1,362 research outputs found
Self-forces from generalized Killing fields
A non-perturbative formalism is developed that simplifies the understanding
of self-forces and self-torques acting on extended scalar charges in curved
spacetimes. Laws of motion are locally derived using momenta generated by a set
of generalized Killing fields. Self-interactions that may be interpreted as
arising from the details of a body's internal structure are shown to have very
simple geometric and physical interpretations. Certain modifications to the
usual definition for a center-of-mass are identified that significantly
simplify the motions of charges with strong self-fields. A derivation is also
provided for a generalized form of the Detweiler-Whiting axiom that pointlike
charges should react only to the so-called regular component of their
self-field. Standard results are shown to be recovered for sufficiently small
charge distributions.Comment: 21 page
On the multifractal statistics of the local order parameter at random critical points : application to wetting transitions with disorder
Disordered systems present multifractal properties at criticality. In
particular, as discovered by Ludwig (A.W.W. Ludwig, Nucl. Phys. B 330, 639
(1990)) on the case of diluted two-dimensional Potts model, the moments
of the local order parameter scale with a set
of non-trivial exponents . In this paper, we revisit
these ideas to incorporate more recent findings: (i) whenever a multifractal
measure normalized over space occurs in a random
system, it is crucial to distinguish between the typical values and the
disorder averaged values of the generalized moments , since
they may scale with different generalized dimensions and
(ii) as discovered by Wiseman and Domany (S. Wiseman and E. Domany, Phys Rev E
{\bf 52}, 3469 (1995)), the presence of an infinite correlation length induces
a lack of self-averaging at critical points for thermodynamic observables, in
particular for the order parameter. After this general discussion valid for any
random critical point, we apply these ideas to random polymer models that can
be studied numerically for large sizes and good statistics over the samples. We
study the bidimensional wetting or the Poland-Scheraga DNA model with loop
exponent (marginal disorder) and (relevant disorder). Finally,
we argue that the presence of finite Griffiths ordered clusters at criticality
determines the asymptotic value and the minimal value of the typical multifractal spectrum
.Comment: 17 pages, 20 figure
Тестування як засіб контролю студентів в дистанційних курсах
Some questions of electronic testing in distance learning are concerned in the article: its importance in checking students’ knowledge, the main spheres of tests usage, testing possibilities in the virtual educational environment "Web-Class-KPI", special moments in criteria testings
Consumption-Based Conservation Targeting: Linking Biodiversity Loss to Upstream Demand through a Global Wildlife Footprint.
Although most conservation efforts address the direct, local causes of biodiversity loss, effective long-term conservation will require complementary efforts to reduce the upstream economic pressures, such as demands for food and forest products, which ultimately drive these downstream losses. Here, we present a wildlife footprint analysis that links global losses of wild birds to consumer purchases across 57 economic sectors in 129 regions. The United States, India, China, and Brazil have the largest regional wildlife footprints, while per-person footprints are highest in Mongolia, Australia, Botswana, and the United Arab Emirates. A US$100 purchase of bovine meat or rice products occupies approximately 0.1 km2 of wild bird ranges, displacing 1-2 individual birds, for 1 year. Globally significant importer regions, including Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and France, have large footprints that drive wildlife losses elsewhere in the world and represent important targets for consumption-focused conservation attention
Recent Decisions
Comments on recent decisions by Thomas B. McNeill, Patrick F. McCartan, R. L. Cousineau, William J. Harte, William D. Bailey, Jr., John E. Kennedy, and Daniel W. Hammer
Combining and Aggregating Environmental Data for Status and Trend Assessments: Challenges and Approaches
Increasingly, natural resource management agencies and nongovernmental organizations are sharing monitoring data across geographic and jurisdictional boundaries. Doing so improves their abilities to assess local-, regional-, and landscape-level environmental conditions, particularly status and trends, and to improve their ability to make short-and long-term management decisions. Status monitoring assesses the current condition of a population or environmental condition across an area. Monitoring for trends aims at monitoring changes in populations or environmental condition through time. We wrote this paper to inform agency and nongovernmental organization managers, analysts, and consultants regarding the kinds of environmental data that can be combined with suitable techniques and statistically aggregated for new assessments. By doing so, they can increase the (1) use of available data and (2) the validity and reliability of the assessments. Increased awareness of the difficulties inherent in combining and aggregating data for local-and regional-level analyses can increase the likelihood that future monitoring efforts will be modified and/or planned to accommodate data from multiple sources
Symmetry relation for multifractal spectra at random critical points
Random critical points are generically characterized by multifractal
properties. In the field of Anderson localization, Mirlin, Fyodorov,
Mildenberger and Evers [Phys. Rev. Lett 97, 046803 (2006)] have proposed that
the singularity spectrum of eigenfunctions satisfies the exact
symmetry at any Anderson transition. In the
present paper, we analyse the physical origin of this symmetry in relation with
the Gallavotti-Cohen fluctuation relations of large deviation functions that
are well-known in the field of non-equilibrium dynamics: the multifractal
spectrum of the disordered model corresponds to the large deviation function of
the rescaling exponent along a renormalization trajectory
in the effective time . We conclude that the symmetry discovered on
the specific example of Anderson transitions should actually be satisfied at
many other random critical points after an appropriate translation. For
many-body random phase transitions, where the critical properties are usually
analyzed in terms of the multifractal spectrum and of the moments
exponents X(N) of two-point correlation function [A. Ludwig, Nucl. Phys. B330,
639 (1990)], the symmetry becomes , or equivalently
for the anomalous parts .
We present numerical tests in favor of this symmetry for the 2D random
state Potts model with various .Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, v2=final versio
Herbivory damage but not plant disease under experimental warming is dependent on weather for three subalpine grass species
Both theory and prior studies predict that climate warming should increase attack rates by herbivores and pathogens on plants. However, past work has often assumed that variation in abiotic conditions other than temperature (e.g. precipitation) do not alter warming responses of plant damage by natural enemies. Studies over short time periods span low variation in weather, and studies over long time-scales often neglect to account for fine-scale weather conditions.
Here, we used a 20+ year warming experiment to investigate if warming affects on herbivory and pathogen disease are dependent on variation in ambient weather observed over 3 years. We studied three common grass species in a subalpine meadow in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA. We visually estimated herbivory and disease every 2 weeks during the growing season and evaluated weather conditions during the previous 2- or 4-week time interval (2-week average air temperature, 2- and 4-week cumulative precipitation) as predictors of the probability and amount of damage.
Herbivore attack was 13% more likely and damage amount was 29% greater in warmed plots than controls across the focal species but warming treatment had little affect on plant disease. Herbivory presence and damage increased the most with experimental warming when preceded by wetter, rather than drier, fine-scale weather, but preceding ambient temperature did not strongly interact with elevated warming to influence herbivory.
Disease presence and amount increased, on average, with warmer weather and more precipitation regardless of warming.
Synthesis. The effect of warming over reference climate on herbivore damage is dependent on and amplified by fine-scale weather variation, suggesting more boom-and-bust damage dynamics with increasing climate variability. However, the mean effect of regional climate change is likely reduced monsoon rainfall, for which we predict a reduction in insect herbivore damage. Plant disease was generally unresponsive to warming, which may be a consequence of our coarse disease estimates that did not track specific pathogen species or guilds. The results point towards temperature as an important but not sufficient determinant and regulator of species interactions, where precipitation and other constraints may determine the affect of warming.publishedVersio
- …