1,385 research outputs found
Marine benthic flora and fauna of Gourdon Bay and the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region of North-Western Australia
Surveys undertaken to characterise the marine benthic habitats along the Dampier Peninsula and further south at Gourdon Bay in the Kimberley region of Western Australia were augmented with epibenthic sled sampling of soft and hard bottom habitats. This paper describes the species collected, their biomass and relative abundance for the main groups of marine macrophytes and invertebrates. Five localities were surveyed; Gourdon Bay, Quondong Point to Coulomb Point, Carnot Bay to Beagle Bay, Perpendicular Head and Packer Island. Sampling was limited to fifteen epibenthic dredge operations from a range of habitat types and was designed to target the most common habitat types and to obtain species identifications of the most important species and those which typified different habitat types. Surveys covered a total of 1,350 m 2 of seabed in depths between 11 and 23m. We identified 415 taxa comprising: 1 seagrass, 43 algae, 52 sponges, 30 ascidians, 10 hydroids, 14 scleractinian corals, 52 other cnidarians, 69 crustaceans, 73 molluscs and 71 echinoderms. Despite the limited nature of the sampling, a significant number of new species, range extensions and new records for Western Australia and Australia were recorded. Within the algae, one range extension (Halimeda cf. cuneata f. digitata not previously recorded in Western Australia) and one possible new species of Areschougia were recorded. Two range extensions were present in the ascidians; the solitary ascidian Polycarpa cf. intonata has previously only been recorded in Queensland and Cnemidocarpa cf. radicosa only in temperate Australian waters. There were several range extensions for the crustacea, for example, the sponge crab, Tumidodromia dormia, has only been recorded in Queensland. One species of holothurian of the genus Phyllophorus could not be identified from the literature available and may represent a new species. Similarly, a small species of the echinoid Gymnechinus could possibly be a new species. The collections of hydroids, hard corals, crinoids and molluscs contained no new species or range extensions. There was difficulty in identification of some groups to species level due to the status of the current taxonomic literature (e.g. Cnidaria, Porifera and ascidians) and there may be a number of new species among the material collected. Among the anthozoa, there is at least one new species of Chromonephthea and potentially 10 range extensions to Western Australia. Sinularia cf. acuta and Chromonephthea curvata are both new records for Australia with both previously recorded in Indonesia only. Among the better known taxa (e.g. molluscs, echinoderms, corals), most of the taxa identified to species level have been recorded to occur throughout north-western Australia, however the diversity recorded in this study is less than other parts of the Kimberley and this is almost certainly a result of the small overall area sampled and the single method of collection utilised. The most important species on soft bottom habitats in terms of biomass was the heart urchin Breynia desorii (up to 326 g.m -2). Sponges were the dominant fauna by biomass (up to 620 g.m -2) on hard bottom habitats and biomass was dominated a by a few large cup and massive sponge species (e.g. Pione velans and two unidentified Spheciospongia). The biomass of other filter feeders, especially ascidians (e.g. Aplidium cf. crateriferum), soft corals (e.g. Chromonephthea spp.), gorgonians (e.g. Junceella fragilis and Dichotella gemmacea) was also high, indicating the importance of these groups in characterising hard bottom habitats. Although low in biomass, crinoids such as Comaster multifidus and Comatula pectinata were abundant in samples that included a high biomass of other filter feeders
Membrane Systems and Hypercomputation
We present a brief analysis of hypercomputation and its relationship
to membrane systems theory, including a re-evaluation of Turing’s
analysis of computation and the importance of timing structure,
and suggest a ‘cosmological’ variant of tissue P systems that is capable
of super-Turing behaviour. No prior technical background in hypercomputation
theory is assumed
Early Atomic Models - From Mechanical to Quantum (1904-1913)
A complete history of early atomic models would fill volumes, but a
reasonably coherent tale of the path from mechanical atoms to the quantum can
be told by focusing on the relevant work of three great contributors to atomic
physics, in the critically important years between 1904 and 1913: J. J.
Thomson, Ernest Rutherford and Niels Bohr. We first examine the origins of
Thomson's mechanical atomic models, from his ethereal vortex atoms in the early
1880's, to the myriad "corpuscular" atoms he proposed following the discovery
of the electron in 1897. Beyond predictions for the periodicity of the
elements, the application of Thomson's atoms to problems in scattering and
absorption led to quantitative predictions that were confirmed by experiments
with high-velocity electrons traversing thin sheets of metal. Still, the much
more massive and energetic {\alpha}-particles being studied by Rutherford were
better suited for exploring the interior of the atom, and careful measurements
on the angular dependence of their scattering eventually allowed him to infer
the existence of an atomic nucleus. Niels Bohr was particularly troubled by the
radiative instability inherent to any mechanical atom, and succeeded in 1913
where others had failed in the prediction of emission spectra, by making two
bold hypotheses that were in contradiction to the laws of classical physics,
but necessary in order to account for experimental facts.Comment: 58 Pages + References, 8 Figures. Accepted for publication in the
European Physical Journal H (Historical Perspectives on Contemporary
Physics). V2 - minor typos corrected and a footnote added to p.2
Electromagnetic field angular momentum in condensed matter systems
Various electromagnetic systems can carry an angular momentum in their {\bf
E} and {\bf B} fields. The electromagnetic field angular momentum (EMAM) of
these systems can combine with the spin angular momentum to give composite
fermions or composite bosons. In this paper we examine the possiblity that an
EMAM could provide an explanation of the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE)
which is complimentary to the Chern-Simons explanation. We also examine a toy
model of a non-BCS superconductor (e.g. high superconductors) in terms of
an EMAM. The models presented give a common, simple picture of these two
systems in terms of an EMAM. The presence of an EMAM in these systems might be
tested through the observation of the decay modes of a charged, spin zero
unstable particle inside one of these systems.Comment: 17 pages, no figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Data‐driven integration of hippocampal CA1 synaptic physiology in silico
The anatomy and physiology of monosynaptic connections in rodent hippocampal CA1 have been extensively studied in recent decades. Yet, the resulting knowledge remains disparate and difficult to reconcile. Here, we present a data‐driven approach to integrate the current state‐of‐the‐art knowledge on the synaptic anatomy and physiology of rodent hippocampal CA1, including axo‐dendritic innervation patterns, number of synapses per connection, quantal conductances, neurotransmitter release probability, and short‐term plasticity into a single coherent resource. First, we undertook an extensive literature review of paired recordings of hippocampal neurons and compiled experimental data on their synaptic anatomy and physiology. The data collected in this manner is sparse and inhomogeneous due to the diversity of experimental techniques used by different groups, which necessitates the need for an integrative framework to unify these data. To this end, we extended a previously developed workflow for the neocortex to constrain a unifying in silico reconstruction of the synaptic physiology of CA1 connections. Our work identifies gaps in the existing knowledge and provides a complementary resource toward a more complete quantification of synaptic anatomy and physiology in the rodent hippocampal CA1 region
VLA imaging of 12CO J = 1-0 and free-free emission in lensed submillimetre galaxies
We present a study using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) of 12CO J = 1-0 emission in three strongly lensed submillimetre-selected galaxies (SMM J16359, SMM J14009 and SMM J02399) at z = 2.5-2.9. These galaxies span LIR = 1011-1013 L⊙, offering an opportunity to compare the interstellar medium of luminous infrared galaxies and ultraluminous infrared galaxies at high redshift. We estimate molecular gas masses in the range of 2-40 × 109 M⊙ using a method that assumes canonical underlying brightness temperature (Tb) ratios for star-forming and non-star-forming gas phases and a maximal star formation efficiency. A more simplistic method - using XCO = 0.8 and the measured Tb ratios - yields gas masses twice as high. In SMM J14009 we find L CO 3-2'/L CO 1-0'=0.95±0.12, indicative of warm, star-forming gas, possibly influenced by the central active galactic nucleus (AGN). We set a gas mass limit of 3σ < 6 × 108 M⊙ for the Lyman break galaxy, A2218 #384, located in the same field as SMM J16359 at z = 2.515. Finally, we use the rest-frame ˜115 GHz free-free flux densities for SMM J14009 and SMM J02399 - measurements tied directly to the photoionization rate of massive stars, and made possible by VLA's bandwidth - to estimate star formation rates (SFRs) of 400-600 M⊙ yr-1 and to estimate the fraction of LIR due to AGN
Diffusive propagation of cosmic rays from supernova remnants in the Galaxy. I: spectrum and chemical composition
In this paper we investigate the effect of stochasticity in the spatial and
temporal distribution of supernova remnants on the spectrum and chemical
composition of cosmic rays observed at Earth. The calculations are carried out
for different choices of the diffusion coefficient D(E) experienced by cosmic
rays during propagation in the Galaxy. In particular, at high energies we
assume that D(E)\sim E^{\delta}, with and being the
reference scenarios. The large scale distribution of supernova remnants in the
Galaxy is modeled following the distribution of pulsars, with and without
accounting for the spiral structure of the Galaxy. We find that the stochastic
fluctuations induced by the spatial and temporal distribution of supernovae,
together with the effect of spallation of nuclei, lead to mild but sensible
violations of the simple, leaky-box-inspired rule that the spectrum observed at
Earth is with , where
is the slope of the cosmic ray injection spectrum at the sources. Spallation of
nuclei, even with the small rates appropriate for He, may account for slight
differences in spectral slopes between different nuclei, providing a possible
explanation for the recent CREAM observations. For we find that
the slope of the proton and helium spectra are and
respectively at energies above 1 TeV (to be compared with the measured values
of and ). For the hardening of the He
spectra is not observed. We also comment on the effect of time dependence of
the escape of cosmic rays from supernova remnants, and of a possible clustering
of the sources in superbubbles. In a second paper we will discuss the
implications of these different scenarios for the anisotropy of cosmic rays.Comment: 28 pages, To appear in JCA
Deformation of Small Compressed Droplets
We investigate the elastic properties of small droplets under compression.
The compression of a bubble by two parallel plates is solved exactly and it is
shown that a lowest-order expansion of the solution reduces to a form similar
to that obtained by Morse and Witten. Other systems are studied numerically and
results for configurations involving between 2 and 20 compressing planes are
presented. It is found that the response to compression depends on the number
of planes. The shear modulus is also calculated for common lattices and the
stability crossover between f.c.c.\ and b.c.c.\ is discussed.Comment: RevTeX with psfig-included figures and a galley macr
Mirror Symmetry and Other Miracles in Superstring Theory
The dominance of string theory in the research landscape of quantum gravity
physics (despite any direct experimental evidence) can, I think, be justified
in a variety of ways. Here I focus on an argument from mathematical fertility,
broadly similar to Hilary Putnam's 'no miracles argument' that, I argue, many
string theorists in fact espouse. String theory leads to many surprising,
useful, and well-confirmed mathematical 'predictions' - here I focus on mirror
symmetry. These predictions are made on the basis of general physical
principles entering into string theory. The success of the mathematical
predictions are then seen as evidence for framework that generated them. I
attempt to defend this argument, but there are nonetheless some serious
objections to be faced. These objections can only be evaded at a high
(philosophical) price.Comment: For submission to a Foundations of Physics special issue on "Forty
Years Of String Theory: Reflecting On the Foundations" (edited by G. `t
Hooft, E. Verlinde, D. Dieks and S. de Haro)
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