Percolation of diffusionally evolved two-phase systems

Percolation thresholds and critical exponents for universal scaling laws are computed for microstructures that derive from phase-transformation processes in two dimensions. The computed percolation threshold for nucleation and growth processes, p[subscript c] ≈0.6612, is similar to those obtained by random placement of disks and greater than that of spinodal decomposition, p[subscript c] ≈0.4987. Three critical exponents for scaling behavior were computed and do not differ significantly from universal values. The time evolution of a characteristic microstructural length was also computed: For spinodal decomposition, this length grows according to a power law after a short incubation period; for nucleation and growth, there are several transitions in the nature of the growth law. We speculate that the transitions in nucleation and growth derive from competing effects of coalescence at short times and then subsequent coarsening. Short-range order is present, but different, for both classes of microstructural evolution. © 2011 American Physical Society.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Contract DMR-0855402

Effects of an eccentric inner Jupiter on the dynamical evolution of icy body reservoirs in a planetary scattering scenario

Aims. We analyze the dynamics of small body reservoirs under the effects of an eccentric inner giant planet resulting from a planetary scattering event around a 0.5 M⊙ star. Methods. First, we used a semi-analytical model to define the properties of the protoplanetary disk that lead to the formation of three Jupiter-mass planets. Then, we carried out N-body simulations assuming that the planets are close to their stability limit together with an outer planetesimal disk. In particular, the present work focused on the analysis of N-body simulations in which a single Jupiter-mass planet survives after the dynamical instability event. Results. Our simulations produce outer small body reservoirs with particles on prograde and retrograde orbits, and other ones whose orbital plane flips from prograde to retrograde and back again along their evolution (“Type-F particles”). We find strong correlations between the inclination i and the ascending node longitude Ω of Type-F particles. First, Ω librates around 90° or/and 270°. This property represents a necessary and sufficient condition for the flipping of an orbit. Moreover, the libration periods of i and Ω are equal and they are out to phase by a quarter period. We also remark that the larger the libration amplitude of i, the larger the libration amplitude of Ω. We analyze the orbital parameters of Type-F particles immediately after the instability event (post IE orbital parameters), when a single Jupiter-mass planet survives in the system. Our results suggest that the orbit of a particle can flip for any value of its post IE eccentricity, although we find only two Type-F particles with post IE inclinations i ≲ 17°. Finally, our study indicates that the minimum value of the inclination of the Type-F particles in a given system decreases with an increase in the eccentricity of the giant planet.Fil: Zanardi, Macarena. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: de Elia, Gonzalo Carlos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Di Sisto, Romina Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; ArgentinaFil: Naoz, S.. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Li, G.. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Estados UnidosFil: Guilera, O. M.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; ArgentinaFil: Brunini, A.. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentin

Radiation induced warping of protostellar accretion disks

We examine the consequences of radiatively driven warping of accretion disks surrounding pre-main-sequence stars. These disks are stable against warping if the luminosity arises from a steady accretion flow, but are unstable at late times when the intrinsic luminosity of the star overwhelms that provided by the disk. Warps can be excited for stars with luminosities of around 10 solar luminosities or greater, with larger and more severe warps in the more luminous systems. A twisted inner disk may lead to high extinction towards stars often viewed through their disks. After the disk at all radii becomes optically thin, the warp decays gradually on the local viscous timescale, which is likely to be long. We suggest that radiation induced warping may account for the origin of the warped dust disk seen in Beta Pictoris, if the star is only around 10-20 Myr old, and could lead to non-coplanar planetary systems around higher mass stars.Comment: 12 pages, including 3 figures. ApJ Letters, in pres

Consequences of the simultaneous formation of giant planets by the core accretion mechanism

The core accretion mechanism is presently the most widely accepted cause of the formation of giant planets. For simplicity, most models presently assume that the growth of planetary embryos occurs in isolation. We explore how the simultaneous growth of two embryos at the present locations of Jupiter and Saturn affects the outcome of planetary formation. We model planet formation on the basis of the core accretion scenario and include several key physical ingredients. We consider a protoplanetary gas disk that exponentially decays with time. For planetesimals, we allow for a distribution of sizes from 100~m to 100~km with most of the mass in the smaller objects. We include planetesimal migration as well as different profiles for the surface density $\Sigma$ of the disk. The core growth is computed in the framework of the oligarchic growth regime and includes the viscous enhancement of the planetesimal capture cross-section. Planet migration is ignored. By comparing calculations assuming formation of embryos in isolation to calculations with simultaneous embryo growth, we find that the growth of one embryo generally significantly affects the other. This occurs in spite of the feeding zones of each planet never overlapping. The results may be classified as a function of the gas surface density profile $\Sigma$: if $\Sigma \propto r^{-3/2}$ and the protoplanetary disk is rather massive, Jupiter's formation inhibits the growth of Saturn. If $\Sigma \propto r^{-1}$ isolated and simultaneous formation lead to very similar outcomes; in the the case of $\Sigma \propto r^{-1/2}$ Saturn grows faster and induces a density wave that later acclerates the formation of Jupiter. Our results indicate that the simultaneous growth of several embryos impacts the final outcome and should be taken into account by planet formation models.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Dynamical evolution of escaped plutinos, another source of Centaurs

It was shown in previous works the existence of weakly chaotic orbits in the plutino population that diffuse very slowly. These orbits correspond to long-term plutino escapers and then represent the plutinos that are escaping from the resonance at present. In this paper we perform numerical simulations in order to explore the dynamical evolution of plutinos recently escaped from the resonance. The numerical simulations were divided in two parts. In the first one we evolved 20,000 test particles in the resonance in order to detect and select the long-term escapers. In the second one, we numerically integrate the selected escaped plutinos in order to study their dynamical post escaped behavior. Our main results include the characterization of the routes of escape of plutinos and their evolution in the Centaur zone. We obtained a present rate of escape of plutinos between 1 and 10 every 10 years. The escaped plutinos have a mean lifetime in the Centaur zone of 108 Myr and their contribution to the Centaur population would be a fraction of less than 6 % of the total Centaur population. In this way, escaped plutinos would be a secondary source of Centaurs.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Estudo do índice de área foliar de pastagens em diferentes níveis de degradação com aplicação de imagens Landsat 5 - TM e dados de campo.

A área foliar é um parâmetro chave na avaliação do crescimento das plantas, podendo ser tanto medida quanto estimada (Figueredo Júnior et al., 2005). Segundo Pereira e Machado (1987) a área foliar é um fator que depende do número e tamanho das folhas e de seu estádio fenológico. A relação entre a área foliar de toda vegetação e a unidade de área de solo ocupada por essa vegetação é denominada de índice de área foliar (IAF). Como a fotossíntese depende da área foliar, a produtividade de uma cultura será tanto maior quanto mais próximo for do IAF máximo potencial e quanto mais tempo permanecer ativa; retardando a senescência (Figueredo Júnior et al., 2005). Zanchi et al. (2009) afirmam existir poucas informações referentes a variação espacial da biomassa vegetal, altura da pastagem e do índice de área foliar de pastagens. Estes autores sugerem que as variações naturais no IAF, altura e biomassa de algumas espécies, respondem às variações sazonais e interanuais do clima e da umidade do solo. Neste sentido, a análise espacial do IAF com uso dados de satélite pode ser um importante indicador da biomassa em áreas extensas. Diante do exposto, este trabalho teve como objetivo a aplicação de técnicas de sensoriamento remoto e dados de campo no estudo do índice de área foliar de pastagens de Brachiaria em diferentes níveis de degradação na região de Guararapes, SP

Teste de modelo agrometeorológico de monitoramento e de estimativa de produtividade do cafeeiro (Coffea arabica L.). no Estado de São Paulo.

O desenvolvimento de modelo agrometeorológico que possibilite a estimativa de quebra de produtividade antecipada é importante para subsidiar programas de previsão de safras de café. Uma boa estimativa da produtividade implica na utilização de modelos que considerem os efeitos ambientais aos processos fisiológicos determinantes da produção. Este trabalho teve o objetivo de testar um modelo matemático agrometeorológico de estimativa de produtividade do cafeeiro para três diferentes escalas produtivas ?talhão?, ?propriedade? e ?município? em diferentes regiões do Estado de São Paulo. Dados meteorológicos e de produtividade foram coletados no IAC e CATI para o período de 2000 a 2004. O modelo se baseia na penalização da produtividade potencial da cultura em função do déficit hídrico quantificado através da relação [1(ETr/ETp)] ajustadas por diferentes coeficientes de sensibilidade da cultura (Ky) ocorridos em diferentes fases fenológicas. O modelo considera também os efeitos da produtividade do ano anterior e temperaturas adversas ocorridas em fases fenológicas críticas. Os modelos parametrizados, nas três escalas produtivas consideradas, apresentaram ajustes satisfatórios entre valores observados e estimados, com valores do índice ?d? variando de 0,88 a 0,92, ?R? variando de 0,81 a 0,87 e erros aleatórios relativamente baixos de 5,1 a 9,4 sacas.ha 1 e sistemáticos de 3,5 a 7,1sacas.ha 1. O modelo apresentou pequena tendência a superestimar as produtividades estimadas. Os resultados indicam que o modelo parametrizado em diferentes escalas produtivas tem potencial para estimar a produtividade do café, podendo servir como subsídio aos trabalhos de previsão de safra

S-system theory applied to array-based GNSS ionospheric sensing

The GPS carrier-phase and code data have proven to be valuable sources of measuring the Earth’s ionospheric total electron content (TEC). With the development of new GNSSs with multi frequency data, many more ionosphere-sensing combinations of different precision can be formed as input of ionospheric modelling. We present the general way of interpreting such combinations through an application of S-system theory and address how their precision propagates into that of the unbiased TEC solution. Presenting the data relevant to TEC determination, we propose the usage of an array of GNSS antennas to improve the TEC precision and to expedite the rather long observational time-span required for high-precision TEC determination

Base-temperature for estimation of the days-degree for soybean cultivars in São Paulo State, Brazil

Foram determinados os graus-dia (GD) necessários para o complemento do ciclo plantio/ maturação para quatro cultivares de soja (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) nas condições do Estado de São Paulo. O estudo foi baseado em dados fenológicos obtidos de experimentos conduzidos pela Seção de Leguminosas do Instituto Agronômico em Campinas, Ribeirão Preto e Pindamonhangaba, em três anos agrícolas. Inicialmente, analisou-se a relação entre temperatura do ar e razão de desenvolvimento das cultivares, verificando-se que a temperatura-base para a fase fenológica plantio/maturação, em todas as cultivares foi 14ºC. Com base nessa temperatura determinou-se os GD para as diferentes cultivares e épocas de plantio. Foram necessários em média, 1336, 1275, 1227 e 1030 GC, respectivamente, para as cultivares UFV-1, Santa Rosa, Viçosa e Paraná. The summation of degree-days necessary to complement the phenological phase from planting to ripening was estimated for different soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) cultivars, under the conditions of São Paulo State, Brazil. The study was performed in the phenological dates obtained of experiments was conducted by Leguminous Section of the Instituto Agronômico in Campinas, Ribeirão Preto and Pindamonhagaba, in, three agricultural years. An analysis of the relationship between air temperature and crop development indicate that the base-temperature for the phenological phase from planting to ripening was 14ºC for all cultivars. It was also observed that the total degree-days necessary was 1336, 1275, 1227 and 1030, respectively for the UFV-1, Santa Rosa, Viçosa and Paraná cultivars.