An experimental evaluation of cattail (Typha spp.) cutting depths on subsequent regrowth

Citation: Moorberg, C. & Ahlers, A. (2020). An experimental evaluation of cattail (Typha spp.) cutting depths on subsequent regrowth.Cattail (Typha spp.) expansions can negatively affect both native wetland flora and fauna diversity, and active management is often needed to maintain wetland habitat quality. Cattail removal is often non-permanent, requiring repeated treatments to retard reestablishment. Mechanically cutting cattails is a common management technique, but it is unclear what cutting depths are optimal. We conducted an experiment at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area (Kansas, USA) during 2017-2019 to address this question. We established a randomized complete block design experiment with four blocks and three cutting treatments in July 2017, including cattail cut above water, cut below water, and an uncut control. We hypothesized that cattails cut below water would have reduced gas-exchange capabilities due to flooded aerenchyma. We quantified emergent stem densities in each plot in September 2017 to assess the effectiveness of simulated management actions. The above water treatment had significantly fewer total stems than both the control (p = 0.0003) and the below water treatments (p = 0.0203). The above water treatment also had significantly fewer stems than the control treatment (p = 0.0032). Our results suggest that management efforts focused on cutting cattails below water slow cattail reestablishment

Coherent switching of semiconductor resonator solitons

We demonstrate switching on and off of spatial solitons in a semiconductor microresonator by injection of light coherent with the background illumination. Evidence results that the formation of the solitons and their switching does not involve thermal processes.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figure

Heat transport by turbulent Rayleigh-B\'enard convection for $\Pra\ \simeq 0.8and and 3\times 10^{12} \alt \Ra\ \alt 10^{15}:Aspectratio: Aspect ratio \Gamma = 0.50$

We report experimental results for heat-transport measurements, in the form of the Nusselt number \Nu, by turbulent Rayleigh-B\'enard convection in a cylindrical sample of aspect ratio $\Gamma \equiv D/L = 0.50$ ($D = 1.12$ m is the diameter and $L = 2.24$ m the height). The measurements were made using sulfur hexafluoride at pressures up to 19 bars as the fluid. They are for the Rayleigh-number range 3\times 10^{12} \alt \Ra \alt 10^{15} and for Prandtl numbers \Pra\ between 0.79 and 0.86. For \Ra < \Ra^*_1 \simeq 1.4\times 10^{13} we find \Nu = N_0 \Ra^{\gamma_{eff}} with $\gamma_{eff} = 0.312 \pm 0.002$, consistent with classical turbulent Rayleigh-B\'enard convection in a system with laminar boundary layers below the top and above the bottom plate. For \Ra^*_1 < \Ra < \Ra^*_2 (with \Ra^*_2 \simeq 5\times 10^{14}) $\gamma_{eff}$ gradually increases up to $0.37\pm 0.01$. We argue that above \Ra^*_2 the system is in the ultimate state of convection where the boundary layers, both thermal and kinetic, are also turbulent. Several previous measurements for $\Gamma = 0.50$ are re-examined and compared with the present results.Comment: 44 pages, 18 figures, submitted to NJ

Enhanced quantized current driven by surface acoustic waves

We present the experimental realization of different approaches to increase the amount of quantized current which is driven by surface acoustic waves through split gate structures in a two dimensional electron gas. Samples with driving frequencies of up to 4.7 GHz have been fabricated without a deterioration of the precision of the current steps, and a parallelization of two channels with correspondingly doubled current values have been achieved. We discuss theoretical and technological limitations of these approaches for metrological applications as well as for quantum logics.Comment: 3pages, 4eps-figure

Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard convection in a homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal

We report experimental results for convection near onset in a thin layer of a homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal heated from below as a function of the temperature difference $\Delta T$ and the applied vertical magnetic field $H$ and compare them with theoretical calculations. The experiments cover the field range 8 \alt h \equiv H/ H_{F} \alt 80 ($H_F =$ is the Fr\'eedericksz field). For $h$ less than a codimension-two field $h_{ct} \simeq 46$ the bifurcation is subcritical and oscillatory, with travelling- and standing-wave transients. Beyond $h_{ct}$ the bifurcation is stationary and subcritical until a tricritical field $h_t= 57.2$ is reached, beyond which it is supercritical. The bifurcation sequence as a function of $h$ found in the experiment confirms the qualitative aspects of the theoretical predictions. However, the value of $h_{ct}$ is about 10% higher than the predicted value and the results for $k_c$ are systematically below the theory by about 2% at small $h$ and by as much as 7% near $h_{ct}$. At $h_{ct}$, $k_c$ is continuous within the experimental resolution whereas the theory indicates a 7% discontinuity. The theoretical tricritical field $h_t^{th} = 51$ is somewhat below the experimental one. The fully developed flow above $R_c$ for $h < h_{ct}$ is chaotic. For $h_{ct} < h < h_t$ the subcritical stationary bifurcation also leads to a chaotic state. The chaotic states persist upon reducing the Rayleigh number below $R_c$, i.e. the bifurcation is hysteretic. Above the tricritical field $h_t$, we find a bifurcation to a time independent pattern which within our resolution is non-hysteretic.Comment: 15 pages incl. 23 eps figure

Heat transport by turbulent Rayleigh-B\'enard convection for $\Pra\ \simeq 0.8and and 4\times 10^{11} \alt \Ra\ \alt 2\times10^{14}:Ultimate−statetransitionforaspectratio: Ultimate-state transition for aspect ratio \Gamma = 1.00$

We report experimental results for heat-transport measurements by turbulent Rayleigh-B\'enard convection in a cylindrical sample of aspect ratio $\Gamma \equiv D/L = 1.00$ ($D = 1.12$ m is the diameter and $L = 1.12$ m the height). They are for the Rayleigh-number range 4\times10^{11} \alt \Ra \alt 2\times10^{14} and for Prandtl numbers \Pra\ between 0.79 and 0.86. For \Ra < \Ra^*_1 \simeq 2\times 10^{13} we find \Nu = N_0 \Ra^{\gamma_{eff}} with $\gamma_{eff} = 0.321 \pm 0.002$ and $N_0 = 0.0776$, consistent with classical turbulent Rayleigh-B\'enard convection in a system with laminar boundary layers below the top and above the bottom plate and with the prediction of Grossmann and Lohse. For \Ra > \Ra_1^* the data rise above the classical-state power-law and show greater scatter. In analogy to similar behavior observed for $\Gamma = 0.50$, we interpret this observation as the onset of the transition to the ultimate state. Within our resolution this onset occurs at nearly the same value of \Ra_1^* as it does for $\Gamma = 0.50$. This differs from an earlier estimate by Roche {\it et al.} which yielded a transition at \Ra_U \simeq 1.3\times 10^{11} \Gamma^{-2.5\pm 0.5}. A $\Gamma$-independent \Ra^*_1 would suggest that the boundary-layer shear transition is induced by fluctuations on a scale less than the sample dimensions rather than by a global $\Gamma$-dependent flow mode. Within the resolution of the measurements the heat transport above \Ra_1^* is equal for the two $\Gamma$ values, suggesting a universal aspect of the ultimate-state transition and properties. The enhanced scatter of \Nu\ in the transition region, which exceeds the experimental resolution, indicates an intrinsic irreproducibility of the state of the system.Comment: 17 pages, including 2 pages of data tables and 56 references. Submitted to New J. Phy

Plume motion and large-scale circulation in a cylindrical Rayleigh-B\'enard cell

We used the time correlation of shadowgraph images to determine the angle $\Theta$ of the horizontal component of the plume velocity above (below) the center of the bottom (top) plate of a cylindrical Rayleigh-B\'enard cell of aspect ratio $\Gamma \equiv D/L = 1$ ($D$ is the diameter and $L \simeq 87$ mm the height) in the Rayleigh-number range $7\times 10^7 \leq R \leq 3\times 10^{9}$ for a Prandtl number $\sigma = 6$. We expect that $\Theta$ gives the direction of the large-scale circulation. It oscillates time-periodically. Near the top and bottom plates $\Theta(t)$ has the same frequency but is anti-correlated.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure