solving the recursive relations, we obtain the explicit expression
of the domain wall partition function of the model. In the
trigonometric/rational limit, our results recover the corresponding ones for
the six-vertex model.Comment: Latex file, 20 pages; V2, references adde
Family memories in the home: contrasting physical and digital mementos
We carried out fieldwork to characterise and compare physical and digital mementos in the home. Physical mementos are highly valued, heterogeneous and support different types of recollection. Contrary to expectations, we found physical mementos are not purely representational, and can involve appropriating common objects and more idiosyncratic forms. In contrast, digital mementos were initially perceived as less valuable, although participants later reconsidered this. Digital mementos were somewhat limited in function and expression, largely involving representational photos and videos, and infrequently accessed. We explain these digital limitations and conclude with design guidelines for digital mementos, including better techniques for accessing and integrating these into everyday life, allowing them to acquire the symbolic associations and lasting value that characterise their physical counterparts
Orienting coupled quantum rotors by ultrashort laser pulses
We point out that the non-adiabatic orientation of quantum rotors, produced
by ultrashort laser pulses, is remarkably enhanced by introducing dipolar
interaction between the rotors. This enhanced orientation of quantum rotors is
in contrast with the behavior of classical paired rotors, in which dipolar
interactions prevent the orientation of the rotors. We demonstrate also that a
specially designed sequence of pulses can most efficiently enhances the
orientation of quantum paired rotors.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Semiclassical Analysis of the Wigner Symbol with One Small Angular Momentum
We derive an asymptotic formula for the Wigner symbol, in the limit of
one small and 11 large angular momenta. There are two kinds of asymptotic
formulas for the symbol with one small angular momentum. We present the
first kind of formula in this paper. Our derivation relies on the techniques
developed in the semiclassical analysis of the Wigner symbol [L. Yu and R.
G. Littlejohn, Phys. Rev. A 83, 052114 (2011)], where we used a gauge-invariant
form of the multicomponent WKB wave-functions to derive asymptotic formulas for
the symbol with small and large angular momenta. When applying the same
technique to the symbol in this paper, we find that the spinor is
diagonalized in the direction of an intermediate angular momentum. In addition,
we find that the geometry of the derived asymptotic formula for the
symbol is expressed in terms of the vector diagram for a symbol. This
illustrates a general geometric connection between asymptotic limits of the
various symbols. This work contributes the first known asymptotic formula
for the symbol to the quantum theory of angular momentum, and serves as a
basis for finding asymptotic formulas for the Wigner symbol with two
small angular momenta.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure
Automatic wheeze detection based on auditory modelling
Automatic wheeze detection has several potential benefits compared with reliance on human auscultation: it is experience independent, an automated historical record can easily be kept, and it allows quantification of wheeze severity. Previous attempts to detect wheezes automatically have had partial success but have not been reliable enough to become widely accepted as a useful tool. In this paper an improved algorithm for automatic wheeze detection based on auditory modelling is developed, called the frequency- and duration-dependent threshold algorithm. The mean frequency and duration of each wheeze component are obtained automatically. The detected wheezes are marked on a spectrogram. In the new algorithm, the concept of a frequency- and duration-dependent threshold for wheeze detection is introduced. Another departure from previous work is that the threshold is based not on global power but on power corresponding to a particular frequency range. The algorithm has been tested on 36 subjects, 11 of whom exhibited characteristics of wheeze. The results show a marked improvement in the accuracy of wheeze detection when compared with previous algorithms
Essential singularity in the Renyi entanglement entropy of the one-dimensional XYZ spin-1/2 chain
We study the Renyi entropy of the one-dimensional XYZ spin-1/2 chain in the
entirety of its phase diagram. The model has several quantum critical lines
corresponding to rotated XXZ chains in their paramagnetic phase, and four
tri-critical points where these phases join. Two of these points are described
by a conformal field theory and close to them the entropy scales as the
logarithm of its mass gap. The other two points are not conformal and the
entropy has a peculiar singular behavior in their neighbors, characteristic of
an essential singularity. At these non-conformal points the model undergoes a
discontinuous transition, with a level crossing in the ground state and a
quadratic excitation spectrum. We propose the entropy as an efficient tool to
determine the discontinuous or continuous nature of a phase transition also in
more complicated models.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
From non-degenerate conducting polymers to dense matter in the massive Gross-Neveu model
Using results from the theory of non-degenerate conducting polymers like
cis-polyacetylene, we generalize our previous work on dense baryonic matter and
the soliton crystal in the massless Gross-Neveu model to finite bare fermion
mass. In the large N limit, the exact crystal ground state can be constructed
analytically, in close analogy to the bipolaron lattice in polymers. These
findings are contrasted to the standard scenario with homogeneous phases only
and a first order phase transition at a critical chemical potential.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, revtex; v2: improved readability, following
advice of PRD referee; accepted for publicatio
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