343 research outputs found
Exact aymptotic expansions for the thermodynamics of hydrogen gas in the Saha regime
We consider the hydrogen quantum plasma in the Saha regime, where it almost
reduces to a partially ionized atomic gas. We briefly review the construction
of systematic expansions of thermodynamical functions beyond Saha theory, which
describes an ideal mixture of ionized protons, ionized electrons and hydrogen
atoms in their ground-state. Thanks to the existence of rigorous results, we
first identify the simultaneous low-temperature and low-density limit in which
Saha theory becomes asymptotically exact. Then, we argue that the screened
cluster representation is well suited for calculating corrections, since that
formalism accounts for all screening and recombination phenomena at work in a
more tractable way than other many-body methods. We sketch the corresponding
diagrammatical analysis, which leads to an exact asymptotic expansion for the
equation of state. That scaled low-temperature expansion improves the
analytical knowledge of the phase diagram. It also provides reliable numerical
values over a rather wide range of temperatures and densities, as confirmed by
comparisons to quantum Monte Carlo data.Comment: 10 page
Helioseismic analysis of the hydrogen partition function in the solar interior
The difference in the adiabatic gradient gamma_1 between inverted solar data
and solar models is analyzed. To obtain deeper insight into the issues of
plasma physics, the so-called ``intrinsic'' difference in gamma_1 is extracted,
that is, the difference due to the change in the equation of state alone. Our
method uses reference models based on two equations of state currently used in
solar modeling, the Mihalas-Hummer-Dappen (MHD) equation of state, and the OPAL
equation of state (developed at Livermore). Solar oscillation frequencies from
the SOI/MDI instrument on board the SOHO spacecraft during its first 144 days
in operation are used. Our results confirm the existence of a subtle effect of
the excited states in hydrogen that was previously studied only theoretically
(Nayfonov & Dappen 1998). The effect stems from internal partition function of
hydrogen, as used in the MHD equation of state. Although it is a pure-hydrogen
effect, it takes place in somewhat deeper layers of the Sun, where more than
90% of hydrogen is ionized, and where the second ionization zone of helium is
located. Therefore, the effect will have to be taken into account in reliable
helioseismic determinations of the astrophysically relevant helium-abundance of
the solar convection zone.Comment: 30 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Revised version submitted to Ap
Monitoring the impact of desert dust outbreaks for air quality for health studies
We review the major features of desert dust outbreaks that are relevant to the assessment of dust impacts upon human health. Our ultimate goal is to provide scientific guidance for the acquisition of relevant population exposure information for epidemiological studies tackling the short and long term health effects of desert dust. We first describe the source regions and the typical levels of dust particles in regions close and far away from the source areas, along with their size, composition, and bio-aerosol load. We then describe the processes by which dust may become mixed with anthropogenic particulate matter (PM) and/or alter its load in receptor areas. Short term health effects are found during desert dust episodes in different regions of the world, but in a number of cases the results differ when it comes to associate the effects to the bulk PM, the desert dust-PM, or non-desert dust-PM. These differences are likely due to the different monitoring strategies applied in the epidemiological studies, and to the differences on atmospheric and emission (natural and anthropogenic) patterns of desert dust around the world. We finally propose methods to allow the discrimination of health effects by PM fraction during dust outbreaks, and a strategy to implement desert dust alert and monitoring systems for health studies and air quality management.The systematic review was funded by WHO with as part of a Grant Agreement with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway. Thanks are also given to the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition for long term support in the last 2 decades to our projects on African dust effects on air quality over Spain; to the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and FEDER Funds for the HOUSE project (CGL2016-78594-R), and to the Generalitat de Catalunya (AGAUR 2017 SGR41). Carlos PĂ©rez GarcĂa-Pando acknowledges long-term support from the AXA Research Fund, as well as the support received through the RamĂłn y Cajal program (grant RYC-2015-18690) of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Charge and Current Sum Rules in Quantum Media Coupled to Radiation
This paper concerns the equilibrium bulk charge and current density
correlation functions in quantum media, conductors and dielectrics, fully
coupled to the radiation (the retarded regime). A sequence of static and
time-dependent sum rules, which fix the values of certain moments of the charge
and current density correlation functions, is obtained by using Rytov's
fluctuational electrodynamics. A technique is developed to extract the
classical and purely quantum-mechanical parts of these sum rules. The sum rules
are critically tested in the classical limit and on the jellium model. A
comparison is made with microscopic approaches to systems of particles
interacting through Coulomb forces only (the non-retarded regime). In contrast
with microscopic results, the current-current correlation function is found to
be integrable in space, in both classical and quantum regimes.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur
Levels, composition and source apportionment of rural background PM10 in western Mexico (state of Colima)
- …